Michael Bailey's Blog, page 4
January 25, 2024
BRAM STOKER AWARDS – PRELIMINARY BALLOT
I am stoke(re)d to see Qualia Nous, Vol. 2 on the Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot for Superior Achievement in an Anthology. I’m “the editor,” so focus goes on me for a bit, but the following and their work are responsible for this book being what it is:
“Interstices” (found poem(s) from Vol. 1 as an intro) – Pat R. Steiner
“A Story That Must Be Read Alone but Never at Night” (short story) – Chuck Palahniuk
“Shattered in Daylight” (poem) – Linda D. Addison
“We Come Apart and Then We Arrive” (short story) – Eric LaRocca
“Here We Are” (poem) – Elizabeth Massie
“An Invitation for the Uninvited” (novelette) – Scott Edelman
“Set Me on Fire” (poem) – Cynthia Pelayo
“Twice as Many Stars” (short story) – Paul Michael Anderson
“Playground of the Gods” (poem) – Christina Sng
“The Fallen Man” (short story) – Geneve Flynn
“Lullabies of a Distant World” (poem) – Pedro Iniguez
“Other” (short story) – Gordon Linzner
“Vessel” (poem) – Lee Murray
“Come Find Me” (short story) – Zoje Stage
“Self-Discovery” (poem) – Ngo Binh Anh Khoa
“The Song of Fools” (novelette) – Patrick Freivald
“A Particle Accelerator Love Song” (poem) – Brent Baldwin
“Blue-Red-Green” (novelette) – Peter Hagelslag
“Sacrificing for the Path of Orbits” (poem) – Christopher Collingwood
“Investigations into Hypnagogia” (novelette) – Sachin Baliga
“My Memory Is as Time Is” (poem) – Mark Granger
“The Infinite Hourglass” (short story) – Kehkashan Khalid
“Common Sense, No More” (prose poem) – Maxwell I. Gold
“The Sum of Our Parts Needs Only One Heart” (short story) – Michael Paul Gonzalez
“Alive / Real / Exists / Human” (collection of poems) – Eugen Bacon
“Bilocation in Liminal Space” (short story) – Erik Williams
“Danse Sanguinaire” (poem) – Deborah L. Davitt
“Choose Your Own Demise” (short story) – Richard Thomas & Repo Kempt
“Crazy” (poem) – Jeffrey Oliver
“Stuff She Put in a Box for Her New Room” (novelette) – Gary A. Braunbeck
“What Weird Weather We Had” (poem) – Josh Malerman
“Oil on Water” (short story) – Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
“Nightmare” (poem) – L. Marie Wood
“Once, I Dreamed I Was Dead” (short story) – Rebecca J. Allred
“Paranoid: A Chant” (poem) – Stephen King
“Lucid Interval” (novelette) – Michael J. Riser
“Deeply You” (poem) – Max Booth III
“The Thing That Laughs in the Dark” (short story) – Gabino Iglesias
“Some Days, Most Days” (poem) – Kaaron Warren
“Dog-Whistles” (short story) – Cody Goodfellow
“Ghost in the Machine” (poem) – Karen Poppy
“Everyday Horror” (short story) – Steve Rasnic Tem
“Me” (poem) – Jamal Hodge
The original Qualia Nous made the final ballot and was nominated for Superior Achievement in an Anthology, with two of its stories winning for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction (Usman T. Malik and Rena Mason, in a tie). The anthology also won the Benjamin Franklin Award. Let’s hope the second volume finds its way onto the final ballot as well!
January 10, 2024
MADNESS AND WRITERS
Previously only premiered prior to StokerCon‘s Final Frame Horror Short Film Competition, presented by the Horror Writers Association, the extended trailer for Madness and Writers: The Untold Truth. Maybe? is now available to watch worldwide. Simply click the image above.
Madness and Writers: The Untold Truth. Maybe? (hosted by Lukas Hassel), will be a seven-part creative documentary series about writers (each episode an hour long), with the first season dedicated to horror! Be sure to subscribe to the Madness and Writers YouTube channel since new clips will be added regularly.
