January 2013: The Month of No Americans

Ever seen a map like this before?

It is meant to be funny, but it does highlight the average American's lack of knowledge of the outside world. Or as author Mark Twain put it: "God created war so that Americans would learn geography."

Alternate historians are no exception to this American-centric mindset. Consider that one of the two most written about subjects in alternate history is the American Civil War. Even the classic works of WWII alternate history, like The Man in the High Castle or Fatherland, are either set in America or feature prominent American characters.

Here at AH Weekly Update, we are taking it upon ourselves to correct this grave error by marking the month of January 2013 as the month of no Americans. We are requesting submissions of essays, reviews and maybe even some original alternate histories involving histories besides the United States of America. Here are the rules:

• Submissions should be between 500 to 1500 words. We are open to accepting submissions over 1500 depending on their quality.
• Submissions period begins today and posting will begin January 3rd. The submissions period ends on January 30th.
• All submissions must be sent by email with something either in the subject or body of email stating this is for January 2013's theme.
• All submissions must meet the theme. America or Americans don't have to be completely absent from the submission, but they should have a minor presence at best.
• We will not stop accepting articles for the month of January 2013 that do not meet the theme, but we reserve the right to postpone publication if we receive articles for the theme.
• All other rules regarding contributing to AH Weekly Update remain in effect.

To encourage you all to submit articles for this contest, the person who generates the most page views will receive a copy of Chris Nuttall's new novel The Royal Sorceress, published by Elsewhen Press. Also let me state that again: the person who generates the most page views will win the book. So if you submit more than one article, the total page views of all the articles will be totaled when determining the winner.

WARNING: Any suspected cheating will immediately disqualify the contributor and there will be no appeals.  You are encouraged to promote your work through social media, but if I see that someone has clicked a link to an article 100 times in a minute I am going to suspect foul play.

If you any questions email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and The Were-Traveler. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.