Category: Flash

Artwork / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine / Poetry

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Taking Submissions: Thema: I Wish I’d Said That

Deadline: July 1st, 2025
Payment: short story, $25; nonfiction/essay, $25, short-short piece under 1000 words, $10; poem, $10; artwork/photography, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display.
Theme: I Wish I’d Said That

Upcoming premises (target themes) and deadlines for submission [postmarked]:

The Lost Sock (March 1, 2025)

ALL SHORT STORIES, ESSAYS, POEMS, PHOTOGRAPHS and ART MUST RELATE TO ONE OF THE PREMISES SPECIFIED ABOVE.

NOTE: Previously published pieces are welcome, provided that the submission fits the theme and that the author owns the copyright.

The premise (target theme) must be an integral part of the story, not necessarily the central theme but not merely incidental. NOTE: Stories longer than 20 double-spaced typewritten pages will not be considered. Indicate premise (target theme) on title page. Be sure to Indicate target theme in cover letter or on first page of manuscript. Include self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with each submission. Rejected manuscripts unaccompanied by an SASE will not be returned. Response time: 3 months after premise deadline. NO READER’S FEE.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Jungle Scandals

Submission Window: March 17th – April 16th, 2025
Payment: 1 cent per word
Theme: NSFW jungle adventure

Jungle Scandals is the second entry in The Scandal Anthology Series and the follow-up to the smash hit Sword & Scandal. But where Sword & Scandal featured NSFW heroic fantasy, Jungle Scandals is all about NSFW jungle adventure.

That’s right! This time around, we’re touring the jungles of the world, taking stops in Africa, Indonesia, and the Amazon, and we’ll be taking our inspiration from the likes of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jospeh Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, and H. Rider Haggard.

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Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine / Poetry

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Taking Submissions: Roses & Wildflowers Autumn 2025 Issue

Submission Window: March 1st – July 15th, 2025
Payment: Short Stories: $20, Poetry: $10
Theme: An issue dedicated to hope. Solar-punk, hope-punk, envisioning a better future. Fantasy that explores hope and grace.

Spring 2025 Call for Submissions: MYTHO-ANARCHISM

An issue dedicated to hope. Solar-punk, hope-punk, envisioning a better future. Fantasy that explores hope and grace.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Consumed

Deadline: April 30th, 2025
Payment: 1500-4000=$10, 4001-75000=$20
Theme: Horror that involves food

Arbutus Studios is planning our first prose horror anthology, “Consumed” for publication in 2025.

The anthology’s title alludes to a central theme of food and eating. Itching to tell a twisted cannibal tale? Have a unique take on zombies? Cursed birthday cakes? All the above are in line with what we’re looking for.

What we want

For this anthology, Arbutus Studios seeks original horror stories that fit snugly within the imagery, concept, and theme of food.

Tales submitted to Consumed can encompass more than one horror subgenre or blend other speculative genres into the narrative. We want to read stories we can’t put down, and thoughtful tales that linger with you long after the final page.

Original, compelling stories will grab our attention. Retreads of familiar horror clichés will be privately mocked, and the tales sent straight to hell. We want to see interesting characters, unique worlds, and unsettling atmosphere. Surprise us. Scare us. Tickle our imagination.

Arbutus Studios will automatically reject stories with extreme gore or stories that glorify sexual violence, child abuse, cruelty to animals, body-shaming, or other deviant behaviour.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Non-fiction / Poetry / Royalties

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Taking Submissions: When Vampires Save the (Day) Night

Deadline: March 31st, 2025
Payment: Royalties
Theme: Vampires that are doing good in unique and interesting ways (see below for more!)

Submission Period: 1 January to 31 March 2025

Maximum Word Count: 8000

Submission Email: [email protected]

“When Vampires Save the Day Night: Heroes, Anti-Heroes, and Not-So-Reformed Villains” is seeking nontraditional vampire stories for an anthology to be edited and released by Rebecca Buchanan.

