The Writers’ Co-op invites submissions of short stories (and poems) for the sixth edition of our yearly anthology, The Rabbit Hole, scheduled for release in October 2023. Following this year’s fifth edition, we continue to explore how ‘weird’ fits into numerous genres or themes with a new theme, “Destination: Journey.”
“Destination: Journey” allows for a wide range of stories. In a simple sense, the journey itself being the destination can be taken literally or as a metaphor for life. On the other hand, as a non-sequitur it can mean almost anything – think Kafka, Bierce, Serling, or Lovecraft — and we’re really looking forward to your interpretation, because falling into the Rabbit Hole is always a strange and different experience. What we’re looking for are odd, unusual stories where the journey can be the destination, or the destination the journey, anything at all – happy, sad, good, bad, or even indifferent. Stories can emphasize whatever floats, or sinks, your boat. Just remember to keep it weird as befitting a trip down the Rabbit Hole.
Remember, ‘weird’ doesn’t always mean outlandish – it can be subtle, discreet, even furtive. Witty too, or burlesque – we’re always open to humor. Or even, at a stretch, humour. We look forward to discovering whatever means you choose to warp, subvert, disfigure, disguise or otherwise befuddle the concept of weirdness.
There is a preferred maximum word count of 5000. This is more a guideline than a strict limit – quality is the main criterion, not length. So, a great story will be accepted, whether it’s 6000 words or 200 (flash fiction is welcome). But we’re looking for short stories, not novellas or extracts from novels – the story should be complete in itself. Though the anthology will be mostly of stories, there will also be room for some poems or pieces of an experimental nature. Also, please note there is a limit of four (4) submissions per author.
The deadline is 30th April, 2023. So if you submit early, you’ll probably have a long wait for a decision.
Send submissions in an attached file to rabbitholecoopiv@gmail.com with the subject ‘Co-op submission.’ Stories may have been previously published on personal websites (or elsewhere) but authors must have full rights to them when submitting (and please let us know when submitting that the story has been previously published, and where). Authors will retain said rights after the story or poem is published in the Writers’ Co-op anthology. Writers whose stories are selected will have the choice between keeping their share of the royalties or donating them to the Against Malaria Foundation.
To get an idea of type of stories published so far, take a look at the previously published volumes of “The Rabbit Hole”: volume 0, volume 1, volume 2, volume 3, volume 4, or volume 5 (see The Rabbit Hole page at https://writercoop.wordpress.com ).
WRITERS CO-OP: A WRITER COMMUNITY FOR YOU. 