All These Shiny Worlds is a collaborative promotional anthology in which we invite other indie and self-published authors to contribute their best stories. (Yes, reprints are welcome. We want your best work, not just your most recent.) We then take the very best submissions and publish them together in a free-to-download anthology, available on all the major ebook vendor sites.
Previous Editions
Payment: Nothing
Please be aware that this is an experiment in collaborative audience-building, and not a paying publication. The idea is to showcase the very best of what the indie market offers, and by leveraging our collective fan-bases, allow each contributor to reach a much wider audience, supported by the recommendation of their colleagues. History has shown that when one author recommends the work of another, their fans are extremely receptive. And as a bonus, these anthologies also give us an easy answer to that all-too-common criticism: “Oh, you’re self-published? Self-publishing sucks.”
Selection: Harsh
To maintain our reputation for excellence, our selection process is extreme. It begins with this web form, which will go to our intake editor for the first read, and our experience shows that 89% of all submissions will fail here. But take heart, even unsuccessful submissions still get something useful, in the form of a private ImmerseOrDie review, sent by email. (If you don’t already know about the tough-love book review series that started this whole thing, you can read more about it here.)
Submissions that survive this first stage still have another hurdle to pass — in fact, three of them — when our cabal of judges meets to review the candidates for final selection. Only stories that impress two of those three judges will be invited to participate. But again, the judges’ notes will be forwarded to the author, so even if you lose you still win.
Fairness: Total
Every story that appears in All These Shiny Worlds goes through this process – even stories submitted by our own editors and judges. Submissions are judged blindly. All references to the submitting author are removed from the manuscript before it gets read, and no judge ever assesses their own work, or that of a friend. The only factor they consider is the text on the page before them. And before you ask, yes, we actually have rejected stories submitted by our own team in the past. It’s a tough process, but we think it’s a fair one.
Genre: Limited
Having read all the above, if you’re still interested in facing the dragon, we’re looking for short stories in science fiction, fantasy, or any related sub-genre. (But be advised that we do not accept poetry or erotica.)
Min length: 2K words
Max length: 15K words
Special Preparation: Anonymize your manuscript, please.
FYI: An important part of our process is that judges are asked to review submissions with no idea who the author is. This ensures that everybody gets fair, impartial treatment. But we can’t do that if your name appears in the running head, or in a signature at the end. So to help us maintain this policy, we ask you take a moment prior to submission and remove your name. Or, if you prefer, you can just replace it with XXXX if that’s easier. Regretfully, submissions that identify the author will be deleted without being read.
Important Note: The form below will prompt you to register an account if you don’t already have one, but the account is not with us. Our submission system is powered by HeyPublisher, which is a free web service that helps authors find new markets and track their submissions. The account you create below will let you submit to us, and will also let you access the rest of the HeyPublisher tools. We think that’s a win for everybody.
