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Catastrophia anthology – call for submissions
Posted by Paul Raven on September 9th, 2008 at 11:08
Allen Ashley is in the process of putting together a new anthology for PS Publishing. Entitled Catastrophia, it will be “a collection of stories loosely themed around the theme of catastrophes, disasters and post-apocalyptic fiction.”
Submissions have been open for a little while, but we thought we’d put up the whole set of guidelines here to make sure everyone knows what’s happening. Mr Ashley, take it away…
CATASTROPHIA
Edited by Allen Ashley
Guidelines
Catastrophia will be a collection of stories loosely themed around the theme of catastrophes, disasters and post-apocalyptic fiction. I will be looking for original, unpublished stories which deal in a modern manner with these classic SF- and Horror-based tropes.
Rights and other technical details
I’m looking only for original material – no reprints. I will be buying First British and First North American Rights for your story with a one-year moratorium subsequent to publication. I can offer 3p/6c a word up to a maximum payment of £100 / $200 per story. The book will be published by PS Publishing and the current expected pub date is summer 2010.
Submissions
The submission period will open on 1st August 2008 and will last until 31st May 2009 or whenever the book is full. Unless specified otherwise, all submissions should be sent as disposable hard copies to:
Allen Ashley
Editor: Catastrophia
110d Marlborough Road
Bounds Green
London, N22 8NN
England
Please include an email address for reply or a stamped and addressed envelope. Response time will be three months or less.
Stories should ideally be in the range of 2000 to 6000 words although both longer and shorter tales will be considered.
Catastrophe? What catastrophe?
In short, some event that rapidly changes the world social order, threatens the survival of humankind or the Earth, reduces people to a state of mere hand-to-mouth existence, puts the clock of progress back a couple of thousand years almost overnight, takes our attention off the exploits of celebrities, footballers and politicians and instead focuses it on keeping ourselves and our loved ones alive until sundown . . . and so on. As I said in my own story ‘The Overwhelm’ (in which the world was engulfed by fog): “Truly it didn’t take much for the veneer of civilisation to be stripped away.”
I will be taking a broad view of what constitutes a catastrophe/disaster / apocalypse but authors should note that I am not seeking gratuitous rape and violence fantasies.
A brief history of catastrophes
These tales have a long and prominent history within the genre and are among the first titles that spring to mind when listing SF classics. Discounting Biblical, mythical and similar precedents, this sub-genre probably started with:
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (invading Martians destroy Britain) and M. P. Shiel’s The Purple Cloud (Polar toxins kill everybody bar the protagonist).
Brian Aldiss famously labelled many of these stories as “cosy catastrophes” but that certainly hasn’t got in the way of our enjoyment. Your editor grew up on these stories and with Catastrophia expects to reinvigorate the genre for the twenty-first century. Indeed, recent films such as The Day After Tomorrow (environmental disaster), Deep Impact (comet strikes Earth) and the re-make of The War of the Worlds suggests the desire is there to be faced with the apocalyptic all over again.
Further reading
- Brian Aldiss – Greybeard (no children are born);
- Brian Aldiss – Barefoot in the Head (LSD contamination causes social breakdown);
- J. G. Ballard – The Drowned World, The Drought, The Crystal World, The Wind From Nowhere – early quartet of psychological /environmental disaster novels from the master;
- Edmund Cooper – All Fool’s Day and Richard Matheson – I Am Legend (benchmark post-apocalyptic last man on Earth tales);
- Edmund Cooper – Kronk and Charles Platt – The Gas (rampant venereal disease / sex plagues);
- John Christopher – The World in Winter (new ice age);
- John Christopher – Death of Grass (aka No Blade of Grass) (All grass / wheat / rice crops fail);
- Keith Roberts – The Furies (giant wasps);
- John Wyndham – The Day of the Triffids (blindness and killer plants);
- John Wyndham – The Kraken Wakes (marauding sea monsters);
- Roger Zelazny – Damnation Alley (Mad Max started here).
For a really modern catastrophe story in the short form, I recommend that you track down ‘Approaching Zero’ by John Lucas (contemporary lifestyles as catastrophe!), most recently available in my anthology from Elastic Press, The Elastic Book Of Numbers (2005).
