4 FREE eBooks for the 4th of July, our new KICKSTARTER PROJECT, and our latest CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

 

Hi everyone,

We hope that you're having a great summer! We have a lot of information to share with you. In honor of the 4th of July and America turning 250 years old, we're giving away FOUR FREE Kindle editions of some of our Sherlock Holmes and weird fiction titles. We are also sharing our current Sherlockian Kickstarter project, But Wait, There's More!, and announcing our latest CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS. Let's start with that Kickstarter project!

But Wait, There's More - Further Ramblings of a Sherlockian Motormouth

Sherlockian sage Bob Sharfman, BSI ("Killer Evans") returns with another cantankerous collection of cacaphonous caterwauling!  

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE showcases the wit and wisdom of Bob's various vaunted vignettes from prestigious publications such as The Baker Street Journal, Sherlock Holmes Review, The Norwegian Explorers Christmas Annual, La Gazette, Canadian Holmes, Passengers Log, and more! 

In this collection, Bob Sharfman makes the case that:

• Nobody really knows when the Victorian Era took place
• Just because Holmes was paid doesn't mean he cashed the check
• The history of Cox & Co. is convoluted indeed
• Fred Porlock is none other than... Fred Porlock! 
• Being a detective is a great cover story for a secret agent...
• The Sherlock Holmes Canon is classic literature!

This is a must-have book for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlockiana, reminiscent of the work of Vincent Starrett and William Baring-Gould.  Back it now by CLICKING HERE!

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS 

FOR UPCOMING BELANGER BOOKS ANTHOLOGIES

Beyond the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Edited by Brian Belanger 

Description: Our next Sequels book. This time, the collection will feature sequels to the 12 stories in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes:

"The Adventure of Silver Blaze"

"The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" 

"The Adventure of the Yellow Face"

"The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk"

"The Adventure of the Gloria Scott"

"The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual"

"The Adventure of the Reigate Squire"

"The Adventure of the Crooked Man"

"The Adventure of the Resident Patient"

"The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter"

"The Adventure of the Naval Treaty"

"The Adventure of the Final Problem"

The book will be set up to include the original adventure by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle followed by the sequel(s) to that adventure.  

No need to claim a story! We plan on publishing multiple sequels to stories (i.e. the anthology could include three sequels to The Musgrave, two sequels to the Naval Treaty, four sequels to the Greek interpreter, etc…).  

Submission guidelines:  A 5,000 - 10,000 word Sherlock Holmes story which is a sequel to one of the stories in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. 

Submission length: 5,000 – 10,0000 words (it is okay to go over some).

Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $100 plus a paperback copy of the volume of the anthology containing their story.  

Rights: Authors shall retain rights to their work. We only retain the rights to the story within the publication.

Send submissions in a word document that is double spaced, in Times New Roman, and in 12 point font to brian@belangerbooks.com with the subject line ATTN: BEYOND THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Submission Deadline: August 15, 2026

Publication: End of 2026-Beginning of 2027

Cover to the original edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Steel True, Blade Straight 2026-2027

 

The Belanger Books Journal of Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Inspired Stories, Poems, and Scholarship

2026-2027 Annual

Edited by Derrick Belanger, BSI

Cover to the 2024-2025 edition of the journal

Description: This anthology is looking for stories, poems, and scholarship inspired by and about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. While the anthology will contain new Sherlock Holmes stories, the intent would be for at least 25% of the material to be stories and poems inspired by the life and non-Sherlockian writing of Sir Arthur. Another 25% of material would be scholarship on Holmes and Doyle.

All proceeds from the Anthology will be donated to The Beacon Society, a 501c(3) nonprofit scion society of The Baker Street Irregulars (BSI), that serves as a link to other scion societies, providing teachers, librarians, children museums, and children theaters with local resources to bring the magic of Sherlock Holmes to life.

Guidelines:

Stories - 3,000 - 10,000 word submissions that connect to the writing of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These can be Sherlock Holmes stories, or stories connected to Sir Arthur’s additional writings (far too many to list here).

Poems - format and length are open. The poetry submission would have to somehow connect to the life or work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Scholarship - 1,000 - 5,000 word submissions. Essays must connect to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or his writing (Sherlock Holmes or other work).

