Category: Poetry

Poetry

Taking Submissions: Dangerous to Go Alone! 2

Deadline: October 31st, 2024
Payment: $10 and $5 for reprints
Theme: Poems inspired by games or game culture (Ideally video games, tabletop also accepted.)
Note: Reprints Welcome

Submissions are now open for “Dangerous to Go Alone! 2”, the sequel to Manawaker Studio’s anthology of gamer poetry, edited by CB Droege.

The guidelines follow.

POETRY ONLY

Unlike many other Manawaker anthologies, DtGA is only for poetry. Sorry, fiction writers and visual artists. We’ll do another multi-media anthology next year. ;D

We are looking for poems inspired by games or game culture. Most of the selected poems will be about video games and the culture surrounding them, but some will be about tabletop games. (We don’t want any poems about field sports or casino games). For legal reasons, poems about games with specific IP should be somewhat abstract. We feel that poetry is pretty well protected by fair use in this case, so specific characters and situations can be mentioned, but it’s still better if they are only alluded to.

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Taking Submissions: Diet Milk Magazine Food Themed Issue Window

Submission Window: May 1st – May 15th, 2024
Payment: $10 per poem, $15 per short story
Theme: Food

From May 1st – May 15th, Diet Milk Magazine will be accepting submissions for its annual themed mini-issue. We will be open to poetry and prose. While the most detailed information can be found on our website, here’s a quick rundown of what potential contributors need to know!

2023 THEME: FOOD

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

  • All submissions must fall under the Gothic umbrella, but aren’t required to be a specific genre
  • All submissions must adhere to the current theme
  • No reprints or multiple submissions
  • Simultaneous submissions permitted, though we ask to be informed promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere!
  • Submissions should be .doc.docx, or .pdf

P O E T R Y :

Poets may submit up to three poems at a time. No single poem should exceed one page in length.

P R O S E :

Authors may EITHER up to 3 stories of less than 999 words OR a single story of 1k—2k words. Stories exceeding 2025 words will be rejected automatically.

Responses, Rights, & Payment

  • Please allow up to six weeks for a response. After that, send a gentle nudge via email
  • Diet Milk Magazine asks for first serial rights. Upon publication, all rights revert back to the creator. A contract will be provided upon acceptance
  • All payments made via PayPal. For more information on pay scale, visit our website

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Taking Submissions: Radon Journal September 2024 Issue

Submission Window: April 16th – Aug. 15th, 2024
Payment: Fiction: 2¢ per word for original, 1¢ per word for reprints. Poetry: $20 per original poem and $10 for reprints. $100 for issue cover art, $30 for back cover art, and $20 for art used on our site
Theme: Stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia.
Note: Reprints Welcome

Radon welcomes short stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia.

We publish quality literature every mid-January, May, and September.

  • Submissions are accepted year-round.

  • Simultaneous submissions are welcome.

  • Reprints accepted if writer has the rights.

  • AI submissions are not allowed at Radon.

Please click below to submit your work through our no-fee Submittable page:

We kindly request a third-person bio that is 100-words or shorter in your cover letter.

Author rights:

For original work, Radon asks for first English digital rights and non-exclusive, indefinite archival rights.

Authors published in Radon cannot be accepted into the issue immediately following, but may submit after this period.

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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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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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Taking Submissions: Last Girls Club Summer Issue 2024 (Early)

Submission Window: April 1st -May 1st, 2024
Payment: Short Story-2,500 words or less. $0.015 USD per word/$37.50 USD max, Poems-less than 200 words $10, Flash Fiction-less than a 1,000 words $0.015 USD per word/$15 USD max
Theme: Fire!

Last Girls Club Summer Issue Theme is Fire Season. The world is on fire, environmentally and politically. On the US West coast we have rains of ash in the fall from all the forest fires. The Canadian border was plagued with smoke pollution from raging fires. It’s a thing now. Your characters can be fleeing a fire, starting one, or surviving one. Take it where you want. Acceptances will be notified on May 15.

