GUIDELINES

NO MORE HEROES [guidelines updated Wednesday 24th March 2010]

The No More Heroes Anthology is based on a shared universe. We'd like YOU to write stories about the aftermath of The Cataclysm, using the created characters however you see fit. The Prologue to The Cataclysm and character rosters are listed below. We've got a mix of goofy and serious characters, to allow you to chance to write anything from Mystery Men/The Specials style humour (for instance) to darker, grittier plots. Everything (prologue/characters/contact info and guidelines) is available in this fancy-pants PDF!

What we're after:

*Stories must be set after The Cataclysm, although they can reference events before (eg via flashbacks or exposition). Please bear in mind that no-one knows exactly what caused The Cataclysm as all forms of life on Australia were obliterated by it!

*Stories must take place on Earth, in our reality (but once again, other planets/realms/dimensions can be referenced).

*Stories do not all have to revolve around the pre-determined characters, but at least one of them should feature in the piece somewhere (in fact, we'd quite like to see how normal people handle events after The Cataclysm - this is their world, too).

*And following on from that point: you can use as many pre-determined characters as you like, from 1 to (if you feel like going mental) all 60.

Please keep an eye on this site for additional info and updates!

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT

Standard manuscript format [check HERE if you’re unsure] paying particular attention to these changes/points:

Rich Text Format only
Courier font - size 12
Indent paragraphs with one press of the Tab button
Double space the entire manuscript
Use italics - do not underline
Place your contact information on the first page, in the upper left corner - name, address, phone number, and email
In the upper right corner please put the approx word count
No page numbers
No other headers or footers, please
Place your name/pen name under the title

Send submissions to nomoreheroesantho@gmail.com with ‘Submission – Story Title’ in the subject heading.

Please attach the file as a RTF document - do not paste it into the body of the email.

We will send you a ‘story received’ email. If you do not get one of these after 4 days, please query.

Please also mention any of your previous work and a brief explanation of who you are.
Multiple submissions allowed, please wait until you hear back from us about a previous submission before sending something else.
You do not have to live in the US to submit.

WORD COUNT

A very lenient 3000 to 9000 words!

DEADLINE

Anthology opened to subs on Monday 8th Match 2010.

Anthology will close to subs on Tuesday 15th June 2010.

PAYMENT

1 cent (United States) per word, plus a contributor copy of the anthology.

This anthology is being edited by myself and Bill Tucker.

Feel free to contact us via this site, the Library of the Living Dead forum [my username is reverendaustin, Bill’s is grinder], or nomoreheroesanthology@gmail.com.

We'd like you to bear in mind that, as far as all the villains are concerned, there are no more heroes left (see what we did there?). Therefore, there's no-one left to stop them doing whatever they want. Plus, the very thing most of them have dedicated their lives to has finally happened, although it's (technically) not a victory any of them earned themselves. How do you think this would affect them? Would it affect them...?

How are the remaining heroes going to handle the prospect of defending the rest of the world when they're outnumbered? How will they show themselves to the remaining villains?

And what of the civilians and governments of the world? How do they handle the fact that, as far as they're also aware, there are no more heroes?

These are all points for you to consider, so have at it!

Bill and I look forward to reading your subs! Good luck!

Wayne Goodchild

nb We'll update this site as the submission, then editing, process goes on, so keep 'em peeled! The publication date for the antho is TBC.

All work on here and in the PDF is copyright W. Goodchild & B. Tucker 2010 - authors are free to use the material provided it's in a submission for the anthology. Cheers and thanks!