Geek Syndicate

Six years ago, Rebellion, the company responsible for publishing 2000AD, launched Abaddon Books, with the audacious notion of bring back the pulp novel with the added concept of shared-worlds. The idea was to produce ‘high-quality science-fiction, fantasy and horror’, and ‘Abaddon would create original worlds and find up-and-coming authors to tell great stories within them’. To celebrate their 6^th anniversary, they are producing a brand new e-novella series and are calling for authors to contribute.

Later in 2012, Abaddon are hoping to release their first in this new series and are asking for open submissions. It doesn’t matter what your background is, established author or new, you can send them your work.  Original stories are welcome, or you can contribute to their existing worlds, which include:

• Pax Britannia – imaginative steampunk based around a continuing British Empire;
• The Afterblight Chronicles – a post-apocalyptic land of cults following a devastating plague;
• No Man’s World – where soldiers from the Great War find themselves on an alien world;
• Twilight of Kerberos – sword and sorcery on an alien planet;
• Tomes of the Dead – stand alone zombie stories but themed around reinterpretations of the genre;
• The Infernal Game – urban fantasy meets gothic horror meets espionage.

Abaddon’s latest line is Malory’s Knights of Albion, stories based on Thomas Malory’s book on King Arthur.

If you plan to submit your novella, some things to keep in mind:

1. Word count should be around 20,000- 40,000
2. Stories should be pulpy, pacy and dark
3. Keep your characters real and challenging
4. Be original and make you reader want to know more

If you want to be the next Scott K. Andrews or Chuck Wendig, submissions will be open from midnight BST on 31st August to midnight on 30th September. For full details on the submissions process, go to www.abaddonbooks.com