Episode 1 will include Josh Malerman, Linda D. Addison, and Michael Bailey.
Episode 2 will include Chuck Palahniuk, Cynthia Pelayo, and David A. Simpson.
Executive Producers: Velva Carter-Maloof and David Maloof
Director: Jamal Hodge
Starring: Lukas Hassel
Screenwriter: Michael Bailey
Cinematographer: Kalani Jimenez-Mackson
Sound: Ruben Morales
Casting: Cherry Weiner
Producers: Velva Carter-Maloof, David Maloof, Michael Bailey, Jamal Hodge, and D. M. Rheingold
Associate Producer: Linda D. Addison
Artwork by Luke Spooner
Costume Props: Allison Laakko
Episodes 3 through 7 will include: Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay, L. Marie Wood, Lee Murray, Brian Keene, Maurice Broaddus, Rena Mason, Joe R. Lansdale, Lisa Morton, Gabino Iglesias, Kaaron Warren, Victor LaValle, Leslie S Klinger, and Ellen Datlow.
Follow along elsewhere at:
madnessandwriters.com
IMDB
Instagram
Facebook
December 11, 2023
DECEMBER eBOOK SALE – ALL TITLES
December 11th through the end of December 17th, all Written Backwards eBooks are on sale for $1.99 US / £1.99 UK or cheaper on Kindle. One is even free for a limited time. See direct links below:
Anthologies:
QUALIA NOUS, VOL. 2 – US / UK
THE LIBRARY OF THE DEAD – US / UK
Nonfiction:
Novels:
Novelettes:
OUR CHILDREN, OUR TEACHERS (free) – US / UK
Collections:
THE IMPOSSIBLE WEIGHT OF LIFE – US / UK
INKBLOTS AND BLOOD SPOTS – US / UK
YES TRESPASSING (by Erik T. Johnson) – US / UK
BONES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN (by Paul Michael Anderson) – US / UK
Most titles are currently free with Amazon Unlimited.
October 30, 2023
QUALIA NOUS, VOL. 2 – NOW AVAILABLE!
The second volume in the award-winning Qualia Nous series of anthologies, edited by Michael Bailey, is now available in eBook and paperback! We are currently experiencing distribution issues with the hardcover, so that edition is only available (at this time) directly through the publisher.
Purchase directly from the publisher (US only, shipping included) . . .
QUALIA NOUS, VOL. 2: Hardcover
ISBN: 979-8-987932612428 pages, 6 x 9″
$34.95
Click here to purchase.
QUALIA NOUS, VOL. 2: Paperback
ISBN: 979-8-987932629428 pages, 6 x 9″
$19.95
Click here to purchase.Other purchasing options . . .
Amazon: eBook | trade paperback | hardcover (coming soon). Also available in the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, Brazil, Mexico, Netherlands, Japan, Poland, and a part of Kindle Unlimited where available.
