A New Name and A New Year

2024 wins, a new name, and a fresh list of awards, anthology submissions and much more!

The longer I live, the more I feel I’m turning into an old lady, rocking on her porch, offering axioms like, “The best things in life are free, dearies.” Because, honestly, the longer I’m alive, the more I’m learning there is meat and potatoes wisdom in most cliches.

I have many writing goals for 2025, as I’m sure you do too. But more than anything, I want to hop off the hamster wheel I’ve been on most of my adult life and slow down. I want to sit outside more. Just sit. Not to write about it or take a picture of it, but just to BE, to listen for that switch-on, twilight moment when the crickets start to sing. I want to lay in my driveway and wait for shooting stars again like I did as a teenager. Not with any purpose in mind, but simply because it’s good for my soul because it makes me remember that I’m a person and the world is wondrous and, by God’s grace, I’m somehow, miraculously, a part of it. I want to pray, reflect, and rest more. I want to model the joy I hope my children have, too.

In a word, I want presence.

This will likely take some practice, but I’m moving in the right direction, inch by inch.

What are your hopes and goals for the coming year? I’d love to hear them!

Photo by Phil Botha on Unsplash

A New Name

I’ve only been on Substack for eight months, but during that time, I have met some incredible writers. Let me tell you, the quality of many of the newsletters is top-notch, and most of the time, I feel like the tag-along younger sibling who is just glad to be here.

If it slid past your notice, this newsletter has a new name!

When I started my newsletter, I wasn’t sure what to name it. Naming things is hard for me: book titles, email subject lines, and my secondborn, who didn’t get a name for the first eight days of her life (don’t judge me!).

But I decided to go with a name that felt like me. My Instagram handle already has this name, and connecting the dots felt right. Plus, it reminds me that God, who gave me this gift, brought me from death to life.

Some Personal Publishing News

I just learned (yesterday) that my short story, “The Wonderous Criminal Behavior of Edith Liddell,” was accepted to an Alice in Wonderland-inspired anthology with Twenty Hills Publishing. It will be released in 2025.

My fantasy novel (Whimsical Publishing) isn’t coming out until 2026, so it’s exciting to have something coming out this year!

January's "Golden List" for Readers and Writers

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Contests

6th Annual Book Pipeline Unpublished Contest - Seeks unpublished manuscripts across 10 categories. Awarding $25,000, agent and publisher circulation. Pre-Register: January 15th, 2025 - $25

Genesis Contest - is for unpublished works of Christian fiction. The contest opens on January 2, 2025, and closes on March 1.

Realm Awards - opens to submissions until January 21, 2025. Authors and publishing houses may enter their works via an online form. Entry fee is $25-$50 depending on word length.

Story Share Contest - The annual Story of the Year Contest is coming back for the seventh year, and we are searching for compelling, diverse stories that are "easy to read and hard to put down." The 2024 competition will run from September 18, 2024, to January 13, 2025, featuring four distinct categories. This year, $15,000 in cash prizes are up for grabs, in addition to publication in both digital and print form.

Substack’s Short Story Competition - A monthly, ongoing competition. No entry fee. The winner will receive roughly $7,000! WOW-za! See the link for details.

Anthologies Currently Open

Twenty Hills is currently seeing anthology submissions for “Project Sword”

Theme: Dark Adult Medieval Fantasy short stories! Swords, magic, dragons, elves, etc. To keep the tone of the book consistent, we are looking for darker stories, which includes things like horror fantasy, dark fantasy, and the like. (It doesn't need to fall under horror or dark fantasy, but just pair nicely with those tones.) It must feature adult characters, for adult readers, set in a medieval-inspired setting, and be fantasy. Please no romance as the main plot. It can be in the story, but shouldn't be what the story hinges on. In other words, no dark romantasy please. (Bonus points if it's raw, gritty, and unnerving.)

Word Count: Between 1,000 and 7,000 (if you send us something longer or shorter, we will still consider it, but it could hurt your chances)

HenDragon Press - is opening for its first anthology submissions in early 2025. “Through Field and Forests is a collaborative ​anthology featuring a collection of stories ​written and inspired by Aesop’s fables. The ​anthology will be the first official project of ​the press. We will be open for submissions ​in early 2025.

Reads for Marketing

Submit, Publish, Repeat by Emily Harstone. The e-book is currently free (see link). I’m planning on reading it this winter.

Clean Fiction Magazine - A Christian magazine for reviews and contests offers book marketing for as low as $5. Use code TWENTYHILLS for a $5 discount. Reviews are free.

Traditional Publishers currently OPEN to unagented authors

A mix of Christian and secular, general market publishers. Many are the same as last month, but I always check to ensure they are still open.

