SUBMISSIONS (Drabbles Series)

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PROJECTS FOR 2020

(updated April 12th, 2020)

Planned projects for 2020 are: a new short story anthology (details coming soon), and a second drabble anthology now listed below.

—Please read the criteria for submission carefully. Each anthology call is different and the specific themes may not be outlined on Duotrope or The Grinder’s current listings.—

~INSIGNIA DRABBLES SERIES~

Insignia Drabbles Vol.1. was released on April 16th!

So it’s time to start writing those addictive drabbles for Insignia Drabbles Vol.2.!

Theme: SOUTHEAST ASIAN FANTASY. Including all sub-genres and science fiction. Be creative and original! Give us ghosts, gods, good/evil creatures, witches, magical realism, steampunk, futuristic times, and anything weird you can come up with.

READING PERIOD: MAY 1 – JUNE 15. NOW OPEN!!!!

Guidelines: Unlike ‘Japanese Fantasy Drabbles’ which was all one culture, this anthology is looking for stories set in different Southeast Asian countries; such as Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Main characters should be Asian, from the same country as your setting.

We hope to have a balanced selection of countries represented, so if you are interested in submitting several drabbles, consider varying the settings/cultures, etc. Of course, if you are a native of SEA you’re very welcome to ignore this and focus on your own country.

Word Count: EXACTLY 100 words.

No. of Submissions: 3 stories maximum will be ACCEPTED per author. Do not submit more than 3 at a time. If any stories are rejected, you may submit new pieces. Do not re-submit a revised drabble unless invited to do so.

Other Conditions: Reprints and multiple submissions accepted. No simultaneous submissions please. For reprints, include the publisher and date in your cover letter.

Formatting: Times New Roman and 12pt preferred. Include the story title, your pen name, and email address in the story document. Each story in its own document. No italics for non-English words please–this is a new formatting policy adopted by Insignia Stories in an effort to support bilingual writers (and readers).

Payment & Rights: Sorry, there’s no payment for this project, however each author will receive a review copy of the finished anthology (MOBI or EPUB). Rights remain with the author. We only seek permission to include your story in this single eBook. Contracts will be sent with each acceptance.

Publication: For eBook release only. We distribute via Amazon, Smashwords, and Draft2Digital. We’ll be accepting anywhere from 60-100 drabbles, depending on the volume of submissions. (‘Japanese Fantasy Drabbles’ has 79).

How to Submit: email your story/stories to insignia.drabbles(at)gmail.com. Include ‘Southeast Asian Drabbles’ and your pen name in the subject line, and a cover letter and short author bio (with 2 links only) in your email. You may send up to 3 stories together (in separate Word doc/docx files please). Please list them in your cover letter to confirm they are all received and get read.

We’d be happy to answer any queries or discuss your story themes etc in advance of the deadline. Email us at the above address, send us a tweet at @InsigniaStories, or contact us via Facebook: The Insignia Series Facebook page.

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Track Submissions to The Insignia Series on The Grinder

Track Submissions to The Insignia Series on Duotrope

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19 comments on “SUBMISSIONS (Drabbles Series)”

Well, I have a kind of different spin. My Toonopolis series takes place in a cartoon universe and there is a section of it called Animetown, which borrows a lot of Anime/Asian inspired themes and tropes. There is a full novella starring Anchihiiroo (a minor antagonist in my first novel) that takes place entirely in Animetown. And Wan-Wan (a mech-dog created by an inventor named Yuki in Animetown) is one of my main character’s companions in my first full novel. So… it both is and isn’t in your wheelhouse. Thoughts? 🙂

Kelly M

January 6, 2016 @ 9:45 am

It sounds really cool! On the blog, my only criteria for sharing books is that the stories have Asian characters, but I don’t mind which country (or fictional world) they live in. However, for the anthologies I’m looking for stories set in specific regions with native characters from those areas.
So, I’ll look up your series and will share it on the blog when I get time. Good luck with the new novels 🙂

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Not sure if you already have a theme for the next anthology in mind, but in case you don’t, I’ll throw in my 2 cents: I’d like to see stories revolve around diasporic Asians, especially those who’ve been forcibly displaced by war. There’s a lot of sociocultural dynamics and issues to play with, in addition to sprinkling in speculative elements. I think that’ll make for a really interesting and relevant set of stories.

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When you say “Asia”, do you mean any country that’s technically in Asia— including places like Russia, Israel, Turkey, Cyprus, etc? Or are you wanting an emphasis on the Far Eastern cultures, and the sort of countries/cultures most people think of when they think of the Orient?

Kelly M

April 8, 2017 @ 2:46 am

Hello! I’d be happy to consider stories about West/South Asian countries and cultures. Very interesting!

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When will the Asian Beasts anthology appear?

Kelly M

September 2, 2017 @ 9:07 am

Hi there! Submissions are still open for the Asian Beasts one. I need more stories before I can publish it, so the release will be early next year sometime.

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