Vernacular Books is pleased to announce we are currently accepting submissions for our anthology The Way of the Laser: Future Crime stories.

What we’re looking for: 

Crime stories that take place in the future. Preferably these stories will go beyond simple murders or capers to reveal something about how technology and the powers that wield it have changed our world. Is poisoning the nanobots responsible for programming the ads in your neural feed a crime? Is organized crime society’s only hope or responsible for its downfall? Consider what will constitute a crime and what unique problems it poses for your characters.

Keep in mind what is criminal behavior one day may be legal the next and vice versa. We want to see people caught up in the pitfalls of society ruled by corporations, ideologies, and demagogues and what lengths people will go to when there simply is no other choice.  

Wow us with your original idea and blow us away with your writing. 

In addition to the contributing authors on the cover, this anthology will have a limited number of slots open for submissions from the public. We welcome submissions from authors who are from traditionally under-represented communities, and also authors writing about non-traditional gender situations of all kinds.

Length: 4,000-8,000 words

Payment: $.05/word advance + royalties.

Rights: World English in print, digital, and audio, exclusive for five years.

Deadline: January 1, 2020/TBD

Send submissions to vernacularbookssubmissions at gmail dot com.

To back this project/pre-order your copy today, visit our Kickstarter page!