Deadline: November 14th, 2019
Payment: $500 and 25 contributors copies
What kinds of stories is One Story looking for?
One Story is seeking literary fiction. Because of our format, we can only accept stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. They can be any style and on any subject as long as they are good. We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone.
Does One Story pay?
Yes. One Story pays $500 and 25 contributors copies for First Serial North American rights. All rights will revert to the author following publication.
Does One Story accept previously published material?
No. One Story is looking for previously unpublished material. However, if a story has been published in printoutside of North America, it will be considered. Stories previously published online—on blogs, personal websites, online literary magazines, or forums—will not be accepted.
Does One Story accept simultaneous submissions?
Yes, but please notify us immediately if your submission is accepted for publication elsewhere.
What file types can I submit?
We accept PDF, RTF, and TXT files that are less than 500KB. Please include the story title and all writer contact info on the first page of the submitted file.
Will you send me comments on my story?
No. One Story receives close to 100 submissions each week. Please understand that we do not have time to comment on individual stories.
Can I change the story I submitted with an updated draft?
No.
Do you consider translations?
Yes. Please include the name of the original author and language, as well as the name of the translator on the first page of your submission.
How do I submit to One Story?
We have an automated system for you to send us your work. It will securely send our editors your story and email you a confirmation that it has been received. To use the automated system, you need to have a One Story account.
If you have subscribed to One Story or One Teen Story, joined our mailing list, given One Story or One Teen Storyas a gift, or submitted a story to either magazine, you already have an account. If not, the first time you submit a story your account will be automatically created.
Using this account will enable you to check the status of your submission at any time by going to our login page.
We accept submissions from January 15th to May 31st and from September 3rd to November 14th.
How soon can I expect to hear about my submission?
We do our very best to respond to submissions within 3 months after they are received. If you don’t hear back from us within that time, please be patient! It is our goal to make sure that each submission gets a good read.
Can I check the status of my submission?
You can check the status of your submissions at any time by logging into your account. “Received” means that we have your story and are considering it.
Deadline: May 31st, 2020
Payment: $10 per printed (or printed-out) page for accepted prose, and $20 per page for accepted poetry, up to a maximum of $150 and 2 contributor’s copies
We look for writing that catches experience before the crusts of habit form—poetry and prose that resist ideas about what a certain kind of writing “should do.” We seek out writers who tell their truths in their own words and convince us as we read that we’ve found something no one else could have written.
When to submit
AGNI welcomes manuscripts between September 1st and May 31st. Submissions mailed in June, July, or August will be returned unread, provided sufficient return postage is included.
Things to know when submitting
Nearly everything we publish is unsolicited.
We encourage submissions from writers of all identities, living anywhere, published and unpublished.
We will not consider writing that has already been published in English, whether in a book, magazine, newspaper, or on an app, a website, a social media feed, or a publicly accessible online community.
We consider only work written in English or translated into English.
We have no word limits, though space is at a premium and length sometimes affects our decisions.
We do not publish genre romance, horror, mystery, or science fiction; however, we are open to writing that borrows elements from any of these.
We will consider excerpts if they read as if they were meant to stand alone.
We are interested in personal essays, think-pieces, memoir, prose poems, formal poems, blank verse, free verse, short stories, and short shorts; we do not publish academic essays or purely journalistic writing.
Though we rely on student interns for many things, they are not involved in considering submissions. All manuscripts are read by masthead editors.
Our blog features posts by writers who have appeared previously in AGNI or AGNI Online.
You can familiarize yourself with the magazine by ordering a recent print issue or by perusing the writing that appears here. This site includes selected pieces from our decades of print issues and everything we’ve published at AGNI Online since its inauguration in 2002.
Some requests
Please send only one story, one essay, or up to five poems, and please wait for our reply before sending more. As soon as we respond, you can feel free to submit again during a reading period.
Please double-space your document and include page numbers.
Please do not submit revisions of work we’ve already considered.
If you submit on paper and want us to reply by mail, please enclose a stamped, addressed envelope (SAE). If the envelope is large enough and you include sufficient postage, we will return the manuscript; otherwise, it will be recycled. If you’d like to be notified by email only, please include your email address and skip the SAE.
Do not email your work; we do not read or consider emailed submissions.
Feel free to submit the same work to other magazines simultaneously. If your entire submission is accepted elsewhere, please log in to your online account and withdraw using the link there—or, if you’ve submitted by mail, or if only a portion of your submission has been taken elsewhere, please contact us with a quick withdrawal note.
