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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. Submit a cover letter that includes your name, pen name, word count, and a brief bio along with a one page synopsis and the first twenty pages of your manuscript (in Modern Shunn format) to [email protected]. Please title your email “Novella-.” This call will close on April 10, 2024. Undertaker Books is a royalty-paying, full-service publisher. This means we do not charge fees to the author at any time. We pay a royalty rate of 50% of distribution payouts. This can mean you will earn different rates for books sold through different outlets. Our contracts are for digital and print worldwide English rights. At this stage, we do not provide advance payments unless specified for anthology calls. SUBMISSIONS ARE TO BE SENT TO: [email protected] Modern Shunn Format is preferred. Please review this website if you are unsure how to proceed. Submit the first 20 pages of your manuscript as a single .doc(x) file attachment. If submitting for general consideration, please include a one page synopsis of the plot (including the ending) with working title, category or subgenre, and word count. In the body of your email, please include a cover letter containing: a short author bio,your legal name, pen name (if applicable), social media...

Submission Window: March 15th-21st POC, March 22nd-April 15th, everyone Payment: 3 cents per word, with a minimum of $20 Theme: Speculative Fiction in the science fiction or fantasy variety We are open annually for submissions from March 15th through April 15th for our August issue, and from September 15th through October 15th for our February issue. The first week of submissions (March 15-21 and Sept 15-21) is reserved for writers of color. The remainder of the window will be for general submissions. If you’re a writer of color who submits during that first week and you hear back from us before the general window closes, you’re welcome to send a second submission during that time. We are not interested in machine-generated (AI/LLM) characters, plots, or text of any kind. Spellcheckers and grammar checkers that run off machine learning are absolutely fine by us (though we also don’t want you to let a machine strip out your natural writing voice in the name of someone else’s idealized grammar!) HOW TO SUBMIT SUBMIT YOUR STORIES HERE WHAT TO SUBMIT The short version: We pay $0.03 per word with a minimum of $20 in exchange for first world electronic rights in English. We ask for an exclusivity period of 3 months from date of publication. Maximum 5,000 words. Your story must contain speculative elements: that means science fiction or fantasy. We do not accept nonfiction. No simultaneous submissions. Only one submission per writer per open period. We aim to make our final decisions within a month and a half of the close of submissions (i.e. by May 31st for the spring period, and by November 30th for the fall period). You will often receive a response much sooner. If you haven’t heard from us by that time, please query at the above address. The long version: Broadly...

Submission Window: April 1st - 15th, 2024 Payment: $35 per page of the adapted script, up to 12 pages, paid via PayPal, and a print copy of the issue. Theme: Scripts for comics in the style of Tales from the Crypt, Haunt of Fear, Vault of Horror, etc. Vault of Shadows: Issue 1 A New Generation of Horror Comics Wish your story could be adapted as a comic book? Here’s your chance to make it happen. Open call submission window open April 1 - April 15, 2024. Extended submission window exclusively for LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, neurodivergent, and other marginalized writers open April 16 - May 1, 2024. Do you love old-school horror comics? Think Tales from the Crypt, Haunt of Fear, Vault of Horror, etc. We want to work with you to adapt your short story (original stories and reprints welcome) into a comic with artwork by the incredible Christopher Castillo Díaz (It Was All a Dream, It Was All a Dream 2 interior illustrator). If your story is selected, you’ll have the opportunity to adapt your story into an 8-12 page comic script that will be inked, colored, and included in the first volume of Hungry Shadow Comics’ Vault of Shadows. Only 3 stories will be selected for the first issue, with a fourth selected from an invited author (TBD). What are we looking for? Short horror, weird, dark fiction between 3000 and 7500 words (not really a firm limit - the final product will be the comics script, not the short story), that can be adapted into a comic book script of 12 pages or less. We want to read the story, not an already created script. The challenge is to adapt the story after it’s selected. Really dig in to your experience with horror comics. Visual stories full...

