Space Wizard
Submissions
Call for Lesbians in Space!
Space Wizard Science Fantasy is looking for original stories of around 2000-4500 words, but definitely not over 6000, to create an anthology featuring inclusive sapphic science fiction and fantasy stories under the theme “Lesbians in Space.”
This anthology will focus on lesbian relationships of all types, including cis, bi/pan, ace, non-binary, intersex, trans, and others that fall under the “sapphic” banner as long as the primary pairing is lesbian. Give us your best story featuring sapphic protagonists at least partially located in space. This could be on a spaceship, with magic, on a planet or asteroid, in another dimension or realm, or any other connected idea. Surprise us! Stories will be juried and final selections will be made (hopefully) by end of January 2025. Projected publish date is June 2025. Selected authors will be compensated at semi-pro rates or higher, depending on the success of the crowdfunding campaign.
Send your completed story in by midnight EST, December 31st, 2024 through this site or to BOTH the following email addresses:
wctracy at williamctracy dot com
chlorociboria at gmail dot com
We are looking for:
-Include your name, email, and story title at the top of your entry.
-2000 to around 4500 words (not over 6000)
-.docx or google docs formats only
-Simultaneous submissions considered
-One submission per writer.
-If your story is accepted elsewhere before we get back to you, please let us know.
-We are not considering AI-generated stories.
Lesbians in Space: Where No Man Has Gone Before
Peanut butter and chocolate. Cheese and wine. Sex and rock ‘n’ roll. History is full of great pairings. Now we have the next great one: Lesbians and Space! Join a host of intrepid explorers heading to the outer reaches of the galaxy, exploring planets, space stations, strange new worlds and interesting aliens. Focusing solely on lesbian/sapphic protagonists, this anthology contains works from numerous established award-winning, bestselling, and lesfic authors, and a few new faces as well. Launch into stories from your favorite established worlds and explore entirely new offerings that span the cosmos. From spaceship mechanics to intergalactic colony queens, smugglers, gods, and sentient planets, Lesbians in Space explores the galaxy from the unique perspective of the lesfic world, blending the best of sapphic literature with modern sci-fi and space opera tropes.
UPDATE ON BOOK SUBMISSIONS:
Thank you everyone for your awesome submissions! Space Wizard only publishes about twelve new books a year and we have so many amazing new stories, we are closing to new book submissions for at least the next six months (from July 2024). Any submissions will be deleted unread, but you are welcome to submit them again when we reopen!
NOTE: If we have invited you directly to submit, you are welcome to do so (for example, during a convention or #SmallPitch. Submissions for Lesbians in Space are also welcome!)
Keep writing!
William Tracy
Are you an indie author who is tired of self-publishing or doesn’t want to handle the marketing side of things? Let Space Wizard Science Fantasy do the heavy lifting!
We specialize in queer science fiction, fantasy, and science fantasy novels and novellas, no matter the queer element. M/M, F/F, Poly, Bi, Pan, Trans, Ace, Neurodivergent, other gender representation, and more. BIPOC authors are especially encouraged to submit manuscripts. Space Wizard Science Fantasy strives to uplift queer and marginalized voices that are currently not as prevalent in the SFF community.
Overall, we love entertaining, captivating, and fun stories. Darker elements can be in the books, but we strive to bring hope and inspiration with the stories we publish.
Note: we do accept novella length works, though we prefer each year of Space Wizard to have at least twice as many full novels included as novellas (currently around 4 novellas max). If we have a lot of novellas set for a certain year, new acceptances may be pushed to the next publishing year. If your novella is less than 25,000 words, you may be asked to expand your story. We have found longer novellas sell better than shorter ones.
We do not accept novelette-length and short stories at the moment, as we prefer to have a print version available for all works and those lengths are hard to provide satisfying hard copies. There may be options for novelettes and short stories included in anthologies, in the future.
We do not accept stories created with AI systems.
If you are interested in publishing with Space Wizard Science Fantasy, please send a query, the wordcount, and the first 5-10 pages of your work (no attachments) to wctracy at williamctracy dot com, or use the contact form below.
We also provide developmental editing and copy editing services. Look up our copy editing timing and fees here.
Thanks, and see you around the universe!
What Makes Us Different
Space Wizard Science Fantasy focuses primarily on queer and BIPOC writers and stories. We pride ourselves on making sure our authors get great exposure and marketing for their books. A common problem for small presses is to overreach, and not deliver. Space Wizard aims to stay debt-free on initial releases, as well as giving great royalty rates, wholesale prices for authors to buy their books, up-to-date covers, and effective, continual marketing for all books in our catalog. If you're an indie author who is tired of self-publishing or doesn’t want to handle the marketing side of things, Space Wizard Science Fantasy can do the heavy lifting for you!
We handsell books at 20+ conventions, markets, and pop-ups per year, and we're always looking for new marketing strategies. We also use a crowdfunding campaign every June to raise awareness for the next year of book releases, as well as gathering funds to help pay for great book covers, semi-pro and pro rates for stories, and illustrations. Authors are encouraged to help spread the word during the campaign! It's a great way to get a first batch of preorders for your new novel.
General Submissions Form
If you are interested in publishing with Space Wizard Science Fantasy, fill out this form. Include the first 5-10 pages of your work as text in the indicated field.