by Stuart Conover | Apr 24, 2018 | Contributor's Copy, Events, Magazine, Poetry
Deadline: October 15th, 2018
Payment: 2 contributor’s copies
Silver Needle Press is currently accepting submissions through Submittable from March 15th to October 15th. Simultaneous submissions are allowed; we ask only to be notified promptly upon acceptance elsewhere. Please do not include your name or contact information in the submission file, as all submissions are read blind. Feel free to include a short bio in the comments section, but this information is not required. Multiple submissions are allowed.
Poetry
- Up to 5 poems, no longer than 10 pages combined, in a single word document.
Short Fiction
- Up to 2500 words in a single Word document.
- Novel excerpts and flash fiction allowed.
Creative Nonfiction
- Up to 2500 words in a single Word document.
Visual Art
- Up to 5 images in a single .jpg, .gif, or .png file.
- If accepted, we will require 300 dpi tiff files for each image.
If your work does not fit neatly into the aforementioned genres, feel free to contact us! We love creative work that pushes the envelope, and will do our best to accommodate your style.
If this is your first time submitting to a literary journal, we would be glad to field any questions regarding the submission process.
All contributors will be compensated with two copies of the issue in which their work appears, and a 25% discount on five additional copies. Contributors will also be invited to participate in an interview series regarding creative process.
Via: Silver Needle Press.
by Stuart Conover | Apr 5, 2018 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events
Deadline: October 31st, 2018
Payment: 5 contributor’s copies
Critical Blast Publishing is taking submissions for the anthology GODS & SERVICES.
This anthology will be a collection of modern and post-modern fantasy stories revolving around the trope of the mysteriously appearing and disappearing shop. It settles onto any street as though it’s always been there. The plate glass window hosts a letterboard sign advertising “GOODS & SERVICES.” The first “O” has fallen and lies stuck in the bottom of the letterboard. The proprietor sells bric-a-brac to unsuspecting customers, which releases or puts them into contact with a god from any time or place in mythology or history. Chaos ensues as the protagonist gets the god he or she needs — or deserves (and “deserves” can be widely interpreted). Think along the lines of Tony Randall and Burl Ives in THE BRASS BOTTLE meets TWILIGHT ZONE and NIGHT GALLERY.
Stories should be between 2000 and 10,000 words, submitted in manuscript format to [email protected]as a Word attachment. Feel free to query the address to clarify and ask questions.
For published pieces we ask for First Serial Rights. Understand most publications will not publish pieces that have been published in print, eBook, or on the web; as such, once your work is published by Critical Blast Publishing, it can only be marketed as a reprint, severely limiting the number of markets that will accept it, and could drastically reduce future potential pay rates. It is up to you, the author, to decide if publishing your work in print and/or eBook formats and/or on the web, giving up your First Publishing Right for a token payment, is really what you want to do.
Payment: 5 copies of printed book.
Deadline for submissions is October 31, 2018.
Via: Critical Blast.
by Stuart Conover | Apr 2, 2018 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events, Pro
Deadline: April 30th, 2018
Payment: $0.10 per word + contributor copy.
Please read the guidelines carefully before submitting your story!
Unidentified Funny Objects is an annual anthology of humorous SF/F. Past headliners include George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Esther Friesner, David Gerrold, Laura Resnick, Mike Resnick, Piers Anthony, Kevin J. Anderson, etc.
For UFO7 we’re seeking all style and sub-genres of speculative humor.
SUBMISSION WINDOW: April 1 – April 30, 2018
LENGTH: 500-5000 words.
PAYMENT: $0.10 per word + contributor copy. Payment will be made upon acceptance. Our preferred method of payment is via PayPal, but you may request 
a check.
FORMAT: RTF or DOC. Standard Manuscript Format or something close to it (We won’t take points off if you prefer Courier over Times New Roman or some such).
SEND TO: Upload your stories via this submissions link.
Limit of 1 submission per author — even if you receive a response before the submission window closes please do not send another story unless directly invited to do so.
Please do not respond to rejections. The email address associated with submissions is not monitored. If you wish to query for any reason, please use the contact form or e-mail us: ufopublishing at gmail dot com.
