Deadline: December 31st, 2022
Payment: Contributors Copy and $40 for their 3,000 to 5,000 word story (Payment dependent on Kickstarter)
Theme: Action-packed Western horror with enough chills to give the skeletons in your closet the shivers.

• Cryptids & Chaos  •  Monsters & Mayhem  •

An Anthology of the Weird Wild West

Edited by Lyndon Perry

Writers’ Guidelines

Title and Publisher: Monster Fight at the O.K. Corral published by Tule Fog Press

Fundraising Platform and Target Date: Kickstarter Campaign and Publication: March, 2023

Theme of Antho: Action-packed Western horror with enough chills to give the skeletons in your closet the shivers. All kinds of monsters, aliens, cryptids, and creatures of the dark welcome. I’m going for darker themes (PG-16+) and a bit disturbing (but no torture, erotica, or excessive gore). 

Storytelling: Your story should go somewhere. I’m looking for solid plotting, intriguing characters, and weird but accessible settings/scenarios. Avoid purple prose or esoterica. I want a complete story with a firm ending in about 4,000 words (range: 3k to 5k words). Exceptions possible.

Acceptable Tropes: I’m looking for a variety of creative tales from the horror genre – but set in the Old West. Or Modern West. Surprise me. Trope examples include classic ghost or campfire stories, an ancient evil, the abandoned building, the stalking monster, ‘cult of doom’ or pacts with the devil, cowboys vs dinosaurs, outlaw vs sheriff, hero seeks vengeance, tech goes wrong (Westworld-ish), even pastiches of public domain characters. Sky’s the limit.

Story Style: I like tried and true storytelling, with a focus on characters and plot. So…pulpy? But try not to simply retell a classic monster story. Attempt something different or slightly off – i.e., if the storytelling is accessible and entertaining. Not open to socially/politically agenda-driven stories. Please limit vulgarities (no blasphemy or f-bombs).

Table of Contents: 12 to 15 stories – each about 4,000 words long – so a total of 50,000 to 75,000 words in the anthology with an introduction, author bios, and short intro/commentary to each story. May possibly include a guest column on the rise of interest in western horror.

Artwork: Each story will have an accompanying black and white illustration. The cover will feature a color illustration that screams Weird Wild West. May also create a postcard set of all illos. 

Format: Monster Fight at the O.K. Corral will be distributed as an e-book (all formats), paperback and limited edition hardback (to USA, may do limited foreign distribution). Three to six months after the Kickstarter Campaign concludes, the anthology will be sold to the general public through Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple, etc.*

Author Copies: Contributing authors will receive one complimentary paperback (I believe I’ll be able to ship to Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and UK), plus e-book and PDF. 

Copyright & Licensing: All authors retain the copyright to their story. With a one-time payment, I will purchase from the author the license to be the first to distribute his or her story in English throughout the world in an electronic and physical anthology (exclusive for nine months).* To clarify, I will only publish and distribute the author’s story within the proposed sword and sorcery anthology; after nine months, the author may resell the story elsewhere.  

*Note: Authors retain all other rights to their story including, but not limited to: reprint rights; various subsidiary rights such as movie, film, television, streaming, video, audio, social media, virtual reality, musical/dramatic/live performance, graphic novelization, and any other digital or physical formats that become available; as well as foreign and non-English translation rights, book club rights, and merchandizing rights.

*Note, continued: Once the author is paid following the Kickstarter Campaign, he or she acknowledges that I, as the publisher of the anthology, will market the anthology for profit and that no royalties will be distributed to the author on future sales of the anthology. The author will receive a one-time payment, thereby granting me a license (exclusive for nine months) to be the first to distribute his or her story in English throughout the world in this specific electronic and physical anthology.

Payment Proposal

Know this up front: Payment is dependent on the success of the Kickstarter Campaign. As funding increases, authors will earn additional bonus income. The following example is for illustrative purposes only and not an offer of payment or guarantee of reward.

Condition: The Kickstarter Campaign must end successfully and be fully funded for the author to receive payment (by end of March, 2023). If the campaign is unsuccessful, stories are returned and the licensing agreement between me as publisher and each author is terminated.

