Deadline: January 6th, 2016
Payment: We intend to fund this project via Kickstarter. Authors are encouraged to provide backer rewards for the campaign, but that is definitely not required. The initial funding goal will provide for a flat $0.06/per word (US) for all stories. Read full post for details if the Kickstarter fails.
Note: They aren’t looking for straight horror but if you read through the prompt clearly you can get away with suspense if done right.

What: No Shit, There I Was, an anthology of short speculative fiction sharing one common thread: each story begins with that immortal line. Where they end will be up to the writer.

Why: The world is full of unbelievable, hilarious, and sometimes tragic no shit, there I was stories. Can speculative fiction writers rise to the challenge of creating something even more fantastical than the everyday product?

Who We Are: Alliteration Ink is run by Steven Saus (member SFWA/HWA), focusing on anthologies and single-author collections, with over a dozen titles across two imprints.
Rachael Acks is a writer, geologist, and sharp-dressed sir. In addition to her steampunk novella series, she’s had short stories in Strange Horizons, Waylines, Daily Science Fiction, Penumbra, and more. She’s an active member of SFWA, the Northern Colorado Writer’s Workshop, and Codex.

Who: This will be an open call. All who read and follow the submission guidelines are welcome in the slush pile.

When: Rachael wants stories no later than 6 Jan 2016. No exceptions will be made. The Kickstarter will occur after the table of contents has been set.

What We Want From You:

Stories 2,000-7,500 words long. Query for anything shorter or longer.

All stories must begin with the line, No shit, there I was. It can be dialog or part of the regular prose.

Stories must contain a discernible speculative element, either fantasy or science fiction, and the speculative element must be integral to the plot. Dependent upon submission quality, the intention is for a 50/50 split of fantasy and science fiction.

The intention is to cover a wide range of subgenres to show the versatility of a single opening linecomedies, tragedies, and everything in between are welcome in the slush pile. That said, Rachael is not terribly interested in horror, and erotica is right out. Salty language is okay, gratuitous violence, gore, or sex is not. Feel free to query if you have questions.

We are particularly interested in seeing stories from underrepresented populations (eg: people of color, people with disabilities, LGBT people).

Original fiction strongly preferred; query first for reprints.

Submitted stories must be in standard manuscript format and submitted in rtf, doc, or docx file format. Please make sure your name, email address, word count, and title of your story are on the first page of your manuscript.

Stories that do not follow these guidelines may face summary rejection.

Submissions should be sent to [email protected]

Payment: We intend to fund this project via Kickstarter. Authors are encouraged to provide backer rewards for the campaign, but that is definitely not required. The initial funding goal will provide for a flat $0.06/per word (US) for all stories. In the unlikely event a reprint is accepted, payment will be $0.03/per word (US). There will be no kill fees. Higher per word payment will be one of the stretch goals for the project.

While the table of contents will be mostly set prior to the Kickstarter for advertising purposes, contracts will not be sent out until the Kickstarter is completed. Should the project fail to fund, it will continue, though with a different payment structure to be determined. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Rights: Exclusive English world first print and digital rights for one year. Nonexclusive print, digital, and anthology rights for term of copyright. All other rights are reserved to the author.

Contact Information: Editorial decisions are to be handled by Rachael Acks and questions regarding them should be directed to her at[email protected]. Contract, money, publicity, and business decisions will be handled by Alliteration Ink, and should be directed to[email protected] (or any other e-mail address you have for him – they all go to the same place).

Via: Alliteration Ink.