Moose House Publications is looking for stories for its new collection of short fiction, Blink and You’ll Miss It.

 

The details

We want stories (fiction, not descriptions of real events) which relate to life or events in small-town or rural Nova Scotia that people passing through from a big city might not understand or even notice. It could be a romantic encounter at the axe-throwing competition, solving the mystery of why that dirt road gets plowed while the main road in town does not, or a confrontation over rights to water from an old well. The story can take place now, in the past, or in the future.

 

Your story should be up to 3,000 words, aimed at a general audience. The book will include as many as two pieces by a single author, so feel free to submit three or four examples of your most recent short work. Each piece should stand on its own: we are not looking for excerpts from longer works for this project. It should be a new story that you have not published anywhere before.

 

What it costs: 

There is no entry fee.

 

What we get: 

We select the stories we would like to publish. We are buying “first North American rights”: that means we are not currently interested in stories that have already been published. We intend to publish the book both as a trade-quality paperback and as an e-book.

 

What you get: 

If we select your story, we help put the text into print-worthy shape, so you get to work with a patient and expert editor. You get a penny per published word (times are hard!), another publication to add to your resumé, two free copies of the book, and the right to buy as many copies as you want (to resell or gift) at a 40% discount.

 

How to submit:

Make sure these things are at the top of the first page of your story:

 

• Your name and contact information

• The title of the story

• The word count

 

Make sure the text is as free of errors (typos, grammatical glitches, inconsistencies) as possible.

 

Send your story (.doc, .docx, .rtf, or PDF formats), or a link to it in Google Docs, to info@moosehousepress.com before April 30, 2022.

 

What then?

We hope to announce the stories we will be publishing by June 1, and to have the book in stores and available online around Labour Day.

 

Happy writing!