Pick Your Path

Submission Guidelines | Pick Your Path

Please follow these guidelines when submitting articles!

SUBMISSIONS OPEN — FROM SEPTEMBER 2021

Welcome! Which way will you go?

Hello!

I’m Nikki Waterson, and I created PYP to recapture some of the magic of childhood Choose Your Own Adventure books — just in adult form now. As ‘adult’ as you want, actually.

The vision and purpose of PYP

• Reclaiming the wonder of the unknown
• Collaborating with other writers
• Creating something that moves you — in whatever direction that is

Writers we are seeking

• Short fiction writers
• Anyone willing to give short fiction a go

This isn’t about writing a piece of literary genius, it’s about the process.

Become a writer

1. Follow the publication.
2. Sign up here (make sure you completely read the submission guidelines though!)
3. I will make you a writer within 48 hours at the latest. Once you are a writer you can submit your draft to the publication.

Rules for ALL submissions

• Fictional partial short stories
• Choose whether you want to start a new story or continue a current story (see below)
• 600–2000 words, some exceptions may be made if deemed suitable
• Profanity and adult themes (drugs, sex, violence) or similar are acceptable if it is clearly being used in a contextually appropriate way that suits the story
• The genre(s) nominated at the START of the story (in the story tagline) should not be veered from

Example of a NEW Story

Starting a NEW Story

1. Name the story in the headline. As this is a ‘first-tier’ story, name it with a ‘1.’ in front of the headline, as per the example above.
2. Identify the genres of the story in the tagline so that future writers on this story can keep to the same genres/tone
3. Choose a suitable attributed image for the story.
4. At the end of your story, provide a choice between 2 or more paths. See the above example story for how this choice should be formatted. The choices don’t need to be world-changing or mind-blowing. They can be mundane. They should be believable, and easy to continue the story from.
5. Add in your short writer bio (100 words or less) under the choices should you wish.
6. Once you have gone over the submission checklist, submit your story.

Continuing a CURRENT Story

1. Pick your story. For example the story above which is a first-tier story, which you can tell by the ‘1.’ in front of the title.
2. Locate a choice branch in that story that you would like to continue. These will be at the end of the story under headings like ‘Choice A’, ‘Choice B’
3. Name your new story based on the choice you chose. E.g. if you are writing the second level of the example story above, and you went with Choice B, your story is named “2B. My Name Is Melanie Scott”

Submission checklist

1. Complete your story to your satisfaction and grammar check it prior to submission. Leave it unpublished.
2. Add suitable tags (see below)
3. Ensure the Title and Tagline match our conventions (see below)
4. Click the options on the top right and select ‘Add to Publication’
5. Add it to Pick Your Path

Submission Process/Timeframes

• We are a small publication — it’s just me for now!
• It will generally take me 24–48hrs to review and either publish or choose not to publish a story.
• I will notify you if your story is rejected so if you haven’t heard back after this time, feel free to get in contact.
• Edits and resubmits of the same article are welcome IF I say as much in the notes to you.
• We accept unpublished drafts only.

Tags

Please include:

• ‘Pick Your Path’, ‘Fiction’ and ‘Short Story’
• The two most appropriate genre tags to fit the story

Rules

• Posts not fitting within fiction will not be accepted
• Affiliate links must be clearly indicated (e.g. at end of story)
• Erotica is allowed however the goal of this publication is to have a range of genres.
• No racist, bigoted, non-inclusive, hate speech or other anti-social rhetoric in articles or behaviour in the publication (comments etc.) will be tolerated.
• As a growing publication, rules may be added over time, and we reserve the right to act on any new/modified rules as we see fit.

Formatting

• Limit formatting as if you were reading a novel. Let the reader decide where the emphasis is based on sentence structure. Some bold/italics is ok, and quotes are okay for speech/written text in-story/where they seem appropriate.
• Follow the guidelines for the heading and subheading earlier in this guide — heading is the title, subheading is the genre(s).
• Include an attributed image in all articles. It should be horizontal to avoid a long scroll for readers opening up the article. Ideally no more than one. I am picky and may change this image with consulting you so that it fits with the publication feel.
• You can include a short bio with links and CTA (aim for <100 words for anything personal) at the bottom of the article

© 2021 Nikki Waterson

Owns — Animal Rescue, Choose Your Own Adventure| Co-owns — Publication Station | Paws for Giving Pet Portraits donating 50% Profits | Cop | Passionate writer, artist and nerd | Ko-Fi

Please connect with me! Twitter (@nikki_waterson)