Category: Call Type

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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Events / Flash / Online

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Taking Submissions: Short Story Substack May 2025 Window

Submission Window: May 1st – 31st, 2025
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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Artwork / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine / Poetry / Reprints Allowed / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: NonBinary Review #41

Deadline: August 1st, 2025
Payment: 1 cent per word for fiction, $10 for poetry, $25 for artwork or $50 for cover artwork
Theme: Solarpunk
Note: Reprints Welcome

NonBinary Review is currently open for submissions on the theme of SOLARPUNK.

We want your rusting Teslas still chugging along for a hundred years. Your wooden bicycles pulling hitches rigged with wind turbines. Your crumbling brutalist towers, softened by time, now home to moss, mushrooms, and grizzly bears.

Solarpunk is not just about sustainability, it is about adaptation, resilience, and the beauty of a world where humanity and nature thrive together. If you are looking for inspiration, think Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers; Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and Castle in the Sky; or the quiet satisfaction of making coffee with a Chemex, dumping the used grounds in your compost, and watching the worms enjoy their breakfast too.

We are NOT looking for “climate change is a myth, stop worrying!” stories, sexual coming-of-age narratives, or anything that does not fit within the speculative genre.

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Artwork / Events / Other / Pay / Reviews

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Taking Submissions: Lizzie Borden Anthology

Deadline: June 1st, 2025
Payment: $10 and a contributors copy
Theme: New and unique takes on the legends and realities of the Lizzie Borden story

Everyone knows the legend of Lizzie Borden, especially the dark nursery rhyme…

 

Lizzie Borden took an axe

Gave her mother 40 whacks.

When she saw what she had done,

Gave her father 41

Riverdale Avenue Books has teamed up with the Historical Lizzie Borden house to put together an anthology of stories, under the direction of award-winning horror author Sèphera Girón, who has visited the house multiple times over the past few decades.

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Contributor's Copy / Flat Amount / Novel / Royalties

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Lefthand Path Press Is Open To Novel Submissions

Payment: $1000.00 to $2000.00 cash Royalty Advances, industry standard or better royalty rates and  a big box-o-books (22 free author copies)
Theme: Strong elements of Horror and/or Dark Fiction as well as strong characters and character driven storylines

Lefthand Path Press is a new horror and dark fiction publisher with big plans. We will be launching our publishing house along with our awesome upcoming website later this year, probably close to Halloween.

While we are gearing up for the launch, we ate still looking for one or two incredible new novels.

 

We are currently open to submissions for NOVELS only.

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