NEW anthology... An Apocalyptic Anthology

Yes, you read that title right... this one is pretty sweet... but please note, this is NOT hosted by Soft Whispers... this anthology is in PRINT and is hosted by the awesome Living Dead Press and the editor is one of Soft Whispers biggest contributors, Rebecca Besser. When I heard about this one, not only did I start writing a story, but I told Becca I'd plug the anthology for her... I mean, come on, AN APOCALYPTIC ANTHOLOGY!!!!! Can't get much better than that! Anyways, here is what Becca asked me to say... Rebecca Besser is the editor for End of Days 4: An Apocalyptic Anthology by Living Dead Press, and she would like to invite anyone who is interested in submitting a story about the end of the world to check out the guidelines at: http://www.rebeccabesser.com/album1_006 My advice to anyone reading this? Check out the guidelines and get writing... -Jim-

Seventeen Syllables - ANTHO AVAILABLE!

Yes, it's here! The Seventeen Syllables anthology is ready and packed with GREAT haikus! Check it out: Seventeen Syllables

UNLuck of the Irish Anthology is AVAILABLE!

Yes, it's available! And it's FREE. So please read and enjoy! And have a HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!

UNLuck of the Irish Anthology!

Seventeen Syllables - NEW ANTHOLOGY!

ANOTHER ONE???? Yup. Another one. . . and again, thanks to Jenna Luckenbach for making this logo!

SEVENTEEN SYLLABLES anthology! Submissions open February 19, 2010 and close April 16, 2010 at 5pm EST. Anthology will be available April 26, 2010. This anthology is simple: we want Haiku’s. (Hence the name seventeen!) The subject of the Haiku’s are open – sad, happy, scary, whatever! Now, here’s the sweet part. . . the submissions are UNLIMITED! Got 1 Haiku? SEND IT. Got 100? SEND THEM!

This is how the Haiku should look:

Please make sure you read All the guidelines before you Send something in, k?

I know that was cheesy, but oh well. The formatting is 5-7-5 and there will be NO exceptions to this. I’m sure there are different styles of Haiku’s with different rules, but we want it to be 17 syllables broken into the first line having 5, second line having 7, and third line having 5 again. Formatting NEEDS to be 12 pt Times New Roman font.

When submitting, attach your work to email sent to SOFTWHISPERSSUBMISSIONS@gmail.com. In the subject line: HAIKU ANTHO. Without that, the filters won’t pick it up and it will be gone forever. Bummer.

In the body of the email, write a bio – a bio you’d want to be published if accepted. You retain ALL rights to your work. If it’s already published, COOL! We’ll take it as long as you own the rights.

There is NO money involved here – sorry – but with our anthologies, we try to have a prize. We’re going to pick the best two authors and send them something. What is that something? Not sure yet. We haven’t gotten that far. The reason why is because right now it’s cold, snowy, and winter. This anthology is going to come out just as Spring is in full swing and we want a “nice weather” prize to send!

Any questions? Send an email to Jim at SOFTWHISPERSSUBMISSIONS@gmail.com.

UN-Luck of the Irish - NEW ANTHOLOGY!

YES, another anthology! Once again a big thank you to Jenna Luckenbach for making this logo for us!

The UNLuck of the Irish anthology! Submissions open February 19, 2010 and close March 12, 2010 at 5pm EST. Anthology will be available on St. Patty’s Day – March 17,2010. We are looking for your scariest OR funniest St. Patty’s Day stories and/or poetry! When writing, please remember the title of the anthology – it’s the UNLUCK of the Irish. We’re talking evil leprechaun’s, four leaf clovers that bring bad luck. . . whatever! Make it fun, make it scary, make it green! There is NO word count limit for this anthology. However, please bear in mind this will be available only online.