What do we mean by “nontraditional”? We want stories of vampires as beings of order, continuity, preservation, and conservation; beings concerned with their legacy, with their connection to humanity and the world at large. For example,

— a vampire who guards a hidden library of banned and forgotten books;

— a vampire with gardens of extinct plants and secret seed vaults scattered around the world;

— a vampire linguist leading an expedition into the wilds of northern Canada to record a dying language;

— a vampire who has dedicated their fortune to bringing back extinct animal species through genetic research;

— a vampire archaeologist who tires of misinformation about their ancient birth civilization, and leads a dig to uncover it;

— a vampire guarding an isolated wilderness from those who would exploit it;

— a vampire anthropologist arranging for an endangered culture to be transported safely off-planet;

— a vampire hematologist working to cure a blood-borne illness;

— a vampire who offers shelter to the restless souls of suicide victims;

— and more.

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Events / Flash / Magazine / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Will This Be A Problem? First 2025 Window

Deadline: March 16th, 2025
Payment: KES 1 per word
Theme: Speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy or horror written by African writers

Will This Be A Problem?: The Magazine is open for submissions until March 16th 2025.

While we occasionally put out submission calls for specific projects, such as our anthologies and magazines, which may have different qualifiers, below are the general submission guidelines. Please read them twice over before submitting!

FICTION SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Your story can be speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy or horror. Genre-mashing is completely fine, however your work must contain strong elements of one of these genres. We strongly encourage character-driven narratives and rich worldbuilding tied together with heavy African influences.

We only accept submissions from African writers who are 18 years and above. We define an African writer as:-

  • someone born in Africa,
  • someone whose parents (at least one) are African,
  • a Black person in the African diaspora.

We particularly welcome submissions from women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, people living with disabilities, and members from other underrepresented and marginalised communities. 

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Reprints Allowed

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Taking Submissions: Monstrous Angels

Submission Window: February 23rd to May 23rd, 2025
Payment: $20
Theme: Answering the question – why are angels so compelling as anti-heroes and/or villains?

Monstrous Angels is an anthology that will explore one of the most enduring questions of religious horror–why are angels so compelling as anti-heroes and/or villains? We’ve seen it time and time again: Angelfall, Constantine, Legion, Angelology, the list goes on. We love our dark angels.

​We want stories of the morally gray. Of angels and humans trying their best and failing. We want to explore all corners of this topic so feel free to be broad. Angel-like beings from other cultures are welcomed and encouraged. Our definition of angel is loose. We want winged divine creatures trying to navigate moral quandaries, being consumed by righteous anger, and experiencing the consequences of being too close to humans. 

Give us your nasty angels. Your conflicted angels. We want dark, complicated stories.

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

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Taking Submissions: It Was Paradise

Deadline: June 22nd, 2025
Payment: 15 cents per word for fiction and $75 per page for poetry and artwork.
Theme: In a world devastated by catastrophes, we need stories that confront these horrors.
Note: Prioritizing work by people with lived experience of war and conflict.

It’s time to announce the call for submissions to It Was Paradise*, a special issue of Reckoning edited by Sonia Sulaiman and with cover art by Moníca Robles Corzo. In a world devastated by catastrophes, we need stories that confront these horrors. This is all out war on the planet, on life itself. War and conflict are the themes for this volume of Reckoning. Probe into the heart of extinction, genocide, and climate crisis. Expose the exploitation of the earth. Show us how the world could be on the other side. Send us your stories of environmental justice, of violence, imperialism, fascism, and resistance, of destruction, survival, and of triumph.

It Was Paradise is open for submissions now through the summer solstice, June 22, 2025, with tentative release scheduled for October. Payment rate will be 15 cents (US) per word for prose, $75 per page for poetry and art. As always, we’re seeking submissions from Black, Brown, Indigenous, queer, trans, disabled, neurodivergent, imprisoned, impoverished, and otherwise marginalized human beings from everywhere, but in particular for this issue, we will be prioritizing work by people with lived experience of war and conflict. We’ll continue to accept submissions to our communication-themed regular issue, Reckoning X, throughout. Also, during this submission window only, we’re relaxing our usual rule about multiple submissions to allow folks to submit to both calls simultaneously.
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