Teapot Tales: Volume 4 - Now taking submissions #TeapotTales #ChaBooCha

Teapot Tales: A Collection of Extraordinary Fairy Tales (Teapot Tales: Volume 4)

Do you like to write fairy tales?

Every year we bring out a new volume of our Teapot Tales anthologies with proceeds to benefit the Chapter Book Challenge. This will be the third volume and the theme is returning to fairy tales.

The stories are flash fiction (minimum word count 300 words/maximum word count 1,000 words) and are to either be a new take on an old fairy tale (sometimes called twisted fairy tales or fractured fairy tales) or completely new fairy tales.

Submissions are only open to Chapter Book Challenge members (it's free to join and the sign-up sheet is on the ChaBooCha blog). Previous Teapot Tales anthologies are "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales" (Teapot Tales: Volume 1), "Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea" (Teapot Tales: Volume 2), and Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unusual Fairy Tales (Teapot Tales: Volume 4). The anthologies are sold through Amazon, but will be expanding to other retail outlets. All authors retain the copyrights to their stories to publish in their own collections or on their own websites. Up to three stories may be submitted. Artwork (line drawings) is also accepted.

All work must be your own.

Please include a one-paragraph, third-person author bio with your submission. Website links to your sites are allowed within reason.

Deadline for story submissions (and artwork): August 31st, 2016

Regional Ambassadors & the Teapot Tales anthology series #ChaBooCha

ChaBooCha Regional Ambassadors

The Chapter Book Challenge has been growing year on year and, there are some things I cannot do because of the restrictions of my location, such as meet-ups. As a solution, in places where there are more than just one member, ChaBooCha has Regional Ambassadors. 

ChaBooCha regional ambassadors are the people who coordinate Chapter Book Challenge events within their region. In order to become a regional ambassador, there first needs to be more members in your region than just you, and your main duties are to arrange write-ins and meet-ups with other members within your region and also to spread the word about the challenge within your region.

Promotional materials, when they are in the budget, get sent out to our Regional Ambassadors, and printable files will be sent as well. A special RA badge will be created for RAs to use on their blogs and websites, if they so choose. As things move along, there may be more perks added for RAs.

If you think this is a role you might like to take on within your region, send me an e-mail. (There is only one RA per region, but they may choose a co-RA.)

The Teapot Tales anthology series

The Chapter Book Challenge began in 2012. In 2013, in an effort to help pay for the prizes, the domain, some of the promotional materials and other related stuff, members started contributing to an anthology of flash fictions stories. There are now three anthologies in the Teapot Tales series of anthologies: "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales" (Teapot Tales: Volume 1) and "Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea" (Teapot Tales: Volume 2) and Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unusual Fairy Tales (Teapot Tales: Volume 3). 

Submissions are only open to Chapter Book Challenge members. The anthologies are sold through Amazon, but will be expanding to other retail outlets. All authors retain the copyrights to their stories to publish in their own collections or on their own websites. Up to three stories may be submitted. 
Submitting to the anthology is completely voluntary; you do not have to submit any stories in order to participate in the Chapter Book Challenge. Proceeds go towards the Chapter Book Challenge. Contributing authors get an author bio listed towards the back of the anthology in an "About the Authors and Illustrators" section. Artwork (line drawings) is also accepted.. Submission information can be found at Melusine Muse Press.

This year's anthology title is "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Extraordinary Fairy Tales." The stories are flash fiction (minimum word count 300 words/maximum word count 1,000 words) and are to either be a new take on an old fairy tale (sometimes called twisted fairy tales or fractured fairy tales) or completely new fairy tales.

All work must be your own.

Deadline for story submissions (and artwork): August 31st, 2016

Final vote for Teapot Tales 3 cover!

We have a winner! Now it's time to narrow it down.

The voting total came to:
(One person voted for two different ones, so her vote was split between them into a half-vote. I, myself, did not vote; I only vote if I'm needed as a tie breaker.)

#1 – 1.5 votes

#2 –  4 votes

#3 – 0 votes

#4 –  3.5 votes

This means that #2 has won!

So now we need to vote on which of the #2 covers we want to use.

(If you like the font used on a different one from the one you vote for, you may say so along with your vote.)

Here are your choices. Please comment on this post with the # of the version of the cover you like best.

You have until Sunday, the 11th of October, to cast your vote. The final cover will be revealed on Monday, the 12th of October.

#1: 

#2:

#3:

#4:

#5:

Ghostly Echoes - the Table of Contents

Here is the table of contents for the "Ghostly Echoes: Spooky Tales from Around the World" anthology. The stories are listed in the order they will appear in the book. To make it fair, I started by typing up the titles in alphabetical order and numbering them. I then used a random number generator to determine which order the stories would be listed. Once a story by an author was listed, if a number for one for of their other stories was selected before all authors had at least one story added to the line-up, their story was put at the beginning of the author stories for authors who had written two stories, and this was done again for authors who had written three stories. That way, with fourteen authors contributing stories, all authors would have one story listed in the table of contents within the first fourteen chapters.

