Future//Tense: Sex — Open

Future//Tense anthologies are currently on hold due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What will sex look like in the future?

What will change about physical interaction?

What new challenges will sexuality face a hundred years down the line? Five hundred? A thousand?

Future//Tense: Sex is an anthology of transfuturistic science-fiction. The stories within will explore the way sex, intimacy, and kink may change over time, from the near future to far, on Earth or other planets, in humans or those from the stars.

How will society change?

How will we?

About the anthology

Future//Tense: Sex is an anthology of short fiction edited by Madison Scott-Clary. It will comprise several pieces from diverse authors. The anthology will be released in both physical and e-book formats, as well as, depending on interest, audiobook format.

Here is what Hybrid will be looking for:

Submission content

We are looking for short story submissions that explore the shape of sex and sexuality in the decades and centuries to come. There is no restriction on gender of characters or perceived orientation, including anywhere on the asexuality spectrum. Neither is there a restriction on the sexual content of the story. We are particularly keen on featuring #OwnVoices authors. We love seeing non-normative takes on sex and sexuality such as noncisgender characters, relationship anarchy, and queer stories. Do keep in mind that Future//Tense: Sex is, at it’s core, an anthology about sex.

Hybrid Ink will not, under any circumstances, publish content that portrays any of the following without justification or in a positive light:

  • Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or other forms of discrimination
  • Pedophilia or sex with characters under the age of 18
  • Rape, torture, dubious consent, or forced seduction
  • Gratuitous violence, gore, or death

For more information, please see here, and remember that we're all governed by our code of conduct.

Submission genre

There is no restriction on hard or soft science-fiction, but all stories should fit within those two categories.

Submission rating

G–X — erotica welcome!

Submission length

2,000–15,000 words — if you feel like you will fall outside this range, let us know!

Rate

2½¢ per word (maximum $100 per story. Why?)

Simultaneous submissions
Yes, but please inform us if you are also submitting to other sources.
Multiple submissions
Yes — limit 2. A maximum of 1 will be published.
Prior publication
Previously published works are allowed, but preference given to entries that have not yet been published.
Schedule
Submissions open

March 1, 2020

Submissions close

June 1, 2020

Submissions read and responded to

Within four weeks On hold

Anthology available for sale

within six months of contracts

Submission contracts will include a sunset clause. You may see an example contract here.


Submitting to Hybrid

Please submit via email to hybrid+submit@hybrid.ink.

Include your name and what you are submitting for in the subject line in the format [Submission type] Submission name (for X) by Author. For example, Jace Doe is submitting their story "Something Awesome," to the Great Stories anthology, they would use the subject line [Story] Something Awesome (for Great Stories) by Jace Doe.

Alternately, for longer work queries, if Anna Doe is submitting a query for her novel Holy Crap, Birds!, she would use the subject line [Query] Holy Crap, Birds! by Anna Doe.

Please submit the entire short work, or the first 10,000 words or so (about twenty pages) for longer work queries. If your work is longer than 10,000 words, please also submit a synopsis. We will accept the following formats: Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx), Open Document Format/LibreOffice/Calligra Words (.odt), Markdown, TeX of various flavors. We can also accept Google Docs, but would prefer a standalone file.

If you are submitting to a call for submissions, please be sure to note the following in your submission email:

We appreciate you following these guidelines, as they help all of us keep submissions organized! If you are submitting to an anthology and do not follow the email subject line guidelines, you will confuse our poor editors, those wily beasts, and we will have to coax them out of catatonia once more.

For published pieces we take non-exclusive print and electronic publishing rights. Bear in mind that most publications will not publish pieces that have been published in print, e-book, or on the web, so for all intents and purposes after your work is published by us it can only be marketed as a reprint. That is, while we accept reprints, that is hardly universal. It is up to you, the author, to decide if publishing your work in print and/or e-book formats is really what you want to do.