EDIT: The original version of this post has a deadline on it – I’ve suspended that and since submissions have been light for this particular project, there is no deadline. We’re just extending it indefinitely until we have enough stories. And since we want to keep the series going past just one volume, in a way that means there is no particular deadline.

Hi guys. I woke up one morning a couple months ago with a project idea for an erotica anthology themed around encounters at conventions. I was so excited about it that I told my husband right away and he liked the idea. So I immediately texted Luna that we had to Skype RIGHT AWAY!!! and she liked the idea too, as long as it didn’t detract from TimeBangers Vol. 2. She even offered to contribute a story.

I was super excited and because I’m a deeply obsessive person, about three hours later I had a full-fledged project plan and a tentative cover design. I reached out to some friends who write and got some genuine interest in contributing, but as you know, life sometimes gets in the way of writing projects, especially when you have a day job alongside your writing career. So of the ten or twelve talented people I reached out to, I only got two submissions. Which were almost ready to go even before the editing because I reached out to people I already knew were good. Yay!

But… sadly, four stories and a kickass cover do not make an anthology.

I’ve had this project on the shelf for the last couple months since my day job has been busy, but I’m coming back to it now and I decided to reach out to some of my favorite erotica authors just on the off chance any of these people making big bucks in the genre are interested in working for peanuts with a complete nobody they’ve never heard of who has no experience in editing anthologies! And since there’s a more than remote possibility none of them take me up on it, I decided to also attempt a call for submissions. I know plenty of good writers who aren’t published yet or who haven’t experimented with erotica. This could be a fun opportunity for somebody to hold a physical book in their hands and know that they helped make it happen!

So here are the details:

The title for this project is Con-Fessions. This is Volume 1. Working with our publisher for TimeBangers, I’m planning a 5.25″ x 8″ perfect bound paperback edition and an e-book. For any accepted stories, compensation will be $65 per story, and a copy of the paperback. What that buys the publisher is non-exclusive world rights for 3 years from first publication date to publish, excerpt and market your story. Authors retain their rights and have no obligation to us and can sell their story or publish it wherever else they wish.

Submission deadline is end of day Sunday, May 15, but if I receive enough submissions I like before then I may move forward with the project before deadline. If that happens, I’ll roll any submissions that come in after that to be considered for Vol. 2. So, sooner is better. If, on the other hand, I don’t have enough material to move forward by the deadline but I like your story, I’ll get in touch and it’ll be up to you if you want to wait around for me to get enough submissions. Please see EDIT note at top of post. 🙂

If your submission is accepted, the publisher will send you a contract with the details I’ve outlined above. Once we’ve all signed and everyone has a copy, things can proceed.

I am looking for stories 3,000-6,000 words in length, which should be sex-positive, female-positive explicit narratives of erotic encounters involving a convention of some sort. It doesn’t have to be limited to comics/sci-fi/entertainment. Comic conventions, book conventions, realtor conventions, dentists—doesn’t matter. Presentations, strangers, hotel bars. I’m not putting many thematic restrictions on submissions, because I’m guessing your imaginations will come up with some stuff that hasn’t even occurred to me. Funny, serious, I don’t know what’s right for your story. You decide and then I will see if I think it fits with the project. If you want you’re welcome to hit me up on Twitter at @IveryKirk and run a pitch by me before you write it. There’s not a specific thing I’m looking for.

Technically I’m on Facebook too, but honestly you’re probably just as well off e-mailing me because I kind of suck at Facebook and often forget to even look at it for days on end.

If you want to submit a story: E-mail your story to me in a docx file at ivery [at] iverykirk.com and please put “Con-Fessions Vol 1 Submission” in the subject line.

Welcome: Lesbian, gay, trans, and any other myriad non-hetero-normative themes, all fine. What would a liberal feminist accountant-by-day, comedy-time-travel-erotica-author-by-night be okay with having in a wank collection? Go with your gut here.

Not welcome: Literal bestiality or incest (pseudoincest OK), death, rape (dubcon OK), pedophilia, scat, and similar overly taboo themes will end up in the automatic no pile. Plus I’ll make a mental note that you’re into some dark shit and will avoid you forevermore.

If you draw on existing real world fandom and don’t change details yourself up front, be aware that things will need to be edited to avoid legal issues pertaining to intellectual property (i.e. if I write “13 Doctors, 3 holes,” then of course any cosplayers involved are paying homage to their favorite TV show “Doctor When”).

If I reject your submission, which is certainly possible because I have pretty high standards for what I consider quality writing, know that I will be very sorry to have to do it. Putting yourself out there and risking rejection is hard and I really respect you giving it a try. Even if I decide your submission isn’t right for this project, I applaud you for your efforts. Keep writing and remember that my opinion is just one person. You have an audience somewhere.

Any questions, guys? Please hit me up in the comments if there’s anything I missed. It’s highly possible since this I’ve never done this before!