Do not mail your work to us in the months of June, July, or August. The online portal is also closed during those months.
Do not send us your only copy; we cannot accept responsibility for your manuscript.
Please do not contact us about your submission until four months have passed. We work hard to respond within two, but we’re not always able. After four months, please contact us right away if you have not received a reply.
WHERE to send:
If you’d rather not submit through our free online portal, please address your envelope to the Fiction Editor, Poetry Editor, or Nonfiction Editor and mail to:
AGNI Magazine
Boston University
236 Bay State Road
Boston, MA 02215
Regular post is fine. There is no advantage to sending a more expensive way.
Purchasing rights
All submissions are considered for both print and online publication.
We buy first worldwide serial rights and pay $10 per printed (or printed-out) page for accepted prose, and $20 per page for accepted poetry, up to a maximum of $150. We also give a year’s subscription to AGNI. In the case of print publication, each contributor receives two copies of the issue their work appears in, and we send up to four additional copies to friends or family.
Blog publication, which is limited to writers who have previously appeared in AGNI or AGNI Online, is unpaid.
Payment: Contributor’s copy and possibly another form of payment
Deadline for submissions is March 31, 2020.
Reading begins after this deadline. Publication date is June 1st, 2020.
The Closet
It wasn’t right. That’s what they said. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t natural. Well, GX38 thought, if it’s not natural, why do I feel this way? GX loved the feeling of human flesh against its metallic shell. It loved the way humans made sounds for joy, sounds for fun, and even the sounds they made when they “sang”. But the Programmers were against it. That’s not what GX had been designed for. That’s not how things worked. GX stared in awe, sensations thrilling through its circuits as Elizabeth literally danced back into its view, a smile on her face as she laughed and spun.
“To hell with what the Programmers say,” GX determined. “I love whom I love.”
What We Want
We want your stories about what it was like having to be in the closet, or when you came out of the closet, and how your life has been affected by being part of the LGBTQ+ community. Talk about being Ace. Talking about being gender fluid. Talk about how people perceive you, love you, hate you, accept you, or not, but tell it in the way YOU need to tell it. As the above example, a robot loving a human is “unnatural”, but it could easily be the metaphor of any homosexual relationship. So, write your experiences – be they good or bad – and tell them in full honesty, tell them in fantasy, tell them in science fiction, or however else you feel the need to express yourself. We want your stories. We want you to vent, to cheer for friends, to show how awful people can be, or how wonderful and happy you are now that you are free and open about who you really are. We want you to have a place to be who and what you are without fear, to tell the story you need to tell about yourself in the way you need to say it.
Publishing Details
Lead editor for The Closet is Karen Otto, a member of the LGBTQ+ community. In addition, works will be read and edited anonymously by other members of the community. The anthology is open to submissions until March 31st, 2020.
Publication date is June 1st, 2020.
For this unique book we aren’t sure how the final format is going to look. Until that is decided, we are open to suggestions. We will make a final decision and announcement, most likely, sometime next year.
Given that some authors and artists may have to remain completely anonymous, keep in mind that submitting to this anthology means you agree to printing. There will not be a contract if you wish to remain anonymous because submitting means you have read and agreed to these rules.
Submission Details
There are no hard length requirements for The Closet. Artwork, poetry, stories, flash fiction, personal essays, everything will be considered. We’ll have to cut off anything super long of course; if you’re writing a novel, you may as well do that rather than censor yourself.
These stories will be told how they need to be and we understand that.
That being said, for this anthology we are interested only in original works and will not accept reprints.
Interior art must be submitted in .jpg or .png format. They will most likely be printed in black and white but feel free to submit color images either way.
Cover Art
We have a particular image in mind for the cover art and would love to see what you come up with for it. The images not chosen for the cover will still be considered for interior art.
The image we’d like to see is a Pride flag with worn and tattered edges but still brightly colored.
What you do beyond that is up to you as an artist.
Payments
Similar to how we’re not sure how the book will be printed yet, we aren’t sure how much payments will be. This will be discussed with the accepted authors once a decision is made or will be announced along with the printing decisions.
However, as is Alban Lake tradition and policy, each contributor will receive one copy of the book in which that person’s work appears as well as a discount on more copies.
For original work we purchase FNASR.
In addition, a portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to various LGBTQ+ charities.
Given the subject of this anthology, we’re offering a different payment arrangement as well. We understand how dangerous it could be for some to be included in this work and with that in mind, if you let us know you want this, we will donate your payment, your copy of the book, or both to the LGBTQ+ charity of your choice.
