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

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

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 fourth 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 3). 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 four stories may be submitted. Artwork (line drawings) is also accepted.

We also run a competition each year for the book cover creation. If you'd like to create a cover for consideration in the competition, the title needs to say "Teapot Tales" in large print and "A Collection of Extraordinary Fairy Tales" in smaller print. Keep in mind that the title needs to be able to be read even when the book cover is seen in thumbnail size. ChaBooCha members vote on the cover. Covers need to be in by August 31st, to be voted on within a week of that date. The winner of the competition will have their cover used for the anthology and, within the anthology, will get credit for creating the cover.

All work must be your own.

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

The Boy Who Didn't Believe in Himself #StoryAdventCalendar

illustration by Robert Fyfe

The Boy Who Didn't Believe in Himself
by Rebecca Fyfe

When Connor's mommy thanked him for helping her take out the garbage and told him he was such a good boy, Connor shook his head.

"I'm not a good boy," he said.

When Connor's teacher praised the poem Connor wrote and told him he was a wonderful writer, Connor shook his head.

"I'm not good at writing," he said.

When Connor's Daddy praised him and called him "smart" because he could read books really fast, Connor shook his head.

"I'm not smart," he said.

Connor lacked confidence.

It was getting closer to Christmas, and Connor received a video message from Santa Claus. Santa Claus, in the video, told Connor that he needed to work on his confidence. Santa also told Connor that he was on the "nice" list.

"I'm not nice," Connor said, "I don't belong on the nice list."

That night, Connor had a dream. In his dream, Santa came to see him and talked to him about his confidence. Santa told Connor that he needed to stop himself whenever he found himself saying something negative about himself. If he heard the words about to come out of his mouth, he needed to stop them and change them into something positive. Instead of saying, "I'm not nice," Connor needed to change the words to say, "I am nice."

Santa promised him that, if he did this regularly, eventually, the positive words would help him change his thinking to be more positive too. It would help him learn to believe in himself. Connor didn't think anything would help, but he promised Santa Claus that he would try.

That morning, and every day leading up to Christmas, Connor would stop the negative words from coming out of his mouth, and instead, he'd only say positive things. He'd say things like, "I'm smart," "I'm nice, " I'm a good boy," and "I'm good at writing."

Eventually, Connor started to feel a change inside himself. He started to feel as though the words he was saying might actually be true. He started to feel good about himself, and most importantly, he started to believe in himself.

By the time Christmas came around, Connor realized that the dream-Santa's plan to help him gain confidence in himself had worked, and Connor looked forward to a very merry Christmas with his family, who he knew loved him - even on the days when he wasn't feeling very confident.


***** This story is part of the 2014 Story Advent Calendar, with stories written by a variety of authors.

Christmas Eve 1978 by Sharon Giltrow #StoryAdventCalendar

Christmas Eve
by Sharon Giltrow

Peeking through the key hole of the old painted wooden door, Joy wondered what the door under all that paint looked like; was it a light wood or a dark wood? It seemed that her Dad painted the door a different colour every year. The door had so many layers it had become difficult to close. But it was only ever closed when one of her older siblings returned to the farm on holiday and she had to sleep on the fold out couch or like now to keep prying eyes out.

Tonight it was closed up tighter than a port hole on a submarine, leaving the perfectly formed key hole the only way to see into the lounge room. Where had the key gone? The thought flashed through Joy’s head as she stood on tip toes to see in. She could see a large present wrapped in red Christmas paper leaning up against the couch. “Could that be it?” she whispered to herself excitedly, “my new bike.”

Joy had been pestering her parents for a new bike all year, a new anything would be great. Being the youngest of eight children, the chances of ever getting anything new were slim. Luckily she loved old things, including her parents. But a new bike was what she wanted more than anything else in the whole world and it looked like Santa had brought it for her. 

Joy squealed with delight, which she quickly quashed; it was the middle of the night she didn't want to wake anyone up. She felt torn; a part of her wanted to turn the handle, creep into the room, and pull back one corner of the wrapping paper and peek inside. But she knew that would take away her parents delight at seeing her look of surprise on Christmas morning. 

