General Guidelines / Themes / Previous Anthologies
(1) Short Fiction Anthology Submissions are by EMAIL ONLY. All submissions should be emailed as WORD or RTF attachments to editor@mainstreetrag.com
(2) File name should match the title of the story and subject line of email should read: "Anthology Submission for ___________ theme" (fill in the blank).
(3) Authors may submit 1 story per theme for the reading period; maximum length: 10,000 words. If writers want to submit to more than one theme, please submit them in separate emails since each theme is read by a different editor.
(4) Please double-space using 11 or 12pt serif font (Times, Times New Roman, etc.).
(5) Reading Period: We will consider submissions that arrive between May 1 and September 15 (submissions close 5pm EASTERN time September 15) with final report time no later than November 1.
(6) Previously Published stories are eligible if they have NOT been published online or in the past 5 years (copyright date 2007) in another anthology, magazine or individual collection.
(7) NO Simultaneous Submissions.
If you have any questions in regard to eligibility, query first to editor@mainstreetrag.com. If the question concerns previously published, please include where and when it was previously published.Thank you.
Current Themes:
(1) The List. Reading period CLOSED November 15, 2011. From Homer’s catalogue of ships to your shopping list, from Whitman’s catalogues of Americana to your to-do lists, from top-ten lists to inventories, from high brow to low brow, lists permeate our literature and our daily lives. We’re looking for stories with lists in them—any kind of list, serving any purpose. We want fiction that explores how lists can help to structure or lend meaning to a story. We want to see work that examines what our habit of list-making reveals about our lives. Send us your fiction with odd, funny, heartbreaking, mundane, or mind-blowing lists.
(2) Just Tattoos. Reading period CLOSED November 15, 2011. How do tattoos haunt, hurt or give meaning to the character's story? Who wears or inks these tattoos? What defines the human body and art? Tattoos are an ancient practice going back to the ancients. Throughout history tattoos let others know the wearer?s totem, family, skill set or class. Not just for sailors or the young, people of all ages get tattoos because they want to belong to a group, they want a symbol on their body that personifies them, they want to heal after abuse, they reach a milestone or the tattoo is for cosmetic reasons.
(3) Secrets. Reading period CLOSED September 15, 2011. Regrets, obsessions, fears, betrayals. A message discovered, a desire repressed, a vulnerability exposed. Secrets can transform lives; revelations can produce unexpected results. Tell us how someone is changed by the secrets they keep; or how secrets from the past haunt the present. Pass along a secret that startles and intrigues, or show us what happens when a secret is held too tightly.
What better way to know what we do than to read what we've already done. Below are a few of the anthologies Main Street Rag has published. Others can be found on the MSR Online Bookstore.
In December 2001, Main Street Rag began circulating a monthly electronic newsletter. Among other things, our goal with this service is to provide subscribers with a monthly reminder of events, deadlines, contests, and magazines that are actively seeking manuscripts. If you would like to learn more about this service, just click.
BACK ALLEY / BOOKSTORE / CONTESTS / EDITOR'S COMMENTS / ESSAYS / EVENTS / FICTION / INTERVIEWS / GALLERY / POETRY / REVIEWS / SHELF SPACE / SUBMISSIONS
Main Street Rag, PO BOX 690100, Charlotte, NC 28227-7001
704-573-2516, contact us