Big Sage Press would like to announce the creation of an annual science fiction short story anthology. As part of this project Big Sage is seeking new or established authors to submit individual and unique short fictional stories to fill it. To be considered for publication stories must be the whole and unique work of the submitting author; free of plagiarism of any kind and available for inclusion at the time of printing. Submissions should be in standard manuscript format, with as few errors or edits as is possible. Authors should only submit their best work as incomplete stories or manuscripts cannot be considered. Each story should be between 7,500 and 12,000 words not counting individual title and by line. Blue language and adult content should be intrinsic to the storyline and pertinent to character development and understanding, superfluous use of either may effect a manuscript’s chances for selection.
This year’s theme will be the struggle between personal liberty and power. Each story will take place between the years 3019 and 3055 on the now human colonized planet of Peitho. This is an earth-like planet with a similar atmosphere, slightly larger than earth; it completes its annual rotation around a G-type main sequence star every 728 days, its solar day consists of 32 hours and it has twin moons Amphion and Zethus. Culturally this planet is in transition; sometime at the end of the 38th century mankind colonized this planet seeking a new source of mineral resources and to escape the overcrowding on Mars. Once heralded as the “future of all mankind” the distance between Peitho and Earth, approximately 67 light years through the center of the Great Square of Pegasus from Pegasi 51 (118 from Sol) soon proved to be inconvenient and dangerous. When rich asteroid fields and habitable planets were later discovered in the Cygnus Zone, the flow of colonists and trade routs shifted and soon Peitho was all but forgotten. They have not lost the capacity for interstellar travel, however on a planet with such rich and wild frontiers very few think of visiting distant galaxies anymore.
The title of the anthology will be “Children of the Forgotten Sun”. It will be up to the individual author to flesh out the culture, technology, and lifestyles of the inhabitants of this planet. We are currently seeking fifteen to twenty short stories which will accompany the pre-selected works of our affiliates. Initial submissions should be made no later than March 31, 2022 with a perspective publication date of October / November that same year. Initial submissions should be sent to mollymiller@bigsage.press, and must be in .pdf format. No other files or formats will be opened or distributed to our panel of readers. Once selected a separate version of the manuscript may be requested.
The selection of a particular manuscript will be based upon the following standards:
· Creativity and strength of author voice
· Cohesion to theme and setting
· A compelling tale which engages the reader and builds the anthology into one interconnected unit.
Submission for inclusion does not guarantee selection. This is not a contest and there is no prize offered to selected authors. Authors who are selected for inclusion will be entitled to an equal share of the profits on sales; publication of the anthology will be via Amazon’s print on demand services under the Big Sage Press imprint. Division of royalties will be made within two (2) business days of Amazon’s royalty payments to Big Sage Press. The anthology will be published in two formats; paperback and digital. Each author which is selected for inclusion will be required to produce a short form biography listing any other credits and titles which they would like highlighted. Author photos as well as cover art for any other works is highly encouraged. Selected authors will be expected to respond to Big Sage Press in a timely fashion in order to keep this project moving smoothly for all persons involved. By submitting to this anthology each writer is giving Big Sage Press permission to reprint and distribute their work as part of this anthology series. Each author retains individual ownership and rights to their own pieces.
We are looking forward to reading your submissions!
Big Sage.Press 
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