The Concept
Many Worlds is an ongoing project of collectively developed story worlds and inter-
textual narratives. These stories are tied together by the Simulacrum, a cosmic being of unknown origin and purpose that creates copies of universes, adding to, subtracting from, and/or wholly altering the universes it creates. These worlds (also referred to as the Simulacra) can be very similar to or very different from our own.
Authors can submit stories that address any of the following three project priorities.
Story Types
Stable-Worlds
Stable-World stories are ones that present distinct realities other than our own with a preference towards speculative elements (fantasy, science fiction, slipstream, magical realism, horror, etc.).
Stories can follow a traditional or epistolary format (journals, newspaper articles, essays, biographies, etc.).
These stories are less cohesive with the concept of the Simulacra and the Traveler Societies, and are more likely to wind up on the website than in an anthology.
It is possible the Collective will try to edit these stories in a way to be more cohesive with the overall concept.
The artist will be the ultimate decider on these edits.
Travelers
The Simulacrum has gifted certain individuals with an ability to travel between worlds, sometimes by accident, and sometimes with intent, if they figure out their individually unique means of travel.
Their ability can be catalyzed by some combination of actions that they’ve done in their lives, infrequent or not (for example, falling from a building or getting a fever).
When a traveler enters a new world, a proxy body is created by the Simulacrum for them to inhabit. These proxy bodies have their own histories and relationships that fit into the world.
Traveler stories are centered around how travelers adjust to their new lives in these new worlds and their potential for meeting other travelers.
Traditional or epistolary story formats apply here as well.
Traveler stories may be pushed toward anthology or website publication, due to their ability to frame story worlds and generate a desirable cohesion across all content, regardless of platform.
Traveler stories will serve to further flesh out the Many Worlds continuity and may be consulted for future world building.
Unstable-Worlds
Unstable-World stories are ones that deal with the altering of reality (by the Simulacrum) and how truth is determined once reality has changed.
These stories are centered around protagonists that remember the way the world was and must deal with their new reality and all its implications.
These stories can also follow a traditional or epistolary format.
These stories are currently earmarked for anthology publication due to their focus on the reliability (and capriciousness) of reality.
MANY WORLDS CONTENT
There are already story worlds in the Many Worlds project, either published in an anthology or on the website here.
Authors may choose to write in already existing worlds or contribute new ones.
Ownership of each story will remain with the author, but if accepted into the project, the author is agreeing to shared ownership of their story-world.
Consent to the use of the author’s original characters will also remain with the author.
Each story submission is expected to be stand-alone but will contribute to the complexity of the project’s multiverse.
If you are interested in writing in an already existing world, please send a pitch of your story idea.
Further information will be included in the Many Worlds Agreement and Many Worlds Bible, which will be given to all contributors upon their acceptance into the project.
Previously Published Many Worlds Stories can be found here.
Additional Note on Stories
There are a number of unpublished and soon-to-be published stories in Many Worlds. Members of the Collective will have access to all of these stories for their own knowledge (and potential use).
MANY-WORLDS 