Deadline: August 31st, 2020
Payment: Original Stories: $25.00, Reprint Stories: $15.00, Flash Fiction: 1 cent/word, Poems: $5.00 (for minimalist poetry such as scifaiku, etc., the rates for Scifaikuest apply)
Theme: Original stories with plot, tension, suspense, conflict, and character development.
Note: Reprints welcome

IT CAME FROM HER PURSE is a paperback anthology of stories, poems, and art, and will be published by Hiraeth Publishing. Editors for IT CAME FROM HER PURSE are Terrie Leigh Relf and Marcia Borell. IT CAME FROM HER PURSE is open to submissions as of 1 May 2020. We expect to close on 31 August 2020. We expect to publish on 1 January 2021.

IT CAME FROM HER PURSE wants original stories with plot, tension, suspense, conflict, and character development. Remember, if readers do not care what happens to your main character(s), they won’t read the story. The narrative should maintain a sense of wondering what’s going to happen next; of what’s lurking just
around the corner. Showing is better than telling. Frex, instead of telling the reader that it’s cold, show your character shivering, stomping feet, or having ice form on beard or hair. The inner thoughts and emotions of your character(s) are just as important.

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IMPORTANT NOTE: “Purse” is not limited to a bag one carries around. It can be a wallet, a billfold, a coin pouch, a sachet. It can even refer to the prize for winning a horse race. Avoid getting hung up on a bag with a strap. If you’re looking for inspiration, think Roger Corman and what he might have done with this. If you saw the movie My Step-Mother is an Alien, remember the purse in that one, which carried a living computer shaped like a snake.

Stories submitted to IT CAME FROM HER PURSE should be between 4K and 8K words long. Longer or shorter stories will be considered; however, anything less than 4K will be a difficult sell. Anything 1K or less will be considered flash fiction. We will consider reprint stories, provided they adhere to the guidelines;
however, they are difficult sells. Submitted stories in science fiction, fantasy, or dark fiction (think spooky, NOT gory) are preferred. We will consider really good mainstream stories, however.

Submit your stories as rtf or .doc attachments to tlrelf at gmail dot com (you must recombine this address for it to work. Sorry for the inconvenience. Blame spammers).

Please submit one story at a time, and wait for the response before submitting another. We hope to keep the response time down to two months. If you haven’t heard from us in three months, please query.

Poetry submitted to IT CAME FROM HER PURSE should be from about ten to a hundred lines. Please submit no more than three poems at a time, and wait for the response before submitting more. Again, we hope to keep the response time down to two months. If you haven’t heard from us in three months, please query.

Submit your poems as rtf or .doc attachments IBOE to tlrelf at gmail dot com (you must recombine this address for it to work. Sorry for the inconvenience. Blame spammers).

IT CAME FROM HER PURSE will consider interior b&w illustrations that are relevant to the title of the anthology. Submit your illustration as a b&w jpeg to tlrelf at gmail dot com (you must recombine this address for it to work. Sorry for the inconvenience. Grill spammers; the grillwork of a 1950 Buick or a 1953
Packard works best).

Payment is made upon publication by check or Paypal as follows:
Original Stories: $25.00
Reprint Stories: $15.00
Flash Fiction: 1 cent/word
Poems: $5.00 (for minimalist poetry such as scifaiku, etc., the rates for
Scifaikuest apply)
Illustrations: $7.00

NOTE: If you live outside the United States, you will be paid via Paypal, or must make some other arrangement with the editor.

All submissions must include contact information. This means:

Name [yours, not necessarily your byline name]
Address [street, city, country, and zip code or equivalent]
e-mail address
Paypal address

If your address changes before the publication date, please let us know.

Queries should be sent to tlrelf at gmail dot com (you must recombine this address for it to work. Sorry for the inconvenience. Grill spammers; the grillwork of a 1950 Buick or a 1953 Packard works best).

Via: Hiraeth Publishing.