Category: Anthology

Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Poetry

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Taking Submissions: It Takes a Village

Deadline: June 1st, 2025
Payment: $5 for poetry sets (up to 5 pages), $10 for flash fiction (up to 1000 words), $25 for fiction stories up to 5000 words, +$2/1000 words for over 5000 for fictions stories up to 10,000 words
Theme: Canadian authors telling stories about community: finding it, building it, maintaining it, being expelled from it. SF and F are called out as acceptable, no word on H so probably a hard sell

This anthology’s theme is “It Takes a Village” – I’m looking for stories about community: finding it, building it, maintaining it, being expelled from it. How do we build our villages as adults? How do we grow connections with those around us? What do we do when we’ve lost them? We’ve heard the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child” but also “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.” How do we tackle these emotions as adults?

As this is a bit trickier of an anthology theme than the last one, the reading period is going to be much longer, and the final evolution of the anthology’s theme will come from what the overarching theme and tone from the submitted and accepted pieces create.
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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Bizarro Circus of Madness

Deadline: June 30th, 2025
Payment: $100
Theme: Bizarro

Do you write odd misfit stories that no publisher ever wants to touch? You’re in luck—the Bizarro Circus of Madness is in town!

I am seeking bizarro stories in the range of 2,000 to 5,000 words and will pay 100 dollars plus a contributor’s copy for each accepted work. What is bizarro? Simply put, it’s the genre of really weird stuff. Matt Clarke, publisher at Planet Bizarro Press, describes it this way: Think of the weirdest thing you’ve ever read, then times that by potato. Bizarro can be comedy, it can be horror, it can be romance—there’s really nothing it can’t be, as long as it’s bizarre.

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Anthology / Events / Royalties

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Taking Submissions: Cthulu: Dreams

Deadline: July 31st, 2025
Payment: Royalties
Theme: Lovecraftian horror

Cthulu: Dreams – our Lovecraftian anthology

Cthulu: Dreams–

This is horror.
Express yourself as the theme moves you.
Incorporate the Lovecraftian theme as you will into your horror story. Not all need contain an eldritch horror, remember The Alchemist. Good writing will triumph over concepts tightly aligned to a perception of the theme. We encourage you to weave the theme into an engaging story with well-developed characters and deep emotion.
Stories that contain infanticide, or rape will not be accepted. Consideration might be made for gratuitous gore, if the story calls for it.
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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Starship Blunder 2

Deadline: August 1st, 2025
Payment: $35
Theme: Shared Universe set on the Starship Blunder, most genres welcome, you DO need to read the guidelines for details and characters

Galactic Misadventure Continues!

Freshly promoted Commander Sarah Hawkins has been assigned to the brand-new Starship Wonder. The rest of her crew, however, have taken to calling their recently acquired vessel Starship Blunder. No new parts were fabricated specifically for the Wonder—it was assembled using extra pieces, cast-off parts, and old components removed from other, nicer crafts. The Conglomeracy hopes the spiffy name of the untested starship will inspire the crew to achieve something, anything.

It doesn’t work. Just like its predecessor, the Starship Wonder struggles even to take off, let alone complete a mission. Can the crew find it in themselves to at least successfully deliver an unimportant package, or will the namesake “Blunder” stick with them forever?

Although the original vessel Starship Blunder blew up in fantastical fashion at the end of the first anthology, the characters you know and love are back at it again!

As soon as the Starship Wonder goes on her inaugural mission, it becomes clear to her crew that there’s nothing wonderful about the new starship. They immediately start referring to their new ship as Starship Blunder as they wonder, did the Conglomeracy commission a new starship because the fleet needed another vessel, or because they just wanted somewhere to stuff the misfit crew away from the more elite spacecraft?

