The following market report on the anthology, Mirror Shards, Vol 2, as well as the follow-up interview are courtesy of Market Scoops by D.L. Snell.

The Market

Anthology: Mirror Shards, Vol 2
Editor: Thomas K. Carpenter
Pay Rate: 2¢ to 5¢ per word
Response Time: usually less than one week
Reading Period: until May 5th
Description (from the editor): Augmented reality holds the promise of great social change in both the near and far-flung futures. It’s also a wonderful medium for storytelling as information and graphics overlain eye-screens challenges the doors of perception and creates mixed-reality worlds to work and play. The stories can be set in any place, time, or genre, as long as the story cannot exist bereft of augmented reality. Feel free to explore the edges of the technology.
Complete Guidelines: Writer’s Guidelines

Note: Horror author D.L. Snell conducted the following interview to give writers a better idea of what the editors of this specific market are seeking; however, most editors are open to ideas outside of the preferences discussed here, as long as they fit the basic submission guidelines.

The Scoop

1. What authors do you enjoy, and why does their writing captivate you?
This could be a long list, but I’ll try to keep it to my major influences: George RR Martin, Gene Wolfe, Kris Rusch, William Gibson, Stephen King, Suzanne Collins, Cory Doctorow, Scott Westerfeld, Neal Stephenson.

As you can see, I’m all over the map and I was sticking mostly to the speculative fiction genres. It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what captivates me, but I would say great characters and interesting stories. Martin hits my reader cookies so completely that I will read anything of his, and usually multiple times as I study how he works his craft. He’s a master.

And while I have a few prose-heavy writers on that list, like Wolfe and Gibson, it’s their storytelling that interests me, not their literary stylings. In fact, what usually disappoints me about their stories is I have a hard time getting friends and family to read their works because they’re rather imposing on the prose. It’s not that I don’t love what they’re doing, I do, it’s more that the average reader has a hard time connecting to them.

2. What are your favorite genres? Which genres would you like to see incorporated into submissions to this market?
This is by its nature a science fiction theme, but other genres can be mixed freely. Last year’s Volume One was heavy on the near-future stories. I’m hoping writers push a little further out on the spectrum and take chances with their writing.

3. What settings most intrigue you? Ordinary or exotic locales? Real or fantasy? Past, present, or future?
I like big, bold storytelling. The type of stories I like show up regularly in the Writers of the Future contest. So if you’re wanting to stand out from the hundreds of similar slush stories I’ll see, take me to an exotic location and tell me a story I’ve never heard before.

4. Explain the type of pacing you enjoy, e.g. slow building to fast, fast throughout, etc.
That’s a hard one to answer. The pacing depends on the story being told. Pacing is like breathing, there’s purpose to the hesitation between the in-breath and the out. I would caution against all slow pacing, but unless there’s a stylistic reason, blazing through the story at mach ten without giving the reader a breath can be overwhelming.

5. What types of characters appeal to you the most? Any examples?
I have a sweet spot for flawed, but powerful characters. Lisbeth Salander from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo comes to mind first. Just about any character in Martin’s Game of Thrones. The Gunslinger and Wolfe’s Severion are other examples.

6. Is there a specific tone you’d like to set in your publication? What kind of voices grab you and keep you enthralled? Any examples?
Voice works when it works? I’ve been studying a lot of short fiction lately (even more than I usually do), and I’ve seen a lot of differing voice styles work. There has to be some anchor to the reader, but if you can do that and hold interest, then it’ll come together.

7. What is your policy for vulgarity, violence, and sexual content? Any taboos?
No taboos as long as it’s for the story’s sake. The further away you get from the norm, the harder it is to justify. And shocking for the sake of shocking won’t get far.

8. What kind of themes are you seeking most in submissions to this market? In general, what themes interest you?
Augmented reality can be used in a diverse enough way that any theme can be explored as long as it involves the human condition.

9. Overall, do you prefer downbeat or upbeat endings?
Prefer upbeat, but downbeat is acceptable as long as it serves the denouement. A tragically beautiful ending is difficult, but powerful when it’s pulled off.

10. Any last advice for submitters to this market? Any critical do’s or do not’s?
Understand what augmented reality (AR) is all about. Be creative and push the boundaries. Don’t just slap AR into a current story and send it in. That tactic is extremely obvious. But also, don’t let the story just be about the technology. We have to be invested in the character before we can care about how technology changes us. Fiction provides understanding into the human condition and science fiction just provides a unique lens. Flip the lens to AR, turn it to eleven and send in your best stories.

