EPISTOLARY ZOMBIE ANTHOLOGY:
Zombie enthusiasts Angel from Voices From the Mausoleum, and Cat Voleur, are teaming up to bring you collected notes from beyond the grave.
DEADLINE:
Feb 1st (2024)
WORDCOUNT:
1.5 – 5k
PAYMENT:
$15 flat rate
WHAT THEY'RE SEEKING:
We are looking for epistolary zombie stories covering journals, letters, and logs. We’ll also be considering any and all found file formats you can think of. Twitter threads that chronicle the initial outbreaks. Written instructions for how to achieve basic household tasks without getting turned. Medical reports that suggest the next strain of the virus is already on its way.
More than anything, we want to be surprised. We’re absolutely hoping for one or two stories in formats we’ve never seen before to round out our classic epistolary offerings.
While some traditional prose is okay, the majority of your story (read as 80% or more) should be in epistolary format. (And preference may well be given to stories that are 100% epistolary.)
PLEASE DON'T SEND:
Stories that are not epistolary
Stories that are not about zombies
Erotica
Comedy (The occasional bit of gallows humor or light satirical elements may slip through, but this is a horror anthology. If your story is made to make people laugh more than scare them, this is not the home for it.)
Nothing racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/etc. Bigoted characters are fine (we’d love to see a few of those get eaten) but we won’t be accepting stories with harmful takeaways.
This should go without saying, but we’re going to say it, NO AI GENERATED STORIES. We will blacklist you if you submit a story that you did not write.
REPRINTS: NO
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: YES
We are allowing simultaneous submissions BUT please tell us in your cover letter if it’s being considered elsewhere, and please let us know as soon as possible if you have a piece accepted elsewhere or otherwise need to withdraw it from consideration.
MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: YES
Slots for this anthology are very limited. We’ll only be publishing twelve stories, including the two we are contributing, so that’s only ten acceptance.
We’ll read up to three stories from a single writer, but will not be accepting more than one piece per author. Please submit all your pieces in the same email if submitting multiples.
EXTRA INFORMATION:
We are accepting stories from all voices. We’re a very queer project, and are not interested in excluding any voices based on sex, gender, orientation, or background.
We also won’t be giving preferential treatment to established writers. We will be looking only at the quality and thematic relevance of the stories. As such, we welcome and encourage submissions from writers with few or no publication credits.
FORMATTING GUIDELINES:
We ask that you put the title of the piece and your name/pen name at the top so we can easily track submissions. Otherwise…
As long as the story is legible and coherent, go crazy. Have fun. We’re not going to tell you how to format your found file piece if you’re wanting to send us something really ambitious. This is your greenlight to go for it.
We ask that you keep fiction in a .doc or .docx file. If you need to send us images, we ask for .jpg or .png.
If there is something else you think we might be interested in that we have not listed, or you have other questions, please feel free to query.
SUBMITTING:
All submissions should be sent to leftynosubmissions@gmail.com
We are not super picky about cover letters, which can be addressed to Angel, Cat, Editors, etc. We do however ask that you follow the guidelines listed below to help us keep track of your submission:
Please email us with the subject SUBMISSION: [Title] – Author Name(Example: SUBMISSION: Wet Paper Over Sharp Bones – Cat Voleur)
Include your cover letter in the body of the email with any information you’d like us to know about you, your piece, relevant trigger warnings, etc.
Please remember to tell us if what you’re submitting is a simultaneous submission.
Don’t forget to attach your work as a .doc or .docx file, along with a short, third person author bio.
ESTIMATED RESPONSE TIME:
All submissions will receive a receipt that we have received your submission within twenty-four hours. (If you do not receive this receipt after 48 hours please query so that we can ensure your submission has been received.)
We will not be sending any acceptances/rejections until after the submission window has closed.
RIGHTS REQUESTED:
We ask for Worldwide First Publication Rights, and 6 Month Exclusivity following the publication of the anthology. Exceptions will be made for “Best of” considerations upon request if the anthology is credited as the initial publisher.