Submission Window: April 1-14th, 2024 Payment: $.08 per word for fiction ($100 minimum), $40 per poem. $75 for for nonfiction, $100 for reprint cover art, $200 for original unpublished cover art, $50 for reprint interior art, $100 for original unpublished interior art Theme: All forms of Solarpunk, however, this issue is open to BIPOC authors only Solarpunk Magazine publishes hopeful short stories and poetry that strive for a utopian ideal, that are set in futures where communities are optimistically struggling to solve or adapt to climate change, to create or maintain a world in which humanity, technology, and nature coexist in harmony rather than in conflict. We also publish solarpunk art as well as nonfiction that explores real world, contemporary topics and their intersection with the solarpunk movement for a better future. Submission Guidelines for Solarpunk Magazine *Our nonfiction department is always open for submissions. If the fiction portal is closed and you submit fiction through the open nonfiction portal, your submission will be rejected. All submissions are done via Moksha. Any submissions received via email will be deleted without response. Please don't email us to describe your story and ask if it's something we'd be interested in before submitting. We appreciate the consideration, but its easier if you just submit the story here through Moksha. Additional guidelines for each specific submission category are available below. For fiction and nonfiction, please format your submission document as follows: double-spaced 12pt Times New Roman font indented paragraphs no extra space after paragraphs A cover letter is not required. However, we appreciate a brief paragraph telling us a little bit about yourself like where you're from and why you love solarpunk. There is no need to include a third person bio. We will collect that and other needed info if your submission is accepted...

Deadline: April 15th, 2024 Payment: Split Payment from Kickstarter (Minimum of $50) and a contributor's copy Theme: Queer Halloween from authors who are queer/part of the queer/LGBTQIA+ community, in some way, shape or form. It’s that time of year—we’re carving pumpkins, installing ghosts in the front yard, and putting out the next Bikes in Space call for submissions. This time around, it’s for volume 13, which needed an appropriate theme. Fortunately, guest editor Summer Jewel Keown came up with one for the ages: Queer Halloween! Here’s the info: Please submit your original queer Halloween short fiction (in written or comics form) about bicycling from a feminist perspective. We’re looking for stories that give us a shiver or make us leave the hallway light on at night. Raise our hair and make our spines tingle. We’ll also consider Halloween-themed stories that aren’t as frightful, but they should still be infused with all things spooky season. Stories should be written by authors who consider yourself queer (in whatever way you identify), and should feature Halloween and/or otherworldly elements, and queer characters/themes, as well as feminism. All four elements should be intrinsic to the narrative: Halloween (or stories sufficiently scary or thematic enough to be read around Halloween) Queer Feminism (it is sufficient to simply not include sexist themes or tropes) Bicycles The genre can be anything fantastical—ghost stories, horror, hard sci-fi, comedic fantasy, slipstream, or anything in that constellation—despite the series title, stories need not be be set in space. No fanfic, poetry, nonfiction, or erotica for this series, please. Stories should not include extreme body horror or graphic violence. For this volume of the anthology, we ask that all authors be queer/part of the queer/LGBTQIA+ community, in some way, shape or form. We aren’t the queer police (which sounds both fabulous and like...

Deadline: April 15th, 2024 Payment: Fiction: 2¢ per word for original, 1¢ per word for reprints. Poetry: $20 per original poem and $10 for reprints. Theme: Stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia. Note: Reprints Welcome Submission Guidelines Radon welcomes short stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia. ​We publish quality work every January, May, and September. Submissions accepted year-round. Simultaneous subs are welcome. Reprints taken if writer has rights. AI submissions are not allowed. ​ Please click below to submit your work through our no-fee Submittable: SubmittableWe 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. ​ Our reading periods are: ​ January issue: Aug. 16 - Dec. 15 ​​ May issue: Dec. 16 - April 15 ​​ September issue: April 16 - Aug. 15 Prose We accept flash fiction and short story submissions up to 3,000 words. Radon pays a semi-professional rate of 2¢ per word for original work and 1¢ for reprints. ​ For quicker processing, please use a submission style similar to the modern manuscript format. We ask that you utilize single-spacing. Please note that we do not publish fantasy stories and are looking for work that includes leftist social commentary. Poetry Please submit up to five poems in a single Word document. There is no line limit. Radon pays a semi-professional rate of $20 per original poem and $10 for reprints.We request single-spaced formatting using a standard 12pt font such as Times New Roman, Calibri, or Lato. The poetry editor prefers free verse poems with narrative elements. Page and spoken word poems...

Deadline: April 15th, 2024 Payment: $20 per story or artwork Theme: Electric Spec prefers science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. submissions at electricspec (dot) comPlease 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 work with the author to edit the story for length or readability. However, we always remain true to the spirit of the story and the author has final approval. 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...

