SFWA’s Independent Authors Committee is open for submissions for their next fantasy StoryBundle to be released this fall. Submissions will be accepted through May 30, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.

The committee cites this as a chance for independent and small press authors to gain more exposure and sell more books. They welcome submissions of indie and traditionally published novels, from SFWA members and nonmembers, as well as from small press publishers, if the publishers give permission in writing. Full guidelines for this submission call can be found here. 

The overarching theme for the call is “What Am I Doing Here?” The SFWA Independent Authors Committee seeks fantasy stories of characters lost, stranded, abandoned, shipwrecked, or stuck on the wrong side of a portal. As always, the Committee is open to unique interpretations of the theme, such as tales of lost memories or of being lost in time. This StoryBundle will be offered in November 2022. 

The Independent Authors Committee will select participants from the entries they receive, and “the exact composition and titles of any individual SFWA StoryBundle is subject to adjustment as we accommodate the best selections. Therefore, we encourage authors not to self-reject if their novel has any fit at all with our theme.”

StoryBundles are curated collections of books offered at a discounted price. Readers select what price they’d like to pay for an initial four books and can unlock the entire collection by contributing $20. Proceeds go to the participating authors and StoryBundle, and a small cut is donated to SFWA. 

Welcome are full-length fantasy novels of over 40,000 words that are either clearly stand-alone stories or the first in a series. Authors are asked to submit only one novel, and do not submit a novel that has appeared in any previous StoryBundle (SFWA or otherwise.) Only submit novels that will be for sale by October 2022. The author must have full rights to enter their novel in the StoryBundle, and the novel must not be in Amazon’s KDP Select at the time that the StoryBundle is offered.

The full submission guidelines, including instructions on how to submit, are here. 

[Based on a press release.]