The Temple of the Exploding Head

The author of the League of Elder series is looking for you! We’re collecting stories for an anthology focused on the Fiend of Calvert, a Jack-the-Ripper style killer featured in LoE Book VI: Sands of the Solar Empire.

What we want: We’re open for cool, atmospheric stuff. We’re open to poetry, to standard science fiction/fantasy, to gothic horror and steam punk and even Bizarro fiction–it simply needs to pertain to the Fiend in some way shape or form. Above all however, submission stories must fall within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, or a combination of both. Word counts should range from 250 (short-shorts) and up to 10,000 words for stories.

What we don’t want: Stories with excessive profanity, erotica, splatter horror or hate fiction. Illustrations depicting explicit frontal nudity will not be accepted.

Source Material: We’re looking for all things Fiend. Look at the attached pamphlet–it contains a wealth of material to draw from, use it as a well-spring of inspiration. Submissions can be about the Fiend himself, about one of his victims, the places he plied his trade, witnesses to the murders, the Evidencers sent to discover his identity, or about the Mad Lord of Walther who finally stopped him. He a pretty shadowy character operating in an equally shadowy area of Kana, so extensive knowledge of the League of Elder Universe and established characters is helpful, but not required. In this exercise you have a remarkable amount of creative freedom. The actual identity of the Fiend has not been revealed yet (that’s in Book VII) so the sky’s the limit. Make him what you want him to be.

Submission Dates: We will be accepting submissions until March 30, 2013, 11:59:59pm eastern standard time. CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT

Payment: Payment for accepted submissions will be made in the form of a check within two months of publication. If preferred, payment may be made through a PayPal account. Authors of an accepted short story will be paid at the rate of 1¢ per word, up to a maximum of $100 US for stories and $50 US for poetry.

Rights: We purchase exclusive worldwide print and electronic rights. These rights exist from the point of contract to a period of two years from the date of publication. It is also understood and agreed that Ren Garcia may retain the right to archive the Work for reprinting use only in the anthology format. The author shall retain all other rights to the Work not specified here.

How to submit: Send us via email a short 150 word or less blurb (written in third-person) describing your story along with your planned final word count (approximating is fine) and what sort of story it is (sci-fi, horror, steam punk, etc). Please also include the first few pages so we can get a feel for your writing style. We’re flexible about silly stuff like spacing, font, justification and all that, however, if you turn in an overtly unprofessional submission it probably won’t go very far.

Multiple Submissions: Only one story, or up to 3 poems per author will be considered. Illustrators/artists may submit up to two illustrations. All submissions must be submitted separately (one submission per email).

Simultaneous Submissions: Simultaneous submissions are not permitted due to the fact that the Fiend of Calvert and associated characters/environs are League of Elder trademarks.

Response time: 1-4 months depending on your submission date. Our responses will come in the form of a simple form letter via e-mail.

copyright, 2012, Ren Garcia and Carol Phillips