The Hero’s Journey: Open for Submissions of Short Stories
Set to release an anthology of fantasy short stories in 2022, Heroic Books are now seeking submissions from emerging writers to feature alongside established voices from the genre.
We are thrilled to announce that we are now accepting submissions for our upcoming fantasy anthology The Hero’s Journey. Due to be released in the spring of 2022, the anthology will feature short stories from both established and emerging authors, bringing together some of the best voices from across the fantasy genre.
Submissions of short stories should fit the theme of The Hero’s Journey. However, whilst we are not averse to traditional interpretations of this theme, we are especially interested in explorations that take us into unusual territories, and subversions that give new life to this classic narrative.
In the spirit of Heroic Books’ ethos of inclusivity and diversity, we especially encourage submissions from writers who have not previously published their work or those whose writing has been published via non-traditional pathways. As always, we are very keen to receive work from writers who are marginalised or underrepresented in the fantasy genre.
Authors whose work is selected for publication in The Hero’s Journey will be paid a fee of £50.
To view our guidelines and submit your short stories, head to heroicbooks.com/herosjourney
To find out more about The Hero’s Journey anthology and what makes a submission stand out from the crowd, our Editorial and Production Manager, Harriet Hirshman, sheds some light on the forthcoming publication, its themes, and the submissions process for authors.
When you’re reading short story submissions, what does it take for a piece of work to really grab your attention?
HH: I’m a huge fan of the short story as a form, and I think there is a real art to getting it right. A great story has to grip you from the get-go, take you on a journey in the short time that you spend with it, and linger with you long after you’ve finished reading it — and that’s no easy feat.
More generally, though, I love to see characters that I haven’t met before and visit places I haven’t seen. For an anthology like The Hero’s Journey, I’m really looking for variety. There will be some submissions that take the classic narrative and turn it into something wonderful, and then there’ll be some that do something completely different and unexpected. It’s one of the real joys of the form. And, ultimately, it doesn’t matter which route the author chooses — if it’s done well, then I’m excited to read it.
“A great story has to grip you from the get-go, take you on a journey in the short time that you spend with it, and linger with you long after you’ve finished reading it…”
What is it about The Hero’s Journey as a narrative concept that has made it so iconic within the fantasy genre?
HH: The idea of ‘the hero’ is so fluid and open to interpretation that the journey a character goes on can look vastly different from story to story. But I think that as readers we want to see some form of progression, the facing of an experience that has the power and potential to fundamentally change our heroes. That, for me, is the key to this narrative’s enduring appeal among readers. And I’m incredibly excited to see the myriad ways in which authors interpret this brief!
What exciting details can you reveal about The Hero’s Journey?
HH: I’m keeping my cards close to my chest for the time being! But so far we’ve acquired some wonderful short stories from well-known authors, and we can’t wait to begin to reveal them soon. Watch this space! But aside from that, I’m looking forward to receiving submissions from emerging writers, discovering new talent and publishing them alongside some of the best names in the genre.
