Yo Vocalites!
It has been a hope of mine to get published in Uncanny Magazine—one of the most competitive venues in speculative fiction today.
Their acceptance rate hovers below 1%, with thousands of submissions pouring in during rare open windows. Every story must not only shine with polished prose and fresh imagination, but also match Uncanny’s reputation for stories that are emotionally searing, politically aware, and unforgettable in voice. To publish there is to stand among the very best in the field—writers whose work shapes the future of speculative literature.
I have been working on a piece for this aim for more than six months. It is a thought experiment. I wanted to see if it was possible to write an epic on the chassis of a short story without it folding under the constraints. Is it possible to write something mythic and for it to mean something without being didactic; could it re-envision genre tropes in a fresh, compelling way without being derivative; is it possible to write something archaic without being pastiche; could I grapple with archetypical structure without being just another clone?
This was my aim. I am one or two revisions away from submission, but I have had very little human input to assess the piece.
This is where you come in.
I’m standing at the edge of this work—nearly ready to send it into the crucible of Uncanny’s slush pile—but before I do, I need honest eyes. Not flattery, not surface-level “nice job,” but real feedback from readers who care about story as much as I do.
I’m looking for five brave beta-readers willing to step into the fire with me. You’ll get the story raw, in its nearly final form, and your input could make the difference between a piece that just survives and one that sings.
If that stirs something in you, drop a comment below. Let’s test whether this story can truly carry the weight of an epic in the body of a short.
About the Creator
R. B. Booth
Just a small-town dude from Southern California making videos and telling stories the way I like to read them.
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More stories from R. B. Booth and writers in Fiction and other communities.
Smile. Runner-Up in Everything Looks Better From Far Away Challenge.
It’s nuts, isn’t it? How you can just know about someone? Never seen them before. Don’t know their name. Yet in a glance, you know the whole of them. Like everything about them was already written, and you read the book in a summer’s breath.
By R. B. Booth6 months ago in Fiction
Violence Begets
"Any last words, cowboy?" "None you'd understand, sodbuster." "Funny. That's Marshall Sodbuster to you. But I meant some last nugget that would help us in the adjudication of the myriad offenses counted against you and your gang. I wasn't asking for penitence."
By Adam Diehl3 days ago in Fiction
Comments (7)
Though I have just realised how late to the party I am here - did you get it in?
This tickles my taste buds but I am also aware I set rules for myself on returning to vocal about how much I do - I have nasty RSI, so I am keeping typing and scrolling to a minimum and trying to write only with voice to text software. Which is horribly cumbersome.
I would gladly give my feedback on a project like this, sounds like a really fun and interesting read!!
Awesome!!! I'd love to read it and give feedback!
I'm so sorry Blake, but giving feedback is not something I'm comfortable with doing. I cannot bring myself to criticise something constructively, even if it is solicited. I hope you don't mind 🥺 On a happier note, I wish you all the best. Keeping my fingers crossed for you 🤞🏼🤞🏼✨️❤️
I’d like to read and I’m definitely willing to give unfiltered thoughts. What’s the deadline?
Count me in. Give it to me raw and I will tell you what works and what does not.