With one last look, a big sigh and with her hand covering her mouth to hold back the escaping excitement Joy tip-toed carefully up the hall. She avoided the creaky floor boards. She crept silently past her brothers’ room. Past the antique hall furniture, including the rattly china cabinet, past the newly installed phone on the wall, past her parent’s room with her snoring father and trusting mother, until she finally reached her bedroom. 

Carefully climbing back into bed, she glanced at her older sister and pulled the covers over her head.  Hugged herself tightly and with the biggest smile ever creeping over her face she fell into a deep sleep, filled with dreams of riding her bike on Christmas day.

*****

This story is part of the 2014 Story Advent Calendar, with stories written by a variety of authors.

Dasher Does a Dash by Kristen Schroeder #StoryAdventCalndar

Dasher Does a Dash 

by Kristen Schroeder

Rudolph had a problem.

"Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!" Santa cried.

Unfortunately, one reindeer had taken Santa's words too much to heart. Dasher had done a dash and left an empty harness behind.

They had nearly finished delivering presents to all the Australian boys and girls and were headed to Indonesia next.  Dasher could have "dashed" anywhere between Perth, where Santa last did reindeer roll call, and Darwin.

Rudolph remembered that Dasher had been a bit down in the dumps lately, talking about retirement and leaving the North Pole for someplace warmer.  Had Dasher seized his chance on Christmas Eve?

As captain of the reindeer team, Rudolph was in a pickle. Sure, they could fly without Dasher and still make it around the world if everydeer put in a big effort, but there was the Reindeer Code to consider.  

"Santa! We're going to have to turn this sleigh around," Rudolph called.

Santa obliged with a knowing nod and a wink. There was nothing Santa didn't know.

The team did a 180-degree turn at breakneck speed and swooped toward the coast.  A lovely full moon lit the balmy, summery night.  The reindeer, and Santa, were panting and sweating from the heat.

Rudolph turned his nose up to full power, and using it as a searchlight, the team began checking each and every beach along the coast of Western Australia for their wayward friend. 

"Over there!" shouted Prancer, and they all saw Dasher at once. They flew towards him swiftly and saw his body twisted on the beach in an awkward position.

"Dasher!" Rudolph shouted, his voice full of concern. 

"What happened?" he asked.

Dasher turned his head to look up at his friends.

"It's bloody hot," he said.  His fur glistened with sweat.

"This lying on the beach ain't all it's cracked up to be," he added.

Rudolph just shook his head, relieved.

"Up you get, Dash, we've got a big night ahead of us," he said.

"Why'd you come back for me?" Dasher asked.

"No deer left behind," Rudolph said, quoting the Reindeer Code.

*****

This story is part of the 2014 Story Advent Calendar, with stories written by a variety of authors.

Boomer's First White Christmas by Sharon Giltrow #StoryAdventCalendar

Boomer’s First White Christmas

By Sharon Giltrow

G’day!  My name’s Boomer and I am a grey kangaroo – one of only six living in the New York City zoo. We are part of the Australian Animal exhibition and we flew thousands of kilometres to get here on the flying kangaroo. No, not a real flying kangaroo – that’s what we Aussies call Qantas our Australian airline. We kangaroos can’t fly but boy can we bound.  You see this tail, and these back legs? They are strong and perfect for bounding, and that’s just what we do.

We bound from one tree to another, stopping for a nose wiggle and a nibble on some grass.  And can you believe it? – The people here love it. Some of them watch us for hours, and we don’t really do anything exciting. I feel bad for them; we really aren’t that interesting. I would be watching the penguins – those guys sure know how to entertain.

Anyway, I like it here in New York City. It’s exciting, always something happening, and they have these lovely trees. When we first arrived, the leaves were a deep green, and then they turned all shades of golden. Much more interesting than plain old gum trees like we have back home.

It is a little bit cold here, and it has been getting colder. The mob, that’s what we call ourselves, have been spending more time amongst the rocks and we’re all a bit sleepier; not our usual bounding, booming selves. 

