Twice Upon A Time

And we have lift-off...

I am pleased to announce that I am taking the blog in a new direction, one which I've always envisioned but never thought would happen so soon!

The Bearded Scribe blog will re-launch Summer 2014 as The Bearded Scribe Press!  Yes, you read correctly! I am setting things in motion to become my own small press, which means I will eventually be taking submissions for publication!  I still have to work out all the legal details and such, but it'll happen!

In the meantime, however, I will kick off the launch with The Bearded Scribe Press' first publication, an Anthology with title of Twice Upon A Time.

One of my absolute favorite literary elements, which has become recently popular in both film and television, is that of re-imagined folklore or fairytales. Bringing new life to a classic tale brings a sense of familiarity with readers and broadens their minds to think of other possibilities--other realities--of their cherished, childhood memories. This anthology will be comprised of your favorite fairytales re-told...but with a minor twist! The fairytale re-tellings will incorporate one or more of the quintessential elements of the following sub-genres of SpecFic:

Alternate History

Alternate Reality

Apocalyptic Fiction

Contemporary Fantasy

Cyberpunk

Dark Fantasy

Dystopian

Epic/High Fantasy

Gothic Fiction

Hard SciFi

Historical Fantasy

Horror

Juvenile/YA Fantasy

Magical Realism

Militaristic SciFi

Mythic Fiction

Paranormal Romance

Post-Apocalyptic

Religious Fantasy

Science Fantasy

Science Fiction

Space Opera

Steampunk

Superhero Fantasy

Supernatural/Occult

Sword and Sorcery

Time Travel

Urban Fantasy

Utopian

Got an interesting twist on a fairytale? Perhaps a Steampunk version of Rumpelstiltskin, a Dystopian re-imagining of Cinderella, Urban Fantasy recreation of Sleeping Beauty, or a Religious Fantasy take on Snow White? Maybe you want to tell the untold story of the villain? The choice is up to you. I'm hoping all of you will consider submitting a story for this exciting anthology.

What's in it for you, you ask?
Publicity to audiences other than your own can boost your own book sales...perhaps that fan of horror might select the title for the horror re-tellings, yet they stumble upon your story and decide to check out more of your writing. Audience sharing and crossover possibilities abound!

I will also be marketing this anthology on my own website and hopefully a bunch of other sites through blog tours and hops, driving traffic to both your websites and social media outlets--and hopefully sales of your other titles in the process.

Rights & Payment.

{UPDATE: IMPORTANT CHANGE IN TERMS}

Rights.  I am asking for the non-exclusive right to publish the story, but first publishing rights for a span of one (1) year; once the year span (from date of contract) has passed, each contributor is allowed and encouraged to market their stories as they see fit.

Payment.  Because of the high volume of submissions (for which I am SO thankful but did not anticipate), I can no longer offer each contributor $50 advance payment (upon acceptance and signed contract); instead, I am offering a dividend of royalties for profits made on the sales of the book. All contributors will be splitting 50% of the royalties, which will be divided based upon their contribution to the combined word count for the anthology and paid quarterly. This form of payment should yield each contributor much more than the original advance. In addition to the royalties, I will also mail a free copy of the trade paperback to each contributor, of course, when the book is published.

Submission Guidelines:

• Please check the list below for stories which have already been selected.
• Query me with your idea and its premise before writing your story for submission (this will ensure I don't get multiple retellings of the same source story).

• This Anthology is currently closed for further queries.

• All submissions for the must be received by September 30th. <--- UPDATED DEADLINE! 

• Submissions must be between 2K & 12K words.

And that's it! Everything else is your call.

The Following Stories have already been claimed:

• Allerleirauh/She-Bear/or other variations
• Beauty and the Beast
• Bluebeard
• Branwen/Cerdiwen (from the Mabinogion)
• Chicken Little
• Cinderella
• Deborah the Judge (from the Old Testament)
• Deirdre of the Sorrows (from Táin Bó Cúailnge)
• Diamonds & Toads
• East of the Sun, West of the Moon
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Grateful Dead
• Grendel's Mother/Beowulf prequel
• Griselda
• Hansel & Gretel
• Isaac (from The Bible)
• Jack & the Beanstalk
• Little Red Riding Hood
• Old Sultan
• Pacos Bill/Slough-footed Sue/Paul Bunyon/Johnny Appleseed/et al.
• Peter & the Wolf
• Pinocchio
• Prunella
• Puss In Boots
• Rapunzel
• Red Cap
• Red Shoes
• Robin Hood
• Rumpelstiltskin
• Sleeping Beauty
• Snow White
• Taliesin (from The Mabinogion)
• Tam Lin
• Tatterhood
• The Blue Fairy
• The Brave Little Tailor/Tinker
• The Bright Sun Brings It to Light
• The Crystal Ball
• The Elves and the Shoemaker
• The Emperor's New Clothes
• The Enchanted Canary
• The Flying White Horse
• The Frog Prince
• The Handless Maiden/The Girl Without Hands
• The Illiad
• The Little Match Girl
• The Little Mermaid
• The Love of Three Oranges
• The Odyssey
• The Pied Piper
• The Princess and the Pea
• The Robber Bridegroom
• The Selkie Bride
• The Singing Bone
• The Six Swans
• The Snow Queen
• The Steadfast Tin Soldier
• The Three Little Pigs
• The True Bride
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses
• The Two Queens of Wonderland
• Three Wishes/Aladdin's Lamp/Be Careful For What You Wish
• Thumbelina

This is intended to be a multi-volume anthology, dependent upon the number of actual submissions received. Once the first volume is published, some of the stories may be duplicated for future volumes. I am opening up submissions for the above story, too, so if one of the stories interests you, please query with your premise for it to be considered for future volumes.

I would love to have the following stories in the Anthology, but they have not yet been claimed:

• Any story from The Mabinogion
• Any story from Táin Bó Cúailnge
• Any story from The Mahabharata
• Any parable/story from the Bible, Koran, Torah, or any other religious text
• King Midas
• Le Morte d'Arthur
• Völsunga Saga

UPDATE:
THIS ANTHOLOGY IS CLOSED FOR FURTHER QUERIES