Call for Submissions to Anthology on Theme of "Urban and Rural Poverty": Sticks & Bricks: Stories from the Wrong Side of Town

CALL FOR STORIES: Submission Deadline November 30, 2022

We seldom see stories dealing with working class and poverty class characters from both rural and urban settings brought together. What are the similarities and differences with the struggles in both locations? What does a look at them together tell us about our lives? Class can simply be the backdrop of the story, though; place, rural or urban, simply the setting. The story can focus on any conflict.

The editors will curate the stories to contrast the urban and rural settings. Your story need not include both. Your job as a writer is to simply send us good writing.

• Previously published work is acceptable if permissions have reverted to you. 

• Stories should be under 7,500 words.
  

• $8.00 submission fee.

Important points to consider:We are interested in believable dialogue. We love dialect and regionalisms, but there is an art to writing them well, and we will judge poorly written dialect and slang harshly.

We’re looking for a sense of time and place, so be careful of anachronisms.

While we want to see character development, we still want a story. Give us a beginning, a middle, and especially, an end.

Grammar and mechanics count. Please proofread.

Submission Deadline: November 30, 2022

Submission Guidelines:

• Submissions are open August 15--November 30, 2022.

• A reading fee of $8 must be paid at the time of submission.

• All submissions must be in English.

• We accept previously published fiction as long as the author discloses the publication history of the work in the cover letter accompanying the submission, and owns the right to republish that work.

• We accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify Madville immediately if the story is accepted elsewhere and you wish to withdraw it from consideration. There will be no refunds of the reading fees.

• Writers may submit more than one story, but each must be submitted separately.

• We hope to announce the stories we've selected by January 23, 2023 and publish the anthology in Summer 2023.

Formatting:

• Short stories, whether fiction or nonfiction, should have a total word count of no more than 7,500 words.

• Please include page numbers.

• Please double-space and use a 12pt. font.

• Do not include an acknowledgments page.

• Submissions will be judged blind. Please remove any identifying information from the submission.

• Submit as a .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .txt file format.

• No revisions will be accepted once the submission is uploaded.

All authors chosen for the anthology will receive two free copies of the book.

There is an $8 reading fee.

Submission Deadline: November 30, 2022.

Submission link here.