We will be contacting everyone by no later than September 10! I know that we’ll have had some of your stories for a month or more, but we’re trying to get everyone’s stories read before we start making offers, even though we’ve got a lot of submissions checked as “Accept” and “Maybe.” This is because:
Our funds are tight at the moment, but at the top of the month, we’ll have royalties from the Summer issue
Space is necessarily limited, even if immediate funds for acquisitions were not.
So many of the stories we’ve received have been utterly fantastic, it makes it hard to weigh and choose what’s on the bubble.
There’s really no point yet in breaking things down by what is and isn’t under consideration still, since half of the stories are unread and therefore still technically under consideration, and we haven’t sent out more than a few rejection letters yet.
This is going to be another really hard year for us in deciding what goes in and what gets cut, because we have SO MUCH really good fiction.
I’ll be on vacation all next week, which means I’ll be doing my all to knock out as much of the submissions reading as possible.
With Wild Stars V: The Artomique Paradigm coming to a close next month in the Fall issue of Cirsova Magazine, we’re thrilled to be able to run this promotion in concert with Michael Tierney!
We’re giving away a complete set of the 2000s Wild Stars Comics! We’re also giving away a rare copy of the Across the Distance Wild Stars Art Portfolio.
In the 1970s, Michael Tierney wrote a series of novels that formed the Wild Stars universe: Wild Stars Rising in 1976 (a different novel from Wild Stars 4: Wild Star Rising), Moonshadow in 1977/78, and First Marker in 1978 (later adapted into the graphic novel Wild Stars 1: The Book of Circles), which were the first uses of the trademarked term of Wild Stars. In 1978, Michael released a portfolio illustrating scenes from these novels and his then-recently released magazine, The Multiversal Scribe . Each print was individually signed with matching numbers, with three plates illustrated by Michael Tierney and three plates illustrated by Bruce Conklin.
One of Bruce’s plates featured the first appearance of Phaedra. One of Michael plates featured the first appearance of Eagal Ir Radin. While Phaedra has since appeared in the comics and novels, Eagal Ir Radin will make his first series appearance in 2022 when Cirsova Magazine begins serialization of Wild Stars 6: Orphan of the Shadowy Moons (originally the 1977/78 Moonshadow novel).
To enter, send an email to: Cirsova at yahoo dot com
Subjectline: Wild Stars Giveaway
In the body of the email, include the answers to the following Wild Stars trivia question:
1. In Wild Stars 4, Part 2, what is the Lantern Star? A. A lodestar B. A pair of stars in very tight orbit. C. A stellar signpost used by Roy Kirk’s grandfather. D. All of the above.
2. In Wild Stars 4, Part 2, what is the the E=MC2 trigger used for? A. Assassination. B. Manufacturing beer. C. Launching a starship. D. All of the above.
3. In Wild Stars Volume One: The Book of Circles–Recalibrated, what was the identity of the telepathic armored warrior? A. A time traveling First Marker. B. A time traveling Ancient Warrior. C. A time traveling agent selling auto warranties. D. None of the above.
For the Across the Distance portfolio:
4. Who is Eagal Ir Radin?
A. The Ancient Warrior. B. The Ancient Warrior’s father. C. The Ancient Warrior’s adoptive father. D. The immortal known as God Father.
All Entries must be received by 8 PM CST August 30th! Entries with the most correct answers for Questions 1-3 will be entered for the drawing to win a complete set of Wild Stars Comics. Entries with correct answers for Question 4 will be entered for the drawing to win a copy of the Across the Distance Portfolio.
You’re overdue an update here on the site, but things have been incredibly busy [which seems to be always these days, since that’s the excuse I’m always using].
Though we were only open for a week, we received 120 submissions and roughly 800k words of fiction.
So far, we’ve had a chance to review 43 stories, so we’re about 1/3 of the way through.
We’re a bit behind the 8-ball money-wise because of a recent development, but never fear, there will be funds coming in time to make acquisitions.
Yeah, we’re $600 down from where we ought to be, and no longer in the black for the year, but again, we have plenty of time to turn that around.
The Paths of Cormanor proofs have been ordered, as have the Mongoose and Meerkat add-ons. Once the proofs check out, we’ll place the order to fulfill them to our backers and get the digital rewards up.
We’ll also be hitting our next Cirsova Classics project, The Strange Recollections of Martha Klemm soon.
