Anyone who has been a part of publishing knows the whole “hurry up and wait” thing that happens. Tight deadlines drop right before months of radio silence, and then all of a sudden it’s back to “I need this yesterday.” It’s just a part of the way things work, and as much as you try to balance everything, it always seems to land just so.
Case in point? This week. I’ve been working on the final edits for Exit Plans for Teenage Freaks, and it’s been a total joy. And the proofs for Of Echoes Born are landing in my in-box at the same-time. They’re both due pretty much beside each other.
So, of course, I caught a cold.
Whee!
I’m excited for both. I’m so happy they’re going to both drop this year (June and December), and it’ll be fine. But as I blow my nose and cough and work my way through each book line by line, there’s a part of me chuckling at the timing of it all.
Upcoming Appearance!
The 9th Annual Bold Strokes U.K. Book Festival has been announced (click the link for more details) and I’ll be there! Check it out, especially those of you in the U.K.
Submit, submit, submit…
I fell behind on my submission goals of once a month thanks to vacation, sickness, and this lovely new cold, but I’ll get there. I’ve got a piece I’m working on for this month, and another to play catch-up. But right now my yearly total remains: January: 1 submission (a reprint); February: 1 rejection.
Open Calls for Submission
I also try to list off calls for submission I find (and find tempting) every week on Writing Wednesdays, so without further ado:
- Chicken Soup for the Soul—Various titles, various themes, various deadlines, 1,200 word count limit.
- Mischief Corner Books—Open to submissions for various themes, including Legendary Love, Everyday Heroes, Cowboys and Space; these are open rolling calls, so no deadline.
- NineStar Press—Open to submissions for various length prose, paranormal, science fiction, fantasy and horror; Click “Currently Seeking” header for details; word count limit variable.
- Spectrum Lit—This is an ongoing Patreon flash fic provider, 1,500 hard word count limit; LGBTQ+ #ownvoice only; ongoing call.
- What’s Your Sign?—JMS; Looking for queer astrological-based romances; 12k words or more; Deadline March 31st, 2018.
- Impact—QSF’s annual flash fiction contest, this year the theme is “impact.” No more than 300 words; Deadline April 1st, 2018.
- Tru-Romance: Love in the Age of PrEP—Beautiful Dreamer Press; stories involving the impact the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis regimen has on the standard model of romance fiction; 4,000 to 7,000 word count limit; deadline April 15th, 2018.
- Lost—NineStar Press. LGBTQIA+ romantic pairing. Both HEA and HFN are acceptable, Click “Lost” header for the theme. 30k to 120k word count limit; deadline April 30th, 2018.
- Happiness in Numbers—Less than Three Press; Polyamorous LGBTQIA+ anthology, non-erotic polyamorous stories that explore the idea of “Family”; 10k to 20k word count limit; deadline April 30th, 2018.
- MLR Press—Quite a few different themes are open; 10k to 40k word count limit; deadlines vary, but the earliest right now is April 30th, 2018.
- Artefacts and Alchemy—Edge Books; Tesseracts 22 is doing a historical magical realism theme; 5k word count limit; deadline May 15th, 2018.
'Nathan Burgoine 