Mountain Brook Fire - This publisher hasn’t opened to unsolicited queries in years, and I just happened to check and — voilà! They are currently seeking fantasy and science fiction. “Manuscripts need not be explicitly “Christian”–in fact, we prefer general market. However, we’re looking for fiction that is clean. Books having a Christian worldview without having a faith thread are appreciated.”

Storm Publishing - “We’re excited by gripping, dramatic stories that have us turning the pages and by real, flawed and passionate heroes who make us care. Those ingredients matter more than anything else.”

Next Chapter - “is a Rapid Versatile Publisher (RVP) that combines the professionalism and quality of traditional publishing with the creative freedom of independent publishing.” MY NOTE: A friend was published through them and said her experience has been super positive.

Kingsley Publishers accept submissions for consideration “from a wide range of genres, from fiction to non-fiction, biographical, memoirs, Christian books, and children’s books. "It's important to read through our submission guidelines before sending in your manuscript to ensure it meets our specifications.”

Olympia Publishers - Open to both hybrid and traditional contracts.

Auctus Publishers - winner of Best Book of YA Agath Awards in 2020. Auctus is a traditional publisher seeking submissions from a wide range of genres, both fiction and non-fiction but not academic.

Clavis Publishing - Do you think your story or art is right for Clavis’ list of books for babies, toddlers and children? We want to hear about it! Submit your manuscript or artwork and we will gladly take a look.

Yeehoo Press is dedicated to publishing fun, enchanting, and socially responsible children’s books for audiences around the world. Our books are published and sold in simultaneous English and Simplified Chinese editions.

Pegasus Publishers - A small, traditional publisher that published anything from fiction to autobiographies to novellas.

Baen - Is looking only for science fiction and fantasy with “powerful plots with solid scientific and philosophical underpinnings…As for fantasy, any magical system must be both rigorously coherent and integral to the plot, and overall the work must at least strive for originality.”

Flash Light Press - Targets readers 4–8 years old. Seeking stories under 1000 words with universal themes such as family or social situations.

Entangled Publishing - is a mid-sized, traditional publisher open to unagented authors. With many imprints covering a host of genres, check it out to see if any of your stories are a good fit!

Red Adept Publishing - “We are currently accepting only the following genres: Women’s Fiction, Romance, Chick-Lit, Mystery (General, Police, Cozy), and Thriller-Suspense.”

Luna Press Publishing - “We only publish Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy (and their sub-genres). For our purposes, speculative fiction deals with elements that are nonexistent in reality, covering various themes in the context of science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternate history, utopian and dystopian fiction, and supernatural fiction, as well as combinations thereof (e.g. science fantasy).”

Wild Rose Press - “We only accept manuscripts between 15,000 and 100,000 words; for print eligibility, the manuscript must be at least 45,000 words. We wish for books that have well-developed plots, strong conflicts, and memorable characters. We aim to give our readers the best reading experience and for our authors to succeed in their writing careers.”

Coffeetown Press - “We look for fiction and nonfiction—including memoirs about other cultures or works that have a strong theme that will appeal to a specific audience. Series proposals are welcome. We prefer the word counts between 50,000 and 100,000 words. We are NOT currently accepting works of horror fiction, sci-fi/fantasy, poetry, or children's titles at any of our imprints.”

Firefly Hill Press - I did a quick search on this one, their conference schedule on their site is five years out of date, and they are on Instagram, but their last post is 14 weeks ago. It does seem to be releasing books, though. Focuses on YA and speculative fiction, open to submissions both series and standalone.

Twisted Road Publications is now accepting submissions for their upcoming “Survivors” series. They are looking for both full-length manuscripts (fiction and non-fiction) and shorter works (essays and short stories) for inclusion in anthologies.

Kensington Publishing Group publishes a range of popular genres such as thrillers, romance, historical fiction, cozy mysteries, and non-fiction, as well as true-crime, western, sci-fi, and speculative fiction titles.is open to unagented submissions, but they have very specific needs at this time. Please review guidelines thoroughly.

Adobe Press Chapbooks submissions is currently open for submissions and will close on November 30th! Seeking Poetry = up to 30 pages and Hybrid and Fiction = up to 60 pages. Abode Press mission dedicated to uplifting underrepresented voices.

Golden Scales Publishing is a new publisher established in 2024. They are ready to accept our first submissions for fantasy, romance, or paranormal genres.

Charlesbridge is currently open to picture book and YA submissions.

Austin Macauley Publishing accepts manuscripts — fiction and nonfiction in almost every category.

Aethon Books is accepting all genre fiction, focusing on Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Enclave Publishing is accepting adult and YA manuscripts for Christian speculative fiction.

Conclusion

Have a wonderful time ringing in the New Year, and thanks for coming on this journey with me!

Love and Light,

Bethany