BRB Books is happy to announce we are now accepting fiction submissions for our first anthology, Tales from the Little Library. This will be an anthology of speculative short stories set in the libraries of your childhood. Think of “Exchange” by Ray Bradbury, “The Night Bookmobile” by Audrey Niffenegger, or “Phoenix” by Ursula K Le Guin.
- Opening: October 15th 2025
- Closing: November 30th 2025
- Publishing: Spring 2026
- Word count: 3,000-5,000 words
- Payment: $15
We are not looking for nonfiction essays in this anthology.
Many of us are lucky enough to have memories of a special childhood library. Perhaps we remember a librarian who went out of their way to introduce us to books that stuck with us for the rest of our lives, or one who would waive overdue fees as a quiet kindness to an underprivileged family. We’re looking for stories that start from these real situations and tip over into the fantastic. What if your favorite librarian was a vampire? Or a time traveler? What if the teenage-you discovered that the library’s local history collection was haunted? What if animals from other planets were available to check out, right next to the DVDs? What if the childhood library has a collection of books famous children’s authors never wrote? What if the library used an interplanetary or alternate dimension delivery service to get your materials? There are so many possibilities.
Guidelines:
We will not accept stories that promote bigoted and mean-spirited bullying. We will not accept any stories with on the page sexual violence or violence against children or animals. You can include violence in stories but we’re not here for torture porn. Same goes for erotic or sexual elements. Ask yourself, “Does this advance the plot?”
For this anthology, we’re looking for content that would fit within a PG-13 rating. Think of Raiders of the Lost Ark—you can have violence on the page, and you can scare us (please do!), but we are not looking for extreme horror or splatter throughout. Even though this isn’t a YA anthology, ask yourself if you’d be comfortable letting a younger reader see your story.
At this time, we are looking for stories between 3,000 and 5,000 words.
Stories should be in Modern Manuscript format (https://www.shunn.net/format/story/). Don’t freak out if you don’t get it 100% right, especially if you’re a new writer, but do try to follow the formatting where possible.
Submissions should be in .doc or .docx format as an attachment to submissions@brbbooks.com.
We will not accept .pdfs at this time. Please include a cover letter in your email and a brief author bio in third person. We especially encourage writers at the start of their careers to submit.
We are not responsible for lost emails.
We will not accept any submissions created by or utilizing AI generated work. We are looking to publish and celebrate human creativity—please don’t sell humanity short by outsourcing that to a bot.
Simultaneous submissions are okay. Please let us know immediately if a story you submitted was accepted elsewhere. We are not accepting reprints for this anthology.
Payment and Rights:
We are looking for first publication rights with six-month electronic exclusivity from date of publication for this anthology at a fee of $15 to be paid out via PayPal, plus a contributor’s copy (ePub and paperback).
For questions, email info@brbbooks.com.
