Water (Title Forthcoming)

Anthologist: Rebecca Minelga

Editor: Ethan Reisler

Submission Window: November 8 to January 8, 2025

Publication Date: forthcoming (beginning of 2027)

Email submissions to rebecca.minelga@gmail.com (Subject line: Water Anthology)

This is a charity anthology with revenue being donated to Black Kids Swim (blackkidsswim.com).

Due to the growing popularity of our anthology projects, we regret that we cannot accept every piece submitted. They will be chosen based on their fit with the entire body of work.

All rights to work will be held by the author; at no time will Wild Ink Publishing ever hold ownership of your own writing.

Whether the stasis of ice or the fluidity of liquid, water forms, reforms, and transforms. Bring us your stories of gentle erosion or violent upheaval, with water as the binding symbology. Talk to us about learning to swim, drowning, sinking, diving and floating; the rigidity of pools and the wildness of open water. Give us chemical formulae or ethereal mist. Make water the main character, the love interest, or the fairy godmother who drives the story forward. Anchor us in the storm or sweep us away! Leave us parched for one single sip and gasping for one final breath.

If you are writing creative non-fiction, please fictionalize names and places, or get permission.

This is a non-paying anthology. There is no fee to submit. All proceeds from sales will be donated to Black Kids Swim (blackkidsswim.com)

What to submit:

• We are accepting:
  • Short stories, creative non-fiction, and memoirs (5,000 word limit)
  • Flash Fiction up to 1,000 words
  • Poetry (no longer than 40 lines)
• Please bring the emotion.
• No more than two submissions per person.
• Please include a short author bio of one paragraph. You may include links to your social media, website, and books. Please write this in third-person POV.
• Please submit only .doc files. PDFs will not be accepted.

Sacred Conversations: Letters By and For Women

Anthologist: Abigail Wild

Editor: Brittany McMunn

Submission Window: October 8 to December 8, 2025

Publication Date: forthcoming (beginning of 2027)

Email submissions to brittany@wild-ink-publishing.com (Subject line: Sacred Conversations)

Due to the growing popularity of our anthology projects, we regret that we cannot accept every piece submitted. They will be chosen based on their fit with the entire body of work.

All rights to work will be held by the author; at no time will Wild Ink Publishing ever hold ownership of your own writing.

This collection brings together honest letters from women to women with words full of strength, hope, love, and raw, sacred anger calling for change. The aim is to offer comfort and solidarity for women. Through these voices, Sacred Conversations becomes a shared space of healing and support, reminding every woman that she is truly seen, heard, and never on her own.

We are asking women to write letters for women, including stories, thoughts, memories, regrets and hope, deeply held dreams, and nightmares full of questions. The goal is to write something that speaks to the soul and helps others feel seen. We are asking for raw moments, as well as those that reach out to comfort us.

This can be creative non-fiction or fiction. Because sometimes it’s easier for us to get to the heart of something if it’s happening to a fictional character. The key is that each submission must be in the form of a letter.

If you are writing creative non-fiction, please fictionalize names and places, or get permission.

This is a non-paying anthology. There is no fee to submit. All proceeds from the first year of sales will be given to the ten-year-old daughter of a domestic violence victim for her education fund. More information to come. The name is withheld out of respect to the daughter because she is a minor.

What to submit:

• All submissions should be in letter format.
• Please bring the emotion.
• No more than 1000 words per letter (.doc only)
• No more than three submissions per person.
• Please include a short author bio of one paragraph. You may include links to your social media, website, and books.
• Please submit only .doc files. PDFs will not be accepted.

Bleach Before Cereal: The Voices of Gen Z on Their Lives and Mental Health Crisis

Guest Anthologist / Author: Professor J.T. Knapton

Deadline for Submissions: October 24, 2025
We will not accept late submissions.

Accepting submissions from those within the Gen Z demographic (14-28)

Gen Z has become well-known for their suicidal sense of humor and for being arguably the most anxious and depressed generation in modern history, despite growing up in relative privilege and prosperity. Unfortunately, they are also completely misunderstood by most elders, and even entire books about them have been overly limited in scope, even to the point of missing entirely the nature of their lives and generational crises. It is easy to simply blame “screens” and social media for Gen Z psychological struggles, just as elders and the media once simply blamed COVID during the pandemic. Simple pat answers can feel satisfying, but such over-simplifications completely miss the true experience of Z (as well as up-and-coming Gen Alpha). This amazing, talented, yet struggling, generation often bears the brunt of elders’ scorn, misconceptions, or sheer bewilderment. This book features not only the novel findings by Prof. Jodie T. Knapton and her years-long mission to understand her own Gen Z son’s struggles and that of his friends and generation but also, most importantly, constitutes primarily an anthology of the generation in their own words.  

