Welcome to the new Young Adult Paranormal Anthology written exclusively by IndieBRAG authors!
This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with fellow YA authors to widen exposure, work together to launch a successful Indie book, and gain a support network that will help you as an Indie author reach new levels of readership through cross promotion. More than about just sales and profit, the objective of this project is to use the power of teamwork to increase the number of fans for your books like never before and improve your discoverability. Ten to fifteen award-winning authors will contribute and take our anthology—and therefore your reach—to a whole new level.
Submissions must be received by October 15, 2021.
Submissions must be received by October 15, 2021.
DISCLAIMER
By hitting 'SUBMIT' I understand that I give permission to Cheri Gillard to use and publish my short story in the IndieBRAG YA paranormal anthology (The Work) to manage the publication thereof, and distribute royalties, if any, according to the following: any profit gained by sales on Amazon will first be applied to expenses incurred because of publication, including but not limited to, graphic design, editing, formatting, and set up with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) with professional standard rates used to pay Cheri Gillard and/or contractors hired for services used exclusively for the publication of The Work, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). To promote and ensure transparency, an invoice of services paid for publishing costs will be available upon request to participating authors after publication of The Work. Once publishing expenses are paid in full, all remaining profits from KDP will be distributed evenly among authors of The Work. The divided royalties will be paid quarterly to authors who have provided viable contact information, including Venmo account profile name and/or physical address for checks mailed via USPS; royalties will be paid every three months for as long as each individual payout exceeds the amount of twenty-five dollars ($25).
By hitting 'SUBMIT' I understand that I give permission to Cheri Gillard to use and publish my short story in the IndieBRAG YA paranormal anthology (The Work) to manage the publication thereof, and distribute royalties, if any, according to the following: any profit gained by sales on Amazon will first be applied to expenses incurred because of publication, including but not limited to, graphic design, editing, formatting, and set up with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) with professional standard rates used to pay Cheri Gillard and/or contractors hired for services used exclusively for the publication of The Work, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). To promote and ensure transparency, an invoice of services paid for publishing costs will be available upon request to participating authors after publication of The Work. Once publishing expenses are paid in full, all remaining profits from KDP will be distributed evenly among authors of The Work. The divided royalties will be paid quarterly to authors who have provided viable contact information, including Venmo account profile name and/or physical address for checks mailed via USPS; royalties will be paid every three months for as long as each individual payout exceeds the amount of twenty-five dollars ($25).
Rules and Regulations
- Your submission must be a story you’ve written that is original, unpublished, and for which you own the copyright. If your story is chosen to be included in the anthology, you must provide permission for it to be included in the book.
- Your story can be whatever you want it to be, as long as it is a paranormal story for readers 12 to 18 year of age, which will be the common thread in all the stories.
- To qualify, eligible authors will have at least one book that is an IndieBRAG Medallion recipient.
- Short story submissions must be between 5,000 to 7,500 words and submitted as a .doc or .docx file.
- Eligible authors must have at least 1,000 total followers across the social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, combined.
- The feasibility and efficacy of your marketing plan will be factored into the evaluation for inclusion in the anthology.
- The anthology will be published through KDP. Because KDP requires any published book to be associated with only one account and will not distribute royalties to multiple authors, any royalties will be to the project’s senior editor, Cheri Gillard, and she will distribute the royalties as appropriate.
- Any initial income from the anthology will be used to pay for a graphic designer for a professional cover design, for editing, interior design, formatting, and all that is necessary for setup for publication. Once the initial launch costs are met, the royalties, if they meet a threshold of at least $25 per author, will be divided equally among the authors and paid quarterly.
- Tax information will be collected by authors interested in receiving royalties and IRS 1099 forms will be distributed and collected as needed.
- Once royalties from KDP are earned above the initial setup costs, the royalties will be divided evenly among the authors and paid into their Venmo accounts, or by paper check sent via USPS. Authors will be required to provide appropriate tax information/documents to file 1099 tax forms on any earned royalties. Or they may opt out of receiving any payments.
- If your story is chosen to advance to the second round, from which the final stories will be chosen, you may receive edits with suggestions to revise and improve your story.
- The ultimate number of stories included in the anthology will be determined by the number of submissions, quality of work to choose from, and how well the different submitted stories work together to create an exciting, varied, and dynamic collection of short stories.
- Authors will be notified January or February 2022, depending on the number of submissions received. Once the short stories are chosen, it will take approximately six months to compile, design, edit, and format the book. The final date of publication will be determined and announced at that time.