This fantastic issue features the conclusions of both Wild Stars VI: The Artomique Paradigm and Badaxe! Also, another illustrated adventure of Mongoose and Meerkat from Jim Breyfogle.
We wanted to do something special for this issue, we featured two heroines and a villain from our serials. Huge thanks to Raven Monroe who took out the time from working on Cookies n Scream to step in and deliver this gorgeous cover for us on short notice!
The Artomique Paradigm (Part 3 of 3)
By MICHAEL TIERNEY
Achilles “Whip” Hister is dead! The Galactic summit has turned into a massacre, and the Artomiques are ready to unleash their ultimate weapon: dreadnoughts based on the Space Shark Erlik created! Can anyone, or anything, stop them?!
Too Many Mangos
By JIM BREYFOGLE
Foes pursue the Mongoose and Meerkat in the frigid north, seeking to prevent retrieval of a magic trinket for a client! One of the bandits…appears to be Mangos!?
The Black Skull
By REV. JOE KELLY
A strange and forbidding artifact has wended its way to an abbey! What is the black skull, and what strange powers might this grotesque and evil object possess?!
We Have Always Been Beasts
By S.H. Mansouri
An evil rain falls on the cursed children of Grewal… Brothers hope that they can end the rains that have corrupted and deformed them by ending their father’s life!
Dead Neighbor
By DAVID SKINNER
Armed with his only wits and his experimental Existential Motion Detection Device, a man is determined to discover exactly what has become of his neighbor!
The Light of Reason
By TEEL JAMES GLENN
Jack Stone and his mentor, Doctor Argent, have finally tracked down the vampire lord, Count Mendoza! But will they be able to vanquish the cornered monster?!
Locker No. 249
By JAMES LAM
A new student has just been assigned a locker next to that of a boy whose mysterious disappearance is connected to rumors of a Chinese mummy’s curse!
Remorsels
By LOUISE SORENSEN
Ghosts of animals appear as if by magic in paintings! The phenomenon is a strange blessing… Until a butcher begins supplying choice cuts of mystery meat to the artist!
We didn’t plug our submissions window as much as we had in the past because we knew just how much fiction we’d end up with if we did. The best [worst] we did one year with a full month was somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 stories.
This year, we opted for just one week, and we ended up with over 100 stories and roughly 800k words of fiction to choose from.
We’re aiming for 4 issues of content, of course much of that is locked down already, since we plan on serializing Michael Tierney’s Wild Stars 6 next year and we’ve got our 4 Mongoose and Meerkat adventures from Jim Breyfogle locked in.
We received a LOT of novelettes and novellas this year, and may be struggling to figure out what to do with some of them. They’re fantastic but always hard to place. We may end up with another special issue or something.
Our first stretch goal is met. Second stretch goal, to include a full length short story, is still achievable at $5k!
Remember that any profits we make from this will go directly towards acquiring content for 2022!
Don’t forget, we are also offering Mongoose and Meerkat add-ons, including the audiobook and the previously limited pocketbook and hardcover formats of Pursuit Without Asking!
It may be hard to do, but I think it’s still possible we can meet the $5k stretch goal, to include his short story “Just Another Crappy Story That Kills Everyone In It.”
In the Fictionverse exists the players who act out the story as written, following the script when it is there, and improvising when there’s enough leeway to do so. But what happens when the story is just plain bad? It risks everyone in it when a Failed Story causes the fictional world to collapse on itself!
I’m not usually one for metafiction, but Jim Breyfogle is able to turn it into an action-packed adventure with a touch of magic and romance that even an editor like myself can’t help but love.
I really hope that we’ll be able to publish this great little addition to The Paths of Cormanor!
As you may know, Duel Visions was one of our first releases that was not our flagship magazine. As such, it’s one of the first that will be falling out of our catalog.
Duel Visions will be remaining in the Cirsova Publishing catalog through the rest of 2021, and we’ve been selling it a deep discount, 50% off cover price. It’s currently going for ~$6 on Amazon in paperback right now.
Cirsova Publishing is taking fiction submissions now for 2022!
We’re purchasing first serial rights for adventure science fiction and fantasy, gothic horror and romance, and any general sort of swashbuckling original stories.
We pay approximately 1.25 cents per word [semipro rates] for six months of exclusivity following publication of the story.
