![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Also, due to some email problems last Friday, we may not have received your submission. So if you emailed us on July 3rd, please resend it just in case.
And that's all for now. Stay tuned to the first of August when the latest issue of Nossa Morte is released. Going on 2 years now, and still loving it!
Fiction:
"In The Shaft" by Scott Ellis
"Ophelia Doe" by Inanna Gabriel
"About 77 Degrees, West of Nassau" by Don Norum
"The Bus Stop Man" by Stephen Owen
Plus, an interview with Ellen Datlow to continue our streak of snagging some awesome people in this business to chat with us.
And once again, some amazingly creepy cover art by Mike Bohatch.
Enjoy!!
It's been a while since we've posted so we thought we'd give a quick update on the latest here at Nossa Morte:
Submissions have been flying in faster than ever lately, and our response times have slowed down to a longer period than we usually target. We're currently running around at around 5-6 weeks, but we're quickly catching up and expect to be back below a month soon. If you submitted to us before mid-February, you should have received a response by now. If not, feel free to send us an email to check up on your story.
Our May issue is just around the corner. We have 3 stories accepted so far, with a few more in the "maybe" pile. Yet again, the quality of fiction continues to blow us away. Without fail, we never seem to go very far through the slushpile before hitting a piece that stands out amongst the rest. And because we're pretty picky here about the stories we select for the magazine, it just makes it that much harder to choose. It's a tough job, but we love it!
And speaking of which, it seems that Nossa Morte has popped up on Duotrope's list of the 25 Most Challenging Fiction Markets. The list excludes any markets with a zero acceptance rate, which includes many very fine, but extrememly competitive magazines out there, so we won't pat ourselves on the back too, too much. ...maybe just a little. :-) But we're in good company on the list, and it's still cool to see us up there. Did we mention we were picky...err very selective? :-)
As always, any comments or suggestions, don't be shy.
Lorne Dixon's debut novella, Snarl, was just released from Coscom Entertainment. We featured a story by Lorne in Issue 3 of Nossa Morte, and we think he's an amazing writer that you'll probably hear a lot more of in the near future. You can see a review of the book in our February issue. From what we've seen, Snarl is sure to impress readers. We certainly were. If you'd like to win a free, signed copy of the book, which Lorne has graciously provided, do the following:
Watch the book trailer for Snarl below. Count the number of times that an image of a werewolf appears in the clip (exluding the book cover at the end). Then send an email to melissa@nossamorte.com with "Contest" in the subject and the # of wolf sightings in the body. On Saturday, February 7th, we'll toss all the emails with the correct answer into a virtual hat and randomly pick two winners to each receive a signed copy of Snarl. (One submission per person, please.)
And as an added bonus, we'll also give each winner a copy of Dark Notes from NJ, an anthology edited by Harrison Howe that features Lorne's short story, "Voices Of The Infinite Sea", as well as an introduction by Brian Keene.
Easy, right? Watch. Count. Win.
(any problems viewing the trailer? -- you can also view it here.)
This time around we feature the following fiction:
"The Last" by Jason S. Ridler
"Brother" by James Owens
"Having Faith" by Christopher Green
"Drogan's Things" by George Seaton
"The Confession" by Christopher K. Miller
"And When She Was Bad" by Nadia Bulkin
Covert art is from Mike Bohatch, who never ceases to terrorize us with these horrific images.
Also included is our interview with John Everson, yet another very fine writer that was kind enough to be a part of our magazine.
And a big thank you to the fiction contributors for making this another great issue.
Enjoy!
Age when I wrote my first story: I found a "story" I had written when I was about 8 years old.
Age when I first submitted a short story to a magazine: never
Age when I sold my first short story: never
Total number of submissions: none
Total sales: 0
Thickness of file of rejection slips prior to first story sale: 0
Approximate number of short stories/novelettes/novellas sold for cash money: 0
Poems sold: 5 (it was a h.s. phase)
Age when I started writing my first novel: 10
Age when I started writing my first completed novel: 10
Age I finished that novel: 30
Age I started my second novel:31
Age I finished my second novel: with my record not till I am 50
Age when I sold a first novel: never selling it.
Total number of novels written (discounting duds): 1 (this is the first time I even talked about it in public)
Books sold: 0
Books in the process of querying: 0
Short stories in the slush: 0
Short stories written this year: 0
Age when I became a full-time novelist: 21 (my writing professor told me I had a great novel in the works and convinced me to really pursue it.)
Age now: 32Submissions have been flying in faster than ever these last few weeks, and the February-2009 issue is almost full already. We do have one more fiction spot open though so keep those subs coming. And we read all year-round so even when February is full we'll keep reading for the next issue.
We've also made a lot of headway in getting through the slush pile, and response rates are currently running around 3 weeks.
If you don't already do so, we'd love for you to report your responses to Doutrope. It's a great service and the more accurate the statistics the happier we'll all be.
And lastly, thank you for your continued support!