- The winning short stories will be chosen by the project’s senior editor, Cheri Gillard, based on the quality of writing, story structure, strength of characters, originality, and professional presentation of the manuscript.
- The stories will be ordered in a way to make the anthology flow, to provide a positive reading experience, and to build a structure that entertains while propelling the reader from one story to the next and on to the very end of the book.
- The anthology will be published as a Kindle ebook, available for purchase on Amazon.
- Make your manuscript as polished as possible. Use only one space between sentences, no tab key indents or extraneous formatting, and no underline—use Word Styles for italics where appropriate. Prepare your document like you would to upload for an ebook for Kindle or Smashwords. No block paragraphs, extra spaces between sentences, tab key indentations, and no non-standard fonts or symbols allowed. No headers, footers, or page numbers.
- Be sure to use effective story telling techniques, writing a story with a compelling beginning, middle, and satisfying ending; use irresistible plot points to keep the story moving with good momentum; integrate conflict to build tension; develop interesting, empathetic three-dimensional characters; avoid clichés and over-used story lines. Diversity, inclusivity, and fresh protagonists will be a plus as we’re evaluating manuscripts. The paranormal elements can include the magical, supernatural, sci-fi, alien, undead, fairy tale, mythical—anything that includes something outside the realm of the ordinary human and science-based reality. You can use magical realism, where unexplainable things occur in the world as we know it, or you can build an entirely new world. Let your imagination take off. Have fun!
- There is no entry fee.
FAQs
Question: Does my winning IndieBRAG Medallion book, which qualifies me to enter my short story for the anthology, have to be in the Young Adult Paranormal genre?
Answer: No, it doesn’t have to be, but the submitted short story must include the elements of a YA paranormal story, and the author must demonstrate competent and creative use of those elements. Any IndieBRAG winning author may submit a story for consideration.
Question: What will the title be for the anthology? Can I give input for the title, or have the right to reject any proposed title? Will winning authors have a say in the cover design?
Answer: The title is yet to be determined. Once the stories are chosen, an appropriate, creative, and compelling title will be chosen after consultation with a marketing professional. The same is true for the cover design: a professional graphic designer will be employed to create a striking cover. The final decisions for these details will be determined by the senior editor.
Question: Who will be the senior editor for this project?
Answer: Cheri Gillard is the senior editor for this project, and she will use her decades of experience as an editor, writer, and publisher to produce a professional, quality book. She will involve winning writers in any revision process, sending edits and suggested changes to writers to achieve the highest possible quality of writing. She will hire, as needed, professionals to subcontract for cover design and editorial services.
Question: What if my short story’s word count isn’t exactly between 5,000 & 7,500 words?
Answer: If your short story is only a little over or under the required word count, it will not be eliminated from consideration. If it is more than 100 words off, it will probably be rejected, depending on the strength of the writing. To be safe, edit it down to the required number of words. Remember that usually there are extra words that can be cut. "Kill your darlings," as they say. Eliminate extraneous adverbs and adjectives and use stronger nouns and verbs.
Answer: No, it doesn’t have to be, but the submitted short story must include the elements of a YA paranormal story, and the author must demonstrate competent and creative use of those elements. Any IndieBRAG winning author may submit a story for consideration.
Question: What will the title be for the anthology? Can I give input for the title, or have the right to reject any proposed title? Will winning authors have a say in the cover design?
Answer: The title is yet to be determined. Once the stories are chosen, an appropriate, creative, and compelling title will be chosen after consultation with a marketing professional. The same is true for the cover design: a professional graphic designer will be employed to create a striking cover. The final decisions for these details will be determined by the senior editor.
Question: Who will be the senior editor for this project?
Answer: Cheri Gillard is the senior editor for this project, and she will use her decades of experience as an editor, writer, and publisher to produce a professional, quality book. She will involve winning writers in any revision process, sending edits and suggested changes to writers to achieve the highest possible quality of writing. She will hire, as needed, professionals to subcontract for cover design and editorial services.
Question: What if my short story’s word count isn’t exactly between 5,000 & 7,500 words?
Answer: If your short story is only a little over or under the required word count, it will not be eliminated from consideration. If it is more than 100 words off, it will probably be rejected, depending on the strength of the writing. To be safe, edit it down to the required number of words. Remember that usually there are extra words that can be cut. "Kill your darlings," as they say. Eliminate extraneous adverbs and adjectives and use stronger nouns and verbs.
