Haunted Legends open submissions for TWO WEEKS only

[ellen_datlow]

Nick Mamatas and I are co-editing an all original anthology of regional ghost stories for Tor. Nick has persuaded me that it's a good idea to open submissions for two weeks. I agreed under the stipulation that he and only he reads the submissions (obviously, if he likes what you've written, he'll pass it on to me).
Read his guidelines carefully. Inability to follow them will result in two very grumpy editors:

Haunted Legends

And fyi...for anyone already solicited by us this does not apply to you...don't be paranoid. (you know who you are K ;-) )

Comments

[nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com]

TWO WEEKS only!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Reminder: Read my own guidelines first. :-0

[vylar-kaftan.livejournal.com]

I'm confused. Are there more guidelines than what Nick listed? Where are they?

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

No those are correct. I originally wrote in my blog that it was a month and he corrected me...sorry for the confusion.

[ericmarin.livejournal.com]

That's a nifty idea for an anthology, Ellen. I particularly like the fact that you're looking for reworked tales from Western and non-Western cultures. I'm adding this to my list of forthcoming books to buy.

I hope you and Nick have fun putting it together!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

We're trying but a LOT of people want to use the USA (it IS a large and varied place :-) )--we're encouraging more exotic climes.

[ericmarin.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is, isn't it? But I'd like to read some tales from outside the USA and the West in general too--a retold Mongolian ghost story, for instance. Something involving Czarist refugees, a ring of abandoned wind-tattered yurts, and snow. Lots of snow.

This is an evocative anthology theme. :-)

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

So querying you with a big "you liked my review of one of your books" would result in a rather terse and unfriendly letter?

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not looking at the email address anyway--Nick's monitoring it and if I know him, he will indeed delete anything that smells or looks like a query... :-)

But in any case, if a query ends up coming to me by "accident" it will be deleted with no response.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

So you're not the nice one after all. :-)

Well I will try to write something for this anyhow. Knowing me, it won't be ready for publication until three years after this book comes out, but it's a cool idea regardless.

I do love that...

[themadblonde]

"What if I asked Ellen instead. She's supposed to be the nice one..."

;-)

[scottedelman.livejournal.com]

Inability to follow them will result in two very grumpy editors

What do you mean result in two very grumpy editors?

That presumes you guys aren't grumpy to begin with!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

But I'm the "nice" one remember?

[scottedelman.livejournal.com]

There's no reason you can't be grumpy in a nice way!

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

::struggles to remember any ghost stories from China & Mongolia:: The 30 hr train ride was a nightmare, but I doubt that counts.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

Probably something about Genghis Kahn. Mongol hordes? The corpses of the Chinese army. None of whom were very happy with the Chinese Opera that rose up under Kublai Khan (Kahn? Khan? Damn)

And I suppose yuki_onna will be all over this theme anyhow.

[clockwork-zero.livejournal.com]

oh dear, that was a great read.

"So how about if I query Ellen Datlow instead? She’s the nice one, anyways."
You have misapprehended the situation. Let us put it this way: when was the last time Ellen Datlow had an open-reading period for any of her original anthologies? She doesn’t want your queries either."

heheheh. so you are the nice one, eh? You really don't want *that* rumor to spread. Once you are known as nice, it's all down hill. ;)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I'm fighting it all the way!

[douglascohen.livejournal.com]

Cool. I'll be curious to see how many submissions are sent to you in total during that span ...

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Me too. And I'm curious to see how many queries I get? I already got one and told him to go away and READ THE EFFING GUIDELINES---see no more Ms nice gal!

[nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com]

Ooh, email me with who this was!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Only if you promise not to hold it against him...(no one you know)...

[nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com]

I promise.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Forwarded to you.

[livia-llewellyn.livejournal.com]

Ha - only one? I predict it'll be twenty tomorrow, and every freakin' day till the book is published. :P

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

So far.

[southernweirdo.livejournal.com]

What a great theme! Thanks for sharing.

[martinlivings.livejournal.com]

Ooh, an open submissions period for a Datlow collection? It's about the only (extremely slim) chance I'll ever have of getting in one! And a really interesting theme too... *puts on thinking cap*

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

Well now. You have to be hopeful in that you will get enough stories and novels out there to be noticed and invited to one. And that about five of the top horror writers in the field decide to start writing literary novels. About baseball. Or Brooklyn.