In addition to providing much needed historical context, data-driven conclusions, and stories about the generation for older readers, as an introduction, the book allows Gen Z to see themselves reflected in their own words and to recognize their own lived experience in the pages written by the young contributors. Professor Knapton built her research upon unprecedent numbers of written comments and personal shares by Z — from stories originating among those in her personal and professional life, to the thoughtful reflections of many hundreds of high school and college students, to the illuminating (and data confirming) words provided from thousands of Z contributors on social media with millions of views. The spotlight remains on Z, honoring them, and above all listening to them. Knapton provides a framework of “understanding”, as an empathic elder “listener”, and otherwise provides the data from various field experts to undergird and affirm the Z experience as they explain it themselves.

Gen Z contributors may share on any topic related to their generation, and here are some prompts to get you thinking about a contribution, whether very short or very long:

• How would you explain your generation to those who are older? What do they not understand?
• Why is the Gen Z suicidal sense of humor so funny to you personally or to your generation?
• What would you say to those who dismiss your entire life experience, anxiety, depression, or other struggles as simply matter of “screens” and social media?
• What do you think causes your generation to be as anxious, depressed, numb, or hopeless as many are?
• How do you think life is different for you from that of any generation that went before you, or even just from your parents? Are there things in your life (or all of your lives) that you think of as “hallmarks” of your generation?
• Is there one event or aspect of your personal life (or the generation) that you think captures your generation’s overall lived experience in some way in that one moment, one idea/memory, one piece of art/music, or one happening? Perhaps this one story acts as a metaphor or symbolizes in some way your generation’s overall outlook?
• Importantly, is there anything at all that gives you hope or has helped in the process of healing, finding meaning, seeing a future, or adulting? Perhaps something you learned in therapy, something from a spiritual practice, a personal breakthrough, an inspiring person in your life, a step in growing up, or something entirely unique? If there seems no hope or nothing at all seems inspiring or healing, why is that, do you think?

Type of Submissions Accepted: Nonfiction only. Submissions can be very short statements (like a mere paragraph), longer stories that reflect on the subject matter or prompts, stories or memories from one’s personal life, poems/lyrics/spoken word pieces, rants, or other creative works that address the subject of the Gen Z (elder Alpha) lived experience and/or mental health crisis.

The Specifics:

• This is a non-paying anthology. There is no fee for entry.
• (90% of proceeds will be shared with top contributors, such as the longest or most salient submissions, and contributors will have top consideration for the needs and merit-based scholarship money to which proceeds will also be directed, if they are in university or plan to attend.)
• Submissions given first priority will come through middle school, high school, or college/university instructors with a work address that ends in .edu. This process best ensures the contributor is indeed Gen Z (or even elder Alpha) and the work is honest, authentic, and not AI. For those not currently in school, please feel encouraged to contact a teacher or professor you had earlier in time who would submit for you, and educators are welcome to invite promising writers, thinkers, poets, and ranters to share. Instructor recommendations welcome but not required.
• Each submission must have writer’s name (and pen name, if you have one or wish to use one for this book in order to maintain privacy) and must be accompanied by a short author bio as well as state in the US in which the contributor lives (or other nation if applicable), gender, and age or grade. Race, ethnicity, orientation, religious affiliation, or other demographic information welcome, only because we wish to ensure a diverse selection of voices to represent the generation well and fairly. Please place bio and other information on the first page of your submission.
• Each page must be numbered and include the title of your submission at the top left of the page.
• If you submit more than one piece, please send each submission in a different file.
• Substantive Stories/Commentaries should be under 8,000 words.
• Poems, spoken word pieces, or song lyrics welcome (and the latter can be shared with commentary on the process of songwriting or the nature of the musical work)
• Micro-nonfiction can be under 250 words. (In other words, you can share a very short but powerful or meaningful comment, statement, reflection, memory, or opinion.
• Poems should be under 40 lines, but there is room for flexibility.
• Submit to genzanthology@wild-ink-publishing.com