Lots of exciting news for Guts Publishing. To start, pre-orders of Cyber Smut are now available. The anthology is a collection of 12 short stories (4 nonfiction & 8 fiction) and 12 poems about how the internet impacts our lives and relationships. We can't wait to share this with you. Release date: Sept 2020.
We are delighted to announce the theme for our next anthology: Sending Nudes. And I'd like to tell you how we arrived at this. One of our Cyber Smut contributors, Ellie Stewart, wrote a wonderful piece called 'Send Nudes'. It's an experimental nonfiction piece (prose and poetry), taking you on a journey through the life of a young woman and her sexuality. It is one of my favorite pieces in the anthology - and for a particular reason. Because it struck a note with me. Years ago, in my twenties, long before the internet, I had this experience of sending nudes. Polaroids to be specific. Via post. To a man who requested them, a man I had been having an affair with for years. And when this affair ended, yes I thought about those polaroids, and when I asked about them he said: They're gone. And I thought: Yeah right. But of course there was nothing I could do.
So I started thinking there must be some writers out there who'd be interested in this topic. Because although it's not spoken about often, I suspect the sending-of-nudes is fairly common. And I want to know how and why it happens, and who talked you into it, or who sent you nudes, and how the whole thing played out.
The timing of this couldn't be any better. With entertainment venues closed and everyone at home a lot more - streaming, cooking, doing puzzles, and perhaps sending nudes - we've all got a lot more time on our hands. According to Miami Herald, Vox, Forbes and New York Times during the pandemic lockdown people all over the world are filling their time by taking and sending nudes. Who would've guessed this would be one of the results of Covid-19?
We are open for submissions 15 June to 1 September 2020. Fiction, nonfiction & poetry. Your submission must be related to sending nudes - either digitally or by post. This covers a lot of ground:
Why do people send nudes?
Have you ever sent nudes?
Have you ever regretted sending nudes?
Have you found your nude photos have not remained private?
And surely there are countless other ways to approach this theme...
You can find more information on our Submissions page.
We look forward to reading your revealing stories.
xx Julianne - editor, Guts Publishing