Rules for Anthology Submissions

With Words We Weave 2024…  
A man left his cat with his brother while he went on vacation for a week. When he came back, he called his brother to see when he could pick the cat up. The brother hesitated, then said, “I’m so sorry, but while you were away, the cat died.”

The man was very upset and yelled, “You know, you could have broken the news to me better than that. When I called today, you could have said he was on the roof and wouldn’t come down. Then when I called the next day, you could have said that he had fallen off and the vet was working on patching him up. Then when I called the third day, you could have said he had passed away.”

The brother thought about it and apologized.

“So how’s Mom?” asked the man.
. . . . . . . . .


“She’s on the roof and won’t come down.”  
***  
We are delighted to announce – much earlier than expected – the theme for our 2024 anthology…….
“_________ is on the roof.” Any thing, on any roof, at any time, any place, any genre as long as it’s up there.  We hope this theme/prompt is a fun, creative, and even lighthearted break from the often overwhelming seriousness that inspired previous themes.

2024 Theme: Something’s On the Roof

All submissions must be sent via email to info@texashighplainswriters.com

Submission email subject shall be “2024 Anthology Submission” and shall be received no later than July 31.

NO mailed submissions will be accepted.

Submission fee: $10 for members, $50 for non-members (includes membership fee).

All students (school and college) $10

Payment may be made online HERE or by check at this address:

Texas High Plains Writers
PO Box 19303
Amarillo, TX 79114

Mailed payments must be postmarked no later than July 31. Do NOT send anthology submissions via mail.

No refunds for mailed or otherwise non-complying submissions.

All submissions must be formatted as follows:

  • 1” margins, left-justified
  • Times New Roman, 12 pt. (NO other font).
  • Italics, Bold, All-Caps, and Underline for accent only, as appropriate.
  • Double-Spaced, with no extra lines added before or after paragraphs, except between submission and author bio.
  • No subtitles.
  • No Roman numerals.
  • Single-space after periods.
  • No photos or illustrations.
  • Submissions shall be in .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .odt files. No PDFs. No hand-written or typed & scanned submissions.
  • Word count to be 500-2500 words, exclusive of header and author bio.
  • Title and Author’s name shall be at top of page in a header.

No sexually explicit, graphically violent, or abusive content allowed.

Editor has the right to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation without prior notice to author.

Editor may (at their discretion) request corrections, changes, and resubmissions by the author for quality/ consistency/ content purposes, if time allows.

Author retains all rights to their work.

Author Bios (optional) shall be submitted in the same document, placed after the short story, and shall not exceed an additional 250 words. Bios may include one hyperlink.

Please keep submission and bio as one document.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS JULY 31.