Hey Folks,

Shawna asked me to post about this on my blog.  Feel free to link to and point interested parties to this post for all the essential details.

Realms of Fantasy plans on running a Halloween issue for our December 2009 issue (meaning it will hit the stands in October 2009).  The story doesn't have to be about Halloween.  It can deal with ghosts, vampires, witches, things that go bump in the night ...you get the idea.  If you have something you think is a good fit for the issue, please send it.  Shawna and I would love to see what you've come up with.  But please note the Halloween issue will be released in December of 2009.  There's no need to rush to the mailbox to get your submission to us in time.  As with any other story being considered for any issue of ROF, we're interested in nothing but your best work.  So unless you have a great story that just happens to be ready for submission, please take your time with your potential masterwork.       

We'll need 7 stories for the issue, so you can expect competition to be fierce.  Shawna and I need to get the lucky winners over to the publishers by June 2009.  Right now, we can't give you an exact date as to when is the latest you can send us your story for consideration.  Why?  Simply put, Shawna and I meet every 4-6 weeks to do a slush transfer.  I give her what's left from the last batch, and she leaves me with the new batch, to rummage through for literary gems.  With this kind of system, it's impossible to predict exactly when we'll be meeting during the course of 2009.  At this point, a good rule of thumb is that you don't want to mail your stories to us any later than March 2009.  Please note this is not an official deadline.  This is an informed guess as to when is the absolute latest you can send us your Halloween yarn without risk of missing the chance for it to be given due consideration.  As things get closer, this unofficial deadline may change (and at some point will probably become official!), but right now you have plenty of time.  Either way, I promise to post more informed information concerning the deadline once we hit 2009.

Please send your stories to the usual mailing address.  Please label your mailing envelope "HALLOWEEN SUBMISSION" somewhere I can't miss.  Authors normally passed along directly to Shawna will be given the usual consideration.  If you're submitting as part of the general slush, please understand that at this point I'm choosing to read all non-Halloween subs first.  There are a lot of issues of ROF coming out before December 2009, and right now these issues and their potential stories are of a more immediate concern.  When the deadline draws closer, I'll adjust this policy accordingly.  

I've never had to deal with a call for themed submissions before, so I'm uncertain how much additional work this means for me/us.  It's my hope our overall response times will remain relatively unchanged.  I certainly reserve the right to change my policies regarding how I'll handle the slush, and while I'm not too worried about these additional submissions leading to editorial chaos, I'll still ask that everyone remain patient with me in the early going.

All right.  I think that covers everything.  If anyone has any questions I haven't answered, please feel free to ask me under the comments thread (and please check the comments thread before asking a question I may have already answered!) 

Now get to writing!