What I'm looking for:
Stories based on Shakespeare, with a sci-fi element. Don't be afraid to experiment or approach the subject from a different angle. A straight-up retelling of Romeo & Juliet featuring warring alien races is good, but so is a tale about MacBeth's witches brewing up a cursed computer virus.
Fantasy and horror elements are great, but I'd prefer if there's also sci-fi in it. Give your witches rayguns AND magic or make your fairies time travelers.
I'm hoping to publish stories that all retell different plays but I'm okay with accepting more than one story based on the same play. Feel free to draw inspiration from several plays or sonnets, or even tell a sci-fi story about Shakespeare himself (please, someone write about William Shakespeare visiting different planets based on his plays!). I'm planning to do a story based on The Merchant of Venice, so just keep that in mind.
I'd like the majority of the stories to have happy endings, but if you want to turn a comedy into a tragedy or vice versa, go right ahead! Especially the latter. I love a good funny story.
Ideal word count is 2,500 to 6,000 words, but exceptions will be made for exceptional stories.
Unpublished work preferred, but as long as you let me know it's a reprint and you have the right to reprint, we're all good.
Same for simultaneous submissions. As long as you tell me up front and notify me as soon as someone else accepts it, go ahead.
What I'm not looking for:
Poems. (Although if you've got a great one that fits the theme? Try me. You never know.)
Erotica. (Nothing against it, just not what I'm looking for. I'd love to be able to share the stories with young adults, so while sex is a part of life for a lot of people, let's try to keep the really steamy stuff off the page.)
Violence against children or animals.
Stories that perpetuate misogyny, queermisia, ableism, racism, or any other hateful ideology. (Individual characters can be hateful, but they need to be the bad guys and/or exit pursued by a bear.) That said, if your story is AMAZING but contains something I think people will find harmful, I will ask if you're willing to tweak it before I just reject you.
Don't self-reject. If the story is really good but contains something on this list, we'll try to work together in edits to make it as good as it can be.
Things I love:
Puns.
Humor.
Bright, happy stories.
Diversity:
I want to publish people that publishing has traditionally excluded. The world is filled with so many unique voices, and I want to amplify them.
There's nothing wrong with non-queer abled Christian white guys, and I'm happy to accept stories by and about them, but I want women. People of color. Disabled people. LGBTQIAP people (yes, intersex and asexual/aromantic people are queer, if they want to identify that way.) Native people. Neuroatypical people. People of all body shapes. Religious minorities. Latinx.
Also, I love intersectionality. If you're a fat, queer, Muslim wheelchair user, or your character is, I want to read your story.
I will prioritize marginalized voices if it comes down to choosing between two identically-good stories, but it's the story that counts.
How to submit:
Don't stress about this. I'm not going to fault you if you use single spacing instead of double, or Calibri instead of Courier. As long as it's legible, you're good.
That said, it'd be awesome if you could put your name and the word count somewhere at the top of the manuscript, and send it as an rtf, doc, or docx. Or, if you prefer, just copy and paste that bad boy in the body of an email.
Either way, send it to jenniferleerossman@gmail.com along with a cover letter.
Cover letter:
In your email, please tell me the following things:
Your name and/or pen name.
Your pronouns, if you're comfortable doing so. Most people are happy being referred to as she or he, but if you use they/them or ze/zir or another set, just let me know and I'll make sure to use them.
The story title. (I hate titles, too, but nothing needs to be set in stone right now. In fact, if you don't have a title you love, let me know and I'll help you come up with something.)
The approximate wordcount.
What play(s) you drew inspiration from, if applicable.
If your story is #ownvoices (ie, you're a gay author writing about gay characters or an Asian author writing about Asian characters) and you're comfortable sharing your marginalized identities, please feel free to do so.
If you have a disability that makes any part of this process difficult for you, please let me know how I can help, be it using a different font for emails or anything else. I want to tear down any accessibility barrier.
If you've never had a story published before and something confuses you, let me know. I'll make sure to explain everything.
Payment and rights:
Minimum payment is $10. Exact payment TBD.
For original works, I'm asking for first print and electronic rights with an exclusivity period of three months after publication. For reprints, non-exclusive print and electronic rights.
I'd prefer to pay through PayPal.
Response time:
You should hear back within a week if your story has been rejected or held for consideration. I'm hoping to have final decisions made two weeks after the end of the submission period, but this may change based on the amount of stories I receive.
Any questions or comments, email me at jenniferleerossman@gmail.com or use the comment form on the side of the blog.
