CALLIHOO NEWSLETTER Market News for Writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Julia West, Editor Volume 12 Number 9 29 May 2008 Website: http://www.callihoo.net IN THIS ISSUE News Publication Notes Deadlines Market Guidelines Cemetery Dance Les Bonnes Fees Realms of Fantasy Market Information Realms of Fantasy NEWS Postage Reminder U.S. First Class postage went up from 41 cents an ounce to 42 cents an ounce on May 16th. Keep that in mind when sending out manuscripts! Newsletter Issue There was no 22 May issue, as CALLIHOO was cancelled because of CONduit 18. PUBLICATION NOTES CALLIHOO member Ami Chopine had a story accepted for Intergalactic Medicine Show. She also got an honorable mention for the 2nd quarter 2008 for WotF. Congratulations, Ami! Utah writer JoSelle Vanderhooft reviewed Utah writer Rebecca Shelley's new YA fantasy Red Dragon Codex at The Pedestal Magazine, http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/Secure/Content/ cb.asp?cbid=5350 Benjamin Hardin of Utah is listed as a finalist in the second quarter 2008 of Writers of the Future. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd places for each quarter are chosen from the finalists; he'll know in about a month if he's one of the chosen. Best of luck! [http://wotfblog.galaxypress.com/] DEADLINES Where it says "GLs in Vol. X No. Y," these are volume and issue of the CALLIHOO newsletter. The Robert A. Heinlein Centennial Short Story Contest Deadline 1 June 2008 [Contest, SF to 15k wds., $5,000 1st, $2,000 2nd, $1,000 3rd prize. No entry fee. No reprints or sim subs. E-subs only. GLs in Vol. 12 No. 1] 2008 Utah Arts Council Writing Contest Open 1 May to 27 June 2008 [Contest, Utah writers, all genres. Book length works only those with no pub book in that category. Novel/nonfic book (60,000+ wds) book-length poem collection (48 pages)/juvenile book 1st place $1000, 2nd prize $750. Poetry (10 poems)/short story/personal essay (to 7500 wds) 1st prize $300, 2nd prize $200. No entry fee. Must obtain Dun & Bradstreet number and include entry card. Ms in contest format. No E-subs, mult subs. GLs in Vol. 12 No. 7] Dark Distortions II Deadline 30 June 2008 [Print antho, dark fic to 50k wds. Pays royalties based on 2 cents/wd. Theme magic rites. E-subs only. No mult subs. Query for reprints. RT 60 days. GLs in Vol. 12 No. 4] Infinite Space, Infinite God II Deadline 30 June 2008 [Print antho, SF with Catholic world view, 3-10k wds. Pays $50. No alt hist, no reprints. E-subs only. GLs in Vol. 12 No. 4] L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest 3rd quarter deadline 30 June 2008 [Quarterly contest/print antho, SF/F/DF to 17k wds. Non-pros only. 1st prize $1000, 2nd $750, 3rd $500. No entry fee. No reprints. No E-subs. One entry per person per quarter. GLs in Vol. 12 No. 5] Darwin's Evolutions First Annual Halloween Contest Deadline 1 July 2008 [Creepy SF/F to 7500 wds. 1st prize $100 and pub, 2nd $50 and pub, 3rd $25 and pub. E-subs okay. GLs in Vol. 12 No. 6] Haunted Legends Open 15 to 31 July 2008 [Print antho, retelling of "true" ghost stories, 6 cents/wd. to 8k wds. E-subs only. No mult subs. GLs in Vol 12 No. 7] Lace and Blade Deadline 1 August 2008 [Print antho, romantic F, all lengths. Pays 2 cents/wd. advance. E-subs okay. No reprints. GLs in Vol. 12 No. 5] MARKET GUIDELINES Cemetery Dance [Bimonthly print mag, H/dark mystery/suspense to 5k wds. Pays 5 cents/wd within 30 days of pub. No e-subs or mult subs. Sim subs okay. RT 2-4 mo.] Cemetery Dance magazine Editor: Richard Chizmar P.O. Box 623 Forest Hill, MD 21050 Fiction: Horror, dark mystery, and suspense short stories up to 5,000 words. Query for longer material. We want tales that are powerful and emotional -- creepy, chilling, disturbing, and moody. Suspense/mystery/ crime tales with a horror element are always welcome. Both supernatural and psychological stories are fine. Most common reasons for rejection are: lack of power, lack of originality, slow pacing, poor writing, boring themes. Read the magazine, see what type of fiction we are publishing -- don't submit with a blind eye! Submission Format: Send us manuscript and SASE. No electronic submissions. Simultaneous submissions are okay, if noted in cover letter. Let us know immediately if your story sells elsewhere. Please do not send us multiple submissions -- please only send us one story at a time and do not send your next submission until we can reply to the first. Authors outside the United States should send disposable manuscripts with a business sized SAE and proper US postage. US postage can be purchased online at usps.com from anywhere in the world. No IRCs, please. Submissions sent with an IRC may not receive a reply. Response Time: Averages 2 to 4 months, but stories kept for further consideration by the editors may take longer. Artwork: We solicit all our cover and interior artwork directly. Query first with samples. Please see the "Artwork Guidelines" below for more information. Payment: Professional rates, minimum of five cents per word, plus two contributor copies. Payable within 30 days of publication. Up to 5,000 words; maximum payment of $250. All rights revert to the author upon publication. Reading