November 2014
Monthly Archive
November 26, 2014
“For your born writer, nothing is so healing as the realization that he has come upon the right word.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen
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Happy Thanksgiving to all my US Readers. I hope you have a peacful, rewarding holiday. This is a slow time of year for market news, but I do have a few items to share:
For writers of horror fiction, Blumhouse Books is a new imprint of Doubleday books, set to publish dark fiction and horror from both new and established writers. They plan to launch in the summer of 2015 with an anthology, The Blumhouse Book of Nightmares: The Haunted City. Right now they’re sponsoring a short story contest — the winner will be published in the anthology. Submit your urban horror story of less than 2,000 words by December 1, 2014. Six finalists will be posted online for the public to vote on, with the winner announced in early January. Get all the details here.
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Month9Books, a published of speculative fiction for teens and tweens, is accepting unagented submissions for its Month9 and Tantrum imprints. Month9 focuses on YA fiction,while Tantrum publishes for middle grade readers. The editors are interested in ” fantasy, sci-fi, horror, paranormal, steampunk, dystopian, etc.” Submit your query via Facebook. Find all the details here.
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I’ve reissued all of my historical romances in new ebook editions, under my pseudonym, Cynthia 
Sterling. If you enjoy historical western romance, check out my titles on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other e-tailers. One title you might start with is To Love A Lady, the first in my Titled Texans trilogy, about three British brothers who establish a cattle ranch on the Texas plains, and the women who love them. Combining humor, emotion and rich historical detail, these books have long been fan favorites. To Love a Lady is only 99 cents, or you can purchase all three titles in a boxed set for $5.99. I also have a number of other Cynthia Sterling titles available, so check them out. And thanks!
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Do you have a romantic, post-apocolyptic story? Good Mourning Media is assembling a collection of post-apocolyptic romantic short stories for an upcoming anthology “No Place For Us.” Submit your story of up to 15,000 words by the deadline of January 31, 2015. Payment is $30 per story. Get the details here.
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“Love in the Time of Coffee” is another anthology looking for romance short stories. Send your romantic story of 2,000 to 4,000 words that involves coffee — a coffee shop, brewing coffee, a coffee plantation — whereever you imagination takes you, to Frisky Feminist Press. Stories may have erotic elements, but it’s not required, and the editors want romance, not erotica. The deadline is December 1, 2014. Payment is $25 plus royalties from the anthology. Find out how to submit here.
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As always, feel free to share the items in this newsletter with others — reprint, repost, reblog. All I ask is that you credit me as the source, and include a link to this blog. If you want to know more about me, check out my websites here and here, or find me on FacebookT. Thanks!
November 12, 2014
“If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ~Toni Morrison
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Writers of traditional myteries may be eligible for the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grants Program for Unpublished Writers, awarded by Malice Domestic each year. Two grants will be awarded. Each grant consists of $1,500, to be used to offset the cost of attending a writers conference or workshop in the coming year. The winners will also receive conference registration and two nights lodging for the Malice Domestic convention. Unpublished writers must submit the first three chapters and a brief synopsis of a mystery manuscript, along with an application, a resume and a letter of reference. There is no cost to enter. The original deadline for entries (and the date still listed on the Malice Domestic site) is November 15, but the deadline has been extended to December 15. Get all the details here.
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The First Line publishes fiction created using first lines posted by the editors each quarter. Submit your story utilizing the designated first line and your story could be published in an upcoming issue of the quarterly fiction magazine. Stories should be 300 to 5,000 words, and payment is $25 to $50. The First Line is open to stories in all genres, but each story must begin with that quarter’s first line. They’ve posted the following first lines for 2015:
Spring:
Fairy tales hardly ever come true for quiet girls.
Due date: February 1, 2015
Summer:
Laura liked to think she was honest with herself; it was everyone else she lied to.
Due date: May 1, 2015
Fall:
The old neighborhood was nearly unrecognizable.
Due date: August 1, 2015
Winter:
George pressed the call button and said, “Mrs. Whitfield, you have a visitor.”
Due date: November 1, 2015
Find all the submission details here.
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Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly is seeking story submissions for its next issue. Stories must include both science fiction and romance elements and must have an upbeat, romantic ending. Send your story of 2,000 to 7,000 words by the deadline of December 1, 2014. Payment is 2 cents a word. Find the details here.
