The Horror Tree

Horror Tree is a resource for authors that lists open markets, articles, interviews, original fiction, and more!

Author: Stuart Conover

Articles

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In 2 Weeks ProWritingAid Is Presenting Crime Writer’s Week 2021!

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

In February, ProWritingAid gave a great virtual conference with Fantasy Writer’s Week 2021 and now they’re returning with a focus on crime writers! If you love penning tales about murder, mystery, and more – you’ll want to check this out when it happens on April 19th – 23rd of 2021! There are going to be a ton of amazing live sessions available that will include or be hosted by Karin Slaughter, Lisa Gardner, Ian Rankin, Peter James, Fiona Cummins, and more!

For those worried about pricing, there are five days for everyone to enjoy with the first four being completely free for the public. The fifth? that one is for those who have a ProWritingAid Premium license. Interested in signing up to check out the free events? Be sure to click right here! (more…)

Audio / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: The Other Stories #70: Post-Apocalypse II

Deadline: May 17th, 2021
Payment: $5
Theme: Post-Apocalypse

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.

(Vol 70.) Post-Apocalypse II; deadline 17th May

!!!NEW SUBMISSION PROCESS!!!

SUBMIT YOUR STORIES USING THIS FORM

If, this form isn’t working, then please email your submission to [email protected] as a last resort. But please let us know why as we’re hoping to use the form going forward.

Title your email with the following syntax:

SUBMISSION | STORY TITLE | THEME | WORDCOUNT

(e.g. SUBMISSION | THE MARTIAN | SPACE | 1,982)

It is important that your story complies with our Submission Guidelines. Any stories found not to be in compliance will be immediately discarded. Click HERE for details

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories!
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Events / Magazine / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: The Cafe Irreal August 2021

Deadline: July 1st, 2021
Payment: One cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum)
Theme: Fantastic Fiction You really NEED to read the description below.

The Cafe Irreal is a quarterly webzine that presents a kind of fantastic fiction infrequently published in English. This fiction, which we would describe as irreal, resembles the work of writers such as Franz Kafka, Kobo Abe, Clarice Lispector and Jorge Luis Borges. As a type of fiction it rejects the tendency to portray people and places realistically and the need for a full resolution to the story; instead, it shows us a reality constantly being undermined. Therefore, we’re interested in stories by writers who write about what they don’t know, take us places we couldn’t possibly go, and don’t try to make us care about the characters. We would also suggest you take a look at the current issue, archives, and theory (especially the essay, “What is irrealism?”) pages on this web site. (more…)

Anthology / Events / Reprints Allowed / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Strange Wars

Deadline: May 31st, 2021 (Original call had windows that has been modified to this date)
Payment:CAD 2c/word for originals; 50% rate for reprints
Theme: Speculative Fiction of Coalitions in Conflict
Note: Reprints welcome

As a special way to accommodate people developing stories for Strange Wars or Strange Religion, authors have the option of requesting to make late submissions. This is intended for authors who expect not to be able to finish writing and polishing their submission before the close of our submission window. If you think you will need any additional time, you can request to make a late submission here.

Strange Wars: Speculative Fiction of Coalitions in Conflict

Strange Wars explores military conflict through speculative fiction. These are stories with an original take on organized aggression.

For science fiction stories about war: What will warfare look like in a hundred years? How will technology reshape war? Will they still be fought on traditional battlefields, or will completely new frontiers open? Will the major parties to conflict change? Will wars between nation states be replaced by corporate wars, proxy wars, and insurgent conflicts? We are interested in stories that explore military implications of: drones, Lunar and Martian colonies (or expansion into space generally), cryptocurrency, privatized military forces, non-state actors in military conflict, 3D-printing, hacking, environmental catastrophe, renewable energy sources, artificial intelligence, and other themes.

For fantasy war stories about war: How can magic, gods, parallel worlds, or otherworldly societies reshape our conception of war? Are other forms of organized conflict possible? Can such fantastic visions serve as thought experiments and expand our understanding of conflict? What kind of magic could make a world without war possible? If it’s not possible, why not? If it is, at what cost? These fantasy stories explore war through speculative world-building, inventing fantastic premises and revealing their consequences through exciting and entertaining narratives.

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Anthology / Events / Reprints Allowed / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Strange Religion

Deadline: May 31st, 2021 (Original call had windows that has been modified to this date)
Payment:CAD 2c/word for originals; 50% rate for reprints
Theme: Speculative Fiction of Spirituality, Belief, and Practice
Note: Reprints welcome

As a special way to accommodate people developing stories for Strange Wars or Strange Religion, authors have the option of requesting to make late submissions. This is intended for authors who expect not to be able to finish writing and polishing their submission before the close of our submission window. If you think you will need any additional time, you can request to make a late submission here.

