Deadline: June 15, 2014
Payment: $30 and a contributor copy

 

Motorcycle Themed Anthology:

Elektrik Milk Bath Press is seeking stories for a new motorcycle-themed anthology. 

What we are looking for:

1. We are looking for unusual, original stories that, in some way, shape, or form involve motorcycles and/or their riders, surroundings, etc.  Perhaps the entire story revolves around a particular motorcycle and/or its rider.  Maybe a motorcycle is important to the setting or the background, maybe it’s just passing through…  While motorcycles or their elements must figure into the piece, the actual degree of involvement in the story… well, we’ll leave that up to you.  If you want an idea of what we like, check out one of our favorite motorcycle-themed stories, Julio Cortazar’s “The Night Face Up.” 

2.  The above mentioned stories are just ideas.  We want to see what you come up with, so show us your creative best.  Stories can be dark fantasy, horror, magic realism, literary, etc.  Humor is okay, too.  What we want, more than anything, is a good, solid story—stores that touch us, as readers, in some way.  We love stories that are written from an unusual perspective, contain unusual but believable characters, or show us something we’ve never seen before.   We don’t mind sex or blood—not even a bit—but we are not huge fans of excessive gore.   If it is necessary to the story, no problem at all—we get that.  Gore for gore’s sake… not so much.

3.  A word about word count:  We are accepting stories from 1000—5000 words, with the majority of stories probably falling in 2000-5000 word range.  We are pretty flexible with word count as long as it’s a great story.  Impress us and even if you are a little over or a little under, we will sneak you in.4.      We much prefer original stories but if you have a reprint you feel is exceptional, query us.  We are usually more than happy to give reprints a read, although preference is given to original pieces. 

How to submit:

1.  Please submit your stories to motorsubs at elektrikmilkbathpress dot com and send them as black-and-white, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font—no fancy fonts, please!  Send as .rtf files and make sure you include your name, pseudonym (if applicable), word count, address, and contact info.  If we choose your story, we want to be able to let you know!

2.  Please include a short bio of about 50 words.  We’ve said it before, and we mean it.  We are super-nosy and we really want to know who you are.

3.  Finally, please include the word submission somewhere in your subject line; otherwise, we can’t promise we will be able to receive what you send. We don’t want to lose all your hard work and effort but our system is ornery and it might just decide to throw you away!   

What you can expect: 

1.  We are hoping to respond in approximately 6-8 weeks.  We say hoping because, often, our response times grow long.  Still, we do respond to every submission.  If it has been awhile and you are worried, please feel free to query us.

2.  We are offering a one –time payment of $30 and a contributor copy in return for non-exclusive rights.  Authors of selected stories will receive a contract.

3.  Books will be made available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com our website and many other places, as well as being offered to authors at a discount.

This project will close to submissions June 15, 2014 or when filled.  

Any questions?  Feel free to query. 

* * * * *

More Dia de los Muertos Stories

Dia de los Muertos has always been our favorite time of year and was the theme of our very first anthology. We are revisiting that theme and are excited to be accepting submissions for a follow-up anthology due out in the fall.

 

We are looking for more stories about Dia de los Muertos, that magical time when the dead can return.  For many, this is a time for celebration as we call our dead home—but there are those among us who may find that this time is a reason to fear…  

 

Given the rich imagery and ritual/symbolism surrounding this particular holiday, there is a lot of room for creativity here. The subject matter for this project is wide open—we like to give our authors room to play—as long as it touches on the theme. We want you to scare us, to break our hearts, to leave us wanting more… We will accept fantasy, horror, magic realism, literary, and even the darkly humorous. We love quirky characters and stories written from unusual perspectives… please send us your best.

 

As you know, our tastes run dark but what’s most important to us is a good story; one that we want to read again and again.  As we’ve said before, we’re not afraid of sex or violence (not even a bit) as long as it is important to the tale.  We aren’t a fan of the gross, however, and we don’t love gore for the sake of gore.  There really needs to be a point.

 

Need more information about the theme?  There are a ton of sites on the internet to help you out. Here are just two that discuss this holiday, its rituals and customs to help get you started:

About Dia de los Muertos

More about Dia de los Muertos

 

How to Submit

Please send your 1000-5000 word stories as black-and-white 12 pt. easily readable font (.rtf file) to muertosantho at elektrikmilkbathpress dot com. The majority of the stories we choose tend to fall in the 2000-5000 word range but if you know us you know we’re pretty flexible with word count, as long as we enjoy the read. Preference will be given to original stories but we have been known to take a reprint or two… just query.

 

Make sure you include all your contact details with your submission:  Name, pseudonym (if applicable), address and contact info.  We would hate to fall in love with your story and not be able to tell you so.

 

Also, please let us know if the story is an original and include the approximate word count, as well as a short bio of about 50 words. We want to know all about you—we’re nosy like that.

 

Finally, please include the word “submission” in your subject line so that your lovely efforts aren’t eaten by our junk-monster.  Much good work has been destroyed this way and we’d hate to see it happen to yours.

 

What happens next:

 

We hope to send responses within a 6-8 week period with August 31^st  targeted as our final response date. Response times can grow longer as we receive more stories, but we do respond to every submission and we will try to update our Facebook page, Twitter, and the website as frequently as possible.  If you haven’t heard from us and it has been awhile, please feel free to query.

 

We are offering a one-time payment of $30 and a contributor copy in return for non-exclusive rights.  Authors who are selected will receive a contract.

 

Books will be available for purchase through multiple online venues including our website, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com and authors wishing to purchase additional copies will be able to do so at a discount.

Via: Elektri Milk Bath Press.