Last year, we had around 23 contributing authors and something like 38 stories. Because of this, if anyone else wants to send in another story (3 total stories per author is the limit) or wants to send in a story and hasn't already sent in a story, if you do so while I am still compiling and editing the anthology (it will take me two weeks at a minimum), I will accept it, as long as it is well written. I'll take more drawings for the interior too.

However, since we have 22 stories, this anthology will go ahead either way. As long as the anthology is at least 101 total pages, it will be able to have the title printed on the spine of the print edition, and that is my requirement for adding a print edition.

Please look over the title of your story and your author name as it is listed and let me know of any errors or any changes you want to make. Also, if you haven't already sent in a 3rd person author bio, please do so this week.

1. A Good Guard Dog by Beth Avery
2.  The Stranger by Tinika Ross
3.  The Ghost Train by Ashley Howland
4.  Frances McFadden's Party by Deirdre Sheridan Englehart
5.  The Ballad of Jack O'Lantern by Jennifer Thornhill
6.  Fade to Black by Julia Stilchen
7.  All Hallow's Eve by Geoffrey Landis
8.  Wicked by Angelica Fyfe
9.  Tag by Cecilia Clark
10. Scary Movie by Robert Fyfe
11. The Talisman by Nicole Zoltack
12. The Curator by Bron Rauk-Mitchell
13. Zombie Cat by Mary T. Kincaid
14. The Ghost Cat by Rebecca Fyfe
15. Forever More by L. W. Flouisa
16. The Riddle Tent by Kelly Vavala
17.  Halloween by Robert Fyfe
18. Burning by Angelica Fyfe
19. The Gyspy's Talisman by Rebecca Fyfe
20. Trick or Treat by Ashley Howland
21. The Witching Night by Robert Fyfe
22. Sinking Sands by Rebecca Fyfe
23. About the Authors & Illustrators
24. The Chapter Book Challenge

Teapot Tales 2 - The Table of Contents

Here is the table of contents for the "Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea" anthology. The stories are listed in the order they will appear in the book. To make it fair, I started by typing up the titles in alphabetical order and numbering them. I then used a random number generator to determine which order the stories would be listed. Once a story by an author was listed, if a number for one for of their other stories was selected before all authors had at least one story added to the line-up, their story was put at the beginning of the author stories for authors who had written two stories, and this was done again for authors who had written three stories. That way, with fourteen authors contributing stories, all authors would have one story listed in the table of contents within the first twelve chapters.

Last year, we had 22 or 23 contributing authors and 33 stories. Because of this, if anyone else wants to send in another story (3 total stories per author is the limit) or wants to send in a story and hasn't already sent in a story, if you do so while I am still compiling and editing the anthology (it will take me two weeks at a minimum), I will accept it, as long as it is well written. I'll take more drawings for the interior too.

However, since we have 26 stories, this anthology will go ahead either way. As long as the anthology is at least 101 total pages, it will be able to have the title printed on the spine of the print edition, and that is my requirement for adding a print edition.

Please look over the title of your story and your author name as it is listed and let me know of any errors or any changes you want to make. Also, if you haven't already sent in a 3rd person author bio, please do so this week.

1.  The Misfortune of Myths by Eileen Louden
2.  In the Name of Science by Beth Avery
3.  Saving Siren by Angelica Fyfe
4.  Aye aye, Cap'n by Adam Wallace
5.  Granny Anna's Treasure by Melissa Gijsbers
6.  The Island of No Return by Jo Hart
7.  The Red Pirate Queen by Rebecca Fyfe
8.  Pieces of Eight by Ashley Howland
9.  The Call of the Sea by Nicole Zoltack
10.  The Mermaid's Touch: The Healing Touch by Bron Rauk-Mitchell
11. The Map by Mary T. Kincaid
12. Visit to Grandad by Robert Fyfe
13. Siren Lure by Cecilia Clark
14. Escape at Hellion's Sea by Julia Stilchen
15. Jessie's Journey by Abbi D. Knight
16. The Mermaid of Nook by John Ciarmello
17. The Mini Mermaids: The Wishing Pearl by Kelly Vavala
18. The Mermaid's Touch: The Kiss of Death by Bron Rauk-Mitchell
19. Storm by Angelica Fyfe
20. The Seashell by Jo Hart
21. The Rebel Muse by Rebecca Fyfe
22. Little Blue Boat by Melissa Gijsbers
23. The Mermaid Mystery by Ashley Howland
24. One Pirate Up-Ship by Eileen Louden
25. The Pirate Princess Sarah by Bron Rauk-Mitchell
26. A Mermaid Afterlife by Rebecca Fyfe
27. About the Chapter Book Challenge
28. About the Authors

Teapot Tales Volume 2 - It's time to vote on the cover!