Deadline: April 18th, 2024 Payment: $10 and a contributor's copy Theme: Beach Horror We’re back baby and we’re looking for your best creepy stories. The talented team - Nora B. Peevy (Managing Editor and Submissions Reader) and Thomas Stewart (Art Director and Submissions Reader) will be working together to bring you the newly vamped version of Eidetic Quarterly. Our inaugural summer issue is coming out on July 4th, Independence Day, 2024.  We are accepting ten stories. Theme: Beach Horror Submissions are open: From March 18, 2024, through April 18, 2024. You may submit another story, if yours is rejected, but please, only one at a time. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, if you let us know. If your story is accepted elsewhere, please tell us immediately, so we can pull it from consideration. It is not fair to our other authors to miss out on an opportunity because your lack of communication. Word Count – 1,500-3,000 words, not including your story title or byline. Standard Formatting: Use Modern Shunn Format. If you are not familiar with Modern Shunn format for stories, you can check it out here: Modern Manuscript Format | William Shunn Send a cover letter with a short bio to: [email protected] Name your file: “Beach Horror-(Story Name)-(Author Last Name)” Payment: $10 and one free hard copy of the publication. What we do want: Your best tales about beach creature features, vacations gone wrong, and anything else you can scare up beach horror related. Be original.  What we don’t want: Hate towards any group of people, child molestation, violence against animals, children, or any group of people, beastiality, and extreme gore. This is not a splatterpunk magazine. Please don’t send us Jaws rewrites. We don’t want to deal with copyright issues. Lovecraft stories are wonderful, but we also don’t want...

Deadline: April 19th, 2024 Payment: $25 for stories 2000 - 5000 words (after edits), $35 for stories 5000 - 8000 words (after edits), $15 for poems, $10 for reprints Theme: Horror and dark fantasy collection of Dark Grimm Fairy Tales, retold in new and horrific ways. Note: Reprints Welcome Open for submission February 9th – April 19th Fairy Tales can be frightening, and while many have been watered down over the years, their grim roots are steeped in black magic, forced marriage, abduction, murder, curses and cannibalism. And we’re here for it. Grimm Retold is a horror and dark fantasy collection of Dark Grimm Fairy Tales, retold in new and horrific ways. We’re looking for stories 2000 – 8000 words and Poems 1 - 4 pages  email a brief cover letter, bio and attached full manuscript, .doc or .docx formatted to standard Shunn Manuscript style to [email protected] $25 for stories 2000 - 5000 words (after edits) $35 for stories 5000 - 8000 words (after edits) $15 for poems $10 for reprints Stories should be based on specific Grimm Fairy Tales and recognizable to their source material, even if they drastically diverge from them. We want voice-y weird and terrifying. We welcome blood, violence and gore, but be careful with gratuitous and exploitive sexual violence, and keep it away from children and animals. (To be clear, there are many fairy tales with children and animals in danger and killed, but watch how those are described) We would particularly love to receive retellings from the perspective of other cultures or marginalized points of view. Tentative Release Date: September 2024 Some ideas: The Robber Bridegroom Sleeping Beauty The Goose Girl The Juniper Tree Rumpelstiltskin Hansel and Gretel And for your reference here is a link to a List of All Grimm Fairy Tales...

Submission Window: March 20th to April 20th, 2024 Payment: $50 upon publication Theme: Stories about how we seek out, discover, and grasp onto connection in all genres with a particular fondness for anything that moves beyond realism in form or content or spirit At Astrolabe, we’re looking for work about how we seek out, discover, and grasp onto connection. Into the woods. Across a line. Beneath the ocean. Along a seam. Into the branches of an alternate present or the crevasse of an alternate future. Across the rifts between one another. And then, once we find one other, the myths we make. We’re excited to see as many interpretations of this broad theme as there are stars in the night sky. We’re open to work of all genres, with a particular fondness for anything that moves beyond realism in form or content or spirit. Read about Astrolabe for details on our mission and what we’re doing with the Universe. The details Astrolabe is open for submissions year-round temporarily closed for submissions. We pay a $50 honorarium upon publication of one or more pieces from your submission. To help fund those payments, we alternate between free and paid submission periods throughout the year. Our free periods begin the day we publish new work—on the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox, and winter solstice—and stay open for a month. We’re temporarily closing for all submissions beginning on December 21, 2023 to help us catch up with the queue and spend time with our families. We'll re-open to free submissions on March 20, 2024. Here are the free periods for 2024: March 20th to April 20th June 20st to July 20st September 22nd to October 22nd December 21st to Jan 21, 2025 Some additional details: We currently accept three types of work: fiction, creative nonfiction, and photography & art. See below for genre-specific...

