Workshop Projects, Submission Guidelines and Payment Information
Dream of Things is currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on a variety of topics. The topics are listed below. Click on a topic for more details, including sample stories and videos. Submissions are open on all topics until we announce a closing date. Subscribe to our free newsletter and watch online for updated information.
To get a feel for the type and quality of writing we’re looking for, please see Saying Goodbye, the first anthology of creative nonfiction from Dream of Things. Visit goodbyebook.com for more information, including excerpts from the book.
We also recommend MFA in a Box by John Rember. John is author of four critically acclaimed books and is a long-time teacher of creative writing, most recently in the Pacific University MFA program.
Before submitting a story, please read our Submission Guidelines and Payment Information. Stories should be submitted via our online submissions form. If the form doesn’t work for you, you can submit via e-mail to editor at dreamofthings.com – but please submit only one story per e-mail and put the anthology topic and title of your story in the “subject” line of the e-mail. If you submit more than one story per e-mail, your stories will be returned to you unread. (We route and track submissions using your original e-mail, and if your e-mail includes more than one submission, it’s much more complicated to track things.)
When you submit a story via the online submissions form, you should automatically receive a confirmation. You will NOT receive a confirmation if you submit your story via e-mail. (If you want a confirmation, please use the online submission form.) After that, please be patient. Unlike some publishers who only respond when your story is accepted, we will respond whether we accept your story or not. Just give us some time. Response times are currently running at 6-9 months. Please refrain from asking about the status of your submission during that time. Finally, be sure to add editor at dreamofthings.com to your contacts on your e-mail account so that our response doesn’t end up in your spam. Thanks!
- Coffee Shop Stories
- Holiday Stories
- Stories of Forgiveness
- Stories About Great Teachers
- Advice You’d Like to Pass On to Others
- Making Waves — Stories About Roles Models & People Who Inspire and Motivate Us
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Do you have any deadline lines for any of your projects?
Hi Sally. I have not set any deadlines because “closing” a topic will depend on the number of submissions on each topic. However, I will set a deadline or closing date for each anthology when I get close to having a book’s worth of stories. You can be notified about deadlines and keep up to date on other topics by subscribing to our free newsletter. Thanks!
I just want to know if you have any interest in publishing fiction books? Or is dream of things just for non fiction?
Hi Maria. Thanks for stopping by. I may expand to publish fiction in the future, but for now, I am focusing on creative nonfiction.
Dear Editors ( Mike )
These anthologies sound great and I have several ‘Creative Nonfiction’ essays that I am excited to send as they fit perfectly into several of the designated topics! I read the guidelines, and apologize if I missed it, but am still not clear on two things: Though time frames for initial notification and final notification were mentioned, I did not see mention of a contract. Please assure me a contract will be furnished if you would and let me know when that would transpire. Secondly, what kind of distribution to the bound anthologies currently have…?
Excited to send. I look forward to hearing from you…
Thanks!
Dominick
Dominick: Thanks for visiting and writing! Good questions. A contract will be offered several months before the publication date, once the editors have selected stories for each anthology. Distribution will be through dreamofthings.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, other websites and a major national distributor (most likely Ingram) that will make the books available to major chains and indie bookstores. -Mike
I looked in payment information but I didn’t see how you would pay. Do you do pay pal or do you issue cheques or money orders? If someone can’t do pay pal would you issue payment in another form instead?
I will likely issue checks for royalties, but am open to paypal or electronic payment.
What about a book on Office Romances?
Or have you done that already?
Have not done that, but I like the idea!
I’m assuming the answer is ‘no’ but still want to make sure: Is Dream of Things a self-publishing enterprise? Thanx!
Hi Dave. Thanks for the inquiry. No, DOT is not a self-publishing enterprise. Dream of Things is an independent, small publisher. We pay for book layout and design, proofreading, printing and distribution of everything we publish, and we pay royalties to authors. As I recently told another author, you may not get rich on the royalties, but you will never have to pay to publish your own work.
Mike: I submitted my proposed work for “Making Waves” on February 21. Will you be making some decisions soon?
Hi JoAnne. Yes, I’ll be back to you soon. I’m afraid I’m making some people angry because I have not lived up to my 4-6 week turnaround time. I recently changed it to 6-8 weeks, but even at that, I am woefully behind! My plan is to respond to all submissions received prior to 12/31 by 4/30, and to all submissions received 1/1-2/28 by 5/31. I’ll include that update in the next newsletter so everybody knows. I apologize for the delay.
I have not received a DOT newsletter in quite sometime. How often do you E them out? Also, any closing dates on some of your titles?
Hi Kathie. Thanks for your question. I regret that there has been an unusually long time gap since the last newsletter, but there is one coming out today (4/21). No closing dates yet, although as I note in the 4/21 newsletter, the “Saying Goodbye” and “Holiday Story” anthologies are getting full. I’ll give everybody about two months notice (in the newsletter and on the website) before submissions close for an anthology.
