Level Best Books publishes an annual anthology of Crime Stories set in New England each November, as well as various other anthologies throughout the year. Well-regarded by readers and reviewers, stories published by Level Best have won the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, Derringer and Robert L. Fish (Award for Best First Short Story presented at the Edgar® banquet) Awards and have been recognized as “Distinguished Mystery Stories,” by the editors of the Best American Mystery Stories series. Level Best also publishes the winning story from the Al Blanchard contest every year.

Level Best Books has been in publishing for over a decade, focusing exclusively on mystery anthologies. On March 1st, with a new editorial team on board, they opened their doors for the first time to agented and unagented manuscript submissions. So well Level Best Books has been around a long time it is also clear that they are trying new things with a mostly new team of editors.

The good news is that all the editors have experience and you can learn more about them on the website.

They are interested the crime fiction in the following categories mystery, thriller, suspense, historical, traditional, and contemporary. They are not interested in publishing any other work.

To submit, email your previously unpublished, complete manuscript. Do not submit samples of unfinished manuscripts. They are not in interested in previously published work.

When you submit please do the following:

• Please indicate if the work is a standalone novel or part of a series (completed or planned)
• Include your name, address, phone number, email, title of your novel, total word count of your novel, and a brief summary of your publishing experience (if any) in the body of the email
• Please paginate your submission (format page numbers in either the header or footer of the document)

Make sure the subject line of your email is NOVEL submission.

There is a turnaround time of six weeks. To learn more, visit their manuscript submission guidelines.

They prefer writing that speaks feelingly and movingly, writing that inspires readers to meaningful action. They encourage submitting authors to browse their website to get a sense of what they like. There, they provide lists of authors they admire, as well as descriptions of their stylistic preferences for each genre.

Oyster River Pages will be published once a year online, and right now through May 31, they’re accepting submissions for their first issue, which will be published in August 2017. Poets may submit up to three poems. Fiction writers may submit stories 6,000 words or fewer. Authors of creative nonfiction may submit essays 5,000 words or fewer. Oyster River Pages also accepts photography and other visual art.

Oyster River Pages accepts submissions online, not via post or email. They accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that authors immediately withdraw work published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work.

If you would like to learn more or submit to Oyster River Pages, please visit their website at https://www.oysterriverpages.com/submit/.

Cat’s breakfast: an anthology of science fiction/satire

Third Flatiron pays tribute to Kurt Vonnegut on the 10^th anniversary of his death. They want original speculative fiction stories that reflect his “sideways, humorous, sceptical view” (or gallows humour). For each of their anthologies, they also accept a few very short humour pieces, like Shouts and Murmurs in The New Yorker.

Length: 1,500-3,000 words, enquire if longer; about 600 words for the short humour pieces
Deadline: 15 April 2017
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.

Sixteen Rivers Press poetry anthology

They want poems that respond to the cultural, moral, and political rifts in America now; poems of resistance and resilience, of witness and vision. There is no fee for postal submissions.

Length: Up to three poems, totalling up to three pages
Deadline: 15 April 2017
Pay: Two copies of the anthology
Details here.
Zimbell House’s Summer Fling: Tales of Seduction

They want well-crafted stories of romances that began in summer, or lasted only through a summer. No erotica; a PG-17 rating must be maintained.

Length: 4,500-20,000 words
Deadline: 15 April 2017
Pay: One soft-cover copy of the anthology.
Details here.
Would but time wait: an anthology of New England folk horror

Orford Parish Books wants horror fiction in which the present, which can be a year/decade of the author’s choosing, collides with the history, folklore, traditions, and psychogeography of a region, with the collision having a significant impact on the present (as defined in the work). Stories should use the physical, historical, and social landscapes of New England – Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont – as a focal point. Writers can invent their own folklore, traditions, and fictional New England locations. They don’t want any stereotyping, including of economically disadvantaged or marginalized people, and prefer to avoid stories of sexual violence. Authors must query before submitting.

Length: 2,000-10,000 words
Deadline: 30 April 2017
Pay: $75
Details here.
SNAFU Judgement day: post-apocalyptic military horror

They want stories with invading space aliens, demonic invasion, DNA-grafted dinosaurs taking over the planet, manmade viral infections that nearly wipe out humanity, or artificial intelligence – anything that would bring about the end of the world. They want stories with soldiers, and action; about what happens during the worst of the fall of humanity or afterwards. No zombies.