Barnes & Noble: trade paperback (coming soon)
Books-A-Million (BAM!): trade paperback (coming soon)
Table of Contents:
“Interstices” (found poem(s) from Vol. 1 as an intro) – Pat R. Steiner
“A Story That Must Be Read Alone but Never at Night” (short story) – Chuck Palahniuk
“Shattered in Daylight” (poem) – Linda D. Addison
“We Come Apart and Then We Arrive” (short story) – Eric LaRocca
“Here We Are” (poem) – Elizabeth Massie
“An Invitation for the Uninvited” (novelette) – Scott Edelman
“Set Me on Fire” (poem) – Cynthia Pelayo
“Twice as Many Stars” (short story) – Paul Michael Anderson
“Playground of the Gods” (poem) – Christina Sng
“The Fallen Man” (short story) – Geneve Flynn
“Lullabies of a Distant World” (poem) – Pedro Iniguez
“Other” (short story) – Gordon Linzner
“Vessel” (poem) – Lee Murray
“Come Find Me” (short story) – Zoje Stage
“Self-Discovery” (poem) – Ngo Binh Anh Khoa
“The Song of Fools” (novelette) – Patrick Freivald
“A Particle Accelerator Love Song” (poem) – Brent Baldwin
“Blue-Red-Green” (novelette) – Peter Hagelslag
“Sacrificing for the Path of Orbits” (poem) – Christopher Collingwood
“Investigations into Hypnagogia” (novelette) – Sachin Baliga
“My Memory Is as Time Is” (poem) – Mark Granger
“The Infinite Hourglass” (short story) – Kehkashan Khalid
“Common Sense, No More” (prose poem) – Maxwell I. Gold
“The Sum of Our Parts Needs Only One Heart” (short story) – Michael Gonzalez
“Alive / Real / Exists / Human” (collection of poems) – Eugen Bacon
“Bilocation in Liminal Space” (short story) – Erik Williams
“Danse Sanguinaire” (poem) – Deborah L. Davitt
“Choose Your Own Demise” (short story) – Richard Thomas & Repo Kempt
“Crazy” (poem) – Jeff Oliver
“Stuff She Put in a Box for Her New Room” (novelette) – Gary A. Braunbeck
“What Weird Weather We Had” (poem) – Josh Malerman
“Oil on Water” (short story) – Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
“Nightmare” (poem) – L. Marie Wood
“Once, I Dreamed I Was Dead” (short story) – Rebecca J. Allred
“Paranoid: A Chant” (poem) – Stephen King
“Lucid Interval” (novelette) – Michael J. Riser
“Deeply You” (poem) – Max Booth III
“The Thing That Laughs in the Dark” (short story) – Gabino Iglesias
“Some Days, Most Days” (poem) – Kaaron Warren
“Dog-Whistles” (short story) – Cody Goodfellow
“Ghost in the Machine” (poem) – Karen Poppy
“Everyday Horror” (short story) – Steve Rasnic Tem
“Me” (poem) – Jamal Hodge
The anthology also contains 43 pieces of artwork by Pat R. Steiner, who also wrote the found-poem / introduction, which contains fragments of fiction and poetry from the original Qualia Nous.
Purchase directly from the publisher (US only, shipping included) . . .
QUALIA NOUS: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0578146461448 pages, 6 x 9″
$19.95
Click here to purchase.Other purchasing options . . .
Amazon: eBook | trade paperback. Also available in the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, Brazil, Mexico, Netherlands, Japan, Poland, and a part of Kindle Unlimited where available.
Barnes & Noble: trade paperback
Books-A-Million (BAM!): trade paperback
October 2, 2023
QUALIA NOUS, VOL. 2 – TABLE OF CONTENTS
Before the reveal, a little history about the series . . .
The first volume of Qualia Nous won the Benjamin Franklin Award for science fiction, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology, had two of its short stories win the Bram Stoker Award (in a tie) for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction (with a third also making the preliminary ballot), was a silver medal finalist in horror for the Independent Publisher Book Awards, a finalist in science fiction and bronze winner in anthologies for Foreword Reviews Book of the Year (now the IndieFAB), a finalist in both science fiction and anthologies for the Indie Book Awards, a finalist in anthologies for the USA Best Book Awards, a winner in science fiction for the International Book Awards, included a poem that won the Rhysling Award, and a short story nominated for the Nebula.
The original Qualia Nous was also the first time the press had the opportunity to publish Stephen King (now somewhat of a regular), and the first time any Written Backwards anthology included poetry. If you want to check it out, click the image below.
In other words, the first volume in what is now a series made some serious noise. Qualia Nous, Vol. 2, which is 428 pages, will also include 43 illustrations by Pat R. Steiner (see the thumbnails below), as well as 21 poems and 21 short stories (a handful of those novelettes). The anthology is going to be absolutely beautiful, alternating between fiction and poetry throughout by some of the most incredible writers of contemporary science fiction, horror, and dark fantasy.
