The submission date for the Secret Author contest is rapidly approaching, so hopefully everyone is putting the finishing touches on their Secret Author stories and getting them over to Cia.  In the meantime, I have finalized the guidelines for this year's anthology - Leap of Faith.  There have been some changes, so make sure you read them over and let me know if there are any questions.  Let's see if we can beat last year's number of participants! 

2023 Anthology  - Due: October 1, 2023

2023 Theme is "Leap of Faith”

Feel free to interpret the theme in any way you want. The anthologies are not exclusive, but inclusive, so don't worry if you think your entry has only a tangential link to the theme. If you are inspired, then write a short story, poem, or play!

Please read these submission guidelines carefully.

You may address these themes in any style or genre you choose. Be creative! However, please note this is an anthology of short stories. By definition, a short story must stand alone and not require reading a prior story. It therefore cannot be a chapter in a serial.

Who may participate:

 Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate. However, you must be a member here at GA with author or poet status (which is free and can be purchased through the Activities tab: Store link).  Please RSVP to the 2023 Anthology – Leap of Faith event (can be found by accessing the activity tab, then events) to receive reminders and also to give the anthology team an idea of number of participants.

Submission Guidelines

Submission Date: October 1, 2023

Please Note: Submission date is for submission to the Anthology Proof Team.

Non-Poetry

• No Story Limit: Each story submitted must meet quality and editing guidelines.
• Each story posted as its own submission
• Minimum word count per story: 1,000
• Maximum word count per story: 25,000

Poetry

• Unlimited number of poems, up to 10,000 words total
• Posted as a single submission (a collection)

Submission Procedure *Please read carefully*

Once your story is complete and has gone through your beta and editing team, please complete the following steps:

• Contact @Valkyrie via PM. Include in the PM the following information: Title, original editor, genre, synopsis, word count, and excerpt in the body of the PM. Attach your story file as a Word document.  Please send as a .doc or .docx if possible.  We have had issues with .odt documents.  You will be paired with a proofreader from the Anthology Proof Team who will perform a final proof for the anthology and return the file to you. *Please Note: Prior editing required before submission.*
• Once you receive your proofed file, complete your edits and submit your story into the GA Stories Archive. For help, please read How do I upload my anthology entry into GA Stories?

o   Make sure the story stays unpublished (DO NOT click on either the publish or publish now buttons for the story itself or later when adding a chapter/chapters.)

• • Select “Fiction” as the category. It will be moved later by staff. 
  • A maximum of four chapters may be included, but submitting the story as one chapter is highly preferred.
  • Due to site limitations, if there are multiple chapters submitted, one chapter will post every 24 hours. This is not something we can change.
  • When submitting multiple chapters, DO NOT SET A DATE for the ‘story’ or the chapters.  Site staff will set the dates for you once they are moved to the anthology category. The ‘story’ and first chapter will publish on the anthology release date, and subsequently, additional chapters will post every 24 hours after that.  Not following this guideline results in a LOT of extra work for staff, and you will risk your story not being included in the anthology.
  • Mark your story status as COMPLETE. Only completed stories are allowed in the anthologies
  • Please note that once you submit a story it will NOT show up in your list of stories until the anthology has gone live.
  • Copy the URL for your story (not a chapter page) and paste it in the announcement thread in the Writer’s Circle so your submission may be checked to ensure it meets submission guidelines and is moved to the anthology category. 

***Please do a visual check of your story once it has been uploaded to ensure that it posted correctly. If it did not, contact @Cia or @Valkyrie.  

IMPORTANT: Please DO NOT do ANYTHING with your story once it has been submitted to the anthology. We lock edits to anthologies, but we can only lock so much and making ANY changes can cause issues with the system. If there is something with your story that absolutely needs fixed, added, etc, PLEASE contact @Cia or @Valkyrie. Thank you!

Extensions

Occasionally things happen that prevent an author from meeting the deadline. If you need an extension, contact Valkyrie before the deadline (not the day of or after), and something may be able to be worked out.  If you have NOT made arrangements prior to the deadline, your anthology story will not be included. You are welcome to post your story independently and include a story note stating it was originally meant to be part of the anthology.

Story Titles

Please do not use the anthology themes or your GA Username as a title. Be as original as you can. In case of duplicate titles within the anthology, we will request that titles be changed.

Unacceptable entries & Content Warnings

Entries that are obviously unedited (containing many errors) or that violate site guidelines will be either declined or changes may be requested as a condition of entry. For information on what is considered to be unacceptable, please see the Story Content Rules FAQ. 

Please include a Content Warning in the story notes if your story contains sensitive content, e.g.: abuse-physical, mental, sexual, extreme violence, taboo topics, etc.... 

Previously posted stories (whether at GA or elsewhere) are not eligible for inclusion into the GA anthologies.

Editing

All entries MUST be edited prior to being sent to the Anthology Proof Team. If you need an editor, please visit the Editors section of the Writer’s Club to request one.  Please make sure to follow the guidelines when requesting an editor.  The proof team is under no obligation to provide a proofread of a story until it has been edited. Proofreads should take no more than 72 hours once you have been paired with a proofreader. If you have not received your story back within 72 hours, please contact Valkyrie via PM. If you send your stories in within the last 48 hours of the deadline, you have 48 hours after receiving it back to upload it in order for it to be included in the Anthology.

Copyright

As with all content in GA Stories, the rights remain with the individual authors. Your story will post with a simple 2023 copyright notice, using your GA user display name. If you have another preference (for example, a different name, or a Creative Commons license, or specific copyright wording you'd like to use), please include that with your submission.

However, with this anthology, by submitting your story, you are giving GayAuthors.org first worldwide rights with 14 days exclusivity. What that means is you are giving GayAuthors.org permission to archive your story on its website, distribute it via RSS, kindle, iphone, ipad, eyeball… and you agree not to publish it anywhere else for two weeks.

If you later decide to post your story at another site, please mention at the beginning or end of the story that it was first published as part of the 2023 Gay Authors Leap of Faith Anthology and include a link back to GA if possible.

If you have any questions, please post them in the Anthology Forum.