Deadline: June 25th, 2012
Payment: $10 advance paid upon publication, a contributor copy of the paper version, a royalty percentage split among all contributors

We are looking for stories that tell alternative explanations or interpretations of the classic traditions and/or origins of holidays. Stories in the anthology will come from a variety of viewpoints, including the mythical, the magical, and the supernatural. No holiday is too small to be seen from a different perspective. Just think:

Easter Egg hunts teaching survival skills to militant bunnies.

A groundhog sharing his shadow to pay an ancient debt.

St. Valentine creating a holiday to stave off vampire attacks.

Halloween as the demons’ day off.

You may think you know the truth, but you haven’t heard the real stories yet!

Suggested Length: 3,000-7,000 words. Up to 10,000 words is possible, but it will be a HARD sell.

Due Date: June 25, 2012

Editors: Richard Storrs and Jessica Porteous

Submission Guidelines: Please email your submissions to us at [email protected]
Put your story into the BODY of the email (no attachments, please!) and put “Holiday Magick” in your subject line, along with the title of your story. You are welcome to submit multiple stories; stories will be selected based on quality and on achieving a balance of holidays and story genres within the anthology.

Legalese: We can only accept previously unpublished stories. Please do not use licensed characters or any trademarked or copyright-protected material without written permission in advance of submission (This is NOT the place for “A Christmas Carol for Jabba the Hutt”). We’re also not looking for stories that use holidays merely as settings, without any connection to holiday traditions. Contributor compensation will include a $10 advance paid upon publication, a contributor copy of the paper version, a royalty percentage split among all contributors, and, of course, bragging rights. Stories should be appropriate for adult and teen readers (age 14 and up) – please, no explicit sex or graphic violence, and be sensitive to religious or cultural beliefs about some holidays.

For accepted submissions, Spencer Hill Press will take first print and electronic publishing rights, which are exclusive publishing rights for as long as the anthology remains in print. This means that authors will not be able sell or publish their stories elsewhere, and when the rights revert to the authors after the anthology is no longer in print, they will only be able to market the story as a reprint, which in nearly all cases is a harder sell and has a lower pay rate than first print. We at Spencer Hill Press hope that the anthology will have strong sales that will result in healthy royalty payments, but we want authors to go into this with eyes open, knowing how acceptance to one anthology limits the marketing of the same story down the road.

[via: Spencer Hill Press]