And now all the leaves have fallen off. There’s piles of them everywhere. At first, it was fun. We would lay down and make leaf angels and jump right into the middle of the pile, but now it’s getting a bit eerie. None of the other animals seem to mind though, but come to think of it, I haven’t see old Reginald the Rhino out and about in a while, and, Barry the Bear, I haven’t seen him in days. And the ducks are gone – they just up and flew away a couple of days ago. On no! What’s happening? I’m starting to panic. It’s too quiet. 

Calm down, Boomer old mate. You’re a kangaroo of the world; it’s just different here. Wait! What’s that floating down? It looks like a butterfly. It’s so pretty and so white. Oh, it’s landing on me. Oh, its cold – it’s sticking to my fur. Oh, here comes some more. It’s so beautiful. What is it? I’ll ask Ma.  

“Ma, Ma come look at this. It’s some kind of white dust.”

“Oh darling, don’t you know what that is? It’s snow! It’s Christmas, and, in New York City, it snows at Christmas.”

“Really? Snow at Christmastime? Ma, I’m scared. What if we freeze?”

“Boomer, it will be okay. The people will look after us. Come on, Boomer, let’s go find somewhere warm.”

*****

This story is part of the 2014 Story Advent Calendar, with stories written by a variety of authors.

2014 Story Advent Calendar Blog Hop

If you join the blog hop and add a story to the advent calendar, please feel free to use this picture on your post, if you need a picture.

So, here in the UK, it's a tradition to get your children an advent calender so that each day, from the first of December through Christmas, they can open the prize for that day. Most of the advent calendars are chocolate ones, with a differently-shaped chocolate for each day, but some advent calendars are more adventurous.

Last year, Melusine Muse Press published an anthology of short holiday stories a little bit before Christmas, called Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit from Around the World." There will be no holiday anthology this year. However, instead of chocolate advent calendars, which only help our children's teeth to rot, we are going to provide kids with a story advent calendar this year.

A bunch of authors are getting together to write stories, a short story for each day of the advent calendar. This means that for your children's advent calendar surprise, they can have something truly wonderful - a completely new story, read to them by you.

Authors can write more than one story. We need 25 stories. When we reach 25 stories, we will be done.

If you are writing a story for the Story Advent Calendar, you will need to post the story to your blog and then link the blog post (the specific post - NOT just the blog itself) to the link-up. You should also copy and paste the "linky" script into your blog at the end of your post so that people can follow on and find the other stories in the calendar.

If you do not have a blog, you may e-mail the story to me, along with your name and the title of the story and I will post it into either this blog or one of my other blogs and link it up for you. (I can be e-mailed at Rebecca (at) Fyfe (dot) net.)

Limit your story's word count to between 300 and 1,000 words.

We will be writing fairy tales. If you want to write holiday-themed fairy tales or non-holiday-themed fairy tales, the choice is yours.

Add the link to your post.

Aim your stories at kids aged 6 to 13.

Have fun with it!

"Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea" Book Blast and Giveaway!

“I'm no longer a child and I still want to be, to live with the pirates. Because I want to live forever in wonder. The difference between me as a child and me as an adult is this and only this: when I was a child, I longed to travel into, to live in wonder. Now, I know, as much as I can know anything, that to travel into wonder is to be wonder. So it matters little whether I travel by plane, by rowboat, or by book. Or, by dream. I do not see, for there is no I to see. That is what the pirates know. There is only seeing and, in order to go to see, one must be a pirate.” ~Kathy Acker

"Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea" is having its very own book blast and giveaway in honor of "Talk Like a Pirate Day" which falls on September 19th this year.

About the anthology:

In the spirit of “Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales” is this wonderful second volume of short stories to enjoy! With stories to enchant readers of all ages, this collection of pirate and mermaid stories will open your eyes to the magic that can be found under the sea. Let yourself be pulled into the magical worlds found within these stories. From pirates and sea monsters to kind-hearted mermaids and flesh-eating sirens, let these charming ocean tales sweep you away into the realm of fantasy. With twenty-six stories, including four poems, written by seventeen different authors from around the world, “Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea” is a wonderful collection of short stories, each story just long enough to enjoy with a cup of tea.