Multiple submissions in the same or more than one category are welcome.

Payment: All authors will receive a paperback copy of the anthology.

Rights: All authors shall retain the rights to their submitted work outside of the anthology and may reprint their submission one year after the anthology’s publication date.

Submission: Email submissions to derrick@belangerbooks.com with the headline: ATTN: STEEL TRUE BLADE STRAIGHT 2026 SUBMISSION. In the body explain: 1. Type of submission (story, poem, story), and a brief description of how the submission connects to Sir Arthur. Please attach the submission as a word document.

Submission Deadline: October 11, 2026

Publication Date: December 2026

The Pontine Dossier: Millennium Edition 2026 Annual

Edited by Derrick Belanger, PSI

The next volume of Solar Pons Scholarship from Belanger Books! 

Belanger Books is proud to bring back The Pontine Dossier in an annual edition.  The Pontine Dossier: Millennium Edition 2026 will feature Pontine articles and scholarships.  We would love it if you'd consider contributing.

Cover to the 2024 edition of the Pontine Dossier

Guidelines:  An article of Pontine Scholarship about Solar Pons, characters in the Solar Pons canon, or author August Derleth.  Length can vary from as few as 1,000 words to as many as 5,000 words or more. We are leaving this wide open to get as many and as varied submissions as possible.

Please submit your manuscript as a word document to derrick@belangerbooks.com. Title your email:

ATTN: PONTINE DOSSIER SUBMISSION.

Multiple submissions will be accepted.

If your article(s) is accepted, you will receive a free print copy of the Dossier.

Submission Deadline:  Please submit your article by October 31, 2026.  We will release the new edition of the Dossier in December, 2026.

Sherlock Holmes: The Science-Fictional Adventures

Edited by C. Edward Davis and Derrick Belanger, BSI

The team that brought you Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells is back with an all new collection of Sherlock Holmes sci-fi adventures!

Description: In 1960, the Denver based scion society The Council of Four published a collection of science-fiction Sherlock Holmes stories titled, The Science-Fictional Sherlock Holmes. The book featured authors such as Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson, Anthony Boucher, and August Derleth. Rather than making it a strict traditional Sherlock Holmes anthology, the authors put Holmes (and characters similar to Sherlock Holmes) in all sorts of different sci-fi settings. 

This anthology will continue the tradition of The Science-Fictional Sherlock Holmes with all new Sherlock Holmes science-fiction adventures. Authors are encouraged to submit traditional Victorian era Sherlock Holmes science-fiction stories or stories set in futuristic settings. You can play around with Holmes and make him a robot, an AI, an alien lifeform, or any other creative way you see fit. He just has to still be traditional (i.e. a force for good).

Submission guidelines:  A Sherlock Holmes story that is in the genre of science-fiction

Submission length: 5,000 – 10,0000 words (it is okay to go over some).

Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $100 plus a paperback copy of the volume of the anthology containing their story.  

Rights: Authors shall retain rights to their work. We only retain the rights to the story within the publication.

Send submissions in a word document that is double spaced, in Times New Roman, and in 12 point font to derrick@belangerbooks.com with the subject line ATTN: SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE SCIENCE-FICTIONAL ADVENTURES

Submission Deadline: November 20, 2026

Publication: Early 2027

Cover to the original The Science-Fictional Sherlock Holmes

Free eBOOKS

       

We'll wrap up this update with our FOUR FREE Kindle eBooks. Get them all at the links below. The books are available from July 1st - July 5th:

Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives vol. 4

Sherlock Holmes may be the world’s only consulting detective, and the most brilliant investigator of his time, but there are other detectives in the shadows, ones who are willing to look ‘beyond humanity’ for answers. Some share a degree of Holmes’s scepticism; others embrace the spectral and ab-natural with an enthusiasm and determination which can be positively alarming.

Belanger Books return to the world of the occult detectives, with a further two volumes of Sherlock Holmes tales concerning matters which do indeed appear to be inexplicable by any normal standards. The canonical Holmes and Watson are on the trail in twenty brand new cases of murder, mystery, and lies. And as you might expect, they find themselves – willingly or unwillingly –accompanied by stranger bedfellows than usual.