RIGHTS SOUGHT: First Worldwide print and electronic English Language rights. Exclusivity for 90 days from date of release. Non-exclusive print, e-book, and audio rights afterward. Preview sample contract.
POLICIES & RESPONSE TIME: No reprints, multiple or simultaneous submissions please. Do not send any stories we already considered for a previous UFO volume or any other anthology edited by Alex Shvartsman. You may query after 30 days. Please send only one submission per author unless directly invited to send more.
WHAT WE WANT:
We’re looking for speculative stories with a strong humor element. Think Resnick and Sheckley, Fredric Brown and Douglas Adams. We welcome quality flash fiction and non-traditional narratives. Take chances, try something new, just make sure that your story is funny.
Puns and stories that are little more than vehicles for delivering a punch line at the end aren’t likely to win us over. The best way to learn what we like in general is to read a previous volume. You can buy it here and also read the online stories for free.
WHAT WE DON’T WANT
These are the tropes we see entirely too much of in the slush pile. You will improve your odds if you steer clear of these:
* Zombies
* Vampires
* Deals with the Devil / Djinn in a bottle variants
* Stereotypical aliens probing people, abducting cattle, and doing other stereotypical alien things.
ABOUT US:
See the UFO Publishing About Us page
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
I have two 6100-word horror stories that were previously printed and are now on submission at several magazines. Can I send them to you, simultaneously?
Please don’t. We have carefully considered what we’re looking for and expressed it above. If you strongly feel the need to break one of the guidelines, query first and provide a good reason.
My story was previously published in an obscure college anthology in 1996, which sold 16 copies. Can I submit it?
Sorry, but we won’t consider previously published stories, no matter how obscure. Stories posted on your personal blog, Facebook page, or Patreon page are considered published.
I may have accidentally begun my manuscript three double spaces below the byline instead of two. Am I getting auto-rejected?
Don’t sweat the small stuff. We’ll reformat your submission to fit our needs. You’re even welcome to send your story handwritten in pink crayon on glitter-sprinkled construction paper, but we will take that into consideration when deciding whether to purchase it, and whether to file for a restraining order.
I plan on winning multiple awards for my UFO story. Will your exclusivity rights prevent me from being included in the Nebula Showcase?
Congratulations on all your future success. We will gladly make exceptions for “Best Of” anthologies.
An anthology of humor SF/F is the greatest idea since sliced bread. What can I do to help?
Spread the word. Support our Kickstarter campaign. Pick up copies of previous UFO volumes. If you want to invite our authors/editors to a con you’re organizing, sell paperback copies of UFO at your store, bake us cookies, or help in any other way, we’d love to hear from you.
Via: Alex Shavartsman.
by Selene MacLeod | Mar 23, 2018 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events, Flat Amount
Deadline: May 31st, 2018
Payment: $50AUD and a contributor’s copy
This will be the 5th anthology in the
Things in the Well series, to be published in July 2018. Submissions Deadline: end of May
Email: [email protected] when your story is complete, and as good as it can be!
~
Note
By all means draw inspiration from them, but I’m not looking Alien/Predator fan-fiction, or rehashes of old sci-fi classics (I’m looking at you, Asimov-fans…) I want stories that are outstanding, different, and memorable! I want something new and exciting! New psychological terrors involving time travel; primal fears triggered by something new that threatens humanity, and new hopes that we may conquer them; new creatures that will make people want to go out and buy the Halloween mask; and new stories of the weird in the outer-reaches of time and space. If you need more ideas, take a look outside the typical Sci-Fi genre… Read Clive Barker’s short story ‘The Skins of the Fathers’ or HPL’s ‘The Colour out of space,’ or go back further and look wider to William Hope Hodgson’s ‘The House on the Borderland,’ or Brian Lumley’s ‘The House of Doors’ and ‘Necroscope’ series. So, something memorable, dark, and/or something that offers hope and/or despair for humanity… I envision the SciFi element as merely the stage for the story to unfold, cracking our world(s) open to reveal a truer story beyond the genre’s superfice. Gee, that sounds pompous, but you get my (space) drift. I anticipate a (star)fleet of top-notch submissions as usual, so I’m after memorable stories, a sense of dread, and some level of believability and internal consistency would be more important than a lengthy treatise or a quick shudder.
