Author: Stuart Conover

Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Gods and Services

Deadline: August 30th, 2024
Payment: $25 plus contributor’s copy
Theme: A story about a store that sells Gods who are attached to items, or more importantly, the items themselves, further details below

This is an anthology different from most we have done. It is the follow-up to the original GODS & SERVICES, and there is a definite theme to which we will require far stricter adherence.

There is a store. It wasn’t there yesterday. It won’t be there tomorrow. There’s no way it could have fit where it is. The sign in the window obviously is meant to read GOODS & SERVICES, but one of the Os has fallen.

The proprietor is a sort of short, tall, fat, thin, young, old, sometimes a woman fellow named Hiram Priest. The merchandise is flea market quality mixed with priceless and rare antiques all sharing the same space with no apparent organization.

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Artwork / Events / Flash / Magazine / Poetry / Pro / Reprints Allowed / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Cosmic Roots And Eldritch Shores August 2024 (Early Listing)

Submission Window: August 1st-2nd, 2024
Payment: 8 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints, For artwork: $10 for the non-exclusive right to use each image, for as long as the site is online.  If we publish a print collection we will pay a pro-rata share for each image used.
Theme: Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world.
Note: Reprints welcome

 

 

Submissions Schedule

The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T.

For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers.

We pay 8¢ per word for new fiction, 2¢ per word for fiction reprints, 2 – 8¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles.
For new poetry, we pay $1 per line, and for reprints we pay 50¢ a line  We’re looking for poems up to 40 lines. We’ll consider longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 8¢ per word.

We sponsor The Kepler Award to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways. You can learn aboutThe Kepler Award here.

You can read a copy of our standard contract here.   It can be varied as needed to include the rights of translators, voice actors, etc.

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Events / Flat Amount / Online

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Taking Submissions: Short Story Substack August 2024 Window (Early Listing)

Submission Window: August 1st – 31st 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?
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Articles

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Defining High Fantasy Characters

The Importance Of Defining High Fantasy Characters

High fantasy gives us amazing fantasy worlds, and it is the characters that populate these worlds that are truly the lifeblood of the stories. As much as the plot and settings captivate us, it’s the characters—our heroes and villains—who truly draw us in. In these extraordinary worlds, being able to relate to and understand these characters is key to our love for the stories being told. These characters often start with archetypal roles, such as heroes, villains, and mentors, which provide a foundation for their development and impact on the plot. But to create truly memorable and unique high fantasy characters, writers must push beyond these archetypes, infusing them with depth, complexity, and originality.

Let’s dive into the core aspects of defining high fantasy characters. We’ll explore their roles, traits, motivations, relationships, and the balance between archetype and individuality. By understanding these elements, we not only uncover why we love fantasy worlds but also learn how, as authors, we can craft characters that readers will cherish and remember.

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Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine / Poetry / Pro

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Taking Submissions: The Orange & Bee Issue #3

Open Window: August 1st to the 14th
Payment: $50 per poem, $80 per story for flash, 8 cents per word for short fiction
Theme: Works of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction that engage in a significant way with the long history of fairy tales

Upcoming submission windows

  • Submission window for Issue #3: 1 to 14 August (closes midnight AEST on 14 August)

We do not accept multiple submissions (one piece per submission window, please!), or simultaneous submissions.

Submitting your work

Word/line limits

  • Poetry: up to 50 lines (but we’re a little bit flexible!)
  • Flash: up to 1000 words
  • Short fiction/non-fiction: up to 4000 words

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Anthology / Events / Pro / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Planet Black Joy

Deadline: January 1st, 2025
Payment: 8 cents per word for original stories, 2 cents per word for reprints
Theme: Speculative stories exploring and celebrating Black joy and pleasure.
Note: Authors who are women and non-binary folk who identify as Black, African, or of Afro-descendent heritage
Note: Reprints welcome

Edited by Chinelo Onwualu, Susana M. Morris, and Bill Campbell

You are cordially invited to contribute to an anthology of speculative fiction that’s being published through Rosarium Publishing titled Planet Black Joy in Fall 2025. The collection will feature about 20 to 25 short stories by women and non-binary folk who identify as Black, African, or of Afro-descendent heritage exploring and celebrating Black joy and pleasure.

