Assistant Editor Jennifer Williams tells us that Circlet Press is now reading for three new electronic anthologies. General guidelines are the same, but the subject for each is different.
In all three cases, the submission deadline is 7 July 2009, preferred length is 3,000-7000 words, and payment is $25 per story, with an additional $25 payment if the book gets a print edition. All stories must include explicit sexuality and erotic focus.
The anthologies they’re trying to fill right now are: Like a Queen (gay and lesbian fairy tales), Like a Thorn (BDSM fairy tales), and Like Twin Stars (bisexual-themed erotic sf/fantasy). Descriptions of each below:
Like a Queen: Have you ever thought that your favorite fairy tale from childhood would make a great bedtime story for adults? We’re looking for erotic retellings of fairy tales, fables, and bedtime stories, specifically with a gay/lesbian twist. This is your chance to tell the parts that the Brothers Grimm left out—what was really going on between Cinderella and her fairy godmother? What did the dwarves spend their time doing before Snow White arrived? What if there were a beautiful boy with golden locks at the top of a tower, waiting for rescue by a handsome prince? Whose kiss might Sleeping Beauty really be waiting for? Fairy tales are about the fairest of both sexes, governed by outrageous passions and gifted magical powers with which to pursue them. Heroes, damsels, dragons, witches, wizards, enchanted kingdoms, evil queens, man-eating wolves—all of them have torrid sex lives. Ideally, we’d like to stick with European, Brothers-Grimm-style fairy tales, as they’re the most familiar to our readers, but really excellent submissions based on fables from other cultures will be considered. Although rape and violence have a considerable presence in the original versions of most of these stories, please leave them out of your retellings. Power dynamics are sexy, but stories where characters are forced into nonconsensual and/or violent acts will not be accepted. That said, we can’t wait to read your submissions; turn us on with your own erotic gay or lesbian tales of once upon a time!
Like a Thorn: Fairy tales often contain a more “adult” interpretation within their metaphors and symbols. Was Sleeping Beauty’s pricking of her finger symbolic of her loss of virginity? The fairy tale landscape is awash in erotic possibilities, as well as intriguing opportunities to explore bondage, dominance and submission, and power exchange fantasies. Cruel queens, towers and dungeons, tests of love and valor, what fairy tale will inspire you to craft us an arousing/intense BDSM fantasy?
Like Twin Stars: According to Scientific American, bisexual behavior is common in over 1500 species of animals on Earth, including humans, for whom it has greater social and personal consequences than it does for penguins, baboons, or garter snakes. Use science fiction and fantasy to get at this subject. Could there be worlds where bisexuality was the norm? What’s erotic about being attracted to both ends of the gender spectrum and what sort of fantasies and fantastic worlds of magic or science can it spawn? Is there something special about bisexual characters or those who identify themselves as such? Explore the theme of bisexuality through this erotic and fantastical lens.
For more information on what they’re looking for, along with the submission address (electronic only), see this page.