Strange Religion: Speculative Fiction of Spirituality, Belief, and Practice

Strange Religion thoughtfully and respectfully explores religious traditions and ideas through speculative fiction.  These are stories about the rituals, theology, and spirituality of aliens, AI, and the denizens of fantastic worlds depicted by scripture and religious folklore.

How do Muslims on other planets pray and perform the hajj? How would AI worship or read scripture? How would interreligious dialogue change if shamanic magic turned out to be real? What would the Bible be like if it were written by elves? How would the Buddha get by today? Suppose the remains of Krishna were found—what then? What if prophets didn’t only see the future but were from the future?

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Anthology / Events / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Humans are the Problem: A Monster’s Anthology

Deadline: May 15th, 2021
Payment: 5 cents per word
Theme: Monsters adapting to the 31st century

Weird Little Worlds Press is looking for contributors to its inaugural Kickstarter science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthology. Bring your weird and help us tell the best monster stories you’ve ever imagined.

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Events / Flat Amount / Online

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Taking Submissions: Dose of Dread April 2021

Deadline: April 15th, 2021
Payment: $10
Theme: Un-themed, general horror flash fiction. Preference to dread-inducing stories.

Submissions OPEN (Monthly, 1st – 15th). Un-themed, general horror flash fiction. Preference to dread-inducing stories.

Length: 500 – 1,000 words. Firm.

Author Compensation: $10, paid via PayPal.

Publication: Dread Stone Press website (Dose of Dread).

Reading Periods: Monthly, 1st to 15th. Any stories submitted outside of each reading period will not be read. Two (2) stories will be selected out of each reading period for publication the following month.

Rights: First World Electronic Rights. Non-exclusive rights thereafter. No reprint restrictions after publication.

Original stories ONLY. No reprints. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but NO multiple submissions. You may submit again the next month if rejected. If your story is accepted, please sit out one reading period before submitting again.

Please, for everyone’s sake, no rough drafts. Successful pieces will require little to no proofreading edits.

Email your submission as a Word document attachment to [email protected] with “DOSE – [Story Title] – [Author Name]” in the subject line.

Please see the General Submission Guidelines below for additional formatting information.

General Submission Guidelines

Rejections for Dose of Dread submissions will be sent by the end of the month submitted. If you have not received a reply by then, feel free to follow-up. All rejections will be form rejections. It’s not personal, promise. Which also means please don’t respond to rejections. It’s unnecessary.

For Dose of Dread submissions, please send your work by email to [email protected] with the subject line format: “DOSE – [Story title] – [Author name]”.

Address your email to “Editor” or “Alex”.

Please provide a brief cover letter in the body of the email (title, word count, relevant info, etc). Do not stress over or overthink this.

Please include an author bio of 100 words or less, written in third person, plus any links (e.g. to a website / Twitter) if you wish to include them.

Please submit your work as an email attachment in .doc/.docx format. Any other attachment type or stories copy/pasted into the body of the email will not be read.

Ensure your document contains your story title, your name (or pen name), and an approximate word count.

Please include a header on each page of your document with your surname, title and page number.

Your document should be formatted in Times New Roman, 12pt., with double line spacing and indented paragraphs.

All payments will be made via PayPal.

Query [email protected] for any questions or concerns.

Via: Dreadstone Press.

Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Poetry / Royalties

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Taking Submissions: The Needle Drops

Deadline: May 1st, 2021
Payment: Poetry: £15 per poem upfront payment upon publication + 0.5% revenue share scheme., Flash Fiction: £50 upfront payment upon publication + 1% revenue share scheme., Short Fiction: £100 upfront payment upon publication + 2% revenue share scheme.
Theme: Elevate us, and share thrilling stories of horror and romance, betrayal and bloodlust. Wherever you go regarding genre or form, we yearn to read what great works have yet to be read.

Currently, we’re in the process of establishing our first publication – The Needle Drops… Whilst we welcome all submissions, currently we are only moving forward with those within the horror genre, to be featured in Volume One releasing in the Summer / Fall of 2021. The preliminary end date for submissions is the 1st of May 2021. However, we especially encourage submissions at any time from BIPOC and those from LGBTQI+ community, as it is important to prioritise underrepresented voices and experiences, especially within the publishing industry – something which has been dominated by the white cis experience.

 

The Needle Drops… features an illustrated comic strip, original soundtrack, curated design by our in-house team and more. Dive into our blog for more information. One contributor will have the opportunity to work with our composer on an original soundtrack piece that will feature in the OST, available physically in the Limited Edition of The Needle Drops… as well as digitally via our Urhi Supporter scheme.

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