Going to market

FLASHES

Win a mentoring package in New Voices First Novel Competition 2022 contest from Adventures in Fiction.The competition is aimed at writers who have completed at least fifty pages of a manuscript. Submit the first page of an unpublished novel manuscript plus a one-page synopsis. The entry fee is £10.The closing date is 14 September.

Website: http:// adventuresin fiction.co.uk/

Leading UK literary and talent agency Curtis Brown Group, who represent Margaret Atwood, Matt Haig and Haruki Murakami, and also the estates of the writers Ian Fleming and John le Carré, among many others, have been bought by United Talent Agency. Curtis Brown, which was founded in 1899, will continue under its original name with the same management team.

The PEN Ackerley Prize 2022, given for literary autobiography, has been won by The Suitcase by Frances Stonor Saunders, which explores her relationship with her father, who left Romania in 1940, via the suitcase of papers he left when he died.

‘Write what scares you. If it’s not scaring you, at least a little, it’s probably not taking enough risks. ’

Celeste Ng

GLOBAL MAGAZINE MARKET The world for kids

Jenny Roche

National Geographic Kids, a general interest non-fiction magazine, invites submissions on a big range of topics including natural history, science, geography, history and entertainment. ‘For our departments we are looking for animal anecdotes and cool vacation ideas, ’ say guidelines. The magazine is published ten times each year with an appeal for 6-14 year olds.

Initially article ideas should be pitched through a query letter. This should show a well researched premise or hook and recent copies of the magazine should be studied to ensure your idea has not been covered in the last five years. Articles can be read online.

Pitches should be around 250 words, include a headline suggesting the story and set out the premise and approach to your idea. It should show the style in which you would write the piece. ‘We look for a writing style that ’ s informed but speaks the reader ’ s language and has a sense of humour, ’ say guidelines. Pitches should also say which area of the magazine your story would fit and the website has further details on considerations you should keep in mind for the different sections of the magazine. Include a resume with your pitch and send to senior editor Kay Boatner, Kay.Boatner@ neogeo.com, or editor Allyson Shaw: Allyson.Shaw@neo.com

Website: www.nationalgeographic. com/pdf/kids/NGK-SubmissionsGuidelines-2021.pdfXX

UK SPECFIC MARKET Fairy love

PDR Lindsay-Salmon Established in January 2021, Ghost Orchid Press is an independent publisher of horror, gothic and supernatural fiction based in Cambridgeshire. As indie publishers they are happy to take risks on ‘fresh, thought-provoking new content from new and lesser-known authors ’ .

This team love horror. They publish horror anthologies and novellas. Currently there is a call for a major new anthology edited by Evelyn Freeling, Les Petites Morts: An Anthology of Erotic Horror Inspired by Fairy Tales, Mythology & Folklore. She wants retellings should be about ‘ sexuality, desire, and fantasies that take dark turns ’ . Give the editorial team ‘ a good spin on the classics, but they do want to see fairy tales, mythologies, and folklore from outside the Western Euro catalogue as well. ’ They expect ‘ all of the hallmarks of a great horror story: rich characters, dynamic settings, tension, pacing, with well written erotic scenes that make our hearts race ’ . Don ’ t omit the ‘ terrifying and horrifying ’ . The anthology is inclusive and M-F, F-F, M-M, threesomes, orgies, kinks, etc, are permitted. Stories should be 1,0005,000 words, ideally 2,0004,000 and the deadline is 30 August. Submit a doc/docx attachment to: lespetitesmortssubs@ gmail.com • The team also publish long fiction, also with a deadline of 31 August for general submissions of novellas 20,00040,000 words and novels, 40,000100,000 words ‘ aimed at an adult audience ’ . They chiefly want horror, gothic, and dark fantasy but ‘love genre mixing, works that stray from the well-trodden path, or that offer a fresh perspective on existing tropes ’ . They are keen to see submissions from BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and non-Western authors, and stories with elements of the following genres, ‘horror-romance/erotic horror, historical and gothic horror, folk horror, hauntings, supernatural, and the occult ’ . This is indie publishing so be prepared to work hard on the sales side. Submit by email and send the first three chapters or equivalent sample of pages, around fifty pages or 10,000 words as a doc/docx file to: submissions@ ghostorchidpress.com Response time is ‘ within sixty days ’ for the anthology and novel/novella. Payment for the novel/novella is by negotiation, usually ‘ a small advance plus 50% of net royalties ’ . Anthology payment is 6¢ per word. Website: https://ghostorchidpress.com

The Snapshot Press Book Awards are annual, international contests for book-length collections of unpublished haiku, tanka and short poems.

Winners will have their collections published by Snapshot Press, independent publishers of haiku, tanka and other short-form poetry.

Collections should consist of between 60 and 100 poems, each of any length between 1 and 25 lines. Prose poems and haibun should be no longer than 200 words.

The entry fee per collection is £20.

The closing date is 30 November. Website: www.snapshotpress.co.uk