The Details

Your submission can be on any topic you choose (it probably should have something to do with kitties), and in any genre you choose: poetry, editorial, essay, memoir, or short story; if you like to draw, we can even include black and white drawings. Whatever you submit, it cannot be pornographic (not to say it cannot contain sex; just keep in mind peoples' mothers might be reading this. Though the idea of kitty sex as a topic is a little, um, disturbing... ) It also cannot be fanfiction--fanfic violates copyright owned by others.

You do not have to be a cat blogger to participate. If you frequent the cat blogging community, that's good enough for me; not all those who love kitties actually have one, and if you don't have one you're not likely to have a cat blog... you get the picture.

If you're thinking "but I can't write! I suck!" try anyway. If you have an idea, try to write it. Then set it aside for a few days, and then go back and re-write. It usually takes a few drafts for any story to be good enough to share. You may surprise yourself with talent you never knew you had!

Maximum length: 7,000 words.

Submission format: If you've ever submitted anything for publication before, forget the standard rules. Submissions for this book must be made in electronic format, either via email or snail mail (see bottom of page for Inkblot Book's address.) Please send your story in MSWord .doc format, or if you use another word processor, save it as an .rtf (rich text format) file, and send it as an email attactment to kathompson@inkblotbooks.com.

If you're not comfortable sending email attachments, you can save your story to a CD, Compact Flash card, or Smart Media card and send it via snail mail (the cards will be returned; CDs will not.)

I'm not trying to be a pain in the butt, however, I'm not going to chase down your submission for you; please don't email me and tell me you've posted it at some specific URL, and you want me to go read it, then save it as your submission. If you'd like it to be included in this book, please take the time to follow the submission guidelines.

Do some self-editing. Because of time constraints, your work will not be edited for content. Editing will be limited to checking for spelling errors(unless your misspellings are intentional, as kitties do tend to spell differently than humans) and obvious punctuation problems (which everyone tends to make...)

Do not double space. Do not place two spaces following a period. At the top of the first page place your name, address, and email address, followed by the title of the story or article, and your byline (pseudonyms are permitted; if you prefer to use a pseudonym your real name will not appear anywhere in the book.) At the start of a new paragraph, use tab stops and not spaces.(For further clarification check Manuscript Guidelines)

Yearbook pictures: All images must be 300dpi and will be converted to black and white. Please submit a picture of your head (smile!) and name the file with the name oif the kitty. For example, Buddah Pest's picture would be named buddah_pest.png -- other acceptable formats are .jpg and .tif

Deadline: June 30, 2009. I must have your submission by this date; if all submissions are in by then, the final manuscript can be laid out and ready for the printer within a week, and then ready to order in time for holiday gift giving.

A publishing agreement is online; if you submit anything to this anthology, you will need to print it out, sign it, and mail to back to Inkblot Books. Basically, you will be agreeing to allow Inkblot books to publish your work in this anthology, but you will retain ALL RIGHTS to your work; you will also be agreeing that any profit resulting from the sales of copies of this anthology will be donated to a to-be-named animal charity.


If you are under 18, you must have a parent or legal guardian sign the publishing agreement.

Submission is not a guarantee that your work will be in the final book (this just covers my butt... the only way that would happen is if there were far too many submissions.)

I must receive the signed publishing agreement no later than August 5, 2009. The first year I pulled the book from print when a contract arrived after I'd sent the book to print. Because that turned out to be incredibly expensive, I cannot do that again. Once the book goes to print, that's it.

Prior to sending the book to print, I will send each submitter a PDF copy of their work to check for last minute typos and spelling errors that they wish to correct. If you do not receive a PDF by August 10, please let me know. The first year I really screwed up and left someone who had been told they were in the book out of the final manuscript layout, and I still feel bad about that. This extra step should help avoid that happening again.