The Horror Tree

Category: Contributor’s Copy

Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Samhain Sorceries

Deadline: February 1st, 2022
Payment: One cent per word and a contributors copy
Theme: Sword-and-sorcery stories where Samhain/Halloween is relevant to the plot

On October 31, 2021, DMR Books will reopen for submissions once again for a themed anthology tentatively entitled Samhain Sorceries. The concept for this book will be sword-and-sorcery stories where Samhain/Halloween is relevant to the plot. For clarification, sword-and-sorcery is a genre that combines swashbuckling adventure with supernatural elements (usually of a horrific nature) in a pre-industrial setting. Unlike most S&S stories, which are set in an invented world like Hyperborea or Nehwon, the tales in Samhain Sorceries should take place in the British Isles. Any time period is suitable, as long as it’s pre-industrial. Admittedly, not many stories that fall in this category have been written, so I would suggest reading those few that exist to get a better idea of what I’m looking for. Those stories are “The Unlawful Hunter” and “The Haunting of Mara” by Keith Taylor (which can be found in Renegade Swords II) and “All Will Be Righted on Samhain” by Howie K. Bentley and David C. Smith (which appears in Swords of Steel Omnibus).

What we’re not looking for:

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events

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Taking Submissions: Unopened Doors

Deadline: February 15, 2022, 11:59 PM PST.
Payment: 1 Free print edition. Authors are entitled to purchase additional copies at 50% discount for resale.
Theme: Unopened Doors

Word count: 500-7,000 max

Sunbury Press is now accepting submissions for an anthology themed and titled, Unopened Doors, edited by Catherine Jordan. No need to query. Send completed, edited, previously unpublished stories in .doc/docx format. E-mail submissions with “Unopened Doors” and title in the subject line to: [email protected]

Stories must be horror or dark fiction. These stories will be published by Sunbury Press in e-book and print. No erotica; no stories with a lot of spelling and grammar errors; no stories that glorify, minimize, or inaccurately represent child abuse, animal abuse, or sexual assault; no stories with intolerance of race, religion, nationality, physical or mental ability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

This anthology is open to a diversity of viewpoints, and we welcome a wider interpretation of the theme, including those perspectives faced by women, minorities, and marginalized persons from around the world. We want to feel your dread, grief, anxiety, and fear when faced by an unopened door. 

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Pro

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Taking Submissions: Nowhere Fast

Deadline: October 28th, 2022
Payment: 6 cents per word and a contributors copy
Theme: Coming of age with a horror twist

A Coming of Age Horror Anthology

open call for submissions!

Do you love the nostalgic feel of the Amblin movies of the 80s and 90s? Tales that may well have impacted on your own childhood. The Goonies, Stand by Me, ET, Jurassic Park etc.?

Nowhere Fast pays homage to the well-loved theme, Coming of Age, and then adds a horror element. Did you ever just wish you could have made The Goonies a little gorier? That ET was actually evil or that Hook was based on the Hookman urban legend rather than just a bumbling pirate? What if The Explorers was as violent as Aliens or The Craft had a Blair Witch vibe?

Now is your chance to make your twist on these classics a reality.

PLEASE NOTE – these movies and characters are IP and cannot be used without permission. Your story should be a tribute, not a sequel. Any work featuring actual characters from these movies will be rejected.

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: The Land of 10,000 Crimes

Deadline: December 31st, 2021
Payment: $75 and a contributor’s copy
Theme: Mystery and Crime stories to be set in Minnesota or Minnesota adjacent (Wisconsin, Iowa, Canada, the Dakotas).

We are pleased to announce there will be a short story anthology for Bouchercon 2022 – The Land of 10,000 Crimes. Our goal is to raise money for the Women’s Prison Book Project. All of the proceeds, after publishing costs, will  go to the WPBP, along with the proceeds from our live and silent auctions.

 

 

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Tales of the Dark Fae

Deadline: December 31st, 2021
Payment: $25 and a contributor’s copy
Theme: Short stories from people of color, that embody the dark magic, creepy wonder and beautiful horror of the fairy world!

Tales of the Dark Fae

Open Submission Window:

October 15, 2021 through December 31, 2021

Theme:

Colors in Darkness is seeking short stories from people of color, that embody the dark magic, creepy wonder and beautiful horror of the fairy world! Lend us your tales of urban goblins, beautiful but deadly sprites or unruly but cute magical creatures. I’m talking evil mushrooms that have appetites for bad children, a were-toad stepmother whose disguise can be seen by everyone except her husband or a faun prince who uses his charms to ruin lives, we want to see your most diverse and dark tales from the fairy/fae world!

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Never Whistle At Night

Deadline: November 1st, 2021
Payment: 1,000 USD + 2 trade paperback copies
Theme: Dark Fiction
Note: Author must self-identify as an Indigenous person and must not have more than two published books

Are you ready to be un-settled?

Never Whistle At Night, edited by Shane Hawk and Ted Van Alst, is an anthology exclusive to Indigenous creatives and will be published by Penguin Random House in 2023. The anthology will comprise of twenty-one dark fiction short stories and a foreword by Stephen Graham Jones. Approximately seven stories are reserved for lesser-known and up-and-coming authors who will be selected through this open call. Our mission is to spread both new and established Indigenous authors and their work to as many readers as possible.

The time is ripe to publish an Indigenous dark fiction anthology. Authors of historically excluded communities often float toward dark fiction to tell their stories because of its ability to effectively address social issues. Now it’s our turn. (more…)

Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Pirating Pups

Deadline: November 30th, 2021
Payment: $50 CAD and a contributor’s copy
Theme: Pirate dogs, yes my friends, pirate dogs

How do you follow up an anthology of swashbuckling cats? With pirating dogs, of course!

As with the first anthology in this series I am looking for adventure-loving dogs, puns, water and fun. I’m looking for sailors, submariners, explorers, Vikings and more. Fun stories filled with excitement, drama, treasure-seeking, sword fights, discovering new worlds and dogs, dogs, dogs!

All. The. Dogs.
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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Solarpunk Sunscapes

Deadline: November 1st, 2021
Payment: $.02 per word and a contributors copy
Theme: Optimistic views of the future

SOLARPUNK SUNSCAPES: OPTIMISTIC VISIONS OF THE FUTURE

Story Length: 500 to 7,500 words
Story Payment: $.02 per word + contributor copy
Poem Length: 5 poems or 5 pages
Poetry Payment: $30 per poem + contributor copy
Submissions Open: September 1 — November 1, 2021
Expected Publication: Summer 2022
Editor: Justine Norton-Kertson

What is Solarpunk?

Solarpunk is a subgenre of science fiction that developed as a reaction to cyberpunk, the decades long dominance of apocalyptic fiction, and a growing desire to tell, read, hear, and watch stories that provide solutions to the very real and potentially catastrophic challenges of climate change. Solarpunk tells optimistic and hopeful stories about future societies (near-future or distant) powered by renewable energy, and where nature and technology coexist in harmony rather than in conflict. This is a subgenre that’s about restoring the web of life that connects us all. It’s about a desire to protect all life, not just human life. It’s about the drive to embrace and empower life, and restore the planet.

Solarpunk futures aren’t usually “perfect” utopias. Well sometimes they are, or at least really close — but not always, not even usually — and even when they come close they are still never without conflict and challenges. But they also are absolutely not dystopias.

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