California is the largest agricultural producer in the nation, and this  beautiful, bountiful Sacramento region we call home, lies at the heart of it all.

Known as the Farm to Fork Capital of America, even The New York Times recognizes Sacramento as a great restaurant city because of the amazing chefs who use locally-grown, locally-sourced ingredients in their restaurants.

Central Valley farmers produce hundreds of crops each year including tomatoes, almonds, rice, wine grapes and mandarins. And we can’t forget the wonderful cafes and breweries we have here in Sacramento.

So it seems only fitting that the theme of the 2024 Capitol Crimes Anthology is Farm to Foul Play.

Maybe the gardener selling his bok choy at a farmstand in South Sac decides to off his wife. Or two farmers have a beef over water rights.

What if the obnoxious celebrity chef gets tossed off the Tower Bridge right before the gala Farm to Fork Festival dinner?

When it comes to murder in Sacramento, the possibilities are endless.

If you need a little help with your short stories, check out these wonderful suggestions from one of our guest speakers, Ashley-Ruth Bernier, on Short Stories That Resonate. Or visit the Capitol Crimes Classroom under the Members tab to watch the short story panel with Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier, Joseph Walker, Holly West, and Simon Wood.

Be sure to read Capitol Crimes' earlier anthologies which you can find here.

We can’t wait to read your Farm to Foul Play short stories!

Rules & Guidelines

Stories for the 2024 Capitol Crimes Anthology: Farm to Foul Play will be selected through a blind judging process conducted by a panel of distinguished authors and editors who are not members of Capitol Crimes.

While we do not believe in censoring writers, please consider taste level when it comes to overly graphic violence, sex or excessive profanity. Stories that are selected for the anthology will be required to include content warnings if applicable.

If your story is selected for Farm to Foul Play, you will receive $25 to be paid when the anthology is published. Royalties shall accrue to Capitol Crimes. Rights will revert to authors one year after publication.

Authors will be notified later this summer whether their stories have been selected for the anthology.

Please email questions to capitolcrimes@gmail.com.

RULES:

• You must be a current member of Capitol Crimes AND Sisters in Crime
• Your story must address the Farm to Foul Play theme
• Your story must include a crime
• It must be an original, unpublished work of fiction for middle grade ages through adult
• AND it has to be set in the Sacramento region, or if you must stray, go no further than Northern California
• Length must be between 1,500 and 5,000 words
• Multiple submissions by the same author will not be accepted, nor will simultaneous submissions to other publications

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Email your submission to CapCrimesAntho@gmail.com. Be sure to include “2024 Anthology Submission” in the subject line.

Your submission must include two documents:

1) A cover document that includes:

• Name (the one you used to join Capitol Crimes)
• Pen Name if applicable
• Email address
• Story title
• Word count
• Story setting
• How you address the Farm to Foul Play theme

2) Your story. Please use proper Manuscript Format: https://www.shunn.net/format/story/

• Word doc, Word docx, or Rich Text Format (RTF)
• Times New Roman, 12pt font
• Double spaced
• 1” margins
• ½” indent for the first line of all paragraphs
• Use a centered ### to indicate an intended white line break.
• Use italics for italicized words, not an underscore.
• Center the story title in ALL CAPS on the first page, line 1.
• Start the body of the story two lines below the title.
• Include title and page number in the upper right hand corner of each page.
• Conclude your story with the last line “THE END.”