Anthology Opportunity

Tired from the work, but never of the work…

Hello there; (since Star Trek is Thomas’s thing let’s see how far I get with the Star Wars branding)

I’m putting together an anthology, and I’d love for you to possibly be part of it.

Have you ever realized that the Christian walk is hard? I hope you have. It is a difficult path to tread, a narrow path. And yet still a path so satisfying that despite the thorns jumping up from the wayside and finding their way into our socks that we keep on walking.

This fascinates me.

This is to be an anthology appealing to not only to the Christian readership but also to the general market, and it should be about Toil. More specifically and subtly, I hope, about the way in which work is a form of worship.

If we where forced by the government to no longer work for the rest of our lives and given a stipend I think everyone might have a jolly good time for about a week before they realized that they not only needed but rather required work to function. Adam was created to work the guarden. And yet work had a terrible fall. The stickers in the wayside grew up and weeds appeared in the fields and work itself fell into darkness. So I decided to make an anthology that explored three different movements—as though in a song—the history of work.

Movement 1: The Creation of Work

Movement 2: The Fall of Work

Movement 3: The Redemption of Work

(Please read the “What I’m Looking For” Section for more specific details)

Let me briefly introduce myself so that you’re not getting yourself (I hope) hyped up then realizing that I am just some kid living in my parent’s basement.

To that conclusion I would say the following: (1) I do not live in my parent’s basement, I am on the ground floor thank you very much.

And (2) My name is Xavier Schwindt (You did not kill my father, and no, I am not your father either). I am a young Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writer and and now (somehow) CEO of an indie publishing company (Crownling LLC—recently started, the website is terrible at the moment but we have a developer working on it as we speak). I know I am young. But so was Timothy, and aren’t we all looking for Timothy?

(For those of you who are still here) —>

What I’m Looking For:

  • Short Stories: 1,500 - 5,000 words

  • Poetry: Up to 50 lines (send up to 2 poems)

  • Microfiction: Under 500 words (up to 2 per submission)

  • Essays: Up to 5,000 words long (up to one per submission)

  • Vibe: Sci-fi & Fantasy Encouraged, but not required. For a bit of context I am looking for short stories in the vein of: The Last Question (Asimov), The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry), A Christmas Carol (Dickens), and the greatest example of all…Ecclesiastes (Solomon?). Think the so often unseen toil of the stay at home mother who is tired in the evening but happy, smiling at her children as they play in the park. Or the father slaving away from nine to five to support the mother and delighting in the same as his wife.

How it will be published:

This will be a kickstarter run by Crownling LLC and personally overseen by me myself I as well as the lovely people who work with me in the company. The currently perceived timeline for the kickstarter is June 1-20.

What You Get:

  • A professional (but chill) editing process

  • Your work in print + digital format

  • Contributor copies (because I believe in paying writers in more than just exposure)

  • The chance to be part of something special (at least I do hope it’s special)

  • I also hope to build into the process a royalty system so that if (and hopefully when the kickstarter hits its funding goal) then each contributing author will be payed per contribution but I don’t have a set number for this yet.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, send your best work to Xavierschwindtwrites@gmail.com by May 10th 2025. I am looking forward to your unique take on this subject.

Blessings;

—Xavier


P.S. We already have a non-final cover which will only be subjected to some slight alterations before publication: