Open Anthology Submissions

SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN FOR BEHIND THE REVOLVING DOOR, AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHOICES. 

Behind the Revolving Door, an Anthology of Choices is the fifth anthology from Celestial Echo Press. The theme is the choices we make.

Each of us makes a multitude of choices daily, some minor and some with major consequences. Do you or don’t you wear your lucky shirt to the sports event? What do you think the consequences would be if you didn’t wear your lucky shirt?

This anthology will be a collection of stories that take the reader on a journey with the author’s protagonist as they go through a trial and are forced to take an action, to make a choice. For example, does the character find a wallet on the ground? Do they open it? Return it to the owner, or keep it? What are the consequences?  Do they encounter a second choice, thus going back through the revolving door? Do they find classified information, implicating a family member in a coup? What do they do with it?  Is the character hiking through the woods only to find a portal, not knowing where it will take them if they enter? What happens? Is it so bad that they try to return, hence going through the revolving door? There are many, many ways this theme can be interpreted.

We believe authors can give us a great story by fleshing out the characters and plot. We’re asking for a minimum of 500 words, maximum 4,000 words.

The revolving door on the cover will not be required in the story. If a door and/or a revolving door is in the story, that will be a plus. All fiction (humor, horror, romance, fantasy, etc.) is welcome, except erotica. Send us well-written stories that make us think about the choice the protagonist made, that make us think about the story after we’ve closed the book. Give us new, fresh stories. Authors have free rein how to interpret this theme. We can’t wait to read your story.

Uninvited are screenplays, poetry, and nonfiction. Also uninvited are stories that are publicly available on any website, such as a Facebook page. We will not accept stories with graphic porn and yes, we’ll know bad taste when we see it. We want YA readers to enjoy the published anthology without parental balking. Also uninvited are stories over the maximum of 4000 words. They will be rejected immediately. Don’t write on the Google form that your story is 4000 words and send us one that’s 10K. We’ll know.

All stories that do not contain an element of choice will be rejected immediately.

We want to read great stories and can’t wait to read your submission!

We have invited six authors: Jonathan Maberry, Charley Heenan, Rik Hoskin, Susan Shwartz, Chris Bauer, and Marisca Pichette.  We anticipate accepting a minimum of 14 stories from this open sub call. We may reserve one slot for an author who submits a great story and has not previously been published. We want to encourage, and support, new authors. The story comes first.

Guidelines are as follows:

We will not accept any stories that have been created by AI, nor any that have used AI to assist in penning the story. If accepted, you will be sent a contract to sign that includes this requirement.

Word count must be between 500 and 4000 words. Story must be submitted in Word, 12-pt font.

  • Your story must focus on the choices theme. Inclusion of a door is not required, but is a plus.
  • Simultaneous submissions are not allowed.
  • Submissions will be open from May 1, 2025 through June 1, 2025.
  • Submissions must be made via the Google form at this link:  Format: Word, 12-point font in Times New Roman, double-spaced (Shunn) format.
  • You may submit as many as three stories, but we will only accept one per author. We will accept reprints if you have the rights back; please note on your submission if your story is a reprint.
  • There is no reading fee.
  • Payment will be 1 cent per word for original stories or a flat $10 for reprints and will be paid upon signing the contract. Authors also will receive one electronic copy of the anthology.
  • Payment will be made via PayPal only, in United States Dollars.
  • We anticipate a quick acceptance/rejection timeframe, hopefully within 45 days after submissions close. However, this isn’t set in stone. It depends how many submissions we receive. We will not read the stories as they come in; we’ll read them all after June 1.
  • We will only offer an acceptance or rejection email, without feedback. Along with our thanks for submitting, of course, either way.
  • We will plaster your name around the universe as best we can. In other words, wherever we market the book, publicize the book, or mention the book, the contributing authors’ names will be mentioned. We expect to publish Behind the Revolving Door, an Anthology of Choices in paperback and ebook. We plan to sell them through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and everywhere in the galaxy. For authors local to Southeast Pennsylvania, we will attempt to provide as much face-time as possible, including book signings and readings. We have had readings and signings at Philcon in Cherry Hill NJ the past few years.
  • Your work should be as perfect as possible prior to submitting. We want to read your best writing. We are editors by trade so grammatical, typographical, and syntactical errors will be glaring to us and will take us out of your story. All stories will be edited by us. We will collaborate with the author.
  • We anticipate approximately 80K words in the anthology.
  • Now the legal jargon: We’re asking for first rights nationally and internationally, but all rights will revert back to you six months after initial publication. After those six months, you can publish it wherever you like. We ask that you note that it was first published in our anthology. If for some odd reason the book is not published within 24 months from the date of acceptance (as John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,”) we will return first rights to you immediately. Once your story is accepted, you will receive a contract. If an accepted author is under the age of 18, a parent must sign the contract.
  • If you have never been published, and wish to gain publication credit, submit because we’d love to read your submission. If you’ve been published many times and wish to see your name in print in a new venture, submit because we’d love to read your story. Did we say it enough? We want to read your story.

 

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PLEASE READ THE TAB TITLED “HYBRID PUBLISHING” PRIOR TO SUBMITTING A MANUSCRIPT

Open Manuscript Submissions

We are open for submissions. These are the guidelines to use for submissions:

  1. We have varied interests. Ruth is interested in girls’ YA, mysteries, Holocaust-related nonfiction, and Westerns; Ann is interested in fantasy, sci-fi, thrillers, and steampunk.
  2. We do not accept porn, graphic erotica, or serious violence (especially against children), or textbooks.
  3. Submit by email to ruthann@celestialechopress.com. Ensure your manuscript is double-spaced in 12-pt black, using Times New Roman or equivalent font. Label your file with your last name, and the title of your manuscript.

NOTE:

We will not accept any submissions which contain content created by AI. Our contract contains a clause indicating the story is written solely by the author submitting it.

To submit:

For non-fiction –

Submit your proposal with a tentative table of contents.

For fiction –

We want to read your synopsis of at least 500 words. Yes, more is fine, but remember, a synopsis is a brief summary.. No, less is not fine. We also want a compelling query letter. Include why your novel is different from all others. Also, tell us what shelf it would fit on in a bookstore. Tell us some similar, but not exact, published works. Please include the first 30 pages.

We will reply as quickly as possible. We’re a two-woman shop, so we may take a bit longer if we’re inundated. If you haven’t heard from us, either rejection or acceptance, within two months, please email us at ruthann@celestialechopress.com.