Leg Iron Books

08/08/2024

The Halloween anthology will be open for submissions on September 1st, closing on September 30th. This one pays...

It has been a year of ill health here at Leg Iron Books and the backlog is shocking. Nonetheless, the Halloween anthology will go ahead, opening for submissions on September 1st and closing on September 30th. The Christmas anthology will … Continue reading →

01/05/2024

UA23, the latest anthology, is now available on Amazon and Smashwords.
https://legironbooks.co.uk/books/underdog-anthologies/spring-broke-ua23/

25/04/2024

Not the official blog, but it's Leg Iron Books all the same. I just don't want to type it all twice.
Underdog Anthology 23 is nearing completion.

Still working here. I haven’t died. Underdog Anthology 23 (Spring Broke) is in its final stages. I’m waiting for the return of one author contract and a couple of final-check responses,…

27/03/2024

There's a backlog to clear...

Due to recent medical issues and a resulting backlog of work, Leg Iron Books cannot deal with new novel submissions at this time. Anthologies will continue as usual but we have to clear or at least reduce the backlog of … Continue reading →

19/01/2024

Underdog Anthology 23 will be open for submissions from March 1st until April 3rd 2024. This is the open book, any genre as long as it's a good story.

There are multiple books going through edfiting simultaneously at the moment, due to the large backlog caused by last year’s medical issues. At least some of them will appear before the next anthology is due, depending on the degree of … Continue reading →

19/12/2023

The Christmas anthology (number 22) is online in the nick of time. Next year I'll have to remember to factor in unexpected delays when deciding on closing dates!

Christmas, 2023. Another pretty bleak year draws to a close and its darkness certainly shows through in these stories. Santa does make an appearance in several of them, of course, but not always as you might expect. Death, and the … Continue reading →

04/11/2023

The Christmas anthology (number 22!) is now open for submissions.

The Christmas anthology is now open for submissions until November 30th. Any genre, as long as Christmas is a central part of the theme of the story. Stories should be roughly 2000 words, but this is not set in stone. … Continue reading →

26/10/2023

The Halloween Anthology, despite skirting perilously close to the rocky shores of deadline, is finally available.

It has cut very close to being to late this year, but despite multiple setbacks, the Halloween anthology, ‘A Day Off for Angels‘, is available just in time. The print version has a bonus story at the end, partly because … Continue reading →

18/10/2023

No robot writers...

Well, suddenly, we have artificial intelligence producing artwork and even stories. The novel writing machines of Orwell’s 1984 have broken into reality at last. I’ve played a bit with …

15/10/2023

Update on the current situation...

The Halloween anthology (UA21) has been dreadfully delayed by hospital stuff, which isn’t completely over yet. The worst is past, I think, but there will be more medical meddling in the coming weeks. It has taken them six decades to … Continue reading →

15/09/2023

Underdog Anthology 21, the Halloween book, will have a couple of extra days for submission.

There’s been A Thing. I will be getting a rather spectacular kidney stone removed on the 29th April (I hope, it didn’t go so well last time). This means I’ll likely be a dazed mess after anaesthetics on the 30th, … Continue reading →

06/08/2023

The 21st Underdog Anthology will soon open for submissions.

There have been many delays and problems in the background this year, some of them very serious indeed. We have lost another author – David Davis, whose book we were in the process of editing, has sadly passed away. That … Continue reading →

17/05/2023

Print books have to increase in price next month.

I have just heard from Amazon that print book base prices are to rise on June 20th. It was bound to happen, costs are going up everywhere, but hopefully it won’t be by much. This should not affect eBooks at … Continue reading →

05/05/2023

Anthology 20, the Spring 2023 book, is finally available. The delays on this one have been truly spectacular! it's a good thing it doesn't have a fixed deadline.

A slim volume of mostly dark Spring stories, ranging from supernatural to real life to futuristic. The last few years haven’t encouraged too many jolly tales, and here is the result.Normally, we think of spring as a pleasant time of … Continue reading →

10/02/2023

Underdog Anthology 20 will be open for submissions through March. The deadline can be a little flexible, but not too much.

Underdog Anthology 20 will open for submissions throughout March. We can be a little flexible on the end date this time since this one isn’t themed – any genre (as long as it’s legal and not p**n) is welcome. It … Continue reading →

04/12/2022

The Christmas anthology (Underdog Anthology 19) will be titled 'Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas' and is now in its final stages. All authors should have received contracts by now but given the somewhat intermittent nature of hte internet in this part of the country - any author who has been accepted for the book but hasn't received a contract should get in touch.

21/09/2022

Halloween anthology deadline has been extended to October 4th, due to all sorts of unforeseen reasons, most of them not very good.
So there is still a bit of time.

26/07/2022

The Halloween anthology (Underdog Anthology 18) will open for short story submissions between August 1st and September 20th.