Into The Darkness was a magazine started by David G. Barnett in the mid-90s and focused on modern adult horror fiction by new authors, many of which are now respected names in the horror fiction world: Edward Lee, Charlee Jacob, John Everson, Gerard Houarner, DF Lewis and dozens more. After only five issues Necro moved into books and stopped publishing the magazine. Well, now Necro wants to bring it back. Okay, not the magazine, but the spirit of it in the form of an all-new anthology series.

Into The Darkness Anthology is looking for dark, brutal, unrelenting horror fiction from new and established authors alike. One of the things we always loved with the magazine was finding new voices in modern horror and we want to start doing that again.

Here’s some things they’re looking for:

• Solid story and interesting characters are the two most important elements.
• Modern voice. Nothing old fashioned. No traditional ghost stories. They’re not looking for writers trying to channel Lovecraft or Poe.
• New monsters. If you’re going to create a monster then explain the monster. Don’t just throw it in at the end. The monster is probably a hell of a lot more interesting than anything else. Same goes for killers and psychos.
• If you’re going to give them a vampire, zombie or other traditional monster please do something new and interesting with it.
• Violence, sex, profanity and gore are all fine as long as they are integral to the story. If you’re just trying an experiment in writing only grossout they don’t want it. After 20 years we’ve seen it and it’s boring. And don’t try and shock them by using the word cunt 50 times in your story. That’s just sad.
• Humor is always good.
• Urban fantasy is a favorite genre of theirs.
• Angels, demons, heaven and hell are all topics of interest for them.

Editor: C. Dennis Moore & David G. Barnett
Word Count: 1500-10,000
Publisher: Necro Publications
Publish Date: Late 2012/Early 2013
Format: Trade Paperback and eBook for International distribution
Reading Period: From March 19, 2012 – July 31, 2012.
Rights: First print and electronic Exclusive Worldwide English Language Anthology Rights for a period of one year.
Payment: $.02/word. Two copies of the trade paperback. Payment upon publication.

Submission Specifications:

• Email submissions ONLY to: intothedarknessantho@gmail.com
• Submissions should be in standard manuscript format and attached as either an MS Word document or an RTF file.
• All submissions MUST have your name, address, email and phone number.
• Check here for proper manuscript formatting: Format
• Email subject line: ITD – Story Title – Author
• No reprints
• Multiple submissions: up to two stories per author can be submitted but send as separate emails.
• No simultaneous submissions.
• Response time of 1-2 months.
• And for f**ksake, please have some sort of grasp of spelling, grammar and punctuation. No manuscript is perfect, but seriously, don’t waste their time if you can barely spell your name or speak English. This has happened.

The Market

Anthology: The Edge Of Sundown
Editors: Kevin Ross and Brian Sammons
Pay Rate: 3¢ / word
Response Time: varies, hopefully less than 1 month from this point on (I’ve been terrifically lax so far, KR)
Reading Period: at least until July 1, 2012
Description (from the editor): Horror stories set in the American west (1860-1900), 4000-8000 words preferred, no humor or poetry
Complete Guidelines: Writer’s Guidelines

Note: Horror author D.L. Snell conducted the following interview to give writers a better idea of what the editors of this specific market are seeking; however, most editors are open to ideas outside of the preferences discussed here, as long as they fit the basic submission guidelines.

The Scoop

1. What authors do you enjoy, and why does their writing captivate you?
KR: I’m old-fashioned, so my tastes run to a lot of classics: Lovecraft, Hodgson, Machen, and their descendants, T.E.D. Klein, Karl Edward Wagner, Ramsey Campbell. With the exception of HPL and Campbell, these guys have simple straightforward styles that don’t get in the way of the stories they’re trying to tell.

BMS: Lovecraft, for his original vision of horror. Stephen King for being the first author of adult books I ever read and introducing me to the joys of reading. Robert Bloch and Joe R. Lansdale for doing both bleak horror and black comedy so well. Richard Matheson for being the most consistently good and enjoyable over such a long career. And I can’t forget Robert E. Howard for his manly badassery.

2. What are your favorite genres? Which genres would you like to see incorporated into submissions to this market?
KR: I’m obviously a big fan of supernatural horror, but much of the reading I’ve done over the past couple of years has been western-related one way or another — a lot of history, but also novels by Peter Brandvold, Elmore Leonard, and Gordon Shirreffs (who’s probably my favorite western novelist—good pulpy stuff).

