Taking Submissions: Merciless Mermaids: Tails from the Deep (Early Listing)

Submission Window: August 31st, 2022 – October 7th, 2022
Payment: 6¢/word
Theme: Original “dark mermaid” short stories and poetry

SUBMISSIONS OPEN AUGUST 31

Old sailors tried to warn us. You can find their stories in water-stained journals and letters throughout histories and cultures. People of the land laughed at them, calling their stories mere legends and fairy tales. Now it’s your turn to tell the real stories behind these tails found in the deep, the dangers in dark waters.

 

MERCILESS MERMAIDS: Tails from the Deep

Think deep—the deep of the sea, the deep of space, the deep of our souls, our fears, ourselves. Here, it’s not the monsters under your bed; it’s the mermaids under your boat.

Can you see the shapes in the waters that watch you? Can you hear the mermaid’s call?

Old sailors tried to warn us. You can find their stories in water-stained journals and letters throughout histories and cultures. People of the land laughed at them, calling their stories mere legends and fairy tales. Now it’s your turn to tell the real stories behind these tails found in the deep, the dangers in dark waters.

Will the merfolk prey on humans once the land-bound civilizations fall? Do they snatch men for research? What of the siren who is wildly tone deaf? Does your merman surface on some faraway planet, stare through mists at the newcomers and think Never. Again.

We’re sounding the ship’s bell for stories about malevolent and merciless merfolk of all kinds. Give us your mermaids who fought for the wrong reasons, made tough by their circumstances or by their own choices. Show us their schemes and villainous wiles, the fairytales that end in blood. Or laughter. Tempt us with their twisted workings across time and space, colors and creeds.

Deep down you know that the darkness has a tail.

 

Edited by Kevin J. Anderson and Allyson Longueira with an editorial team provided by Western Colorado University Graduate Program in Creative Writing, Publishing MA students. Anthology made possible by a generous contribution from Draft2Digital.

PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES CAREFULLY

Genre: Original “dark mermaid” short stories and poetry in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror, humor, and romance, appropriate for a “PG-13” audience. Mermaids must be integral to the story. Diverse cultures and non-traditional legends and persons welcomed. Please, no copyrighted characters. Previously unpublished stories only (this includes independently published versions)..

Length: up to 5000 words (firm limit)

Rate: 6¢/word on acceptance.
Rights: First Anthology Rights, print and ebook. Rights revert to author one month after publication; publisher retains non-exclusive right to include in the anthology as a whole.

Due: We are open to submissions from August 31 through October 7, 2022.  Final acceptances or rejections will be made by December 2022.
Submit: A Microsoft Word or RTF file in standard manuscript format to https://wordfirewestern.moksha.io/publication/merciless-mermaids-tails-from-the-deep. If you don’t know what standard manuscript format is, review, for example, Basic Manuscript Format

One submission per person, please.

PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES CAREFULLY. If you want to increase your chances and avoid mistakes, please read Slushpile Memories: How NOT to Get Rejected by Kevin J. Anderson

Via: Word Fire Western’s Moksha</a..

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