The Christmas Book of Ghosts is a not for profit, Kindle
ebook anthology, for which all proceeds will go to Chest Heart and StrokeScotland.
What it’s About
-
Ghosts, mainly.
-
Specifically, the type of ghost story one might
have found in the old Fontana Book of Ghosts Series that Mary Danby edited in
the 1970s. If you never read those, think M.R James, A.M. Burrage, Rosemary
Timperley, that kind of a thing. In a modern light, Peter Tremayne is a good
example. But really, we’ll know the type of story when we see it.
What We Want
-
Stories that involve a ghost, from around 1000
to 7000 words. The word limits are loose though, and designed as a guideline
rather than a fast rule. Despite that, please do not send twenty thousand word
pieces. As entertaining as the piece might be, that is a novella and we are the
wrong audience.
-
Whilst the story may involve a ghost, the ghost
need not be central to the story. And it can be any kind of ghost, Ringu, The
Stone Tape, The Canterville Ghost and Robert Howards Man on the Ground are all
ghost stories, after all, but each have a different outlook.
What We Don’t Want!
-
No rape or child abuse stories, please.
-
This isn’t really the outlet for stories with
lots of gratuitous sex or gore.
-
No fan fic. Not even for characters out of
copyright
-
Nothing that isn’t original to the writer.
Who We Want
-
You!
-
Any writer is welcome to submit, from the first
time submission to the long time pro.
What We Offer
-
The hearty warm glow of helping out a charity.
-
The editor makes no money from this book. The
contributors make no money from the book. There isn’t a free copy.
-
Previous books in this field have raised between
£400 and several thousand for the charities for their choice. That’s what we’re
in this for. [And to unleash some great ghost stories into the world while
we’re at it.]
Deadline
-
30th September 2015
-
I will try to send out a confirmation email that
I received your story within a week of receiving it, Acts of Toddler
notwithstanding. Once you have received the confirmation email, I shall read
your story, so there is no need to email back asking if I’ve lost it, or been
eaten by a crocodile. Acceptances or rejections should be received by all
submissions by the end of October 2015.
Submissions
-
Please email stories within the body of the
email to michaelthepoet (at) hotmail (dot) com. Please do not send attachments,
they have a habit of dying on hotmail so won’t be read. Which would be a shame
if you sent in the finest ghost story since Dickens.
-
As stories will be within email, not attached,
don’t worry about standard MS. It’ll be changed to that for reading purposes
anyhow.
-
No simultaneous submissions, please.
-
Reprints are tentatively OK. If you have the
rights to reprinting it! (Which you will know, not this humble editor!) I have
no issue with printing a good story previously published, but point out where
it was printed previously and if the full reprint rights are available.
-
No plagiarism. A mediocre or inexperienced
writer (and that will be the only reference to this two ego destroying terms)
may improve with time, and should be encouraged to do so. A cheat will be
remembered for life, and actively shunned.
-
Responses would love to be analytical, but may
need to be form replies due to time.
Submission Fees?
-
Don’t be daft!
-
No, seriously, never submit to an editor who
asks for a reading fee. It’s invariably a scam. And writers tend to be poor
enough as it stands.
Best wishes, I look forward to reading your submissions!
Michael.
No comments:
Post a Comment