The California Cantata Anthology - Fantasy / Historical Fiction - [$0.01/word]

[llambertlawson]

Hi all,

Longtime lurker...finally decided to register. Anyway, my press, Kazka Press, put up a call for our newest anthology: the California Cantata. Basically, we're looking for Historical Fiction with a Fantasy bent that explores the history of the various California counties.

More information can be seen here: http://www.kazkapress.net/contests/c...tata-anthology

We pay 1 cent a word for pieces between 500 - 5,000 words and are looking for the following rights: "First worldwide electronic English Language rights. Exclusivity for 6 months from date of release. Non-exclusive rights to keep the anthology in print across different publishing platforms afterward. [We'll also ask for first worldwide print English language rights if we decide to do a print version of this anthology.]" [Thanks @ashvartsman!]

I can answer any questions here on on Twitter @kazkapress or @llambertlawson

Thanks for reading!

[llambertlawson]

Hey folks, the California Cantata Anthology is open for submissions now.

We'll be open to your wonderful stories from now until the end of September.

I'll keep an updated list of reserved/purchased counties here. Since we're only taking one story per county (though up to two stories per author), you'll want to avoid writing your story based on the following counties:

• Humboldt
• Inyo
• Orange
• Kern
• Kings
• San Bernardino
• San Luis Obisbo

Quick info about the types of stories we're looking for:

There are 58 counties in California. Each has a history–a real history free of dragons and sorceresses and enchanted forests, which is a real shame. So, we want you to remix some part of the real history of a Californian county with fantasy fiction. For example, did griffins really help miners in Nevada County, California transport their gold to market? What role did telepathy have in opening up Monterey County, California to exploration? You see our idea. Fantasy + a county in California. Just shy away from libel.

In your story, you must tackle the history of only one county in California. You, as the writer, will be the spokesperson as you will be the only writer for that county’s history–if your story is selected, of course. Think of it as a fun research project. That said, if we get two stories about, say, San Diego County, we’ll be publishing the stronger one, so consider a story about one of the lesser known counties to up your chances of inclusion in this anthology. Maybe Yolo? Plumas? Modoc?

[Fedora]

Working on a sub right now.

[llambertlawson]

Originally Posted by Fedora

Working on a sub right now.

Excellent! We're excited to (eventually) read it!

[clintl]

This sounds very interesting!

[llambertlawson]

Originally Posted by clintl

This sounds very interesting!

We're definitely hoping for interesting! We've had success with great stories from our previous call for Bronies: For the Love of Ponies, and we're very excited about seeing what we get for this call. It's a bit specific, but we know there are lots of talented writers who can do a lot with the theme.

[Fedora]

Just submitted. Hope you enjoy it!

[llambertlawson]

Originally Posted by Fedora

Just submitted. Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for all the submissions, folks! Our readers are having quite a feast!

[llambertlawson]

Thanks for sending in your stories! We've read through our first round of stories, and we've selected one story about Kern County and we sent out a rewrite request for another: Orange County. Thus, those two counties are taken, bringing our total up to four counties: Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, and Orange. All other counties are still open.

Based upon our readers' experiences with the stories we've received so far, we want to reiterate our preferences for stories for this anthology:

The history of your county and the fantastical elements of your stories should not be muted. The history should be as big a character as the folks running around on your stage. What happens in your story should influence or explain some piece of the history of your county.

As well, we're looking to publish stories that are clearly fantasy fiction. Stories that feature weak (or no) fantasy elements aren't what we're looking for.

Some stories we've received weren't fantastical. Others barely mentioned the history of the county in question. Both aren't going to work for us for this anthology.

Write us an engaging story with strong historical and fantastical hooks and you'll have a good chance of getting into this anthology.

Thanks, again, for sending stories to us. Keep 'em coming!

[llambertlawson]

Just wanted to provide an updated list of accepted counties for the Cantata:

Humboldt
Inyo
Orange
San Luis Obisbo
Kern
San Bernardino
Kings

We've got stories from Michael H. Payne, Beth Cato, & Michael Haynes (among others). We're accepting stories through the end of the month, so if you've got a story for us, please do send it in. We've got amazing stories lined up, and this is going to be an amazing collection of stories.

[Oldbrasscat]

Have you gotten anything for Alameda?

[llambertlawson]

We've got a few stories in the pile we're taking a look at, but Alameda isn't claimed yet. Feel free to send along a story before the deadline!

[flowerburgers]

I love California and I'm homesick as hell right now -- found out about this a bit late, but I'll try to put something together before the end of the month. Regardless of whether or not I wind up submitting anything, I'm really looking forward to seeing this anthology; it sounds like it's going to be wonderful. I'm guessing this is one of the more "popular" counties, but any chance you're still looking for a San Francisco story?

[Oldbrasscat]

Originally Posted by llambertlawson

We've got a few stories in the pile we're taking a look at, but Alameda isn't claimed yet. Feel free to send along a story before the deadline!

Should be sitting in your slush pile right now!

[llambertlawson]

Originally Posted by flowerburgers

I love California and I'm homesick as hell right now -- found out about this a bit late, but I'll try to put something together before the end of the month. Regardless of whether or not I wind up submitting anything, I'm really looking forward to seeing this anthology; it sounds like it's going to be wonderful. I'm guessing this is one of the more "popular" counties, but any chance you're still looking for a San Francisco story?

Haven't purchased one yet, so if you have time, feel free to send one our way!

[flowerburgers]

Great! I finished it today, will probably let it sit until the weekend and then I'll send it in.

[Oldbrasscat]

Originally Posted by flowerburgers

Great! I finished it today, will probably let it sit until the weekend and then I'll send it in.

My character had to pass through San Fran to get to Alameda! Hey, neighbour!

[llambertlawson]

One more day folks! Looking forward to sifting through our submissions! And we're very excited to put this collection out. We've got some very strong stories already, and we're looking forward to find a few more.

Thanks so much for submitting, folks!

[llambertlawson]

Thanks for all the submissions, folks. We'll be reviewing these stories over the next 3-4 weeks and passing along decisions at the end of that timeframe.