Here’s a preview of the artwork (in poster form):
So, without further ado, the final Table of Contents for Qualia Nous, Vol. 2:
“Interstices” (found poem(s) from Vol. 1 as an intro) – Pat R. Steiner
“A Story That Must Be Read Alone but Never at Night” (short story) – Chuck Palahniuk
“Shattered in Daylight” (poem) – Linda D. Addison
“We Come Apart and Then We Arrive” (short story) – Eric LaRocca
“Here We Are” (poem) – Elizabeth Massie
“An Invitation for the Uninvited” (novelette) – Scott Edelman
“Set Me on Fire” (poem) – Cynthia Pelayo
“Twice as Many Stars” (short story) – Paul Michael Anderson
“Playground of the Gods” (poem) – Christina Sng
“The Fallen Man” (short story) – Geneve Flynn
“Lullabies of a Distant World” (poem) – Pedro Iniguez
“Other” (short story) – Gordon Linzner
“Vessel” (poem) – Lee Murray
“Come Find Me” (short story) – Zoje Stage
“Self-Discovery” (poem) – Ngo Binh Anh Khoa
“The Song of Fools” (novelette) – Patrick Freivald
“A Particle Accelerator Love Song” (poem) – Brent Baldwin
“Blue-Red-Green” (novelette) – Peter Hagelslag
“Sacrificing for the Path of Orbits” (poem) – Christopher Collingwood
“Investigations into Hypnagogia” (novelette) – Sachin Baliga
“My Memory Is as Time Is” (poem) – Mark Granger
“The Infinite Hourglass” (short story) – Kehkashan Khalid
“Common Sense, No More” (prose poem) – Maxwell I. Gold
“The Sum of Our Parts Needs Only One Heart” (short story) – Michael Gonzalez
“Alive / Real / Exists / Human” (collection of poems) – Eugen Bacon
“Bilocation in Liminal Space” (short story) – Erik Williams
“Danse Sanguinaire” (poem) – Deborah L. Davitt
“Choose Your Own Demise” (short story) – Richard Thomas & Repo Kempt
“Crazy” (poem) – Jeff Oliver
“Stuff She Put in a Box for Her New Room” (novelette) – Gary A. Braunbeck
“What Weird Weather We Had” (poem) – Josh Malerman
“Oil on Water” (short story) – Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
“Nightmare” (poem) – L. Marie Wood
“Once, I Dreamed I Was Dead” (short story) – Rebecca J. Allred
“Paranoid: A Chant” (poem) – Stephen King
“Lucid Interval” (novelette) – Michael J. Riser
“Deeply You” (poem) – Max Booth III
“The Thing That Laughs in the Dark” (short story) – Gabino Iglesias
“Some Days, Most Days” (poem) – Kaaron Warren
“Dog-Whistles” (short story) – Cody Goodfellow
“Ghost in the Machine” (poem) – Karen Poppy
“Everyday Horror” (short story) – Steve Rasnic Tem
“Me” (poem) – Jamal Hodge
When will the anthology be available? If everything goes according to plan, October 31st, 2023, simultaneously in hardcover, paperback, and eBook. Yes, this lovely Halloween. And lastly, here’s a close-up of the illustration for Stephen King’s poem “Paranoid: A Chant,” which has a nice Dark Tower vibe . . .
QUALIA NOUS, VOL. 2 – Table of Contents
Before the reveal, a little history about the series . . .
The first volume of Qualia Nous won the Benjamin Franklin Award for science fiction, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology, had two of its short stories win the Bram Stoker Award (in a tie) for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction (with a third also making the preliminary ballot), was a silver medal finalist in horror for the Independent Publisher Book Awards, a finalist in science fiction and bronze winner in anthologies for Foreword Reviews Book of the Year (now the IndieFAB), a finalist in both science fiction and anthologies for the Indie Book Awards, a finalist in anthologies for the USA Best Book Awards, a winner in science fiction for the International Book Awards, included a poem that won the Rhysling Award, and a short story nominated for the Nebula.
The original Qualia Nous was also the first time the press had the opportunity to publish Stephen King (now somewhat of a regular), and the first time any Written Backwards anthology included poetry. If you want to check it out, click the image below.
