Category: Events

Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Pro

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Taking Submissions: You, Human, Vol. 2 – September Window

Submission Window: September 1st – 30th, 2024
Payment: 10 cents a word and a contributor’s copy
Theme: What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to be real? What does it mean to exist? What does it mean to be human? Once again, Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics will be re-evaluated and revised to help define humanity

Written Backwards is not open to submissions at this time, but due to high interest and numerous inquiries about You, Human, Vol. 2 (to be released in 2025), we are announcing an early open call for submissions for the month of September, 2024. Do not send submissions yet (unless invited). The open call for submissions will begin September 1st and end September 30th later this year.

YOU, HUMAN

The first volume of You, Human (2016) won the Benjamin Franklin Award for science fiction and is the most successful and widely-read anthology published by Written Backwards. Josh Malerman’s story “The Jupiter Drop” was also nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction and is currently in development as a major motion picture.

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Rotting Upright Volume 1

Deadline: January 15th, 2024
Payment: $15, 5 contributors copies, “future earning opportunities” (this part is unclear)
Theme: Zombie-themed stories of a short novella length to be released in collections

“Sometimes I think we’re all corpses. Just rotting upright.” (George Orwell, “Keep the Aspidistra Flying”)

Campfire Publishing is excited to announce that we are currently accepting submissions for, “Rotting Upright, Volume 1”, the first in our collection of Zombie themed horror stories!

Please read below to ensure that your story will be a good fit, and feel free to reach out to us–via the form located on our main page or by sending an email to [email protected]–if you have any questions.

“Rotting Upright” is the first volume in a horror collection dedicated to Zombie- themed horror stories. Campfire Publishing aspires to publish multiple volumes in the “Rotting Upright” collection, along with collections specific to a variety of themes in the horror genre.

What are we looking for?

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Anthology / Contest / Events / Flat Amount

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Contest: Dark Descent: Whispers from Beyond – Vol 1

Deadline: December 26th, 2024
Prize: £25.00 monthly for chosen story
Theme: Embrace the macabre (horror and darkness).

Uncage Your Dread: A Spine-Tingling Microfiction Competition for Our Yearly Horror Anthology Dark Descent: Whispers from Beyond  – Vol 1

Calling All Horror Weavers!

Dark Holme Publishing dares you to unleash your darkest fears in a chilling microfiction competition that will feed the nightmares of our prestigious horror anthology, Dark Descent: Whispers from Beyond vol 1

  • Embrace the Macabre and Haunt the World:
  • Pen nightmares: Craft terrifying tales, 250-500 words each, that explore the depths of human darkness.
  • Push boundaries, win acclaim: We seek narratives that linger, instilling dread and terror long after the final line
  • Be Part of Something Bigger: Your participation fuels the very essence of Dark Descent. This competition is a pay-what-you-feel initiative to help us create a chilling yearly anthology. Every contribution, large or small, directly supports the costs associated with publishing—printing, editing, and bringing your nightmares to life!  Your support makes the horror real! Contribute using the secure PayPal button at the top of this page!

Unleash Your Darkest Fears and Be Immortalized:

  • Become a Champion of the Night: One monthly winner will be crowned, receiving a £25.00 cash prize and guaranteed publication in our yearly horror anthology, Dark Descent: Whispers from Beyond.
  • Fuel the Horror and See Your Work Shine: Ten chilling shortlisted pieces, alongside the winner, will be published in the anthology, amplifying the chorus of dread.

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Creature Feature Classics #2

Deadline: September 1st, 2024
Payment: £20 & 3 author copies
Theme: Vampires

Creature Feature Classics #2

Creatures of the Night

​

Creature Features #2 will be the second in an anthology series exploring everybody’s favourite horror monsters. The sequel to our lycanthropy anthology; this one is all about blood-sucking vampires!

We’re looking for a variety of stories so feel free to go in any direction your brain might wander – the more whacky, the better. We want a mixture of sub-genres so stories that think outside of the box will have a stronger chance of success. The less classic, haunted middle-age castle stories the better – if you feel strongly about yours do send it, but we want our inbox to be packed with variety. Horror with humour is warmly invited too.

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events

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Taking Submissions: The Light from Albemuth

Deadline: October 1st, 2024
Payment: Contributor’s Copy
Theme: The author must do a tarot reading and the results of that must affect the writing, in any genre, in some way

The Light from Albemuth is a print and electronic anthology that utilizes a tool of divination in a unique way: before sitting down to write a submission, be it story, poem or essay, the author is to do a tarot reading, with the intention that it affects the writing in some way, and then write. Any genre is acceptable, but nothing NC-17, please. Tarot and/or divination do not need to factor into the work itself when it comes to content.

