Live Free or Die, Die, Die! antho

THE MARKET

• Zine: NH Pulp Fiction Volume 2: "Live Free or Die, Die, Die!"
• Editor(s): Rick Broussard
• Pay Rate: $50 and two copies of the book
• Response Time: By May
• Reading Period: till March 31, 2011
• Description: Pulp fiction-style short stories in the mystery genre. All must be set in New Hampshire
• Submission Guidelines: www.nhpulpfiction.com

NOTE: Author D.L. Snell conducted the following interview to give writers a better idea of what the editors of this specific market are seeking; however, most editors are open to ideas outside of the preferences discussed here, as long as they fit the basic submission guidelines.

THE SCOOP
1) What authors do you enjoy, and why does their writing captivate you?
Writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs and H.P. Lovecraft were able to tell the most fantastic stories in the most improbable worlds, and yet their creations seem completely real and authentic. I also admire contemporary writers like Robert B. Parker and Neil Gaiman for their ability to create a sense of place within their works.

2) What are your favorite genres? Which genres would you like to see incorporated into submissions to this market?
The NH Pulp Fiction Series will eventually cover all the classic genres of dime novel fiction. Although my preference is science fiction and weird tales, I even love historical romance. I only wish we could do a NH Pulp Fiction take on the “tales of the old West.” That might be tricky.

3) What settings most intrigue you? Ordinary or exotic locales? Real or fantasy? Past, present, or future?
I love tales that are set in a world we recognize, but which turn it on its ear through fantastic characters or plot twists.

4) Explain the type of pacing you enjoy, e.g. slow building to fast, fast throughout, etc.
The short story format has to move quickly. Even with 8,000 words (which is the limit I’ve set for submissions) the pace needs to be snappy.

5) What types of characters appeal to you the most? Any examples?
I like characters that I remember years later. Ones that refuse to become part of the environment in which they appear.

6) Is there a specific tone you’d like to set in your publication? What kind of voices grab you and keep you enthralled? Any examples?
I’m looking for my writers to set their own tones and to project their own voices. The beauty of a short story anthology is that it’s a variety show of styles.

7) What is your policy for vulgarity, violence, and sexual content? Any taboos?
We’d like to keep things R-rated or milder, but I’m mostly looking for great storytelling.

8) What kind of themes are you seeking most in submissions to this market? In general, what themes interest you?
In this volume, I’d really like to see the classic tropes of detective fiction rebooted a bit with a local twist. It will certainly help if writers have a sense of what life in New England generally, and New Hampshire specifically, is like.

9) Overall, do you prefer downbeat or upbeat endings?
No preference here. As long as it satisfies.

10) Any last advice for submitters to this market? Any critical dos or don’ts?
Deadline is end of the month, so get busy.

---

For more scoops, go to marketscoops.blogspot.com.

D.L. Snell writes with Permuted Press. He edited Dr. Kim Paffenroth twice, John Dies at the End once, and provided a constructive critique to Joe McKinney on his next major novel after Dead City. You can shoot D.L. Snell in the head at www.exit66.net.

To reprint this article, please contact D.L. Snell.

Bigfoot Among Us antho

THE MARKET

• Antho: Bigfoot Among Us
• Editor(s): A.P. Fuchs and Eric S Brown
• Pay Rate: 1¢ a word
• Response Time: ASAP
• Reading Period: Until filled
• Description: This is anthology inspired by my book Bigfoot War and it is intended to give Bigfoot fans the kind horror tales that low budget movies have been doing for decades just in a literary fashion. There's not a lot of Bigfoot horror fiction out there and this book seeks to help change that.
• Submission Guidelines: coscomentertainment.blogspot.com

NOTE: Author D.L. Snell conducted the following interview to give writers a better idea of what the editors of this specific market are seeking; however, most editors are open to ideas outside of the preferences discussed here, as long as they fit the basic submission guidelines.

THE SCOOP
1) What authors do you enjoy, and why does their writing captivate you?
Even though I write and love horror, David Drake is my inspiration. The man can write action like no one else. We are looking for fun, fast paced, scary action tales.

2) What are your favorite genres? Which genres would you like to see incorporated into submissions to this market?
We are open to almost anything as long as it shakes up the Bigfoot myth and is fun.

3) What settings most intrigue you? Ordinary or exotic locales? Real or fantasy? Past, present, or future?
I would love to see some tales set in the past and future of the world. Bigfoot is a global legend but I, myself, am partial to southern Bigfoot tales. For this anthology, though, originality wins the day.

4) Explain the type of pacing you enjoy, e.g. slow building to fast, fast throughout, etc.
Fast and fun. Enough said.

5) What types of characters appeal to you the most? Any examples?
I like military stuff a lot but I certainly wouldn't turn down a well done superhero vs. Bigfoot tale.

6) Is there a specific tone you'd like to set in your publication? What kind of voices grab you and keep you enthralled? Any examples?
If you've read my own book Bigfoot War, you kind of have an idea of what we are going for here. Think back to all those Bigfoot horror films and ask yourself as a fan, what would you like to have seen in them? 