Well, now that it’s been a couple weeks since the new issue was released and people have had time to test-drive the new website design, we’d love to hear any suggestions or issues with the current format. Any problems or concerns with the design, navigation, etc? Feel free to let us know, either via comments here or in an email to Melissa@nossamorte.com, and we’ll start tweaking the site over the coming weeks.
Thanks!
This is the 1-year Anniversary Issue and is jam-packed with more content than ever before. Featuring:
Fiction by: Harrison Howe, Michael Kelly, C.A. Manestar, Vincent Pendergast, Jason S. Ridler, George Seaton, and Andrew Shvarts
Interviews with: Michael Kelly and Brian Hodge
Plus, as a special treat, we also have an article from Lorne Dixon in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Stephen King's The Stand. The article features comments by some of the best writers out there, including Michael Arnzen, Tim Lebbon, Brian Keene, Brian Hodge, Gerard Houarner, F. Paul Wilson, Jeff Strand, Elizabeth Massie ... the list goes on and on. It's an amazing article. Thanks, Lorne!
And to top it all off, the web site has undergone a complete makeover.
Check it out!
Congrats to Christopher K. Miller for receiving an honorable mention in the 21st annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror for his story, "A Hawk Circling the Wind". The tale appeared in the premier issue of Nossa Morte in November of 2007.
Nice job, Chris!
read story here...
This is what we saw first thing in the morning
Nossa Morte opened for submissions a little over one year ago. Here are some stats for those keeping track:
Total # of stories received = 729
Rejection rate = 96%
Personal rejection notices = 59%
Form rejection notices = 41%
Total # of writers who have submitted = 431
Average response time = 13 days
Most stories received from one writer = 11
Average # of stories received by accepted writers before a story was actually accepted = 1.6
Most stories received by an accepted writer before a story was accepted = 5
Longest title = 15 words
While we have not received any artist inquiries, we are receiving some graphic stories. If you are or know someone who is a graphic artist, please don't hesitate to let us know.
In the meantime, if you are interested or know anyone that would be interested in advertising with Nossa Morte, please have them contact us at ads@nossamorte.com for more info.
Thank you!
Steven Soderbergh
Your film will be 62% romantic, 17% comedy, 39% complex plot, and a $ 32 million budget.
Filmography: Sex Lies and Videotape, Traffic, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Erin Brockovich, and various other homemade independent films. He may just want to follow you around for a few months and construct a film out of that. Your humor is either dry or non-existant, but your life is somewhat exciting romantically because you're "bad." At least you'll be surrounded by the best-looking people who will be cast as your friends, who in real life are probably just as good-looking. Then when he wins the Academy Award for your film, he won't have to make anymore "Ocean's" films.
----yeah great, i apparently have no sense of humour...but i'm "bad" does that make up for it? i suddenly have the urge to put on a leather jacket and some aviator glasses. and since i have no sense of humour, if they laugh at me i will just have to kill them.
Just one of the many joys of living in the mountains of Jersey.
And August is looking like a record month for submissions received. Thanks everyone! Keep them coming.
You may have noticed that our guidelines for the kind of stories we are looking for are simple and very general: anything that deals with the dark side of human nature.
This was not an act of laziness on our part, but was intentional. We wanted to cast as wide of a net as possible – to not limit the subject matter of a story that you may deem worthy of our attention. As you’ve seen from our first few issues, the type of stories and premises are all over the map. Some are flat out strange or eccentric, and some have more of a classic-horror feel to them. But they generally all share the following characteristics (i.e. this is what we really want):
- we are presented with characters that we feel for, care about, or otherwise are genuinely interested in seeing how they progress through the narrative. Chuck Palahniuk has talked about his practice of focusing only on the ‘heart’ or ‘head’ method of characterization (making the reader care or empathize with a character because of the unfortunate but relatable situation he finds himself in, or making the reader respect and admire the character because of his intimate knowledge of a particular subject) and we tend to agree. The best plot with the cleverest twist will fall completely flat if we don’t relate to the character on at least some level. Likewise, a great character can make even the blandest story come alive (we may not accept it, but we’ll certainly ask you to keep submitting).
- The story takes us into new territory. You may see this often in our rejection comments, and it means we want the story to present an experience for the reader that is beyond the ordinary. Whether it’s the premise or the style of writing, it should be unique. Readers have usually made up their mind about their willingness to get immersed in a tale during that first page, and if they don’t immediately think, ‘wow, this person really knows how to write’, there’s a good chance the story won’t work for them no matter how unique the premise. And if you’re writing about a common theme, present it in a way that keeps us wanting to turn that page. (yes, those first-person cold-hearted serial killer stories are probably best left in the trunk.)
So there you go. We hope that narrows it down a bit for you…but not too much. If you’ve got a story and you’re not sure if it’s right for us, toss it in anyway. We’re happy to give it a read. Just keep in mind that we started this magazine specifically because we love the genre and we want to leave a mark on it. To do so, we want each issue to be memorable. Readers will keep coming back, the word will spread, and before long, Nossa Morte will be right up there with the big boys. And your excellent fiction will help get us there.
Submissions — submissions@nossamorte.com
- Mood:
crazy