If you submitted a story to the anthology, you get to vote on which of the possible covers you prefer. You may vote in the comment, stating which three you like in the order that you like them. Your first place choice will get three points, your second place choice will get two points and your third place choice will get one point. Please ignore any discrepancies in the titles or any watermark images as all of it will not be problems in the finished book covers. (Also, if you have a favourite but prefer a different font, feel free to suggest.)

Book Cover 1

Book Cover 2

Book Cover 3

Book Cover 4

Book Cover 5

Teapot Tales: Take 2 - Guidelines for "Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea"

I have mentioned the theme for the next Teapot Tales, the one that will come out in Summer 2014, to some of the members of the Chapter Book Challenge, and some of the newer members are asking questions about formatting and submission guidlelines, so I thought it might be good to make everything clear in a post here.

I am taking submission early this time, because I am hoping it will help with the editing so that, when I finally get to the formatting, the editing will be mostly complete.

The theme for the 2014 Teapot Tales anthology will be " Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea." In fact, the full title of the next Teapot Tales anthology will be: "Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea," or something very similar.

1. Your stories must be about pirates, mermaids or other monsters of the sea. But "monsters of the sea" can be loosely interpreted and basically, your story should have the sea or the ocean somewhere in it.

2. Stories do not have to be FOR children, but they do need to be child-friendly in that there should be no bad language, no sex and, although kids love gore and violence, please keep it PG.

3. Stories can not be less than 300 words and cannot be over 800 words. Last time, the limit was 700 words, but several went over. This time, I am hoping everyone can keep it concise enough to stay within the allotted word count. The point of the title "Teapot Tales" is that each story is a short piece of flash fiction - a story short enough that a person can sit and enjoy a cup of tea while enjoying a story or two. People should be confident that they can sit and read a story in a short span of time, easily fitting story-reading into those briefly-snatched, relaxing moments throughout the day.

4. You MUST be an officially signed-up member of the Chapter Book Challenge in order to submit a story to the Teapot Tales anthology. You can sign up here. (You can read more about the Chapter Book Challenge by browsing this site or clicking on the "about" section at the top of the blog.)

5. Please follow the formatting guidelines as stated on Melusine Muse Press's page. Go here to read the formatting guidelines.

6. Proceeds from sales of the anthology go towards supporting the Chapter Book Challenge. Right now, the proceeds help pay for the prizes (we do a lot of prizes during the challenge) and the posting of those prizes. In the future, if proceeds increase, they will also help towards advertising ChaBooCha to bring in more members, advertising of the Teapot Tales anthologies (and other ChaBooCha anthologies) to help get them to a wider audience, donating our anthologies to libraries, setting up a more professional website and more. The goal is to grow membership of the Chapter Book Challenge, so we can better help each other towards our publishing goals. The Chapter Book Challenge is FREE to join and will remain so.

7. Illustrations (line art - black on white) will also be accepted.

8. Author bios must be sent in - around a paragraph each, links may be included, and must be written in 3rd person. These will be included in the book.

9. The deadline for the Teapot Tales submissions is April 30th, 2014.

10. E-mail submissions as a file attachment to Rebecca (at) Fyfe (dot) net.

Anthologies will be made available in both kindle and print formats.

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For those of you who do not wish to join the Chapter Book Challenge, but would still like to participate in writing a story for an anthology, we do one other anthology during the year which is open to everyone. This year, we published "Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit from Around the World." In 2014, we will be doing a Halloween themed anthology. I will create a separate post to explain the guidelines for the Halloween anthology. but,m the basics are that the maximum word count for stories for this anthology will be 1,200 words, and the stories will be written FOR children.

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There is also a charity anthology project that will be hosted in 2014 by Melusine Muse Press, funny, true stories about cats - the cat anthology proceeds will go towards the Cat's Protection League.

Melusine Muse Press will also be accepting submissions for a much larger anthology project, in which a limited number of submissions will make it into the anthology. It is a four volume anthology with a fairy theme, with stories written for adults. Each volume focuses on stories of fairies from the different courts: Winter, Autumn, Spring and Summer. There will be prizes for winning entries in each volume.

Both the cat anthology and the fairy anthology are still having the details put together, but you can look for information on submissions for them later. Sometime in the future, the details will be posted on Melusine Muse's anthology submissions page.

Announcing the winner of the "Once Upon a Time" anthology #ChaBooChaAnth

It's time to announce the winner of a print copy of "Once Upon a Time: A Collection of Unexpected Fairytales." Everyone who signed up to write a story for the challenge's anthology and sent in a draft of their story was added into the drawing. The drawing was done on May 7th using the random number generator.

The winner is:

Jackie Castle

Congratulations, Jackie!