Dia de los Muertos has always been our favorite time of the year and was the theme of our very first anthology. We are revisiting that theme and are excited to be accepting submissions for a follow-up anthology due out in the fall.
We are looking for more stories about Dia de los
Muertos, that magical time when the dead can return. For many, this is a
time for celebration as we call our dead home—but there are those among us who
may find that this time is a reason to fear…
Given the rich imagery and ritual/symbolism surrounding this
particular holiday, there is a lot of room for creativity here. The subject
matter for this project is wide open—we like to give our authors room to
play—as long as it touches on the theme. We want you to scare us, to break
our hearts, to leave us wanting more... We will accept fantasy, horror, magic
realism, literary, and even the darkly humorous. We love quirky characters and
stories written from unusual perspectives… please send us your best.
As you know, our tastes run dark but what’s most important
to us is a good story; one that we want to read again and again. As we’ve
said before, we’re not afraid of sex or violence (not even a bit) as long as it
is important to the tale. We aren’t a fan of the gross, however, and we
don’t love gore for the sake of gore. There really needs to be a point.
Need more information about the theme? There are a ton
of sites on the internet to help you out. Here are just two that
discuss this holiday, its rituals and customs to help get you started:
This is important, as we have been receiving too many off-topic stories. Just because there is a dead person in your story—or a zombie, or magical murder, etc.—does not mean it fits the theme. Please familiarize yourself with the celebration of Dia de los Muertos before writing/submitting your story.
How to Submit:
Please send your 1000-5000 word stories as black-and-white
12 pt. easily readable font (.rtf file) to muertosantho at
elektrikmilkbathpress dot com. The majority of the stories we choose tend to
fall in the 2000-5000 word range but if you know us you know we’re pretty
flexible with word count, as long as we enjoy the read. Preference will be
given to original stories but we have been known to take a reprint or two… just
query.
Make sure you include all your contact details with your
submission: Name, pseudonym (if applicable), address and contact
info. We would hate to fall in love with your story and not be able to
tell you so.
Also, please let us know if the story is an original and
include the approximate word count, as well as a short bio of about 50 words.
We want to know all about you—we’re nosy like that.
Finally, please include the word “submission” in your
subject line so that your lovely efforts aren’t eaten by our
junk-monster. Much good work has been destroyed this way and we’d hate to
see it happen to yours.
What happens next:
We hope to send responses within a 6-8 week period. Response times can grow
longer as we receive more stories, but we do respond to every submission and we
will try to update our Facebook page, Twitter, and the website as frequently as
possible. If you haven’t heard from us and it has been awhile, please
feel free to query.
We are offering a one-time payment of $30 and a contributor
copy in return for non-exclusive rights. Authors who are selected will
receive a contract.
Books will be available for purchase through multiple online
venues including our website, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com and authors
wishing to purchase additional copies will be able to do so at a discount.
Submissions will close on September 25 or when
filled.
Any questions? Something we forgot? Feel free to
query.
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