Story themes

I’ve been asked to post a breakdown on the types or themes of stories that have been submitted to Rocket Science. Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it seems as some of the submissions have elements of one or more the themes given in the pie chart below. But as a general indicator, I think it works quite well.

Most of the story types I’ve used should be self-explanatory. Given the anthology’s remit, it’s probably not unexpected that “first contact” should prove such a popular type of story. Also, the fact that it’s easy to get into difficulties (so to speak) in space, or on another planet or moon, would explain the prevalence of  “rescue” stories. “Fix problem or die” are similar to “rescue” stories, but it is those affected by the problem who must rescue themselves. Again, an unsurprising type of story given Rocket Science‘s theme. “Little Tailor” refers to both those stories where a small person makes it big, or where someone bites off more than they can chew and subsequently comes a cropper.

So now you know what to try if you want to maximise your chances of acceptance. I’ve no feelings against, or toward, any of the story themes given above, but obviously I don’t want to fill the anthology with stories of all one particular type.