Stories based on Shakespeare, with a sci-fi element. Don't be afraid to experiment or approach the subject from a different angle. A straight-up retelling of Romeo & Juliet featuring warring alien races is good, but so is a tale about MacBeth's witches brewing up a cursed computer virus.
Fantasy and horror elements are great, but I'd prefer if there's also sci-fi in it. Give your witches rayguns AND magic or make your fairies time travelers.
I'm hoping to publish stories that all retell different plays but I'm okay with accepting more than one story based on the same play. Feel free to draw inspiration from several plays or sonnets, or even tell a sci-fi story about Shakespeare himself (please, someone write about William Shakespeare visiting different planets based on his plays!). I'm planning to do a story based on The Merchant of Venice, so just keep that in mind.
I'd like the majority of the stories to have happy endings, but if you want to turn a comedy into a tragedy or vice versa, go right ahead! Especially the latter. I love a good funny story.
Ideal word count is 2,500 to 6,000 words, but exceptions will be made for exceptional stories.
Unpublished work preferred, but as long as you let me know it's a reprint and you have the right to reprint, we're all good.
Same for simultaneous submissions. As long as you tell me up front and notify me as soon as someone else accepts it, go ahead.
What I'm not looking for:
Poems. (Although if you've got a great one that fits the theme? Try me. You never know.)
Erotica. (Nothing against it, just not what I'm looking for. I'd love to be able to share the stories with young adults, so while sex is a part of life for a lot of people, let's try to keep the really steamy stuff off the page.)
Violence against children or animals.
Stories that perpetuate misogyny, queermisia, ableism, racism, or any other hateful ideology. (Individual characters can be hateful, but they need to be the bad guys and/or exit pursued by a bear.) That said, if your story is AMAZING but contains something I think people will find harmful, I will ask if you're willing to tweak it before I just reject you.
Don't self-reject. If the story is really good but contains something on this list, we'll try to work together in edits to make it as good as it can be.
Things I love:
Puns.
Humor.
Bright, happy stories.
Diversity:
I want to publish people that publishing has traditionally excluded. The world is filled with so many unique voices, and I want to amplify them.
There's nothing wrong with non-queer abled Christian white guys, and I'm happy to accept stories by and about them, but I want women. People of color. Disabled people. LGBTQIAP people (yes, intersex and asexual/aromantic people are queer, if they want to identify that way.) Native people. Neuroatypical people. People of all body shapes. Religious minorities. Latinx.
Also, I love intersectionality. If you're a fat, queer, Muslim wheelchair user, or your character is, I want to read your story.
I will prioritize marginalized voices if it comes down to choosing between two identically-good stories, but it's the story that counts.
How to submit:
Don't stress about this. I'm not going to fault you if you use single spacing instead of double, or Calibri instead of Courier. As long as it's legible, you're good.
That said, it'd be awesome if you could put your name and the word count somewhere at the top of the manuscript, and send it as an rtf, doc, or docx. Or, if you prefer, just copy and paste that bad boy in the body of an email.
Either way, send it to jenniferleerossman@gmail.com along with a cover letter.
Cover letter:
In your email, please tell me the following things:
Your name and/or pen name.
Your pronouns, if you're comfortable doing so. Most people are happy being referred to as she or he, but if you use they/them or ze/zir or another set, just let me know and I'll make sure to use them.
The story title. (I hate titles, too, but nothing needs to be set in stone right now. In fact, if you don't have a title you love, let me know and I'll help you come up with something.)
The approximate wordcount.
What play(s) you drew inspiration from, if applicable.
If your story is #ownvoices (ie, you're a gay author writing about gay characters or an Asian author writing about Asian characters) and you're comfortable sharing your marginalized identities, please feel free to do so.
If you have a disability that makes any part of this process difficult for you, please let me know how I can help, be it using a different font for emails or anything else. I want to tear down any accessibility barrier.
If you've never had a story published before and something confuses you, let me know. I'll make sure to explain everything.
Payment and rights:
Minimum payment is $10. Exact payment TBD.
For original works, I'm asking for first print and electronic rights with an exclusivity period of three months after publication. For reprints, non-exclusive print and electronic rights.
I'd prefer to pay through PayPal.
Response time:
You should hear back within a week if your story has been rejected or held for consideration. I'm hoping to have final decisions made two weeks after the end of the submission period, but this may change based on the amount of stories I receive.
Any questions or comments, email me at jenniferleerossman@gmail.com or use the comment form on the side of the blog.
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