Period: We are open to submissions year round. Please do not send any email submissions, queries, proposals, or pitches. http://www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/Guidelines Les Bonnes Fees [New monthly webzine. Fairy tales of any length. Pays 1-3 cents/wd. to 3k wds. Reprints okay. E-subs only.] About Les Bonnes Fees A monthly e-Zine for fairy tales, folklore, and everything in between... Les Bonnes Fees is a project that has grown out of our love of fairy tales, starting as a personal page filled with fairy tales and fairy tale commentaries. After some time, though, it became apparent that that there are few fairy tale sites and magazines for the casual reader; Les Bonnes Fees is our attempt to help fill this gap. We publish new fiction, retellings, art, poetry, and non-fiction relating to our overall theme. We are not folklorists, but rather interested persons with a love of fairy tales. All interpretations and fairy tale tellings printed here are our own, unless otherwise noted. About our name - Les Bonnes Fees is French, literally translated, it means "The Good Fairies", and "fees" is part of the etymology of the English word fairy. http://www.les-bonnes-fees.com/about.html Submission Guidelines We are currently especially interested in seeing non-fiction or academic submissions of all types. Les Bonnes Fees is open to thoughts from here, there, and everywhere. We do have a couple of guidelines, though: Language--we're not much for censorship at Les Bonnes Fees so we're not banning inappropriate language outright. We prefer to keep it clean but, if you can make a case for the inclusion of a word or words, write to us. Hate language is never okay. Word limits--the internet is a wonderful thing. Space is not an issue at Les Bonnes Fees, so we don't have hard and fast word limits. If something feels too long to us, though, we will ask the author to trim it as appropriate. Reprints--are fine. It's hard enough to be a writer without worrying over first rights, second rights, and multiple reprints. Rights--we buy one time rights, though works are archived. Contact for more details. Bio--authors and artists should include a short biographical statement, including email and website as appropriate. Format--we work with macs and pcs, in several programmes, so most formats are fine, as is copying and pasting. If you're unsure, contact for more details. All submissions should be sent to les.bonnes.fees@gmail.com. Questions? Post in the comments section of our weblog, or email us at les.bonnes.fees@gmail.com. Fiction Les Bonnes Fees is primarily a fairy tale magazine--as such, we are open to fiction submissions, as long as they relate to fairy tales in some way. * Retellings--please note the original source of the story and include a paragraph about how you came to write a retelling. * Modern and Original Fairy Tales--fairy tales are fluid. They evolve. They inspire. They influence. At Les Bonnes Fees, we enjoy reading new fairy tales. If you have been affected by a certain tale, please include a paragraph about how you came to write your present work. * Poetry--Les Bonnes Fees does publish poetry; we ask only that you recognise poetry appreciation is subjective. What resonates for you may not resonate for us. Prose--$.01 - $.03 per word up to 3000 words. Poetry--$.50 per line, up to 30 lines. Non-fiction Les Bonnes Fees welcomes non-fiction of all sorts. If you have an idea, pitch it. * Reviews--no hard and fast word limits, but the shorter, the better. Books pertaining to fairy tales, folklore, and some fantasy (including but not limited to urban fantasy, magic realism, and speculative) are preferred. * Commentaries--these are notes on and about a specific fairy tale. We read everything we receive, but those works which are well researched are more likely to achieve publication. Reactions and personal memoir relating to the magazine's general theme are also welcome, though we ask you note this is in the subject line. Prose--$.01 - $.03 per word, up to 3000 words. Art Art submissions are welcome. Please send as a .jpg, or email us a link. Due to the subjective nature of artwork, we are uncomfortable posting a hard-and-fast rate; as such, art payments will be calculated on a per project basis. Multimedia work is also welcome. General guidelines are as follows: * Photographs--$10 - $20 per piece * Illustrations and other media--$20 - $75 per piece * Cover Art--$75, with featured artist profile. http://www.les-bonnes-fees.com/guidelines.html Realms of Fantasy [Bimonthly printzine, F to 10k wds. Pays 5 cents/wd to 7500 wds, 3›/wd. thereafter. RT 8-12 wks. No e-subs.] Editorial Guidelines Realms of Fantasy, a bimonthly magazine, is a professional market for the best in fantastic short fiction. Stories should be no longer than 10,000 words, and can address any area in the realms of fantasy: heroic, contemporary, traditional, feminist, dark, light, and the ever-popular "unclassifiable." What we do not want to see is standard SF--this means no alien worlds, no hard-edged technology, no FTL drives, etc. Additionally, ROF is not a market for poetry. What we do want to see is the very best in the field --Realms