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Support FORESHADOW: A SERIAL YA ANTHOLOGY

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Tirzah Price

Senior Contributing Editor

Most of Tirzah Price's life decisions have been motivated by a desire to read as many books as humanly possible. Tirzah holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and has worked as an independent bookseller and librarian. She’s also the author of the Jane Austen Murder Mysteries, published by HarperTeen, and Bibliologist at TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations. Follow her on Twitter @TirzahPrice.

The popularity of YA anthologies in recent years has made it relatively easy to access and enjoy YA short stories, and I am here for it. The short story form is exciting and dynamic, plus I love being able to enjoy so many new-to-me authors without the commitment to longer novels. When it comes to outlets for YA short stories beyond published anthologies, options are sparse. Few literary journals or magazines accept submissions for YA short stories, and even fewer outlets will pay authors for them. YA authors Nova Ren Suma and Emily X.R. Pan are hoping to change that with Foreshadow, a serial YA anthology that offers free YA short stories!

Nova Ren Suma and Emily X.R. PanSuma is author of the New York Times bestselling The Walls Around Us and the upcoming A Room Away from the Wolves, and Pan is author of The Astonishing Color of After, one of Book Riot’s Best Books of 2018 So Far. They’re also friends who each hold an MFA in writing and have extensive experience working on literary journals. Their mission is to “offer a unique new online venue for young adult short stories, with a commitment to showcasing underrepresented voices, boosting emerging writers, and highlighting the beauty and power of YA fiction.” Each month, they’ll publish three free short stories on their site: one written by an established YA author, one written by an emerging YA writer, and one written by a brand-new voice, picked by one of their guest judges.

BRB Gotta Finish This Story sticker by Foreshadow YAOn August 1st, they launched Issue Zero of Foreshadow, featuring three free short stories: “Weight” by Dhonielle Clayton, “Hover” by Samantha Mabry, and “Solace” by Nora Elghazzawi. They also launched their Indiegogo fundraiser, so that they can afford to pay their writers, and if they surpass their initial fundraising goal, pay their amazing staff honorariums for their hard work. They’re offering some cool incentives—including stickers, pins, totes, free books, phone calls with agents and editors! But I think we can all agree that the best and biggest incentive will be supporting an amazing platform offering us incredible free YA short stories!

Head on over to the Foreshadow site to read Issue Zero, and then check out their Indiegogo campaign! If you can’t afford to donate, consider sharing the link! And if you’re a writer, they’re still accepting submissions! Authors who will be in their 2019 issues include Becky Albertalli, S. K. Ali, Laurie Halse Anderson, Brandy Colbert, Gayle Forman, Tiffany D. Jackson, Uma Krishnaswami, Stephanie Kuehn, Nina LaCour, Justine Larbalestier, Malinda Lo, Bennett Madison, Saundra Mitchell, Amy Reed, Jason Reynolds, Randy Ribay, Lilliam Rivera, Adam Silvera, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Courtney Summers, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Wendy Xu.

I’m so excited to see what 2019 brings for Foreshadow!