Crimeucopia

08 March 2024

Crimeucopia is intended to be a First Filled - First to Publish anthology series of vaguely themed short fiction, designed to cover a broad spectrum of crime fiction - though we do have a backstop in the form of an irregular Free-for-All edition depending on the amount of submissions received.

Submission window - Please Read Our Submissions Guide & Checks Before submitting

Submissions are now closed until

May 7th to 21st

&

September 1st to 30th

Multiple Submissions are acceptable (within reason) - due to several recent experiences Simultaneous Submissions are no longer being accepted

Reprints - Please, please, please leave a respectable amount of time between initial publication and offering them up to us.

The original publishers will want to generate sales, rather than having them undermined by yet another instance of the fiction appearing elsewhere.

Manuscript formatting - Please, please, please use a standard Manuscript format, with as little or ideally no 'personalised' formatting as possible as it sometimes plays merry Hell with typesetting.

(Templates here - https://www.shunn.net/format/story/ )

Due to our Indie Small Press/Semi-Pro nature, MIP is not our full-time, salary paying job. This means we are not scanning for emails 24/7-366 (to take into account Leap Years), so please hold off for around 60 to 90 days before clicking the send button on that Why aren’t you bastards talking to me about my submission!?! email. We don’t intend to run a slushpile, however, we will accept material with a provisional publication date that may slide right if unforeseen circumstances raise their nasty little pointed heads. Your understanding in regard to this happening is much appreciated. To make this more palatable, we also to pay on acceptance, rather than on publication.

Submissions are via email attachments to submissions@murderousinkpress.co.uk with a subject line of SUBMISSIONS_Crimeucopia_<Your Name>_<Story Title>

Publishing will be through both Amazon (Online Paperback and Kindle) and IngramSpark (Bookshop Paperback and ePub/eBook distribution). If in doubt, or have difficulties with Amazon, then please use the ISBN and order from a local bookshop. Resellers, please talk to sales@murderousinkpress.co.uk in regard to mixed low run orders which we can supply at approximately 50% discount + shipping & tax.

Having originally worked with the standard UK Paperback size (129mm x 198mm), since the end of 2022 we have gone over to the US B-Format of 6 x 9 inches. We usually run with a matte cover, and around 250 to 280 pages.

Please Note:- We are not looking for pure Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, or work involving pre-existing characters (ie Fan Fiction).

Intended themes – always open to interpretation – include:-

Great Googly Moo!

Planned for November 2024, this is a new project, revolving around humorous Private Eye fiction (and for PI, we’re using the MWA definition, ie paid to investigate – though we’re not too fussy if it’s cash or kind/barter.)

Our only real stipulation is that it’s between 2,000 to 11,000 words – and the humour can be extra dark or bright white, that is up to you.

A Load of Balls

Planned for June 2025, if it’s a sport involving a ball (regardless of shape) and there’s a crime, then we want to read about it! Maybe the protagonist is a PI who was once a star of track or field – or someone in a police force dealing with the murder of a coach – or any variation in between. As long as it involves a sport – and that sport involves balls of some kind (physical and/or metaphorical) – then we could be interested.

Due to earlier submissions, we already have Baseball spoken for.

Can You Dig It?

Planned for September 2025, this will hopefully be an anthology of fiction that revolves around the music business in some form or another. Maybe it revolves around a Detective who has a penchant for a particular genre – maybe someone in a studio/theatre/at a gig/wherever (anyone remember Phantom of the Paradise?) – anywhere from Baroque to cutting edge – not forgetting stars such as Pete & Bas are 70-year-old successful rap artists, thus showing there’s no restrictions to fame and/or notoriety.

What The Butler Didn’t See….

An all-Cosy edition – The Cosy Nostra 2 if you will.

It could be a ‘Golden Age’ set piece – it could be a modern Suburban tale – or it could be something from the emerging Crumbly Noir (a la Thursday Murder Club/Marlow Murder Club, etc.) No geographical location prohibited. Think Kerry Greenwood/Phryne Fisher or Gladys Mitchell/Mrs. Bradbury if you want to sprinkle a little spice (we’re talking Korma, not full on Vindaloo.)

Don’t Read That! Read This!

Our Free-for-All, no theme themed Crimeucopia - still in need of a cover, but this isn't planned until late 2024.

See also Side Projects for details of niche projects that are slow time burners

Other 'themes' will be added as we go through the workflow- though the publication calendar is now complete up to September 2024.

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