This isn’t a year in review. We’ll do one of those in a couple weeks. This is looking ahead, not only to 2023, but 2024 and 2025. We can do that, you see, because we are wizards.
All contracts have been sent out for “Two-thousand Word Terrors” and, happy to report, that most of these contracts have been returned. As of this writing, I believe we are waiting on 8 responses. And we get it! Holidays are busy, mailboxes are full, etcetera. Worst-case scenario, folks just don’t respond, and that’s perfectly fine, too.
“Two-thousand Word Terrors” will start hitting the internet on Monday, February 6, 2023 and will run every Monday for the following 45 weeks. If the “online anthology” looks like a hit (you know, upticks in unique visitors and view counts and online shares), then we might consider doing another round of short stories for 2024. That, however, remains to be seen! But, we feel like a judgment call can confidently be made by the end of July 2023, and we’ll give an update at that time.
Meanwhile, expect a full list of authors and stories to be announced in January! And, hopefully, we will have a working “Table of Contents” listing exactly when said stories will hit the site, so you can bookmark and plan ahead. Until then, we don’t mind throwing out a few names, like KC Grifant’s “Just Another Apocalypse” and Laurel Hightower’s “Fade to Black” or Eddie Generous’s “Two Humps and a Thump” and Stephen Kozeniewski’s “The Blood-red Lake.”
The best part, though, is we have so many up-and-coming authors to share with you, folks whose stories we think you’ll enjoy, and that we are more than happy to include in this little experiment. And, of course, we have some writers who have never been published before. “Two-thousand Word Terrors” will be their first contract! That’s no small thing.
So, congratulations to these authors! We had a tower of submissions to read through, and cutting the selection down to just 45 stories was rough. Ultimately, you always wish there was more room in the budget, but that’s just not the case.
Speaking of stretching that budget, Rooster Republic Press will only see one new release in 2023. The hardcover edition of OCTOBER ANIMALS is now available for pre-order, and those copies are expected to begin shipping by June. There will be a trade paperback version, but we currently have no set release date for that. As with previous releases, chances are high for an October release (or September, if we’re feeling froggy).
Towards the end of 2023, we will have our next pre-order set up and ready to go. We have not formally announced this title, nor has the author. We are going to wait until next year for official announcements. That said, we certainly don’t mind telling you two bits of information:
- We have previously worked with this author.
- This will mark the book’s second time seeing print.
Guess away, readers, guess away! And, while you’re pontificating, we will be busy assembling this manuscript, adorning it with new art, and prepping both its hardcover and paperback releases for the year 2024. This as-yet-unannounced title is, thus far, our only planned release for 2024.
Now, we have written about our submission call for BIPOC horror authors, but it never hurts to throw out a gentle reminder!
The details:
On September 29th and 30th of 2023, you will be able to submit a logline (25 words max) along with a three-sentence synopsis (250 words max) and manuscript word count to: roosterrepublicpress@gmail.com
Manuscripts must be completed in order to submit, as authors will be contacted in very quick turnaround. Pitches will be read over the first week of October and any manuscript requests will be made on the 9th of October. If you are not contacted on the 9th of October, then we have passed on your pitch.
If you aren’t ready, do not submit. We cannot stress this enough.
No collections.
No reprints.
Works can be as short as 40K and up to 90K words. These are firm numbers. Do not send anything shorter or longer, it will not be considered.
Submission MUST include a logline, synopsis, and word count. Any submission missing these items will not be considered.
ALL THREE OF THE ABOVE ITEMS MUST BE INCLUDED IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED.
This call is for consideration to be published at either Rooster Republic Press or Strangehouse Books. We want people to go as big and as wild as their heart desires. Big, weird Horror. Get as nasty or as wholesome as you want. Horror is a big umbrella and we are looking forward to seeing what you dream up!
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And, well, that is that, so how about that reality check? One little article posted today represents a little over three year’s worth of plans: 45 new short stories (including art!); a new novella from Nicholas Day; a highly-anticipated reprint from a wonderful author; one (or more!) horror novels from the BIPOC community.
We’ll continue to fly under the radar, as we have always done, releasing award-winning and award-nominated works by people we love, making super-duper art, and giving our platform to stories we really care about.
You have to love the work, because it will not love you in return. We think that’s OK, though, for it is because of the work that we do any of these things.
Besides, what the hell else are we going to do? Normal-people stuff? No thanks.
Anyway…