BMS: Horror first and foremost, with various flavors of sci-fi and the occasional sword and sorcery fantasy, as long as it’s not too cute and fluffy. As for what I’d like to see for this book, a real blend of honest to God, scary as shit horror with undeniable Old West settings, themes, and characters. I don’t want to see a story, even if it’s a first rate horror tale, that only has the western aspect as set dressing, or a truly great western if it’s not in the least horrifying.

3. What settings most intrigue you? Ordinary or exotic locales? Real or fantasy? Past, present, or future?
KR: Well, this is a western book, so obviously we want stuff that fits into that genre and setting, whether it’s the eerie deserts and mountains, the agoraphobic plains, or more civilized/genteel atmospheres of cities like San Francisco or New Orleans. Cowtowns, Mexican villages, mining camps, Indian villages. Westward expansion could lead to any number of horrific situations in any number of environments.

BMS: I usually prefer modern tales, but in the case of this book we really want stories that feel authentic to the old west. If you have a story you wrote for some other setting, don’t think you can retrofit it with cowboy hats and six guns and think that will be good enough. If it is not first and foremost a true western, then it’s not going to fly.

4. Explain the type of pacing you enjoy, e.g. slow building to fast, fast throughout, etc.
KR: There are lots of different ways to write both horror stories and westerns. Some writers like to come charging out of the gate with an action scene, then settle in for a slow build-up to the story’s climax. I don’t think that’s any more “correct” or preferable than a story that builds slowly from the start. It really depends on what kind of story you’re telling, rather than an overall preference on my part. One thing I do think is missing in a lot of horror fiction is the sense of awe or unease produced just by little things. The recent Japanese-horror films used (and then over-used) this tactic a lot, but you also saw it in Machen and Lovecraft—that twinge of horror you got from something that seemed inconsequential. Or, alternately that gasp of wonder you had, say, when HPL described the awakened Cthulhu as “a mountain walked or stumbled.” That works a helluva lot better for me than a minutely detailed description of a vast alien being.

BMS: While arguments can be made for any type of story, the majority of short stories I really like are fast paced. I like the sense of action they impart. Conversely when it comes to novels or horror movies, I prefer creeping dread. Yeah that’s weird, I know.

5. What types of characters appeal to you the most? Any examples?
KR: I figured that since we’re doing a western book we’d see a lot of laconic gunfighters a la Eastwood but that hasn’t been the case so far. I don’t have any preferences, but I’ll share a dislike: all-powerful characters who know everything about the occult or the Cthulhu Mythos or whatever it is they are going to be up against. Continuing characters and horror don’t mix well in my mind, though there are exceptions. I’m well sick of all-knowing invincible Mythos-busters.

BMS: I always like strong capable characters that nonetheless come up against things they just can’t overcome. It’s the whole feeling of yeah, you might be a bad ass (in whatever field) but compared to this you’re still nothing.

6. Is there a specific tone you’d like to set in your publication? What kind of voices grab you and keep you enthralled? Any examples?
KR: There have been a number of other horror-western and weird western fiction anthologies, but I have yet to see one that emphasizes the HORROR aspect. Most of the anthos I’ve seen have had at least a few stories (often several) that were firmly tongue-in-cheek. That’s NOT what I want for Edge of Sundown. I want HORROR, not broad humor or tall tales or light-hearted bullshit. I want stories that take both genres with deadly seriousness. There can be wit and humor, but these stories should raise goosebumps, not guffaws. As for a specific example, I’ll fall back to one of my favorite horror writers, Karl Edward Wagner. Whether it was his dark fantasy Kane stories or his horror tales, Wagner knew how to tell a story. An unobtrusive voice but always—always—a compelling plot and characters. I’m more of a plot-guy than a prose-aficionado.

BMS: We decided that this anthology was going to be 100% horror. I want dark, truly horrific horror. No horror-lite, no wink and nod spooky tales, I want the author to first and foremost to try to scare the hell out of the reader. I want feel-bad, twisted, dark as the moonless night, “oh my god I can’t believe I just read that” kind of horror.

7. What is your policy for vulgarity, violence, and sexual content? Any taboos?
KR: My vocabulary is pretty spicy anyway, so I personally have no limits there. Sex and violence are fine too, as long as you have something to say other than just “here’s some tits and gore.” Too much of horror these days relies on graphic descriptions of violence at the expense of pacing and atmosphere and the aforementioned “awe factor.” Writers seem to be rushing toward the “money shots” of knife slicing skin, bullet tearing through flesh, or teeth ripping throat. I’d rather see something strange and unearthly instead.

