Quarter Castle Publishing is making a Call for Submissions for short stories laced with romance for its first issue of The Tantalizing Tattler.
The Tantalizing Tattler is a new publication meant to revive the clean-telling of stories laced with romance. It was inspired by magazines of the past, ones girls as young as 14 sneaked away from their mother’s nightstand and hid in closets to read. While these stories were about adults in adult situations, they were void of descriptions of bedroom activities and harsh language. At their essence, they told a good story. That’s what The Tantalizing Tattler aims to do.
The stories contained with in The Tantalizing Tattler aims to capture the innocence of love, the hard truths about it, too. They will be about love found and sometimes about love lost. Each one will contain a ray of hope for what might be.
Deadline
There’s no set deadline for submissions. It will be ongoing as stories are collected for the current and future issues.
Who can submit?
The call for submissions is open to everyone in North America. The only requirement is the ability to accept payment either through eTransfer or PayPal. First-time authors and seasoned veterans are welcome to submit their short stories.
Language
Only entries in English are accepted.
What is the length?
Short stories must be between 1,000 and 3,500 words.
Response Time
4 to 6 weeks
Compensation
$25.00 plus one-year subscription to the online version of The Tantalizing Tattler.
Audience Age
Age 14 and up.
A Word About Theme and Genre
Stories must contain an element of love, either finding it or losing it. However, readers must be left with a feeling of hope.
We are accepting stories of all genres in any time frame. Stories must be character driven. In other words, make us fall in love (or in hate) with them.
The story can NOT contain explicit sex or graphic violence. Sex can be suggested, but not detailed. These stories aren’t about that; it’s about the emotions that drive the characters.
Swearing/Blasphemy/Cursing: Mild cursing is permitted, but crude language and the F-bomb are not.
Unacceptable: Genres and subjects that will NOT be accepted: pornography, erotica, bondage, violence against or sex with minors, graphic violence or graphic sex scenes, bestiality and hateful material.
Quarter Castle Publishing reserves the right to refuse any material that does not meet its vision for publishing.
Submission Guidelines
Please read and follow before submitting.
Short stories should be edited and polished by the author to ensure they present their best work.
Stories must be original and written by the submitter. Previously published stories are accepted.
Submissions are accepted by email (quartercastle@bellaliant.net: Subject: The Tantalizing Tattler) and through postal mail to
Quarter Castle Publishing, 1787 Highway 2, Milford, Nova Scotia B0N 1Y0
Formatting Submissions
Please, do NOT heavily format the document. Plain and simple is best. Do NOT include headers, footers or page numbers. They are unnecessary. Do NOT use page breaks. Use one font type and one font size, preferably something simple, such as Times New Roman or Calibri.
Attached File Formats: MS Word works best, but others are acceptable. If an issue arises, a request will be made to submit the story in the body of an email message.
- Spacing between sentences: Single
- Spaces between paragraphs: None
- Paragraph Indents: 0.5
Postal Mail
- Font: 12 point, Times New Roman
- Spacing between lines: 1.5 spacing
- Spacing between sentences: Single
- Spaces between paragraphs: None
- Paragraph Indents: 0.5
- Margins: One inch on all sides
- Number the pages
- Printed on one side only
- Paper Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
- Paper Colour: White
- Include the author’s name in the header or footer of each page
- Do not send the only copy of your story.
Also Include
Please include a cover letter to let us know who you are, to introduce your story and to state the word count. If submitting by email, include this in the message.
A title page is NOT necessary.
Entries will not be returned. Please include a self-addressed stamped envelope, a post card or an email address for a response.
Authors whose stories are accepted must agree to the following:
Send accepted submissions electronically through email upon request if not already submitted.
Provide the author name in which they’d like to use with their short story in the collection. Pen names are acceptable. Ensure the name is spelt exactly as it is to appear with the story.
Provide a byline (limit 30 words) to be included with the published story. Authors are encouraged to include a link to their blog, website or author Facebook page.
Rights and Copyright
By submitting to Quarter Castle Publishing’s call for submissions for The Tantalizing Tattler, the author agrees to give consent for their story to be edited.
The author grants Quarter Castle Publishing the non-exclusive right to publish the short story in print and electronically.
Quarter Castle Publishing is not responsible for lost entries.
Quarter Castle Publishing 