Up for Grabs 2: the Third Gender is the working title of the sequel to Up for Grabs, which has received a lot of attention in reviews. While UFG had a focus on changing from one gender to another, I would like to see stories about people in between. Gender is not binary. These stories will explore modern and future expressions of third genders. Some ideas I would like to see examined are:

* Protagonists using mechanical, surgical, magical, or VR to express a gender other than the standard two.
* Coming of age stories
* Stories about protagonists who may not be young and gorgeous, but who have age and experience.
* Stories where third genders are normal, even common.
* Descriptions of new ways to have sex beyond the traditional.

Originals only, no reprints. We purchase first rights for inclusion in the ebook anthology for $25, with the additional rights to a print edition later which would also be paid $25 if a print edition happens. Authors retain the rights to the individual stories; Circlet exercises rights to the anthology as a whole.

Submission Guidelines:

Documents that do not follow all guidelines may be discarded unread.

* All submissions will be emailed to lpbcirclet@gmail.com starting April 1 and ending on May 30. Submissions sent to other addresses/other editors at Circlet Press will not be considered.

* Email your story as an attachment to your email in either .doc or .rtf formats.
* Use a professional manuscript format. If you are unfamiliar with manuscript formats, there are many good ones available on Google. Please note that this means your name, address, and email contact must appear on the manuscript itself and not simply in your email message.
* The preferred length is 2,000 to 8,000 words. If your story is longer or shorter, send a query.
* No simultaneous submissions (that is, don’t also send your story elsewhere at the same time, and don’t send it to multiple Circlet editors, either), and no multiple submissions will be accepted.
* All stories must include explicit sexuality and erotic focus. Romantic content is welcome, but in a short story remember to keep the details on the action and its effects on the main character’s internal point of view. We favor a strong, singular narrative voice (no ‘head hopping’). For more details on our editorial preferences, see the general submission guidelines on . Following these guidelines, especially the “do not send” list, will increase your chances of sending us something we’ll love. Try to avoid cliches. Fresh and direct language is preferred to overly euphemistic. Sex-positive, please, no rape/nonconsensuality/necrophilia or other purposefully gross topics. We do not publish horror.

Up for Grabs

The genderqueer anthology I edited earlier this year, Up for Grabs, got a mention at gather.com:

“If your reading tastes are a bit quirky, if you’re an open-minded reader, and if you enjoy the premise of “What if?”…then Up For Grabs, edited by Lauren P. Burka (Circlet Press) is just the book for you. In these five delicious tales, gender is up for grabs, and science pushes the boundaries between male and female, natural and unnatural.”

Click to buy me

Let’s start with the Circlet Press slush pile. There is a certain type of manuscript that arrives with a cover letter stating “We hope you will enjoy this story, or at least find it funny.” This statement is the sign of doom. You could argue coincidence, or you could point out that these stories seem to be written by people who are so nervous writing about sex that they can only pull it off if the sex is so stupid that it can’t be threatening, or that there’s rarely anything funny about a story that tries too hard. These are stories that we anticipate reading with absolute dread.

“The Ontological Engine” is–not to put too fine a point on it–funny. And hot. Stories that make you laugh so hard that you have to loosen your clothes and so hot that you have to loosen them more are not easy to pull off. How could I not make room for this rauchy little number?

Since the original publication we’ve put an mp3 of this story up for sale (first part is free). We are beginning work on an entire collection of stories set in this world for 2010. I can hardly wait to get to work on cover art for this one. And today, just to bring another smile to my face, we have a lovely buff from the author of ErosBlog. Please enjoy the review, download the free first part of the mp3, pour yourself a nice cup of tea, and enjoy yourself.

The reviewer says, “[a]fter reading Up for Grabs, I have one complaint. It’s much too short!” Read the whole review here.

With stories by Vinnie Tesla, Anya Levin, David D. Levine, Zachary Jernigan, and Ellen Tevault.

Up for Grabs is my first editing project with Circlet Press.

Read an anthology of erotic stories where gender is up for grabs. Thousands of people spend time on the Internet identified with a gender other than the one they were born with, for erotic gratification or to stretch their imaginations. But we asked our writers what if you got a tax break for changing your gender? What if you could choose to be no gender at all until you went on a date? What are the implications, both sexual and social, of gender possibilities beyond the choices and ideas our society currently holds.

Buy it directly from us here at Circlet.com as a PDF, or from one of our retailers: