Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Expat Women in Asia: Call for Submissions


Dear Friends,
I have an exciting new project in the works and I need your help! I will be the editor for a new anthology of creative non-fiction and memoir by expatriate women in Asia, and I'm looking for contributors. The anthology will be published by Signal 8 Press in the spring of 2014. Many of you are writers, many of you are women, and many of you live in Asia. Please take a look at the information and consider submitting to the collection (or sending it on to your writing friends).
Thanks!
Shannon

Expat Women in Asia: Call for Submissions

We are seeking contributions from expatriate women in East Asia for a new anthology from Signal 8 Press in Hong Kong. This collection will feature the writing of women who are currently expatriates or who previously lived in an East Asian country. For the purposes of this anthology, we construe East Asia to include Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and the ASEAN countries. All submissions should be creative non-fiction and/or travel memoir pieces that speak to the expat experience in modern East Asia. Potential topics include travel, work, relationships, gender roles, safety, family, and repatriation. We are looking for stories with a strong and personal narrative arc, not just travel guides or descriptions of the places you’ve lived. We hope to make this anthology as inclusive as possible, as well, and we welcome submissions from women from different parts of the world.

Contributions should be between approximately 2000 and 5000 words in length. Each writer will receive two copies of the completed anthology and a percentage of the royalties to be determined by the final number of contributors. Please send all submissions, with a brief paragraph about the author, to shannon [at] typhoon-media [dot] com. Submissions should be in Microsoft Word, .doc or .docx format, and in a standard font. The deadline for submissions is 28 February 2013. This title will be released in paperback and e-book formats in the spring of 2014.

18 comments:

  1. Hi Shannon, what a great idea and I'd love to contribute if possible. The variety of topics you mentioned seems quite broad, anything more particular that you might be looking for?

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    1. Hi Dani. I'm glad you are interested in contributing a story! We're keeping the topics broad because we'd like to see what kind of themes develop naturally from the submissions. Personally, I'm interested in modern stories that create a picture of Asia as it is for real women now, not as it looks in a tourist brochure or an old National Geographic magazine. I think the personal narrative arc is key, so if there was a moment during your time abroad that changed you in a significant way, I'd start with that. Let me know if I can answer any more questions.

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  2. I'm just curious -- how do you define an expatriate? Am I an expat if was born in Canada, raised in the U.S., moved to Asia for the first time at the age of 24, but ethnically Chinese with Hong Kong roots?

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    1. Hi Joyce. That's a terrific question. I think expatriation is about the experience of moving to a new country and adjusting, especially as an adult. You encounter different expectations and norms here than you did growing up, even growing up in a Chinese family, and you likely felt a sense of displacement. We are hoping to receive submissions from people who come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. I suspect your experience moving to HK as a 20-something was different from my own, and I really hope you'll be willing to share what that was like. Additionally, we want submissions from people who have moved from one Asian country to another who can speak to that experience. Thanks for your question!

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  3. Would you consider poetry about expatriate life in Hong Kong?
    Mary

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    1. Hi Mary. Thank you for your question. For this publication we are only accepting creative non-fiction and memoir in prose. Are you a member of the HK Women in Publishing Society? They publish an annual anthology called Imprint and they do accept poetry. http://hkwips.org

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  4. Congratulations on this exciting project! I'm so happy for you!!! Today I forwarded it on to some writers who are thrilled to contribute. Now to think about my submission.

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    1. Thank you so much, Susan. I'm really looking forward to reading the submissions. I appreciate your help in spreading the word!

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  5. Hi Shannon,

    What an interesting idea for an anthology! I'm a Canadian woman who has lived on a former coconut plantation in the Philippines for twelve years. I will definitely work on a submission for you...

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    1. That sounds fascinating, Cheryl! My grandparents lived in the Philippines for 18 years and they loved it there. It's where my dad and all of his siblings went to high school. I can't wait to read your story.

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  6. Shannon
    This sounds really interesting. I'm half-way through a 3 year posting in Vietnam (Hanoi) from Australia. I'm here with my husband (stay at home Dad and part-time worker) and my boys - who were 4.5 month and just over 2 when I started work here. While my job involves some writing, I have never been published as such, so I would not expect to be included but given the variety of topics suggested, I might just set myself a little project to write something in my few rare moments of me-time. Thanks

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    1. Hi Angela. It sounds like you could write about a number of different topics that would relate to a lot of expat women. I'm glad this is something you'd like to try. I wish you the best in finding me-time with two boys!

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  7. Shannon,

    Your cover note says: "Many of you are writers, many of you are women, and many of you live in Asia."

    But the title reads: "Expat Women in Asia: Call for Submissions".

    So is this a call only for women writers?

    Best

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    1. Hi Hemanth. Thank you for your comment. Yes, as the submission guidelines indicate, this project is for women writers. I acknowledge, of course, that not all the readers of this blog are women or expats or writers, so it won't be applicable for everyone.

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  8. Hi Shannon,

    Interesting project! Do the submissions need to be original or can it be something we have posted elsewhere? And where would like submissions sent? Sorry if you already listed this somewhere, but I am a Mom of two boys under 7...I have no brain left ;)

    Lexy Delorme

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    1. Hi Lexy. We would prefer original submissions that have not already been published online. However, if you've told a story in a 1000-word blog post, for example, and you wish to expand and rewrite it for your submission, that would be fine. You can send it to shannon@typhoon-media.com. You can also find my personal email on the contact page. Thank you for your interest in this anthology!

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  9. This sounds like an exciting project which I will follow with interest.

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  10. I think I might throw my two cents in, too. I really need to get back in the swing of writing other than random blog writing. :)

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