Pitch Deadline: March 15, 2019 (Must Pitch First!) Submission Deadline: July 15, 2019 Payment: $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits and a contributor’s copy
So, are you interested in submitting a story to a new anthology? And will it be extraordinarily exciting, devilishly clever, cunningly mysterious, and have Sherlock Holmes teaming up with one or more occult detectives? Then read on, for today we have the serious details on pitches, pay and plans. And supernatural fiction historian (and writer) Tim Prasil calls by to suggest a few characters.
As we said in our last article, John Linwood Grant is editing the Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives anthology for Belanger Books. JLG is the author of both Holmes stories and occult detective stories – even the two at once occasionally, as part of his ‘Tales of the Last Edwardian’ series. And as a harassed writer, he also knows that what you really want to hear right now is How Long, How Much, and When. Let’s get those out of the way before we explain exactly what’s required.
Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives
Belanger Books
Core concept: A 5,000 – 10,000 word traditional Sherlock Holmes and occult detective “team up” story.
Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits (expected minimum payment of $100), and a paperback copy of the anthology.
Rights: Authors shall retain rights to their work. We only retain the rights to the story within the publication.
Pitch Deadline: March 15, 2019
Submission Deadline: July 15, 2019
Note: Kickstarter will run in November 2019 and publication of book will occur in December 2019.
What We Want
This bit is detailed, not because it’s a terribly complex idea, but because it all increases the chances of us taking your story. And it has a few hints. The more in tune with us you are, the more we’ll wag our tails when we read your submission. If you’re confident that you’ve already grasped the concept, or you’re an experienced writer, you might decide to use it just to double-check. We’d still prefer you read it through.
We want stories which have all the following – four straightforward key elements:
Sherlock Holmes (and/or Watson) as a key protagonist; a proper, authentic Conan Doyle-type Holmes, in full character.
One or more occult detectives, as the other key protagonist(s), ones who could have taken up a case at the same time as Holmes was alive and functioning. This means Public Domain figures from around 1875 – 1925* OR your own original character operating in the same time period. These are also encouraged.
A strong supernatural, paranormal, occult, psychic or other ab-natural element which is crucial to the story. As mentioned last time, you CAN try a ‘debunking’ tale, where a mundane explanation ensues, but we won’t take many of those.
An actual case/investigation – not Holmes and Carnacki happening to see a ghost pass by, whilst they argue about camera techniques over coffee.
We do not want time-travel stories or steampunk – or Lovecraftiana, unless the latter is very clever, subtle and original, in which case we might have a glance. Think Algernon Blackwood, William Hope Hodgson, Arthur Machen, L T Meade and so on. Late Victorian, Edwardian and Twenties scariness.
* Do check the occult detective is in the Public Domain. Seventy years after the author’s death is the usual rule-of-thumb, except for some important characters where an Estate is still active and protecting its copyrights. Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, for example.
The Pitch
It’s possible to do this sort of thing and end up with blocks of similar stories, however well written they are. Seventeen cases where Holmes and Dr Hesselius prove that the apparition at Gruntling Hall was in fact the butler in a sheet (but that the family was genuinely cursed anyway, because a wicked ancestor ate cheese too late at night). Or ten cases of werewolves, phosphorescent pain and missing boots.
For this anthology, we would like short pitches – say a hundred to two hundred words or so (the paragraph above is seventy words, as an example) – telling us about your planned story:
The decade and general physical setting(s), e.g. London; a decaying Cornish farmhouse, before WWI; a fancy hotel in Paris.
The sort of supernatural threat/mystery, e.g. classic ghostly appearances; physical monstrosity on the loose; madman possessed by something; cursed item. Get us intrigued.
The occult detective(s) involved, e.g. Van Helsing late in his career; John Bell having decided spirits do exist; Carnacki at his wits end and needing a co-conspirator.
A hint of plot, to show you have a story broadly in mind.