The proceeds from this anthology go exclusively towards providing for the Chapter Book Challenge, and the stories in this anthology were written and illustrated entirely by ChaBooCha members.

There are two separate versions of the book, both in kindle and paperback, a version with US spellings and a UK edition with UK spellings and language.

This is the second volume of the Teapot Tales anthologies. The first one was published in 2013, and it was called "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales."

“Darwin may have been quite correct in his theory that man descended from the apes of the forest, but surely woman rose from the frothy sea, as resplendent as Aphrodite on her scalloped chariot.” ~Margot Datz, "A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids"

Other Book Blast Participants:(Go check out their blogs!)

Julia Stilchen

Melissa Gijsbers

Ashley Howland

Imagine! Create! Write!

Melissa Writes

Melusine Muse Press

Jo Hart

Now that you know all about this wonderful anthology, it's time to let you know what the you might win by filling in the Rafflecopter for this giveaway.

magnet

mini poster print

Teapot Tales Volume 1 and Volume 2

- a print copy of "Teapot Tales" (Volume 2)


- a kindle copy of "Teapot Tales" (Volume 2)


 - a mermaid-themed bookmark (with charms)

 
- a magnet with the "Teapot Tales" (Volume 2) cover on it


- a mini poster print of the "Teapot Tales" (Volume 2) book cover
  

- an e-book copy of "Swallow Me, Now" by Melissa Gijsbers

To enter for a chance to win one of the above prizes listed above, fill in the Rafflecopter. Come back and check in as new prizes will be added and new ways to earn points. The winners will be chosen and announced on September 25th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

Ghostly Echoes anthology - It's time to vote for 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. If the winning cover is a close vote or a tie, we will take the top two or three covers and re-do the vote on just them. Vote for the number assigned to the cover.

Cover 1

Cover 2

Cover 3

Cover 4

Cover 5

Cover 6

Cover 7

Cover 8

Cover 9

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.

*****

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.

*****

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.

Get your Kindle copy of "Teapot Tales" now! #ChaBooCha #ChaBooChaAnth

"Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales" is available to buy for your Kindle now. I now know how much work is involved in preparing an anthology of stories written by different people. It's a ton of work, but I am looking forward to doing it again next year. (I'll be doing it again later this month when I put together the anthology for the Creating a Female Superhero Challenge.)

This beautiful cover is created by Kelly McDonald who also has a story in the anthology.

This anthology holds an entertaining collection of fairy tales, from twists on the classics to completely new stories to enchant readers of any age.

All the proceeds from sales of the Teapot Tales anthology will be going towards the Chapter Book Challenge, helping keep it free for everyone to join.

Look for the print version to become available sometime in September. I'll be sure to let you know here when it happens.

Now, go get your Kindle copy of Teapot Tales now!

US version                                  

UK version

Teapot Tales - Vote for our book cover! #ChaBooChaAnth

I am posting all of the submissions I received for the book cover for the fairy tale anthology. It's up to you all to vote on which one you like best. I will not include names with the submissions, so no one can claim "friend voting." (Not that any of you would actually do that!) Also, I am not voting unless we need a tie breaker.

We have until midnight GMT tomorrow night to vote. Vote by stating which one you want as the cover in the comments. Each one will be given a number and you vote for the number you like best. Please ignore any titles in the pieces up for voting as some of these were sent in before we had chosen a title, so people left it as "title" or put a sample title in. Whichever one you choose will have the correct title in the finished product.

#1:

*****

#2: 

*****

#3:

*****

#4:

 

*****

#5:  

*****

#6: (This one is a concept cover, not the finished piece.)

*****

#7:

So there you have it. You have seven covers to vote on and a limited amount of time to do the voting. So get voting! I can't wait to see what the final cover is going to be!