Dear Mike, Thanks for all your attention to words, ideas, and stories. I’m a multi-published author (12 books and much short work). I do have a person- and event-centered piece about creating forgiveness BEFORE someone dies, instead of cobbling it together somehow afterward from guilt. Will send the piece before your deadline. Good wishes from Carole Spearin McCauley (alias Carole in New Hampshire). Keep up the good work!
Hi Mike, Could you please tell me how many books Dream of Things has published, or, if this is a new operation, what kind of publishing schedule you envision? Thanks very much, Nina
Hi Nina. We have published two books so far. I plan to publish 4-5 more books this year, and then 6-8 books per year after that.
Hi Mike. I have a personal story about how my book saved a little girl from committing suicide. I will NEVER in a million years get a better “payment” for my work. I’d like to submit this story, but I didn’t see a category in your Workshop listings that would be appropriate. Can you use a story like mine, and if so, what category? Thanks a bunch for such an awesome idea! Regards, Linda Robertson
Hi Linda. It might fit in the “Advice” anthology or the “Role Models” anthology. Please submit it to one of those. Thanks!
I have a story I feel would fit into the ‘Forgiveness’ category. Do you have a deadline yet for submission to that category? And, if I do submit it, how long before I know if it has been accepted? Thanks for getting back to me.
Hi Leslie. No deadline yet. I’ll announce via the newsletters and website when we set a deadline. You’ll get about 2 months notice. And my goal is to respond to submissions in 6-8 weeks, although it’s been more like 3-4 months so far. But we’re getting caught up.
Hi mike
I’ve made four attempts to submit my story to the Holiday Story section, but for some reason the little wheel turns to say it’s sending, then it just sits there without doing anything … what am I doing wrong???
Sláinte
Brendan
Author of Once On A Cold And Grey September, which is now available as an e-book from http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10114
Brendan. You are probably not doing anything wrong. Sometimes the submission form just gets hung up. Anyway, you can always submit stories via email to editor@dreamofthings.com if the submissions form isn’t working for you. Just be sure to include your contact information and tell us which anthology you are submitting to. Thanks for persisting!
Hi Mike,
what are your requirements with regards to rights, do they stay with the author or do you require first time rights etc. Plus, with two novels already published I know how skimpy royalties are so what can authors expect to get per published book apart, of course, from fame and glory!
Ann O’Farrell. author of Norah’s Children, and Michael
hi mike. i hope this isn’t a horrible question, but how does dream of things publications feel about the use of profanity? and what is your policy on pseudonyms? do you prefer the author to submit everything in his or her own name and only inform you about the desire to use a pen name after a story is chosen for publication?
Hi Ann, Sorry I took so long to respond. I will ask for first time rights for print and e-versions of each anthology. Authors retain rights after that. As for royalties, I may someday switch to a flat one-time payment for stories (as Chicken Soup and Cup of Comfort do). But for now, authors get a prorated share of the royalties. So let’s say 30 authors share the royalties equally. On a $12 paperback with a 10% royalty, those 30 authors would split $1.20 per book sold, or 4 cents each. Multiply that by 1000 books sold, and each author would get $40. Multiply it by 2500, and each author would get $100, which is what I believe Cup of Comfort pays per story. On the other hand, multiply that by 100 books, and each author would get $4. So I’m really hoping the authors will help spread the word about each anthology.
That’s not a horrible question. I’ve been known to swear, so profanity doesn’t freak me out. But it would have to make sense for me to include it in one of the anthologies. Nothing gratuituous, but if it was an important part of a good story, okay. Pseudonyms: let me know anywhere in the process.
I do hope you branch out to fiction. I have a fiction story about 9/11 and have no idea where to submit such a piece.
Also, I have not heard if my ‘The Thread Box’ was accepted.
Thanks for your hard work.
Thanks. LinnAnn. Maybe we’ll branch out into fiction some day. It’s harder to market though, and I don’t want to do a disservice to an author by publishing something I can’t sell. I’ll check on “The Thread Box.”
Are you planning to open a topic for inspirational dad and daughter stories and/or children caregivers for parents, at some point? I have a story about the parallels between my father caring for me as a child and the role reversal of caring for him, as he aged and struggled with health issues of his own. I am not sure which of the current topics, if any, would be a good fit for it (the closest I would think is role models and even that isn’t the best fit). If you intend to open a topic for such a theme, I’ll certainly keep you in mind. Thanks! I love the concept of your DOT books.
Mike-
Will you be responding to all submissions or only to the ones which are finalists?
George
Hi George. We will be responding to all submissions to let you know whether your story was accepted or not.
