New Anthology Series Needs Stories

A few weeks ago, I featured a call for submissions for a book called Not Your Mother's Book...On Dogs. Kathleene S. Baker is co-editor of the book. She had contacted me with info for writers. Lster, she told me they have decided to accept reprints. The writer would be asked to submit proof that they still own the copyright. 

The other day, Kathy sent me a message asking why she had not seen any of my stories come through the submissions system for this new anthology series. I replied that I wasn't sure my kind of stories worked for these books. I had the impression they might want something a little on the quirky side or ones that were all from today's world. She fired back a message saying that they would consider the same kind of stories that Chicken Soup books use, but they'd also be happy to have those that were a bit quirky. She suggested I take another look at the lengthy list of titles they have in the works.

I went to the Publishing Syndicate submission guidelines page and read through the entire page, then looked at the long list of titles along the left-hand side. There are 36 listed. Click on each title to learn more about what they are looking for, and also to find out if there has been a deadline set or if it is open. Many are left open until enough stories are gathered. This tells me that submitting a story will be a long process from submission time to acceptance to publication, but in an anthology series, that is not at all unusual. Chicken Soup for the Soul books can take months and months, even more than a year. As long as you know that from the beginning, you can accept it. Doesn't mean you have to like the long wait, though. 

As I scanned the list of titles, I found several that I thought I might be able to submit to. 

The payment will vary as it is figured through royalties. The guidelines mention that they hope to get to a flat fee for authors once the series gains readers. The publishing group behind the Not Your Mothe'r's Book.... is experienced and should do a good job of marketing. 

I'm going to give it a whirl. How about you? Before you send a story, read the submission page very carefully so you know what you're committing to.