of Fantasy is a highly competitive market. For stories under 7,500 words, rates begin at 5 cents per word for new writers and move upward as a writer gains recognition. For stories over 7,500 words, the rates break at 7,500 to 3 cents a word. Thus, a 10,000-word story by a newcomer would pay $400. Again, for established writers, the rates will be proportionally higher. All submissions must be typed, double-spaced, and accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope large enough to hold your manuscript. Manuscripts not typed and double-spaced will not be considered. Manuscripts without return postage will not be returned. If you wish us to discard the ms. and reply only by letter, you need only enclose a letter-size (#10) envelope and mark your ms. DISPOSABLE. Your name, address, and phone number should appear on the first page of the text, not on a cover sheet, as cover sheets can easily get separated from the rest of the ms. Response time is ordinarily 8 to 12 weeks. We regret that the majority of our responses must be in the form of pretyped letters--this in no way reflects on your work, only on our time and work load. Thank you for your interest in Realms of Fantasy, and we look forward to seeing your work in our pages. Shawna McCarthy Editorial Address: Realms of Fantasy P.O. Box 527 Rumson, NJ 07760 Guidelines for Art Here are our suggestions for submitting work: You may submit samples of your work in the form of digital files, 35mm slides, 4x5 tranparencies, tearsheets, color or B & W photocopies. Please make sure samples will fit in a standard file folder. Indicate which samples should be returned and include a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope. If you're just starting to break into the illustration field: Remember, Realms of Fantasy is a professional magazine, and the illustrators whose work we use are experienced professionals. We realize that it is difficult, and sometimes discouraging, to break into the illustration field. We recommend that you submit your work to the many fanzines and semi-pro publications that exist in the fantasy field. Very few artists have their first work published in a professional publication. Realms of Fantasy Magazine 453-B Carlisle Drive Herndon, VA 20170 http://www.rofmagazine.com/pages/guidelines MARKET INFORMATION Realms of Fantasy Greetings. The name is Douglas Cohen, but around these parts I go with Slushmaster. If you've heard of me, it's probably in my capacity as assistant editor at Realms of Fantasy Magazine. I'm also one of the web editors to our lovely website (http://www.rofmagazine.com). My chief responsibility as assistant editor with RoF is finding publishable manuscripts from among the submissions we are regularly inundated with. Those authors whose stories go on to become published are called "slush survivors." I've now been assistant editor at Realms of Fantasy for three years. Not too shabby. [http://slushmaster.livejournal.com/ 10 May 2008] Assistant editor Douglas Cohen says: Realms of Fantasy: A Call For Halloween Stories Shawna [McCarthy, editor] asked me to post about this on my blog. Feel free to link to and point interested parties to this post for all the essential details. Realms of Fantasy plans on running a Halloween issue for our December 2009 issue (meaning it will hit the stands in October 2009). The story doesn't have to be about Halloween. It can deal with ghosts, vampires, witches, things that go bump in the night ...you get the idea. If you have something you think is a good fit for the issue, please send it. Shawna and I would love to see what you've come up with. But please note the Halloween issue will be released in December of 2009. There's no need to rush to the mailbox to get your submission to us in time. As with any other story being considered for any issue of ROF, we're interested in nothing but your best work. So unless you have a great story that just happens to be ready for submission, please take your time with your potential masterwork. We'll need 7 stories for the issue, so you can expect competition to be fierce. Shawna and I need to get the lucky winners over to the publishers by June 2009. Right now, we can't give you an exact date as to when is the latest you can send us your story for consideration. Why? Simply put, Shawna and I meet every 4-6 weeks to do a slush transfer. I give her what's left from the last batch, and she leaves me with the new batch, to rummage through for literary gems. With this kind of system, it's impossible to predict exactly when we'll be meeting during the course of 2009. At this point, a good rule of thumb is that you don't want to mail your stories to us any later than March 2009. Please note this is not an official deadline. This is an informed guess as to when is the absolute latest you can send us your Halloween yarn without risk of missing the chance for it to be given due consideration. As things get closer, this unofficial deadline may change (and at some point will probably become official!), but right now you have plenty of time. Either way, I promise to post more informed information concerning the deadline once we hit 2009. Please send your stories to