Payment: If the campaign is successful, each author will receive $40 for their 3,000 to 5,000 word story. (That’s a token rate. This anthology will not qualify as an SFWA market.) For every additional $1,000 raised beyond the target goal, each author could receive an additional $25 for their story.

For example: I might set the initial campaign target at $2,500. This will, I believe, cover the costs of artwork, editing, formatting, and mailing out the physical anthologies. If the campaign funds at $2,500, each author will receive $40 for their story. If the campaign raises $3,500, each author will receive an additional $25 for their story, and so on. 

Incentive Bonus: One of the features of Kickstarter Campaigns is the selection of add-ons that backers can purchase. I would like to make available a selection of novels by contributing authors as add-on buys. Funds earned by add-on purchases will go directly to the author.

For example: Say ‘Western Horror Author’ has a self-published novel called ‘Western Horror.’ The author allows me to sell it as an e-book to a backer as an ‘add-on’ for $5.00. When the campaign ends successfully, I will distribute these additional funds from novel sales to the author. Kickstarter’s spreadsheet is very clear as to what backers have purchased, so I’ll provide an accounting to every author involved in this incentive bonus plan.

Stretch Goals: Kickstarter has incentive or stretch goals for backers, so if the target of $2,500 is exceeded and funding hits $5,000 and then $7,500 and then $10,000 (for example), then backers receive something special beyond the tier they selected. These bonus rewards are yet TBD.

Submission Guidelines

I am accepting submissions now through December 31, 2022. 

Please only send an original, unpublished story (no reprints) of 4,000 words (firm range: 3k-5k).

No simultaneous submissions. I will personally respond within a few weeks to let you know if I would like to hold your story for consideration. I may request edits. I also reserve the right to edit your story; however, you will have the final approval of the finished draft. You may submit a second story before the deadline if your first story is not accepted.

Please use standard manuscript format (double-spaced, preferably Times New Roman) and send as a Word or RTF file attachment via email to me, Lyndon Perry, at [email protected] following this pattern in your subject line: Submission: Name of Story by Name of Author

Include within the email a 2 or 3 sentence cover letter with a bit of a story teaser (not a plot summary). Also, please provide a 2 or 3 sentence third person bio with a website or author link.

If your story is accepted, I will ask if you have any independently published novels that you would like to make available for sale as an ‘add-on’ so that you can earn extra income. Any earnings on your own e-books will go directly to you. Feel free to send any questions or comments my way. Thanks for your interest. – Lyndon Perry, Editor/Publisher, Tule Fog Press, October 11, 2022

Are you into cryptids and chaos, monsters and mayhem? Do you like your westerns wild and your barroom brawls filled with zombies, witches, and werewolves? Then get ready for a balls to the wall Monster Fight at the O.K. Corral!  This new antho will feature twelve exciting stories by both established and up-and-coming writers. E-book, paperback, and hardback initially available only via Kickstarter.

 

Submission Window is Open: All writers welcome. Accepting subs now through Dec 31, 2022. Looking for stories about 4,000 words in length (3k to 5k range) with enough action and horror to give the skeletons in your closet the shivers. Payment is $40 with bonus incentives; as well as a contributor paperback copy. Request complete writer’s guidelines from Lyn Perry at [email protected]. 

 

About the Editor: Lyndon Perry is a writer, editor, coffee drinker, and cat wrangler. His editing projects include While the Morning Stars Sing: An Anthology of Spiritually Infused Speculative Fiction; Residential Aliens Anthology, Volume 1; ResAliens Magazine and Tule Fog Tales. He also edited Milton J. Davis’s Changa’s Safari, Volumes 1 & 2. His most recent project is Swords & Heroes – An Anthology of Sword & Sorcery (coming January, 2023). 

Perry’s stories have appeared in a variety of venues, including Fangs and Broken Bones: A Feed Your Monster Anthology; EconoClash Review; When Your Beauty IS The Beast: Fairy Tale Anthology #1; Dragons: Cutter’s Final Cut Book 2; Feast of Fools – An Anthology of Sword & Sorcery and WOOL Gathering, a collection of ‘authorized’ fanfiction based on Hugh Howey’s World of Wool.