CALLIHOO Newsletter ----------------------------------------------------------------- Market News for Writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Vol. 7 No. 32 Editor: Julia West February 1, 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Web page: http://www.sff.net/people/julia.west/CALLIHOO/index.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS E-CALLIHOOt M. Shayne Bell has a story on the SFWA Nebula Preliminary Ballot--"Lock Down." It's available for reading on his website, www.mshaynebell.com/. Make an effort to find it-- it's well worth the read. Shayne also has a story, "Homeless, With Aliens," in the March 2000 =Science Fiction Age= (currently on the stands). Congratulations! * * * E-CALLIHOOt Brian Plante sold a story to the SFF.NET anthology, =The Age Of Wonders=. * * * The next CALLIHOO writing challenge (due May Day) is writing a story having to do with fleeing (could be specifically fleeing the law). * * * Reminder: The Dare to Be Bad challenge begins February 16th and runs through February 21st. DEADLINES Check out the CALLIHOO website, listed above, for more information on these contests, magazine issues, and anthologies. (Where it says "GLs in Vol. X No. Y," these are volume and issue of the CALLIHOO newsletter.) Salivan Short Story Contest, deadline 28 Feb 00. [Canadian, =no entry fee=, SF/F, H or romance, to 6000 wds, $50 prize in each of 3 cats. (GLs in Vol 7 No. 31)] =The Age of Wonders= SFF.NET anthology, open 1 Jan-1 Mar 2000 or until full (the two earlier ones filled up FAST). [Near-future SF about interface between human and machine. Pays 8 cents/wd. (max. $400) on accept., no reprints, query for over 5000 wds, E- mail subm okay. (GLs in Vol. 7 No. 25)] =Writers of the Future=, 2nd quarter 2000, deadline 31 March 2000 [$1000 first, $750 2nd, $500 3rd place. No entry fee. L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest, P.O. Box 1630-JBW, Los Angeles, CA 90078. (GLs in Vol. 6, No. 10)] Starlight 3= anthology, deadline "late spring 2000". [SF/F, pays 7-1/2 cents/wd., no upper word limit, (GLs in Vol. 6, No. 38)] =The Doom of Camelot= anthology from Green Knight Publishing, deadline 21 April 2000. [Arthurian stories, 3-7,000 wds, pays 3-5 cents/wd., pays shortly after accept. No E-mail subm. (GLs in Vol. 7 No. 29).] =The Darker Side of Eternity, Volume II=, contest deadline 1 May 2000. [contest/print antho, H (SF/F elements okay) stories. Must be member of World Horror Convention. Submit to 2500 wd and/or to 10,000 wd stories. 1st prize (short) $100, (long) $300. Runners-up 3 cents/wd. Pays on pub. No reprints or E- mail subm. (GLs in Vol. 7 No. 24)] =On Spec= Theme Issue ("World Beat") deadline 31 Aug 2000. [Canadian print mag, prefers Canadian authors, theme of non-North American-based (different cultures) SF/F/H to 5000 wds, pays $50- $180C on accept., no reprints, faxed, or E-mail subs. (GLs in Vol. 7 No. 31.)] =Byline= genre fiction contest, deadline September 5, 2000. [Short story that fits category: romance, sci-fi, confession, mystery, western, etc. No children's stories. 5,000 words max. =Entry fee $5=. Prizes: $50, $30, $15.] ANTHOLOGY =Alsirat= [Online H antho, 2000-5000 wds, pays $25/story or group of poems (posted for 3 months). E-mail subm. only. Reprints okay.] Editor, Joel GAzix-SAX. http://www.alsirat.com/alsirat/index.html CIRCULATION: 10,000 hits/month. STORIES Stories should run 2000 to 5000 words maximum and be sent in ASCII format. POEMS Poets should send from five to ten poems in a set. PAYMENT The editor pays $25 for each story or group of poems purchased. This gives him the right to feature the story in the anthology for three months. He plans to purchase one story/poem cycle each month. By accepting this payment, the writer keeps copyright, but allows the editor to accrue advertising revenues. The writer also agrees to withhold the story from submission for the duration of the story's run in =Alsirat=. BRIEF STYLE GUIDE 1. The header should include the title of the piece, your name, your email address, your homepage address, and copyright information. The word ALSIRAT should appear in the subject line. 2. Do not use tabs. Separate paragraphs with blank lines. 3. Use the following conventions to indicate special formatting: * - bullet ~ - beginning and end of italics + - beginning and end of bold (1) - Footnotes Use caps to indicate caps ===== - horizontal rule 4. Do not send uuencoded, MS-Word, or other special texts. All texts must be in ASCII format. 5. Special note for poetry: For the header, simply put Poems as the title. Submit several poems at a time when possible. Put the title of each piece at the head of the poem. Format poetry ~exactly~ as you want it to appear in the magazine (tabs and all!) 6. Send photographs separately as uuencoded files or attachments. Include captions with photographs. Include name of photographer and copyright information. BROADER GUIDELINES 1. Due to site restrictions, =Alsirat= cannot accept material of a strictly adult nature. Please do not contribute erotica. 