Muthi Nhlema is the author of the ZamaShort debut short story 'Piss Corpse'. When he isn’t managing a non-profit or trying to understand his 12-year-old son’s obsession with anime, Muthi Nhlema is a Malawian writer best known for his adventures (and misadventures) in African speculative fiction.

 

 ZamaShort #1 Piss Corpse by Muthi Nhlema

Meet Charlotte, Peace Corps volunteer fresh off the plane from Iowa to Malawi and teaching English at a local school. Loaded with hilarious preconceptions as an American, feminist, and agnostic, she expected an adventure — just not one where trousers mean pants and white privilege feels like the punchline of a bad joke. With the help of her spirited chaperone, Malawian Mbumba, Charlotte is ushered into a culture clash more like a train smash and has never felt more alive.
 
When Muthi Nhlema isn't managing a non-profit or trying to understand his 12-year-old son's obsession with anime. He is a Malawian writer best known for his adventures (and misadventures) in African speculative fiction. This story was written during his stay in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.
 
'Piss Corpse' was selected to be the debut short story of the ZamaShort imprint series of single short stories. ZamaShort is solely focused on the amazing powerhouse that is the short story, giving each short story its own publication so that it may be read and enjoyed and savoured fully as a stand-alone publication. As per the StoryTime Publishing mandate initialised in 2007, with ZamaShort will continue to champion and add to the ever-growing canon of African literature excellence and diversity.

Pre-order Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F1VC85R6
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/piss-corpse/id6743448042
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/se/en/ebook/piss-corpse
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1731412
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/piss-corpse-muthi-nhlema/1147154581
Thalia: https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1074806214
Angus and Robertson: https://www.angusrobertson.com.au/ebooks/piss-corpse-muthi-nhlema/p/9789198291346
Vivlio: https://shop.vivlio.com/product/9789198291346_9789198291346_10020/piss-corpse

ZamaShort is a new project from StoryTime Publishing who brought you the StoryTime magazine, and the African Roar and AfroSF series of anthologies.

ZamaShort is solely focusing on the amazing powerhouse that is the short story. We believe in giving each short story its own publication so that it may have its own spotlight. To be read and enjoyed and savoured fully as a stand-alone publication. As per the StoryTime Publishing mandate initialised in 2007, with ZamaShort we continue to champion and add to the ever-growing canon of African literature excellence and diversity.

To keep in touch with what ZamaShort is doing please find us at:
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/zama1short/
Bluesky: @zamashort.bsky.social
X/Twitter: https://x.com/zama1short
Website: https://zamashort.blogspot.com/

Submissions Call (Open)

At ZamaShort we will read your submissions and if accepted, edit them with you to a final, and then publish them as a single short story ebook for distribution and sale on multiple digital platforms such as Amazon, Overdrive, Apple Books, B&N, Kobo, etc. We see this endeavour as a partnership with you the author and as such all revenue from sales of your story after distribution fees will be split down the middle 50/50. We also believe that launching your story as an exclusive to ZamaShort is the best way to go about this and as such before publication we will enter into an exclusive world rights licencing contract with you for a minimum period of at least one year. You will retain all rights to your work and after this period while the work will remain on sale, and you will continue receiving revenue from it, you will be free to publish it elsewhere. Your share of the revenue from the story will be paid out on an annual basis in Q1 of each year along with an account of all sales. If the revenue is below the bank charges required to send it to you it will rollover to the next year.

Short stories may be submitted in any and all genres such as literary fiction, science fiction, contemporary fiction, fantasy, romance, historical fiction, etc. as long as it is within the following terms.

1) Only verifiable African writers are eligible (writers born in Africa, or having domiciled in for over 10 years, and/or holding citizenship in an African country, or having at least one parent who was born in Africa).

2) The submitted work must be an original work of the submitting author, nothing that infringes the copyright of, or is derived from, another author’s work of fiction (this includes AI-generated content), is pornographic, hate speech, etc.

3) Must be unpublished (not previously published in print or online).

4) No simultaneous submissions (only submitted to ZamaShort and no other publications).

5) No multiple submissions (submit only one work at a time, if it is accepted or rejected you can then submit a different work).

6) Single works with multiple authors will not be considered.

7) Submission format: Microsoft Word .doc/.docx (or Rich Text Format .rtf) UK English, double spaced, Font: Microsoft Word current default: Aptos 12pt.

8) Word Count: Minimum: 2000 Words, Maximum: 10k Words. For this type of publication, the sweet spot may be around 4-5k words but submissions in the range indicated will be considered.

9) Currently this is an open call so there is no deadline for submissions.

10) All works to be submitted to: zama1short@gmail.com

Email header titled: ZamaShort Submission: (Author Name) (Story Name)

Email body:

Name of Story
Name of Author
Genre of story (multiple if cross-genre)
Author Bio (100 words max)
Anything you might want to add about your submission or otherwise (500 words max)

Email attachment:

1) Your short story in .doc .docx or .rtf in above submission format
2) Proof of eligibility/background as per term one. Preferably in .pdf format, or a photo image of an official document (Birth Cert/National ID/Passport/etc.) of yours and if required additionally the same for at least one parent.

Submissions that fail to align to this format and the terms may be discarded.

11) To be edited by Ivor W. Hartmann and published by StoryTime, for any problems or queries please contact: storytime.publishing@gmail.com

12) All AI-generated submissions will result in a permanent black-listing.