Now Accepting Submissions

Rourke, the violent anti-hero featured in Secret Santas, is getting his own zine, and we are offering $75 USD for accepted submissions of 800-2000 words.
What We Know:
  • Rourke works for the CIA and has very high level government clearance.
  • His specialties are counter espionage and interrogation. 
  • He was active in the field from 1979 until 1996.
  • He is a psychopathic sadist who enjoys the violent aspects of his job. 
  • Rourke snapped some years ago, and may be suffer from delusions of grandeur. 
  • When he is not in the field, he is a basketball dad.
We thought it would be fun to open our character up for others to write right away, and in doing so, hope to create a fun zine that we can ship with our comic book. We've kept most information about Rourke a secret, and authors are encouraged to draw on what they've learned from spy thrillers and pulp adventure stories to write for him. All stories should take place during the Cold War, but do not necessarily need to involve conflict with Russia. We hope to get 3 or 4 submissions accepted by October 5th so that we may announce the authors before the end of the Secret Santas Kickstarter on October 7th. There will likely be more Rourke fiction published in the future.
Some Suggestions
  • Keep it vague. We want Rourke to mostly remain a mystery, so don't write anything that will over explain his character or motivations.
  • Create supporting characters. If you're worried about ownership of any characters you create, don't be. You will retain ownership, but maybe don't use a character already prominent in other works.
  • We're looking for flash fiction, and in this case, a great 1000 word story is worth just as much as a great 2000 word story. Write efficiently and for maximum impact. 
The budget for accepted submission comes directly from the Kickstarter reward money. If we do not hit goal, unfortunately we may not be able to move forward with this zine. This is not a contest. Entries will we judged based on creativity, adherence to the overall tone we want to create, and writing ability. You do not need to pledge to the Secret Santas Kickstarter in order to be accepted.
Please use the form below for your submission proposal. We are asking for for a 300 word max pitch/synopsis at first, and then you’ll have till around mid November to complete the story. And of course, if you're interested in submitting but want to read the rest of Secret Santas, let us know and we'll send you a PDF.
Thank you!