BMS: I’m fine with vulgarity; it’s a form of expression I’m fairly familiar with, as long as it’s warranted. Violence, I like violent horror. While not essential to tell a good story, I grew up in the 1980s reading plenty of splatterpunk. Sex, as long as it’s not just tossed in to be titillating and nothing more, I’m fine with it. As for taboos, for me it would be the victimization and sexualisation of children. No one wants to read that, and if you do, then this is not the book for you.

8. What kind of themes are you seeking most in submissions to this market? In general, what themes interest you?
KR: I strongly prefer supernatural or cosmic horror, though I can definitely see possibilities for psychological horror as well. Sadism and torture porn usually have no draw for me, though there are exceptions. As I said earlier, westward expansion brought people into a big, wild, unexplored part of the country, and I think that’s something worth pursuing: the vast wildernesses, what lies in wait out there, what men can do to each other once they’ve left civilization behind. There’s also the angle of expansion and greed outstripping man’s caution, his rapaciousness and disrespect for the natives and the environment, and so forth.

BMS: I’d like to see more than the typical tough and stoic gunman fighting some monster that might be the first thing that comes to people’s minds when you say ‘horror western.’ To be sure, there is room in this book for those kinds of stories, but the American Old West was so much more than that. I’d like to see tales from all the other amazingly colorful characters that populated that part of the world in that time. Naturally, I’d like to see elements of the Native Americans, from characters to parts (and/or monsters) from their rich mythology. Perhaps an immigrant from the ‘Old World’ has brought some of his horrors and nightmares with him to this wild New World? Also cosmic horror a la H.P. Lovecraft and how that would interact with the people of the old west would also be a cool idea. Or non-supernatural horror, if it’s truly engaging.

9. Overall, do you prefer downbeat or upbeat endings?
KR: I’m pretty pessimistic, so I tend toward the bleaker side of things, whether it’s in my own writing or the stories I select. I don’t mind happy endings so long as there’s some cost involved for the survivors. Brushes with the supernatural should always leave scars, whether physical or psychological.

BMS: Either, but if I had to lean one way or the other, I’d lean toward downbeat. Not only does it feel more horrific to me, I think too many of today’s horror stories have happy endings.

10. Any last advice for submitters to this market? Any critical do’s or do not’s?
KR: Take the western and horror genres seriously. DO NOT play them for laughs. Make me shiver, whether it’s with a horde of zombies breaking down the cabin door to eat the man and his son—who have just one bullet left—or the sight of the Thunderbird blocking out the sun as it soars over the desert. Write great stories.

BMS: Make sure you are well versed in both the old west and what makes a good, scary story. Also avoid the clichés, not every whore had a heart of gold or were soiled doves in the Old West. Some were just mean, nasty, could-give-a-damn-less-about-anyone whores. That’s just one example, there are countless others, so be warned.

Below are the guidelines:

The theme of Midnight Echo Issue 8 is knock our socks off with a damn good horror story! What do we mean by that? Well, we’re looking for stories that we might have trouble digesting. Stories that leave us feeling scared and excited about what’s in store … Scare us, shock us, freak us out, get up-close and personal with your imagination and startle us with the end result. We’re open to everything, but only the best will survive.

Marty: “I want people to really stretch their imaginations. Take us into space, into hell, or into beyond—and leave us there if you need to, but don’t take us into wacky, weird, gonzo style stories. If you need to be explicit to do this, then fine, but there’s nothing wrong with the old quiet school of horror, where what you don’t see is what does the damage.”

Mark: “I want to publish stories that challenge the way I think about traditional values — faith, love, desire, religion — stories that blur the line between right and wrong, fantasy and fact. Stories intertwined with emotion. Content is not an issue with me but the more adult the theme, the better the writing has to be. Don’t be frightened to sub the ol’ tropes (vampire, zombie, werewolf) but make it something special. Surprise me. Shock me. Entertain. I am not adverse to poetry but it has to engage me in some way, the things I have highlighted above would be a good place for poets to start.”

Amanda: ”Scare us. I’m looking for character-driven stories that push the limits of horror versus hope — I want to see the internal and external battle between predator and prey. Delve into the darkness of the mind, or the formless abyss where monsters live and inflict your worst, but make it war. I’m after content and combat in context, though, so any splatter-porn should be backed up by a damn fine story.”

About the editors:

Marty Young is a Bram Stoker nominated editor and writer and sometimes ghost hunter. He was the founding President of the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA) from 2005-2010, and one of the creative minds behind the internationally acclaimed Midnight Echo magazine.

