Tom English of Dead Letter Press is now reading submissions for an anthology of “books gone bad.” He isn’t releasing the title of the project, but is project a limited edition of only 150 or 200 hardcover copies.
According to the guidelines, “Stories should be about books that do not belong in a sane person’s library; books that wreck havoc in the lives of their owners; books that are no damn good! The ‘bad’ book in your story should be central to the plot. The book should exert an emotional, or a physical, or a supernatural effect on the characters, or on reality, or time, or space. The book should be the villain of your story. Perhaps a sympathetic villain, or an unwitting accomplice to evil—but nevertheless, the book should be a ‘character’ in your story, play a major role, and be ‘on stage’ for a good part of the tale. You can think of this as ‘the secret lives and evil times of diabolical books.’ In fact, that’s the tag line.”
The guidelines give examples such as H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Book” (the ancient tome transports the reader to strange vistas); Fred Chappell’s “The Adder” (the book feeds on other texts in a bookstore); and M.R. James’s “Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook” (the book comes complete with a demon). There are more illustrations and suggestions in the guidelines.
English is looking for stories between 4,000 and 12,000 words, and paying 1 cent per word plus two copies. He’ll also consider reprints at $25 to $60 per story. Submissions should be sent to DeadLetterPress at cox.net with “books gone bad” in the subject line.