Hi Mike,
I stumbled across Dream of Things a couple of days ago, and am thrilled to be here. Already I’ve submitted to four (or five?) of the anthologies. To be blunt, I’m not interested in money, I’m interested in writing, and as a psychotherapist, every now and then I have something I think needs to be said. I’ll be back often, checking for calls for submissions. If I’m chosen, that’s fantastic. If not, I’ll try again. Good luck and thanks so much for what you’re doing!
Melinda Clayton
Hi Melinda. Thanks for the note. Glad you found us. I’ll look forward to reading your work! -Mike
Hi Mike,
I just submitted a short story for the Humorous Travel Stories anthology. It was never published by a publishing company or journal but I had included a longer version of this story in a small, self-published booklet of my travels that I distributed at an exhibition of photographs from my travels abroad. Does this booklet count as previously published or will you consider it for first time rights?
Also, when I copied and pasted the work from my PDF, all spacing and alignment went out the window. I cleaned it up but am wondering if I should send the original PDF to you as an email attachment, as well.
Thank you!
Monica
Dear Mike
I would like to submit a story on a six month volunteering programme I completed in Costa Rica as an English teacher. I think it will fit into the travel section.
Am I still able to submit it or is it past the deadline?
Thanks,
Franki
Hi Franki. We haven’t set a deadline for the travel story anthology yet, so there is still plenty of time. Sounds like an interesting experience!
I have just ordered three more books from you and it reminded me that I had sent in a piece on “Saying Goodby” I have read that you are behind, but am wondering if by chance I missd an e-mail. I also have a Christmas story, and would like to know if that subject is closed. Thanks very much.
June
Hi June. Thanks very much for your order. I am behind on submissions. Sorry! But we are in the process of notifying authors about Saying Goodbye stories now, and will do the same with Holiday Stores in 2-3 weeks. Thanks for your patience! -Mike
Hi, Mike.
Like June, I’m wondering if my piece, “Say Goodbye, Say Hello,” made it to you as a submission for Saying Goodbye. Thanks!
Anola
Hi Anola. We have made all of the selections for Saying Goodbye. I’ll get emails out to everybody who submitted a story for Saying Goodbye by Sept 7. We had so many good stories that we are planning to do a second volume of Saying Goodbye stories in 2011, so some of the stories that didn’t make it into this volume may be candidates for the next volume. I’ll let everybody know the status of their stories this weekend.
Hi Mike,
Have you notified all the authors that submitted to “Saying Goodbye” whether accepted for publication or not? I sent a story to this collection in late June and am yet to hear one way or another. I am certain, if all authors to be in the collection, have been notified that my story was not chosen, but I have not received any feedback into my e-mail yet, either. I am wondering if my computer glitched and maybe my story did not submit?
Thanks!
Jill
Dear Mike
In your June 12th response to Ann’s post regarding rights and payments to writers you communicated that you were considering going with flat one-time payments for stories as do Chicken Soup and Cup of Comfort. I hope you don’t. As a writer I have little respect for such publications. They also ask writers to sign up for newsletters to be alerted to upcoming themes and in these they highlight their costly writer’s workshops. To me it appears they use writers for their own gain playing on the romance of being published.
When I read your Dream of Things guidelines I was inspired! Here I thought was a different kind of short story publisher. One who gives writers the respect and royalties they deserve for their hard work. I believe the sells of your Dream of Things books are going to soar. These books have the potential to be unlike like what has come before and should be allowed the freedom to evolve into a dream of their own. When the book/books your writers are in do well, due in part to them, they deserve to reap in the harvest. f a writer receives royalties it would work to your advantage also in that these writers will be more apt to promote their books at local bookstores and through their web resources. There is power in numbers.
With Respect
Trendle
Hi Jill. The last notifications about Saying Goodbye stories went on 9/14. I’m sorry it took so long to let everyone know. I am committed to responding to folks either way so you know whether your story has been accepted or not. Unfortunately, it takes a little longer to respond to everybody. If you or anybody else has NOT heard about the disposition of a Saying Goodbye story, please let me know.
Hi Trendle. Thanks for your note. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I’m going to stick with the royalty structure. It means a lot more record-keeping on this end, but I think it’s worth it. I really do want Dream of Things anthologies to be different, and part of that difference is that the contributors will have a stake in the success of each anthology. Thank you for your comments and your supoort. -Mike
Hi Thelma. Yes, I am planning to do another Saying Goodbye anthology, but probably won’t kick that project off until sometime mid-2011. The editor of the 1st anthology is out of the country for several months and not available to look at submissions, and it will probably be 2012 before I’m ready to publish the 2nd SG anthology. Sorry! I know it’s hard to wait if you’ve got a story to tell. If you have something that might fit one of the other anthologies, please send that now. But I’m going to hold off on starting the next SG anthology for a little while. Thanks for inquiring!