In other words, the first volume in what is now a series made some serious noise. Qualia Nous, Vol. 2, which is 428 pages, will also include 43 illustrations by Pat R. Steiner (see the thumbnails below), as well as 21 poems and 21 short stories (a handful of those novelettes). The anthology is going to be absolutely beautiful, alternating between fiction and poetry throughout by some of the most incredible writers of contemporary science fiction, horror, and dark fantasy. Here’s the line-up visually:
So, without further ado, the final Table of Contents for Qualia Nous, Vol. 2:
“Interstices” (found poem(s) from Vol. 1 as an intro) – Pat R. Steiner
“A Story That Must Be Read Alone but Never at Night” (short story) – Chuck Palahniuk
“Shattered in Daylight” (poem) – Linda D. Addison
“We Come Apart and Then We Arrive” (short story) – Eric LaRocca
“Here We Are” (poem) – Elizabeth Massie
“An Invitation for the Uninvited” (novelette) – Scott Edelman
“Set Me on Fire” (poem) – Cynthia Pelayo
“Twice as Many Stars” (short story) – Paul Michael Anderson
“Playground of the Gods” (poem) – Christina Sng
“The Fallen Man” (short story) – Geneve Flynn
“Lullabies of a Distant World” (poem) – Pedro Iniguez
“Other” (short story) – Gordon Linzner
“Vessel” (poem) – Lee Murray
“Come Find Me” (short story) – Zoje Stage
“Self-Discovery” (poem) – Ngo Binh Anh Khoa
“The Song of Fools” (novelette) – Patrick Freivald
“A Particle Accelerator Love Song” (poem) – Brent Baldwin
“Blue-Red-Green” (novelette) – Peter Hagelslag
“Sacrificing for the Path of Orbits” (poem) – Christopher Collingwood
“Magical Girls Child Soldier Squad” (novelette) – Hailey Piper
“My Memory Is as Time Is” (poem) – Mark Granger
“The Infinite Hourglass” (short story) – Kehkashan Khalid
“Common Sense, No More” (prose poem) – Maxwell I. Gold
“The Sum of Our Parts Needs Only One Heart” (short story) – Michael Gonzalez
“Alive / Real / Exists / Human” (collection of poems) – Eugen Bacon
“Bilocation in Liminal Space” (short story) – Erik Williams
“Danse Sanguinaire” (poem) – Deborah L. Davitt
“Choose Your Own Demise” (short story) – Richard Thomas & Repo Kempt
“Crazy” (poem) – Jeff Oliver
“Stuff She Put in a Box for Her New Room” (novelette) – Gary A. Braunbeck
“What Weird Weather We Had” (poem) – Josh Malerman
“Oil on Water” (short story) – Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
“Nightmare” (poem) – L. Marie Wood
“Once, I Dreamed I Was Dead” (short story) – Rebecca J. Allred
“Paranoid: A Chant” (poem) – Stephen King
“Lucid Interval” (novelette) – Michael J. Riser
“Deeply You” (poem) – Max Booth III
“The Thing That Laughs in the Dark” (short story) – Gabino Iglesias
“Some Days, Most Days” (poem) – Kaaron Warren
“Dog-Whistles” (short story) – Cody Goodfellow
“Ghost in the Machine” (poem) – Karen Poppy
“Everyday Horror” (short story) – Steve Rasnic Tem
“Me” (poem) – Jamal Hodge
When will the anthology be available? If everything goes according to plan, October 31st, 2023, simultaneously in hardcover, paperback, and eBook. Yes, this lovely Halloween. And lastly, here’s a close-up of the illustration for Stephen King’s poem “Paranoid: A Chant,” which has a nice Dark Tower vibe . . .
September 20, 2023
WRITTEN BACKWARDS eBOOK SALE
All anthologies are $1.99 US / £1.99 UK on kindle.
See the ANTHOLOGIES page for links, or click the image above.
July 4, 2023
HANGTOWN – NOW AVAILABLE!
