CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: "Back When Tigers Used To Smoke" · 12:48am Oct 8th, 2018
Have you ever wondered why ancient pegasi told their foals never to build houses in anger? Or why the ground-bound kirin say an inattentive individual "has their head in the clouds"? Do rumors of a walking mountain in the Dragon Lands pique your curiosity?
For a certain type of person — and, let's face it, we're literary, that's us — awesome tidbits of worldbuilding are addictive. Jorge Luis Borges realized much the same in 1957 when he published his encyclopedia of unusual mythology, The Book Of Imaginary Beings. It's a delight to pick it up, flip to a random page, and get a taste of the variety of stories that have been spun about creatures grand and humble.
So when I entered a Borges style imitation in the latest Writeoff, it shouldn't be a surprise that it fired up other authors' imaginations. Aragón, in particular. "If you told me you wanted to post this in fimfic as part of a bigger anthology of imaginary animals, I would beg you to tell me so I can participate," he said.
WELL, IT'S HAPPENING! The two of us put our heads together and came up with the framework for a collaborative guide to the exotic, the legendary, and the lost.
And we want YOU to join in!
Back When Tigers Used To Smoke
About the Project
The anthology — similar to The Book Of Imaginary Beings — will be a selective reference guide to bizarre creatures of Equestrian mythology and history. But this is NOT a show reference — entries will be a mixture of brand-new creatures, and original, awesome takes on canon creatures. In both cases, we're primarily looking for unique, elegant ideas, delivered in a scholarly but punchy way.
(Aragón goes into more detail on the goals of the project in his blog post about worldbuilding.)
The format will be an alphabetized list of independent entries (one entry per chapter, credited to its author). Wordcount target for each chapter is 100 to 500 words.
The goal is to be inspirational, NOT comprehensive — stoking the fire with a careful selection of awesome facts and then stepping back to let the reader's brain ignite. Flip through Imaginary Beings for inspiration, or take a look at some samples of finished Smoking Tigers articles:
Air Ray
Fanged Stork
Nubeza
Slingtail
How To Join
Wait! Don't get started writing quite yet!
I bet you've already got some ideas brewing. The thing is: We want this to be a cohesive collection using a shared background, and to work in some recurring themes and ideas — but we also want contributions from a broad range of authors. We want to see articles on canon creatures — of which there are a limited number, and many people with awesome ideas. So there do have to be some rules to help us put together the best possible end product.
Here's the short version of how it works:
We'll be taking submission ideas — NOT finished articles — over at our project's brand new FIMFiction group. Basically, sales pitches. Go to the forum thread for submission pitches, tell us the name of the creature you want to write about, and then give us a teaser — a single cool fact you plan to work into your article. (Take a look at what others are doing, too — it'll reduce the number of similar ideas we have to choose between, and it might inspire you to add little cross-references and name-drops to your article!)
Start writing once we green-light your idea. Then, when you're done, we'll work with you to polish up the finished submission.
(That lets us make sure chosen ideas don't overlap. The rate control keeps our workload down, so we can give every submission individual attention. And if we're completely swamped, it lets us chase the ones with the coolest pitches first.)
- We WILL accept multiple submissions — but we'll only let you work on one at a time. If there's one idea you're dying to write more than the others, then lead with it, and once you finish it, add your next submission to the queue and wait for approval in the same way. (If your work is exemplary we'll make sure you jump the line.)
Our initial submission period will be for original creations only. There will be a second, later period for articles about beings from MLP canon, since we expect canon articles to get the most reader attention and want them to be especially awesome. If you're dying to write the article on tatzlwurms or parasprites, show us your creativity with a brand-new beast first, so we get excited to see what you do with the show!
The anthology will have a LOT more original articles than canon articles (the plan is to balance them about 4:1 or 5:1), so even if the canon competition is fierce, we'll try to feature as many authors as possible with original creatures.
Other Ways To Contribute
We'd love to have a few volunteer editors to help authors clean up and trim down their submissions! If you're comfortable with the target style (i.e., "you've read The Book of Imaginary Beings and/or our sample work") and want to help push the project forward, drop horizon or Aragón a line.
We've also got a project bible to give authors a common pool of references (and ideas about tidbits and name-drops to include). As the anthology grows, it's going to get increasingly complex to keep up to date. If you like organizing information and want to take point on (or even help with) project bible updates, we'd love a volunteer!