If you’ve never pitched before, have a go at it, and we’ll tell you if you have something there which we think is worth pursuing. If you’ve done it before, you know the drill.
The authors of the pitches we like will be invited to write up a full submission for possible inclusion, so you’ll then have a further three months. No guarantees, but it means that you’re at least on the right lines, so your chances go up.
No, they’re not always doomed, we just like the term. They risk their lives, their sanity or their bank balances in the investigation of the dark and mysterious. Holmes you should already know, but what about the characters he will work with here? You have a wide range of possibilities open to you, and yes, we may well take more than one team-up with the same occult detectives (from different authors), if the stories are that good.
We hand over for a moment to Tim Prasil, a keen anthologist of early supernatural stories and the creator of Vera van Slyke, his own dauntless investigator…
Prasil on Paranormal Protagonists
Some fictional occult detectives contemporary with Sherlock Holmes are well-recognized: William Hope Hodgson’s Thomas Carnacki and Algernon Blackwood’s John Silence lead the team with Arthur Machen’s Dyson and Richard Marsh’s Augustus Champnell close behind. However, there are lesser known characters who, were they to cross paths with Holmes, might result in an interesting adventure. Were one to ask me to name my Top Five Lesser-Known Occult Detectives Contemporary with Sherlock Holmes, I would gladly name them—even if the one asking had a chronic infatuation with a dog-deer crossbreed known as “lurchers.”
We start with the hazy and unnamed investigator in H.G. Wells’ “The Red Room” (1896). What brought him to Lorraine Castle to investigate its fearful Red Room? What is his relationship to the young Duke, the unfortunate fellow who “had begun his dying” after merely opening the door to the Red Room? We know Wells’ protagonist arrives as a skeptic (as do others on my list), so how does his experience change him?
While we’re on the subject of potentially converted skeptics, let’s consider Lady Julie Spinner, a promising character in a disappointing novella by an anonymous author. The piece is titled “Wanted—An Explanation” (1881), wherein Lady Julie says, “I have been a hunter of ghosts all my life, and have never been able even to meet with a single person who has seen one.” However, after being stymied by the strange events at Hunt House, does her view of the boundaries of reality expand?
From Lady Spinner, we move to Lord Syfret. The adventures of this serial character might be a bit tough to locate, but Arabella Kenealy’s series of short stories titled Some of Lord Syfret’s Experiences has been reprinted by Coachwhip Press. That is, seven of them appear in that reprint, and one source reports that eleven tales appeared in Ludgate magazine in 1896 and 1897. Here’s a borderline occult detective that’s awaiting a full resurrection by a literary detective, if not a creative writer.
Enough with the nobility—let’s look at a duo that beat Mulder and Scully by roughly a century. Miss Erristoun and Mr. Calder-Maxwell investigate the title room in Lettice Galbraith’s “The Blue Room” (1897). The story is remarkably Victorian in that Miss Erristoun is reduced from a gutsy rebel to a wilting maiden-in-distress (one who marries the man she earlier waved off as wanting to tame her). But what if that marriage crumbled quickly, and she rejoined the scholarly Calder-Maxwell to investigate other cases of ghosts-that-aren’t-really-ghosts-at-all?
I end with what would amount to a crossover of Arthur Conan Doyle and Arthur Conan Doyle. Dr. Hardacre, in ACD’s “The Brown Hand” (1899), is a doctor whose hobby is psychical research and who, upon solving his rich uncle’s otherworldly problem, winds up in a very nice position to make probing occult mysteries his full-time job. No doubt, he and Dr. Watson might have a jolly time debating diagnoses: demon possession or delirium tremens—lycanthropy or laryngitis?
Links to all of these stories—except the mildly elusive Lord Syfret ones—can be found on either the Chronological Bibliography of Early Occult Detectives or the Legacy of Ghost Hunter Fiction bibliographies at my Brom Bones Books website.
