Welcome to the first TiF Annual Recap! This call is ONLY for those who’ve been Featured previously. Please read EVERYTHING below carefully before leaving a comment!
Wondering if you are eligible to be in this Annual Recap? Click HERE and look for your name. In alphabetical order by FIRST NAME.
*If you have not been Featured yet, there is still time! This is open to anyone Featured in Issues #1 - #23. That means you have between Issue #15 - #23 (9 more weeks) to be Featured!
OPEN OCTOBER 15 - DECEMBER 15
You will notice a button below, but the COMMENTS section is also open. Putting your submission in the COMMENTS section ONLY will not guarantee it will make it into the Annual Recap issue on January 15th. The COMMENTS section is for the benefit of people who happen upon this post in search of your amazing stories! To ensure your selection appears in the Annual Recap issue you MUST click the Submission Form button below:
Select ONE fiction story/post that you’ve published on your Substack between January 1, 2024 - December 15, 2024 that is your favorite of them all! Perhaps you have one that received the most comments/likes? Or one that went unnoticed but you feel is your best work yet?
Do not to use a post that is behind a paywall.
Because this closes on 12/15/24, that means you have two months, if you haven’t got anything from the past, to write something and post it for inclusion in the Annual Recap.
One link per person. If you submit TWO links neither will be used.
LEAVE YOUR SUBMISSION IN TWO PLACES*! I know, I know, that might seem complicated but it’s the only way I could think of to have this post filled with your stories AND have an organized version for myself in excel (what I use when doing all this every week) so I can easily put the PDF together and create the medallions! And as there are 211 of you as of today, not having to copy/paste your information from the comments to excel is ideal! However, leaving a comment is OPTIONAL as it is purely for recommendations sake.
ONLY leave a COMMENT or fill out the SUBMISSION FORM if you’ve been Featured in Issues #1 - #23. Honorable Mentions and Monthly Recap included. Use this list as a helpful check.
Anyone who does NOT provide ONE link or provides TWO links will have their last story that was featured in TiF used instead.
TEMPLATE FOR SUBMISSION
Copy/Paste the below template in Comments Section.
Story Title: Writer: [Your Substack Name] Genre: [See NOTE below] ONE ONLY! Type: [Choose 1: Comic, Poetry, Micro/Flash Fiction, Short Story, Short Serial, or Serial] URL: [Must be a Substack URL / CANNOT be behind a paywall] Tag Line: 1 sentence, 50-word cap, about your story.
Genre can often be difficult to pin down or explain. And, if given the opportunity, we’d likely choose 3+ genres to try and explain our story but that can easily cause confusion for readers. So, I urge, nay INSIST, you only list ONE genre for your story. Using a “/” or “-” does not count as ONE genre and will be passed over for consideration. Some key exceptions are Sci-Fi, Cli-Fi, Spec-Fic, & Lit-Fic.
List of Popular Genre Fiction:
Science-Fiction OR Sci-Fi / Literary Fiction OR Lit-Fic / Speculative Fiction OR Spec-Fic / Climate Fiction OR Cli-FI / Fantasy / Horror / Thriller / Romance / Historical / Mystery / Comedy / Folklore / Dystopian / Young Adult
This list is in no way “complete.” For instance, you may choose “Crime” in place of Mystery or “Suspense” in place of Thriller. There are hundreds of genres to choose from. A good source of research, if your story does not fit into one of the above commonly used fiction genres is this page.
Feel free to include “extra genres” in the Note area where you can say whatever you want about your story.
Look for this Annual Recap email on Wednesday, January 15th!
DO NOT share a link in the COMMENTS if you have not been featured in a previous issue! Your link will be removed and you forfeit being selected for the entire 2025 calendar year issues (weekly and monthly).
I will create my own COMMENT for anyone who may have questions for me. Please refrain from leaving a question as a comment as I want to keep the comments section as clean as possible, only listing favorite recommendations.
TWO MORE THINGS
First, I’ve got a VERY important poll for everyone to participate in! This annual recap will bring not just the largest list of stories to come out of 2024, but a BRAND NEW COLOR for the TiF Medallion! I’d love for the community, all of you, to help me choose this special color that all of the stories will receive, exclusive to 2024, that will greatly influence the 2025 medallion color as well:
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Second, because this list will include over 200 stories by over 200 different writers, the January 15th issue will be available as a PDF with clickable links ONLY. This will ensure that no story is cut off by the dreaded “email is too long” police! The number of pages and design for this PDF is still TBD but I’m sure it will be several pages long and I can’t wait to get started!
