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Can you write a great short
story? Something that will captivate our busy subscribers?
If so, we’d love to hear from you. We are ALWAYS looking for entertaining
stories. We want stories that challenge, intrigue, provoke, stimulate and resonate.
Our subscribers enjoy reading fiction but rarely find time to read a novel or
go looking for interesting short stories. If the story that we send them is the
only bit of fiction they read all week, it has to be a great read - satisfying,
refreshing, just like a good cup of coffee.
What are we looking for?
We are expanding into different markets and now require a broader range
of fiction, including fiction for children.
Stories will be classified under 5 brands:
 Bubacino (suitable
for 7-12 years) – stories must be between 1,000-2,000
words. The stories for this group can cover a range of genres and topics (such
as humor, fantasy, adventure etc) but no heavily moralistic or didactic stories
will be accepted. The stories must primarily be entertaining. This does not limit
submissions to those that are purely humorous but all stories should appeal to
the child’s sense of fun, their need for adventure, and their desire to
make sense of the world around them.
Requirements for stories
- Must be strong on adventure
- Need to be about the reader’s world or a
world that they can believe in
- Readers have to be able to find ‘themselves’ in
the story
- The voice telling the story has to sound like a person close to their
age
- Have a storyline that is intrinsically interesting
- Reader needs to be able
to see what is going on, story can’t be too mysterious.
Hot Chocolate (13-17
years) – stories in this category must be between
1,000-2,500 words. Again the preference here is for stories that are entertaining
rather than instructional.
Requirements for stories
- This age group can observe things happening to others but still have to be
able to relate to the story
- Stories can be a bit more mysterious than for younger readers
- Deal with problems
that this age group face, either directly in everyday stories or indirectly through
different genres like science fiction, horror, fantasy etc.
- Must be pitched so
that the reader feels they are being treated as an equal.
Mocha (18-24
years) and Espresso (25+ years) - the word count is between 1,000-3,500
words. For this category we will consider ANY genre (except science fiction or
fantasy) as long as it is WELL WRITTEN and ENGAGING.
We want to publish something different each week - we don't want all stories
about relationships or children or all set in one particular country - a bit
of everything is the idea, just like if you choose novels to read (although some
people do choose the same genre each time, we are catering to the general market
rather than specific categories at this stage).
Short Black (18+
years) – Flash fiction - the word count is 200 words
or less. The aim of this category is to provide satisfying and entertaining snippets
that people can read while they wait for something (could be a plane or bus or
bank teller or child etc).
You can submit up to 3 stories in one category at any time.
To get a feel for the quality we want, REGISTER with us and we will email
you two espresso stories that have already been published. You can also fill
in your details on the sample story page to receive ‘Wheels’.
What’s in it for you?
*Feedback
At the bottom of each email story, readers are asked to vote on the story and
make comments. Subscribers can also discuss each week’s story through our
discussion board. Voting results and any feedback we receive will be forwarded
to you approximately three weeks after your story is sent to subscribers.
*Payment
As of 30 September 2003, we are paying a flat rate of US$30 per story published.
Payment is via Paypal. This flat rate replaces our commission based structure.
Once we get our subscription numbers up then we will go back to the commission
arrangement. For more details on how this will work, click on the rights and
conditions link on the registration page (click on the icon below to enter your
details and register).
*Membership
Published authors also receive a FREE 6 month Double Shot Membership to espresso FICTION™ valued
at US$149.70. If your story is selected you are also eligible for all the existing
member bonuses available at the time you story is accepted. If you subscribe
to espresso FICTION™ and
then have a story accepted for publication, we’ll give you a FREE 6 months
Double Shot subscription bonus on top of your existing subscription.
Is that it?
As well as publishing e-books of past stories, we are also planning to
publish and distribute stories offline and will use previously published online
stories for this.
When will you
hear from us?
After you submit a story you should receive an email confirmation. If you
do not then either our email is not getting through your spam filters or the
story was not lodged into our system.
Our normal turnaround time for evaluating stories is between 4-6 weeks. If
after submitting a story, you haven’t heard on the status of your story
within that time, let us know by sending an email to editor@espressofiction.com
What else do you have to
do?
If your story is chosen, we want to know all about YOU. Well, not everything
but you will need to fill in a questionnaire about yourself and your story so
our subscription members can read it online.
Got any suggestions on how
we can improve our site?
Let us know. We'd like to hear what you have to say. Please email us
at suggestions@espressofiction.com
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