Deadline: November 15th, 2015
Payment: 50% of the net profit will be paid through sales of the stand-alone ebook-exclusive novella; 4% of the net profit will be paid though sales of the omnibus anthology in both print and digital editions.

The Master Detective may have passed away, once, when he fell over the falls. The Master Detective may have passed away, twice, seemingly forever when his creator’s pen fell silent. But the Master Detective is an old familiar, all too willing to rematerialize at the merest provocation.

We ask you to summon up Sherlock Holmes once more. We ask you to take the canonical Holmes, just as Doyle left him, and work him into your style and into your fictional universe. We ask you to create the finest mysteries and adventures.

The Science of Detection is a twelve-part novella series; one will be released each month in 2016, climaxing with a Christmas 2016 release of The Science of Detection: Twelve Cases of Sherlock Holmes, an anthology containing all twelve of the stand-alone novellas as well as bonus features.

We eagerly await your stories…

What we want: We want the author’s voice and narrative style to shine through. Unless you choose to write in a flawless imitation of Doyle’s style, you are encouraged to write in your own words. If you have a series character you feel would be appropriate for a team-up or shared-universe story, you are all the more encouraged to utilize them.

We want your story to be focused (think of your novella as a long short story rather than a short novel), and we want every word to count.

We want the Master Detective to matter. He can’t be an unimportant side-subject; he must directly pertain to the story at hand. (However, it is entirely possible to write stories without a direct or indirect appearance of Holmes that still satisfy this requirement.)

And, while we’re devotees of the old vintage, we’re perfectly open to submissions which use alternate history, horror, mythos, science fiction, steampunk, and any sort of genre you can concoct (except erotica; please keep that for your private enjoyment). We only ask that such “weird” submissions cling tight to Sherlock Holmes and his world.

What we don’t want: Parody; winking, ironic deconstructions; anything that sullies the dignity of Sherlock Holmes or his world. If you’re going to take the time to write 20,000 words on something, you owe that topic to take it seriously.

No erotica, or bald-faced attempts to insult whichever political party you dislike.

Furthermore, please keep the characters as close to their canonical counterparts as possible. Sherlock Holmes is not a werewolf; Watson did not murder his wife; Mycroft is not Moriarty’s lieutenant; Professor Moriarty is not a tulpa. This stance on canonicity extends through political opinions, sexuality, biography, and characterization. You can work outside these bounds, but do note that this may or may not be a harder sell to the editor.

Some stories will necessarily work far outside the canonical confines. That’s perfectly okay, and I look forward to reading them.

Payment: 50% of the net profit will be paid through sales of the stand-alone ebook-exclusive novella; 4% of the net profit will be paid though sales of the omnibus anthology in both print and digital editions. These payments will be issued to you at quarterly intervals.

Rights: First World Digital and Print.

Due Date: November 15th, 2015

Word Count: 15,000-30,000 (we don’t mind if you’re a thousand or two short)

How to Submit your Story:

• All stories should be sent, as an attachment, to[email protected].
• The file must be formatted in .doc or .docx.
• The interior of the document must be in double spaced Times New Roman (12 point font).
• At the top of your document, please include William Shunn’s submission header.
• Place the anthology you’re submitting to, word count, and story title, in the subject line of your email. For example, “The Science of Detection / The Adventure of the Red Headed League / 20,000.”

Via: 18th Wall.