SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN for FUTURES THAT NEVER WERE! (and a Cover Reveal!)

Cover art by Clayton D. Murwin

What We Want

1. Sword and Planet fiction. Think John Carter (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Flash Gordon (especially the comic strip, the early serials, and the movie – not so much the attempted reboots), and Leigh Brackett (Eric John Stark). Need more examples? Check here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_and_planet.
2. Word count is 5,000 to 10,000. This is for a one-off themed anthology, so no serials. Stories should be self-contained, with a readily identifiable beginning, middle, and end. Don’t send us a chapter of your novel unless it can completely stand on its own.
3. Payment is $40 flat plus an electronic comp copy, regardless of word length. If we manage to secure additional funding, the first thing we’ll be doing is upping the pay rate for contributors. Payment will be made through PayPal, no exceptions.
4. Submissions will open 12:01 AM EDT (GMT -4) July 1, 2022 and close July 15, 2022 at 11:59 PM EDT (GMT -4). Anything outside of that time frame will go unloved, unread and rejected.
5. Our goal is to have read every submission and sent final acceptances/rejections within sixty days after the submission window closes.
6. The plan is to have the finished anthology up for sale in time for the Christmas holiday season 2022. Maybe even by Black Friday if we really get into the groove.
7. A few more details:
   a. Make your story action loaded. There are times and places for philosophical discourses, where the conflict can be solved with a conversation or the push of a button – this is neither.
   b. If you want a sense of what the editors’ are looking for in a story, it would behoove you to read the following:
   i. https://mxgomez.wordpress.com/2017/04/12/what-i-look-for-in-a-story/
   ii. https://broadswordsandblasters.wordpress.com/2018/06/04/so-you-got-rejected-by-broadswords-and-blasters/
8. We strongly prefer clear descriptions. While we appreciate poetic prose, the reader has to be able to understand what is happening.
9. No multiple submissions.
10. Simultaneous submissions are fine. Just let us know as soon as possible if another venue snags your story.
11. No reprints.
12. For rating guidelines (language, descriptions) we are looking at a hard R-rating (USA rating scale) as the maximum we will publish. That is to say, we don’t shy away from cursing, gore, or sex, but such content needs to serve the story, not be there for the sake of being there.
13. Please submit stories in either .rtf, .doc, or .docx. Use standard submission format. http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html. You do not need to include your physical address.
14. We claim world first exclusive rights for print and digital, with the exclusive period lasting for 1 year (365 days) after date of first publication.
15. We claim nonexclusive rights after that time to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, and sell stories, in electronic or physical form, as part of the anthology. (This is to keep the listings up at Amazon and other stores who sell the anthology.)

How to Submit

1. Email your submission to broadswordsandblasters@gmail.com
2. Use the subject line Submission: (the title of your story)
3. Include a short cover letter in the body of your email. Mention the title of your story and a brief elevator-pitch story summary. The cover letter should also include a short author biography (100 words or less). Don’t forget to mention any social media accounts (Facebook, twitter, etc) you would like to have included with your bio.

Want to check out more of the work by the cover artist? Check out his site here!