by Stuart Conover | Aug 12, 2019 | Anthology, Events, Semipro
Deadline: October 31st, 2019
Payment: 4 cents per word
Public submissions for Volume 2 will open August 1. Details will be updated after the invite-only submission period. Public submissions submitted prior to August 1 will be declined unread. In the meantime, if you’re interested in submitting to Volume 2, we suggest taking a look at the stories in Volume 1 for a general idea on theme and style. Also, check out our Resources page on our website at www.LycanValley.com regarding pulp and the types of stories we are looking for in this series.
All stories must be considered pulp/noir and fit the theme.
Theme: Anything you might find, or come into contact with, inside or around a house or home. Please note, this is a very broad theme so get creative and come up with something new and unusual. Common phobias such as arachnophobia, claustrophobia and agoraphobia, although relevant to the theme, must bring something new. Likewise, hauntings and possessions must bring more than your average ghost story.
This can also include stories deliberately set inside a house or in a yard/farm/etc near a house if it’s fitting for the story (stitching the theme is fine but simply mentioning there is a house nearby isn’t enough to fit the theme).
ABSOLUTELY NO PIZZA STORIES. Sorry, bring us something new.
Word count: 4,000 to 6,000
Payment: $0.04 per word
Details: Phobias are defined as an irrational and extreme fear to something. Some of the most widely known phobias include arachnophobia, claustrophobia, agoraphobia, acrophobia, etc. Anything can be a phobia if it irrationally causes an intense and debilitating fear.
What happens when these irrational fears/phobias become reality? Make the fears and the horrors associated with that fear real. Make them come alive. Take them from irrational to rational. Give us a reason to be scared.
We don’t want characters sitting on a sofa in the psychiatrist’s office detailing their childhood or even characters with diagnosed phobias necessarily. Your story should focus on the object of the phobia rather than the phobia itself. We want you to make these phobias come to life in ways that will make readers sleep with the lights on, double check the locks on their doors and question reality. We don’t want therapy sessions.
There must be a strong pulp/noir element to the story as well. If you’re unfamiliar with the original pulp magazines and stories, please do some research before submitting. Check out Black Mask Magazine http://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/ and here’s a pulp archive to get you started (warning: reading on this website may be addictive).
http://www.pulpmags.org/ and also here https://archive.org/details/pulpmagazinearchive.
Although you are free to write in your own style and that which best suits the story, Lester Dent’s Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot is here for reference should you wish to use it. http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/dent.html Here, James Scott Bell talks about writing pulp fiction: http://www.rachellegardner.com/why-i-write-pulp-fiction/
Titles: Please do not use the name of the phobia itself in your story titles. Submission titles must follow the format as shown on the submission form.
Formatting: Blind submissions are not required. Please follow Shunn Short Story Manuscript formatting which can be found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html. Or use the downloadable template for Word found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/templates.html
Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: No simultaneous submissions. Multiple submissions from the same author for two different phobias will be considered but please note that only one story per author will be accepted to allow for greater variety and diversity. Previously unpublished stories only, no reprints unless requested by the editor.
Via: Lycan Valley Press</a..
by Stuart Conover | Aug 12, 2019 | Events, Magazine, Poetry, Semipro
Deadline: September 20th, 2019
Payment: 1 cent per word
Typewriter Emergencies is seeking works featuring furry characters. We’re looking for stories, book reviews, articles, and any other form of furry material. The journal accepts work that is considered rated R or Less. You can throw in the word “fuck” around a few times, but no excessive sex, blood, and guts pretty much. Typewriter Emergencies publishes under the philosophy of degenerate literature. We’re not here to be proper, we’re here to make art and celebrate great writing. We don’t have a specific theme for our issues, therefore it’s free reign. Themes may be implemented in the future.
We plan on publishing at least twice a year. If we feel we can take on a heavier load, we’ll open up for more issues. Our Schedule is as follows:
Payment is $0.01 per word.
Payment for Poetry is $5 per
All rights revert back to the author. We simply ask for the right to publish the story for the period this journal is active.
Simultaneous submissions are fine. It is your responsibility to notify us if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Story Guidelines:
- Max word count is 2500 words. Anything over this will not be accepted.
- Reprints will be reviewed, but we will prefer previously unpublished work.
Each issue is expected to have a small amount of material, 3-5 stories at most.
Articles & Reviews:
- Max word count 1000 words. Anything considered a book review or article that is over 1000 words will not be considered.
- Articles/Book reviews must be predominantly furry in nature.
- Reviews must not contain spoilers.
- We will not accept reviews that are overly negative.
- As for articles, familiarize yourself with [adjective][species] or Dogpatch Press, and related furry websites.
- We will not reprint articles or reviews.
We accept submissions through Submittable only. Emailed submissions will not be read. Our submittable link can be seen below.
Payments are made through Paypal. If another format is needed, it can be discussed.