And yes, alien viruses, space pirates and cosmic encounters can be believable if written well.
-Steve Dillon
Stop!
Before putting fingers on keyboards (or pen to paper) you would do well to read my Editor’s blog at http://thingsinthewell.webs.com/editor-s-blog or buy and read some of our previous themed anthologies on Amazon. (You may have to look for them in your stores, or ask for them to be ordered via Ingram)
Payment: We pay $50 AUD for a story, as well as a copy of the book in paperback form,
or three copies of the book instead if you prefer.
Reprints: I’m not looking for reprints except by prior invitation.
Word Count, etc. Word count is expected to be 5,000 – 8,000 words, although I am flexible on the basis that if the story fits, it should wear it. Having said that, although it’s a flat-rate payment ($50AUD), I don’t think a writer should limit themselves based on the payment rate.
Thanks, and good luck in providing me with a close encounter of the literary kind!!
Steve Dillon, Things In The Well series editor.
Via: Things In The Well.
by Stuart Conover | Mar 14, 2018 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events, Token Payment
Deadline: July 31st, 2018
Payment: .03CAD per word and a contributor’s copy
There are folks for whom the question of whether Cthulhu has two eyes or six is a vitally important one. Individuals that believe, somehow, that a dinner of tinned spaghetti and ice cream with a reanimated H. P. Lovecraft would be the height of both culinary and intellectual pleasure. Scholars who feel that The Horror at Red Hook is a timely warning about, well, you know… those other people. Esteemed biographers of weird fiction luminaries who reveal their foaming insecurity at the changing of the guard, or the form of a literary award. Entities who dissolve with glee at the slapping of some tentacles on a meme, thus rendering it “Lovecraftian”.
Yes, they’re out there, in their seeming thousands, trolling social media, fawning over the dead, podcasting their paranoia. Yes, they are slouching roughly towards Arkham and Providence and fabled Y’ha-nthlei, to dwell in fossilized canon and geeky glory, forever.
INNSMOUTHBREATHERS.
Martian Migraine Press announces an open call for submissions to our latest anthology project, INNSMOUTHBREATHERS: Cautionary Fables of Mythos Fandom! We are looking for humourous stories of a certain kind of Cthulhu Mythos fan: the rabid Lovecraft worshipper, the defender of the outmoded and outclassed, the pulp reader for whom Weird Fiction peaked somewhere in the middle of the last century. (The 20th, for those keeping track of such things!) We’re looking for tales that pit Innsmouthbreathers against all manner of real and imagined horrors: shoggoths with Social Justice agendas, politically active Deep Ones, enlightened Mi-Go, and Nick Mamatas*. Make them lovable, make them loathsome, make us feel their triumphs and defeats! Put us in their basements, their garrets, their comic shops and conventions and pop-culture covens, and put us in their Cthulhu parody t-shirts while you’re at it. Mmm, is that a cotton/poly blend? Only in black, you say? SOLD.
INNSMOUTHBREATHERS will be a mostly funny book. We’re going for light-hearted ribbing here, a send-up, a roast. Stories that are outright mean and nasty won’t play well within these pages. Remember, let they who have not geeked out over Lovecraft, even a little, even once, throw the first Shining Trapezohedron into the bay! And sure, we’re asking for yuks, but please don’t feel you need to dial back the weird horror. Mix it up, thrill us, chill us, make us laugh at ourselves.
Submission period closes 31 JULY 2018. The anthology will be released in early October 2018.
SUBMITTING
Please use Standard Manuscript format when submitting. That’s double spaced, left justified, Times New Roman or Courier or something at least readable, a header on the first page (at least) with your author info and word count and… well, you know the drill. RTF or DOC files preferred, but DOCx and text files also accepted. Obviously, you could send us something that’s not in Standard Manuscript format, but it will lower your chances of it being looked at seriously.
