Call for submissions: Samhain Publishing 2008 Fall Ménage and More anthology.

[julesjones]

Call for submissions: Samhain Publishing 2008 Fall Ménage and More anthology

Two men focused on her pleasure. One night of indulgence with her best friend and her man. Three men…one love. What’s your fantasy? More than any other, we hear from our readers that the ménage and more is the fantasy they most love reading in erotic romance. In Fall 2008, Samhain Publishing will present three red hot ménage and more stories to our readers…your book could be one of them.


This anthology will consist of three novellas to be released individually as eBooks in September 2008 and combined into one print title for 2009 release.

I am open to any romance genre (historical, paranormal, contemporary, etc.) but the stories must involve a ménage (or more). Though the ménage does not need to be the central relationship in the story or end in a HEA for all three, I am looking for romances so there must be a happily ever after for at least two of the characters.

Submissions are open to all authors previously published with Samhain as well as authors aspiring to publish with Samhain. Submissions must be new material—previously published material will not be considered.

Additionally, we will not consider manuscripts previously submitted whether individually or for past anthologies. Please be aware that manuscripts submitted to this anthology cannot be resubmitted at a later date unless by invitation from an editor.

To submit, please include the full manuscript of 24,000–30,000 words with a 2–5 page synopsis. Also include a letter of introduction/query letter if you are an author not previously contracted with Samhain.

Submissions are open until May 15, 2008, and the final decision will be made by June 1, 2008. Submissions should be sent to editor@samhainpublishing.com . Please put *Ménage Anthology Submission* in the subject line. If you receive an auto response, your submission has been received. Anthologies are special projects exempt to the general closing of submissions.

I’m happy to answer questions about this anthology either on the Samhain Author loop, Samhain Café , on the Romance Divas forum or by private email.

*permission to forward granted


From Angela James' blog: http://nicemommy-evileditor.com/blog/?p=1224

Comments

[fiona-glass.livejournal.com]

Sounds very interesting, but if only by 'anthology' they meant 'collection of short stories'! I have several of *those* that would fit the bill...

[julesjones]

Anthology is mostly used in romance to mean an anthology of novellas, rather than an anthology of short stories. Which always confuses me, because I'm used the the sf usage.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretty much the universal usage! After all, anthology means a gathering of flowers. Three novellas sounds more like a gathering of shrubs. If I could think of the Greek for a shrub I would tell you what that is.

[growlycub.livejournal.com]

I'm not clear what the difference is between a short story and a novella. Is it just length or construction or?

[julesjones]

It's length, but the length then has an impact on the way the story is constructed.

People have created specific length categories for different purposes, in word count because that's the easiest thing to measure. So for example, in science fiction and fantasy, a novella is considered to be anything from 17,500 words to 40,000 words, and a short story is anything up to 7,500 words (and in between is a novelette). Other genres use different categories -- e.g. romance seems to usually regard anything from 30,000 up to be a novel, rather than from 40,000 up.

But stories that work well at different lengths do have a different feel to them. An idea that is a good tight story at short story length may feel padded and slow-moving at novella length, with not enough plot to sustain the length. Whereas if you take a novella and try to cut it down to short story length, it may feel like the synopsis for a story rather than the story itself.

You might also use different techniques -- for an example, look at the different feel, and the different writing style, between the short story of Lord and Master and the novel I later wrote from the same idea. The short story is actually a chapter in the novel, but when I wrote the short I did it in first person present tense. When I wrote the novel, I did so in third person past tense, which tends work better for longer stories than first person present tense does. I rewrote the short into third person past tense, and that changes the way it reads.

[growlycub.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Jules!

I've been confused by the very different lengths for novel and below by the different e-publishing houses. To my mind a single title aka novel is around 100k words, so the idea that 30k is a novel just doesn't jive with my mental construct!

Also, pricing per word even within e-pubs is very uneven. Sometimes you are asked to pay 5 bucks for 30k and sometimes for 60k.

Another of my pet peeves related to length is lack of word count in ebook listings (that's why I prefer to buy from Fictionwise, they give me that). In a brick and mortar store I can see exactly how big or little any given book is. I don't want a vague label which may give me a 15k 'book' or a 40k one.

[julesjones]

Right -- I didn't get around to answering this, because it needed a certain amount of digging. And now Teddy Pig has done the hard work. :-) You might find this post of his useful:

http://www.teddypig.com/2008/01/30/ebook-pricing-for-what-its-worth