Deadline: April 21st, 2024 Payment: 9 cents per word Theme: Offshoots: Humanity Twigged – SF, fantasy, positive futures Theme: Offshoots: Humanity Twigged – SF, fantasy, positive futures The dictionary defines “twig” as a shoot branching off a tree, the result or descendant of something, or a style of fashion. How will humanity cultivate the strongest branches from among myriad potential futures? Please give us your science fictional and fantasy speculations. Possible subjects might include: bioengineering, space exploration, future societies, magical futurism, and extrapolation of trends (think Asimov’s Foundation or Loki’s Sacred Timeline). Stories about effects of AI and virtual reality are fine, but they must be written by people. Flash humor is welcome. Reading Period: April 1 – 21, 2024 Writer Deadline: April 21, 2024 Publication Date: July 15, 2024 Themes and Schedules Continuing with Third Flatiron’s quarterly themed anthologies, we will be soliciting SF/Fantasy/Horror short stories with stated themes. Themes are designed to be open-ended, allowing authors considerable leeway. We appreciate short, imaginative tales, preferring those that work with the theme in some way. Short stories should be 3,000 words or less. Flash humor pieces (<=1,000 words) can be on any theme. We aim to be inclusive and encourage submissions from all creators. Please submit during the reading periods. We do themed anthologies. We are not currently accepting unsolicited reprints. We have also discussed the types of stories we prefer in an interview (note that the pay rate has increased) at D.L. Snell’s Market Scoops. We are currently closed for submissions. Please see our main page for the current theme . Stories should be submitted in either Microsoft Word (using double spacing), RTF,  or plain text. They should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Be sure they are the final version (any Review comments removed). Flash humor pieces (Grins and Gurgles) should be short, around 600-1,000 words. Please don’t...

Deadline: April 21st, 2024 Payment: $200 CAD and a contributors copy Theme: Canadian characters living their ‘super’ lives while still retaining their national/regional identity/connection. We’re looking for stories that push the usual superhero tropes while shining a spotlight on unique corners of Canada. We want stories set in and around the nation’s more often overlooked locales—isolated small towns, remote reservations, bedroom communities, and other underrepresented areas of Canada. Give us rural superheroes, backwater supervillains, and tales of characters/communities at a crossroads.How does place impact your character? Are they unable to reconcile their superpowers with their residence or is it the people who pose the problem? Does your hero struggle to maintain a secret identity where everyone knows everyone or do they find that familiarity weirdly comforting given the challenges of being superpowered? Submission Guidelines:   Word Count: 500-3500 Canadian characters living their ‘super’ lives while still retaining their national/regional identity/connection. Stories that know the tropes and cliches—those applied to superheroes and Canada both—and either explore or subvert them. Heroes that reconcile their superpowers with the limits of their home—geographic, political, economic…heck, tie in the weather—so long as they’re original characters with strong connections to specific parts/cultures of Canada. Have your protagonists face situations unique to our nation/their region thereof. These can be silly or serious, inspired by reality or entirely fictional. Tell us about everyday Canadians. Folks often excluded from mainstream literature—the ignored, overlooked, and undervalued. (Including cultures, genders/sexual orientations, ages, economic groups, and faiths.) Genre-busting tales are encouraged. A superhero mystery or an origin story couched as a romance. Submitted stories do not have to be about superheroes per say (tales of supervillains and anti-heroes are welcome), but should tie into that theme in some way. Please avoid extreme violence, unnecessary profanity, and/or graphic sexual content. Submission deadline: April...

