Improbable Press Blog

Write what you know. Before I get to the debate I had with award-winning crime novelist Natalie Conyer on the ridiculous advice above, I'm flapping my arms over a lovely example of why you should write what you don't know: Úna Woods' Have You Seen the Dublin Vampire? Look at that cover! People rushing across Dublin's Ha'penny Bridge, while a glorious vampire in full regalia stands in their midst. Why I find this book a sweet encapsulation of write what you don't know (while building from what you do) is that Woods set her story in and around Dublin –...

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...