Taking Submissions: Springtime Fair

Deadline: January 20th, 2025
Payment: 2 cents per word, 1 cent per word for reprints
Theme: Stories that center around a craft, recipe, or ritual AND each author will provide a set of instructions to make/enact the craft, recipe, or ritual that was featured in their story
Note: This is a vegan magazine. They will not generally publish mentions of leather/animal-products, meat/animal consumption, etc. and will request that they be changed to a vegan alternative during the edit process
Note: Reprints welcome

Reading periods/When to send

Submissions are currently open. They will close on .

About the Anthology

Welcome to the Hearth Stories Springtime Fair! In this anthology we will be featuring stories that center around a craft, recipe, or ritual (see below for specifics). In addition to the story, each author will provide a set of instructions to make/enact the craft, recipe, or ritual that was featured in their story. The idea is that this will let readers enjoy a great story while also learning something and engaging with the story in an interesting way. The story and the instructions should be firmly related (not just a random thing to make, paired with a random story).

So, what are we talking about when we talk about crafts, recipes, and rituals? Here are some examples, but you are by no means limited to these:

Crafts
Crochet, Knitting, Sewing, Weaving, Macrame
Basketry
Woodworking
Smithing
Jewelry Making
Recipes (Vegan Only)
Baking (bread, pastry, etc)
Cooking (soups, sides, mains)
Remedies, Medicines, Tinctures
Rituals
Magic or Spellcraft
Meditation
Yoga, Qi-Gong, Tai-Chi, etc.
Ceremonies

When using the above suggestions keep in mind that you can be very specific—a specific knitting pattern, for example—or you can be fairly general—an introduction to knitting, for example. Either is fine. For the most part we are looking for something fairly brief, but still actionable. In most cases the instructions should be shorter than the story. The submitting author needs to have the rights to use the instructions (you cannot just grab a pattern for something off the internet and call it yours without legal risk; the contract has a section where you will affirm you have the right to license the work you are submitting for publication).

What to send

We are looking for a story that is accompanied by some form of tutorial, lesson, pattern, recipe, etc. (later referred to as your instructional section) that is relevant to the theme and relates to the specific story you are submitting. The expectation is that if you send, for example, a recipe… that recipe should have been used by characters in the story. Ideally, it would be a/the major focus of the story.

Written Content To Send
The story itself, which must feature a major element or plot relating to the theme
An instructional that is on theme and goes with your specific story. This should allow a reader to create/enact the thing featured in your story if the steps are followed
A third person bio
Word Count Range
1,000–5,000 words
Word count includes your instructional section
Genre(s)
All generes should take place in largely pre/non-industrial settings
Fantasy
Literary Fiction
Romance
Historical Fiction or Alternate History
Submission Types
Reprints are acceptable, but you will need to add/include the instructional section
Translations will not be accepted
Simulateneous submissions are great (so long as the submission to us includes the instructional section)
Multiple submissions will not be accepted unless specifically requested by the publisher via e-mail
AI/LLM/Generative-Software aided/written material will not be accepted (and the contract will have a stipulation stating as much)
English, or a version of English that would be at least semi-comprehensible to modern English speakers (Middle English, strongly-dialectical English, a made up form of English unique to your story/world), should be the written language of all submitted content

Things/styles we are looking for

  • Cozy, sweet, cute, kind, hopeful, and romantic stories (especially, but not limited to, queer romance)
  • Rural/pastoral life, village fairs/festivals, herb gathering, traditional crafts (sewing, weaving, spinning), and song (include lyrics or sheetmusic if you have them)
  • Works that take place in nature, wooded spaces, mountains, and fields, stories that feel like spring (or, really, involve or evoke any seasons in a meaningful way)
  • Stories involving hermits, issolated places, cottages, or wandering in the woods
  • Medievalism, peasant life, arthurian-style settings and stories (without the war and combat), chivalry
  • Witches, paganism, magic

More generally, we are wanting the small adventures of daily life rather than adventures with swords, conflict, etc.