7) What is your policy for vulgarity, violence, and sexual content? Any taboos?
Profanity should be kept out as much as possible. You don't need cursing to tell a great story, and please.

8) What kind of themes are you seeking most in submissions to this market? In general, what themes interest you?
As long as it's fast paced and fun, it's got a chance. The Bigfoot creatures must be the bad guys, though it doesn't matter if the “good guys” win in the end or not.

9) Overall, do you prefer downbeat or upbeat endings?
Things like Dawn of the Dead pretty much say how I feel about endings. The bleaker, the better.

10) Any last advice for submitters to this market? Any critical do's or do not's?
Have fun above all. Write from your heart and just tell a good, moving story.

---

For more scoops, go to marketscoops.blogspot.com.

D.L. Snell writes with Permuted Press. He edited Dr. Kim Paffenroth twice, John Dies at the End once, and provided a constructive critique to Joe McKinney on his next major novel after Dead City. You can shoot D.L. Snell in the head at www.exit66.net.

To reprint this article, please contact D.L. Snell.

Box of Delights antho

THE MARKET

• Antho: Box of Delights
• Publisher: Aeon Press
• Editor(s): John Kenny
• Pay Rate: €10 advance against royalties, plus a copy of the book
• Response Time: 7-28 days
• Reading Period: Up until 31 May, unless filled before then
• Description: Original horror short stories, no specific theme
• Submission Guidelines: aeonpressbooks.com

NOTE: Author D.L. Snell conducted the following interview to give writers a better idea of what the editors of this specific market are seeking; however, most editors are open to ideas outside of the preferences discussed here, as long as they fit the basic submission guidelines.

THE SCOOP
1) What authors do you enjoy, and why does their writing captivate you?
In the horror/dark fantasy genre, I like the usual suspects: Stephen King, Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman. Of the old stuff, Stoker, Wilde, Lovecraft, Smith (Clarke Ashton), Dunsany, Leiber, Hodgeson, etc. I'm also keen on Jeff VanderMeer's work, Jeffrey Ford, China Mieville, Chirstopher Fowler, Graham Joyce, Joe R. Lansdale, Steve Rasnic Tem, Peter Straub, Richard Matheson, Kim Newman and others. Styles and approaches of all these guys vary considerably, so it's hard to say exactly what captivates me. With some of them, it's the commonplace situations they develop, into which they inject the supernatural or psychological horror; with others, it's the sheer bizarreness of the exotic locales and characters.

2) What are your favorite genres? Which genres would you like to see incorporated into submissions to this market?
My favorite genres are SF and horror/dark fantasy. Sticking with horror/dark fantasy for this particular anthology, I'd like to see unusual stories that feature convincing characters placed in bizarre situations. I'm open to New Weird too. I don't want to see Lovecraft, Clarke Ashton Smith pastiches, though.

3) What settings most intrigue you? Ordinary or exotic locales? Real or fantasy? Past, present, or future?
All of the above. I like stories set in ordinary locales but with an exotic flavour to the language and situation. I also like stories that are almost mainstream literary works with just the barest hint of the fantastic. Anything set in the past needs to have a convincing verisimilitude to give the piece real weight. Generally, once the characters, situation and setting really grab me, the author is home free.

4) Explain the type of pacing you enjoy, e.g. slow building to fast, fast throughout, etc.
While I do like stories that start near to the end, I also like stories that spend time with the setting and situation; once a slow build up is done effectively, with the right amount of foreshadowing and interesting enough characters, I'm onboard.

5) What types of characters appeal to you the most? Any examples?
Well I certainly don't like drab, average type characters with no convincing inner life. Once they have a credible inner complexity and emotional life, they can gyrate off the page with bizarre fixations and peculiar personality disorders as far as I'm concerned. In fact, the stranger and more bizarre the character, the better. But they've got to be believable.

6) Is there a specific tone you'd like to set in your publication? What kind of voices grab you and keep you enthralled? Any examples?
I'm quite open to a variety of tone for the anthology. What I tend to shy away from is the very traditional approach to setting up a story: 'It all started on the night I failed my exams.', 'Are you sure you're reading that map correctly, Murgatroid?', 'Matthew came from a long line of eccentric florists.', followed by a full description of all his ancestors before we get to the story itself.

The stories I've accepted so far are quite subtle in tone, even when bizarre, with convincing characters convincingly introduced through either believable dialogue or a quirky or witty narrative.

7) What is your policy for vulgarity, violence, and sexual content? Any taboos?
No taboos as such, but gratuitous gore, violence or sexual content where the writer is just reveling in it, and all of the above being used beyond and above the needs of the actual story itself leave me cold.

8) What kind of themes are you seeking most in submissions to this market? In general, what themes interest you?
No themes. However, most of the stories I've accepted so far do have a serious psychological component existing alongside the more obvious elements of the plot, etc. The reason I'm going for this kind of story is they establish characters that are vulnerable, have a lot to lose, and that you can care for.

