Call for Submissions: The Valancourt Book of International Horror Stories

Following the success of our three volumes of the Valancourt Book of Horror Stories series and the inauguration of our new Valancourt International series, we are currently open for submissions for our forthcoming Valancourt Book of International Horror Stories. Submissions are welcome from authors or publishers.  (If you are not an author or publisher but would like to recommend a favorite author or story, please feel free to do so!)

Guidelines and Requirements:

1.  The story must have been previously published by a professional publisher in either a print or electronic publication. (We are not looking for unpublished or self-published work at this time.)  Stories must be no longer than 8000 words.

2.   The story must originally have been written in a language other than English.*  Submissions of stories in regional or minority languages or in languages traditionally under-represented in American publishing are especially welcome.  *Exception: English-language submissions are acceptable if the author is from a country other than the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa. 

3.   The story must be a "horror" story; however, we define this term as broadly as possible to include stories of the occult and/or supernatural, weird fiction, tales of the unsettling, uncanny or macabre, ghost stories, etc.  Stories in adjacent genres, such as dark crime, dark fantasy, or black humor, may also be considered.

4.   Here at Valancourt Books, we read quite a few languages.  If your story is written in one of the following languages, please submit it in the original language; an English translation or other accompanying material in English is optional, but not required:

• Afrikaans
• Bulgarian
• Catalan
• Danish
• Dutch (including Frisian, Low Saxon, and other regional languages)
• French (including Occitan and other Romance languages)
• Icelandic
• Italian
• Norwegian
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Scots
• Spanish (including Galician and other regional languages other than Basque)
• Swedish

If the story is written in another language that we cannot read, the story must be accompanied by either a translation (which may be rough; it need not be a professional translation) or a synopsis/summary of the story that will enable us to form an opinion as to whether the story may be right for the book before going to the expense of having it translated. If in any doubt, feel free to contact us.

5.   Anticipated publication date is October 2020.  We will accept submissions through April 30, 2020.  Stories received earlier have a higher chance of being read and chosen than stories received at or near the deadline. Stories not accepted for this volume may be resubmitted for consideration for future volumes.

6.    Authors whose stories are accepted for publication will be offered a fee as well as a contributor's copy of the published book.

Please submit materials via email (PDF, Word, EPUB are all acceptable) to jjenkins@valancourtbooks.com.  Submissions may also be mailed to: Valancourt Books, P. O. Box 17642, Richmond VA 23226 USA.  Please note that books and other materials mailed to this address will not be returned.