SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES
PANVERSE All-Original Novella Anthology Series
Editor - Dario Ciriello
PANVERSE ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSIONS
With Panverse Two now filled, we are re-opening for submissions on February 1st, 2010, when we will begin reading for Panverse Three (publication date Sept 1, 2011*). We'll be reading very selectively, and submissions will remain open until the anthology is filled.
What we're looking for in Panverse Three:
Pro-level novellas of between 17,500 and 40,000 words. We are particularly interested in core SF stories, as well as Fantasy and Alternate History. With Fantasy, note that we gravitate toward urban and edgy, though we do have a weakness for non-sappy stories involving Faërie or Sidhe characters. Your story should be original and unpublished in any medium including web publication.
Depth of characterization will count for a lot--however clever the idea, if we don't care for the protagonist, we'll reject it. We like stories that instill wonder. Give us a character we care for, a world both interesting and well-developed, and a story that carries us along, and you've probably got a sale.
What we don't want in Panverse Three:
Military SF, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Horror, RPG, superhero, shared-universe stuff, etc. Vampires and Cthulhu-mythos stories are strongly discouraged unless you've done something absolutely original with either theme. No gratuitous or wildly excessive sex or violence: what this means is that sex or violence which serves the plot is okay, within limits; the same goes for language. Think R-rated rather than XXX-rated.
Response Time:
We'll respond to all submissions inside six weeks; if you haven't heard after that time, please ping us. If we're on the fence over a story, we'll keep you in the loop rather than leave you wondering. Yes, we've been on the other side of the slush pile, and it's our intention to maintain a gold standard in this regard.
Your submission should be professionally formatted, with paragraphs indented but not separated by line breaks.
Please send only your best work, and take the time to proofread and format it properly. If your submission completely ignores these guidelines or is full of typos, we're unlikely to read it. Please send us only one story at a time.
NO 'BOOK BLURB', please: I don't want to know in advance what the story's about!
A cover letter is optional, but please keep it very short. You can address it to me -- Dario Ciriello.
If we really, really like a story but feel some edits or rewriting are needed, we'll make suggestions and discuss them with you rather than just bounce the story outright. We're doing this because we want to help you make this story the best it can be. If you're not open to constructive editing, don't submit to us.
Finally, please don't expect critiques or reasons for rejection. If your story is rejected, it's probably because it either doesn't conform to our needs, or doesn't grab us enough to make us want to publish it.
Email us your submission at pansubs (at) gmail (dot) com as an attachment in either doc or rtf format (docx formats will be deleted, so make sure you save as plain doc or rtf). Make sure to write FS SUB: (Story Name) in the subject line. Stories pasted into the email will be deleted. Please don't attach anything except the story.
Payment and rights:
Each contributor will receive $75 on publication and two free copies of a very handsome paperback volume, with us paying for shipping. We buy FNASR for a period of one year.
Here's the deal: we're starting on a shoestring, and we're going to be to spending our money and a lot of time and energy on getting this series – and YOU – noticed. Review copies will go out to all the usual suspects; we'll blog about this collection, notify everyone on our large email list, and generally market our butts off; and of course it'll be available via Amazon.com, as well as on this website.
If you're thinking, "Waitaminnit! The pro mags would pay me 6 cents a word!" by all means try them first--I'm rooting for you! But the sad truth is that the very few remaining pro markets between them only have room for maybe 10-15 novellas a year, and they're not taking any chances with wordcounts over about 10k. Nor are they publishing attractive, durable paperbacks.
Required Format for all Submissions
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Font: 12pt Courier or Times New Roman
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First (title) page should have author's real name, address, email, and phone number at top left ; the wordcount goes at top right, and the story title, as well as the name you wish the story to appear under, should be halfway or more down the first page
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Author's last name, story title, and page number, in headers of each page starting with page 2
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Entire text should be double-spaced
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Minimum 1" margins on all sides
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Use a double hyphen (--) to represent an em dash (—). Always.
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We prefer italics for italics (rather than underlining italicized text), but don't sweat this; we know how to fix it
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Indent 1/2" for new paragraphs; please do not use line breaks between paragraphs.
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Use a single hash sign (#) to indicate scene or section breaks
Save as doc or rtf file only: all other formats including docx files will be deleted!
Submission guidelines correct as of January 25, 2010
All material copyright (c) 2009-2010 Panverse Publishing
For general enquiries, email us at: office dot panpubs at gmail dot com
Panverse logo design by Janice Hardy
* Annual publication schedule with new volumes released Sept. 1st each year