HANGTOWN, based on a true story, is a historical western about the hangings in a placer mining town that once went by that moniker, one of the first established diggings during the chaos of the Gold Rush. Set in 1848 to 1850, the unlawful were punished and hanged swiftly for crimes of theft and violence, haunting forever what is now Placerville, California. Returning to his hometown, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated and Bram Stoker Award®-winning writer and editor Michael Bailey fills in the missing pieces of a town’s dark past in this homage to Charles Portis’ True Grit and Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Cover artwork by Ben Baldwin, and illustrated by Mar Garcia.
Purchase directly from the publisher (US only, shipping included) . . .
HANGTOWN: Hardcover
ISBN: 979-8986748887300 pages, 5.5″ x 8.5″
$26.95
Click here to purchase.
HANGTOWN: Paperback
ISBN: 979-8986748894300 pages, 5″ x 8″
$16.95
Click here to purchase.Other purchasing options . . .
Amazon: eBook | trade paperback | hardcover. Available soon in the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, Brazil, Mexico, Netherlands, Japan, and a part of Kindle Unlimited where available.
Barnes & Noble: trade paperback | hardcover
Books-A-Million (BAM!): trade paperback | hardcover
April 19, 2023
QUALIA NOUS, VOL. 2 – OPEN CALL
Update: Due to the number of submissions received, the open call for Qualia Nous, Vol. 2 will close at midnight (your time) on July 31st, 2023.
Written Backwards is open to submissions for the following projects. Please do not use this opportunity (as many have in the past) to query the publisher or editor(s) about other potential projects. Written Backwards is not open at this time to fiction collections, poetry collections, novellas, novels, anthology ideas, or any other projects not included below.
QUALIA NOUS, VOL. 2 (anthology)
The first volume of Qualia Nous (2014), edited by Michael Bailey, won the Benjamin Franklin Award for science fiction and was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology. It was a Foreword ReviewsBook of the Year finalist in horror, science fiction, and a bronze winner for anthologies, as well as a silver medal finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Awards, a finalist for the Indie Book Awards, and a winner of the International Book Award. It was also the first Written Backwards anthology (of eventually many) to contain work by Stephen King.
Usman T. Malik’s “The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family” was a finalist for the Nebula Award and tied to win the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction with Rena Mason’s “Ruminations.” And Marge Simon’s poem “Shutdown” (the only poem in the anthology) won the Rhysling Award from the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association. So, a second volume of Qualia Nous was inevitable, albeit 10 years later, and will again not only feature legends of the craft but showcase today’s emerging talent.
What does the title mean? It’s up to interpretation.
Qualia: instances of subjective, conscious experience; the internal and subjective component of sense perceptions arising from stimulation of the senses by phenomena; the way it feels to have mental states.
Nous: intellections; awareness; perception; understanding; reason; thought; intuition; the faculty of the human mind; having the ability to understand what is true or real; practical intelligence.
Written Backwards has always highlighted the work of a diverse cast of writers and will continue to do so, which is why this anthology is mostly open call and will pay above current professional rates. While not many like the term “literary,” that is what this anthology is looking for: groundbreaking work that break normal conventions and will stand the test of time, propelling emerging and undiscovered writers into the mainstream.
If unfamiliar with previous Written Backwards anthologies that blend science fiction with other genres, it is highly recommended to read previous titles, such as Prisms and/or Adam’s Ladder (co-edited by Darren Speegle), Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors (co-edited by Doug Murano), You, Human, any of the books in the Chiral Mad series, or the original Qualia Nous. Familiarizing yourself with these works will better your chances of landing a spot in Qualia Nous, Vol. 2.
All accepted works will meet active membership requirements for organizations such as the Science Fiction Writers Association (SWFA), the Horror Writers Association (HWA), the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA), and others.
Similar to previous Written Backwards anthologies, all contracts will protect the writer.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Manuscripts should include a cover page with contact information, as well as name and page numbers on subsequent pages; 12pt font, double-spaced; there are no hard guidelines for auto-rejections, but understand the basics of manuscript formatting that reflect a level of professionalism.
