Love Damned Love

Here is a little project that Wayne Simmons and I are working on. What does this have to do with zombies, you ask? Depends on what you want to write and submit. I'm sure some of you sickos can come up with something zombie-related and erotic...eeek. Here are the submission guidelines:

So.. What’s this all about then?

Think sordid tales of fucked up love and dark twisted obsession and you’re dancing to a similar tune to that of ‘Love Damned love’ , a small collection of short stories, poetry and art hoping to make you feel repulsed, horrified and … perhaps secretly, and guiltily, aroused. ‘Love Damned Love’ hopes to bring together 3 short stories and 3 short poems, interwoven with dark erotic artwork, for a limited release through Indie Gods Publishing. The collection shall be co-edited and compiled by Kriscinda from Zombie-A-GoGo and my good self..

What are we looking from YOU?

We want material. We would like submissions of short stories (1500 - 5000 words in length) and poetry/ verse (500 words max). We’ll happily read anything from anyone; both new, unpublished authors and established, reputable authors are most welcome to submit material for consideration.

We also would like to work with artists who would like the challenge of illustrating sporadic poems and stories. We’ll need cover art, which may or may not be in colour. Illustrations throughout the collection will be in black and white.

What kind of thing are we looking for?

Well, it MUST have elements of horror and obsessive love, pretty much in equal measure. We’re keen on dark erotica but will probably pass on pornography. That means, steer clear of cheesy sex scenes involving ‘throbbing manhoods’ and ‘heaving bosoms.’ Instead, feel free to focus on dark and twisted sex which might both terrify and arouse a reader all at once.

Most importantly, we want material that is both character and story driven. Your characters, of course, can be made up of any variety of man, woman, creature or beast… or perhaps a sordid combination of all the aforementioned!

We want to push the boundaries of decency with this collection, in order to truly shock and horrify our readers. Therefore, we are not going to put any limits on violence, gore, sexual/ erotica content or language.

Regarding artwork, we would like examples of work which might prove your suitability in terms of working with us.

What will we pay?

This is a limited run initially (100 - 150 copies) so it’s unlikely that contributors or editors will gain financially. We hope to cover costs of printing, publishing, and distribution, pouring every spare cent into making the collection as good as we possibly can. However, every contributor will receive a free copy of the collection mailed to them prior to release.

What about copyright?

Contributors will retain the full copyright to their work. We do ask that we have exclusive publishing rights to your work for the first year of ‘Love Damned Love’s release.

What about published work?

We would prefer original material that has not been published elsewhere. However, if you have something that you think fits the bill that might be published elsewhere, feel free to send it our way advising as to where it was previously published.

Will I get feedback if my work is not deemed suitable?

We will endeavour to provide as much feedback as possible, depending on the volume of material sent our way. We believe in respect and so value each and every piece of work submitted for our consideration. If, for whatever reason, your work is not published we will try at the very least to e-mail you details of other places you might be able to try to get it published. Remember, we’re looking for a very specific genre of material for ‘Love Damned Love.’ We could reject something which we might think is of a very high quality, just because it does not fit our criteria as well as other submissions…


Any other questions?

E-mail us at lovedamnedlove@hotmail.co.uk

Ready to submit something?

Send it on over to us at lovedamnedlove@hotmail.co.uk

Closing date is 31st March 2006 or before if we get enough quality material.

Include a brief bio and description of what your work means to you.

I will acknowledge by e-mail every submission received.