Taking Submissions: Home Constellations
Deadline: September 30th, 2025
Payment: Prose and poetry: 5$ + 1c/word over 500 (up to 5k) words + .2c/word over 5k words, Graphic Narrative Fiction: 5$/page, Reprints of any category: Half of above, Cover Illustration: $100
Theme: Stories about the future which feature non-traditional families
Submissions are open for Home Constellations: A sci-fi anthology of unconventional bonds (working title) from Manawaker Studio, edited by CB Droege.
Home Constellations is an anthology focused on stories about the future which feature non-traditional families. This volume will contain stories and poetry.
THEME
Submitted works should be of any genre, as long as the work depicts a world that is noticeably in the future. Hard and Soft Sci-fi, (Post-)apocalyptic, Solarpunk, Slipstream, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Alternate (future) History, Supernatural, Retro-futurism etc. are all fine names for genres that often take place in the future, but your story doesn’t have to fit into one of those. In fact, if it manages to miss all of those labels, we may be even more interested to see it (unless it thus falls into what we specifically don’t want (see next paragraph)). All works must also prominently feature a relationship or family structure which might be considered unconventional. The story doesn’t have to be about the relationship. The adventure or challenge of the story can be anything, but some prominent characters should be in a chosen family. We’re particularly looking for stories with healthy polyam relationships, but want to also include other queer structures. Send us a story of a stable triad struggling to raise their son in a Martian colony dome. Show us a gay couple exploring alien ruins. Tell us about the escaped assassin-bot and the genetically engineered hypercat who find a baby on their doorstep. Whatever else the story is about, we want it to show that each person gets to decide for themselves what family means, and who gets to be part of theirs.
We are not looking for gore horror nor erotic romance. Works that contain horror elements or romantic elements are fine, but we would like the book to remain accessible to young adults and squeamish people. Works which seem particularly hateful or which discriminate against specific real-world groups will also be rejected.
We’re unlikely to accept stories that depict unconventional relationships as unworkable, or as causing problems by their nature. Not everything has to be perfect in every relationship, of course. We all have struggles, some unique to our relationship structures, but part of the goal of the book is to help normalize the depictions of such relationships, and help people who live them to see themselves represented in fiction. Showing consensual relationship structures which are inherently ‘bad’ is counter to that goal.
PROSE
There is no hard word limit, but novellas and above might be hard to find room for. Fiction (one story only, please) should be attached to an e-mail (see below) as an RTF file. Please use standard manuscript formatting if possible. Do not send a link to a third-party hosting site, like Google Drive or Medium.
POETRY
Poems (no more than three, please) should be included in the body of an e-mail (see below). If your poem requires special formatting not available in an e-mail, attach an RTF file.
GRAPHIC NARRATIVE
If submitting a sequential graphic narrative (comic), each page should be a 600dpi grey-scale image between 6″x6″ and 6″x9″ (or 9″x6″). It’s okay to send lower-quality images for initial evaluation.
COVER ART
The cover of the book will feature a full color illustration.
For legal reasons, the illustration should not feature any depictions of copyrighted characters, locations, or other IP. Visual art is not protected by fair use in this case, so if it looks risky, it will be rejected.
The final cover art will need to be a 600dpi full color illustration 15″x10″ with a bleed area of 1/2″ inch (meaning all of the important elements are within the central 14″x9″ of the illustration, but the background extends to the edge). Leave room on the right hand side of the image for the title, and remember that the spine will run down the middle. Because this illustration is so specific and labor intensive, we will accept (actually, we encourage) sketched queries. Including a link to a portfolio is nice, but please don’t just send us a link to a portfolio. I’d like to see some idea of what you might do for this cover specifically.
All images should be attached to an e-mail (see below) as a PNG or JPG. If sending multiple pieces, and they are collectively too large for an e-mail, send a link to a One Drive shared folder or similar service (and please leave it shared until it can be evaluated for inclusion).
ALL CATEGORIES
If you’d like to see how it all will fit together, take a look at a previous similarly organized anthology here.
Submitters may submit in multiple categories simultaneously, but in different e-mails
No submissions may contain any elements which were created by a generative algorithm. We love robots, but we want all stories, poems, and images in this book to be created by humans.
Previously published work is okay (except for the cover art), as long as A) it’s over a year past the original publication; B) you let us know where it was published previously, so we can credit them in the book; and C) you have the ability to sell the non-exclusive print rights. It’s the submitter’s responsibility to ensure they have the rights to their work before submitting.
If your previously unpublished work is accepted, you will be asked to grant Manawaker Studio the right to publish the work exclusively for one year starting at the time of the publication of the anthology. The book may stay in print indefinitely, but is non-exclusive after the first year. The work or parts of it may also be used for promotional purposes in print or online. Less restrictive rights will be requested for previously published work. More restrictive rights will be requested for cover art.
Original creators will retain all other copyrights.
Simultaneous submissions are okay, just make sure you tell us right away if your work is accepted elsewhere. If you do need to withdrawal, you may submit something differnt in it’s place, but please do so in a new email.
COMPENSATION
Compensation for inclusion in the anthology will be an electronic copy of the final book and a token payment of:
- Prose and poetry: 5$ + 1c/word over 500 (up to 5k) words + .2c/word over 5k words
- Graphic Narrative Fiction: 5$/page
- Reprints of any category: Half of above
- Cover Illustration: $100
Contributors may choose to have Manawaker donate their payment to Manawaker’s favored charity, Child’s Play, which provides games to children’s hospitals.
A sample contract sits here, if you are interested.
Contributors may also order the physical book at a discounted price, so that they may resell it at signings, readings, and shows without having to bump the cost above the cover.
HOW TO SUBMIT
All submissions should be sent to [email protected] with ‘Home Constellations Submission’ and your byline in the subject line. No need for a cover letter. If your story is accepted, I’ll ask for bio, and payment info.
All stories will be evaluated within a month of the deadline. No acceptances will be sent out before the project deadline.
Deadline for submissions is 30 Sept 2025. You should get a short confirmation note soon after we receive your submission. If it doesn’t come within a week, please query.
The plan is to publish the anthology in early 2026.
Any questions about the project or these guidelines (or any queries after submissions) should be sent to [email protected].
Via: Manawaker.
