Second Chances Anthology

Update: 2 anthologies. 1 for Do-Over theme entries and other for Spooky contest entries. You can opt-in one or both

Hello fellow inspirators! Writer Mendalla playfully suggested an Anthology of the second chance competition entries. And several jumped on his idea. I'm offering to spearhead this idea as I've published with KDP (Kindle Direct Publisher) on Amazon and Kindle and was published in a publisher's Anthology hardcopy last year, so I have the permissions process that included authors need to go through that will protect everyone's arses.

It was quite simple, the contest-entering authors submitted their stories to an email with particular verbiage granting publisher access to their attached story doc and if you were a contest winner, you then signed a form saying you retained your copyright but gave permission to an editor for light cleanup of your stories before publishing. In this case you are already included in the book, but I will still post verbiage you need to include in email when you send me your story. I'm hoping to get some editors from other site to volunteer time to make sure our stories are best versions of themselves.

I will format the paperback and ebook and can grant access to anyone to a proof copy before publishing. All proceeds will go to StoriesSpace site. I think a paperback option is good because I'm sure we all would like to see ourselves in print and maybe our kids, parents, spouse. Money to SS right off the bat just from our friends/families orders.

I will ask for title ideas and post sample covers for us to get a majority vote on.

So, my question is: Who out of the 14 authors in this comp is interested in being included?

I am good since it was, well, my idea.😊

And, really, it would be a welcome first for me. I looked at self-publishing through Kindle years ago (stories from redacted) but decided I didn't have the time.

I'm in. Just tell me what I need to do.

If you do the Spooky comp, I’m in too. My story for this comp got way too dark with murder and suicide, so I decided not to enter it. The Teddy Bear Gets It, might have been too traumatic for anyone with a name starting with K. 😉

Hey WG, I'm in – and flattered to be included.

TASK 1:

1) email me your word or Google doc of your story to

2) subject line either "Second Chances" or "Dark Matter" for your do-over entry or spooky comp entry. If in both comps, send 2 separate emails (these are titles for now until we can discuss options)

3) must include following verbiage:

I am submitting the attached story for the Second Chances (current name of second chances-themed collection as of 02.16.2022) or Dark Matter (current name of spooky-themed collection as of 02.16.2022) Short Story Anthology produced by Kimberly Cundiff. I assert that I am the sole originator of this story and that no other person or entity has any claims or rights to this story, for which I will retain complete ownership rights. I will grant one -time publishing rights for that publication only. All other rights to the story will remain with me as the author. I acknowledge consent that I will not receive any monetary payments for my inclusion in that anthology. I acknowledge my awareness that all publishing profits will be remitted to www.StoriesSpace.com.

Author’s Desired Publishing Name:
Country of Residence:
Story Title:
Number of Pages:

Samples from anthology I was in. I'd like to do something similar except just say "Included Authors" instead of listing places in comp. I'd like to do a similar write-up on back if y'all agree. I'll post my write-up for discussion.

I was thinking something on back like:

Accompany us on this literary journey exploring the thought-provoking theme of second chances. What action or decision would you do over if given the chance?

Creative voices spanning the globe, from Australia to the United States, and Canada to Great Britain, share their artistry in this unique collection of short stories.

Maybe include copyright-free quote on second chances from famous person.

Let me know your thoughts.

This sounds like a lot of fun. I'm in!

Quote by WriterGirl
email me your word or Google doc of your story to

Any particular formatting you want? I currently use something approximating manuscript format (double spaced, indented first lines) so it's ready if I submit to a publisher.

Quote by Mendalla

Quote by WriterGirl
email me your word or Google doc of your story to

Any particular formatting you want? I currently use something approximating manuscript format (double spaced, indented first lines) so it's ready if I submit to a publisher.

Doesn't matter. I'll be reformatting all the same to fit template I use. I forgot what template looks like though. What you said sounds good. KDP gives me a template to download.

Two entries from me for this excellent plan. Would it be wrong for me to say, at this point , that I believe your commitment is admirable.

Quote by redwriter

Two entries from me for this excellent plan. Would it be wrong for me to say, at this point , that I believe your commitment is admirable.

Great! Thank you, but this won't take as much of my time as you'd think and I welcome the distraction right now.

I’m in, yes. I think it’s an amazing idea

Writers,

Molly's messaging Nicola just to make sure we are okay doing this. I'll let you know when I hear back. The deal is the writers are doing this project, not admin. And I will just mention StoriesSpace in the intro as the recipient of all proceeds and a short write-up of what site offers then code online publisher to distribute proceeds to the storiesspace PayPal account or however they wann set it up. But the summary/story plug will not mention storiesspace or comps but be more about unique voices around the globe contributing short stories etc etc etc. Please msg me any time or post here with questions, comments, differing opinions.

Provided it gets cleared with Nicola, sounds like a cool idea. Would we just submit our competition stories to be put in an anthology for publication just so I'm clear? Or are we writing something new or ??? That is the only unclear part for me.

Quote by OpheliaTusk

Provided it gets cleared with Nicola, sounds like a cool idea. Would we just to submit our competition stories to be put in an anthology for publication just so I'm clear? Or are we writing something new or ??? That is the only unclear part for me.