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Riptide Publishing, a publisher of LBGTQ fiction, romance and erotica, is now open to unagented as well as agented submissions. Manuscripts should be from 15,000 to 115,000 words and must be complete. In addition to general fiction and romance, the editors have issued special calls for the following themes:
Shifters and Weres – 50,000 to 110,000 paranormal romance stories, any heat level. Deadline Jan 1, 2015
Lesbian romance — any sub-genre, 50,000 to 110,000 words. Deadline March 1, 2015
Shades of the Rainbow — stories featuring trans, bi, queer, etc — any orientation other than gay and lesbian, 25,000 to 110,000 words, Deadline March 1, 2015.
Sweet romance — stories featuring all types of characters, but no sex. Teen-appropriate, though characters don’t have to be teens themselves. 25,000 to 110,000 words, Deadline March 1, 2015
*punk — send your steampunk, diesel punk, cyber punk, etc story of 25,000 to 115,000 words. These should be romances with a HEA or HFN (happy for now) ending. Deadline March 1, 2015
Get all the details about these special calls here.
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For a limited time, the ebook edition of The Mountain Between Us is on sale for only $2.99. Enjoy the holidays in the tiny mountain town of Eureka, Colorado, as the residents ban together to celebrate in style. This book was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award this year. Buy the book at Amazon here, for Nook here, and check your favorite ebook retailer.
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As always, feel free to share this information with others. All I ask is that you credit me as the source and provide a link to this blog. If you want to know more about me and my books, check out my websites here or here and like me on Facebook here.
November 5, 2014
“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” Orson Scott Card
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Crossed Genres magazine has issued a call for submissions for its March 2015 issue, with the theme “Ensemble.” Submit your interpretation of this theme, using elements of fantasy and science fiction, 1,000 to 6,000 words. The editors are especially interested in stories from women and from LGBT writers. The deadline for submissions is November 30. Payment is 6 cents a word. Find out more details (and read some sample stories) here.
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For a limited time, the ebook edition of The Mountain Between Us is on sale for only $2.99. Enjoy the holidays in the tiny mountain town of Eureka, Colorad, as the residents ban together to celebrate in style. This book was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award this year. Buy the book at Amazon here, for Nook here, and check your favorite ebook retailer. 
As always, feel free to share this information with others. All I ask is that you credit me as the source and provide a link to this blog. If you want to know more about me and my books, check out my websites here or here and like me on Facebook here.
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Blushing Books is a digital publisher of romance and erotic romance actively seeking new authors. Blushing Books began in 1991 as an erotica publisher that sold books primarily through mail order. They have gradually shifted their focus from erotica to erotic romance. The editors are interested in all sub-genres of romance. Most of their books feature some kind of power exchange between the hero and heroine, and they like books that feature themes of dominance and/or spanking. Most of the books would be rate PG-13, R or X. All stories must have a happily-every-after or a happy-for-now ending. While they welcome series, each story must stand on its own and have a HEA or HFN ending. At this time they are not interested in any stories where the hero or heroine is a vampire, shape-shifter, angel or werewolf. At the moment they are most interested in “contemporary adventures with domestic discipline underlying the action.” Blushing Books pays a $500 advance for book manuscripts and a 50 percent royalty. For more info, go here.
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Washington City Paper is accepting stories for a special fiction issue to debut in early 2015. The editors are looking for previously unpublished stories about Washington, D.C., no longer than 2,000 words. They pay for stories. The deadline for submission is December 1. Find the details here.
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From Twitter: The following editors have recently tweeted that they are looking for the following —
Deborah Nemeth with Carina Press is eager to acquire more male/male romance, especially new adult, contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Find Carina Press’s submission guidelines here.
Stacy Cantor Abrams at Entangled Teen would like to see some category-inspired YA manuscripts with tropes such as friends-to-lovers, opposites attracting, etc. She’s also like to see stories set outside of high school — at summer camp, theatre groups, etc. See Entangled Teen’s guidelines here.
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As always, feel free to share this information with others. All I ask is that you credit me as the source and provide a link to this blog. If you want to know more about me and my books, check out my websites here or here and like me on Facebook here.
Sterling. If you enjoy historical western romance, check out my titles on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other e-tailers. One title you might start with is To Love A Lady, the first in my Titled Texans trilogy, about three British brothers who establish a cattle ranch on the Texas plains, and the women who love them. Combining humor, emotion and rich historical detail, these books have long been fan favorites. To Love a Lady is only 99 cents, or you can purchase all three titles in a boxed set for $5.99. I also have a number of other Cynthia Sterling titles available, so check them out. And thanks!
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