Catastrophes for the new millennium
With the current prominence of ‘Green’ issues, you may well decide to try your hand at environmental disaster, biological agents running amuck, responses to the future fuel and water shortages or similar themes . . .
I’ve always quite liked the idea of the animal and plant kingdoms getting their own back on Humankind (See The Furies, Day of the Triffids, the film Them, etc) – so I would be quite receptive to an idea along those lines. No zombies or vampires, though, which have been done to death.
Similarly, I’m open to something based on our dependence on technology in the so-called Information Age. But no cyberspeak gobbledegook, please, and no rehash of Transformers.
I’m sure there’s plenty of material to extrapolate from. Better still, come up with a fresh catastrophe idea, something that has not been explored before but is still close enough to the real world to convince as an extrapolation or a possibility.
Good luck!
Allen
editorcatastrophia [at] hotmail [dot] co [dot] uk
November 12th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Best of luck with this ambitious project.
November 16th, 2008 at 3:20 am
My favorite subgenre, and all new collected stories–this’ll be great! Another solid collection, if you’re interested: Wastelands. Thanks for taking this project on; I look forward to reading it. Heck, I might even find a story to submit, myself. :)
November 16th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Just heard about this. Great! I have a story which will fit in perfectly and am sending it as soon as I can.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:06 am
A wonderful idea, and I may just take a stab at it. …but, sorry, Them is one of the worst movies ever made…
November 17th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Sounds like a nice idea. I’ll have to see what I have in the archives.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I’m guessing that there’s only one submission permitted per author – is that correct?
November 18th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I would definitely read this, I hope there are a lot of animal / plant revolt movies that are great, it is an excellent sub-genre. Remember the woman sexually assaulted by a tree branch in the Evil Dead?
November 18th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Katy: one at a time, yes. :)
November 19th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Are stories set on a non-Earth world permitted in this anthology?
November 21st, 2008 at 9:46 am
I would assume not, CD – the implication is an Earthly apocalypse.
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Thank you, Paul. That helps me focus some :)
November 30th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
[...] http://news.pspublishing.co.uk.....bmissions/ Catasrophia will be a collection of short stories based around the theme of catastrophes, disasters, and post-apocalyptic fiction up to 6,000 words. Payment is 0.03p per word (approx 6c per word US) to a maximum of 100 ($200). No reprints. Deadline: 31st May 2009 Submission Guidelines: http://news.pspublishing.co.uk.....bmissions/ [...]
December 4th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
[...] world and the societies and cultures that would develop then. Full guidelines can be found here: http://news.pspublishing.co.uk.....bmissions/ Between Shine and Catastrophia, there is something for everyone: the optimistic and the fatalistic, [...]
December 17th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
[...] Anderson mention both Shine and Catastrophia as Writing [...]
December 31st, 2008 at 7:25 pm
[...] of big names being thrown around – Brian Aldiss and Adam Roberts. Here’s a link to the guidelines. I’ve submitted a piece [...]
January 21st, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Hi there,
Great idea for an anthology. I have a tiny idea I’m working up, hoping to find time to submit it.
Good luck with the book,
Cavan
January 31st, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Sounds interesting, and I might try to come up with something,
****BUT****
send a paper mss to England??? NO WAY!! I shudder to think of what that would cost!
Thanks, but no thanks.
February 1st, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Looking at the last similar sized packet I received from the US, Jim, it would cost you about $4.40. Hardly a bank-breaker, even in these tough times. :)
February 5th, 2009 at 1:49 am
Silly question, but would an American manuscript need to follow British grammar rules, etc. ?
Thank you for answering.
February 9th, 2009 at 11:53 am
I can’t help with that one, SJ; I think you’ll need to email Allen using the address at the bottom of the post above.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Hi there, I’m a Creative Writing student & I’ve got a few stories I’ve been writing which would fit this theme really well. What kind of length are you looking for?
All the best
February 17th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Hi Alice; I think you’ll find if you read the details above properly, the answer to your question is already there.
February 28th, 2009 at 10:57 am
This sounds fascinating. Is there still time to have a go – seeing as the guidelines say -’or when it’s full.’ Just checking. Thanks.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Still open, Kevin; we’ll announce here when Allen closes up to submissions.
