Think of Groundhog Day. Palm Springs. Triangle. All You Need Is Kill / Edge of Tomorrow. 

OPPORTUNITY WINDOW is a new anthology of time loop stories, and like [RECORDED], I want your work! (And yes, the title is absolutely an homage to the Stargate: SG1 episode "Window of Opportunity.")

While a time loop must be critical to the plot, stories can be any mix of science fiction, fantasy, and/or horror.

What defines a time loop?

Here are some of my favorite time loop stories if you want a sense of things I'm looking for.

"Sunflower Loop" by Beth Goder
"Getaway" by Nicole Kornher-Stace
"In Which Caruth Is Correct" by Carolyn Zhao
"Jinx" by Carlie St. George
"A Layer of Cathrines" by Elisabeth R. Moore
"Bird Girl Builds A Machine" by Hannah Yang
"Marley and Marley" by J.R. Dawson
"The First Stop Is Always the Last" by John Wiswell
"Time Bomb Time" by C. C. Finlay
"Tuesday, June 13, at the South Valley Time Loop Support Group" by Heather Kamins
"Twenty Thousand Last Meals on an Exploding Station" by Ann LeBlanc
"When Shiva Shattered the Time-Stream" by Sharang Biswas


So with that in mind... 

ABOUT THE ART

The black and white illustration is "The Attic Window (1920)" by Mildred McMillen, which is in the public domain; I manipulated the original illustration to create the cover and banner art. No AI utilized in any process. 

In the first 24 hours ONLY, you can get the ebook for $5, or the paperback and ebook bundle for only $22! (Shipping charged separately.)

Done now!

Trapped in a timeloop? What better time than to catch up on some great books! Here's what pledging to OPPORTUNITY WINDOW can get you:

(Shipping charged separately after the campaign.)

And if you're interested in even more timeloop stories... I (Merc) will be releasing a short collection of  timeloop stories in July 2027 as well! So you can read THE LOOP RESETS (ebook) early by backing OPPORTUNITY WINDOW!

LENGTH: 2,000 to 6,000 words for original (unpublished) stories. Reprints of any length up to 10,000 words.

PAYMENT: Original stories will be paid a flat rate of $200USD (dependent on funding). Reprints will be paid a flat rate of $25USD. The total number of stories accepted will ultimately be determined by the campaign's final funding amount. [Base goal set for launch will cover an estimated six originals and eight reprints. Additional funds pledged over the base threshold will unlock additional slots dependent on the amount raised.] Authors will each receive (1) copy of the ebook.

MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS? Yes, up to 2 per author. You may submit one original and one reprint, or two reprints, or two originals. Your choice. No more than 2 stories total per author, please. I will only accept one story per author.

SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS? Yes. Please inform me as soon as possible if your work is accepted elsewhere. (I aim to respond to all submissions within one month.)

NO AI-generated work will be considered. This includes but is not limited to the use of LLMs to generate all or portions of the story, and the use of tools for brainstorming ideas or generating outlines; use of tools with AI-gen functionality for editing/polishing should be disclosed (and spellcheck built into most software is not an issue). Basically, please just use your brain; I trust that to be more than sufficient to write awesome stuff. Believe in yourself!

Stories must be written in English. Human translations are great! If the story was published in another language and is being translated into English for the first time, it counts as an original.

Stories MUST feature a time loop of some description as a central component (i.e. characters can't simply talk about time loops once and then the plot is entirely focused on something else). You do not need to explain the time loop, but it must be present and affect the characters and the story.

Science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres are welcome.

No fanfiction (that means stories set in other IP worlds, i.e. Doctor Who, Star Trek, Stargate, etc) and no erotica.

READING PERIOD: October 15th-22nd, 2026.  Responses will go out after the submission period ends. Response times may be up to 30 days. A Duotrope submissions manager link will be available when the reading period opens, as well as an email address to send submissions if you can't use Duotrope. 

Estimated publication: April 2027

----

The total number of stories chosen will be dependent on the funding of the campaign. So spread the word and get your friends, enemies, and time travelers to help us make this a smashing success!

In a word, no.

Please do not submit stories written with or assisted by generative AI technology such as (but not limited to) ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Astra, other LLMs (large language models), or other assistive or agentic models. I would also prefer you do not ask a genAI model to critique, edit, or revise your human-written story.

Use your wonderfully weird human brain. 🧠 You totally got this.

(Basic spell-checkers are not a problem.)

ON ARTWORK

OPPORTUNITY WINDOW does not and will not use any generative artificial intelligence technology for creating artwork, including the cover, the interior design, and any promotional graphics. (They are all made by hand.)

Note: I do work in Photoshop, although I do not utilize the baked-in AI tools. I've been using this software for 10+ years, I promise I know what I'm doing and can do it myself. ;)

EDITING OF THE ANTHOLOGY

Like [RECORDED], I do all the slush reading, decision making, and editing myself. I do not use artificial intelligence to generate form letters, feedback, or revision requests. I format ebooks in Vellum and paperback formats in a mix of Vellum and InDesign/Photoshop for layouts.

I'll be working/reading largely in LibreOffice as a word processing software.

YOUR WORK WILL NEVER BE FED INTO AN AI "DETECTOR" OF ANY KIND.

I do not use (nor trust) "AI detectors" and I will never use them to "check" any stories submitted through the slush. I'm perfectly capable of making my own judgements and decisions on a piece.

When you submit your work to OPPORTUNITY WINDOW, you are placing your trust in me, the editor, to treat your intellectual property with the care and respect it deserves, and I honor that. I will not utilize any AI detection tools on your work for any reason.


OTHER THINGS TO NOTE

Okay! That should be it! If you have questions, feel free to utilize the community features on BackerKit to ask questions or email me via the platform. Thank you!

The BackerKit campaign is part of Printopia! So it will run from September 10th until October 1st, 2026.

OPPORTUNITY WINDOW will open to submissions on October 15th, 2026 so long as the campaign fully funds. The window (heh) will be open for one week (October 14th-22nd) and writers can submit via Duotrope or email when the period opens. All submissions will get replies by December 2026. 

A link to the submissions portal will be posted on this page when it is available.

Publication will be April 2027, in ebook and paperback. 

Shipping and reward fulfillment will begin in April 2027. (Shipping is NOT included in physical pledge tiers; it will be collected prior to fulfillment.)

Shipping, in THIS economy?!

Okay, but for real... 2027 is months away and we have zero idea what rates will look like, not to mention the continued saga of tariffs, regulations, VAT, and taxes. (And you thought time travel was complicated...)

All shipping fees will be charged separately for physical reward (book) tiers.

Additionally, taxes/VAT/local regulatory fees/etc will not be included in the reward tier pledge level. I will do my best to communicate to backers if things change; this is an ever-evolving (looping) situation, so you (like me) will know more next year when shipping and production are closer to being fulfilled.

Not all countries are listed as "shipping to" for physical rewards. If you do not see your country of residence on the list but would like to back OPPORTUNITY WINDOW and get a physical copy, please drop me a message and I can add your country to the list. Again, shipping is not charged or calculated at time of pledge.

I'll be utilizing local printers (such as IngramSpark's facilities) to help with fulfillment, which should also assist with lowering shipping costs.