Flaming Ace and Aros Anthology aims to be a YA collection for the ages…and all the aces and aros. We are seeking #ownvoices asexual and aromantic-spectrum short stories and poems in every genre that capture the multifaceted experiences of being aro, ace, demi and grey-aro & -ace. It is our hope to recognize and celebrate as many identities on the ace and aro spectrums as possible.
Funds for this project will be crowdfunded on Kickstarter, but this is a paid project for everyone involved. We plan to pay $0.06 per word for prose, and a flat $50 for each poem. All remaining proceeds will go to The Trevor Project with the intention of expanding aromantic and asexual spectrum awareness, visibility, and education.
What We Want:
- Short stories 1,000-7,500 words in length – genre fiction, contemporary, fantasy all accepted
- Poetry can be up to a page, up to 3 poems per contributor
- #ownvoices ace/aro young adult fiction and nonfiction
- Explicit representation within the story, poem and/or title
- Keep it hopeful but honest
- The more intersectional the better – we welcome people of all races, ages and genders to submit, as long as you are on the ace or aro spectrum
What We Don’t Want:
- Explicit sexual content or gratuitous violence – make sure your stories are reader friendly for sex repulsed, and younger readers!
- Any anti-LGBTQPIA+ content/sentiments unless addressed on page
- Any potentially racist or problematic content. We will be hiring sensitivity readers later in the process.
- Previously published work. Your story should be new!
You can submit multiple stories, but because we want to have as many people take part in this project as possible, we will only chose one of your stories to feature.
We are accepting submissions, sent to flamingacesandarrows@gmail.com, by June 15, 2017. UPDATE: The deadline has been extended to August 1, 2017.
Please send us your poetry or short story as an attachment (.doc or .docx are best), the genre, and whether it is fiction or non-fiction.
Please remember that these must be own voices narratives, and that you must be able to sign a contract, either on your own legally or with parental signature as well. Ownvoices narratives are those where the author and the main character share a marginalization. For more information about being ownvoices, please check out the term’s originator Corrine Duyvis!
We look forward to reading your submission ideas and bringing you on this fun journey with us.
-Ceillie, Brianna, and T.S.
Flaming Aces and Aros Anthology 
What is your policy on swear words?
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Swearing is acceptable to a degree, but may be removed in editing if deemed excessive.
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This is pretty awesome, even if i’m not a english speaker I will submit something for sure. So nice
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That is great to hear! We can’t wait to see what you come up with! 🙂
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This is a fabulous project 🙂 I realize that editing and such takes a great deal of time, but I’m curious as to when you think the final anthology might be released for purchase? I have several writer’s conventions I’m scheduled to attend this year and I believe I could sell some physical copies fairly well at those conventions. Also, anything submitted that you don’t wind up printing will return copyrights to the original author?
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Hi! I’m glad you’re excited about our project!
Given that we are not a publisher on our own (just a trio of friends!), I don’t think that we would be able to get this anthology out before next spring, and have it be the best it can be. We’re crowdfunding the money, and hiring an editor, and we want to have time to get the Kickstarter backers their books first. We’re hoping to start crowdfunding this summer, though!
And absolutely anything that we don’t use will return the copyrights! It would be silly not to!
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Super excited about this and definitely hoping to apply! In terms of the sort of stories you’re looking for, I wanted to clarify–are you looking for stories that focus on aro/ace identity? or are you also interested in works featuring explicitly aro/ace protags that focus on an external plot (ex. murder mystery with an aro/ace detective)?
Also in terms of the #ownvoices criteria, is it safe to assume our identities don’t have to match up 100%? Could I, a gray aro/ace, write about a panromantic ace, for example?
Sorry if these are silly questions; it’s late where am I and I’m honestly just getting really excited about the idea of an aro/ace anthology!!!
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Thank you so much for your interest in our project! We are so excited that you’re excited about this too. To answer your first question, you can write anything you want, as long as the main character/s are on the ace spectrum or aro spectrum. It doesn’t have to focus on the experience of being aro/ace so yes, you can write a murder mystery with an aro/ace detective or write a story that focuses on identity. Either way works. To answer the second part of your question, we want to be an #ownvoices anthology, so your main character should be the same as what you identify as. But you can have non #ownvoices side characters and so on.
And no problem 🙂 your questions are good ones, and we are happy to answer any, or all questions you might have!
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Two questions. One, if an author is uncomfortable with having their name used or does not publicly state they are ace and/or aro, is it possible to publish under a penname? Second, even if it is a new story, would the author retain rights to the characters/world/ideas in the sense that they may be later allowed to expand on the universe/characters/stories at a later point in time without being tied to this project/publishers?
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Yes and yes! So sorry we missed this comment! -TS
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Does a protagonist of 18/19 years old still count as YA? As a freshman in college, I started the protag as also being in his first year of college, but I realized that might be a little out of the age range.
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Ah! I don’t know how I missed this comment. I’m sorry. That would be totally fine! -TS
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Just wondering – what’s your policy on simultaneous subs?
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