A guide to style and content for creators wishing to join the Wibbly Press family.
Wibbly Press is a (group noun) of creators with several things in common. First and foremost, Wibblies create original fiction. While fan fiction is fun (and most of us certainly don't mind if anyone wants to write properly credited fiction based on our works that is totally not-for-profit) and many of us started creating in the fan realms, Wibbly Press is an outlet for professional aspirations. We do have plenty to say on the creative process, but that is the sole extent to which Wibbly Press seeks to publish in terms of non-fiction for the time being.
There are two further considerations in becoming a Wibbly: Format and genre. Currently, all Wibbly Press material must be publishable online in some sort of serial format. Whether that's as serial novels, like the founding Wibblies, a podcast series, a serialised webcomic story or anything else you can think of that fits into the online serial notion. As for genre, the Wibbly theme does not necessarily demand speculative fiction, but does require stories to lift the reader out of the everyday. Fantasy, sci-fi, horror, spy fiction, historical fiction, pulp action and more are all welcomed. The stories can be as realistic or unrealistic (within their genre bounds) as an author likes, so long as the crucial element of escapism is present.
You do not have to be Australian to be a Wibbly, but it helps.
Wibbly Press also has some standards regarding a creator's proficiency. Writers, you do not need perfect grammar and spelling, but please strive to be as legible as you can. Use spelling and grammar checking tools readily available in word-processing software, even if you are confident. Artists, anatomical skills are a must (even if your work deliberately warps perspective, you have to know the rules in order to break them properly), as are the adept use of your tools, both physical and electronic. Podcasters, please write your scripts clearly and use decent recording equipment (it doesn't have to be the best, but the sound does need to be intelligible and clean).
There are only a few rules on offensive content, but they are absolute. First of all, if you think people may be offended, put in place an appropriate, clearly visible warning, preferably denoting the type of offensive content. Swearing is fine, however much you want to use, however crass. Sexual content is also allowed, with the exception of graphic, visual, sexual depiction of minors (this is illegal in Australia, where Wibbly Press is based, even in drawings). Wibbly Press does not endorse the positive depiction of paedophilia, bestiality, necrophilia or rape. Violence isn't something we seek to censor, though we will probably pass on disturbingly gory porn (sorry, guro fans). Writing about bigotry and exploring it from different angles is fine; writing in a way that explicitly endorses bigotry and glamourises the bigot isn't. Basically, if your work goes to significantly worse extremes than Secret Vocab, you're not a good fit.
Wibbly Press loves the experimental, though if you're much more experimental than Secret Vocab, we warn you that you may have extreme difficulty finding an audience. Yes, Secret Vocab does set the bar for a lot of things here.
Finally, there are some hard to define qualities uniting the creators of Wibbly Press. Even if you adhere to the guidelines listed above, we may turn aside your application if you lack a certain "Wibblyness". Part of this is sense of humour, a willingness to accept fair criticism, and at least a bit of inner geek.
Also, no vampires. Really, no vampires.
If you wish to submit to us, you can either contact us over the forum or email us (admin@wibblypress.net).
You will need to send us:
*A blurb - a short one that we can use for promotional purposes, and (if you wish) a longer one to give us an idea of where the story is going. We're not asking for detailled outlines - as we are quite aware some serial auhors do not use them.
*2-3 episodes/chapters - this is so we can get an idea of your style/tone/content etc, all the things we need to make a decision on.
Also, introduce yourself, it doesn't have to be a long biography, but we'd like some warning as to whether or not you're an evil robot overlord. (If you are…Welcome Evil Robot Overlord, we have made the preparations…).