Note: We are a vegan magazine. We will not generally publish mentions of leather/animal-products, meat/animal consumption, etc. and will request that they be changed to a vegan alternative during the edit process (if a story is accepted with these things present). This includes the instructional section of your submission. If you have questions about what is or is not deemed acceptible under this policy, please reach out and ask. There are situations in which this pseudo-rule can bend a bit, but they are difficult to enumerate.

What not to send

Please review the what to send section, as it is a better guiding light for what we are looking for than a list of negatives. However, there are a few specific things we do not want:

  • Works featuring violence, threat of violence, war, military themes, weapons, killing, or combat
  • Modern-ish technology. If your story has a cell phone, car, spaceship, electricity, etc. it will be an automatic pass from us
  • Dragons and unicorns are very very hard sells for us, especially as point of view characters. Please do not send them, unless the story just features them as a minor background element
  • Non-vegan content (leather, eating animals, etc). If you are unsure about whether something is vegan or not, go ahead and submit, but know that we may request things be removed or changed during editing if the story is accepted

Pay scale

For our anthologies we offer double our regular rate. 2¢ per word will be paid out for accepted stories. The instructional section counts toward the word count, but should not be intentionally padded (please, we do not charge for the magazine and make no profit from it whatsoever). We would love to be able to offer more, but we are not bringing in any money to offset the cost and the given amounts are what we, as individuals, can bear financially to support authors while continuing to release the magazine.

Reprints are paid at half the rate of 1st publication stories. As such, reprints will be paid out at 1¢ per word.

How to format your submission

We do not accept hard-copy manuscripts. As such, you will be sending a digital file. Here are our preferences in that regard:

  • Please include, at a minimum, your e-mail address and the word count at the top of the manuscript
  • Send the file as: rtf, doc, docx, odt, or md
  • Use any font and font size you like (we will adjust to our preferences anyway)
  • Please include the story and the instructional section in a single document. The 3rd person bio should go in your submission e-mail (but we won’t disqualify you if it accidentally ends up at the end or beginning of your document as well).

Where to send

Write to us at [email protected] with the following:

  • The subject will follow this format (do not include the quotes and brackets, they are solely there to help define the format): “HS Anthology Submission: [Story Name] [Word Count]
  • The file, formatted as described above, will be attached to the e-mail (we do not accept links to files)
  • The e-mail body will include, at a minimum, the author’s name and a short, 3rd person, author bio
  • The e-mail body will not include a synopsis of the story being submitted
  • The e-mail body will not have the story or the instructional pasted into it

Failure to submit in the above format will result in your story being passed on unread. We regret having to institute a format like this, but to combat a massive amount of spam we have received we want to know that folks at least took the time to look at these submission guidelines. If you have any trouble or you e-mailed and forgot to follow one of these items: reach out and let us know. We’re happy to work with you. Mostly we just want people to have read the guidelines. We value your time and want to read your work and appreciate you taking the time to submit to Hearth Stories: Spring Fair.

What next?

We will e-mail you to confirm that we have received your piece. We will also be in touch by e-mail to let you know if we are passing on your piece, moving your piece to a further reading round, or interested in accepting your piece for publicaion. Unfortunately, we will no longer be maintaining a checkable reading queue. If you do not get an e-mail confirmation that we received your story within two weeks of sending: please reach out and check with us.

We do ask that you notify us if you have placed your submission elsewhere under a contract that would prevent it from being featured in Hearth Stories. In such a case, please include the word “ANTHOLOGY WITHDRAWN” in the subject line.

If your submission is deemed a good fit, an offer e-mail will be sent out. Then suggested edits may be worked through, contract will be signed, and payments will be sent. Nice and simple. Then, at the appointed time, the issue/anthology containing your work will be released. Your name (as author of the work), the story, a copyright notice assigned to you (as author of the given work) will all be included in the issue.

Via: Hearth Stories.

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