Deadline: March 19th, 2025
Payment: 1 cent per word for original fiction, flat $20 for reprints
Theme: A speculative anthology of hopeful stories that somehow include feathers.
Note: Reprints Welcome

Emily Dickinson

Concept: A speculative anthology of hopeful stories – with feathers! They can be stories about birds, other creatures, aliens, constructs, humans, etc., but with some kind of feather element – whether natural or artificial. The stories don’t have to be happy or even upbeat, but they do have to have an important element of hopefulness. All stories should be vegan* or you should be willing to make it vegan on request.

Length: Stories should be between 1,000 and 8,000 words in length. If you have a very strong case for a story that’s slightly longer, contact me before submitting.

Pay: Original stories will be paid at a rate of $.01/word. Reprints will be paid a flat rate of $20/story. The anthology will likely tend toward originals. Payment on acceptance.

Format: submit stories as attachments in DOC, DOCX, RTF, or ODT format using standard manuscript format. Submission documents should include your name and e-mail address.

Submission process: send stories to <submissions at metaphorosis.com> with the subject line SUBMISSION: The Thing with Feathers ([story title]) (or click the button below). Submissions will be acknowledged within a day or two and processed as they are received. The call will be open until either Spring 2025 or enough stories have been accepted. So, you’re better off submitting early, but have time to write and perfect your story first.

Feedback: if you want brief, blunt feedback, please say so in your cover letter and I will provide it where I have time and feel I have something useful to say. Note, though, that this is a one-time anthology and all editors are different, so the value of one editor’s opinion may be open to question.

• • Rejections – sent immediately
  • Held for consideration – notice generally sent within 2 weeks.
  • Request for revision – sent when decision is made. Most authors will be asked for revisions – usually 4-5 rounds of substantive revision.
  • Acceptance – sent when revision is complete or (in very rare cases) on initial review.

* Vegan – stories should not include animal cruelty unless it is truly integral to the story (and not celebrated). In particular, the feathers in your story should not be taken from an animal without their consent or by violence. You can submit original stories that include things such as horse riding, meat eating, use of animal skins or fabrics, but be aware that if the story proceeds, you’ll be asked to edit those things out. Reprint stories should be vegan-friendly already.

Submission deadline: Rolling submissions from 1 November 2024 until ~ Spring 2025

Type: open

Via: Metaphorosis Books.