***Submissions***
CLOSED

COMING Mid-2010

Rogue Blades Presents

ROAR of the CROWD

150,000 words of the original massive multiple player
games and other spectator events!

cover art by Johnney Perkins

These are the tales of ancient cultures locked in mock battles of deadly intent; of forgotten generations playing violent games in lieu of warfare; of individuals vying to the death for the favors of rulers and lovers. These are also the tales of grand events, of the spectator-sports of harvest festivals, royal weddings and funerals, and grim executions in all their glorious gory entertainment! These are the tales where the crowd determines all. These are historically real events and real games** from real cultures, but fantastical elements are required! The crowd must be involved: Either the game/event carries into the crowd or the crowd overwhelms the participants. The crowd is the key: your story cannot be told the same minus the crowd.

Examples of possible games:

Mongolian horse polo ~ Mayan pokolpok ~ Assyrian, Egyptian, Hittite, Roman, Byzantine chariot races ~ Greek pankration ~ Celtic & other cultures’ mock land battles ~ Roman mock sea battles ~ Medieval melees ~ Iroquois tewaarathon ~ Zulu donga ~ Indian silambam ~ basically any ancient war game or game of violence ~ NOTE: Individual battles, ala Renaissance duels, Roman gladiators, and Medieval jousts, will be considered so long as the parameters of the anthology are met. FURTHER NOTE: These individual battles are not the priority – IF I accept any such tales, there will be only one of each style game. This is not so of the multi-player games.

Examples of possible events:

Royal nuptials, funeral processions, births & namings ~ Triumphant parades/returns of war-mongering & conquering kings & generals ~ Public executions, a la hangings, drawn & quarterings, beheadings, drownings, burnings ~ basically any event of ancient times wherein a mob could be expected

IN ADDITION: Accepted authors will be expected to create a short historical note covering their chosen game/event for inclusion in the anthology immediately at the close of their stories.

• Word Count: 5,000-15,000 words ~ NO less, some leeway with more
• Submissions: Send all submissions via email
  • to editor<remove>@roguebladesentertainment.com (Don’t forget to remove the <remove>)
  • with a subject line stating RotC Submission – *Title of Story – *Name of game
    • Example = RotC Submission – Head Games – Mongolian horse polo
  • as an attached .RTF file
  • Condolences in advance, but submissions that cannot follow these requested guidelines will be rejected automatically. I don’t ask for much nor set too difficult of parameters, and time is no longer my friend. Choose a simple and easy to read font and size, italicize, use a single space between sentences and double quotes around dialogue, put your name at the beginning of your story and ‘The End’ at its end, and all should be good. Stories without the proper subject line probably will not make it through the filters, and stories not attached as .RTF, less than 5,000 or more than 15,500 words by MSWord count will be rejected unread.
  • Acknowledgments: Properly submitted stories will be acknowledged within three days of submission. If you haven’t heard from me after three days, feel free to query about your submissions status.
• Payment: $.01 to .03/word ~ The pay scale of RotC will depend upon the success of RotB, 2009′s premium anthology. RotC begins at $.01/word for all accepted stories, but will be increased as RotB meets internal goals between now and April 1st, 2010. This page will be updated with any rate changes.
• Nonfiction component: Every writer whose story is accepted will be asked to create a short historical note covering their chosen game/event. These nonfiction articles may be about a specific incident or simply be of general interest regarding the event/game and the culture(s) utilized within the story. Do not include such articles with your story submission. Only authors notified of acceptance will have to submit their articles by a specified date.

***Submissions: closed January 31, 2010***

Submissions are being read en masse throughout February 2010,
and all stories will be rejected/accepted by March 15, 2010.

Please do NOT query
about your story’s status between acknowledgment
of its submission and March 15, 2010.

**The games/events must be legit. Either on the list provided above, or you must provide evidence of the existence and culture of whatever you are writing about. Because the events/games have to be ‘real,’ that includes their culture and their people. Now that could mean all sorts of things…

This anthology will NOT be simply historical adventure fiction or another collection of gladiator tales.

Let the games begin!

Roar of the Crowd
Coming Mid-2010 to all fine book sellers
Or order direct from RBE