Last updated 21st April 2019 There are currently three of these per year and starting in 2019, there will be an omnibus edition at the end of each year. The previous anthologies (1 to 7) might also become combined but … Continue reading →

01/07/2022

Mark Ellott's 'Reiver' is now available in hardback. All single author books will eventually be available in this format. Paperback and eBook versions will of course remain available too.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reiver-Mark-Ellott/dp/B0B4RYQMDT/

In the fifteenth century, the border between England and Scotland was a wild place with its own laws. The border reivers were raiders who lived off the land when they could and stole when they couldn’t. Their allegiances were to the clan rather than country. Sometimes, they sold their services as....

19/06/2022

The latest Underdog Anthology is late but finally completed -
https://legironbooks.co.uk/.../the-wrong-kind-of-leaves.../

- and there's a free sample story here -
https://underdogsbiteupwards.wordpress.com/2022/06/19/entertainment-the-failure-delegation/

Ten stories from seven authors, covering science fiction, supernatural piracy of the past, crime of the present, dodgy salesmen, future dystopia, a terrible family secret, and more. Something for everyone. This is the ‘any genre’ annual anthology and it’s very, … Continue reading →

11/05/2022

Mark Ellott's new book is available in hardback and Kindle (paperback on the way) on Amazon -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09ZJLK7KS
..and in a range of eBook formats on Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1146581

The anthology deadline is at the end of May, for the short story writers out there. Any genre for this one, there's no theme.

28/02/2022

Author payment time is imminent...
https://legironbooks.co.uk/quarterly-payments-to-authors/

It’s that time again. We have not looked at sales too hard since this winter’s Great Disconnection where even the mobile phones were out. Hopefully there will be some good sales to report but with the world distracted by one … Continue reading →

12/02/2022

Something for the weekend?
https://legironbooks.co.uk/anthology-17-and-other-news/

The Spring Anthology (any genre) will open for submissions on February 15th. The closing date is March 31st but this anthology can be a little more flexible on the deadline than the others. It’s not tied to a particular event, … Continue reading →

22/12/2021

Marsha Webbs little book of stories was a bit of a rush job so the description will need updating, but it's done. Getting through the backlog that was exacerbated by the storm damage to phone lines and power supply... gradually.
https://legironbooks.co.uk/books/short-story-collections/my-favourite-place-marsha-webb-2/

Fourteen gentle tales from Marsha Webb. Ideal for those cold nights in front of the fireplace.

22/12/2021

Mark Ellott's book of Western tales - The Morning Cloud Chronicles - now has a new cover and an extra story added.
https://legironbooks.co.uk/books/short-story-collections/sinistre-the-morning-cloud-chronicles-mark-ellott/

“I was loadin’ the buggy up when she rode into town on that big bay of hers. I stopped my work and, briefly lifting my hat, wiping the sweat from my brow and shielding my eyes from the sun, watched … Continue reading →

16/10/2021

Underdog Anthology 15 is now available. This Halloween issue has some wonderfully spooky tales and is available in print or Kindle (Amazon) or most other eBook formats (Smashwords). Next up is the Christmas anthology, although there's a bit of a backlog to clear first...
https://legironbooks.co.uk/halloween-and-christmas/

The latest Halloween anthology is now available in print and eBook formats. This is Underdog Anthology 15, ‘The Darkness at the End of October‘, and as with all these anthologies, is set at a bargain price. The Christmas anthology is … Continue reading →

01/10/2021

The Christmas anthology, Underdog Anthology 16, will open for submissions between October 15th and November 30th. Christmas themed stories, any genre. We pay for the rights to use the story but the author always keeps copyright.
https://legironbooks.co.uk/christmas-anthology/

The Halloween anthology is now closed to submissions, although there are two promised stories that could still appear in time. Not much time because the Christmas anthology opens for submissions on October 15th, until November 30th. The rule is the … Continue reading →

15/08/2021

The Halloween anthology is now open for submissions.
https://legironbooks.co.uk/halloween-and-expansion/

We are still in the throes of Covid, but life must go on and so must we. The Halloween anthology is now open for submissions until midnight (UK time) on September 30th. Sorry it’s a bit tight but the Christmas … Continue reading →

31/07/2021

A short collection of nine stories from Justin Sanebridge. Out in plenty of time for Christmas.
https://legironbooks.co.uk/books/short-story-collections/feelgood-original-christmas-stories-justin-sanebridge/

A dryad protects her tree against becoming a Christmas tree, a snowman changes a little boy’s life, and more funny, emotional, feelgood Christmas stories from Justin Sanebridge. These are his collected stories from Christmas editions of the Underdog Anthologies. Other … Continue reading →

30/07/2021

It's been a while for many reasons but LI Books is about to release a new one.

It will also soon be time to start on the Halloween anthology. Number fifteen!
https://legironbooks.co.uk/next-from-leg-iron-books/

There have been some issues that have delayed and distracted from the business – none of htem covid related but serious nonetheless. However, we are gradually getting back into the swing of things. The next book should have been Wandra … Continue reading →