Deadline: April 30th, 2024 Payment: $5 Theme: Wet A Literary Journal with Some Art, Comics, and Analysis Thrown in for Good Measure As Quarter Press continues to grow, we’re adding another coin to our pocketful of change. We want to offer a space for shorter works to mingle with art and other bits of nonsense, so we bring you The Quarter(ly): It just makes cents. Issues are themed; however, we consider all interpretations. 2024’s Themes and Deadlines: WET (April 30) hat’ve you got to show us? Stories and / or Poems For Stories: We’re open to micro works all the way up to 10,000 words. Just keep two things in mind: We want to be engaged and the submission must be completed (no pitches, please!) For Poems: We’d love to see up to five poems from you, but you can always just send one, too. Art As long as it has some tie to the current issue’s theme, we’re open to see any art created in any medium at any time. Just know that it will need to “work in print” and—might—be presented in black and white. We WILL NOT Accept any AI-Generated art. For ART ONLY, you may choose to submit via email by sending jpgs, PDFs, or PNGs to chrisatquarterpress(at)gmail(dot)com Graphic Stories Show us your comic strips or complete short works; we’d love to see them all! Please try to keep submissions to 20 pages or less. Feel free to also send a collection of comic strips / one shot comics, as well. (Please note that our publication size / dimensions might change between issues. Our “Norm” is 6x9”). These must be COMPLETE works. For Graphic Work / Comics, you may choose to submit via email by sending jpgs, PDFs, or PNGs to chrisatquarterpress(at)gmail(dot)com Analysis / Interviews /...

Submission Window: April 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue Theme: Any genre, short story Mission = Revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful. Payout = Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Wait, you mean if this substack gets thousands of subscribers, the winner would get thousands of dollars? Yes! The New Yorker pays roughly $7,500 per story and I sincerely hope to go way past that. What does the timeline look like? Submit stories by the end of the month, winner to be announced on the 15th. There is ONE story that wins and receives the full payout. Where do I send submissions? [email protected] What are the rules for submitting? 1. No Fees 2. Send in Microsoft Word or Google Doc form 3. Any genre 4. 6- 10,000 words. Yes, just 6 words, like Hemingway's famous 6-word story "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn." 5. Reprints are ok so long as you still have the rights to distribute. 6. Acknowledge Distribution Rights on this Substack - You can still sell your story elsewhere but we need to be able to save and publish it here. The goal is to create a library for subscribers. 7. Only the winner will be published and rights will only transfer for the winning story. What do I get for subscribing? One beautiful story every month. The complete library. The joy of supporting artists and doing something interesting. What if I can’t pay right now? That’s ok! If you publish a blurb about this site on your website, blog, or social media, I will send you one full story of your choosing. Best of all, it is...

Deadline: April 30th, 2024 Payment: 8 cents per word and a contributors copy Theme: “fun”, “80s style” horror that involve Rock n Roll Note: Only accepts Mail-In Submissions so don't wait until the last moment! Seeking short fiction for our Rock n Roll Issue! From hair-raising riffs to head-banging oblivion, horror and rock n roll are a match made in Hell! Book Worms Horror zine is a limited-edition print only publication sold on Etsy and selective bookstores. Frequently Asked Question: What kind of stories are you looking for? We generally enjoy “fun”, “80s style” horror reminiscent of the zine’s old-school vibe, but we’ve also been blown away by fresh voices that take the genre in a new direction. That being said, the best chance for your story being accepted by Book Worms is to follow the submission guidelines. Make sure your story is of the horror genre (you’d be surprised how many we receive that aren’t), mail in your submission versus email, meet the deadline, and don’t exceed the word count limit. And if your story doesn’t make it, please keep trying. We’ve had to turn down many excellent stories due to space constraints alone. It might be helpful to explain what we don’t want. Paranormal romance (Love the genre. It’s not right for Book Worms.) Anything with a political theme. We read to escape that stuff. Beyond the pale violence or pornographic material. Keep it fun, kids. Submission Guidelines Deadline: April 30, 2024 Payment is 8 cents a word for fiction and essays (1500 words or less). Includes one contributor copy. No reprints or multiple submissions please. Exclusive rights for six months after publication. ACCEPTING MAIL-IN SUBMISSIONS ONLY! Mail your submissions to: La Regina Studio/Grundy Commons/925 Canal Street/Bristol, PA 19007 *In the past, we’ve made some special allowances for writers living outside the USA....

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 💡 Some ideas for inspiration: - 10-year anniversaries - Movies from 1910 or 2010 (but not ‘11s to ‘19s) - Top/Bottom 10 lists - 10 blindspots (and what you thought of them after watching) - Movies with “10” in the title (e.g. 10 Things I Hate About You, 10, 10 Items or Less, Ten Years, How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days) - What you loved watching when you were 10 - If you had 10 days left to live, what would you watch? - 10 times I ___ during a movie (e.g. cried, fell asleep, got horny, screamed) - First 10 movies you remember seeing - 10 frames from a movie - Focus on 10 of something in a movie (e.g. costumes, meals, furniture) - A celebrity/ famous...