We have our own set of perhaps lesser known potential characters, such as:
Gerald Canevin, of Henry S Whitehead’s Caribbean tales;
Alice & Claude Askew’s Aylmer Vance
The young woman of Ella Scrymsour’s stories – Shiela Crerar, Psychic Investigator;
John Bell, the confirmed and determined sceptic of L T Meade & Robert Eustace**;
Dr. Martin Hesselius created by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu;
Flaxman Low, from the pen of ‘E & H Heron’.
** L T Meade & Robert Eustace also wrote three tales of a palmist, Diana Marburg.
And the pages of the magazine Occult Detective Quarterly might provide more general inspiration – there are great period tales therein of Aaron Vlek’s Geoffrey Vermillion (ODQ #4), Amanda DeWees’ Sybil Ingram (#1 & ODQ Presents), Joshua M Reynolds’ Charles St.Cyprian (# 1 & #4), Melanie Atheron Allen’s Simon Wake (#3), Aaron Smith’s Miss Mason (#3) and more. You can’t nick their characters, though.
NOTE: Ace storyteller Willie Meikle, who has chronicled Carnacki’s further adventures at length, even provided a supernatural Holmes story, ‘The Ghost Shirt’, in ODQ#3, and Brandon Barrows wrote a tale of Carnacki in his earlier years, ‘The Arcana of the Alleys’, for #2 .
available now on amazon
Please note that we don’t want lots of laboured and archaic speech, or an excess of Cockney chimney-sweeps and ridiculously posh-talking nobility. Moderate and appropriate use of contractions and period slang, cant and vernacular, please.
A Note on Inclusivity and Discrimination
It was perfectly possible in late Victorian, Edwardian and 1920s Britain to be active and respected whilst being a feminist, being black, being gay or being restricted in physical ability (as just a few examples). Don’t limit the scope of your characters’ personal nature, situation or views. Whilst limited situational discrimination may occasionally be relevant in context of the period – in order to reflect characters’ life histories or traumas – sexism, racism etc. in general will not be accepted.
REPEAT REMINDER: PITCHES ONLY TO [email protected] BY 15TH MARCH, PLEASE.
General queries on the anthology for JLG (but NOT full submissions) can be sent to the same email address.
RBE’s first Western isn’t simply going to be filled with dusty tales of cowpokes and gunslingers no matter how romantic. Oh no – you know better than that! REACH FOR THE SKY is all about cowboys and aliens!
Recall that movie under the same name? Well, something like that is what we’re after. We want good ol’ fun tales of the Wild West filled with shoot-outs and war paint and gold rushes and stagecoach robberies and alien technology. Tales wherein sometimes the denizens of the West win and sometimes the invaders from darkest space triumph. When you think of visitors from the sky, naturally be thinking of predators, humanoid ducks, green lanterns, extra-terrestrials, and elephant hearts.
This anthology is RBE’s first foray into the scientific fantasies, and by rooting it in one of the oldest forms of storytelling the lone heroic figure, we aim to knock this title out of the galaxy! The requirements are simple: stories must be set in the American West (from the end of the Civil War to just before 1900), include some form of alien life, and employ the words “Reach for the sky” in some fashion. (more…)
Deadline: March 31st, 2019 Payment: 4 cents per word
Send us your best female predator. We’re looking for a new take. Villain and hero. Mother and femme fatale. Sinner and saint. Any time, any place, any genre. Petticoats not required.
No porn, erotica, poetry, excessive violence.
Requirements: (Stories that don’t fit these won’t be read.) No reprints accepted. Accepting short stories between 4000-7000 words and flash fiction under 1000 words. Attach story as a Word .doc, .docx or .rtf Filrename must start with Author-last-name Subject line: PiP: story title Include a brief bio and contact information in your email. Send submissions to [email protected]
Deadline March 31st 2019
Author payment is planned at 4 cents per word with successful completion of our soon-to-be-announced Kickstarter
Deadline: May 15th, 2019 Payment: Contributor’s Copy
As the name suggests, submissions to Oklahoma Pagan Quarterly have a quarterly window.
