A TERRIFYING NEW ANTHOLOGY LOOKING FOR MARGINALIZED WRITERS
When nightmare becomes real, when the thing in the wood awakes, when the swap gets its first monster, when the airlock opens to the dead floating in space, there is Malaise.
Jessamine Press is proud to present our first anthology, Malaise, whose focus takes root in tales of horror, discomfort, and unease, all told through the lenses of marginalized writers. We’re searching for unique tales that no one else could quite convey, all laden with things dark and scary. Whether you plan to make an audience screech or squirm, Malaise is there to cater to the those looking to convey dread, the dead, and more.
We’re looking for 13 horrific short stories to showcase all things that go bump in the night. We seek to promote those with voices often unheard, particularly in this genre. What we hope to share are scary stories that are unique - especially to those writing them - exploring concepts and stories that echo deeper than simple jumpscares.
There is no preference when it comes to the subgenre of submitted pitches. Echoing reality with unease, exploring fear in a fantastical setting, or setting up scares in space, whatever best sets up the story you wish to tell, we’re open to. However, it’s the harmful horror tropes that we want to leave behind. After all, horror doesn’t have to mean horrible.
If you find yourself prepared to present an idea that’s as horrifying as it is unique, we’re ready to hear from you. Follow us on Tumblr, Twitter, or Facebook for more details and announcements as they come. Just make sure you’re ready for All Hallows’ Eve, October 31st, for when submissions open!
Initial pitches must be submitted through the appropriate Google form. Final submissions must be sent in .doc form or through Google drive by the final deadline.
All submissions will have a minimum word count of 7,000 words and a maximum word count of 10,000 words. We will accept final products that go slightly over the maximum but ask that our contributors do their best to stay within the given limit.
The submission must be a standalone original work created specifically for Malaise. It cannot have been previously published nor may it include intellectual property owned by a third party. The submission must meet a horror theme.
We ask that each author limit themselves to one pitch. This will make it easy for our editors to pick the final list of contributors and will level the playing field in the interest of fairness. All pitches should have a beginning, middle, and some idea of an end. These pitches can be rough but please try to give us as much detail as possible so we can get a good idea of your story.
Submissions should be appropriate for adult audiences but excessive gore/violence, sexual themes, etc, will be edited and/or removed.
As this anthology was created with marginalized creators in mind, please note that precedence will be given to underrepresented contributors.
We ask that all stories are free of discrimination and that our writers avoid harmful portrayals/stereotypes of race, sexuality, gender, etc. We trust our authors to interpret this guideline in a responsible manner but our editors and sensitivity readers will have final say.
Please note that special or unconventional formatting will need to be discussed with the editors prior to writing.
As editors and organizers, we reserve the right to request edits to manuscripts or deny entry into the anthology if the final product differs too much from the original pitch and/or contains harmful content. We reserve the right to deny pitches we deem inappropriate for this anthology.
Submissions will open October 31st, 2017, at 1:00 a.m. and will close November 17th, 2017, at midnight.
October 31st - Pitch Submissions Open
November 17th - Pitch Submissions Close
November 20th - Final List of Contributors Posted
December 15th - First Check-in
January 15th - Second Check-in
February 15th - Final Submission
March 1st - Kickstarter Launches
What does horror mean exactly?
We are giving our creators the freedom to decide. As long as the story lurks somewhere under a horror umbrella, you can write about any number of things: space horror, zombies, monsters, apocalyptic horror, ghost stories, psychological horror, gothic romance, etc. Your stories can have sad endings, happy endings, or ambiguous ones, but we simply ask that they have a complete ending.
Can we take inspiration from x, y, z?
As long as the story falls into a broad horror genre the creator has as much freedom with interpreting that as they like. We only ask that you do not use existing IPs for your stories and that any inspiration drawn from other sources is either free source or extremely minimal. If you wish to do a horror retelling of a story please note that we will not accept pitches that use the same characters. As in, you are allowed to do a western horror retelling inspired by the myth of Hades and Persephone, but cannot write about Hades and Persephone themselves. We also ask that creators be mindful and respectful if writing outside their own culture.
Can we submit fanworks for our samples?
Absolutely! We use the samples to gauge writing and storytelling ability and using fanwork examples will neither harm nor hinder your chance of acceptance. However, this anthology will focus on wholly original work, so we would appreciate a mix of original and fan fiction.
Malaise (and Jessamine Press) is dedicated to giving voices to marginalized and underrepresented creators and we ask that all authors be over 18 years of age.
Unfortunately we are not accepting teams for this anthology as we’d like to focus on individual efforts.
Do I need to have previous anthology experience?
Nope! As with fanworks, previous anthology experience will neither harm nor hinder your chance of acceptance. We aim to shine a spotlight particularly on new and upcoming authors, however.
How will funding work? Payment?
All authors will be guaranteed compensation regardless of funding. Funding for the final anthology will be secured through a Kickstarter campaign and payment will be distributed to contributors after the campaign ends, regardless of funding success. Any money made over our initial goal will be put towards stretch goals, improved book quality, and increased contributor payment.
Horror relies on a number of tropes that we strongly encourage- alright, we flat out ask, our creators to keep a wide berth from. Racist, ableist, bigoted or homophobic pitches will not be accepted and we will not be publishing anything akin to torture porn or rape fantasies, either. We reserve the right to ask our creators to change a story at any time. While this does not mean we expect these stories to be cheerful (it is horror, after all) we ask that you approach the subject matter with care and caution. We have a team of editors and will hire sensitivity readers as needed. We understand that horror themes can be used by some to cope, but ask that our contributors be mindful that their coping mechanism may be extremely harmful to others’ mental well-being. At the end of the day, we’re simply asking you to care about other people.
Please feel free to send this blog an ask or contact us directly at [email protected]
