Deadline: October 31st, 2020
Payment: AUD .05 per word and a contributors copy
Theme: Holy war military horror.

What we want:
Military ACTION-BASED horror, themed around religion and/or religious-based conflict.
Think the Crusades, Europe’s Thirty Years War, The Troubles in Northern Ireland (but with unnatural monsters)… anything that can be considered a high-action monster story based around a conflict (overt or covert) of religion. For level of unnatural creature we will give priority to, think Dog Soldiers or Aliens. We want lots of monster goodness.
We will also be looking for soldiers, mercs, police, private security/paramilitary. Hell, even a group of bodyguards protecting some arsehole theocracy warlord in his jungle property.

Just ensure the action is central to the story, from start to finish, and don’t forget monsters!

This volume is like the previous volumes squared. All action.
We want extreme action, and it has to be military or paramilitary action.
And to say it again, full action. Nothing less. Hoo-rah!

We actively encourage submissions from all cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, and identities. Storytelling is for everyone, and we are richer for it when all voices are heard.

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SOME GUIDANCE –
IF YOU TAKE THIS PLOT PATH, IT BETTER BE DAMNED GOOD:

Modern America versus Muslim country war stories with religiosity at its core. These need to be extremely well-written to make it past the slush pile.

What we DO NOT WANT AT ALL, IN ANY FORM:

• Rape as a plot device/backstory
• White saviour stories
• Racism, bigotry, misogyny of any kind
• Child abuse/paedophilia (can’t believe we have to say this, but we do)
• Rape as a plot device/backstory (yes, we have to say this twice)
• Fanfiction or derivatives

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Edited by Amanda J Spedding and Geoff Brown
Payment: AUD5c/word and one contributor copy in each format released.
Wordcount range: 2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer)

Submissions open October 1st 2020.
Closing date is December 31st 2020
Anything submitted outside this period will be deleted without being read or replied to.

No selections will be made until after the period closes.

Projected publication date: Mid-2021

Please follow these guidelines when submitting to us:

Please put your full contact details and word count top left of the first page of the manuscript.
Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting.
Courier, Palatino Linotype, or Times New Roman set at 12pt.

Italics as they will appear.
No underlining.
Double spaced.

Please don’t use TAB or space bar to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only.
If unsure or using a program that has no styles, DO NOT indent at all. That’s still cool.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON STYLES.

NO SPACE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required. ONE SPACE after full stops.
Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important).

Send your submission to Geoff Brown at editor@cohesionpress.com as an attachment (.doc/.rtf only)

In the subject line of your email, please put Holy War: [STORY TITLE] (Replace [STORY TITLE] with your actual story title. Yes, unfortunately I do need to say this)
Example – Holy War: Theocracy

For file name, please use HolyWar_[Story Title]_[Your Surname]
Example – HolyWar_Theocracy_Brown

NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
NO REPRINTS

Please include a brief ‘hello, this is who I am’ in your email body as a cover letter.
Blank emails with attachments will be deleted.
For a guide to standard submission format, see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html

The only variations to this format are that italics MUST appear as they will be used – no underlining – and again, only one space after a full stop.

Anyone that fails to follow these guidelines will likely see their story pulped to make theocratic propaganda.

Via: Cohesion Press.