Many will remember Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress anthologies with great fondness - many new writers got their start in one. Now they're back.
Norilana Bookshas come to an agreement with the Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust and will publish the next original book in the classic anthology series Sword and Sorceress, which will appear in November, 2007.
Sword And Sorceress is the twenty-year series of annual anthologies from DAW Books featuring sword and sorcery stories of strong female protagonists, warrior women and sorceresses, edited by the late f&sf writer Marion Zimmer Bradley. The series has featured the writing of such authors as Laurell K. Hamilton, Mercedes Lackey, C. J. Cherryh, Charles de Lint, Elizabeth Moon, Jennifer Roberson, Diana L. Paxson, Lawrence Schimel, Esther M. Friesner, Josepha Sherman, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Deborah J. Ross, Charles Saunders, Lois Tilton, Syne Mitchell, Jo Clayton, Jenn Reese, Rosemary Edghill, Jim C. Hines, and countless others who have gone on to become household names.
Bradley was a tremendous influence in the field of F&SF primarily because of the Darkover series, and the gender and gender roles exploration that she performed in that series, including the Free Amazons and a race that doesn't know what gender it will be until adulthood.
Guidelines are available on their site here. They include a couple of links, such as What is a Short Story?, which new writers should look at before submitting, to spare themselves the pain of having to read Why did my story get rejected? after the fact.
Suggestions based on what I know: cliches don't fly. Try to think outside the box and come up with something new and unexpected. Don't be afraid to do bad things to your characters. If you get rejected, keep on.
