Red Light District Guidelines

Guidelines for submissions for "The Red Light District" (final title TBD) edited by Tracy West (Cat) and Chesya Burke, published by Bloodletting Press.

What are you looking for?
Anything. The only thing you HAVE to have is one character that is a prostitute, lady of the night, call girl, or whatever you want to call it, someone who sells himself or herself for money. That's the ONLY thing that HAS to be in the story. If you want to throw a cat in the story, that's a point or two more, but not required. (Yeah, I know, narcissistic, but I get to do those kinds of things.) The story can be set in the past, present or future. The prostitute doesn't even have to be the main character, but needs to be one of the top characters.

So if I write a story about a bunch of hookers that get killed will that be OK?
Chances are…that's pretty normal and is not OK. We're not looking for normal. And besides, that's been done. There are many layers that can portray what goes on in the seamy end of the world. We're looking for those layers. That doesn't mean the story has to be about the world of prostitution. If every story is about that, it's gonna make a boring book. We want ORIGINAL stories, something that hasn't seen the light of day anywhere else.

Can I make it gross and gory?
You can, but be careful of too much gross and gore. We're looking more for what's in the character's heads and hearts rather than the characters actual head and heart. Also, we don't want any erotica or pornography.

Word length? And how do I submit?
2,000-5,000. Any more or less and we will reject it without reading it. You can send your stories as an attachment to chesya@comcast.net or to catwest1@charter.net, please don't send it to BOTH. Do not send your stories IN the body e-mail. Do not give us a synopsis of the story. No reprints. Stories should be in proper manuscript format with a short letter introducing yourself. If you don't know what proper manuscript format is, don't bother submitting.

Am I getting paid?
Yes, if accepted, we will pay .05 per word upon publication and a contributors copy.

What is the time frame?
All submissions must be sent by March 7th at midnight. Any later and they won't even be considered. Publication will be early 2008.

Are you going to tell me if I'm accepted?
Obviously we won't be able to tell everyone that is accepted until we've received all entries and have made the final decision. But if you send an e-mail, you will get a response within a week that we've received it. If we know right off the bat your story isn't going to make it, we'll let you know to free up the story. So the longer you don't hear…the better your chances.

I have a really cool story I submitted elsewhere; can I submit that to you?
No. We want stories that aren't simultaneously submitted, so while we have your story in our hot little hands, we would appreciate you not submitting it elsewhere until you hear back from us. No multiple submissions; send us your best story.

Am I going to get rich and famous like that King guy if I get in the book?
If you think that, then bless you. But in all likelihood you will not get rich and famous. There will be 400 copies printed. So with that amount of books, rich and famous probably isn't going to happen.

Are there any other requirements?
Yup. If you are accepted you will be required to sign signature sheets. You will also be required to give us a short bio on yourself. It won't make you rich and famous but it will be cool to have YOUR signature and YOUR bio in the book.

What if I have any other questions?
You can e-mail us at chesya@comcast.net or to catwest1@charter.net. We will answer your questions, to the best of our ability.

For an update and to see what we're NOT looking for, go here.