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Open Submissions
Rook Creek Books is open to submissions starting 10/31/2023 – 5/31/2024 for the Dark Reflections shared world.
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Stories will be reviewed through 06/30/2024.
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Selected stories will be published in a future anthology, online venue, or into the Dark Reflections novel series pending editorial review.
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For more information about Dark Reflections, see below.
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The Dark Reflections Series
This shared world novel series means to tell the dark retro fantasy hidden in the many layers of the Dark Reflections collection by Jeff Lee Johnson. We seek stories in a dark retro fantasy style that builds upon the images below. Select a character from Blue Plate Special or any adjacent character who fits the time, feel, and place. A paranormal investigator, a cat that knows too much, a misunderstood tentacle monster, an Italian inventor with a love of knives, or the person through whose eyes we are looking. She is the youngest of three sisters and the day she arrived at the diner is where our story begins.
​Submission guidelines:
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1,000 – 4,000 words
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Third-person present tense
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No multiple submissions
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No simultaneous submissions
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Make your submission in the form below by 6 p.m. CST on May 31st.
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File name: Lastname_title_date of submission(mm,dd,yyyy)
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For all inquiries, please email theeditor@rookcreekbooks.com.
Payment:
Rook Creek is offering $0.08/word for stories that are selected.
Terms:
First use, rights reverting to authors after two years.
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Blue Plate Special, Book One – Publication anticipated in 2025.
It’s 1920. The customers and staff in a quiet, small-town diner near an East Coast city all feel a tug. Something has gone wrong, and the few who seem to notice must piece together what lives they can in a world stirred and reassembled with mistranslated instructions.
Take a meander from places labeled normal to a world that clatters, slinks, and drips. The first book of this shared world series is planned for 2025. Five - six authors will each carry a single third-person point of view protagonist with their own agendas and storylines. Overlaps, conflicts, and shared/competing agendas will complicate the characters’ lives as they work to unravel the mystery of the reflections and survive its many dangers.
Future novel locations include Paris, an Italian beach, an American suburb, and a quiet Austrian hamlet. You can view more of Jeff's work and the future Dark Reflections here.
Open Submissions
Rook Creek Books is open to submissions starting 10/31/2023 – 12/31/2023 for the Dark Reflections shared world.
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Stories will be reviewed through 05/31/2024.
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Additional submissions accepted from all Creative Pathworks retreat participants (Costa Rica 05/25-5/31/2024).
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Selected stories will be published in a future anthology, online venue, or into the Dark Reflections novel series pending editorial review.
-
For more information about Dark Reflections, see below.
American suburb, and a quiet Austrian hamlet.