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Taking Submissions: Inclusive Cthulu

February 28, 2016

otterlibris

Deadline:February 28th, 2016
Payment: $25 and contributor’s copy

This is an anthology born in a panel at Balticon 49 in May 2015. The panel was all about being a fan of problematic things, and the example of loving the work of an author who is not a good person came up, particularly Lovecraft and his Cthulu Mythos. Many people love the Mythos and Cthulu pervades a lot of geek culture, but Lovecraft himself was a rampant misogynist, racist, and anti-Semitic. An audience member jokingly suggested that there should be a collection of stories that would make dear old Lovecraft roll over in his grave – like a black lesbian Jew triumphing over the Unspeakable. And all the authors on panel and in the audience said – “Heeeey, that sounds like fun!”

Here is the call for that anthology, which we plan to debut at Balticon 50 in May 2016. It only seems fitting. Send us your best Mythos story, but make sure it would make dear old Lovecraft roll.

What we don’t want to see:

Gratuitous anything – violence, sex, profanity, doesn’t matter. If it is not integral to the story and it’s not advancing the plot or character development, we don’t want to see blood, gore, or sex just for shock value’s sake (this goes for language too). We are not opposed to violence, sex, or profanity – as long as it belongs in the story and it’s not just there to shock and titillate. Some things would be a very hard sell for us, like rape or torture of any sort, and torture of children or animals will get an immediate rejection. Think of how far we’re willing to go based on the well known movie rating system – if it would qualify for a PG, PG-13, or R rating, we’ll look at it. If it would be NC-17 or up, we’ll have to pass, thank you.

Word Count:

We’re looking for stories that fall in the 3,000 to 10,000 word range. We will consider looking at stories outside this range, but they need to be just too good for us to pass up. You have a much better chance if you keep the word count within our range. Please query us before sending a story outside of the word count guidelines.

Reprints:

We prefer unpublished, original fiction. You may query about reprints, but to be perfectly honest, unless 1) it’s an absolutely perfect fit for the book and so well-written that we can’t bear not to print it, or 2) you’re an author with a lot of name recognition and a significant publication history who can help drive book sales simply by being in the book, we’re not likely to accept it. Better to just send us something original.

Rights:

We wish to purchase exclusive print, e-book, and audio rights for one year, and non-exclusive print, e-book, and audio rights for a period of five years after that, with the option to re-negotiate additional years of rights after that.

Payment:

Onetime fee of $25 plus one contributor’s copy for the original terms of the contract. Payment is on publication.

Sending your submission:

We will be accepting electronic submissions only. Make sure you put “Cthulu” in your email subject line. No simultaneous or multiple submissions please. Send your story as a .doc or .rtf file to submissions at otterlibris dot com.

Submission Window:

We will be open for submissions for the anthology beginning on January 1, 2016 and close to submissions on February 28, 2016. Any submissions received outside of this window will be deleted unread. We expect to respond to submissions throughout the window with a “no, thanks” or “we’d like to hold this for further consideration,” with final decisions going out approximately four to six weeks after the closing date.

Expected Publication Date:

We expect to debut this anthology at Balticon 50, May 2016.

Via:Otter Libris.

Details

Date:
February 28, 2016