We will look at both original work and REPRINTS.
To submit a story to INNSMOUTHBREATHERS send an e-mail (with the story file attached, not in the body of the email) to: [email protected], with subject line: INNSMOUTH, title of your story, and your name.
LENGTH
For short fiction, we’d like to see anything from 1,500 to 5,000 words. If your story goes over 5k, please inquire first. Honestly, we’d prefer to see shorter, punchier stories.
FLASH FICTION: got something under 1500 words? Send it in. However, the following still applies…
NO POETRY.
PAYMENT
All accepted submissions will be paid .03CAD per word, via Paypal, as well as a contributor copy (paperback) of the anthology, and copies in all electronic formats (mobi, EPUB, and PDF). Authors are also entitled to complete access to all titles in the MMP ebook catalogue
REPLIES AND QUERIES
We will try to acknowledge receipt of your submission within a week of its arrival in our inbox. The submission period itself will close on 31 JULY 2018 and we should be responding to all submissions, yay or nay, by early August 2018. If you haven’t heard from us by 15 September 2018, please query.
* We use Mr Mamatas here as a stand-in for any writer who dares to push weird and horror fiction into new, interesting places. Sorry, Nick, but you made your bed, sir.
Via: Martian Migraine Press.
by Stuart Conover | Mar 12, 2018 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events, Token Payment
Deadline: November 30th, 2018
Payment: .03CAD per word and a contributor’s copy
“Their hand is at your throats, yet ye see Them not;
and Their habitation is even one with your guarded threshold.”
— H. P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror
Monstrous Outlines will be an anthology of horror and weird fiction with a focus on the theme of camouflage: people, entities, monsters, gods, even concepts, that masquerade as things other than themselves. Predators in plain sight, deities on their down time, sublime extra-dimensional terrors slumming in 4D. We want to see stories of exceptionally well done camouflage, all the more baffling and frightening for its seamless nature. We want to see stories of seeming where the hidden thing is poorly hidden for a number of reasons: perhaps there are layers to its camouflage, or perhaps it doesn’t care how well it hides. Imagine the moment when the perfectly hidden thing reveals itself. When the poorly hidden thing reveals itself. We’re also interested in duplicates, doppelgangers, and shapeshifters. Think John W. Campbell’s Who Goes There? and its cinematic offspring, The Thing, for the latter. The seed story for this anthology will be Algernon Blackwood’s classic tale, The Willows, a story of two worlds touching, of men meeting the unnameable through the medium of the nearest natural analogue, the titular willow trees.
Submission period closes 31 NOVEMBER 2018. The anthology will be released in trade paperback and electronic book formats in early March 2019.
SUBMITTING
Please use Standard Manuscript format when submitting. That’s double spaced, left justified, Times New Roman or Courier or something at least readable, a header on the first page (at least) with your author info and word count and… well, you know the drill. RTF or DOC files preferred, but DOCx and text files also accepted. Obviously, you could send us something that’s not in Standard Manuscript format, but it will lower your chances of it being looked at seriously.
We will look at both original work and REPRINTS.
To submit a story to MONSTROUS OUTLINES send an e-mail (with the story file attached, not in the body of the email) to: [email protected], with subject line: OUTLINES, title of your story, and your name.
LENGTH
For short fiction, we’d like to see anything from 1,500 to 7,000 words. If your story goes over 7k, please inquire first.
FLASH FICTION: got something under 1500 words? Send it in. However, the following still applies…
NO POETRY.
PAYMENT
All accepted submissions will be paid .03CAD per word, via Paypal, as well as a contributor copy (paperback) of the anthology, and copies in all electronic formats (mobi, EPUB, and PDF). Authors are also entitled to complete access to all titles in the MMP ebook catalogue
REPLIES AND QUERIES
We will try to acknowledge receipt of your submission within a week of its arrival in our inbox. The submission period itself will close on 31 NOVEMBER 2018 and we should be responding to all submissions, yay or nay, by early January 2019. If you haven’t heard from us by 15 January 2019, please query.
Via: Martian Migraine Press.
