Dorchester Publishing Editor Leah Hultenschmidt reminds us of several opportunities for authors. First, entries for their “Fresh Blood” horror writing contest—which they’re co-sponsoring with Rue Morgue magazine andChiZine—are due by 30 September 2009. See this article for full details on entering.
Second, she writes “Dorchester editors are particularly interested in acquiring fantasy romance. See guidelines on this page. New authors should take note: they do not require an agent to submit, making them a rarity today.
Extremely depressing. Take, for instance, their requirements for African-American romance:
“The characters should both be of African-American heritage, the heroine should not be physically involved with any man at the time of the couple’s meeting and the hero should not be emotionally involved with any other woman. The couple can be involved in a contemporary drama, mystery, adventure or suspense. The story can be sexy or sweet. The couple must end up together at the story’s end.”
Sounds like a homework assignment. It’s a wonder they didn’t specify what the characters names should be. Whatever happened to originality?