Submission Guidelines

Before submitting your story, please read the following guidelines carefully. These rules ensure that every participant has an equal opportunity and that every anthology maintains a consistent standard of originality, creativity, and quality.

1.Your Story Must Be Original

Every submission must be your own original work.

By submitting your story, you confirm that:

• The story was written entirely by you.
• It has not been copied, plagiarized, or generated from another author’s work.
• You own all rights necessary to submit the manuscript.

Any submission found to contain plagiarized or copyrighted material without permission will be disqualified.

2.Fiction Only

RANDOS is a fiction anthology.

Your submission must be a fictional story.

We do not accept:

• Memoirs
• Biographies
• Essays
• Poetry
• Academic papers
• Non-fiction
• Self-help
• Religious sermons
• Opinion pieces

Creative fiction in any genre is welcome.

3.Use All Four Assigned Ingredients

Every story must include all four randomly assigned ingredients:

• One Person
• One Place
• One Object
• One Event

Each ingredient should play a meaningful role in your story.

Simply mentioning an ingredient once is not sufficient. The elements should be naturally integrated into the plot and contribute to the development of the story.

4.Do Not Change Your Assigned Ingredients

The random combinations are the heart of the RANDOS challenge.

Assigned ingredients cannot be:

• Changed
• Replaced
• Modified
• Exchanged
• Requested again

Every participant receives a unique combination, and every writer is expected to work with the ingredients assigned to them.

5.Choose Any Genre

Beyond your four assigned ingredients, your creativity has no limits.

You may write in any fictional genre, including:

• Fantasy
• Mystery
• Thriller
• Science Fiction
• Horror
• Romance
• Historical Fiction
• Adventure
• Western
• Comedy
• Literary Fiction
• Young Adult
• Children’s Fiction (if appropriate)

Your story may be humorous, emotional, suspenseful, inspirational, or dramatic.

The choice is entirely yours.

6.Minimum Word Count

Your submission must contain at least 3,000 words.

There is no strict maximum word count; however, we encourage writers to remain focused and tell a compelling story without unnecessary length.

7.Maintain a PG-13 Rating

Stories should be appropriate for a general audience.

Avoid excessive:

• Graphic violence
• Explicit sexual content
• Hate speech
• Offensive discrimination
• Gratuitous profanity

Mature themes may be explored when handled responsibly and when they serve the story.

8.Submit Before the Deadline

Late submissions cannot be guaranteed consideration.

Please ensure your story is submitted before the published deadline for the current anthology.

9.Proofread Before Submitting

Before uploading your manuscript, please review your work carefully.

Check for:

• Grammar
• Spelling
• Punctuation
• Formatting
• Character consistency
• Story flow

A polished manuscript helps the editorial team focus on your storytelling rather than avoidable errors.

10.Follow the Formatting Guidelines

Please submit your manuscript in Microsoft Word (.DOCX) format unless otherwise instructed.

We recommend:

• Times New Roman or Garamond
• 12-point font
• Double-spaced
• Standard 1-inch margins
• Page numbers included

11.Multiple Submissions

Writers may submit multiple stories only if permitted for the current submission period.

Each submission must:

• Be an entirely different story.
• Receive its own set of assigned ingredients (if applicable).
• Be submitted separately.

12.Editorial Review

All submissions undergo editorial review.

Stories are evaluated based on:

• Originality
• Creativity
• Storytelling
• Character development
• Writing quality
• Successful use of all four assigned ingredients

Selection is based on merit and overall fit for the anthology.

13.Editing Process

If your story is selected, the RANDOS editorial team may recommend or make editorial changes for grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting, readability, and consistency.

Substantive changes will be discussed with the author before publication whenever possible.

14.Copyright

You retain ownership of your story.

By submitting your manuscript, you grant RANDOS the non-exclusive right to publish your story as part of the selected RANDOS Tales anthology, subject to the publication agreement.

15.Profit Sharing

Selected contributors may be eligible to receive a 1% share of the anthology’s net royalties, in accordance with the RANDOS contributor agreement and applicable payment terms.

16.Acceptance Does Not Guarantee Publication

Submission does not guarantee selection.

Due to limited space within each anthology, only selected stories that meet the editorial standards and submission requirements will be included.

17.Respect the Spirit of the Challenge

RANDOS is about creativity, imagination, and storytelling.

The goal is not to find the easiest solution to your assigned ingredients, but to embrace the challenge and create a story that feels original, engaging, and memorable.

Sometimes the most unexpected combinations lead to the most extraordinary stories.