Bards and Sages Publishing closed in March of 2024 with the following announcement:

Payment: $50, $25 for reprints
Theme: All speculative genres (horror, fantasy, science fiction, slipstream, steampunk, magical realism, etc), as well as mysteries, thrillers, and action-adventure stories.
Note: Reprints Welcome

Accepts:

The Society of Misfit Stories is a journal published three times a year. We are interested in all speculative genres (horror, fantasy, science fiction, slipstream, steampunk, magical realism, etc), as well as mysteries, thrillers, and action-adventure stories.

Stories should be between 5,000-20,000 words in length. 

Payment details:

Previously published short stories: $25 for the non-exclusive, perpetual right to publish the story in the assigned issue. 

Original, unpublished short stories: $50 for non-exclusive, perpetual rights to publish the story in the assigned issue.

Send Submissions to

[email protected]

General Guidelines for All Projects

All submissions must be electronic only. We do not accept hard copies of submissions.

Stories must be complete, stand-alone stories. We will consider stories that are part of an existing setting (for example, a “prequel” story that ties into an author’s novel) but the story must be self-contained and have a clear conclusion. No “cliffhanger” stories.

The subject line of the submission should indicate the name of the publication you are submitting for and the title of the story.

Examples:

Bards and Sages Quarterly: Title of My Story

The Society of Misfit Stories: Title of My Story

This is very important to make sure that your story is processed correctly. I get hundreds of emails A DAY regarding everything from legitimate business correspondence to not-so-legitimate SPAM. So that I can get your story routed to the correct reviewer, please make sure that the project and name of your story are in the subject line.

Bards and Sages Quarterly can be abbreviated to BASQ and The Society of Misfit Stories can be abbreviated to TSMS to accommodate long story titles. Best Indie Speculative Fiction can be abbreviated to BISF.

Body of the email. Please include the following information:

(more…)

Payment: 8 cents per word
Theme: All stories must have significant speculative elements

Sinister Smile Press still appears to be open at the time of this update, though this particular market appears to be closed.

Payment: $40.00 and a contributors copy
Theme: Slasher, stalker, serial killer crime fiction and must be written in the horror genre

Via: Sinister Smile Press.

March 2022 is the final issue of this magazine.

Payment: $0.01/word up to a maximum of $30/story plus a free three (3) month subscription to the magazine.
Theme: Speculative short fiction, primarily in the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Via: Land Beyond the World.

This market is not closed, however, it no longer is an ‘ongoing’ market and includes open periods. We will post updated to the site accordingly!

Payment: $10
Theme: Work that constitutes the ever-moving edge of its kind, as a place between light and dark, consciousness and un, today and tomorrow; work exhibiting the strange, the bizarre, that which is not of the world we know, but more of a twilight realm or even altogether alien place.

In general …
I would love to see submissions representing not only multiple cultures but subcultures, exploring issues of race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, and many things I haven’t thought of. Does this mean you have to represent everybody and everything in 1000 words? Of course not. But be aware that we are creating a magazine that overall reaches and represents the true diversity of the world we live in.

In terms of genre, I am looking for work that constitutes the ever-moving edge of its kind, as a place between light and dark, consciousness and un, today and tomorrow; work exhibiting the strange, the bizarre, that which is not of the world we know, but more of a twilight realm or even altogether alien place. Not necessarily science fiction, not necessarily fantasy, not necessarily horror, and not necessarily not these things. In short, ideally edgy. Maybe even idealistically edgy. I am NOT looking for -.

Penumbric generally accepts submissions in the following categories: fiction, poetry, illustration, graphic narrative, animation, music, or combinations of these (e.g., a spoken-word version of a poem). If you have something that fits some other category that can be displayed to advantage on the web, try me; I’ll take a look.

All works must be the creation of the author(s) submitting them, and must not infringe upon any right of any other person or entity. I prefer to buy worldwide first periodical rights (for one year from publication), but will buy reprint rights on a case-by-case basis. We are also buying the right to continue to display your work on our website for an indefinite period of time, and to publish your work in the annual print-available anthology (if it is selected). We also reserve the right to use your work when advertising the magazine (such as displaying the cover in an ad or on social media). All remaining rights stay with the author. See Payments, below, for more information.

There is no fee for submissions. Payment to the author is on publication.

All submissions should be e-mailed (if less than 10 MB in size) to [email protected]. Alternatively, we can make arrangements for submission via DropBox or Box for larger submissions, or if security is an issue. Penumbric is not responsible for submissions lost in the mail, electronically speaking.

Specific content
Fiction or poetry must be less than 10,000 words, double-spaced, typed (but can be arranged on the page as desired; eventual layout can also be indicated, if part of the art of the piece). Cover page must include author’s name, address, and phone and/or e-mail address. Each page thereafter must include a page number and the author’s name. Format: PDF, Word document, plain text, rich text format.

Illustrations are stand-alone art, color or black & white. Format: JPG, GIF, PNG, or PDF. Art must be accompanied by a cover page including author’s name, address, and phone and/or e-mail address.

Graphic narratives may be color or black & white. Format: JPEG, GIF, PNG, or PDF. They must be accompanied by a cover page including the author’s name, address, and phone and/or e-mail address. It is possible an ongoing narrative could continue over multiple issues, in which case the author will be paid for each issue in which the work appears.