Accompanying the piece should be a short ‘about the author’ blurb, and an explanation of the reading that was done before the author wrote the piece – and how they interpret it. This will be included in the anthology as well, so that as a whole, the book will be two things. First, a collection of short stories, poetry and essays. Second, a peek into how and whether Tarot can guide creativity.

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Anthology / Articles / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flash / Poetry / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Solarpunk Conflicts

Deadline: November 1st, 2024
Payment: 2 contributors copies if released in print, 5 cents CAD per word, .25 CAD per word for poetry up to 200 words with .10 CAD per word after
Theme: The conflicts related to the hopeful and optimistic nature of Solarpunk (see below.)
Note: Stories will also be discussed academically as a part of the editor’s PhD dissertation.

Solarpunk is optimistic. Solarpunk is hopeful. Solarpunk is about change and unity. Solarpunks seem to agree on these points. But what are the points of conflict within solarpunk? When do solarpunks disagree, and why? Is solarpunk a monolith, is it fractured and disparate, or is it somewhere in between? What spaces of tension exist within both genre and community that can flare to sudden flame at the right (or wrong) provocation? And, what do these conflicts look like in a solarpunk world?

This anthology is about these conflicts. Stories should explore a solarpunk conflict, either one manufactured entirely for the story, or one based in a real-world point of contention you feel currently divides solarpunks, or that has done so in the past. Conflicts can be as small or as grand as you would like, though the story as a whole should be legibly solarpunk and should not champion a non-solarpunk ethos.

I also invite stories that speak to perceived gaps in the solarpunk canon – for example, there has been commentary before on how solarpunk is close to afrofuturism in aspect and some goals, but has very little overlap. While there are some stories that do address that missing overlap, there is, of course, room for more.

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Events / Flat Amount / Magazine

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Taking Submissions: Dirty Magick Magazine #1

Deadline: August 15th, 2024
Payment: $50
Theme: Urban Fantasy primarily followed by sword and sorcery, some gothic and supernatural horror will be accepted but it will be a harder sell

Dirty Magick Magazine publishes short fiction, from 2,000 to 12,500 words. We pay a single-story rate of $50 which is halfway to SFWA qualification and fully HWA eligible.

E-mail “submissions [at] dirtymagickmagazine.com” with your story attached.

We like a variety of stories but will only publish a few styles. Please read closely as these are the rules and they will not be broken.

First and foremost, we are interested in urban fantasy which we define as fantasy adventure fiction which takes place in modern settings. These places can be real or imaginary (although we prefer the former), but the story must have some combination of those typical elements: magic, other sentient races, enchanted objects, and mythical backgrounds. These all may be underground and hidden, but they must play a part in the story.

Next, we want sword and sorcery which we define as fantasy adventure fiction taking place in an ancient or alternative world where the protagonists must use their wits and weapons to survive. We contrast this with high fantasy (which we are not interested in) where quests taken on behalf of the rulers are world shaking. We are much more interested in the street level like the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tales of Fritz Leiber and the Conan/Bran Mak Morn tales of Robert E. Howard.

Finally, we will consider gothic and supernatural horror. We won’t define this directly, but this is a market to submit vampire, werewolf, ghost, and cryptid fiction. Be warned, it would be best to use these creatures in one of the previously mentioned genres as that would be a quicker path to publication.

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Anthology / Events / Pro

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Taking Submissions: This Way Lies Madness

Deadline: October 13th, 2024
Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word
Theme: Dark stories featuring monstrous manifestations of trauma and guilt, paranoia and persecution, anxiety, addiction, and crippling terror

In the tradition of Poe’s ‘A Tell-tale Heart’ and Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, This Way Lies Madness (publishing September 2025) will bring together a twisted tangle of dark stories featuring monstrous manifestations of trauma and guilt, paranoia and persecution, anxiety, addiction, and crippling terror. In these pages, readers should expect to find madness in all its forms, without the tired stigmatising tropes. Instead, these tales of deep-rooted terror will draw on metaphor, symbolism, imagery, structural innovation, and close introspection to challenge stigma and promote understanding around mental illness, reflecting broader cultural, generational, and societal impacts with authenticity and insight.

Think of horrific scenarios as metaphors for mental illness: trauma is the creature that drags its prey into its deep, dark lair; the hopelessness of depression is the person lost in a labyrinthine underworld, suicidal ideation is a person living in the belly of a great beast, addiction is the two-sided mirror, or the persecuted werewolf is the representation of a person’s struggle against the duality of bi-polar disorder. Writers are asked to be bold and inventive, to challenge convention, while being sensitive to the stigmatising constructs of mental illness in current society.

Up to 10 stories will be selected from this submissions route, and we welcome fresh interpretations and perspectives from diverse voices. Each selected story will be accompanied by a c. 300-word introduction by the author on their reflections / personal experience that inspired the story. Once selected, authors will be contacted to supply this additional text.

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