What are we looking for?

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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Embrace the Silence

Deadline: October 30th, 2024
Payment: $25
Theme: Australian and New Zealand authors who identify as neurodivergent telling tales of characters accepting and embracing their neurodiversity

Last year a press in Australia made a call for neurodivergent voices and their short stories, but only if they had a medical diagnosis. In this country it can take two years to find the truth about ourselves – and at great cost – so Deadset Press wanted to provide an alternative for the neurodivergent writers of Australia. We made a call for those voices, and E. J. Dawson joined in, helping us create a neurodiverse apocalyptic anthology, EMBRACE THE SILENCE, open to anyone self-identifying as neurodivergent. But like many ND folk we had other commitments. We are now re-opening our submissions call on a wider scale for apocalyptic, dystopian and scifi short stories which focus on neurodiverse characters. There are not enough of these in fiction and we are hoping by broadening our submission call we can hear more of these voices.

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Events / Magazine / Pro

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Taking Submissions: Story Unlikely 2024 Window

Deadline: September 29th, 2024
Payment: 8 cents a word for stories up to 2,500 words. Stories longer than this are capped at $200 payment
Theme: Any genre, good stories, measured both by the quality of the writing and the skill in storytelling. We prefer prose that elicits emotion: make us laugh or cry, think or consider, anything on the edges or in between.

SUBMISSIONS TO OUR MONTHLY MAGAZINE ARE CURRENTLY OPEN THROUGH SEPTEMBER 29TH, READ THE GUIDELINES BELOW CAREFULLY – FAILURE TO ADHERE TO OUR RULES MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION, AND WHO WANTS THAT?

Please note that we have additional perks and leeway for MEMBERS, highlighted in GREEN. [Horror Tree Editor’s Notes: The green formatting didn’t come across, however, everything member-related is spelled out by them.] Your membership not only gives you a leg up in the submission process, but helps keep the lights on (and pay our talented writers).

Why submit to us?
– WE PAY WRITERS FAIRLY. It’s hard work writing good stories, and you deserve to get paid. Or maybe you don’t and you’re just duping us? Regardless, we pay 8 cents a word for stories up to 2,500 words. Stories longer than this are capped at $200 payment ($400 for MEMBERS).
– NO SUBMISSION FEES. We’re not saying the other guys are getting rich off $3 per submission, but there’s something about the idea that we, as writers, have you pay you, the publisher, just for the privilege of rejecting our work with a form letter, bothers us. (Costs of running an E-zine aside) We’re going to go ahead and coin a phrase right here and now – ‘Write privilege’, get it? Of course, you do.
– GET YOUR WORK IN FRONT OF A LARGE AND GROWING AUDIENCE. Our aim is fixed on telling good stories, period, and because of that we have built a massive readership from all over the globe. Want to get your stories out to more than just dear old nana? Then you’ve come to the right place.
– REASONABLE TURN-AROUND TIME. If you haven’t heard from us within 90 days, then your story was rejected. Rejections stink – we get it – but its better than forever waiting and wondering. All MEMBERS get their stories reviewed within ONE month!
– WORKABILITY. Is that the right term? Well, we’re going with it. Unlike large publishers who view authors as just a number, we actually work with you to help present the story in its best possible light. We do, however, expect reciprocity; Story Unlikely is comprised of volunteers who are by nature team players. If you’re an inflexible my way or the highway type – or even worse, an unbearable ideologue – then consider this a premature breakup. No really, it’s us, not you.
– GET ILLUSTRATED. We illustrate ALL stories we publish, and we think we’re doing a pretty bang-up job with that.
– Still NOT CONVINCED? Then listen to a message that our editor-in-chief JUST received from our new CFO, David Wallace. Yes, that’s a clickable link, and no, we’re not joking (well, sort of).

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