Via: Typewriter Emergencies’ Submittable.
by Stuart Conover | Aug 9, 2019 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events
Deadline: January 15th, 2020
Payment: Contributor’s Copy
A Collection of Horrors
Zimbell House is holding open submissions for short suspense-thriller horror stories about deadly games.
Let your imagination roam and put our readers in the middle of the action. We want complete stories from the POV of the person that ends up dead. Start at the death, and work your way backward. What was the game? Why did the person agree to play? Who instigated the game? Was death really the stakes or just a terrible accident? Our readers want horror, but not gruesome details. The horror should come from the suspense, not the deeds.
- Please keep foul language to a minimum-it loses its punch if over-used.
- Dialogue needs to be believable, and please keep dialects/slang to a bare minimum if you must use them.
- No head-hopping or POV changes. Pick one point of view and stick with it.
- Please show more of the action than just telling the reader what happens.
Submissions of both short stories and novellas to this anthology are welcome, please keep in mind the minimum word count is 4,000 and the maximum word count is 20,000.
This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms.
Submission Deadline: January 15, 2020, with a targeted release date of mid-April 2020.
Submit your best work. Poorly formatted and unedited work will be turned down. Please use Americanized English spellings. We will be doing light editing as necessary to fit the standards we strive to maintain.
Submission Guidelines:
- Any work under 4,000 words will be automatically disqualified for this anthology.
- The work must not have appeared in print or online anywhere before.
- All submissions must be in English.
- Each author may submit up to three (3) unique works—please submit them separately.
- Work must be in Microsoft Word or RTF, double-spaced, 12-point font-no headers/footers.
All contributing authors will receive a free copy of the book in softcover. Authors that are chosen for the anthology will not be paid nor receive royalties for their submission. This is an opportunity to build your platform.
Submission Deadline: January 15, 2020.
Via: Zimbell House Publishing.
by Stephanie Ellis | Aug 9, 2019 | Events, Trembling With Fear
Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.
Exile
Eyes blazing, Venostuthulu snarled and bellowed. He surged first this way and then that, trying to break free of the magical boundaries imposed upon him.
But the combined strength of the other gods outmatched his, and they trapped him in a secluded prison.
One year passed, then dozens and hundreds, and Venostuthulu’s rage burned just as uncontrollably as it had the day he was first caught. However, no matter how many times he tried to get free, he could not. The other immortals’ watch over him might have been silent and from a distance now, but it was ever vigilant.
Strategy
Venostuthulu studied his surroundings, remembered his past days of glorious freedom, and his nostrils flared. A memory of something he used to enjoy, hunting people, ran through his mind. If he were free…
His anger over being trapped skyrocketed, but he knew brute force hadn’t worked to free him. Then something occurred to him. Wondering if the solution to his imprisonment could really be that simple, he forced himself to take slow, deep breaths, went icy cold, and plotted.
Over the next few weeks, Venostuthulu tested his idea, cautiously extending the tiniest tendrils of himself and gently probing his boundaries.
Landfall
A breeze blew inland from the ocean, carrying a salty tang, summer’s heat, and more.
Venostuthulu gloated over his delicious plan. He knew his presence, fragmented into thousands of particles, was undetectable. Because the other gods had condemned him for violence against people, choosing a target had been easy.
Reaching the metropolis, he noted the human infestation, reassembled himself as a massive snake, bared his venomous fangs, and laughed as poison dripped onto screaming people. He shot fireballs from his eyes, exploding structures, individuals, and everything.
Venostuthulu sensed gods coming, vanished, and reappeared elsewhere. Chortling, he again rained down destruction.
Gabriella Balcom, who is from Texas, writes fantasy, horror/thriller, romance, sci-fi, and more. She likes traveling, music, photography, great stories, history, and movies. Gabriella says she loves forests, mountains, and back roads. She has a weakness for lasagna, garlic bread, tacos, cheese, and chocolate. Check out her author page https://m.facebook.com/GabriellaBalcom.lonestarauthor
by Stuart Conover | Aug 8, 2019 | Anthology, Events, Flat Amount, Reprints Allowed
Deadline: September 15th, 2019
Payment: $20
Ian Randal Strock’s Fantastic Books has contracted with James D. Macdonald, Judith K. Dial, and Tom Easton for an anthology of 40 Horror stories under 2,000 words (minimum: 500 words) to be called:
HORROR FOR THE THRONE
ONE-SITTING READS
We will open for submissions on August 8, 2019. Submissions will close September 15, 2019.
The stories should be reprints–because the budget permits us to pay only $20 per story. The stories should NOT involve bathroom horror.
We also need blurbs. Anyone dare to call the book “A moving experience!”?
The book will join SCIENCE FICTION FOR THE THRONE and FANTASY FOR THE THRONE on Ian’s dealer table at numerous conventions (as well as on his website at
fantasticbooks.biz and on Amazon etc.). With luck, everyone will decide they just have to have the whole set.