2. Our principle focus is horror. What you write should scare you and our readers. Please avoid gratuitous violence, racial, and sexual stereotyping. The editor will look with favor on submissions which tell a good story and evoke vivid imagery and characterizations. 3. Our authors retain the copyright for their contributions to =Alsirat=. The editor buys the exclusive right to the story or poetry cycle for three months. 4. Unlike many modern publishing houses, =Alsirat= does not eschew the use of archaic and obscure terminology as long as they are used correctly. Please be prepared to cite a definition and a source for any unusual words you may use. 5. Story contributors are urged to study horror classics (e.g. Wollstonecraft-Shelley, Poe, Lovecraft, Dunsany, Bloch, Campbell, King) and reminded to develop their own voice. Write about things and places you know about, either through first hand personal experience or oneirological experience or careful research. Be horrific, not disgusting. 6. Artwork must be in .gif or .jpg format. UUencoded submissions may be sent by email. You may also send material by anonymous ftp. Contributors may place their artwork at an Web or ftp site if they wish. Please give the editor the full site information for retrieving the material. 7. Writers and artists should avoid the use of trademarks and respect copyright laws. 8. Reviews should run between 500 and 1000 words. Preference is given to thoughtful and informative reviews. Flames should be avoided. Permission should be obtained before submitting illustrations, photographs or news clips from reviewed materials. 9. Writers may send their contributions by email to gazissax@best.com. SOME GOOD REFERENCE BOOKS The following reference books are of general usefulness to writers: * Any good dictionary * Roget's Thesaurus * A good etymological dictionary * The Oxford English Dictionary (complete) * Microsoft Bookshelf * U.S. Copyright Basics available by anonymous ftp from wiretap.spies.com (look in the /Gov/Copyright subdirectory) * Brad Templeton's FAQ =10 Big Myths about Copyright explained= available from brad@clari.net Of general utility to horror writers are: * H.P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" in =Dagon and other Macabre Tales= * Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable * Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God FAQ AND ANSWERS FROM THE EDITOR You said "Write about what you know about." How am I to do that if my subject matter is horror? Poe was never tortured by the Spanish Inquisition, Wollstonecraft-Shelley never made a golem, and Lovecraft never travelled to Paris to hear the music of Eric Zann. Yet all three of them succeeded in creating realistic and frightening evocations of these alien experiences. Each knew what frightened her or him. This is the key to good horror writing. Your readers expect you to tell a story that does not easilly fall apart. You have available to you many sources of horror. First, you can set your stories in a town like the one you live in. Walk around and discover some of the dark places in your neighborhood. Make notes and save them for a time when you might use them in a story. Second, you can use your dreams, especially your nightmares. Third, you can attempt to visualize a fearsome situation. You've never been bit by a vampire? Close your eyes for a moment and visualize the fiend clamping its fangs down on your jugular vein. Is it painful? Pleasurable in a disturbing sort of way? Does it crush your windpipe? Break your neck? Do you pass into a deep sleep? Observe what you know. Fourth, we all have unique life histories of pain and fear. Draw upon these. When I wrote up the home page for this magazine, I drew on the memory of a disturbing epigram which we used to tell in junior high school. Definition of pain: sliding down a fifty foot razor blade. It still makes me scream inside to think about that one. Finally, don't be afraid to use a reference book or two. You can find a lot of information out there to lend your stories more atmosphere. Explore and absorb it until it is yours. How can I be original? I think the question you should be asking is how can I be entertaining and still be true to myself? Frankly, I have a philistine purpose in mind: I want people to enjoy reading the magazine. Horror readers expect to be scared. If you want to impress them, create an unexpected, unsettling image or use a stock piece in a new way. The best way to be original is to know yourself and to talk about things in your own voice. You will impress others by using some of the old tricks and throwing in a few new elements. Don't be too hard on yourself while you are writing the first draft. Let it come out. Work it over a couple of more times and then send it on to me. I'll give you my honest opinion. And if I don't like it, remember: you are not through as a writer unless you stop writing. How do I get started? I suggest you sit down and write a little everyday. I keep a journal with me in which I keep notes as they pop into my mind. Often, I write large fragments for stories or articles in it. Then I set myself a deadline -- write this piece by . . . . And I meet the deadline by drawing on those notes. In 1992, I journeyed to former Yugoslavia to witness the war in Croatia first hand. Once a week, I emailed articles back to the United States from where they were redistributed to various newsgroups. I kept notes in a notebook which I carried everywhere. Then when it came time to write, I sat down and worked from the notebook, adding in those details which leapt out at me as I wrote. The notebook is what mattered. Yes. I realize that a writer usually has a stable of pieces. Go ahead and send me anything you wish to see in print. Please, though, don't submit something that you have submitted recently elsewhere. And please don't post submissions to USENET groups while they are appearing in the magazine or under consideration. Can I submit previously published material? Yes. But it cannot appear anywhere else during the three month run of the piece. I pay for an "exclusive". I am sympathetic towards starting writers and poets who need all the exposure they can get. I don't mind if the piece you submit was previously printed elsewhere (as long as you own the copyright and respect other magazines' contractual agreements) and I don't mind if you submit or post it elsewhere afterwards. What if I have other questions? Send me mail at gazissax@best.com. Updated Friday, August 06, 1999 11:14:57 PM [http://www.alsirat.com/alsirat/alsirat1.html] MARKET GUIDELINES =Deadbolt= [Quarterly small press print mag, pays 1/4 cent/wd for H/DF stories to 4000 wds. No reprints or E-mail subm.] Editor: Jim Lay Deadbolt Magazine PMB #345 448 North Cedar Bluff Road Knoxville, TN 37923-3612 Queries only: jimlay@deadboltpress.com http://home.att.net/~jimdouglaslay/index.htm =Deadbolt= is looking for character driven stories with a dark element. Ideally, we'd like to see stories reminiscent of those in Stephen King's =Night Shift= or Robert R. McCammon's =Blue World=. Give us believable characters confronted by dark or supernatural forces. Not enthusiastic about overworked themes such as vampires. Also not impressed by excessive gore unless it's necessary to the story in some way. We highly recommend that interested contributors purchase a sample copy of the magazine to see what =Deadbolt= is all about. A sample issue won't set you back much and you'll be supporting a paying market for authors just like YOURSELF. If nothing else, you'll end up with a great publication that's quickly gaining a reputation as one of the premier horror magazines in the small press. Don't miss out. * Word-length: 4000 words max. * Pays 1/4 cent per word plus 1 contributor copy for FNASR*. * Submissions by snail mail only. (No e-mail submissions, please.) * Must include SASE, unless your manuscript is disposable and you would like your response by e-mail. (This is the easiest and most convenient way for both parties.) * Please include a coversheet with a quick bio and e-mail address if available. * Allow 4 - 6 weeks for a response. * All submitted works must be an original work of fiction and cannot have been published previously. (Unless approved in advance by the editor.) (* First North American Serial Rights (FNASR) is defined as the right to publish a story, article, or poem for the first time in a periodical within North America. This means that the story can not have been published previously and that the editor "owns" the story until it is published in his or her publication. Once it has been published, all rights revert to the author.) (Updated 11/13/99.) [http://home.att.net/~jimdouglaslay/guidelin.htm] ***************************************************************** * I'm a firm believer in the theory that people only do their * * best at things they truly enjoy. --Jack Nicklaus * ***************************************************************** MARKET INFORMATION =Analog and Asimov's= Gardner Dozois, editor of =Asimov's=, said in an sff.net newsgroup, "=Asimov's= and =Analog= are NOT "going online and phasing out their print editions." Frankly, given the track record of magazines such as =Omni= and =Tomorrow= who have tried this, I'm pretty sure that that would be a bad idea, and quite probably a fatal one. The "going online" or "=Asimov's= is only going to be published electronically" rumor seems to have started because both magazines can now be ordered and downloaded (and subscribed to) in electronic format, for use with the Palm Pilot. But we have no intention of giving up the print editions. And although we have an active web-site (www.asimovs.com), it's my own opinion that web-sites work best when they have a real physical product in the real world to push. So far, nobody has really made a success of an all-electronic all-online no physical-product magazine, and I think it will be awhile before anyone does." [dm.sfrt.lit.magazines, 30 Dec 99] =The Firefly= A writer on sff.net got a rejection from =The Firefly= that "said she'd [the editor] rather not see stories with a child as the main character." [sff.writing.response-times, 28 Jan 99] ==End of CALLIHOO newsletter for 1 February 2000==