WILL BE CLOSED TO SUBMISSIONS AS OF 11:59 PST 5/24/20 – Thank you to everyone who submitted stories!!
The COVID-19 quarantine has us all shut up in our homes. Businesses have ground to a halt, the economy is slowed to a snail’s pace, and nobody is entirely certain how long it is going to last.
In the middle of all of this, black market businesses have begun to operate: underground hair salons, photography studios, businesses once completely legitimate and now illegal simply for operating.
If I’d written this call a year ago, it would stop there–but that’s no longer speculative fiction. That’s happening. So instead, Impulsive Walrus is asking for stories about the long haul. What does our world look like if the quarantine just…stays? We’re looking for near-future science fiction stories exploring the comedy, horror, and human drama of a life spent six feet away from each other, and a world where our interaction is done digitally, lest we be ravaged by disease.
Impulsive Walrus Books will be paying a semi-pro rate of two cents per word. Reading period will begin on May 5, 2020, and will end when the anthology has hit its goal of 80,000 words. Looking for stories of between 2,000 and 8,000 words. Please submit by e-mailing a .doc or .rtf file to frog@jonestales.com with the subject line GOING VIRAL SUBMISSION.
Do you take duel submissions? I just submitted a story that fits here perfectly to Writer’s of the Future on March 31.
We will take dual/simultaneous submissions as long as you still have non-exclusive publication rights. Thanks!
Hello. By “reading period starts May 5th” do you mean we should wait untill then to submit or that is when you will start assessing submissions?
May 5th is when we started the reading period. You are still welcome to submit. We’ll post when we close. Thanks!
Hi, is May 5th the last day to submit or the open for submission date? Can you please clarify? Thanks.
May 5 is the start of the reading period. You can still submit. We’ll post when we close. Thanks!
I don’t have one yet, but once I have a submission ready how do I submit it?
Hi! The email to submit stories is in the submission call. They should be sent to Frog at that email. Thanks!
Dear Folks.
I tried to send you a submission and was told I’d gotten your email address wrong. I sent it to impulsivewalrusbooks.com , Could you tell me (keeping it clean) how I should address my submission?
Thanks for your reply
Charles Garofalo
The email to send submissions is in the submission call. They should be sent to Frog at that email. Thanks!
Does the story require a mention of COVID-19, or can the quarantine established in the story come from something else?
The idea is to explore the idea of the quarantine, not necessarily to talk about COVID. We’re more interested in the social ramifications of being in quarantine than what’s causing the situation. Thanks for checking!
Hi!
I’m working on a story for your next anthology! Do you think you will still be accepting stories next week?
Thanks
Yes, we are! We’ll post when we stop accepting submissions. Thanks for checking!
Where do I send the manuscript??
The email for submissions is in the submission call. They should be sent to Frog at that email. Thanks!
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to send us your stories! We will be officially closing to submissions for this anthology as of 11:59 PM tonight PST (5/24/2020).
Hi, I submitted on the 14th, just to clarify, does that mean my submission will still be read? I was just curious, because above it says it will end when you’ve already hit 80k.
Hope you’re all well, thank you
Just saw about the closure. Is there any chance of extending this deadline a little as I have something that would be perfect, but need to do some editorial tweaks today…?
Sarah – All stories submitted prior to the closure have been read already. I am going to be sending out responses today as to who was accepted and who was not. If you submitted on the 14th, then your story has already been read.
Tom – Go ahead and send something. I’ve got 70,000 words worth of material that I will be sending out acceptances for today. If what you send is absolutely stellar, I’ll think about including it.
Thanks. I’ll get it to you pronto!
Hate to be a bother, but I haven’t gotten a response. Are you still sending out responses today? Thank you
So, I’ve sent out responses to all the e-mails I have save the people who trickled in at the last minute. If you submitted, then something should have come back to you by now. If not, then please e-mail me so I can figure out what happened and we can go from there.
Ok, I sent you an inquiry email. My submission was emailed to you on the 14th. Thanks
I just saw this call. Can I send a story now? Please!
I’m so sorry! We’re already closed for submissions to this one.