Author: Stuart Conover

Events

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Taking Submissions: Impressions Volume 1

Submission Windows: March 15th to March 31st and April 8th to April 30th
Payment: 8 cents per word
Theme: Dark speculative fiction that transports the reader somewhere interesting, see below for details. Themes that will fit well are death, loss, love, grief, trauma, self-exploration, discovery, and hope.

  • EARLY WINDOW — March 15 at 12:01 am EST to March 31 at 11:59 pm EST

  • GENERAL WINDOW — April 8 at 12:01 am EST to April 30 at 11:59 pm EST

  • REVIEW WINDOW — May 1 to May 26

  • OFFERS FINALIZED — May 28 to May 30 (tentative)

  • WORD COUNT — 2000 to 5000 (hard limit)

  • PAY — 8 cents per word

  • SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS — Yes

  • MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS — No

  • REPRINTS — Yes, but with some caveats (see TOC GOALS below for more info)

  • AI-GENERATED SUBMISSIONS — Don’t bother

ABOUT THE PROJECT

“I knew they’d speak to you,” the Curator says, anticipation in his tone. But his voice seems far away now, carried off on a hollow wind, and you swear you can hear the rhythmic ticking of a pocket watch, beating like the cadence of a gallows drum.

“I call these works IMPRESSIONS,” says your host, leaning in, quieter still. “They give you a glimpse into another life, a scene playing out in some other realm. And a mind as alive as yours, well… it just fills in the rest…”

Fills in the rest? You think. What does that mean?

But the question barely registers now, your thoughts little more than dreams fleeing the sunrise. The image—the impression—has its hold on you…

EMBERLETTER PRESS, in association with HAMLET PRODUCTIONS and STUDIOCOR3, presents IMPRESSIONS VOLUME 1, a new multimedia anthology series from the mind of author and filmmaker Geoff Emberlyn. Life and death, denail and loss, sadness and the surreal are all captured here in 22 tales of imaginative horror, dark fantasy, science fiction, the macabre, the cosmic, and the weird.

 

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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Close My Eyes Forever: Crime Fiction Inspired by Heavy Metal Hits

Deadline: August 31st, 2024
Payment: $25
Theme: Crime Fiction Inspired by Heavy Metal Hits

Ozzy Osbourne. Lita Ford. Metallica. Megadeth. Kiss. So many heavy metal bands have put their stamp on the music industry. With searing guitar riffs, fierce drums and a headbanging attitude, heavy metal continues to rock out and melt faces from their origins in the 1970s through today. The intensity of that music genre lends itself perfectly to crime fiction. That’s where you come in.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

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Events / Magazine / Online / Poetry / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Eye to the Telescope #53

Deadline: June 15th, 2024
Payment: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25
Theme: Strange Mixology

Eye to the Telescope 53, Strange Mixology, will be edited by Gretchen Tessmer.

As your fearless bartender, I’m looking for cosmic concoctions, time-twisted tinctures and charmed potions. Give me something with a kicker, the green fairy’s secret spells, the sweet sap of the old woods and the moonshine of mermaids, alien aperitifs and speakeasies in space. All spirits welcome, even the ones that don’t come in glass bottles. Feel free to interpret the theme broadly but make sure there’s a spec element.Give me your old-fashioned verse and cosmopolitan compositions, pink squirrels, bee’s knees, gimlets and juleps, juniper berries, elderflowers, the marriage vows of Old Tom Collins and Bloody Mary. Garnish with kaleidoscopic umbrellas and a twisty straw. In Poetry Veritas. Sláinte.
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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount / Royalties

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Taking Submissions: Fantasy Is a Drag!

Deadline: December 1st, 2024
Payment: $50 and royalties
Theme: Fantasy stories that are, first and foremost, drag
Note: For authors with a real connection to the drag community (see below for details)

Fantasy Is a Drag! is a drag anthology.

We’re looking for original, previously unpublished, fantasy stories that are, first and foremost, drag.  This is an anthology where those of us in the drag community can gather and tell the stories that we’d never be able to publish anywhere else.  Stories up to 10,000 words will be considered.

Publication date is sometime in 2025.

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Events

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Undertaker Books Is Open For Horror Western Novellas

Deadline: April 10th, 2024
Payment: Royalties of 50% of profits
Theme: Ideally, Horror Western, but will also read those in the Historical Horror subgenres

Undertaker Books is seeking a novella for publication in August of 2024.

Our editors are looking for a work between 15,000 and 30,000 words, preferably in the Horror Western or Historical Horror subgenres, but they will consider all submissions. The editor is not opposed to blood, gore, or erotic elements, but draws the line at animal abuse and depictions of sexual assault against children.

Payment will be 50% of distribution payouts through our distribution channels.

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Audio / Flat Amount / Ongoing Submissions / Reprints Allowed

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Ongoing Submissions: Just Chill Podcast

Payment: $50
Theme: Short stories, ideally in the first person
Note: Reprints welcome

Enjoy a good scare? From timeless scary story classics to the blood-curdling horror stories born in the twisted minds of the new masters of horror, every week Just Chills delivers an unrelenting dose of fear designed to send chills down your spine.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Stories to Take To Your Grave, Mortuary Edition

Deadline: April 30th, 2024
Payment: $20
Theme: Horror stories that center around undertakers, funeral homes, mortuaries, cremations, and other aspects of the funeral trade

We are looking for 10 short stories that center around undertakers, funeral homes, mortuaries, cremations, and other aspects of the funeral trade for “Stories to Take To Your Grave”. We are open to all subgenres of horror, from suspense to splatterpunk!

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

-Complete stories with a beginning, middle, and end.

-Stories that leave us feeling satisfied yet also wanting more.

-Stories that make our reformed undertaker feel like he’s back in the business.

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Events / Flat Amount / Magazine / Non-fiction / Poetry

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Taking Submissions: In The Mood #10

Deadline: April 30th, 2024
Payment: $30 CAD for features, $20 CAD for film diaries
Theme: TEN + Films
Note: This outlet looks more for non-fiction though does take poetry and some fiction on their topics, see details below to see if your work will count!

In honour of our 10th issue, we’re getting literal and asking for submissions on film, TV, music videos, and pop culture relating to the number 10! This could look like: Cinema’s 10 Most Ineffectual Therapists, movies with “10” in the title, 10 Times I Fell Asleep in the Theatre, or movies celebrating their 10-year anniversary. At In The Mood, we don’t believe in taking ourselves too seriously, and this might be our least serious theme yet!*

*But on a serious note, please read our full guidelines below before submitting 😉 This special issue will only feature 10 pieces, so send us your best!

– Theme: TEN
– Deadline: April 30th, 2024
– Word count for completed pieces: max 1,000 words for features, max 300 words for film diaries
– Honorarium: $30 CAD for features, $20 CAD for film diaries
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