Animation submissions must include the completed work and (separately) the author’s name, address, and phone and/or email address. Format: Anything web-playable as animation.

Music or other audio submissions must be accompanied by lyrics/text (if applicable), along with any other authorial notes on the piece. Format: Any sound file playable on multiple platforms (PCs, Macs, Android, iPhone, etc.).

Any combination submissions should follow the above guidelines as applicable to your combo.

Payment
Payment for first-time contributors is US$10 for non-exclusive worldwide periodical rights and the right to publish the work in the annual anthology (online and possibly in a “print” version to be available on Amazon through CreateSpace, and possibly other online venues). We are also buying the right to continue to display your work on our website for an indefinite period of time. If you are published in the anthology, you will be paid royalties amounting to a percentage of sales (that percentage determined at the time the anthology is created and based on the number of works in the anthology, but at least 2%). Note that this might not amount to much … but who knows?

Questions? Contact us at [email protected].

Via: Penumbric Magazine.

This post is being kept for archival purposes. It looks as if this publication ceased to exist sometime shortly after October 2020, though an official announcement could not be found.

Payment: $.01 per word up to 7,500 words
Theme: strong character-driven speculative fiction stories

What Are We Looking For?

We are looking for new original short stories in the speculative fiction genres:

Science Fiction
Fantasy
Horror
Paranormal
Supernatural

In general, we are interested in strong character-driven stories. We do not want stories that have explicit sex or violence, rapists, or child abusers.

Original Short Fiction

Submissions must be between 1,000-7,500 words.

Stories must be in English.

Payment for original fiction is $.01 per word up to 7,500 words.

Submit your work in Shunn Standard Manuscript Format.

You can send through submissions through Moksha

Reprints

We do not accept unsolicited reprints.

Rights and Rules

No simultaneous submissions.

We try to respond to all submissions within 30 days.

Via: Legendary Tales.

NOTE: Mythaxis itself is not closed but is no longer an “ongoing” open call but instead has four submission windows. We will make posts based around these dates accordingly.

Payment: $20
Theme: Science fiction both hard and soft, fantasy both high and low, horror both harsh and humorous, along with whatever mash-ups or sub-genres can be conceived.

Mythaxis is open for submissions! We seek and offer the following:

• Length: 1,000-7,500 words. This is a firm limit. Generally speaking, the further a story goes beyond 5,000 words the more it will need to impress, but the door is not shut in advance.
• Compensation: $20 on acceptance and return of contract. Payment via PayPal.

We aim to acknowledge submissions the same day they are received. If you do not receive an acknowledgment within 24 hours of submission, please get in touch.

We aim to accept or reject within 14 days of that acknowledgment, but rl (real life) and rl (reading load) can get in the way. If you do not hear from us after 30 days, feel free to query.

We require First Print and Digital rights with a six month period of exclusivity from the date of publication. We also ask permission to potentially include accepted pieces in future anthologies, in event of which an additional full payment and digital copy will be offered in compensation. All other rights remain entirely with the author.

Simultaneous submissions are not only accepted, they are encouraged. Put your work out there, as many places as you can! We merely ask that you notify us of acceptance at another market as soon as possible. We do not currently invite reprint submissions.

Submissions should be anonymous, and do not require a cover page. Only include the story title, the approximate word count, and the story text. Do not include the author’s name in or on the file.

All submissions must be the original work of the author. We anticipate an adult readership in the sense of maturity, but this is not a market for adult content or offensively extreme content.

We welcome writers of any and all backgrounds, be they cultural or personal, and submissions exploring diverse perspectives and experiences, provided they do not seek to attack or demean those of others.

We look forward to reading your work… but first:

A friendly word of advice

It’s important for authors to understand what they are giving up when they assign “first” publishing rights to a magazine. After we publish your story, you will only be able to offer it elsewhere as a reprint, which may mean you can only sell it for less money, or for free – and some markets don’t accept reprints at all.

We want to publish great writing but our budget is modest, there are certainly better-paying markets out there. So why not try to land your masterpiece at the big markets first? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all – and when they prove themselves blind to your glory, we’ll still be here to help you prove them wrong!

Okay, we’ve said our piece. If you’re still keen to roll the dice…

HOW TO SUBMIT

Email files as an attachment to:

andrew(dot)leon(dot)hudson

(at)gmail(dot)com

Please use the email subject line “MYTHAXIS SUBMISSION – [STORY TITLE]” to evade spam filters.

Feel free to include a concise cover letter and/or author bio, though neither is mandatory. Mythaxis has a history of publishing first-time authors, and we mean to continue this tradition.

FORMATTING GUIDELINES

Acceptable document types are RTF, DOC, or DOCX.

Straightforward manuscript formatting is preferred for editorial convenience:

• Please use an easy-reading font (Times New Roman 12pt, etc.).
• Do not manually insert empty lines between paragraphs, or use tabs for first-line indents. Use paragraph formatting to set automatic indents or paragraph breaks.
• Use a single centred # to represent essential section breaks.
• Use italics for italics, don’t underline instead. Smart (“curly”) punctuation is fine.
• If your manuscript includes any unusual formatting, please alert the editors when submitting and have a really good, story-related reason.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the editor at the above address. We look forward to reading your work!

Via: Mythaxis.