His horror fiction has been reprinted in Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror (‘the best of 2008’), repeatedly included in Ellen Datlow’s year’s best recommended reading list, and nominated for both the Australian Shadows and Ditmar awards. Marty’s essays on horror literature have been published in journals and university textbooks in Australia and India, and he is also co-editor of the Australian Shadows Award-winning Macabre; a Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears, a landmark anthology showcasing some of the best Australian horror stories from 1836 to 2010.

As of October 2011, he is the Executive Editor of Midnight Echo magazine (again), and is also the Associate Editor of the HWA’s Dark Whispers blog. Marty can be contacted at marty@martyyoung.com.

Amanda J Spedding’s stories explore the darkness of the human soul. Her fiction has been published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (ASIM), Shades of Sentience, Award Winning Australian Writing, Tasmaniac Publications and Pill Hill Press, and she has a post-apocalyptic short due out early this year with Dark Prints Press. Amanda’s dark fantasy story, “The Whims of my Enemy,” received an honourable mention in Ellen Datlow’s Best of Horror Volume 3, and made Horrorscope’s 2010 Recommended Reads.

She is a freelance editor, proofreader and copywriter, Committee Member for the Australian Horror Writers Association (AHWA), and Field Correspondent for Innsmouth Free Press. Amanda lives in Sydney with her gorgeous husband and two very cool kids.

Mark Farrugia is the author of the vampire comic series Allure of the Ancients: The Key to His Kingdom (to be published in Midnight Echo volumes 7-10) and the short story series Seeds, set in a dystopian version of Melbourne. Mark’s other writing credits include the blood n’guts dragon fantasy A Bag Full of Arrows, (honorably mentioned by Ellen Datlow) and the horror short story “Single Mother of None.” His fiction has appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (ASIM), Midnight Echo, Borderlands, Eclecticism and AntiopdeanSF. BestScienceFictionStories.com declared Mark’s flash fiction amongst its favorites of 2009 and 2010.

Mark edited ASIM issue 46 and co-edited ASIM Best of Horror Volume 2. Mark is the Australia Horror Writers Association’s Critique Group Manager and can be contacted at mark_farrugia@ymail.com

Follow this link for more information: Midnight Echo Guidelines

The Market

Anthology: Over the Brink: Environmental Disaster
Editor: Juliana Rew
Pay Rate: 2¢ USD/word
Response Time: 6 weeks
Reading Period: April 1-30, 2012
Description: Anthology with the theme of “Environmental Disaster,” to be published online-only on June 30, 2012

Note: Horror author D.L. Snell conducted the following interview to give writers a better idea of what the editors of this specific market are seeking; however, most editors are open to ideas outside of the preferences discussed here, as long as they fit the basic submission guidelines.

The Scoop

1. What authors do you enjoy, and why does their writing captivate you?
We like mainline SF/Fantasy writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, and Vernor Vinge.

2. What are your favorite genres? Which genres would you like to see incorporated into submissions to this market?
We prefer an SF/Fantasy bent.

3. What settings most intrigue you? Ordinary or exotic locales? Real or fantasy? Past, present, or future?
We like exotic locales, but ordinary settings are fine if the story is speculative (for example, time travel) or the situation is out-of-the-ordinary.

4. Explain the type of pacing you enjoy, e.g. slow building to fast, fast throughout, etc.
We are publishing short stories, so a rather quick build up is desirable.

5. What types of characters appeal to you the most? Any examples?
We like humans who have a wry sense of humor and a problem-solving attitude. We also like intelligent aliens and creatures.

6. Is there a specific tone you’d like to set in your publication? What kind of voices grab you and keep you enthralled? Any examples?
We are looking for stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something instructive to tell us as human beings.

7. What is your policy for vulgarity, violence, and sexual content? Any taboos?
A little vulgarity is ok where appropriate. No overly graphic depictions of rape and murder, please, although some death and destruction is expected for this collection.

8. What kind of themes are you seeking most in submissions to this market? In general, what themes interest you?
The current anthology is about environmental disaster, or the fixes we’ve gotten ourselves into. The next anthology (open for submissions on April 1, 2012) will be on the theme of “War.” The final anthology for 2012 will have the theme, “Origins.”

9. Overall, do you prefer downbeat or upbeat endings?
Either is fine. Also like endings with a twist.

10. Any last advice for submitters to this market? Any critical do’s or do not’s?
We are also interested in short humor pieces, which will be featured separately in the anthologies. These should also have an SF/Fantasy bent, preferably.