Guidelines for Interfictions II: The Second Anthology of Interstitial Writing

[ellen_datlow]

Edited by Christopher Barzak and Delia Sherman


Please note: I have nothing to do with this anthology.


GUIDELINES for
Interfictions II: The Second Anthology of Interstitial Writing

We invite submissions for an Anthology of Interstitial Fiction, to be published by Small Beer Press under the auspices of the Interstitial Arts Foundation in Fall of 2009.

What We’re Looking For
Interstitial Fiction is all about breaking rules, ignoring boundaries, cross-pollinating the fields of literature. It’s about working between, across, through, and at the edges and borders of literary genres, including fiction and non-fiction. It falls between the cracks of other movements, terms, and definitions. If you have a story idea that’s impossible to describe in a couple of sentences, it may be interstitial.

We’re looking for previously unpublished stories that engage us and make us think about literature in new ways. Rather than defining “interstitial” for you, we’d like you to show us what genre-bending fiction looks like. Surprise us; make us see that literature holds possibilities we haven’t yet imagined.

We are also open to graphic stories of about 10 pages.

Who We’re Looking For
Writers in all genres of fiction (contemporary realism, mystery, historical, fantasy, whatever) who have an idea that challenges generic tropes and expectations. If you’re not sure whether a story is interstitial, send it along anyway.

Practical Matters
Our submission period will be from October 1, 2008 to December 2, 2008. Please submit electronically only. Send your stories to: interfictions@interstitialarts.org. You will hear from us after January, 2009.

Overseas submissions are welcome. Stories previously published in other languages may be submitted in English translation for first English language publication.

Please follow standard manuscript formatting and submission conventions: ie, double-spaced, with 1” margins, and the name of the story on each page. No simultaneous or multiple submissions. Word count is open, but the ideal range is 4,000-10,000 words. Payment will be 5 cents a word for non-exclusive world anthology rights, on publication, along with 2 author’s copies.

Any questions? Write us at interfictions@interstitialarts.org

Comments

[ericmarin.livejournal.com]

Nifty! That's very nice of you to post the GLs, Ellen.

[fireriven.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this!

[mtrimm1.livejournal.com]

Now to see if I can score a repeat appearance! Whee!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

You're both welcome.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I'm stupid, but I genuinely have no idea what this might or might not mean--anything from epistolary to March-style Public Domain fanfic?

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Fanfic absolutely no, but you might want to google it, ask more questions of the editors, or buy the first book ;-)

[alankria.livejournal.com]

The editors of the first Interfictions discuss what they were doing over here (http://interfictions.blogspot.com/2007/03/editors-on-interfictions.html), if that helps at all. And I recommend buying the book, if you can or are inclined; it's an interesting and good anthology.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but this link leads to a "Blog not found" error message. And while I'm sure it's a great anthology, I must admit that essentially requiring people to buy the book in order to figure out what they should send the editors seems...offputting, as a recruitment tactic. I'll try Googling it, perhaps find a few reviews.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I had no problem following the link so either it's been fixed, or it's your computer ;-0

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Might be! At any rate, sounds interesting. Probably not for me, though.

[kara-gnome.livejournal.com]

It's funny, but I don't regard being required to buy a book for a market I want to submit to as a terrible thing. Maybe that's the minority, but it's a little like owning bank of america stock, for example, and choosing to bank with that bank. Or creating products for Johnson and Johnson and buying the products, too. I mean, it's a form of belief, or of validation. "I submit here, therefore I support here," sort of thing.

Or is that awfully naive? *g*

[alankria.livejournal.com]

I don't see it as problematic either. But I tend to submit only to magazines I enjoy reading, or think I will enjoy reading based on samples or the authors they've published, so buying a copy or two isn't too bothersome; same goes for an anthology series. If I don't click at all with what a market has previously published, chances are high that my work isn't for them.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm going to have to agree to disagree with you there. But I'm certainly glad I gave you the opportunity to also state your views on the subject in public.

[deliasherman.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this, Ellen! I'm about to post it myself.

You got an earlier version of the Guidelines, the one with "XXX" instead of "Fall" for the pub date.

As for what we want--well, we're looking for writing that isn't immediately recognizable as fantasy or horror or mainstream or mystery or historical or any commercial genre, but draws its inspiration from many sources and forms. Buying Interfictions 1 (while we'd love it) wouldn't necessarily help, since this kind of recombinant genre splicing is very personal to every writer. And you can't exactly guage the editors' tastes by it, because I have a new co-editor.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I just fixed the date.