Deadline: August 22, 2016
Payment: $5.00 for poetry/flash; $10.00 for short stories and a contributor’s copy
Reprints Allowed

Anticipated Release Date: February 2017 in print and ebook.

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Once again, the title should tell you all you need to know for the theme. Sharks and/or dinosaurs! We expect teeth. Lots and lots of teeth. Beyond that, pretty much anything goes. Fighting each other? Chomping teenagers on spring break? Teaming up buddy-cop-movie-style and learning to respect one another’s differences? The doomed romance of star-crossed lovers? Time travel? Monstrous hybrids? Magical musical singing and dancing? Bring it!

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Submission Period: July 22, 2016 — August 22, 2016

Word Limit: poetry/flash fiction up to 1000 words; short stories 2000-5000 words.

Compensation: contributor copy, $5.00 for poetry/flash; $10.00 for short stories.

Standard manuscript format; Times New Roman 12-point preferred. Italics for italics and whatnot.  Send submissions attached as a .doc or .rtf to: [email protected]. “Fossil Lake IV” in the subject line, please.

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What we look for: the dark, the transgressive, the controversial, the surreal. Horror, humor, bizarro, erotica, suspense, fantasy, historical, Lovecraftian … pretty much anything goes genre-wise and content-wise as long as it’s well-written and entertaining to read. Bonus points for somehow involving thematic elements of fossils and/or lakes.

What we’re NOT looking for: Crap writing (hey, let’s be honest).  Some editorial pet peeves and tough sells include adverbs, non-“said” dialogue tags, passive voice, “was (verb)ing” and “could (sense)” phrasing, excessive blocking or stage direction.

What we’re hoping for: close communication with authors who are willing to work with an editor, can handle criticism, and are just generally personable and fun.

What we’re asking: One-time non-exclusive anthology rights. Reprints are welcome; just let us know where and when the piece has appeared before.

Via: Fossil Lake.