Anthology Call: But Not Broken
Last year, I put together a stellar group of authors in the anthology Can't Go Home Again.
Next year, I hope to have another great book with the anthology follow-up But Not Broken, so I need stories!
Like Can't Go Home Again, this anthology will focus on stories of hope and healing around PTSD, with the difference being that while that book focuses on the military, this will focus on cPTSD (complex PTSD). I'm looking for stories centered around the traumatic experiences of law enforcement, emergency services, survivors of abuse, and the healing from those many traumas incurred over years. There's something of a myth still surviving that only military can have PTSD, and I'd like to have this book be for those who know that's not true. The human spirit is profoundly resilient, but sometimes, you need something outside your self to find your way out of the darkness. Bibliotherapy is one small tool, and that's what I hope for these books. The feedback from the first collection of stories bears out the reality that yes, even fiction can help.
As before, I'm looking for stories between 5-10K words in length, if yours falls outside that zone, query before submission. Stories can be any fiction genre, but must focus on a hopeful ending. The goal of this book is to offer paths to healing to readers who are either affected by PTSD directly or in loved-one's lives.
The soft deadline is Dec 31, 2022. I plan to publish in February 2023.
I'd originally planned to have this done for the holiday season 2022, but I have enough on my plate, and want to give this all it deserves, rather than risk rushing it.
Submissions can be sent to cedarlila at gmail dot com, format that as an email address. Standard manuscript format is fine, preferred file format is .docx, but I'll work with .rtf as well. Just please, don't sent odd formats like whatever native file Libre Office puts out! I'm happy to answer any questions. Submissions, queries, and questions will be answered most promptly if you include 'PTSD Anthology' in the subject line. Payment will be royalty sharing, and I mean my authors to get the bulk of the royalties. Because I'm in a unique situation to handle the publishing, art, etc on my own, I don't say 'royalties after costs met.' You can expect a percentage of the royalties, paid via method of your choice through Pubshare.
A kintsukuroi heart, where the brokenness is the beauty when mended with incorruptible gold.