  • No more than two fiction or flash fiction stories per author per submission period.
  • Fiction is limited to 2,500 words or less. Authors are paid $0.015 USD per word upon acceptance ($37.50 USD max).
  • Flash fiction is limited to under 1,000 words. Authors are paid $0.015 USD per word upon acceptance ($15 USD max).
  • No more than three poems per poet.
  • Poems are limited to 200 words or less for each poem. Poets are paid $10 USD upon acceptance.
  • I prefer to use PayPal to pay authors, but will work with authors where PayPal is not available.
  • Nonfiction columns will must be pitched to editor in chief before submission. Email your idea to [email protected]

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Taking Submissions: The Lorelei Signal 2024 Oct – Dec Issue

Submission Window: April 15th – May 15th, 2024
Payment: $15.00 for short stories, $5.00 for poems and flash (<1000 wds) fiction pieces., $5.00 for reprints
Theme: SF/Fantasy (ideally fantasy) with strong and complex female characters
Note: Reprints Welcome

 

The Lorelei Signal is a quarterly SF/Fantasy electronic magazine – one that will feature strong / complex female characters. This does not mean your female character has to be the main hero or villain in the story. What it does mean is no shrinking violets, or women who serve only to get into trouble so the male hero can rescue them.


Each issue I hope to publish:
7 short stories, 1 flash fiction piece and 2 poems
that meet the following guidelines:

My primary guideline is simple:
Write a good fantasy story with strong/complex characters.



What I am NOT looking for – erotica / slash / or other such stories.
Although well written love scenes that are IMPORTANT to the story will be considered on a story-by-story basis.

1) Stories should be no longer than 10,000 words.
However, tell the story – if it takes more than 10,000 words to tell the story properly so be it.
Just try to cut it down if possible – but remember the story is the important part.

2) Stories must feature 3 dimensional / complex characters.

3) I will accept reprints as long as it has been at least 1 year since the story was previously published,
rights have reverted back and you tell me where it previously appeared.
These will be limited to 2 per issue.

4) Please keep the graphic gore down to a minimum
(only what’s needed for the story).

5) Please keep the obscene language to a bare minimum
(again, only what’s needed for the story).

6) Simultaneous Submissions will be considered IF:
a) You tell me up front
b) You inform me immediately if the story has been accepted elsewhere
If I have too many occurrences of finding out a story was accepted somewhere else when I contact an author to tell them I would like to accept their story for The Lorelei Signal – I will no longer accept simultaneous submissions.
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Taking Submissions: Haven Speculative 2024 General Submissions Call #2 (Early)

Submission Window: April 1st – 30th, 2024
Payment: 8 cent per word for fiction, $20 for poetry, 8 cent per word for non-fiction, $125 for cover art
Theme: Speculative fiction

It’s our goal to publish diverse voices from around the world, and to do that, we are actively seeking stories, poems, and non-fiction pieces by authors from backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented in the science fiction and fantasy canon. Our submission cycle is therefore split into two categories, where every other month is explicitly reserved for submissions by authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups. The interposing six months remain open to everyone.

As writers ourselves, we do our best to handle each submission with the care and attention it deserves. Every submission is an act of bravery, and we know that putting yourself out there as a writer can be tough. Just know that any submission we receive, unless it contains something illegal, will be kept in confidence.

When in doubt, don’t self reject! Submit submit submit!


Guidelines for Fiction

We like stories that are subtle in their telling and stick with us long after we’ve finished, and we’re more likely to buy stories that balance a sense of wonder with a bold plot and emotional depth. For our two issues focused on the climate crisis, we’re particularly interested in publishing stories from people displaced by or threatened by the climate emergency (see our themes below). For our other four issues, we’re open to a wide variety of stories across the SFF and weird spectra.

  • Pay: 8¢ per word for original fiction
  • Word limit: 6000 words
  • Language: English
  • Rights: We buy first serial print and electronic rights for publication of the story in the English language and throughout the world. We also buy non-exclusive archival rights for our website and non-exclusive anthology rights.

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