Rabies and germs, I hope you had a very bloody Valentine’s Day weekend! I am very excited for what comes next with Readers Digested (dot) com and the ventures we hope to embark on in months still to come.
One such venture is Dreamers Hallow, that’s the Anthology series we talked about sometime last year (formerly called Rabies & Germs), which we are still in development on.
In January, McConnaughay (that’s me) published The One-Two Punchline on Amazon for the Kindle as the debut of a new lineup of stories we’re doing called Readers Digested [Presents]. And, in February, Scott Moore published The Color House on Amazon for the Kindle in our second installment.
Both stories are about fifty-something pages apiece, each offering a dark style storytelling that ventures away from the guts and gore, in favor of a “horror-of-the-mind” approach. Not only are they the first installments of the new Amazon lineup, but they will be officially included in the upcoming Dreamers Hallow anthology.
Something I have talked about with other staff members of Readers Digested is doing something small, but hopefully helpful to all of you.
There’re a lot of cogs in place behind the scene I can’t talk about yet, but I believe sometime in the Summer we will have an improved platform for storytelling that will better accommodate and offer exposure to fledging writers and creative people.
In the mean time, however, I wanted to start a small series of contests on Readers Digested to offer the best spotlight we can and develop a rapport with some of the writers who haunt our website on the outskirts. Readers Digested will be having a contest, so to speak.
My actual plan is to have more than one contest, or, an approach that will be reactionary to the response we receive toward said contest. The website is on the lookout for talented writers interested in participating in Dreamers Hallow / interested in contributing to a venture we are developing outside of it.
For now, the contest is searching for stories in the neighborhood of 1,000 – 3,000 words, with the winner / winners receiving a financial compensation of twenty dollars apiece. Writers are allowed to submit more than one story, meaning they can, potentially, win more than once.
I am aware the amount received is not an enormous “bounty” and I understand that. However, the story will be included in our Dreamers Hallow anthology, which means we will take an active interest in advertising and publicizing your contribution. Readers Digested is a small but ambitious venture.
I say that for transparency’s sake. Although we have made a lot of headway in the last year, especially given the circumstances, and we have a budget in-place for 2021, that capital is built through normal human beings with day jobs, reacting / experimenting / and celebrating a shared love for the artform.
In 2019, Scott and I attended Comic Cons in Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, and Illinois, and, although that has taken a hit due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we do intend to attend Comic Cons in 2021 – 2022 (obviously, it demands on the ‘state of the world’, but we hope to have a table at Missouri’s Cape Con in October, for instance).
Upon acceptance, we would also like to have a correspondence with you, discussing further stories for other ventures, and, specifically, how we can collaborate and bring more publicity to your stories (rising waters raise all ships).
The genre requirement is loose, to say the least. Obviously, Readers Digested likes to take a walk on the wild side with darker subject matter, and that is inline with what we are searching for with Dreamers Hallow. However, that should not discourage you from submitting a story you think might not matchup with a genre or subgenre that aligns with that. Since we are working on another projects as well (one that’s more generalized and accommodating), we are interested in looking at practically all submissions sent our way.
Submissions should be sent to ReadersDigesteddotcom@gmail.com and if you have any questions, I would advise you to message me on our official Twitter page or through the email provided. There is not an exact timetable for anything yet, as we are still gauging anticipation and interest, but we would like to eventually be able to do multiple contests per month.
Don’t hesitate to reach out about any concern or curiosity you may have, be it about the Anthology or something else on your mind.
Thanks,
McConnaughay