Submissions

ANTHOLOGY CALL

We currently do not have any open full-length anthology calls.

MIDNIGHT BITES

Midnight Bites is a series of digitally-published mini-anthologies available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. Each volume is themed, and contains three novelette- and/or novella-length stories. While we may seek specific themes, authors may submit a novelette or novella that might drive a future themed volume.

We are currently closed to submissions to Midnight Bites. Any further submissions information is for future reference only.

Questions? Check out our “Maximizing Submissions Chances” Blogs:
Dear Editor: Maximizing Submissions Chances at Crone Girls Press, Part 1
Dear Editor: Maximizing Submissions Chances at Crone Girls Press, Part 2
Dear Editor: Maximizing Submissions Chances at Crone Girls Press, Part 3

Please note, our guidelines change from time to time, and so the most updated specifics will be here at the site. The general info within these blog posts remains relevant. You may also stop by our Facebook group; we tend to be fairly active there and can answer questions as they arise.

General Submission Guidelines

  • Submit a .doc, .docx, or .rtf that adheres to Shunn manuscript format. No other formats, please. Use the Crone Girls Press Style Guide if you have any additional formatting or style questions.
  • If you have any questions, a good place to get a feel for who we are is the Crone Girls Press Facebook Group. Come on in. We won’t bite. Most of us won’t, anyway.
  • Cover letters should include: a logline, story title, and word count and theme or potential theme. We publish debut and established authors, so I prefer not to see any listings of previous publications; however, if you have any bona fides in the genre, such as membership in HWA, or any specific background that is relevant to the story you’re submitting, feel free to include those as well.
  • If you don’t know what a logline is, don’t tell me that in your query letter. Instead, read this article and write one, then put it in your query letter. 
  • Author Bios: Please include a 50- to 100-word author bio at the end of your submission (in the actual manuscript) along with your social media and website information.
  • Simultaneous and multiple submissions are absolutely welcome! If it is accepted elsewhere, congrats! But please, send us an email to let us know and withdraw your submission. If sending multiples, please, for the sake of my inbox organization, ONE SUBMISSION PER EMAIL (once we fully transition to Duosuma, this won’t be as much of an issue).
  • One further note about diverse protagonists (and characters in general): I find as a writer, sometimes it helps for publisher to explicitly indicate their inclusive status. That is what I am doing here. I particularly enjoy stories with protagonists, characters, and settings that come from a diverse array of identities and abilities–in which those identities and abilities are not the focus of the story itself, but one more facet of the character and how they encounter the conflict of the story.
  • The determining factors in acceptance or rejection will always be quality of writing, adherence to genre, and general fit with the other stories selected for publication.
  • One final note. We’ve done our best to align our submission guidelines with standard industry practice. Failure to follow these guidelines will not increase your chances of acceptance with our publications.
  • Hard Sells:
    • Rape
    • Metastories about writers, horror writers, being in a horror movies, anything that references self-aware characters
    • Reprints (I’ll read them for our full-length anthologies, and we’ve accepted them, but our preference is for new material.)
    • Stories that rely heavily on one character telling the story to another character
    • Any stories that open like this: https://www.janefriedman.com/5-story-openings-to-avoid/
    • Query letters that spell the editor’s name wrong
    • Stories that are only tangentially situated in the horror genre
  • Thank you for making it to the end of our submissions page. I look forward to reading your work!