Deadline is February 15th for Submissions for Spring Quarter (Ostara and Beltane)
Deadline is May 15th for Submissions for Summer Quarter (Litha and Lugnhasadh)
Deadline is August 15th for Submission for Autumn Quarter (Mabon and Samhain)
Deadline is November 15th for Submission for Winter Quarter (Yule and Imbolc)
General Submissions Guidelines:
Please send your submission in an email where the subject line is Submission: Title, where Title is the name of your article or piece, to [email protected]. Note that our submissions can often become backed up due to the number of people on staff, so please allow up to four weeks for us to respond. If queries or submissions have been unanswered after six weeks, please send us an email with ‘QUERY’ in the subject line.
Please indicate which prospective issue your piece is being submitted for.
What We Are Looking For:
Oklahoma Pagan Quarterly is looking for fiction and non-fiction submissions for our quarterly publication. OPQ is a quarterly magazine dedicated to folk religion, spirituality, and paganism of all paths and stripes. Whether your article is over Witchcraft, Fey Work, Reiki, Heathenry, or other equally important paths, we would love to feature the independent voices of our community. Though we are located in Oklahoma and as a result are focused on our local community, we also want to hear from those in other states, locations, and countries. (more…)
Deadline: June 24th, 2019 Payment: (CA)$50 per poem $.10 per word (to a maximum of $500.)
subTerrain publishes original fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, essays, and commentary three times a year. Submissions must be previously unpublished material. (Note maximum number of submissions per issue in General Guidelines below.)
subTerrain welcomes submissions from both emerging and established authors. We are happy to consider work from all corners of the identity spectrum, including works by underrepresented writers, including but not limited to writers who are indigenous, of colour, immigrants, women, LGBTQI+, low-income, no-income, and writers with disabilities. Submitters are welcome to state demographics such as race, age, gender, etc. in their cover letter if they so choose.
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TWENTY-NINETEEN ISSUES
SPRING — OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS!
Shame (#82) — With our Spring issue we will once again delve into uncomfortable territory with an issue devoted to the exploration of shame. Shame as a cultural phenomenon, a personal crippler, and all of its associated sub-types: false shame, secret shame, toxic shame, vicarious shame.
“… shame is important because no other affect is more disturbing to the self, none more central for the sense of identity. In the context of normal development, shame is the source of low self-esteem, diminished self-image, poor self-concept, and deficient body-image. Shame itself produces self-doubt and disrupts both security and confidence. It can become an impediment to the experience of belonging and to shared intimacy….It is the experiential ground from which conscience and identity inevitably evolve. In the context of pathological development, shame is central to the emergence of alienation, loneliness, inferiority and perfectionism. It plays a central role in many psychological disorders as well, including depression, paranoia, addiction, and borderline conditions. Sexual disorders and many eating disorders are largely disorders of shame. Both physical abuse and sexual abuse also significantly involve shame.” — Gershen Kaufman, Shame: The Power of Caring.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: February 8, 2019
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SUMMER/FALL General Reading Issue (#83) — Our Summer/Fall issue will be a general issue featuring the best of fiction, poetry, commentary and creative nonfiction to have been selected and accepted throughout the year. This issue will also feature the winning entries in our 2019 Lush Triumphant Literary Awards, as well as excerpts from forthcoming releases from Canadian indie presses.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: June 24, 2019
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WINTER 1984 Revisited (#84) — For our 84th issue we plan to pay homage to the dystopian world that was depicted in George Orwell’s novel 1984. A revisit and analysis of Orwell’s world as depicted in his seminal dystopian novel, along with other complementary dystopian works and reviews, will form the over-arching theme for our Winter 2019 issue. In a time of growing uncertainty about the future, readers have been turning to dystopian classics. As reported in the NY Times, January 2017, “The Handmaid’s Tale is among several classic dystopian novels that seem to be resonating with readers at a moment of heightened anxiety about the state of American democracy. Sales have also risen drastically for George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984, which shot to the top of Amazon’s best-seller list.
