Deadline: December 15th, 2018
Payment: $0.06/word and 2 contributor’s copies

This anthology offers new, vividly futuristic adventures featuring diverse characters, including humans from all over Earth as well as ET kids from other planets. One of the qualities that makes this yearly anthology such a treat to read is the wide range of futuristic possibilities that planet Earth and its occupants may encounter, realities that will keep readers wondering long after the book is closed. ~ Starred Kirkus Review for the 2018 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide

WE’RE LOOKING FOR STORIES THAT:

• Have a main character that a middle grade reader (ages 8-12) can identify with;
• Show a diverse set of real characters;
• Are well written, fun to read, and encourage a love of reading science fiction;
• Tell of adventure, space, science.  Give us rockets, robots and alien encounters, and we’re pretty happy; Steampunk, time travel, weird west and alternate history are all fine;
• Are between 3,000 and 6,000 words.

To be super clear – we’re looking science fiction, in all its variants. While we love fantasy as well, please don’t submit fantasy stories for this anthology.

We’re especially looking for stories:

• Of adventure!  We love a good dystopia as much as the next robot, but remember – this is the Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide;
• Where the main character is of a population that has traditionally been under-represented in science fiction, e.g. girls, people of color, differently abled people;
• Where the main character has agency, exercises it, and isn’t just along for the ride.

We are strong supporters of both the #weneeddiversebooks and #ownvoices movements.

 

We’re not interested in:

• Stories where the female characters primarily exist to be rescued or as a prize for the males;
• Stories where the primary plot or subplot is romantic in nature;
• Stories with graphic violence or any form of sexual activity;
• Stories with any violence towards animals;
• Stories about the first girl to do X, surprising everyone;
• Stories that depict any ethnicity or gender as universally bad or stupid.

Please note:  although we’re aware kids have a wide and varied vocabulary, we’d prefer not to have swearing in the stories. If your story has swearing, please rephrase before submitting.

Submission deadline, mechanics and planned schedule:

• Anthology will be open for submissions from July 15, 2018 – December 15, 2018, with a reading period of January and February 2019.
• We read blind. Please do not put identifying information on your manuscript. We’ll track it by the form information.
• While we prefer original stories, if you have something perfect that had a limited run elsewhere, query us and we’ll talk;
• Acceptance notices will be sent by March 30, 2019;

Rights and Payments:

• Authors will be provided with a complete Anthology Contract for review and consideration with the notice of accepted submissions. Click here for a sample contract.
• In keeping with SWFA’s guidelines, we pay $0.06/word on final edited word count for one-year exclusive worldwide English rights and  nonexclusive right to republish, print, or reprint the complete anthology in any language or format after the first year, print and electronic, and two contributor copies. Payment upon final edit.
• We will provide professional editing, primarily for issues of grammar and spelling.
• If authors have other questions about rights or payments, please contact us before submission. We want to make sure all concerns are addressed.

More questions?  Check the full description page for last year’s anthology here. Have more questions? Contact us!

Via: Dreaming Robots Press.