Submission Window: April 23rd-30th, 2024 Payment: €0.01 per word, with a €20 minimum. Theme: Diverse sci-fi and fantasy fiction. We are open to submissions within the following periods: January 23rd-30th April 23rd-30th July 23rd-30th October 23rd-30th Submissions received outside of these dates will unfortunately be lost and therefore not responded to. When open, we seek and offer the following: Length: 1,000-5,000 words. These are firm limits. Shorter or longer works will be considered, but the further a story goes outside these bounds the more it will need to impress. Compensation: €0.01 per word, with a €20 minimum. Please be aware that payment is via PayPal only. If you do not receive an acknowledgment within 24 hours of submission, please get in touch. We aim to accept or reject within 14 days of acknowledgment, but rl (real life) and rl (reading load) can get in the way. If you do not hear from us after 30 days, feel free to query. REQUIREMENTS We acquire First Print and Digital rights with a six month period of exclusivity from the date of publication. We also ask permission to potentially include accepted pieces in future anthologies; in event of agreement, an additional payment and digital copy will be offered in compensation. All other rights remain entirely with the author. See here for an overview of our editorial process. Simultaneous submissions are not only accepted, they are encouraged. Please tell us if you sim-sub, and we merely ask that you notify us of acceptance at another market as soon as possible. In the event that we accept first, we expect a positive and timely confirmation. Therefore we recommend sim-subbing to markets of equivalent status – we won’t wait for someone else you’d like better to turn you down. We do not accept multiple submissions. Please wait until your first submission has been rejected before submitting...

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. WHAT WE DON’T LIKE -Boundaries. If you think it meets the call requirements, send it our way. Please read are standard submission guidelines if questions. WHAT WE WON’T ACCEPT -Depictions of sexual violence against children. -Racism, sexism, homophobia, or other displays of focused hatred that don’t further the story’s plot. -Animal torture. -Dealing with lawyers. No stories containing anything that might cause issues with copyrighted characters, lyrics, or anything of that nature. This means no Fan Fiction. SUBMISSIONS Submit via email to [email protected]. In the subject line, please put GRAVE – – PAYMENT $20 per story and a digital copy of the anthology. SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please notify us as soon as possible if your story is accepted elsewhere. MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS Authors may submit up to two stories. REPRINTS No reprints will be accepted. LENGTH 3,000-6,000 Words FORMATTING Modern Shunn. Please submit your files in .doc or .docx format, named “CHAMBER--” CALL CLOSES April 30, 2024 Via: Undertaker Books.

Deadline: April 30, 2024. Submissions will be kept open for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, chronically-ill/disabled, and writers from other historically marginalized groups until May 15, 2024. Payment: $.05 per word and a contributor's copy Theme: Speculative fiction about billionaires being eaten Submissions will be open from April 1 – April 30, 2024. Submissions will be kept open for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, chronically-ill/disabled, and writers from other historically marginalized groups until May 15, 2024. The Rules Eat the Rich is a speculative fiction anthology of billionaires being eaten. That’s it, full stop. Give us carnivores, cannibals, kaiju, cryptids, and, of course, capitalist comeuppance. So long as some kind of obnoxiously wealthy fuck gets eaten — somewhere, somewhen, somehow — the sky’s the limit. *we’re looking for interpretations of literally being eaten, but what that means is entirely up to you *billionaires are the cause of 9 out of 10 problems, but if you want to set your sights on lower-tier wealth, go ahead *from 100 up to 8,000 words is acceptable, but between 2K – 6K is the sweet spot *close is okay, but please be reasonable *if you’re so far out of range you feel the need to query, you probably already know the answer *the answer is no *please send only one story at a time *simultaneous submissions are cool, just let us know, if, when, etc. *if you’re rejected, feel free to try again — once, for a total of two submissions per anthology *no reprints *misogyny, sexism, racism, ableism, and homophobic and transphobic bullshit will not be tolerated *pulp, bizarro, and transgressive writing are all a-okay, so long as they don’t do any of the above *anything that could be a right-wing talking point is emphatically not for us *to reiterate: pro-capitalism, pro-cop stances are a surefire way to get yourself an ice-cold form rejection *no...

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...

Submission Window: March 1st - April 30th, 2024 Payment: $10 Theme: Stories of any genre by writers who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex. We welcome submissions by those who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex. This is a space for the words, works, and worlds of and by those whose bodyminds defy social expectations and invite new ways of thinking and knowing. We do not need to know the specifics of your identity/diagnosis/experience unless you want us to. We invite closeted and questioning people to share their work, as well as those whose experiences fall outside the confines of the language we used above. We welcome submissions from creators of all ages. We particularly encourage unpublished/emerging/young creators to submit. If you know an incarcerated/institutionalized creator who would like to submit, email us for information as to where to mail the submission, or clearly indicate in your message that you are submitting on their behalf. We publish on a quarterly schedule, with issues coming out on: February 15 May 15 August 15 November 15 We are open for all submissions EXCEPT during publication months. That is to say, we are open for submissions January, March, April, June, July, September, October, and December. Things to note This is a leftist magazine. We hate capitalism, “america,” cops, prisons, borders, neoliberalism, and all the rest. We don’t tolerate white supremacy, zionism, cisheterosexism, ableism, transmisogyny, xenophobia, fatphobia, intersexism, and anti-sex worker sentiment here. We reserve the right to reject and/or remove content from creators whose work does not align with our values. We do not tolerate AI-generated or -assisted submissions. Anyone found to be using AI will have their content immediately rejected/removed...

Submission Window: April 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: $100 Theme: Telling the cannibus-positive tales of the last survivors of a specific neighborhood. Details found below Opens: April 1, 2024, midnight est  Closes: April 30, 2024, midnight IDLW Compensation: $100 USD Theme: Adult horror, including genre-chimeras Submissions must be between 3,000 and 6,000 words Expected release April 2024 Submit to [email protected] On the night of April 19, 2021, something happened in the suburban town of Brookhaven that changed the course of humanity. In the fancy Southtown gated community, The Sanctuary at Lemongrass Lake, a cosmic event occurs, destroying most of it in the impact. Over on the North end, middle-aged, overweight, cannabis grower, Pam Goodall, determined to save her holy holiday—4/20, bands with unlikely neighbors to not just survive the night, but save humankind. HENTAI ECTOPLASM is not your average anthology. Twelve - fifteen authors will tell a story of survival as their neighborhood is cut off by the destruction, each delivering the perspective of their respective home. You can read the introduction here.  What we are looking for: First exclusive (1 year) US rights for cannabis positive stories written from the perspective of a residence stuck inside “The Danger Zone”. Submissions must be between 3,000 and 6,000 words. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ALL ANTHOLOGIES:  Please read carefully. Submissions that don’t meet the guidelines will be rejected. Open to any and all writers, both new and established, unless otherwise noted. ALL horror subgenres and tropes are welcome, including comedy and splatter.  Genre-blending is highly encouraged. Queer retellings and gender swaps are our favorites.  Writers should have a diverse representation of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, gender identities, disability, fat positivity, and neurodivergency. What we are NOT looking for: Submissions cannot contain sexualization of minors (under 18, yes that includes “17 almost 18”). Sexual assaults are encouraged to happen off-page and only if it serves...

Submission Window: March 1st - April 30th, 2024 Payment: $0.03/word Theme: Strong, character-driven stories where your main characters struggle in some way with their ghosts—or the ghosts of others—against truths being either suppressed or exposed Note: Open to those who identify as LGBTQ+, especially the following individuals: Will be open for short story submissions on March 1, 2024. Do not submit early! The second of three charity anthologies loosely related to military life/service. Edited by Bram Stoker Award Winning Editor, Vince A. Liaguno and TSP Editor-in-Chief, Sirrah Medeiros Theme: “Truths can be hidden, pushed down, and repressed, from those around us. But the ghosts—of our past, our present, and our future—know our most intimate truths. We cannot hide from our ghosts. For Don’t Ask, Ghosts Tell, we’re looking for strong, character-driven stories where your main characters struggle in some way with their ghosts—or the ghosts of others—against truths being either suppressed or exposed. In these stories, the outcomes can be varied—truths remain hidden, or truths exposed—to whatever consequence(s) to the main character. Will your character(s) be silenced by their ghosts? Will the truth set them free—or doom them to some horrible fate? Your latitude with this basic theme is wide and interpretation is strongly encouraged.” ~ Vince A. Liaguno Title: Don’t Ask, Ghosts Tell Word Count: 2-5K words for short stories. Poetry will be by invitation only. Deadline: April 30, 2024 No reprints. Simultaneous submissions are okay. Just let us know if your story is accepted elsewhere. Author Pay: $0.03/word (USD) for short stories with potential for increase based on Kickstarter success. Who May Submit: Open to those who identify as LGBTQ+, especially the following individuals: With military service (active, retired, veterans welcome). Wanted to join a service organization but was denied. Served but forced out due to sexual orientation. Current or former military dependents who identify as...

