Events

Deadline: July 15th, 2017 Payment: $20usd Please don't query us about your story submission. We don't have the manpower to answer such queries. An editor will email you back as soon as possible with the decision about your story. This can take a few days, or, up to three months. We make every effort to get back to authors in a timely manner but we get a lot of submissions so sometimes it's not possible. A note on our editorial policy: before publication we may edit the story for length or readability. However, we always remain true to the spirit of the story. Issues are published at the end of February, May, August, and November. We reserve the right to shift publication date slightly, as necessary. We have reading periods for each issue, though we never close to submissions. February closes January 15 May closes April 15 August closes July 15 November closes October 15 Please do not submit the same story more than once, and please submit only one story at a time. We consider any story between 250 and 7000 words with speculative fiction elements. We prefer science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. We do not consider poetry, stories with over-the-top sex or violence, serials, novels, fan fiction, or non-fiction. We don't accept multiple submissions; in other words, only submit one story at a time and wait for a response before submitting another. We accept simultaneous submissions as long as you let us know up front and tell us as soon as it's accepted elsewhere. We do not publish reprints, including anything that has appeared on a website. We pay $20 for each story we publish. We buy first-printing world exclusive rights for four months....

Deadline: July 15th, 2017 Payment: 6 cents per word "Strange Beasties" - Slipstream. Are you itching to invent your own odd literary devices or creatures? Impress us, delight us, or scare us with the diversity of your fiendish creations. Creatures of the id don't necessarily have to be monsters, but they do need to be strange. We'd fancy some ghostbusters and monster hunters too. Reading Period: May 15 - July 15, 2017 Writer Deadline: July 15, 2017 Publication Date: September 20, 2017 Third Flatiron Publishing is based in Boulder, Colorado, and Ayr, Scotland. We are looking for submissions to our quarterly themed anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We want tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Light horror is acceptable, provided it fits the theme. Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Inquire if longer. Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today. For each anthology, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the “Shouts and Murmurs” feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred. Continuing with Third Flatiron’s quarterly themed anthologies, we will be soliciting SF/Fantasy/Horror short stories with the following...

Deadline: July 15th, 2017 Payment: 8c/word, up to 5000 words The Machine Intelligence Research Institute has put out a call for intelligent stories illustrating concepts related to (artificial or natural) intelligence. Guidelines are quite specific; read below. This call is intended to reward people who write thoughtful and compelling stories about artificial general intelligence, intelligence amplification, or the AI alignment problem. We’re looking to appreciate and publicize authors who help readers understand intelligence in the sense of general problem-solving ability, as opposed to thinking of intelligence as a parlor trick for memorizing digits of pi, and who help readers intuit that non-human minds can have all sorts of different non-human preferences while still possessing instrumental intelligence. The winning stories are intended to show (rather than tell) these ideas to an intellectually curious audience. Conscious attempts to signal that the ideas are weird, wonky, exotic, or of merely academic interest are minuses. We’re looking for stories that just take these ideas as reality in the setting of the story and run with them. In all cases, the most important evaluation criterion will just be submissions’ quality as works of fiction; accurately conveying important ideas is no excuse for bad art! To get a good sense of what we’re looking for, we recommend you read some or all of the following: Superintelligence Smarter Than Us Waitbutwhy post 1, Waitbutwhy post 2 (with caveats) Submission Details Purchasing First Publication Rights Pay Rate: 8c/word, up to 5000 words Multiple Submissions ok Simultaneous Submissions ok Submissions window: Open until July 15 Withdrawal policy: After you submit a story, we prefer you don’t withdraw it. If you withdraw a story, we won’t consider any version of that story in the future. However, if you do need to withdraw a story (because, for example, you have sold...

Deadline: July 15th, 2017 Payment: $0.03 cents per word plus royalties More Alternative Truths, the follow-up to the best selling Alternative Truths, is announcing an open call for stories and maybe even (gasp) poetry. We are looking for Fiction with a message about the impact of the election, the current policies in the country, and how people, HUMAN BEINGS, are affected. Payment is $0.03 cents per word plus royalties. To see what we are looking for, I advise you to read Alternative Truths, available on Amazon. The stories must make us think, stimulate discussion, and show visions of the future. This can be done in many ways, with humor, with zombies, with horror, but above all, with feeling. As with Alternative Truths, approximately 10% of the royalties will go to the ACLU of Washington. Stories in the first book ran an average of 2300 words with the shortest at 200 words and the longest at 7000 words. The reading period will be open from May 15 to July 15. Publication is anticipated in November. The book will be published by B Cubed Press and Edited by Bob Brown, Phyllis Irene Radford, and Rebecca McFarland Kyle. For more information see our Facebook Group, Alternative Truths. USE MANUSCRIPT FORMAT. Submit in Word or RTF to [email protected]

