Eclipse Two

I am currently reading for Eclipse Two, the second volume in the original science fiction and fantasy anthology series that I am editing for San Francisco-based publisher Night Shade Books.

Eclipse is a series of anthologies in the vein of Orbit, Universe and New Dimensions, updated for the 21st century. It’s new and it’s proudly genre. It has no theme, and there’s no such thing as an ‘type’ of story. Instead writers are encouraged to take any and all of the colors of the genre palette – be they steampunk, cyberpunk, new space opera, old space opera, fairy tale, ghost story, hard SF, or whatever – and use them as they will to create something unique and wonderful. That said, I am particularly looking for strong science fiction stories for Volume Two.

Each volume of Eclipse features more than a dozen new stories by some of the best and brightest writers working in the field today. For example, Eclipse 1, which was published in October 2007, features Peter S. Beagle, Jack Dann & Paul Brandon, Terry Dowling, Andy Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Eileen Gunn, Gwyneth Jones, Ellen Klages, Margo Lanagan, Maureen F. McHugh, Garth Nix, Lucius Shepard, Bruce Sterling, and Ysabeau S. Wilce.

What I’m looking for

I am looking for stories that are between 2,500 words and 10,000 words in length (with a preference for stories around 7,500 words) and that are both previously unpublished and clearly part of the science fiction or fantasy genres.

Open reading period

I am accepting story submissions between Friday 1 February 2008 and Friday 29 February 2008. I will be reading stories during March, with an intention of responding to all submissions by the end of March.

How do you submit

Given the lateness of this announcement, I will be accepting submissions via email. Please email your submission in Rich Text Format (.rtf) to jstrahan(at)iinet(dot)net(dot)au.

What about Eclipse Three?

Honestly, I’m not sure. At the moment I’m reading for Eclipse Two. If I receive too many stories that I’d like to accept then I will contact the author about holding them over for Eclipse Three. If I don’t, then I’ll most likely have a similar open submission period in early 2009.

22 thoughts on “Eclipse Two”

  1. Chance, Thanks for asking for the clarification. I should have thought to mention this, but didn’t. No multiple submissions. Any multiple submissions will be returned. No simultaneous submissions, either. And, as mentioned, no reprints of any kind. All submissions must be previously unpublished. Hope that clarifies. – Jonathan

  2. Just tried to email at above address with a query and it bounced back. Do you have another email?

  3. Ok. jstrahan(at)iinet(dot)net(dot)au should really work. It’s my main current address and I’m getting email there all the time. If you have a problem, though, you could try jonathan(dot)strahan(at)gmail(dot)com.

  4. Jonathan,

    Maybe the problem Pam had with the email is that in your instructions you say:
    jstrahan(at)iinet(dot)au
    But in the reply you say:
    jstrahan(at)iinet(dot)net(dot)au

    There’s an extra (dot)net in the second example. Is that the correct one?

  5. Thank you for the opening reading period, whether or not I have something to submit, I deeply appreciate your reading a mountain of slush.

  6. It’s been a revelation. The submission period opened on Friday, and I’ve received over 70 submissions already. At this rate I expect to see somewhere around 400 submissions, which most likely will be aimed at two slots in the final book. I’m trying to remain open and optimistic about it, though. There *could* be gold in there. Of course, whether I’d EVER do this again…

  7. When you say that the 400 submissions will be aimed at two slots in the book, do you mean that most of the book’s stories will be solicited from well-known authors, and that you only have space to publish two stories from slush?

  8. It’s not quite that simple. I’m reading for Eclipse Two and Eclipse Three. My guess is I’ll end up running between 25 and 30 stories in those two books. At the moment I have directly solicited a bunch of stories for E2. I need to decide about those *first*, and then see where I can fit stories that come in through the open submission period. But there isn’t actually a specific number. If I read a great story, I’ll buy it. I could end up with two or five or ten or no stories being picked up for the final book. It just depends on what I receive.

  9. While there were some slipstreamy stories in Eclipse One, I’m really pushing this second volume towards the middle of the genre generally, and towards science fiction especially. Given that, I’m going to be pretty much passing on anything slipstreamy this time out.

  10. Hello, I imagine you’re swamped by mss, but I thought I’d ask about the status of “Green in our Souls,” which I e-mailed you on Febuary 1.

    Thank you.

    John Rosenman

  11. Hmm, it must have gone into cyberspace. Since you are closed, I assume I should submit it elsewhere?

    Thanks for responding.

  12. Hi Jonathan

    Apologies for bothering you with a query, but I fear my submission might have suffered the same fate as John B. Rosenman’s (above).

    I emailed “Star in a Glass” to your submission address on 17 Feb. Did you receive it?

    Thanks

    Vaughan

  13. Hi Vaughan

    It appears my email to you, which I send Feb 29, has gone astray. I’m resending it to you privately. Apologies for the mix-up.

    Best
    Jonathan

  14. Jonathan:

    Above you said that you planned to make decisions on Eclipse 2 by the end of March. Will you notify the authors, or should we assume that a nonresponse is an indication that we are free to submit elsewhere? That is to say, that your answer is “no.”

    Since it’s May, you’re long since closed, but I was wondering if I should continue waiting for a reply or just pack up my tents and fade away into the night.

  15. Let me check my records and I’ll email you privately. Essentially, I have two submissions I’ve not responded to, neither of which is yours. If anyone else reads this, everyone should have heard from me by now.

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