Deadline: April 30th, 2024 Prizes: The GRAND PRIZE winner will be published as the featured story on the Baen Books main website and paid at industry-standard rates for professional story submittals. The author will also receive a handsome engraved award and a prize package containing $500 of free Baen Books. SECOND place winner will receive a prize package containing $500 of free Baen Books. THIRD place winner will receive a prize package containing $300 of free Baen Books. Theme: Any form of fantasy Baen Books is excited to announce the eleventh annual Baen Fantasy Adventure Award. The award recognizes the best original adventure fantasy short story in the style of fantasy greats like Mercedes Lackey, Larry Correia, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Elizabeth Moon, Andre Norton, Brandon Sanderson, J.R.R. Tolkien, and David Weber. Contest Rules Write and submit a short story of no more than 8,000 words. It must be a work of fantasy, though all fantasy genres are open, e.g. epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, contemporary fantasy, etc. No entry fee. But only one submission per person...we suggest your best one! No reprints (i.e. the story must be unpublished). All entries must be original unpublished works in English. Plagiarism, poetry, song lyrics, settings and/or characters from published gaming worlds or another author’s works of fiction will not be considered. Any AI-generated stories will be automatically disqualified.   E-mail submissions only. Send entries as .RTF attachments to: [email protected] Please put BFAA SUBMISSION in the subject line when sending a contest entry and BFAA QUESTION in the subject line for questions to the contest administrator. Please include the following in the body of your email: the title of the work the author's name, address, and telephone number an approximate word-count The manuscript should be a RTF attachment, in standard manuscript...

Deadline: April 30th, 2024 Payment: $10 USD Theme: Poems inspired by feminine rage. All speculative tropes are welcome Opens: March 1s 2024, midnight EST  Closes: April 30, 2024, midnight IDLW Compensation: $10 USD Theme: Adult speculative poetry Submissions must be under 50 lines OPEN to any and everyone that identifies (now or in the past) as femme in the most inclusive of definitions. Expected release: March 2024 Submit to [email protected]   HEMORRHAGING FLOWERS: A COLLECTION OF 100% FEMME RAGE is a collection of speculative poetry showcasing the spectrum of femininity and the rage contained within.   What we are looking for: First exclusive (1 year) US rights for poems inspired by feminine rage. All speculative tropes are welcome.   Submissions must be under 50 lines Via: Bookslayer Press.

Deadline: April 30th, 2024 Payment: $20 Theme: Speculative fiction set in the Greater Charlottesville Area: Charlottesville City, the Counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Green, Nelson, or Shenandoah National Park. Announcing Charlottesville Fantastic edited by James Blakey and Catherine Simpson. Charlottesville’s a magical place, and we want to read all about it. We’re talking anything from vampires in the Rotunda to Cinderella set in Monticello, from a sentient Rivanna to sirens singing at a Rapunzel’s open mic. What We Want: Dazzle us with High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retellings, Magic Realism, etc. Stories can be set in the past, present, future, or sideways (Alternate History). Smash genres and mix in Mystery, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Western, as long as you include a fantastical or supernatural element. Stories must be set in the Greater Charlottesville Area: Charlottesville City, the Counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Green, Nelson, or Shenandoah National Park. What We Don’t Want: Your trunk stories with a couple of Charlottesville references bolted on. Gore, Violence, Sex, Language: Nothing worse than you’d see in a PG-13 movie. Word Count: 1,800 to 5,500 (Hard Limits) with 3,500 being the sweet spot. Formatting Requirements: Shunn Standard or Modern Format. Courier or New Times Roman, size 12. Use Italics for Italics. DOC or DOCX file type. We are conducting Blind Submissions. Remove your name and all personally identifying information from your document/file. File name should be your story title in ALL CAPS. Example: THE WIZARD OF OLD RAG.docx Bio: In the submission form (not in your story file), include a 50-125-word third-person biography. Original Works Only: Your story should not have been published anywhere (in print, eBook, Patreon, etc.) with the exception of password protected critique forums. Simultaneous Submissions: Please don’t do this. Multiple Submissions: You may submit up to two stories (separately), but only one will be accepted for...

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...