You know what Old McDonald had, besides a kajillion aniimals?

Acres and acres of land to bury bodies.

Let’s face it, a farm isn’t exactly the safest place in the world. Sure, it seems idyllic with chickens, cows, horses and all other manner of animals running around and the scent of hay hanging in the air. But, this is a place that also has scythes, rat poison, corporate takeovers of small family farms, hay lofts to fall from and corn mazes to get lost in.

Even the best farms can go bad, or host a crime scene in the middle of the pumpkin patch. Where things are growing and full of new life can also be a place where life gets taken.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. We’re looking for short stories (3000-5000 words) of farm-based crime. You decide what that farm does, if it’s current or abandoned, etc.. Just ensure the farm plays a key role in your story.
2. Crime is the key here. Tell us a solid crime story with a definite beginning, middle and end. Make sure it all makes sense.
3. No brutal animal killings or depictions of brutal animal killings. We get that it might be apropos for an animal to be killed off to make your story work, but we don’t need to throw up from reading the description. We’re animal lovers, here (well, except maybe for cats).
4. Stories can take place anywhere from the 1970s through today and anywhere in the world. We’d REALLY love to get some stories from farms in other countries.
5. LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC characters and authors very, very strongly encouraged. Be authentic!
6. All works must be original to this publication and cannot have been published or self-published previously.
7. We’re perfectly ok with simultaneous submissions to other publishers, but please let us know if you’d like your story withdrawn from consideration.
8. Submissions not following the brief above will automatically be rejected.

TECHNICAL GUIDELINES

1. Short story length (3000-5000 words). If you need to go longer, no more than 6000 words.
2. All submissions need to be in DOC, DOCX or Pages format. Everyone knows by now that we don’t care about fonts and spacing and all that other stuff.
3. All entries should be sent to Jay Hartman at jhartman@mistimedia.com with FARM in the subject heading. All entries will be acknowledged. Please note that Jay does not check email daily, so allow a few days for response. If you haven’t received acknowledgment after a week from submission, feel free to touch base through the Misti Media Facebook Messenger account. DO NOT SEND ANOTHER EMAIL. Remember that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time.
4. All submissions need to be received no later than 11:59PST, December 31st, 2026. Decisions will be made by January 31st, 2027. We will do our best to notify authors early if their work is not accepted, but they cannot be resubmitted. Estimated publication is Spring 2027.
5. This anthology will pay ongoing royalties, with all contributors splitting 50% of the net proceeds equally. All contributors will receive an ebook copy and one free print copy, with further author copies available at deep discounts.. Our anthology agreement gives us exclusive rights for six months from publication date, then non-exclusive rights thereafter, meaning that contributors are free to reuse their story in any manner they wish after the first six months of publication.
6. Original stories only, no reprints.
7. The anthology will be limited to no more than 12 stories.
8. This anthology will be published under our White City Press imprint.

Please direct all questions to anthology editor Jay Hartman at jhartman@mistimedia.com .