This call is now closed.
Save the World
Open for Submissions: July 25th – October 31st, 2021
Story Length: 2.5-15K
Genre: Cli-Fi
Characters: All welcomed. Diversity (race, sexuality, gender, ability) welcomed
Payment: One-time flat fee. New stories: $50 for 2.5-5k words, $75 for 5-10K words; $100 for 10-15K; Reprints accepted at half the new story rate
Include: Word file (.doc or .docx, see below), short submission letter with story title, word count, problem addressed in the story, solution/adaptation, and if this is a reprint.
Submit to: Editor J. Scott Coatsworth, scott@otherworldsink.com
Other Submission Notes: One story per author, please, no simultaneous submissions.
Over the last several years, it’s become more apparent that we can’t avoid climate change any longer. We may be able to mitigate its worst effects, and/or adapt to live with it.
We need some hope, some way to live with the damage, curb the worst of it, and find a new balance with Mother Earth.
For the sequel to “Fix the World,” we’re focusing exclusively on climate change futures. Stories should be science fiction/climate fiction (cli-fi) with a hopeful tone. Stories can focus on a proposed solution to part or all of climate change, or on adaptations that will allow us to live with it.
Stories do not need to be hard sci fi, but the chosen solution/adaptation should be plausible, given what we know about science and the Earth’s climate today. That said, we have accepted a few whimsical stories that tickled our fancy in the past.
Diversity (race, gender, orientation, ability, mental spectrum etc) encouraged.
Examples:
- An inventor finds a low-cost, easily replicable way to scrub carbon out of the atmosphere, creating a whole new market for carbon-based 3-d printing to use all that extra carbon.
- An undersea explorer discovers an alien craft that holds technology to power machines with simple water.
- A social scientist figures out how to bring back truth to center stage, supplanting the avalanche of lies we now live with and creating the stage for a new kind of society capeable of tackling climate change in a cohesive way.
What We Don’t Want
We are not looking for magical solutions or unrealistic answers. We are not looking for stories that don’t feature a strong sci fi element. We are not looking for stories with dark endings, up to and including the end of the Earth and/or humankind. We are not looking for stories that provide solutions or adaptations to issues other than climate change and its related complications.
Format/Submissions:
Please use industry standard formatting: Times New Roman, double spaced, first line of each paragraph indented (please use Word’s formatting tool for this, not spaces or tabs). Please use italics, not underlines.
Reversion of Rights:
The anthology will be in print for 3 years. After that, rights will automatically revert to the authors.