SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN

FOR BLERDROTICA II:  COUPLES THERAPY

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Perhaps the best thing to emerge from the event now referred to as “The First Great Pandemic” was the realization that healthcare was not a privilege but a birthright, that good health was among the “unalienable Rights” to which all people were entitled. In recognition of this belief, the QOL Amendment, guaranteeing every American citizen a “baseline quality of life” became the 29th Amendment to the US Constitution.

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            But rights also carry responsibilities…

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            You had the right to own a gun… but you needed a permit. You had the right to vote… but you had to register. And you had a constitutional right to healthcare… but you also had the responsibility to take care of yourself. Like wearing a face mask when conditions called for it, “mandatory good health maintenance” was not viewed as “government overreach”—it was viewed as a patriotic duty.

            This is the world of Blerdrotica II: Couples Therapy, an anthology of stories featuring couples (or thruples, polys, whatever your household is like) trying to “make things work,” with the help of The Therapist.

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          The Therapist is the only character/concept common to all the stories. The therapist is a multidimensional entity who takes whatever form that facilitates your story and can resolve the "couple's" situation. The stories can take place at any point in the Therapist’s career—the first case, the last case, the Therapist making case notes or talking to their control therapist. The Therapist may have a large part in your story or may be limited to just a passing mention—but the Therapist must be somewhere in the story.

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            What are these stories about? Who is receiving Couples Therapy? It might be*—

            —the city’s masked defender, whose partner thinks “this crime-fighting thing” is just an excuse to avoid commitment—

            —a couple trying to make a long-distance relationship work, one of them across town, the other one part of the first expedition to Mars—

            —someone who is convinced their partner has been replaced by an extraterrestrial (or a demon or…)

            —someone who feels their partner is getting a little too “personal” with their personal assistant—

            —a couple trying to make a mixed-marriage work (an angel and a demon, an elf and a fairy, an AI and a human—)

            —people (or whoever or whatever) your imagination thinks need Couples Therapy.

            What are the guidelines for submissions? Let’s start with what we’re not looking for:

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• No reprints. We are currently considering only original, heretofore unpublished works (although sequels or continuations to an existing work are acceptable).

• No simultaneous submissions. We don’t believe in sharing.

• No graphic representations of nonconsensual sex… Period, regardless of the nature of the non-dominant partner (robot, ET, supernatural being, whatever).

• No express or implied sex with children, even if the activity is coded.

• No bestiality, although fantastical creatures (such as shapeshifters, dragons, monsters, etc.) are fair game (within reason).

• No graphic sexual violence, physical or emotional, in the form of rape or sexual assault for the purpose of sexual titillation. Sexual abuse or assault occurring in the past as part of a storyline is acceptable as long as it is not fetishized or eroticized. Any sexual “violence” in the form of BDSM must acknowledge that all parties are aware of the BDSM arrangement and acknowledge the use of a safety word in the story.

            Now that we’re done with the prohibitions, what are we looking for?

• Stories must contain sexual content. After all, this is Blerdrotica … (blerd + erotica)

• Stories with at least one person of African American descent (i.e., an individual of the African Diaspora) must be a main character in the story.

• Stories can be submitted even if you are NOT of the African Diaspora.

• Stories that show diversity. Submissions featuring characters of diverse ethnicities, religions, nationalities and cultures, with meaningful interaction, are welcomed. (And yes, we embrace the fact that people don’t stop having sex at thirty—Grandma and Grandpa got a brand-new bag, too. How do you think you got here?).

• Stories with a general word count of no less than 3000 words and no more than 5500 words. (But if you think you have a longer tale that can maintain our interest, we’re not opposed to giving you up to 10,000 words to share your vision.)

           

          We will be buying first North American, South American, European, African, Australian, Asian, and Antarctic serial rights, non-exclusive anthology rights, exclusive electronic and e-book rights for one year after first publication, and non-exclusive electronic, audio, and e-book rights thereafter.

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DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS AUGUST 1, 2021 11:59p PST.

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So… start typing!

And please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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*If you like one of these, please feel free to use it!

Yes we will be buying first North American serial rights, exclusive anthology rights, exclusive paper, electronic, audio and e-book rights for one year after first publication, and non-exclusive paper, electronic, audio, and e-book rights to reprint thereafter in perpetuity. Payment is $100, upon publication.

 

Timelines:

 

We will begin accepting submissions on February 14, 2021 and close submissions on AUGUST 1, 2021 11:59p  PST.

 

The reading period will continue through September 15, 2021.

 

Notification letters with proposed contractual language will be delivered on or about October 25th, 2021.

 

Send your submission to penelope@penelopeflynn.com. Please entitle the email BLERDROTICA II SUBMISSION and attach 1) your cover letter which should state your pen name and your legal name if it differs, your story title, the word count of the story, the genre or subgenre of the story and a short bio; and as a separate attachment, 2) the story, itself. All stories should be submitted in English and in standard manuscript format. We prefer that the documents be submitted in .DOC, .DOCX format but will also accept RTF (no pdf please).

 

Please contact us at penelope@penelopeflynn.com if you have any questions or require any additional information and…

Get your blexy on!