Length: 2,000-10,000 words; query for shorter or longer
Deadline: 30 April 2017
Pay: AUD4c/word
Details here.

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Both the ancient Roman poet Horace and the Greek philosopher Longinus agreed that the purpose of literature is to instruct and delight the reader. However, once carried away on the wings of inspiration, authors may not always have a specific readership or a genre in mind, and can only hope the products of their imagination have the power to entertain, move, teach or change their readers in any meaningful way. Writers are also known to be susceptible to alternating feelings of self-doubt and over-confidence about their work quality, or their writing ability.

Along the long and winding road from a book’s inception to its publication there is a stage of beta reading that can help authors subject their manuscript to a test and get initial feedback on its quality. Therefore, once a novel, novella, short story or poem has been completed, it is time to trial it on beta-readers, and based on their feedback take decisions which modifications in the manuscript are necessary in order to improve it.

Who are beta readers and how can they contribute to the improvement of manuscripts?

Ideally, beta readers should be representative of the intended readership.

Once authors have an idea of their intended audience in terms of age group, reading interests, level of education, it is time to seek them out. Authors should keep in mind that those who mostly enjoy non-fiction may find it hard to act as Beta readers for a sci-fi novel. Readers of mystery books abundant in dialogue and fast-paced action may also have little patience for long literary passages describing emotional states. In other words, there should be a good match between the manuscript and its reader.

After finalizing my own edits of the manuscript, I found nine Beta readers among friends and family members. Because my intended readership was mature, well-educated women who were avid readers and who enjoyed literary style prose, I sought out readers with those characteristics. One male family member volunteered to read the book, and I was grateful for he was a psychiatrist who was able to detect a few infelicities linked to the psychiatric treatments described in the book. Even though my selection of Beta readers at the time was more intuitive than carefully thought out, the constructive criticism I received helped me give the book its final shape before sending it to a professional editor.

It is always an extra bonus to have as a Beta reader someone with academic background in literary studies or creative writing because from a trained point of view they can comment on the flow and structure, content inconsistencies, lack of character depth and delineation, plot twists, character credibility, the need for more sub-plots etc. One such reader gave me excellent suggestions for revisions.

Where do we look for Beta readers? In addition to friends and family members, volunteers can be found among colleagues and within writers’ and readers’ groups on social media. One of the best places to find Beta Readers is on Goodreads. Strangers can sometimes offer more objective criticism than family members or friends.  If fellow writers offer to Beta-read our work, it is customary to offer to return the favor.

Feedback should be collected in writing because it is easier to analyze and consult again when needed. Also, a written questionnaire offers clear guidance to the readers as to what information authors are seeking. Typical questions focus on how interesting the story is, how plausible the characters are, if there is a compelling “hook” at the beginning, if the ending or the plot twist are suspenseful or unexpected, if the culmination and resolution are satisfactory, if the descriptions appeal to the senses and conjure up the atmosphere, stir up emotional responses in the reader etc.

Beta readers with excellent language skills can also serve as the first or an additional layer of editing and correct errors, typos and detect content inconsistencies (e.g. the heroine has blue eyes in Chapter One, but green in Chapter Three). However, Beta readers should not replace the services of a professional editor if authors want to ensure that their manuscripts are submitted to publishers or presented to readers in their most polished state.

It is important to ask for honest feedback as flattery for the sake of flattery does not improve writing, just like gratuitous and harsh criticism does not serve any purpose. Authors are intuitively aware of potential weak threads in the tapestry of their manuscripts and appreciate when their Beta readers confirm it.

Once authors collect the feedback forms, they should carefully study them in order to assess which comments they want to accept and which they disagree with. In my case, I accepted most suggestions, made relevant modifications, had the manuscript professionally edited and began the submission process that ended in a traditional publishing contract.

Jana Begovic is the author of the recently released Poisonous Whispers ( http://amzn.to/2jCCvf7). Her academic background is in languages and literary theory. She lives and works in Ottawa, Canada. Begovic’ writing has been described as artistic, literary, unique and exquisite. She is currently writing her second novel. You can connect with her via https://www.facebook.com/J.Damselfly/.