Michael A. Ventrella

The anthology I am co-editing, Across the Universe, is now open for submissions!

Through a Kickstarter campaign, we were able to raise enough to go ahead with this project, and we have confirmations from authors Spider Robinson, David Gerrold, Jonathan Maberry, Peter David, Alan Goldsher, Cat Rambo, Keith DeCandido, Jody Lynn Nye, Lawrence Watt-Evans and Gail Z. Martin with notes by Janis Ian and Nancy Holder.

We should have room for a few extra stories as well. But only a few.

Book Theme

The theme of the anthology is “The Beatles – What if?”  What if Brian Epstein hadn’t managed the band? What if George Harrison hated sitar music? What if Ringo had been the true star of the band all along? What if the Beatles had been aliens? Or magic users? Or zombies? Or American?

Story Concepts: What to Avoid

The confirmed authors have already begun their stories, so please avoid the following ideas:

• Beatles as zombies
• Beatles as super heroes
• Beatles as time travelers
• Beatles as “the Scooby Doo gang”
• Beatles as medieval fantasy adventurers
• Beatles as Tetrad wizards representing the elements
• Beatles as animatronic robots
• Beatles as paranormal investigators

This is not to say that you cannot do a variation on these, but keep in mind that if we get more than one story with the same theme, your chance of having your story accepted is reduced. That said, do not contact us with your idea first. After all, two authors can take the same basic idea and produce completely different stories.

Story Length

The story should be around 4,000 words. This should be sufficient for what should most likely be a somewhat humorous tale. A ‘short story’ should be defined as not less than 1,000 words for the purpose of this book; we want you to write the story at the length it most makes sense, but we are not publishing drabbles or flash fiction, and prefer stories in the 2,000 – 4,000 range.  This is not a strict cut-off, though.

Payment is 5 cents a word. Take as many words as you need to make a great story, but if it is too long, it had better be so great that we can’t refuse it. A good but padded story may get rejected over a concise, fast-moving one, because we want to fit in as many stories as possible.

No reprints. And only one submission. If you have two stories, send your best.

I’m Unpublished. Can I submit?

Yes! We encourage that. But you will still face the same standards for submissions as the published authors. (Pro tip: Check your spelling and grammar.)

Formatting

Submit your story in 12-point, Times New Roman/Times Roman font, double-spaced.

If you have questions about other formatting (like setting up the story’s first page, and page numbering), refer to Shunn’s manuscript formatting guide.

The file should be RTF, not Word or DocX or anything else. The first page should be your cover letter – keep it brief – which will include your contact information and a 50-75 word bio. List previous publications or relevant experience in the bio.

Email

Send your complete story/cover letter to WhatIfBeatlesAnthology@gmail.com – do not send to Michael or Randee personally. Your bio and story should be in the same document. We will accept submissions until June 14. Please continue to check this space for any updates. We will do our best to contact everyone who submits, but if you have not heard from us by August 1, you can safely assume that your story was not accepted.

Advice on Copyright Issues

Cory Doctorow was unable to contribute to the anthology, but did offer us these suggestions concerning copyright issues when dealing with real people and real songs. Keep his comments in mind:

Characters are copyrightable, but a mere mention of names is not enough to violate a copyright in Eleanor Rigby (the character), or Eleanor Rigby (the song).

However, if I actually wrote a short SF story featuring Eleanor Rigby and Father Mackenzie and if he were darning the socks and she were picking up rice at a church after a wedding and wearing a face (that she keeps in the jar at the door) then you could legitimately say I am taking so much of the song’s structure and plot, that I am effectively creating an infringing derivative work—just as Cats! expanded Eliot’s silly poems into a rock opera, (Which, given that the poems were written in the 30’s, are still under copyright.)  And that would need permission and or fee.

Of course, if this were a true parody in which it turns out that all the lonely people are actually smoking weed and having great sex at sock-darning parties, then that might be a fair use.  But if it is just that she keeps her face in a jar by the door because she is an actual alien, and the rice is to feed her growing insectoid child whose mind control will take over the earth… Well, I dunno.  Lots of courts would frown at that as just being an unauthorized sequel / unlicensed derivative work.

And others are not ok.  Saying that character names may never be used is silly.  If I said that  Cory Doctorow was “the Father Mackenzie of Sci Fi writers,” darning your antique 1950’s pajamas rather than hitting the hot spots, copyright law wouldn’t even be involved.  (Titles and short phrases are not copyrightable and that’s just an analogy).  But the fan fic extrapolation from an existing delineated plot, even if a plot developed in a song, might not be.

I don’t think there is a trademark angle. The courts have dealt relatively harshly with claims like that unless there is some way to claim sponsorship and affiliation.

Bottom line: Avoid retelling stories in the songs, avoid using the song lyrics (titles are okay), and avoid using copyrighted characters (such as the ones in the Beatles movies — no Blue Meanies, please).

EDIT ADDITION:  Be sure to check out this follow-up post which goes into a bit more detail about what we’re looking for

Filed under: writing | Tagged: Alternate Beatles stories, Beatles, submission guidelines | 3 Comments »