The first ever anthology of short fiction by Litopians will be published later this year – and all full members have the chance to be involved.

It will be a collection of the finest short fiction that Litopia has to offer, published in print and as an e-book, with the release scheduled for mid-November.

The Colony’s full members have until February 15 to submit their stories for consideration and full details about the submission process can be found on a 'sticky' thread within Café Life.

Nemesis Publishing, run by Litopian John Quirk, will publish the anthology.

‘The idea of a Litopia anthology has cropped up occasionally over the last few years,’ said John, aka Quacker. ‘But with the success of the Colony’s monthly flash fiction competitions, and the short fiction we published in the first issue of Muse, the Litopia e-zine, last year, I suggested to [Litopia founder] Peter Cox that the time was right to bring together a collection of work from within the Colony as a showcase for what Litopia is all about.

‘It’s an exciting project for both the Colony and Nemesis and hopefully we can make it a regular collaboration.’

Peter said: ‘Litopia is run by its members and for the benefit of its members.  The anthology is one more example of members getting together to help each other - in this case, to create a brilliant platform for their writing.

'Writers need to construct a platform, because it gives them both exposure to the traditional publishing community, as well as directly building readers in the world of new media. Whichever way you want to be published, the anthology will help you move closer to your goal.

'Litopia has always been a community on the leading edge of change, and the anthology will sit alongside our podcasts, the Muse e-zine and Radio Litopia as terrific examples of our pioneering spirit. I hope all full members will embrace it.'

Full members wishing to submit a story for consideration should email submissions@nemesispublishing.com and put ‘Litopia Anthology’ in the subject box.

John explained: ‘There is no restriction on genre – just submit your finest piece of work. In terms of length, the stories should ideally be between 1,000 and 7,000 words. However, if for example, you’d like to submit a piece that you entered in one of the monthly flash fiction comps, but which comes in just under the 1,000-mark, then submit that.

‘Ultimately, we want to include the best fiction Litopia can serve up, so we’re happy to exercise a little flexibility where necessary. We’ve had a good response so far, and I’m expecting many more submissions as the deadline approaches. Keep ‘em coming!’

Posted on January 11 2011