Whatever the reason, Commander Sarah Hawkins, Mechanic Xylo, Daycare Teacher Luna Knight, and Chef Bluebottle make the best of a less-than-stellar situation as they embark on another year of missions and misfortune.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Gen-X Flash Fiction Anthology

Deadline: July 15th, 2025
Payment: $25 usd
Theme: Scifi, speculative fiction, fantasy, not horror that showcases Gen-X

  • Theme:Gen X (Gen X characters and/or themes and/or culture should figure prominently within the story in ways that distinctly identify them as Gen X and/or that have an easily identifiable Gen X “vibe”).We’re especially interested in unique, unexpected takes on the Gen X experience from original points of view.
  • Deadline: July 15, 2025. Submissions are considered on a rolling basis, meaning that acceptance/rejection decisions are made as submissions come in. Authors can generally expect an initial response to their submission within 1-2 weeks.
  • Anthology Release Date: Late 2025-Early 2026
  • Genres and categories accepted:
    Literary, Romance, Sci-Fi & Spec Fic, Mystery, Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retellings, Historical Fiction, Humor/Satire, Paranormal, Magical Realism, and others.
    No horror (spooky is okay), gratuitous violence, erotica, of use of “F-bombs,” please. No essays, CNF, poetry, or anything that isn’t fiction.
    No AI-generated or AI-assisted stories. All submissions should be original, human-created stories that have never been published or performed/read elsewhere (including, but not limited to, social media, a personal blog or website, live or recorded event, etc.).
  • Reader Demographic: YA to adult (approximately ages 14-100)
  • Word count: Between 1,500-2,000 words
  • Payment for accepted submissions: $25 USD (via PayPal) upon completion of edits.

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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount / Royalties

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Taking Submissions: Search for the Any Key

Submission Window: May 1st – August 29th, 2025
Payment: $15.00 plus equal share of 50% of the anthology’s royalties.
Theme: Action/adventure mixed with any drama, can’t use a physical key, the why of the search should be the most important part

This will be mostly action/adventure, but can be placed in any time period, on other planets or any type of setting. All genres accepted and may contain humor, drama, romance, etc. Diverse characters welcome, human or otherwise.

The catch – no traditional keys accepted. If the characters don’t find the key, that’s okay.

Example – on a certain TV show, characters were searching for forgiveness and the key to enter was tears of regret. Another film had a key as part of a puzzle box which opened several artifacts.

Please think outside the box when writing these stories. The Why of the search is the most important point.

ALL writers are encouraged to submit. Doesn’t matter if you’re a pro with years of credits, a beginner just starting out, or a teenager – please feel free to send the editor a story. In your cover email, please tell the editor a bit about yourself and a quick one-line synopsis of the story. Include genre. If experimental, please explain the type or how so the editor doesn’t edit out the form or reject it out of hand.

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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Tales of Galactic Pest Control

Deadline: July 1st, 2025
Payment: $100 or higher depending on Kickstartr
Theme: Short stories that explore the theme of pest control in creative, unexpected, and engaging ways.

We’re seeking original short stories that explore the theme of pest control in creative, unexpected, and engaging ways. However, don’t be misled by the title—this is not a shared-universe project, nor does your story have to be set in space or on an alien world. Your tale can take place anywhere—on a starship, in a medieval village, deep in the jungle, or even within the microcosm of a single human body. The crucial element is the struggle against some form of infestation, nuisance, or destructive force.

Your protagonist might be a seasoned exterminator, a desperate homeowner battling an alien infestation, or even the pest itself, trying to survive against overwhelming odds. We welcome a wide range of tones, from serious and thought-provoking explorations of ethical dilemmas to lighthearted, comedic takes on interstellar vermin problems. Whether your story leans toward hard science fiction, space opera, fantasy, horror, or slipstream, as long as it aligns with the pest control theme, we want to see it!

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Anthology / Events / Royalties

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Taking Submissions: Elven Rock of Ages

Deadline: August 31st, 2025
Payment: Royalties
Theme: A 1980s band that end up in a fantasy kingdom (a few specific details to include below.)

Announcing the latest open call by Ps and Qs Publishing! Elven Rock of Ages

 

What I’m Looking For: 

 

Rift is tired of ruling his Elven Kingdom. He’s been maintaining peace for a thousand years. His son is ready to take over and his daughter is leading his armies. He has nothing to do except sit in his court and pretend to be entertained. Enter a 1980s band that managed to stumble into his kingdom. Finally, something new. Deciding that playing rock music is how he wants to spend his time, he and three of his most trusted guards head out into the world. They take on the names, 

 

Rift – singer

Belanger – bass 

Draye – guitar 

Todd – drummer (Someone has to have a normal human name.) 

1988 – Band Name

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