A Season for Romance: Fall Flames
Sand Kittens Press is currently hosting a season-themed romance anthology. For Fall Flames, we would like authors to weave aspects of the season and fall themes into their flash fiction/short stories. Here are some fall themes that may help you get inspired:
* Harvest and Bounty: Agricultural harvest - abundance of fruits, vegetables, and crops - mirrored with harvest in relationships.
* Changing Leaves and Nature: Highlight the beauty of fall foliage and changing colors of leaves, and nature's transition alongside the transition your characters make in their relationships.
* Coziness and Comfort: Embracing cozy elements like warm sweaters, blankets, bonfires, and comfort foods.
* Halloween and Spookiness: Exploring themes of Halloween, spooky elements, costumes, pumpkins, and autumnal festivities.
* Transition and Change: Reflecting on the symbolism of transition, transformation, and change in seasons.
* Thanksgiving and Gratitude: Focusing on themes of gratitude, family gatherings, and the Thanksgiving holiday.
* Misty Mornings and Crisp Air: Evoking the feel of cool, crisp air, misty mornings, and the scent of fallen leaves.
* Harvest Festivals and Traditions: Showcasing local festivals, traditions, and cultural celebrations associated with the season.
To have a better chance of having your story/stories accepted, please read the previous years’ anthologies – Spring Blossoms and Summer Simmer to have a good idea of the kind of stories we accept.
*In order to help authors with their stories Daiva had created the guide "How to Write Flash". You can read it in our blog.
There will be paperback as well as ebook versions of Fall Flames on amazon only. All proceeds will go to Kindness Ranch Animal Sanctuary meaning there will be no royalties payable to the contributing authors.
But it will be something that you can use as your ‘lead magnet’ to start collecting emails for your list. And you will get the opportunity to work with us and experience the high of getting your story into its best possible shape.
Submissions will begin on March 1, 2025 and close on March 15, 2025.
*Selected authors will be notified by March 31, 2025 via the email they provide in their submission form.
This anthology will be released on May 31, 2025.
**The exact release day may vary, depending on the number of submissions received.
Sand Kittens Press reserves the right to extend submission time if we do not receive enough submissions on the date stated.
ONLY THE FOLLOWING GENRES WILL BE ACCEPTED
ROMANTIC
FANTASY
SCI FI
ROMANCE
EQUESTRIAN
ROMANCE
PARANORMAL
ROMANCE
URBAN
FANTASY
FUTURISTIC
ROMANCE
MAGICAL
REALISM
HISTORICAL
ROMANCE
CYBERPUNK / STEAMPUNK ROMANCE
*MM or FF Romance in any of the above genres are most welcome.
*Flame level - Cozy / Sweet with Heat, meaning it doesn’t have to be squeaky clean. It can be subtly steamy, but nothing graphic or explicit, nothing dark or gory, nothing non-consensual. No erotica.
Here is what we are looking for in individual story submissions:
* Word Count - up to 2K.
* Original - All of it (the entire story you submit) has to be your own work. We are committed to publishing stories written and edited by humans. We reserve the right to reject any submission that we suspect to be primarily generated or created by language modeling software, ChatGPT, chat bots, or any other AI apps, bots, or software.
* Virginal - The story/stories you submit to us must not have been published before.
* Single or multiple - You may submit up to 2 stories or 3 poems for each anthology.
* Creative - Don’t be afraid to subvert tropes.
* Your Best Effort - While we do NOT expect your story/stories to be ready for publishing (that would defeat the whole purpose of this anthology), we do expect basics like proper grammar and punctuation, correct spelling and use of dialogue tags.
*An Actual Story - No personal essay. No stream of consciousness. No slice of life. Nothing ‘experimental’. A story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
NO ZOMBIES
NO UNDEAD
NO GHOSTS
Romance between people, please. Aliens and shifters, elves and dwarves, angels and demons, fae and faery are all welcome as they are people too. Animals are not people. Orcs are not people. Zombies, undead and ghosts used to be people but are no longer people.
NO BUY-IN FEE
If in any doubt, and to increase the chance of your story being accepted, please read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King, and apply everything you learn from this little booklet..
Upon successful submission of each individual story, the author will be expected to work with one or both developmental editors (Daiva and Erica), a line editor (Cassia), two beta-readers (Rebecca and M.K. Hall), and finally a proof-reader (M.K. Hall) using google doc.
If you’re NOT prepared to work with editors and betas to get your story into shape, then this anthology is NOT a good fit for you.
We are asking for first North American rights only for six months. All rights revert back to the author after six months, meaning you will be able to post or publish your story/stories anywhere before the end of the year.
Authors will retain full copyright of their stories and have creative freedom over their own work. This means that, if you do not like our input, you are under no obligation to make changes. It is your story and you get the final say. However, this anthology is meant to offer writers a glimpse into the editing and publishing process, so if you do not find our suggestions of value, then it’s best to part ways and allow someone else to make the most of this opportunity.
: : IMPORTANT DATES : :
Story Submission Deadline - March 15 (the Ides of March), 2025
Date for revisions and line-edits to be completed - May 15, 2025
Release Date - May 31, 2025
If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact us via email: cassia.hall.fantasy@gmail.com
