Altrernate Sherlocks | Michael A. Ventrella

Accepting stories for the 2nd “Baker Street Irregulars” anthology

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Michael A. Ventrella

What if Sherlock Holmes had been born in a different body? In a completely different time?

That was the concept behind BAKER STREET IRREGULARS — a new anthology due out on March 21, 2017. (You can pre-order it now!). It contains stories from David Gerrold, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Jody Lynn Nye, Ryk Spoor, Heidi McLaughlin, Gail Z. Martin, Hildy Silverman, and more. It’s co-edited by NY Times Bestselling Author Jonathan Maberry, who also contributes a story.

You’ll find stories with Sherlock as an alien dog, a sex android, a vampire, a female college student, a musician in Beethoven’s orchestra, a monk, a computer simulation, a reality TV show host, a worker in a dystopian future, and a parrot (among other things).

There will be an audio book available around the same time as the book release.

Now we’re looking for stories for the second edition. You are invited to contribute. sherlock_holmes1

Your story must (a) feature a character who clearly has Sherlock Holmes’ personality but is not a traditional detective; (b) not take place in Victorian London; and (c) contain a mystery the character solves in a typical Sherlockian way.

I was thrilled with the number of stories that were submitted for the first book, and sadly had to reject some that were very good but either duplicated an idea in an already-accepted story or which didn’t really have a mystery in there.

If you are interested, please email me first with a short synopsis of your idea. There’s no need for you to spend time writing a story that is similar to one that has already been accepted. Please avoid variations of “Sherlock as a computer program/android” and “Holmes figures out he’s fictional” as those were the most common subjects received for the first book. Use your imagination — there are plenty of possibilities. Sherlock as a singer in a boy band. Sherlock as a Roman soldier. Sherlock as a caveman. Sherlock as an alien crashing at Area 51. Don’t limit yourself.

Include in your email any previous publications (unless I already know you). Stories from first-time authors are considered (and in fact, one was accepted for the previous book).

Note that there is no guarantee your story will be accepted even if you are in the first book. We’ll be looking for a good variety of ideas and styles, and a story that works but doesn’t fit may have to be set aside (but perhaps saved for a future edition).

The stories should be under 8,000 words but exceptions can be made if necessary. Since you will not be paid by the word, there’s no need to pad anything. Take what you need to tell the story and no more, please. We do have a word limit for the book, so if you go too long, it could hurt your chances of acceptance. On the other hand, we’ll always make room for a masterpiece of fiction.

We are not accepting reprints.

The book will be published by Diversion Books. Payment is royalties only. The rights will revert back to you after two years but there is an exception that allows you to have it published by any year-end “Best of” anthologies.

My agent Marisa Corvisiero will be handling the contracts.

The deadline for stories will be December 31, 2016. Note that this is the deadline for the finished story — your proposal must come before that time.

Your final submission should be in standard 12 point type in Times New Roman or variation thereof, in rtf, double spaced. Your name and email must be on the first page along with the word count.

So spread the word. If you know of an author who would love to write a Sherlock story, send this to them. And I look forward to hearing from you.