Further Reading
We've assembled an anthology author's guide with more details on what we're looking for in terms of tone, style, and formatting. It's definitely worth skimming through the first few pages before you start writing your first article. That document also has our story spreadsheet and project bible, so it's a one-stop shop for contributors.
Come ask questions below, or in the new group's forum, or head straight to the submission thread to get started. We look forward to working with you!
Eeeeee
This is going to be amazing. I'll have to think of something good.
4949917
It's a little ironic that you're commenting on the blog post first, because I said to myself before posting, "I really need to add the first comment, so I can mention that if you want to fire up your keys while we're getting submissions sorted out, FOME's Villain Exchange Program contest was extended to October 22."
Then I had to edit a thing on the group and you beat me back here. So I get to plug you in hindsight!
I don't quite get it.
I may have been drinking tonight.
These totally aren't related.
4949932
Which part don't you get?
(And is it at least good alcohol?)
4949938
Somrus Indian creme liqueur! :D It's the best!
And, uh... Why do tigers smoking? @_@
I think I'd like to give it a try.
4949943
No, no. They used to smoke.
4949943
Ah, yes, that!
I mention it right at the top of the anthology author's guide, but it's worth saying again: if you take the Korean phrase that people use the same way as "once upon a time", then "back when tigers used to smoke" is its literal translation.
It's just so damn catchy.
4949946
...Holy fucking 말의똥.
Oh man I'm in.
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw10641-relevant.png
Oooh, looking forward to seeing another anthology!
I would love to contribute to this!
Somewhat related, I'd be interested in illustrating some of the creatures in the Anthology once it's out.
4949995
Holy smokes! That's an amazing offer. Thank you!
I would urge you to add some details on what you're willing to offer by starting a thread in the group forum. The list of finished stories should always be available as we build the collection (see the link in the Anthology Author's Guide), so you might even be able to skim through and see what catches your imagination before the work goes live.
Man, I am so stoked to read this
Whenever I *say* I'm going to do something like this, the Muse flees in terror. So what I'm going to do is to muse on this, maybe write down an idea or two, flesh them out, and only say something if I'm *done* with one. And as much as some people would like me to put in an Urlock, I'm not going to break the running gag. :)
This feels like if Newt Scamander took inspiration from the SCP Foundation documentation.
Would it be okay for me to submit something on the Spineless Wyrm? It's a sort of dragon that tends to keep to the shadows, accounting, and minionship rather than taking a hoard by force and burninating any would-be intruders.
4950037 4950061
To both of you (and others with similar concerns) I would say: Go to the thread and pitch it!
All we're asking for up front is a name, a five-word description, and a single sentence. Once it's there in the thread, it helps us make sure we're not greenlighting ideas that stomp on each others' toes. If the idea doesn't quite fit what we're going for, it gives us the chance to massage it into compliance with the greater vision. (Note, too, that our author guide says all rules are negotiable.)
And if you're concerned about whether the muse is going to lock up midway through — we're happy to give you the chance, and if you withdraw, I'm pretty sure from the response so far that we can just reassign the slot to another author (or heck, claim them ourselves so Aragon and I get more than two articles apiece in the thing we're organizing).
Okay, this is so damn tempting. Borges' book is on my bedside stack of "books to dip into before going to sleep", and it's awesome. Building an Equestrian version thereof? Also awesome!
I'd love to do "eats ponies, but only metaphorically" but I've got serious doubts as to my ability to meet the form.
That carnivorous storks one is potent in its nastiness!
Oh hell yes. This is one hundred percent my jam.
Sounds awesome! Maybe when I'm back home....
What about Earthly mythological creatures that are incredibly obscure?
4950413
If they'd fit in Equestria, and you've got interesting things to say about them (fictional or not), sure!
... I think "your entry must be fictional, created by you" was kind of an unspoken rule of the anthology, but as we say in the author's guide, all rules are negotiable if your idea is cool enough.
I have a couple ideas from some old, dead fics I never got around to writing that would be perfect for this.
I'll give the stuff a lookover and see what brews up, but I'm also willing to edit and collate. (Surprise surprise from Twilight.)
4949966
4949964
Fuckin same.
Oooh, this looks like it will be very interesting indeed.
4950659
4950181
Thanks for speaking up! We're still getting settled into the workflow of the project — please bear with Aragon and I for a few days while we triage the initial influx of submission interest and work out between ourselves what the editing goals are. I'm probably going to start checking in with project bible volunteers early next week (after we both come back from our unrelated Thursday-Sunday travels).