Speculative Submissions

While there are no present “plans” to publish the following anthologies, if you’ve got material that fits it and you want to send it to us on long term speculation, we’ll take it. Ideas for anthologies include these:

The Faith of our Mothers. This might not actually be your female ancestors, but it should be stories of faith of real women at least a generation older than you are. Of course people like Susanna Wesley fit, but look for the more obscure ones like Mary McKendree, the invalid mother of Bishop William McKendree, a physician, a general, and lots of other outstanding children.

Out of the Kitchen. When Sarah T. Hughes (who much later swore in Lyndon Johnson as President) was suggested as judge of the 14th District Court of Texas in 1935, a senator made a comment about the need for her to stay in the kitchen and not take the job of a man. Women pioneers in all the professions faced this kind of obstacle. Do you have stories about them you want to tell?

Life Spinning Moments. Sometimes a comment or an event pivots a life into a new and startling direction. What happened, and where did the spinning end?

Our Writers Guidelines

for Anthologies

How We Want It:

Electronic submission is preferred, with the manuscript or poem pasted into the body of the email. We are giving first preference to poetry of less than 50 lines, and prose not exceeding 1500 words. Poetry shorter than 12 lines tickles the editor in charge of formatting and stands a good chance of being used if the quality's there.

We ask for one time rights. If the submission has been previously published, cite each prior publication. If prior publication history is not included (including "This piece has not been published") the piece will not be considered.

We require that a 50-100 word biographical sketch, written in third person, be included with the submission. See the SilverBoomers.com authors page for sample bios. Entries not meeting this requirement will not be considered.

Please don't submit material you sent previously for a Silver Boomer Book as we have that and will be contacting authors if we feel the work would fit in future anthologies.

Electronic submissions:

 Email us at SilverBoomerBooks@gmail.com.

In the subject line type "Submission -- Prose: Name of Entry" Substitute your title for "name of entry" and for poetry substitute "poetry" for "prose."

 In the body of the email type this information:

 Your name

 Your pen name if you desire to use a different name

 Your mailing address

 Your email address

 Your telephone number

 Previous publication history of your submission

 Word count for prose, line count for poetry. In counting lines for poetry, start with the first line and count each line to the last including blank lines.

 A 50 to 100 word biographical sketch of yourself written in 3rd person. See the Silver Boomers authors' page for style.

 Cut and paste your entry into the body of the email.

 Multiple submissions are welcome but must be in separate emails with all information listed above in the email with each entry.

 In submitting your entry, you represent:

 The work you are submitting is your work.

 You have the rights to the work and have not previously conveyed exclusive rights to any other publisher.

 You agree to the terms and conditions set out on this page.

Postal Mail Submissions:

Use good standard formatting rules and send the same materials required for electronic submission.

You may include a self-addressed stamped postcard for notice of whether or not your manuscript has been accepted. If you prefer to be notified by email a postcard need not be sent. If you include a second self-addressed stamped postcard, we will use that to inform you we have received the manuscript. This is optional. Manuscripts will not be returned to the author, and will be shredded after publication of the book.

Mail to: Silver Boomer Books, 2998 South 14th Street #101, Abilene TX 79605. Do not decorate your manuscript or envelopes with happy faces, lip prints, perfume, cookies or other gimmicks.

When We Want It:

For specific collections, the notice states the closing date, and admissions are accepted from the time the call for submissions is publicized. We currently have no open call for submissions. Postmark or email deadline is the same.

What You Get:

Payment is $5 for poetry and $10 for prose plus a contributor’s copy. If you label it prose but we think it's poetry, we'll pay the poetry rate. In addition, contributors will be allowed to purchase copies of the work at an author’s price for two years following the initial release. All payments are upon publication. Your name and story/poem title will be listed on the website for two years. You will be allowed to post to the authors' blog on the Silver Boomers website so you can publicize signings and speaking engagements as well as comment on the experience.