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 am
Well, I took a stab at this. My first response was to have an attack from trees, but it proved less than idea. My second response is much more Lovecraftian, and the response from some in my private web office is it is very “intense.” It goes over the 6,000 max by 46 words, and while I could trim it, I would really like to add 100 words, not to be long-winded, but to further “intensify” a specific portion.
Probably I should just get it beneath the 6,000 word max, polish it up and send it in though, eh? And you’re still open, right? If not, I’m sending this elsewhere. lol!
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:51 pm
As mentioned here, submissions close on 31st May 2009. Beyond that, I can’t be of any more assistance; if you have questions about submitting, you’ll need to direct them to Allen himself using the contact address above. I’m just the publicity guy. :)
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:16 pm
We have just sent our little submission. This genre has been a favorite of our whole family. We lived on Strategic Air Command bases as children and always thought the end was coming. *Sigh* Instead we grew old. We can’t wait to get a copy of the anthology.
May 6th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I am currently working on a sohrt story. Is it ok to send it in, in about 2 weeks round about the 25th?
not sure what a hard copy is? any help? thankyou
May 6th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
As mentioned above, Charlotte, deadline is 31st of May; a hard copy is a printed-off and mailed version, as specified in the original post above. You may want to proof-read your submission a little more carefully than you did your comment. ;)
May 10th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Duotrope’s Digest (www.duotrope.com) is reporting that the anthology is now closed,but I haven’t seen any word about that here, is that correct?
Thanks!
Nicole Cushing
May 10th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Again, Nicole, I only know what Allen emails me – and the last I heard, the closing date was 31st May, as noted above. If need be, append a note to your submission saying that you were taking the closing date from here rather than anywhere else
.
May 11th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Paul:
Thanks for your quick reply. I sent my submission in March, but when I saw Catastrophia listed as closed on Duotrope I thought that might mean a T.O.C. was coming.
Thanks again!
Nicole
May 12th, 2009 at 10:48 am
I note that the ideal word count is between 2000 and 6000 words, but shorter and longer stories will be considered. I have a story I’d like to submit that runs to 7000 words. Should I go ahead and send it?
Also, is May 31 the deadline for final reciept of stories or is it a postmark date?
Thanks in advance for your response. I’m very interested in this anthology.
Shaun
May 12th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Shaun, you’ve pretty much answered the first question yourself; the choice to submit a story beyond the suggested wordcount range is one that only you can make. As regards the deadline, I’m not certain, but I would suggest you assume the 31st is the final date for receipt, not postmarking; that way you can’t lose out.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:57 am
Are you still open for submissions? If so, what is your preferred length?
June 12th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Ken, the answer to both of those questions can be found not only in the original post but in the comment just two blocks above your own. But just to be clear: submissions closed on May 31st, so I’m afraid you’ve missed the boat this time.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Jesus, give Paul Raven a break. Poor guy keeps answering the same thing over and over. Writers, read the guidelines for Heaven’s sakes. Read the GUIDELINES!
May 5th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Say, are you still open for submissions? What are your length limitations? Is it okay if I print out my story on green paper using a dingbats font?
Seriously, if you don’t want to keep getting comments like that into the next millennia, this page should be updated, preferably with a link to current news about the status of this anthology. Like:
http://news.pspublishing.co.uk/?s=CATASTROPHIA
May 6th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Thanks for the advice, Karl… but as the post as it stands already clearly states the submission cut-off date, complete with the year, I’m going to just leave it as it is. There’s none so deaf as those who won’t listen, after all. :)
May 9th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
> Thanks for the advice, Karl… but as the post as it stands already clearly states the submission
> cut-off date, complete with the year, I’m going to just leave it as it is. There’s none so deaf as those
> who won’t listen, after all. :)
That’s just silly, IMO. The page has a great big honking headline and title of “Call for submissions.” You are no longer calling for submissions, so why continue to say that you are? What you should be doing is encouraging interest in this book by giving people who come here some actual, usable information. As it stands, this page serves no purpose whatsoever except to confuse people, to collect spam posts, and to waste your time.
But heck, don’t listen to me; I’m sure it’s easier to be deaf.