You are just sending me your Word or Google doc of your do-over competition story for inclusion in the anthology. No new writing. See message above with TASK 1 after I receive and post okay from Nicola.

Thank you for the invite but I think it may have been sent to me in error. I did enter the competition but didn't do very well. Any such book would only be as strong as its weakest story and I wouldn't want to be the one to let the side down. Thank you anyway and good luck with the book. I will of course be only too happy to purchase a copy when it becomes available.

Quote by Brad_Naylor

Thank you for the invite but I think it may have been sent to me in error. I did enter the competition but didn't do very well. Any such book would only be as strong as its weakest story and I wouldn't want to be the one to let the side down. Thank you anyway and good luck with the book. I will of course be only too happy to purchase a copy when it becomes available.

I didn't make an error and it's up to you, but your story is welcome. I'd like an editor to go over it if you don't mind, just ensuring it's the best version of itself. It could flow better in a few areas, imo. Your storyline will not be changed and was a unique concept. Let me know ... 😊

Quote by WriterGirl

Quote by Brad_Naylor

Thank you for the invite but I think it may have been sent to me in error. I did enter the competition but didn't do very well. Any such book would only be as strong as its weakest story and I wouldn't want to be the one to let the side down. Thank you anyway and good luck with the book. I will of course be only too happy to purchase a copy when it becomes available.

I didn't make an error and it's up to you, but your story is welcome. I'd like an editor to go over it if you don't mind, just ensuring it's the best version of itself. It could flow better in a few areas, imo. Your storyline will not be changed and was a unique concept. Let me know ... 😊

Thank you for clearing that up. I would be very happy indeed for someone to correct my story. I came here to learn and need all the help I can get. I just wish my writing ability was as good as my ideas. I'm working on a locked room murder mystery at the moment and it's taking me ages to get it all down.

Quote by WriterGirl

Quote by Brad_Naylor

Thank you for the invite but I think it may have been sent to me in error. I did enter the competition but didn't do very well. Any such book would only be as strong as its weakest story and I wouldn't want to be the one to let the side down. Thank you anyway and good luck with the book. I will of course be only too happy to purchase a copy when it becomes available.

I didn't make an error and it's up to you, but your story is welcome. I'd like an editor to go over it if you don't mind, just ensuring it's the best version of itself. It could flow better in a few areas, imo. Your storyline will not be changed and was a unique concept. Let me know ... 😊

Are you okay if we polish before submitting? I think my Spooky Tales story is fine as is but might want to take a pass at The Bat.

Sure, Scott. Polish what you want. And I'm asking an editor on other site to go over mine too. Anyone who wants a 2nd eyes and polish, let me know. You'd get to see the final to approve or not.

Quote by WriterGirl

Sure, Scott. Polish what you want. And I'm asking an editor on other site to go over mine too. Anyone who wants a 2nd eyes and polish, let me know. You'd get to see the final to approve or not.

I'll give both of mine a pass this weekend and then send them. Might not be a bad idea to get another pair of eyeballs on them, I guess.

Can we polish if the polish takes the story over 5000 words? I had to cut like crazy to fit the word limit and I would love to have an extra 200 words or so to play with,

Yup. Just don't go too far over ... like turn it into your own novel 🤣

And everyone, I asked Verbal to be included in the Spooky anthology with his Survival comp winning Monster story since it fit the Spooky theme. Thrilled he agreed.

Sure

I’ll just give my two stories a final sweep for typos. Can we keep the author’s notes/forwards? I’ll edit the one I did for the most recent comp and still keep it short, but still wanted the disclaimer for them.

What a lovely idea. I am so pleased to see so many members enjoying the site this way. I was happy to receive the invitation to participate. I cannot submit a story in the spooky anthology since I did not enter that competition. As for the last contest my entry ended up out of the top ten completely. My work was simply not good enough. Since that is the case, and I cannot see me changing the story to actually achieve a better result I will have to decline the offer. Best of luck to everyone.

Quote by Survivor
What a lovely idea. I am so pleased to see so many members enjoying the site this way. I was happy to receive the invitation to participate. I cannot submit a story in the spooky anthology since I did not enter that competition. As for the last contest my entry ended up out of the top ten completely. My work was simply not good enough. Since that is the case, and I cannot see me changing the story to actually achieve a better result I will have to decline the offer. Best of luck to everyone.

Hey Larry! I sent you an invite to the group.

Quote by Survivor
As for the last contest my entry ended up out of the top ten completely.

So did mine. The whole premise of this is to highlight the diversity and quality of the whole field, not just the top ten.

I actually jokingly suggested the idea in response to this quote from Writergirl:

"And I showed my sis these stories and she was blown away ... said she could see all of us published in book stores."

Quote by Violet_the_Verbose

Sure

I’ll just give my two stories a final sweep for typos. Can we keep the author’s notes/forwards? I’ll edit the one I did for the most recent comp and still keep it short, but still wanted the disclaimer for them.

Sure. Include it in what you send me.