Deadline: July 15th, 2017 Payment: $0.02 per word up to the first 2500 words and $0.01 per word up above that. So, you’re looking at around a $50-$100 range. Are you a Sci-fi/Fantasy writer? Then I may be looking for you! Cirsova is a semi-pro zine focusing on Sword & Planet and Heroic Fantasy fiction. Submissions for 2018 will open on June 1st. We will be reading from June 1st until July 15th, looking to acquire stories for the Spring and Fall 2018 issues (roughly 120k words of content).   My biggest recommendations to those considering submitting: -Send me some Sword & Planet and Raygun Romance!  We get a lot of fantasy, which is great, but a smash-up S&P or Raygun Romance would be high priority! -Square-jawed space barbarians and gorgeous dames are not a pre-requisite, but don’t forget this is principally a Romance genre; a good love story between competent individuals (dames =/= damsels) facing long odds (such as aliens, monsters, robots or alien monsters riding robots) may score bonus points. -Send me something short (2500-5000 words); we get a number of novelette-length works fairly frequently, but only buy and fit a couple of these each year. If you send me something great but that I can’t fit, it will make us both sad. What are you looking for? Original short stories between 2000-7500 words, specifically those in the vein of Leigh Brackett, Jack Vance, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Fritz Leiber and Robert E. Howard. Cirsova will pay $0.02 per word up to the first 2500 words and $0.01 per word up above that. So, you’re looking at around a $50-$100 range. Submissions should be in finished, final draft form. Please do not send unedited works, excerpts or pitches. Well, you can send me a pitch, and if it sounds awesome, I...

Deadline: July 15th, 2017 Payment: Royalties, details below We have some exciting news at Belanger Books. We are currently accepting submissions for an upcoming anthology. This is a book which we have wanted to put together for years now. Back in 2015, we originally had the idea of putting together an anthology of stories based on The War of the Worlds. While we still may someday put that collection together, we changed our plans when we received a wonderful story submission from author GC Rosenquist. Mr. Rosenquist submitted "The Mystery of the Last Martian". This excellent story has Holmes and Watson solving the mystery mentioned in the title, and it got us thinking, Why not make an entire anthology of stories where Holmes is in the realms of H.G. Wells?  Thus, Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells was born.  See story submission guidelines below: Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells Submissions Imagine Holmes trying to solve the case of an invisible man, matching wits with a traveler from out of time, or using his deductive skills to help fight martian invaders. These are just some of the stories which could be included in the new anthology Sherlock Holmes In the Realms of H.G. Wells . The anthology will feature traditional Sherlock Holmes stories blended with one or more tales from H.G. Wells. Belanger Books is calling for submissions from writers, new or established, which are between 5,000 - 10,000 words (it is okay to be over or under some). Requirements: The stories must feel like traditional Holmes and Wells stories. For example, the stories should have the traditional Holmes and Watson working with the traditional characters and realms of H.G. Wells. For example, a story that is a sequel to the Time Machine should...

Deadline: July 15th, 2017 Payment: $0.005 cents per word with a minimum payment of $5.00 and a maximum cap of $25.00 Greetings from the Valley of Hinnom, Hinnom Magazine is a bi-monthly e-zine that publishes high quality science fiction, fantasy, and horror on the last day of every other month, starting in February.  We seek authors who have a unique voice, interesting writing styles, and unparalleled storytelling talents.  We do not shy from topics or concepts of a darker nature and, actually, encourage it. READING PERIODS: January 1-15th March 1-15th May 1-15th July 1-15th September 1-15th November 1-15th PUBLICATION DATES: February 28th April 30th June 30th August 31st October 31st December 31st Please submit stories during first fifteen days of the months selected as reading periods.  Stories received after this will not be read.  Artists can submit year round. (Inaugural Issue will be Published on June 30th) FICTION SUBMISSION DETAILS: List of Genres Accepted in Alphabetical Order: Body Horror Cosmicism/Cosmic Horror Cthulhu Mythos/ Lovecraftian Horror Cyberpunk Dark Fantasy Dieselpunk Dystopian Fiction Fantasy Gothic Horror Grimdark Fantasy Hard SF Hardcore Horror High Fantasy Horror Macabre horror Occult Fiction Post-Human/Trans-Human SF Psychological Horror Science Fiction Space Opera Steampunk Sword and Sorcery Weird Fiction Any blending of these genres is also fine.  We encourage creative takes on classic themes.  In fact, combining these concepts will likely increase your chance of publication. Science Fiction is meant to beg the question, “What if?” Horror is meant to entice the very emotions that define our species: fear, terror, and dread. Fantasy focuses on imaginative detachment from reality, forging worlds and universes unseen and unheard. These genres require the utmost levels of creativity and we want to read your most macabre, disgusting, imaginative, fantastical, morose, colorful, and prophetic tales. RIGHTS SOUGHT FOR ORIGINAL ART  Non-exclusive electronic, print,...