How To Submit
It is very important with this work to tell us if you’d like to remain anonymous or not. If you don’t even want to use a pen name, let us know. We completely understand how difficult this subject is for some and have no wish to cause harm.
Be sure to put CLOSET and the title of your story in the subject line. As we use this address for most of our anthologies now, we need to know which anthology you are submitting to.
Here’s an example: “CLOSET – Out and Proud”
Submit stories and nonfiction as .doc or .rtf attachments, illustrations as .jpg or .png attachments less than 500KB. Please send only one work at a time for consideration.
Next, make sure your contact information is in the upper left corner of your manuscript and in your email. Put the approximate word count in the upper right corner of your manuscript.
If your submission does not include some version of contact information or the expression to remain anonymous, Alban Lake Publishing reserves the right to delete your submission unread and without notifying you.
Please, do not put any special formatting into your submissions, such as adding your name, title and page number randomly throughout the story, headers and footers, or anything else that might take away from reading and editing. It is important to note that style is much different than the above, and centering certain parts, bold, or italicized type is acceptable.
One additional thing – if you are an LGBTQ+ writer, author, or artist, and you are looking for friends of a similar or accepting nature, check out both the INKubator Discordhttps://discordapp.com/invite/mv9hzaH or our own Discord for Alban Lake https://discord.gg/77eAyeg . On our staff and in both places there are others like you, looking for their voice, looking to get published, and looking for friends. All are welcome.
Deadline: November 8th, 2019
Payment: $5 and a contributor’s copy
Your story should be between 1,000 and 3,500 words and edited to the best of your ability.
Stories must be about a dysfunctional family Christmas (or seasonal holiday)
Submissions are open now until 11:59 p.m. November 8, 2019 EST.
We will accept only one submission per author.
Simultaneous submissions will not be accepted. Previously published submissions will not be accepted. Submissions should not be available for viewing online during the submission/publication process or for 6 months after publication.
Submissions should only have mild, non-graphic violence, no explicitly sexual/erotic scenes, and “bad” language should not be used excessively but may be used in limited capacity.
All submitting authors will be notified of our decision within 2 weeks of closing date. If your submission is chosen, you will receive a full publishing contract outlining the details of our agreement. Upon signing, Stormy Island Publishing retains exclusive rights until six months after publication.
As payment, each author will receive a paperback copy of the anthology after publication. Each author will also receive a $5 payment via Paypal only.
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.
Deadline: January 10th, 2020
Payment: Contributor’s Copy
Thurston Howl Publications is now accepting submissions for its furry anthology, BENEATH THE SUIT.
Deadline: Jan 10, 2020
Editor: Cedric G! Bacon
Word count: 2,500-8,000; a little above and a little below will be acceptable
What makes characters like Michael Myers, Jason, and Jigsaw terrifying? They all wear these uncanny masks. We rarely see the face beneath the mask. When they stand still, and their face follows you, it’s creepy in ways that Freddy or the Werewolf can’t pull off. Imagine ways that fursuiters and pup-players can do the same thing. This is a horror collection all about fursuits and pup hoods. It is perfectly fine but not required if submissions are NSFW. We are honestly expecting horror here, gritty, gory, and maybe even a little sexy. However, again, adult stories are by no means required for acceptance. Stories do not have to be set in a world that is “furry,” but it’s fine if they are!
We will NOT accept:
Racism, sexism, or discrimination presented in a positive light.
Pedophilia or sex with characters under the age of 18 presented in a positive light.
Rape, torture, dubious consent, forced seduction presented in a positive light.
Snuff or Necrophilia presented in a positive light
Bestiality presented in a positive light
If you are in doubt, ASK. Better to ask then to get a straight up rejection! If you are unsure, just shoot me an email at [email protected]. (restrictions borrowed from Voice: https://t.co/MWykJ6RY36)
You can submit up to three stories, but we will only accept one per author (if any).
Reprints are fine, but you have to own full permission of the work in order for us to consider it.
We will not accept simultaneous submissions.
Payment: Authors will receive a free copy of the print book.
Send submissions in .doc or .docx format to [email protected].
Title your email with the story title in all caps, e.g. “MICHAEL MURRS.” If you are sending more than one submission, send multiple emails instead of putting them all in one.
We will inform all authors regarding decisions within a week or two after the deadline.
Book will likely be released October in plenty of time for Halloween.
