Speculative / Surrealist Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection 

Open call: 

Alien Rabbit are accepting submissions for vol 1 of The Splintered Eye.

We are looking for experimental short stories that explore the transgressive, the taboo, the surreal and the absurd in either futuristic technological or fantastical settings from writers and authors in English. Depending on submissions we will aim to publish at least 20 – 25 short stories in one volume (depending on length / number of submissions).

Suggested word count (Guideline): 

• 1500 (Min) to 8500 (Max)  
• Flash fiction will also be considered
• Poetry probably won’t be but if you’ve written a contemporary Dante’s inferno –  send it anyway.

Guidelines:

This is an opportunity for writers wanting to experiment with the short story form to find their feet or just explore an idea or concept which might not find a space for publication from publishers with stricter content guidelines.   

Genre wise the collection will likely be focused on Gothic Horror / Science Fiction / speculative fiction for adults. These are of course broad  genre distinctions and you are encouraged to mix genres and aim not to be constrained by the idea of genre fiction too much. Go wild! 

Write a Gothic Dieselpunk short story set 300 years in the future with a cybernetic grandmother as the protagonist! As long as that makes sense in the story you are writing, that’s fine!

As we want to be an indie publisher that promotes freedom of ideas and expression in our publications, do feel free to submit stories that include explicit violence, disturbing content or explicit sex. We won’t censor it. That does not however mean that we are looking for stories that are just explicit, without literary content. We want stories that can amuse, titillate, induce fear and make you think all at once ideally.  The guidelines detail this extensively below (including legally).   

Successful applicants will be paid £4 if accepted for the collection for each manuscript included and each successful author will be emailed an eBook copy of the collection for free.

If we exceed 50 copies sold we will contact authors to mail out a free paperback copy to the included author if they want one.

Submissions will be formally assessed by Chris Godber / Naima Valli and successful applicants will be notified via email sent from alienrabbituk@gmail.com

Upon successful inclusion we will send an email asking for some payment details so we can deposit payment for your story in the collection. Unsuccessful submissions we will aim to give constructive feedback as much as possible (Depending on number of submissions received) 

You may submit up to 2 manuscripts for consideration – Submission is free.

Submissions open: 30th March

Submission deadline: 16th April 2023

Planned Publication Date: 20th April 2023

Submit to email: alienrabbituk@gmail.com

Subject heading: Submission for Splintered Eye Vol 1 from AUTHOR NAME

NOTES / LEGAL STUFF

Format 

DOCX is the best format as it will be easy for proofing if required and when editing the collection. We will be including a few artworks in the collection for the front cover and inside the collection but these will be designed by Alien Rabbit prior to publication. 

Future volumes may include open artwork submissions and graphic novel call outs. 

The collection will be published on Amazon via KDP and directly via www.alienrabbit.co.uk 

An audiobook may also be produced in the future post release. 

Publication Formats and promotion: paperback(Tradeback) and eBook formats. Alien rabbit will promote it on their social media.

Content Legal Guidelines:

These are some common sense guidelines for submissions – 

We will definitely not publish anything that: 

• Involves promoting the abuse of children (1.1, 1,2)  
• Includes personal details about someone in real life (Address, phone number etc) 
• Actively Promotes hatred of LGBTQ people or racial minorities and the disabled (2)
• Satirizing public figures is fine (and tbh almost encourages) but please if you are going to satirize a public figure, be intelligent about it. We can’t afford the legal fees for libel cases. In the very unlikely event of that occurring, Alien Rabbit are prepared to defend it on free speech grounds but any legal case will likely lead to us having to pull the volume out of publication. (4,4.1)

Notes on Content Guidelines (Legal Notes)

1. This is the one area we have absolute zero tolerance on.

1.2 Authors can write on this broad subject of course as a means of addressing trauma etc, but anything that is written in obvious bad taste or includes multiple descriptions of child abuse in a way that is graphic or that constitutes child porn will be instantly dismissed and we will put you on a block list forever and if necessary we will contact the police with the authors email and contact details if there is sufficient cause for concern. In the unfortunate event that we receive such a manuscript, Alien Rabbit Limited will write the author a clarification email to notify them that it has been flagged as inappropriate and give you 2 days to respond before contacting the police if we think it warrants investigation. 

2. Authors can explore racism and oppression of minorities or stories about disabled experience if that idea fits in the context of a story but anything that seems to be actively encouraging racism or homophobia / queerbashing or bullying disabled people won’t be accepted. In the event of ambiguity we will email for clarification of your intentions – we are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.   
3. Basically we won’t publish anything that is obviously prompting blatant white nationalist or far right ideas. Alien Rabbit Limited is an anti-fascism advocate not a promoter and is pro LGBTQ / Pro racial equality and pro democracy. You can write a story about facism or involving an oppressive government but we will judge the tone of the narrative based on a manuscript by manuscript basis. 
4. As a countermeasure that we publish a story with reference to a public figure we will include a small note to indicate that it is satire and doesn’t necessarily accurately represent the public figure being represented i.e is a fictional representation. 

4.1 All that said, it’s probably best to have some tact if you do want to include a public figure in your work and again absolutely no private information should be included beyond a name / information freely and legally available in the public domain.

5. Language wise – use of any words if fine, we do not have a ban on the use of any words in context and we do not believe in policing language.