9) Overall, do you prefer downbeat or upbeat endings?
Interesting question. I guess downbeat stories appeal to me more. Very hard to do upbeat in horror or dark fantasy unless it's a novel where you have the room to bring the characters way down and then back up again at the end.

10) Any last advice for submitters to this market? Any critical do's or do not's?
Don't send me science fiction stories. Don't send me high fantasy or sword and sorcery. Might seem a ridiculous thing to say, considering this is plainly a horror anthology, but lots of people are doing this. Read the guidelines. An SF story with a horror-type ending doesn't qualify; a fantasy story with a psychological element doesn't qualify.

Other than that, if you can fashion stories that are in sync with what I've said above about character, tone and theme, I want to see them.

---

For more scoops, go to marketscoops.blogspot.com.

D.L. Snell writes with Permuted Press. He edited Dr. Kim Paffenroth twice, John Dies at the End once, and provided a constructive critique to Joe McKinney on his next major novel after Dead City. You can shoot D.L. Snell in the head at www.exit66.net.

To reprint this article, please contact D.L. Snell.

2010 Bram Stoker Award Nominees

From the Horror Writers Association:

Each year, the Horror Writers Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement in the field of horror writing, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror work /Dracula./ Since 1987, the approximately 500 members of the HWA have recommended, nominated and voted on the greatest works of horror and dark fantasy of the previous calendar year, making the Stokers the most prestigious award in the field of horror literature.

Currently the awards are presented in eight categories: Novel, First Novel, Long Fiction, Short Fiction, Fiction Collection, Anthology, Non-fiction, and Poetry Collection The organization's Active members will select the winners from this ballot, and the awards will be presented this year at a gala banquet as part of HWA’s Stoker Weekend, held June 16-19, 2011 in Long Island.

This year’s nominees in each category are:


SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL
HORNS by Joe Hill (William Morrow)
ROT AND RUIN by Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster)
DEAD LOVE by Linda Watanabe McFerrin (Stone Bridge Press)
APOCALYPSE OF THE DEAD by Joe McKinney (Pinnacle)
DWELLER by Jeff Strand (Leisure/Dark Regions Press)
A DARK MATTER by Peter Straub (Doubleday)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FIRST NOVEL
BLACK AND ORANGE by Benjamin Kane Ethridge (Bad Moon Books)
A BOOK OF TONGUES by Gemma Files (Chizine Publications)
THE CASTLE OF LOS ANGELES by Lisa Morton (Gray Friar Press)
SPELLBENT by Lucy Snyder (Del Rey)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN LONG FICTION*
THE PAINTED DARKNESS by Brian James Freeman (Cemetery Dance)
DISSOLUTION by Lisa Mannetti (/Deathwatch/)
MONSTERS AMONG US by Kirstyn McDermott (Macabre: A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears/)
THE SAMHANACH by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)
INVISIBLE FENCES by Norman Prentiss (Cemetery Dance)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORT FICTION
RETURN TO MARIABRONN by Gary Braunbeck (/Haunted Legends/)
THE FOLDING MAN by Joe R Lansdale (/Haunted Legends/)
1925: A FALL RIVER HALLOWEEN by Lisa Mannetti (/Shroud Magazine/ #10)
IN THE MIDDLE OF POPLAR STREET by Nate Southard (/Dead Set: A Zombie Anthology/)
FINAL DRAFT by Mark W. Worthen (/Horror Library IV/)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN FICTION COLLECTION
OCCULTATION by Laird Barron (Night Shade Books)
BLOOD AND GRISTLE by Michael Louis Calvillo (Bad Moon Books)
THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY by Stephen Graham Jones (Prime Books)
FULL DARK, NO STARS by Stephen King (Simon and Schuster)
A HOST OF SHADOWS by Harry Shannon (Dark Regions Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN ANTHOLOGY (EDITING)
DARK FAITH edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon (Apex Publications)
HORROR LIBRARY IV edited by R.J. Cavender and Boyd E. Harris (Cutting Block Press)
MACABRE: A JOURNEY THROUGH AUSTRALIA’S DARKEST FEARS* edited by Angela Challis and Marty Young (Brimstone Press)
HAUNTED LEGENDS edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas (Tor)
THE NEW DEAD edited by Christopher Golden (St. Martin's Griffin)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION
TO EACH THEIR DARKNESS by Gary A. Braunbeck (Apex Publications)
THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE HUMAN RACE by Thomas Ligotti (Hippocampus Press)
WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE by Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman (Citadel)
LISTEN TO THE ECHOES: THE RAY BRADBURY INTERVIEWS by Sam Weller (Melville House Publications)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN POETRY COLLECTION
DARK MATTERS by Bruce Boston (Bad Moon Books)
WILD HUNT OF THE STARS by Ann K. Schwader (Sam's Dot)
DIARY OF A GENTLEMAN DIABOLIST by Robin Spriggs (Anomalous Books)
VICIOUS ROMANTIC by Wrath James White (Needfire Poetry)

For more information on the 2011 Stoker Weekend, please visit http://www.stokerweekend2011.org/