HAUNTED BY THE PAST is a special project for me and a labor of love. I remember as a child making my way around the local bookstore's stacks trying to find used horror anthologies. For a good hour, I would scan through the books, browsing the collection's authors, and feel the rush of excitement when I found an unfamiliar story.
As my taste became more refined, I learned to target particular authors so I can pick collections that had a few of their stories, and use it as a gauge for the unfamiliar authors. This opened me up to reading stories that I would have otherwise passed over.
As an "adult" (cough), my collection seems to have grown uncontrollably and I see no chance of reading them all any time soon. So yeah, great to have the money to buy a book when I want but this "adulting" thing is interfering with my reading time. But this nostalgia is the driving force for this 'ghostly' project.
Anyways, here you go...
Tacitus Publishing's 2015 anthology project is - HAUNTED BY THE PAST. We are looking for short fiction (1,500 to 5,000 words) that pays tribute to some of the past greats - M. R. James, Algernon Blackwood, Sheridan Le Fanu. The story should be a ghost story that carries the tone, stylistic language, and/or classic story structure. We are not interested in overwhelming gore or mature content. This should be an original piece of work.
Submission process:
There are two options, either using the submission form on the
website or sending an email. For either choice, we ask that you attach the
story as an rtf (rich text format) file.
email:
submission(at)tacituspublishing.com
subject line should read: Haunted Anthology
(This maybe pushing it based on the possibility of being
overwhelmed, but we may offer quick critiques or suggestions to submitters in
our responses. Tacitus Publishing wants
to continue with its writer-friendly approach by offering any small amount of
assistance we can.)
Cover letter and quick biography:
Please put the cover letter in the body of the form or email. The structuring of the letter should include
-
- your name
- contact info - address, phone, email
- title of the story
- a one sentence summary of your story
- word count
- brief bio and quick list of published work
Submission format:
We are not concerned with the overall format of the body of your
work but do ask for some page formatting to assist our reviewing process. Please add to each page -
- top left - author's name
- top right - title
- bottom - page number
Simultaneous and multiple submissions:
We will not accept simultaneous submissions. We will accept
multiple submissions if you have received a rejection notice concerning your
first submission and the call has not closed, but request that you submit no
more than two stories.
Timetable:
Open for submissions - May 1st, 2015
Closed for submissions - August 31st, 2015
Projected completion and published: 1st Quarter 2016
Payment:
We pay 1 cent USD per
word. We also provide a complimentary electronic version of the book to each
contributor.
Production:
In the interest of the
story building and the publishing process, there is the possibility of minor
editorial changes to accepted stories. Understand though, the submission is
expected to be a polished and proofread product.
Rights:
Tacitus
Publishing asks for First Exclusive Worldwide publishing rights for the term of
one year as well as non-exclusive reprint rights thereafter.