For fiction: Again, no word count. Only 1 story per person please. For the formatting (and this is the BIG rule) – 12 pt Times New Roman font. SINGLE spaced with indented paragraphs and NO spaces between paragraphs. When ready to send, email submissions to SOFTWHISPERSSUBMISSIONS@GMAIL.COM with UNLUCK – FICTION in the subject. If you don’t do this, the filters won’t grab it and it will be lost forever. Bummer. ATTACH the story to the email. In the body of the email, write a bio about yourself. Go crazy with it! There is no word count for the bio’s either. This is your chance to brag and boast so enjoy it! For Poetry: No word count and any style you want it to be. Only 1 poem per person please. For formatting – 12 pt Times New Roman font. Spacing and where the words are placed are up to you but however you send it is how it will be published. When ready to send, email submissions to SOFTWHISPERSSUBMISSIONS@GMAIL.COM with UNLUCK – POETRY in the subject. If you don’t do this, the filters won’t grab it and it will be lost forever. Bummer. ATTACH the story to the email. In the body of the email, write a bio about yourself. Go crazy with it! There is no word count for the bio’s either. This is your chance to brag and boast so enjoy it! Now, the nitty-gritty: You CAN submit a story and a poem, no problem. You CAN submit work that has been previously published as long as you have the rights to do so.

If selected for publication, you retain all rights and you can send your story/poem out anywhere anytime. We are not here to steal your rights or even borrow them – we want to share stories and poetry, that’s it.

If you send something to us and out elsewhere and the elsewhere picks it up and doesn’t want to share, just shoot us an email and we will get rid of your story or poem UNLESS the anthology is out.

There is NO money involved here but there is a super special prize. And no it’s not just getting published. The authors of the best two pieces in the anthology will receive a keychain – it will be some kind of St. Patty’s Day/Irish keychain. Yes, I know that’s silly, but come on, it’s something! Any further questions, please email Jim at SOFTWHISPERSSUBMISSIONS@gmail.com.

Deadly Love, Be Mine Anthology AVAILABLE!

YES! The Valentine's Day anthology is available! A big thank you all the contributors, Laura Eno for putting the bug in my ear about this, and Jenna Luckenbach for providing yet again amazing art for the anthology. Please enjoy! Dead Love, Be Mine Anthology

NEW ANTHOLOGY OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS!

The title (as of now): DEADLY LOVE, BE MINE The concept is all Laura Eno’s fault! With a simple question on Twitter, this idea was born and now moving forward. . . Laura asked me if I thought about doing a Valentine’s Day concept like the 12 Days of Christmas one that will be in paperback very soon (www.12days2009.wordpress.com). So, with that said and in mind. . . here we bring you the “Deadly Love, Be Mine” flash fiction / poetry anthology. It’s going to be like a box of chocolates minus the chocolate and lots of horror! GUIDELINES: 1 story OR poem per person. No exceptions. Stories MUST be 1,000 words or less. I repeat: 1,000 WORDS OR LESS. The reason is that this will be published ONLY on the blog. (It may end up in print eventually but I’m not promising a thing because of the cost of putting something in print! If I cover my costs for the 12 Days book and have extra, then we’ll talk about printing this!) The theme is Valentine’s Day horror. . . it doesn’t have to be on Valentine’s Day or about it, but we want love and horror, love and death, love and monsters, love and zombies (cue Jodi MacArthur!), love and. . . whatever the hell scares me!!! :) Submissions are open the second you read this and close on February 10, 2010 BUT please, PRETTY PLEASE with sugar and cherries on top submit your story as soon as you can so we can start posting them! I’m not sure how I’m going to post them – how many per day, etc. because I don’t know how many I’m getting! I’m leaving that part of this project open to you writers. . . just submit, submit, submit! If you have a story that has been published elsewhere, tell me. Make sure you have the rights to have it published somewhere else. If you have a story on your blog, tell me. When you submit, attach – I repeat – ATTACH the story or poem in a Word document using 12 point Times New Roman font (a hard lesson I learned from the 12 Days antho – people like weird fonts!). In the body of the email, put a short bio about yourself, your sites, your work, whatever! Send the story or poem to softwhisperssubmissions@gmail.com with VDAY in the subject line. What that said. . . if you have a question, DM me on Twitter @wisneski or email me. Oh, and the winners of this little project. . . yes, there will be winners. . . get a box of chocolates! The top two stories and top poem authors will get a box of chocolates sent to them! Happy Valentine’s Day. . . so get writing. . .

(and a HUGE thanks to Jenna at Fortunate Creations for creating the logo/coverart for this project already!)