Time Scope: Christmas Special

  

ALL PITCHES NOW CLOSED. 

Hello!

Time Scope is back this time pulling together a Christmas Special!

Following the success of e-book Time Scope which is raising funds for disability equality charity Scope, Time Scope 2 (title to be confirmed) will be a shorter, Christmas-themed collection of short stories, poetry and art about Doctor Who and the extended Whoniverse published as an e-book before Christmas 2020 - again raising vital funds for Scope after lockdown resulted in major loss of revenue for them.

What we're after:

Short stories (1000 to 1500 words maximum)

Flash fiction (very short stories, any length up to 500-1000 words)

Artwork (orientated portrait will make formatting easier) 

Poetry

Any other creative suggestions!

We will consider factual submissions too (not reviews)

Themes:

Christmas! Past, present and future across the Whoniverse. Think ideal Christmases, opening special presents, snow-topped mountains, Christmases in space, etc., etc.. How do the Doctors and their companions spend Christmas?

Restrictions:

No Doctor Who characters substituting religious figures/iconography please - so no landing in Bethlehem, TARDIS as the star, the Doctor as a wise man, etc..

For rights reasons, in fictional pieces, no direct references to the Thirteenth Doctor or characters or content that debuted in Doctor Who Series 11 and 12, Daleks, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, K9, Doctor Ruth or Timeless Children. Characters exclusive to non-televised spin-off media may be problematic too.

No crossovers beyond the Whoniverse.

Please keep it family-friendly.

How To Pitch:

For logistical reasons this anthology needs to be turned around and produced for sale quickly! Time is of the essence! As I am no longer on furlough and back working full-time, if the submissions are as numerous as last time, I will have to say no to more people. Sorry. I've got to be realistic with what I can edit and publish. I will be aiming for a spread across Doctors and trying to avoid anything too similar. Please see the timeline below and consider if you can turnaround your work in time.

Please pitch your idea as soon as possible by Thursday 1st October 2020, the deadline for open submissions. If you're reading this after this date and are interested, do still get in touch but please be aware I may not be able to take your pitch further as I will have moved on to the next stage of the project.

Please provide an outline of your idea, for example:

·         a plot synopsis for a short story with an idea of the word count

·     the theme of your poem

·         a description of the artwork

If submitting a story idea, please specify if it dependent on particular characters. If not and the premise could be applied to different Doctors and companions, please state two other Doctor/companion teams you'd be happy to write for. That way, I can ensure an even spread of stories.

Remember, it must be festive!

Please submit your pitch as soon as possible to: timescope2020@gmail.com

If you have written before or have a portfolio of artwork please provide a sample or link to this. We welcome newcomers too! 

All submissions must be your own original work not published anywhere else and should be treated as exclusive to the e-book (e.g. not shared in full on social media). You are very welcome to submit more than one idea. 

For the avoidance of doubt, as this is a charity fundraiser with all proceeds going to Scope, we cannot pay for submissions as we have no budget for this. Your work will be given as a voluntary contribution.

Please note, unfortunately, submitting a pitch or completed work does not guarantee your work will be featured in the anthology. I will let you know either way whether your work will be included or not.

Timeline:

My provisional timeline is:

Pitches in by 1st October - sooner the better.

Completed works by 31st October.

Publication - ideally some time in November, certainly before Christmas 2020.

Any questions - just get in touch! E-mail timescope2020@gmail.com.

Thank you for your time and interest in supporting Scope with this project!

Kind regards,

Matthew Rimmer

(You can find me on Twitter at @WhoHats)

Scope is a registered charity (no. 208231)