Improbable Press Blog

By J.O. Phael In my experience, second books, especially second books in a series, are some of the most difficult books to write – though there are comforts, too. A first book, while sometimes difficult to plot, is a triumph. There’s enthusiasm and energy around building a new world, new characters, and deciding where the story is going to take them. When you get to the second book, though, there is a whole new set of worries. The characters are established and you have to make sure you stick to who they are, as well as the elements and feel...

Hey, is there anything about these prompts that'd make 'em more interesting to you? Bigger? Plainer? A single photo? No words? Ten words? Dancing boys? Sometimes we get a flurry of prompt fills, sometimes we don't, and I wonder where the flurry is from and can it be repeated? Probably it's that thing which makes a restaurant super busy one day, dead the next but the week after those days reverse and who the heck knows, you know? Still and all, I thought I'd ask. Write On, Challenge Ahoy! I liked last week's responses to the Room No. 4 writing...

By Atlin Merrick Super secret tips! GETCHER SUPER SECRET TIPS RIGHT HEAH! *Ahem* Okay, here's a thing: Improbable Press (IP) is putting together a new anthology, and delightfully someone emailed asking if I had any super secret tips on how they could get their story accepted for it. BOY HOWDY YES. Super Secret Tips For Getting Your Short Story Published Actually, there aren't tips plural, there is tip, as in one, and that is this: Get out your magnifying glass. Squink one eye closed. Then peer through that glass at the submission guidelines for the anthology. I'm talkin' close. Read...

Now closed with 470+ submissions, thank you! Cryptids Emerging: Tales of Dark Cheer Cryptids: they're sea monsters and jackalopes and bigfoot. Cultures worldwide have stories of their own, from Puerto Rico's chupacabras, Scotland's Nessie to the Congo's Mokele-mbembe, cryptids are creatures from folklore, they're rumours, or in the case of this anthology…real. That's what our call for submissions is for: contemporary supernatural or historical fantasy about cryptids living with humans, or just at the edge of our vision, stories of what the world would look like if cryptids were real. What We Want Pick a cryptid from legend or make...

What's with room number 4? Is room #4 the answer to something or a question? Do we have to care what's behind the door? Does it matter? I've no idea, same as I've no idea why this week's writing prompt wanted to be shades of gray or somewhat silvery, depending on your viewpoint. Last week's prompt led two writers to veer toward the same topic very independently of one another and I'm wondering what this week's prompt will do. I think we'll be surprised. (Surprise me?) So are you ready to take the challenge this week and write? I hope...