And in 2025 I want to present all of your with a little something for anyone who may want to continue to support with one-time donations, there will be TWO versions of the Annual Recap 2024:
All of the stories as described above. (FREE TO EVERYONE)
The regular PDF of 200+ stories with BONUS pages that will include ALL 26 of the weekly issues AND the 6 Monthly Recap issues that were previously never released as a PDF! ($)
The second one will be available for low price for anyone who wants to help continue to support TiF with a one-time donation.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR AMAZING STORIES THIS YEAR! I KNOW I SPEAK FOR FICTION READERS EVERYWHERE WHEN I SAY WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR STORIES IN 2025!
Hi Oscar, just a friendly reminder that you also need to put this info in the Google Form in order to make sure you are in the Annual Recap coming mid-January!
Tag: Surrounded by death, Antonio must escape a nightmare of twisted flesh, blood-soaked floors, and cackling goblins. But as the drums of their wicked feast grow louder, he’ll discover that freedom is just an illusion.
Tag Line: A determined iguana hunter in South Florida does everything he can to convince the father of the girl he loves that he's worthy of her hand in marriage.
Tag Line: In a future Philadelphia, tough-as-nails PI Saru Solan hunts down the minions of an alien death god murdering the blue-eyed hosts of its rival.
Tag Line: Hank has been hanging out in Heaven for a couple of years now, he thinks, and he really doesn't like it, so he is waiting in line to file a complaint and try to make things right.
Story Title: Embrace
Writer: Tracy
Genre: Horror
Type: Poetry
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/wyrdplay/p/embrace
Tag Line: The loathing of touching and being touched haunts this protagonist to the very end.
Story Title: Matters of the Heart
Writer: Shane Bzdok
Genre: Science Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://shanebzdok.substack.com/p/matters-of-the-heart
Tag Line: A lover's heart is used as leverage when the desperation of self-preservation turns man into monster, and brother against brother.
Story Title: Running With Wendy
Writer: Virginia Neely
Genre: horror
Type: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/myscribblings/p/running-with-wendy
Tag Line: A young boy's first hunting trip turns into a nightmare
Story Title: Serpent Mound
Writer: Oscar Ruto Chemelil
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/oscarruto/p/serpent-mound?r=1of53q&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Tag Line: Why we join the war. Why we reject the war.
Hi Oscar, just a friendly reminder that you also need to put this info in the Google Form in order to make sure you are in the Annual Recap coming mid-January!
Story Title: 'First Time' (INGRESSION prologue)
Writer: @ReidItWrite (Johnathan Reid)
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Type: Serial
URL: https://consilienceseries.substack.com/p/ingression-1-1-first-time
Tag Line: A woman with a desperate plan, an unnecessary man and a limited lifespan.
Story Title: Heartwood
Writer: Julie Gabrielli
Genre: Cli-Fi
Type: Short Story
URL: https://juliegabrielli.substack.com/p/heartwood-full-story
Tag Line: A girl from a generations-old maple sugaring family tries to save a maple tree under threat from a methane pipeline.
Story Title: Of Labor and Love
Writer: Bridget Riley
Genre: Romance
Type: Short Story
URL: https://bridgetriley.substack.com/p/of-labor-and-love?r=9e3cr
Tag Line: While helping a client through a precipitous labor, a doula encounters her high school ex-boyfriend.
Story Title: The Goblin Camp
Writer: Kathy Enriquez-Nguyen
Genre: Horror
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://katartstrophy.substack.com/p/the-goblin-camp
Tag: Surrounded by death, Antonio must escape a nightmare of twisted flesh, blood-soaked floors, and cackling goblins. But as the drums of their wicked feast grow louder, he’ll discover that freedom is just an illusion.
Story Title: The Price
Writer: Cole Batson (@theliarsbench)
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://theliarsbench.substack.com/p/the-price
Tag Line: A determined iguana hunter in South Florida does everything he can to convince the father of the girl he loves that he's worthy of her hand in marriage.
THE TRUTH OF WHO WE ARE
SCRIBBLER -- THE GOLDEN YEARS@benwoestenburg
Literary fiction
short serial
https://open.substack.com/pub/benwoestenburg/p/the-truth-of-who-we-are?r=254e8w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
If Love is forever, how long does that last?
Story Title: No Dogs in Philly
Writer: Andy Futuro
Genre: Cyberpunk
Type: Serial
URL: https://andyfuturo.substack.com/p/no-dogs-in-philly-1?r=2esei3
Tag Line: In a future Philadelphia, tough-as-nails PI Saru Solan hunts down the minions of an alien death god murdering the blue-eyed hosts of its rival.
Writer: Nick Buchheit (@ThisNickWrites)
Genre: Comedy
Type: Short Story
URL: https://thisnickwrites.substack.com/p/hank-hates-heaven
Tag Line: Hank has been hanging out in Heaven for a couple of years now, he thinks, and he really doesn't like it, so he is waiting in line to file a complaint and try to make things right.