In these pages, a range of contemporary authors explore what happens when the Great Detective confronts mysteries which defy even a slipper of shag tobacco and the vibrant tones of the violin. A child’s body appears – and disappears – on the remote Dorset coast; a cardinal dies in mysterious circumstances in the Vatican, and a death at a country house offers a locked room mystery with no natural explanation. From Calcutta to Carshalton, from Suffolk to South Kensington, deceptions are practised, bodies are inexplicably mangled – and souls may well be in peril.

For Volumes Three and Four, Holmes finds himself at odds with Bram Stoker’s Harkers, exasperated by the hapless Gerald ‘Budleigh’ Salterton, and intrigued by a Mlle. Castaigne, who suggests that a terrible use has been made of the Lumière brothers’ photographic innovations. Was there really ever a play called ‘The King in Yellow’? He meets for the first time the gifted Mrs Hudgins, and once again encounters the talented Miss Trelawney, amongst others. Margaret Murray, the famous real-life anthropologist, has a puzzle for him on the Nile during the Great Hiatus, whilst in London, Holmes crosses the paths of more historical figures in the shape of spiritualist Tennessee Claflin and her sister Victoria Woodhull. And what is he to make of Vernon Lee’s Lady Tal, never mind Aleister Crowley’s Simon Iff?

Join us as Holmes works with psychic investigators old and new in pursuit of answers, and must confront his own scepticism. Tales in the traditional style – but with a twist. Can Holmes’s logic work alongside the occult detectives’ willingness to accept another set of rules entirely? Are their proposed solutions paranormal – or poppycock?

Get this incredible collection of Sherlock Holmes stories by CLICKING HERE!

Sherlock Holmes Into the Fire

SHERLOCK HOLMES IN SEVENTEEN TALES OF GOTHIC HORROR, MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE!

One of the most popular collections of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works is the one he specifically created to be read “...round the fire upon a winter’s night.”

His classic Round the Fire collection is concerned, he said, “...with the grotesque and with the terrible.” These stories never go out of style or lack for an audience, but they may leave their audience perplexed. Cue Sherlock Holmes! Who to better explain and contain these inexplicable others?

Sherlock Holmes Into the Fire connects the original tales from Round the Fire with a new Sherlock Holmes adventure, thrusting the Great Detective into these worlds of mystery, adventure, and gothic horror. Seventeen writers have pooled their talents to accept this literary challenge... do you dare to read on?

Get this amazing collection of Sherlock Holmes stories tied to the world of Arthur Conan Doyle by CLICKING HERE

A Darker Continent: Strange Tales of Europe at War

WEIRD AND MACABRE TALES OF A CONTINENT TORN APART BY WAR!

BELANGER BOOKS is excited to present A DARKER CONTINENT: Strange Tales of Europe at War, our second collection of all-new strange and weird fiction, written by talented contemporary authors. This unique volume explores the impact of the Second World War on civilians and military alike, with 17 brand-new tales spanning from Ireland to the Adriatic Sea, from Portugal to the Russian forests.

Witness the struggle for survival during war and the sacrifices which must be made; the monsters inside us and those on our doorsteps. There are ghosts, and the ghosts of dark and terrible deeds, incomprehensible threats, and the inevitable losses that come with such conflicts. As we said of our first volume, ALONE ON THE BORDERLAND: "Some come out alive; none come out unchanged".

Get this incredible collection of weird fiction by CLICKING HERE!

The Remarkable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Volume Two

More remarkable mysteries from the master detective!

Mike Adamson returns with ten terrific tales to astound, confound and provide puzzlement most profound! What is the significance of a coin featuring a rat on one side, and a skull on the other? Which criminal activity can be revealed by the weight of a coffin? Who hid hundreds of guineas in a secret bricked-up apartment? Who absconded with the twenty missing Maxim guns? How can a missing train threaten the life of Queen Victoria? And which criminal organization had the gall to leave our Great Detective a farewell letter?

Get this collection of traditional Sherlock Holmes stories from award winning author Mike Adamson by CLICKING HERE!

Belanger Books is a small press owned by artist Brian Belanger and author Derrick Belanger specializing in new Sherlock Holmes books, Solar Pons, Children's books, Classic Sci-fi, Steampunk, and genre specific anthologies.  Some of our books have been #1 bestsellers in their categories on Amazon.