Other novels that today’s readers may not have picked up since high school but have landed on the top reading lists recently are Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel, Brave New World, a futuristic dystopian story set in England in 2540; and Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here, a satire about a bellicose presidential candidate who runs on a populist platform in the United States but turns out to be a fascist demagogue.” This issue will also offer us the opportunity to reflect on the state of American democracy and Canada’s own rise of alt-right Conservatism.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: September 6, 2019
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When submitting, please identify on the envelope the theme issue for which you’re submitting.
Feel free to interpret these themes in unique and unusual ways.
All other regular submission guidelines still apply, as below.
GENERAL GUIDELINES:
The following are some general guidelines (as always, we suggest READING an issue of the magazine to see what we’re all about).
Submissions must be previously unpublished and be:
1. typed, double-spaced on 8 1/2 x 11 paper (no disks or e-mail submissions please)
2. Fiction: a maximum of 3,000 words. (Max. 3 stories per issue)
3. Poetry: we no longer accept unsolicited poetry submissions (unless specifically related to one of our theme issues). Poetry should be single-spaced with stanza breaks. (Max. 5 poems per issue)
4. Creative Non-Fiction: a maximum of 4,000 words. (Max. 2 articles per issue)
5. Commentary (social or otherwise): a maximum of 4000 words. (Max. 2 articles per issue)
6. Photography & Illustration: we only accept solicited art and photography. Please forward us a link to your work;
7. Those submissions not accompanied by a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) will not be considered or returned. Submissions from outside Canada: It has come to our attention that IRCs are no longer available in the U.S. Submitters from outside Canada: please DO NOT SEND RETURN ENVELOPES WITH U.S. STAMPS — WE CANNOT USE U.S. POSTAGE TO MAIL FROM CANADA! Please include your email address with your submission and we will respond via email.
8. Please do not send submissions via email.
Payment rates for published submissions:
Poetry: $50 per poem Prose: $.10 per word (to a maximum of $500.)
Deadline: April 30th, 2019 Payment: £10 and a contributor’s copy
A new fiction anthology to be edited by Allen Ashley and to be published by Eibonvale Press (UK) during 2019.
Guidelines from Allen Ashley:
This will be an anthology of stories set on / dealing with the abiding influence of the Moon.
You can take a literal or non-literal approach.
The “Once” aspect will deal with how older cultures / earlier civilisations / people in history saw the Moon, considered and reflected upon the Moon. Think Verne, Wells, Godwin. Think mythology. Think the Sumerians. Think the Ancient Greeks. Think beliefs held by vanished cultures. These stories do not have to be factually, scientifically accurate; the Moon element could be seen as poetic, figurative, imaginative, etc. These stories will likely form one-third of the book. Possibly half.
For “Future”, I am looking at both the liveable near-future (e.g. up to 50 years’ time) and slightly further ahead as well. I want stories grounded in how we will live on / adapt to / use the Moon in the near and further future. What issues might we face – some of which have yet to be even thought of by NASA?
I will also look at stories about how the Moon will affect our lives going forward. Will it be the site of the next war? Will it be the focal point of a conflict between science and religious forces (consider how the Moon is central to many religious practices)? What happens if the Moon starts to move closer to us or to move further away? What if the Moon was badly damaged or destroyed? What if the Moon acquired a companion?
I am likely to take between half and two-thirds of the stories for this segment.
These Guidelines are meant to be inspirational rather than constrictive. I am happy to read stories that treat the Moon and its influence and importance in ways I have failed to anticipate. I will consider anything speculative, whether that speculation manifests itself as science fiction or science fantasy or more nebulous conjecture. Just one proviso: The Moon must be central to your story. If your story would work just the same without the lunar element, then it’s not for us.
