Sundress Publications and the Sundress Academy for the Arts invite submissions of short fiction for “Steampunk Storytime,” part of Knoxville’s annual Steampunk Carnivale.
Hosted by Paulk + Co., Steampunk Carnivale is an all-ages festival that celebrates the art and invention of steampunk. Gadget demonstrations, radical performances, and costume contests punctuate the event, and we’re looking for talented writers whose stories will captivate an audience of steampunk fans.
Stories should be read in fifteen minutes or less—length-wise, that’s approximately 1,000 to 1,500 words. We are willing to accept slightly longer works that prove very compelling. Flash fiction is also welcome. Reprints and simultaneous submissions are fine, though we ask that authors please identify the place of previous publication and/or alert us if their work is accepted elsewhere.
Entries will be judged by Emily Capettini. Winner of Omnidawn’s 2013 Fabulist Fiction Prize, she holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Her fiction has previously appeared in places like Outlaw Bodies and Not Somewhere Else But Here: A Contemporary Anthology of Women and Place, and her critical work is forthcoming in Neil Gaiman in the Twenty-First Century. In her free time, Emily runs, bakes, and blogs about women and Doctor Who.
We will select four winners whose works will be read at Steampunk Carnivale and recorded for distribution online and with the authors. Winners will also receive $25 each. All winners and selected runners-up will have their stories published in a free, downloadable e-anthology distributed by Sundress Publications. Our e-books get thousands of hits a month and have been taught in colleges and universities across the country.
The reading fee is $5 reading fee, which will be waived with purchase of any book from the Sundress Publications store. Submit all manuscripts, and receipt of either reading fee or book, to steampunk@sundresspublications.com.
The deadline is May 15, 2015. Please direct all questions to tiffany@sundresspublications.com.
