Welcome to Authortunities Forecast, my new show which covers publishing industry news and highlights some of the most noteworthy items from my Authortunities weekly calendar mail out. Follow the link to get a head start on open submission calls, grants, contests, fellowships, high value opportunities and paying markets+ weekly in your inbox. ➡️https://exerciseyourwrites.substack.com/
In today’s show I talk about two Kickstarters worth supporting. The first is The Good, The Bad, & The Uncanny: Tales of the Weird West, an anthology of weird west tales edited by Jonathan Maberry. Fully funded, they are in the last 24 hours and working on the stretch goals. You can find that Kickstarter link here:
➡️https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1330509990/the-good-the-bad-and-the-uncanny-tales-of-the-weird-west
Are you too late for the Weird West Kickstarter? Don’t worry, I also shared Back 2 OmniPark: A Horror Anthology edited by Ben Thomas and Alicia Hilton. Published by House Blackwood, it’s an anthology of horror short stories that explore the mysterious backstory behind OmniPark’s creation. As I said in the show, you will be hearing a lot more on this anthology going forward as I’m doing a mysterious side project in support and they have (as of today) 17 days left to go. Already over halfway funded, you can find that project here:
➡️https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/writingben/back-2-omnipark-a-horror-anthology
Congratulations to Amy K Drees who won a free subscription to Authortunities! She guessed Esther Forbes who was born on June 28, 1891 and would be 132 years old today. Esther was an American novelist, historian and children’s author who received the Pulitzer Prize and the Newbery Medal. She was the first woman elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society. Amy will receive a one-year paid subscription to my weekly writer calendar mail-out, a $50 value. Prize is transferrable but can not be exchanged for cash value.
Want to play? Check out yesterday’s post here: ➡️https://angelaysmith.com/2023/06/artistic-visions-still-strong-134-years-later/
MY FAVORITE SUB CALLS THIS WEEK
Yes, I’m sharing again because I am determined to write a story for this call. 🔴JUN 30 · Sirens Call Publications seeks alien horror with “at least one human and one alien involved” from 2-3,000 words. Payment, $15 per story, best story receives $50 bonus. Deadline June 30.
➡️http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/open_subs.htm
🔴♻️ JUL 2 · Submissions close for Flame Tree Publishing’s Shadows on the Water Short Stories call. Payment is 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints for 2000-4000 word short fiction featuring water prompted Dark Fantasy, Folklore and Myth to be published in January 2024.
➡️https://tinyurl.com/muycb2u9
LEARNING AND ENTERTAINMENT
I attended two different AI seminars this week. The first was excellent. Taught by Joanna Penn, The AI Assisted Artisan Author: Prompting, ChatGPT, Sudowrite, Midjourney was excellent, informative and well-presented. I paid out of my own pocket to attend and am in no way affiliated with Joanna Penn and I promise this seminar is worth twice the price. I paid £75 ➡️https://www.thecreativepenn.com/live/
I also attended Reedsy’s Artificial Intelligence in Publishing seminar. None of the attendees had even used AI except for one who admitted to doing one project. All great presenters, unfortunately none seemed well informed on the topic and the viewers were pointing this out when I left halfway. I’m glad it was free and I appreciate Reedsy for making an effort to cover this topic.
REMINDERS
You can catch the evolved Exorcise Your Writes show on the Horror Writer Association‘s YouTube with “Maxwell I. Gold on Pride and Bleeding Rainbows” which aired last Saturday. Coming up this Saturday, an interview with Laird Barron and Ben Thomas, head of House Blackwood about Back 2 OmniPark.