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A Spec-Fiction
Anthology of Stories Honoring the Boston Red Sox
GUIDELINES - Step #1
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If you're a Yankees fan, you may wish to
leave this page. This is all about the greatness that is the Boston Red
Sox... and, by extension, about the non-greatness that is the Evil Empire!
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This is an anthology of
speculative-fiction stories in some way involving the Boston Red Sox.
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Stories must be science-fiction,
fantasy, or horror, having some sort of speculative element, and must
involve the Boston Red Sox in some way, in a positive light. Don't involve
the real players in any way other than real life; your story can feature
them having at-bats, but make them real at-bats. Don't feature them doing
things or saying things that didn't actually happen. Use the Sox as the
backdrop of your story.
There are many possibilities just
jumping to my mind. How about a story where we discover the New York
Yankees have a new player who is secretly an alien or a robot? How about
a fantasy where a horrifying monster (green, of course) haunts Fenway like
the Phantom of the Opera? How about a dimension-hopping elf from a
fantasy world learning what it's like to be a Sox fan? Maybe a story
about interstellar explorers explaining baseball to an alien
civilization. There are endless ideas here! I leave the creativity to you.
If you want to feature actual players as
characters, you need to create fictional characters, unless you can get
permission from the actual players to use them in fictional stories. The
exception here is if you write a satire or parody, in which you are
clearly parodying the players in question.
Authors will share a percentage of the
profits, but I plan to donate a big chunk of the profits to The Jimmy
Fund, the charity of the Boston Red Sox. More information on that as I
work to secure, hopefully, a partnership with The Jimmy Fund and, maybe,
the Boston Red Sox.
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I don't want stories in which the Red Sox
are merely mentioned. They don't have to be directly integral to the plot,
but at least they're a factor somehow--so that if they weren't there,
there would be no story. A story where the characters enjoy a game at
Fenway, leave, and encounter a spaceship on the Mass Pike is not going to
cut it. A spaceship landing in the middle of Fenway during a game would be
more like it, especially if it interferes with a Alex Rodriguez home-run
ball. Another example: If the
characters are watching a Sox game on NESN when zombies crawl out of
graves next door isn't likely to cut it unless there's some stronger
connection. If your story is cleverly written so that what's happening in
the game, with Orsillo and Remy's commentary somehow reflecting the battle
with the zombies, fine. If one of the zombies was a Red Sox fan in life
and was buried in his Sox jersey, and stops trying to eat everyone's
brains when he hears the Sox win Game 4 in 2004 to sweep the Cardinals and
win the World Series, because he has a reason now to rest in peace, that
would be more like it. I DO NOT
WANT stories that show the Red Sox in a negative light. Remember, my
plan is to donate to The Jimmy Fund; we want something Red Sox fans will
enjoy. I DO NOT WANT stories
where you could go a global find-and-replace to change "Red Sox" to any
baseball team, just to fit this anthology. If you don't know what it means
to be a Red Sox fan, you probably shouldn't be submitting to this
anthology. I DO NOT WANT
stories that won't interest the general public; keep them light and
cheerful. If you send me a story where exploding baseballs randomly blow
up and kill pitchers, batters, and fielders, it isn't something I'll take
(even if I am darned amused by it). Again, I plan to donate profits to The
Jimmy Fund; average readers will not be into stories of nuclear baseballs.
UPDATE
I am getting WAY TOO MANY
off-target submissions here, and 100% of them wouldn't have been submitted
had the authors actually read these guidelines. READ THE GUIDELINES.
Offhand, I'm going to say that if you're not a Red Sox fan, don't try
submitting. If I can replace the Red Sox in your story with the New York
Yankees, the Toledo Mudhens, the Bad News Bears, or any local softball
team without having to do anything beyond a global search-and-replace of
the team name, it isn't going to fly.
UPDATE
Yes, I know the New York Yankees
won the World Series in 2009. It's about time, considering that ridiculous
payroll. But first, it has nothing to do with Joe Girardi. He's a tool.
Second, it doesn't make me less of a Red Sox fan. And third, yes, of
course I'm still publishing the anthology. (You should see the emails I've
gotten. I'd post them here but what would be the point?) And fourth,
nobody cares that the Yankees won the World Series. We really don't.
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Stories from 2,000 to 7,000
words; however, I am unlikely to accept long stories unless they are very,
very good. Long stories mean multiple shorter stories won't make the cut.
So, make sure the longer it is, the better it is. Ideally, I'd like to see
stories in the 2,000-5,000-word range.
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Deadline for submissions is
WHEN FILLED.
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Interested?
Click here
to learn more. |
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