the usual mailing address. Please label your mailing envelope "HALLOWEEN SUBMISSION" somewhere I can't miss. Authors normally passed along directly to Shawna will be given the usual consideration. If you're submitting as part of the general slush, please understand that at this point I'm choosing to read all non-Halloween subs first. There are a lot of issues of ROF coming out before December 2009, and right now these issues and their potential stories are of a more immediate concern. When the deadline draws closer, I'll adjust this policy accordingly. I've never had to deal with a call for themed submissions before, so I'm uncertain how much additional work this means for me/us. It's my hope our overall response times will remain relatively unchanged. I certainly reserve the right to change my policies regarding how I'll handle the slush, and while I'm not too worried about these additional submissions leading to editorial chaos, I'll still ask that everyone remain patient with me in the early going. All right. I think that covers everything. If anyone has any questions I haven't answered, please feel free to ask me under the comments thread (and please check the comments thread before asking a question I may have already answered!) Now get to writing! [http://slushmaster.livejournal.com/2008/04/21/] Realms of Fantasy: Policy Change! Assistant Editor Douglas Cohen says, "You may recall a recent flurry of activity on my blog regarding postal submissions vs. email submissions in the world of short story submissions. I left the comments threads open to discussion, but I stressed that you shouldn't expect any change in Realms of Fantasy's submission policies. I meant it too. But that didn't mean change was impossible. "Shawna and I have discussed the matter, and we've decided to implement the following change: if you are submitting to us from outside the U.S.A., if you provide a working email address, we will reply to your submission via email. If you want your manuscript returned to you however, you must still provide the necessary postage. An editorial response will be included when we mail your submission back to you. Otherwise, please feel free to take advantage of this change in policy. "While this policy change does not address all the concerns people have raised regarding postal submissions, it does accomplish the following: 1) If you live in a country that doesn't have or makes it difficult to procure International Reply Coupons, this will no longer be a problem. 2) If your country does have IRCs, it hopefully means fewer trips to the post office. 3) After we've reviewed your submission, it should mean a faster reply time. 4) Provided you don't wish your manuscript returned to you, you are no longer responsible for the cost of providing return postage. "We will honor those submissions currently in the slush employing IRCs, as well as those in the mail that have yet to reach us. We'll even honor those sent to us in the future, but for the time being there is no need to use them anymore. "I say "for the time being," because right now Shawna and I have elected to make this change an open-ended trial period. We want to see how everything unfolds over the next few months. We expect it to go smoothly, or we wouldn't be making this change at all. So assuming there are no unforeseen hitches, there is a very real possibility we will make this change permanent. If this happens, I will announce as much on my blog. If the experiment proves unsuccessful, I'll also announce as much on my blog, meaning Realms would then go back to the old method. Should this happen, we will honor any international submissions in transit without return postage. We would also provide an unspecified grace period for international authors while we revert back to the old way. "Please note: THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE ARE OPEN TO EMAIL SUBMISSIONS. At this time, Realms of Fantasy has no plans to open up to email submissions. If you opt to send us your submission via email anyway, it will be deleted unread. "Please also note: THIS CHANGE IN POLICY ONLY APPLIES TO INTERNATIONAL AUTHORS. If you live in the U.S. and fail to provide postage for our reply, your submission will go unanswered. If you live in the U.S. and are currently grumbling how unfair this is, please remember that international authors will still be spending more money than you to submit their stories to us, and it still takes longer for their stories to arrive, meaning we end up reading your masterpieces first. The least Realms can do is make an honest attempt to accommodate the international community in this one regard. "This trial policy is effective immediately, so you can start taking advantage of it at your earliest convenience. "I hope this answers all of your questions. If I've missed anything, feel free to ask about it in the comments thread. If you do have a question, please read the comments thread first, to make sure the question hasn't been asked already." [http://slushmaster.livejournal.com/110151.html, May 7th, 2008] "The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you didn't write." (Unknown) End of the CALLIHOO Newsletter for 29 May 2008