EXTENDED DEADLINE:

Originally due July 5th, due to all the stresses people have been under this year, I’m extending the deadline for both Anthologies by three months (Smut: Oct 4th 2020, Romance: Oct 4th 2021). If you would like to submit something but have concerns over the deadline or anything else, please reach out to thenewtranserotic@gmail.com

Short Fiction Addressing Trans and Non-Binary Experiences of Sex, Sexuality, and Relationships

Submission form link: https://forms.gle/gq1FpcbNV9TYXBkaA

Call for Submissions for Nerve Endings: Smut and Nerve Endings: Romance
Editor: Tobi Hill-Meyer
Publisher: Instar Books
Smut Deadline: Oct 4th, 2020 [NEW DEADLINE]
Romance Deadline: Oct 4th, 2021 [NEW DEADLINE]
Payment: $100 and a copy of the book

The original Nerve Endings: The New Trans Erotic was released in 2017 and became a Lambda Literary Finalist. As an anthology, it’s goal was to create a new genre that represented a holistic perspective on trans and non-binary people’s experiences of sex, sexuality, and relationships. The stories addressed complicated issues typically not seen in an erotic anthology, including healing from trauma, healthy and unhealthy relationships, dysphoria, mental health, and more.

Some stories powerfully illuminated a hard experience many of us have to deal with, others provided positive models for how things can turn out well. Several stories did both. Characters were engaged in trans activism, sex worker rights, anti-racist organizing and explored the individual implications of societal expectations and oppression. Several stories were in fantastical settings among robot laborers, demon summoners, in a zombie apocalypse, after societal collapse, or at a space military court-marshal. The anthology provided an escapist experience that didn’t imagine a world without problems, but showed us we have the power to overcome those problems.

These new anthologies will continue the same approach addressing sex, relationships, and more political issues, each with a specific focus. Every story in the Smut anthology should be sexually explicit and be able to turn the reader on. Every story in the Romance anthology should center a relationship, progress through a conflict, and have a happy ending. Other than that, feel free to bend the rules of each genre. It’s likely some submissions could fit in either anthology and you can use this form to submit a story to both anthologies at once.

REQUIREMENTS

• All Submissions must be sent through this submission form.
• Preferred Length is 3,000-7,000 words for Smut or 4,000-9,000 for Romance, although shorter or longer stories will also be considered.
• Multiple submissions are accepted, at a maximum of three per author.
• Late submissions may be accepted until final selection made.
• Inquiries can be sent to thenewtranserotic@gmail.com.

ADVICE AND SUGGESTIONS

• Stories written from a trans and/or non-binary perspective are usually preferred. If you’re writing from a cis perspective, be sure you have a clear reason.
• Stories with at least one person of color are strongly preferred. If you’re writing a story without any people of color, be sure you have a clear reason.
• Stories that address issues of importance in trans and non-binary communities, including racism, sex work, and issues of oppression are strongly preferred.
• Stories with asexual/aromantic characters are welcome & encouraged
• Stories with non-monogamous characters are welcome & encouraged
• Stories with straight characters are welcome & encouraged
• Stories in speculative fiction settings are welcome & encouraged
• Be creative, draw inspiration from your experiences or the experiences of the trans people in your life, but please avoid submitting memoir or manifesto.
• For those of you interested in planning ahead, expect a call next year for another anthology specifically focused on speculative fiction with a deadline in 2022