Call for Submissions: Toil and Trouble
The nights are longer… the air has a chill to it… everything is a little scarier in the fall, especially with Halloween and all that is spooky at the heart of it! Join DCL Publications and our Call for Submissions for the 2025 Halloween anthology ‘Toil and Trouble!’
The task is simple – weave a spooky theme with a believable romance into a well-written and plot-driven short story. Choose your favorite aspects of spookiness, whether they be classic creatures, magic potions, a bit of magic or voodoo, zombies, witches, creepies and crawlies… The possibilities are endless.
The romance should also be prominent… evident. Don’t rush it. Let it happen. Look at it as a ‘one shot’ – a stand-alone story that you can end in any way you like. Your ending can be shocking, a happily-ever-after, one that leaves the reader with a sense of wonder or even doom… perhaps you want to leave the reader with a cliffhanger that – if intended – will allude to an actual ending but never actually deliver one.
There are a few standard ‘don’t’ things to steer away from.
- No beastiality.
- No necrophilia.
- No incest.
- No rape.
- Keep the use of profanity to only moments of necessity.
- Sex is allowed, but it must serve a purpose and remember it is okay to leave some things up to the imagination. Your wording is your power in writing.
- No copyrighted creatures, monsters, killers, or fan fiction.
These are a few ‘do’s’ to keep in mind.
- Must be set in the Fall season
- Can be set in any period of time – past, present, or future.
- Must involve a protagonist who is human and alive.
- Must take place on the planet Earth.
- Must have a continuous strong spooky theme and romantic theme
- Must be longer that 7500 words and less than 15000
- Must be a fully developed short-story
- Usage of popular creatures – witches, vampires, mummies, etc. – should be given a fresh spin
- Usage of science fiction or dystopian themes should have a ‘Twilight Zone’ feel to keep with the spooky theme
- Must be a finished work – not a draft
- Must be thoroughly read through and checked for errors before being submitted
Each author may submit up to two stories for ‘Toil and Trouble.’ If submitting two stories, your stories should be different from one another, focusing on different characters and plot. Locations can be the same if you tend to write in specific locations.
‘Toil and Trouble’ will be released in eBook. Consideration to release in print is available, once the book has sold 100 electronic books (ebooks). Authors will be paid royalty-share quarterly, with royalties split between the different authors included in the published anthology. Royalties are dependent on sales, and DCL Publications will help promote. Authors included in the anthology are also encouraged to promote the book upon release and leading up to Halloween – the period of its best selling window. Authors included in ‘Toil and Trouble’ will receive several promotional graphics to share on their social accounts.
So, go ahead. Scare us. Send us your best and join us as we stir up a little mischief in ‘Toil and Trouble.’
Send submissions to anthology editor Jae El at: jaeelbooks @ gmail.com with the subject Toil and Trouble.
Deadline for submissions is Friday, May 16.
Release Date will be Monday, Sept. 22 – Fall Equinox
Current and Alum DCL authors may reserve their space in the anthology by submitting a well-rounded blurb for their story. The deadline for the full story remains Friday, May 16.