Celebrating 200 years of passenger travel by steam on the railways, we’re calling all UK based short story writers and poets. You are invited to submit your work for our new anthology inspired by steam and rail travel.
September 2025 marks 200 years since the first steam powered passenger train ran in the UK. Pioneered by George Stevenson and his son Robert Stevenson, Locomotion No. 1 enjoyed its maiden journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in September 1825. We want to celebrate 200 years of railway journeys with a new anthology of short stories, memoir and poetry.
Your submission may be a step back in time, or a glimpse of the future. Or perhaps you have your own vivid memories to share. You might find your inspiration wreathed in steam or rattling with the rhythm of a journey along the tracks. There might be mystery on board or spooky goings-on in an old station. Perhaps you are inspired by the people who worked the railway long ago, an oily rag in their hands, or the clatter of the train conductor’s ticket punch. Or perhaps you have a real story to tell of your own adventures.
Whether fiction or memoir, your story or poem should relate to 200 years of steam and rail travel in some way … but how it relates is up to you.
This book will be launched in the autumn of 2025.
We are a collaborative publisher, so authors of successful submissions will be asked to make a contribution towards the cost of publication.
What are we looking for?
Short stories of between 800 and 2000 words, and poetry.
This is a steam and rail travel themed anthology, inspired by the nineteenth century pioneers who launched a new kind of travel 200 years ago. We love adventures on the railways and the people who have worked these incredible machines through time. We also love stories about mystery and magic, real places and true memories, fairy tales and the gothic.
People and steam are important for this collection, so think carefully about how to relate your submission to a railway in some way. We’d particularly love to read submissions which relate to a real station or line, whether preserved or working, or even lost through time – but this is not compulsory.
Your theme might be vivid, or funny, or place a spooky twist upon a common theme. You might explore romance or mystery or tell a tale based on true life.
Some suggested keywords for your premise might be: history, journey, smoke, adventure.
Submissions should not have been previously published. This means that the work should not have appeared in any form in publications, journals, serials, on blogs or social media.
New and established authors are welcome!
Exclusions:
Submissions should not include extreme or sexualised violence. Although murder is a common motif in railway mysteries, violence and injuries should not be graphically described. Very dark horror will be excluded sorry – we scare easily!
We do not accept work which contains AI generated text.
About the finished book:
Each of our titles is creatively produced to reflect the subject, and this anthology will be beautiful inside and out and suitable for the Young Adult and adult readership.
This book will feature a number of black and white illustrations, produced in-house.
We publish in paperback and ebook.
What to submit:
You can submit up to 5 short stories or poems. Please make your submission by email in Word format. We can also accept .pages files.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself in your covering email.
Submissions are open:
DEADLINE: 29 May 2025
Terms and Conditions:
Our decision to offer a publishing opportunity is final.
If we notify you that one or more of your submissions has been accepted, you will be offered the opportunity to sign a simple contract.
Authors must be UK based, or be able to provide a UK postal address to receive copies of the finished book and details of a UK bank account (for royalty payments).
We take your rights as the author of your work very seriously. Your work will not be shared with any third party without your agreement. If your submission is unsuccessful, you can ask for your work to be deleted from our system at any time.
We do not accept work which contains AI generated text. You will be asked to confirm that you are the sole author of your work when you sign a publishing agreement.
The author contribution: this is collaborative publishing so authors of successful submissions will be asked to contribute a share of the publishing costs, on a per author basis (rather than per accepted work) payable at the point of signing a contract. There is no reading fee.
Costs for this publication are still being finalised, but rest assured that you will have plenty of time to ask any questions you may have at the next stage.
Please be aware that we reserve the right to select multiple works from some authors and single works by others. Each work will be assessed on its individual merits. We will give feedback where we are able.
Royalties: authors whose work is published in this anthology will receive royalties.
We publish in paperback and ebook.
