Call for Scary submissions!
After the colossal success of Sci-Fi from the Rock and the sheer amount of amazing submissions we got for Fantasy from the Rock, Engen Books has decided to continue the From The Rock line with Chillers from the Rock, to be available in Spring 2018 at the 12th annual Sci-Fi on the Rock convention.
“The response from fans old and new over the course of this year has been overwhelming,” said Engen founder Matthew LeDrew. “Last year we we able to publish a number of first-time authors alongside established pillars in the Newfoundland science-fiction community like Kenneth Tam and Scott Bartlett, of Iceberg Publishing and Mirth Publishing, respectfully. This year we’ve got some equally stellar talent on board, as the formulae of combining new fiction writers with established fiction writers has worked out to the benefit of both and made for really great, new, dynamic collections that are at the top of everyone’s reading lists.”
The inaugural volume was titled Sci-Fi from the Rock, it in fact told PG-rated stories from the fantasy, science-fiction, and thriller genres. Fantasy from the Rock shifted to genre-specific fantasy stories to great success. This new collection will focus more on a specific tone than locking authors down to one particular genre: Chillers from the Rock will feature PG-13 thriller, chiller, creepy, and scary stories that will range over a broad mix of genres and show off our author’s abilities to excite and thrill in any setting. Each successive volume of From the Rock will showcase different talent within the Canadian writing scene.
Editors Ellen Curtis and Erin Vance are scheduled to return to helm the project.
[image error]Smoke and Mirrors author Matthew LeDrew has already expressed interest in returning to his thrillers series, Black Womb, for the collection.”One of the great things about what Vance and Curtis have done is made this platform where readers can feel safe trying indie fiction: they can get a little of everyone, a buffet of fiction, and decide what they like, secure that until their guidance the collection as a whole will be stellar. I’m looking forward to introducing people that may never have checked out my thriller series to some of its charms, and bringing old fans back for a little more of what they loved.”
Christopher Walsh, of the extremely successful Gold and Steel series, concurs: “[Engen Books] has created a place, at least locally, that helps local writers get a foothold in that world and gives the advice and encouragement needed to convince them to try at all,” said Walsh. “If not for Engen, I’m willing to bet there’s a lot of young writers telling stories outside of the local publishers scope that would not have any platform at all to try or would have given up entirely already.”
Other authors have expressed interest, but anyone can submit to be a part of this Spring 2018 collection! Deadline is October 31, 2017 but get your stories in as quick as you can, as it gives our wonderful editors more time to work with you and make sure it is as good as it can possibly be!
What is the target audience?
For this specific collection, we’re going for an equivalent of PG to PG-13. Rather than limit our authors creatively, we encourage them to write from the heart and allow us to work with them to fine-tune the work after the fact.
Example: for Sci-Fi from the Rock, Christopher Walsh’s story had featured a fair amount of cursing. As a compromise, we settled on switching it out for classic-comic style “#@$#” bleeps. We feel it captured the classic all-ages style we were going for while remaining true to his work, and both parties were happy with the arrangement. [image error]
