A proposal for an science fiction anthology Where the Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories (working title) is out. All original short speculative fiction is welcome for submission. The anthology editors are Lucas K. Law & Derwin Mak.
This speculative fiction anthology contains original stories to celebrate Asian diversity, featuring an Asian main character, Asian setting and/or some amount of Asian elements, by authors with an Asian heritage. Asian countries as those defined by United Nations in Wikipedia. Authors do not need to reside in Asia to participate in this anthology.
 |
| (Image via Shutterstock) |
It welcomes translated story from other languages to English (no English reprints, please). Stories to celebrate character diversity (ethnic, age, walks of life/socio-economics, sexuality, etc.). We leave the question as to what determine Asian theme open so not to restrict creativity. No stereotypes or clichéd portrayal of cultures or stories based purely on showing the strangeness or exoticism of a culture. No erotica. Cross-genre is encouraged. This anthology is geared towards Young Adult and Adult.
Project Objectives:
• A portion of Laksa Media’s net revenue from this anthology will go directly to support Kids Help Phone.
• Laksa Media will donate CAN$500 upon the publication of this anthology to Kids Help Phone.
Submission Guidelines:
Length: <7,000 words
File Format: .doc, .docx, or .rtf only
Use Submittable to submit your story for this anthology (DO NOT USE the Laksa Media online submission form). Submittable opens on December 1, 2015.
No reprints: No simultaneous submissions: No multiple submissions.
The anthology will have a balance between science fiction and fantasy, with at least 50% science fiction.
However, anthology editors tend to receive more fantasy than science fiction submissions. Therefore, it encourages more science fiction stories of all varieties (space opera, time-travel thrillers, interesting new approaches to classic themes, near-future technology, techno-thrillers, science mystery, Asian-punk) because, for an ethno-cultural based anthology, they would help to mitigate the Orientalism that influences Western perceptions of cultures east of Constantinople.
Media is already filled with mystical gurus, genies, and kung-fu monks. We are not saying our anthology has no room for fantasy-based stories, but we are saying that we need to expand the perception and show that Asians do know science and engineering, that they’re not just mystics with magical powers.
The editors are happy to accept fantasy-related fiction, but we are prioritizing the reading of the SF submissions.
We encourage submissions to feature the following:
• Speculative fiction from or about diverse perspectives and traditionally under-represented groups, settings, and cultures, written from a non-exoticizing and well-researched position. Any political issues should be addressed in complex and nuanced ways, resisting the temptation to oversimplify or stereotyping the situations.Reading Period (open for submission): December 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016
Advance Payment to Contributors: Contributors will be paid CAN 6 cents per word. The payment is an advance against royalties. A contributor’s copy is included. Payment will be on acceptance of final edited story.
Rights:
First World Rights for anthology in the English-language. Exclusive rights prior to publication and for a period of one year after the publication and non-exclusive rights for the anthology thereafter where the contributors are free to resell. Exception to the exclusive rights is when the story is accepted for a “best of the year” anthology.
All rights granted will revert to the Author if Laksa Media fails to publish the Work within 24 months of the date of the signed Agreement (between anthologists/editors and authors).
Format: Print, Digital & Audio
ISBNs:
Paperback: 978-0-9939696-5-2
ePub: 978-0-9939696-6-9
PDF: 978-0-9939696-7-6
Kindle: 978-0-9939696-8-3
Tentative Release Date: Fall 2017 (tentative)
Editors:
Lucas K. Law:
Lucas K. Law is a Malaysian-born freelance editor, published author, engineering consultant and business coach who divides his time and heart between Calgary and Qualicum Beach. He is currently co-editing Strangers Among Us and The Sum of Us anthologies with Susan Forest. He had been a jury member for a number of fiction competitions including Nebula, RITA and Golden Heart awards.
Memberships: SFWA, Codex Writer’s Group, Sisters-in-Crime, Crime Writers of Canada
Derwin Mak:
Derwin Mak writes science fiction and fantasy stories with quirky characters. In addition to writing fiction, Derwin also wrote articles about anime and East Asian pop culture for Parsecmagazine and Ricepaper magazine. His short story, Transubstantiation, won the 2006 Aurora Award for Best Short-Form Work in English. His anthology, The Dragon and the Stars, co-edited with Eric Choi, won the 2011 Aurora Award for Best Related Work in English. He has two published novels, The Moon under Her Feet, and The Shrine of the Siren Stone. His short stories have appeared in anthologies such as Tesseracts, Tales From the Wonder Zone, Spaces Inc. and Shanghai Steam.
Kids Help Phone is a Canadian and world leader known for their expertise and continuous innovation as Canada’s only free and anonymous 24/7 counselling and information service for young people between the ages of 5 and 20 in both English and French. Since 1989, their trained, professional counsellors have been listening to kids, often when no one else can or will. Their service supports young people as they build the skills and abilities they’ll need to improve their emotional health and well-being. In addition to an array of counselling options, they offer young people a wide range of online resources and they work tirelessly to share young people’s perspectives on a societal level – locally, nationally, and globally.
They do not receive any government funding. All support comes from donations.
2 comments
We’re currently receiving more fantasy than science fiction submissions, so we encourage writers to submit more science fiction. A poor story of either genre will not be accepted, but a strong science fiction story has a better chance of being accepted than a strong fantasy story because we want to have a 50/50 balance between science fiction and fantasy.
Hi, may I ask, are you looking for hard sci-fi, pseudo sci-fi or speculative sci-fi? Do you accept stories written aimed at young adults?