Furry Writers' Guild Forum

Open Call - Fragments of Life's Heart

Publishing and Marketing
#41

With less than three weeks to go, I thought I’d post a small update.

We’ve had a ton of submissions- enough to nearly fill two anthologies! The problem is, we’ve been picky about our selections thus far in using a grading system to help remember which ones we like and which ones we weren’t all that thrilled about. Let me tell you, paying out of pocket for these stories helps spin an entirely new perspective on things.

I won’t go into too many details since I know there tends to be a deadline rush. I’ll just say that if you ever wonder if we might have room for more with how steady of a flow of stories we had received, the answer is yes, most definitely. It’s not so much that we have a lot of poor submissions (far from it), but that things seem to be lingering in about the same category.

For those wondering, we mainly have either family or m/f romances. We have a few m/m romances- not near as most folks were expecting, no polyamory stories (though a couple folks said they were writing them), one asexual romance, and one m->f trans story.

The thing that surprised me most? So far we have one, just one, f/f story of any kind, at all, in any way. This includes family, friendships, and romance. If you were looking for a gap to fill, that would be it. If you’re already working on a story that in no way fills any of those gaps, please keep truckin’. We’re still looking for high quality stories, and no story has been flat-out accepted. I would rather you submit something amazing than something half-baked, or nothing at all.

If anyone needs an extension, please contact me at munch.antho@gmail.com. I understand a very short deadline for a popular anthology was recently released and I’d rather wait for good, solid stories while reading through other good solid stories than miss out on what you have to offer. We won’t be able to do this for everyone, though, so please message me as soon as you see you’ll need the extra time.

Thank you to Mando for helping me so much through this entire process. I’m proud to have him as a co-editor. And a very special thank you to all who have or will submit to this anthology. It wouldn’t be possible without you guys.

#42

I might not be able to get my submission in for this. Just too much wedding stuff and as the deadline is the same day as our wedding, it makes things difficult. Sorry Munch!

#43

This is what extensions are for.

#44

That’s if I have time to write after the wedding. :stuck_out_tongue:

#45

Jeez, really? O_o

#46

Email me please? Or DM me, so we can talk :3

#47

Okay. :smiley:

#48

One more week before the deadline drops! If you need an extension, please shoot an email with about how much time you need.

#49

Alright guys, please don’t hate me.

Like most of my hair-brained ideas, I had tossed this out as a bit of a joke on twitter, but enough folks seemed to find it agreeable that I decided to consult my co-editor about it. After much deliberation, contemplation, and looking at the extensions we’ve already offered, we have agreed to do a soft extension.

What I mean by soft extension is we’re going to start reading and rejecting stories by the 15th, but won’t make any final decisions until after the soft extension due date. How can we pull that off? We already have over 200k words worth of submissions for a 100k word anthology. We’ll decide on the stories we would keep if we had to choose from what we currently have and send rejects to the rest.

While this does mean that those we’re considering will have to wait another few weeks to know if they’re accepted or not, it will give the chance for those being rejected to change up their story and submit it to Heat if they wish to have a go at it. The soft extension will also allow those who aren’t able to finish a story for Heat, or who wish to submit to both to have a bit more time to work on their story for Fragments.

Because of this, the soft extension ends September 7th. Acceptance emails will start to go out September 8th. Final decisions will be made, and the ball will truly be rolling on getting this anthology on the FP table in time for AC 2016.

One more thing: If you have already submitted and wish to take the extra time to clean up your story and resubmit, please feel free to!

Best of luck to you all!

#50

And here I am just finishing my editing in time, and now I’m early. :stuck_out_tongue:

#51

Well! with that extension, I should be able to actually finish the first draft!

#52

types madly

Also, Munch, your new profile pic is too awesome for words.

#53

I think it needs to be said, you two are awesome editors. Extending the deadline for all and allowing resubmissions until the 7th when at double the 100k limit? You rock.

Also - Fragments of Life’s Heart Vol II anyone?

#54

Munch already said she has enough for another anthology. giggles

I do hope it does well, because it’d be nice to see this as another annual anthology. Don’t know if Munch would agree, with all the work we’re making her do with the mass of submissions. ^.^

#55

We only want the best of the best. ^^

About that, we’ve discussed it a bit, but still haven’t reached a conclusion. For now we’re focusing on this one.

#56

Hmmm…now I think I can actually contribute to this.

#57

This is it folks! The deadline is tomorrow! It will not be pushed back anymore! If you haven’t already emailed us for an extension, you need to get your stories in before I open up the email on Tuesday morning and start reading!

#58

Argos and Fennec story is done. I was holding it for one last read-through and got confused about the deadline. Thought it was next Monday.

I’ll get it in the mail as soon as I make the painful conversion from standard document format to Microsoft’s horrible proprietary one. It will be this morning for sure.

Edit: OK, fixed up and sent. Loaded into Word on husband’s computer to be sure, and I think the .doc file will work for you. That “ribbon” thing is one of the worst ideas Microsoft ever had, though. Really awful.

#59

This is it! In about 10 hours I will be on the bus to work, opening up my email and reading submissions for Fragments! Any stories not turned in by then will not be accepted! Those who have an extension know who you are and how long you have. We are aiming to get all acceptances and rejections sent out before the end of the month. Thank you and best of luck!

#60

(ToC taken down until all preferred pen names are verified)