Updates from editor K.R. Wieland
Hello all!
It is almost the end of September, friends! That seems crazy to me, but it just means that at Quill & Crow, the Halloween Season is in full swing. We have a lot of exciting things coming your way. Are you ready?
The first exciting news we have going on is our Costume & Crows competition. In order to enter, we ask that you post photos to your socials of your costume with the hashtag #CrowsCostumes and tag @QuillandCrow and @jax2_0 between September 23rd and October 15th. Voting will begin on Twitter Sunday, October 16th and winners will be announced October 31st. We are looking for costumes based on our anthology themes or characters from The Ancient Ones Trilogy. We will be looking for accuracy to theme/character, creativity, originality, effort, and attention to details. First Place Winner will receive their choice of four Q&C anthologies; Second Place will have their choice of two anthologies and Third will choose one. We can’t wait to see what you come with!
Next up, we have our Tales of Toys & Terror flash fiction writing contest. This is another first for us. We want your flash fiction or poetry horror based on or including toys and dolls. These 250 word or less stories can be hauntings or possessions, abandoned places filled with forgotten toys, but we want unsettling tales that leave us with a sense of lingering terror. (Please no abuse/SA). Submissions are open until October 14th with the winner announced on October 19th. The winner will have their piece featured in November’s issue of The Crow’s Quill and in our newsletter, plus your pick of two anthologies from Quill & Crow. For more information on entry and prizes see our website.
Maybe your story of Terrifying Toys is running a bit longer than the contest calls for. If so, no worries, you can submit it to The Crow’s Quill magazine for our November issue of Toy Box. Make sure your story fits within the 1500-2000 word limit and follow the submission guidelines on how to submit.
We are also celebrating spooky tales over on Instagram. If you have a scary story to share, make sure you tag us @quillandcrowpublishinghouse along with the hashtag #CrowTales. We would love to read them and share them on our page for others.
With the end of September comes a new Dark Poet Society Blog. This month, our Crows have written vampire poetry. Visit our website to read for free today! Tomorrow, a new issue of The Crow’s Quill releases. This month’s theme is Cryptkeepers and it is filled with bone-chilling stories and dark poetry. I can’t wait for you all to read it! I’d tell you which is my favorite, but I don’t think I could pick just one!
Speaking of CQ Magazine, our Kickstarter is still going strong! Thank you to all who have donated, we greatly appreciate your support in this. There are two weeks left and some incredible add-ons available still. Please head over there and help us out if you would. This will help us to keep the magazine free for readers and allow us to pay writers for their amazing stories. With your help we want to be able to continue this work.
Lastly, if you are a book blogger, bookstagramer, booktuber, or bootokker, we have something fun to share! You can sign up to become a Friend of the Crows and grab exclusive media kits from our upcoming novels in exchange for honest reviews. If you’re just a fan, please consider ARC reading for us and get free ebooks for reviews before they’re published. To do either, you can sign up through our website. Thank you for support small presses!
Much love from my Little Black Heart,
K.R. Wieland