Instant rejections: Nonfiction, hard science fiction, gore for the sake of gore, violence for the sake of violence, erotica, romance, works that contains hate speech or discrimination of any kind other than to fight against such horrible things, reprints, excerpts, young adult, or anything that doesn’t fall under the additional guidelines below.
Original fiction: 3,000 – 10,000 words, or poetry (up to 100 lines).
Accepted genre(s): Dark science fiction and all blended sub-genres of science fiction (horror, fantasy, etc.)
Payment: $0.10 / word (ten cents) capped at 3,000 words for short fiction ($300), 5,000 words for long fiction ($500 for novelettes between 7,500 – 10,000 words); $50 for short poems, or $100 for long poems; along with monetary payment, a contributor copy of each edition will be provided.
Rights: First World Rights in English; all rights revert to the writer immediately upon publication, although 12 months exclusivity is requested, except for inclusion in a personal or “best of” collection published after the anthology.
Illustrations: Similar to previous Written Backwards titles, fiction and/or poetry may include illustrations.
Deadline: July 31st, 2023.
Reprints: No.
Publication: 2024 or 2025 (to be determined).
Formats: Hardcover, paperback, and eBook.
Special note about A.I.: all submissions will be checked for the use of artificial intelligence in their creation using detection software and will be automatically rejected if found to include influence. Likewise, any who submit such material will be banned from future submissions to Written Backwards anthologies.
ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES
Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please notify if your submission is accepted by another venue. Please only submit one manuscript at a time (fiction or poetry) and wait for a non-acceptance (rejection) prior to submitting again, with no more than 2 submissions total.
Due to the number of submissions anticipated (typically 1,000 – 1,500), non-acceptances will be announced by way of a form response as quickly as manageable. Allow up to 3 months before inquiring about a submission. For fiction and poetry that reach the editor’s “maybe pile,” additional time for consideration will be requested until the anthology is full.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Email with the story attached (.docx, .doc, .rtf only). Feel free to include a short bio and information about your particular demographic (representing the underrepresented is a passion of the editor), but no other information is requested.
March 21, 2023
PRISMS – NOW AVAILABLE!
PRISMS, an anthology of dark science fiction and fantasy co-edited by Darren Speegle and Michael Bailey, is now available! This anthology was previously published in limited hardcover by PS Publishing in March 2021 and re-released in trade paperback and eBook by Written Backwards.
Prisms are instruments, mirrors, metaphors, gateways humankind must pass through in order to achieve, to overcome, to realize, to become. Contained herein are nineteen transformative tales from some of speculative fiction’s most brilliant minds. So open your eyes and let the light pass through . . .
Purchase directly from the publisher (US only, shipping included) . . .
PRISMS: Paperback
ISBN: 979-8986748870334 pages, 6 x 9″
$16.95
Click here to purchase.Other purchasing options . . .
Amazon: eBook | trade paperback| hardcover (from PS Publishing)
Barnes & Noble: trade paperback
Books-A-Million (BAM!): trade paperback
Table of Contents:
We Come in Threes – B.E Scully
Encore for an Empty Sky – Lynda E. Rucker
The Girl with Black Fingers – Roberta Lannes
The Shimmering Wall – Brian Evenson
In This, There Is No Sting – Kristi DeMeester
The Birth of Venus – Ian Watson
Super-Sad Mad Dog Sui-Homicidal Self-Sibs, All in a Leaky Tin Can Head – Paul Di Filippo
Rivergrace – E. Catherine Tobler
Saudade – Richard Thomas
There Is Nothing Lost – Erinn L. Kemper
This Height and Fiery Speed – A.C. Wise
The Motel Business – Michael Marshall Smith
Everything Beautiful Is Also a Lie – Damien Angelica Walters
The Gearbox – Paul Meloy
District to Cervix: The Time Before We Were Born – Tlotlo Tsamaase
Here Today and Gone Tomorrow – Chaz Brenchley
The Secrets of My Prison House – J. Lincoln Fenn
A Luta Continua – Nadia Bulkin
I Shall but Love Thee Better – Scott Edelman
Cover by Ben Baldwin
