Category: Flat Amount

Taking Submissions: Stranger

Deadline: March 12th, 2024
Payment: €175
Theme: Stories that look into unexpected places, or, ‘stranger’ places

From Feb 8 to March 12*, we are reading short story submissions for our new collection, Stranger! We are looking for stories of all genres that respond to our title and/or cover art, and selected writers will receive a flat rate of €175 for accepted submissions.

I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.

Wallace Stevens,
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Behind the fog, in the tall grass, or even standing in plain sight – there are mysteries everywhere for those brave enough to look. Sometimes, reality might just refuse to behave in the ways we expect it to. It might come in the form of prowling creatures, or in a revelation from someone we knew, or maybe in ourselves; the important thing is that a whole new facet of reality suddenly shines in new light.

Truth might be stranger than fiction, but we’ve decided to look for the strangest fiction for our seventh anthology. We’re looking for stories that go beyond the boundaries of the expected – or maybe even those of possibility!

Stranger is an anthology for stories that look into unexpected places. We want real or magical, lyrical or experimental, as long as it finds that truth wasn’t as simple as once thought.

We are looking for stories inspired by our title – Stranger – and/or the cover artwork below, Night is Calling, by James Fenner. All genres of writing are welcome, we want to read any stories that find that there is more out there than we once thought (in a real or metaphorical way)! More than any specific story or style, we want the emotional response the title and artwork evokes in you.

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Taking Submissions: Under The Pink: Music Inspired by Tori Amos

Deadline: March 31st, 2024
Payment: $100
Theme: Music inspired by Tori Amos
Note: Open to authors that identify (now or in the past) as femme in the most inclusive of definitions.

Opens: February 1, 2024, midnight est 

Closes: March 31, 2024, midnight IDLW

Compensation: $100 USD

Theme: Adult horror, including genre-chimeras

Submissions must be between 3,000 and 5,000 words

OPEN to any and everyone that identifies (now or in the past) as femme in the most inclusive of definitions.

Expected release: February 2025

Submit to under.the.pink@bookslayerpress.com

 

What we are looking for:

First exclusive (1 year) US rights for stories inspired by the music of Tori Amos. 

 

Submissions must be between 3,000 and 5,000 words.

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Taking Submissions: Charlottesville Fantastic

Deadline: April 30th, 2024
Payment: $20
Theme: Speculative fiction set in the Greater Charlottesville Area: Charlottesville City, the Counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Green, Nelson, or Shenandoah National Park.

Announcing Charlottesville Fantastic edited by James Blakey and Catherine Simpson.

Charlottesville’s a magical place, and we want to read all about it. We’re talking anything from vampires in the Rotunda to Cinderella set in Monticello, from a sentient Rivanna to sirens singing at a Rapunzel’s open mic.

What We Want: Dazzle us with High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retellings, Magic Realism, etc. Stories can be set in the past, present, future, or sideways (Alternate History). Smash genres and mix in Mystery, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Western, as long as you include a fantastical or supernatural element.

Stories must be set in the Greater Charlottesville Area: Charlottesville City, the Counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Green, Nelson, or Shenandoah National Park.

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Taking Submissions: Short Story Substack March 2024 Window (Early Listing)

Submission Window: March 1st – 31st, 2024
Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue
Theme: Any genre, short story

Mission = Revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful.

Payout = Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check.

Wait, you mean if this substack gets thousands of subscribers, the winner would get thousands of dollars?

Yes! The New Yorker pays roughly $7,500 per story and I sincerely hope to go way past that.

What does the timeline look like?

Submit stories by the end of the month, winner to be announced on the 15th. There is ONE story that wins and receives the full payout.

Where do I send submissions?
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Taking Submissions: Haven Speculative 2024 Limited Submissions Call #2 (Early)

Submission Window: March 1st – 31st, 2024
Payment: 8 cent per word for fiction, $20 for poetry, 8 cent per word for non-fiction, $125 for cover art
Theme: Speculative fiction
Note: This call is for authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups

It’s our goal to publish diverse voices from around the world, and to do that, we are actively seeking stories, poems, and non-fiction pieces by authors from backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented in the science fiction and fantasy canon. Our submission cycle is therefore split into two categories, where every other month is explicitly reserved for submissions by authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups. The interposing six months remain open to everyone.

Guidelines for Fiction

We are seeking stories in the English language up to 6,000 words by writers from around the world. We favor submisions that have not been published before (including on your own website), though we have historically accepted a limited number of reprints not currently appearing anywhere online. For our two issues focused on the climate crisis, we’re particularly interested in publishing stories from people displaced by or threatened by the climate emergency (see our themes below). For our other four issues, we’re open to a wide variety of stories across the SFF and weird spectra.

We pay 8¢ per word for fiction, and we try to respond to all submissions within ten weeks. We have also accepted a limited number of previously published stories, so please indicate on the form if your submission is a reprint. All submissions must use the Shunn manuscript format (we prefer Courier New) and be either .rtf, .doc, or .docx.

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Taking Submissions: manywor(l)ds March/April 2024 Window

Submission Window: March 1st – April 30th, 2024
Payment: $10
Theme: Stories of any genre by writers who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex.

We welcome submissions by those who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex. This is a space for the words, works, and worlds of and by those whose bodyminds defy social expectations and invite new ways of thinking and knowing.

We do not need to know the specifics of your identity/diagnosis/experience unless you want us to. We invite closeted and questioning people to share their work, as well as those whose experiences fall outside the confines of the language we used above.

We welcome submissions from creators of all ages. We particularly encourage unpublished/emerging/young creators to submit. If you know an incarcerated/institutionalized creator who would like to submit, email us for information as to where to mail the submission, or clearly indicate in your message that you are submitting on their behalf.

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Taking Submissions: Doors of Darkness II: Trick or Treat

Deadline: April 1st, 2024
Payment: $10 and a contributors copy
Theme: The kiddos are ready for their night of mischief and mayhem as the evening of Trick ‘r Treating gets started. Write a horror story that takes place on Halloween night and centers around a child/children visiting the neighborhood’s houses. The horror element can be from either angle: either there is something spooky going on in the house or with the child/children. Location details below

Deadline: April 1st, 2024 at 11:59pm CST

Length: 2,000-6,000 words

 

Format: Must be submitted as a Google Doc file which must have [email protected] as an owner with editing turned on. You will provide the shareable link in the form upon submission. Use only one tab and do not use spaces to start a new paragraph. Do not write “The End” at the end of the story. In the header, please include the following: 1) your name, 2) the title of the story, and 3) the word count of the story. Submissions that do not follow these guidelines will not be read. The title of your story cannot include “Doors of Darkness” in it or the house number.

 

Eligibility: If you were published in the first volume of Doors of Darkness, please note that this is not a continuation of what happened on Fern Street. There should be absolutely no connections to characters from that volume.

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Taking Submissions: Super Canucks: An anthology of small-town Canadian superheroes

Deadline: April 21st, 2024
Payment: $200 CAD and a contributors copy
Theme: Canadian characters living their ‘super’ lives while still retaining their national/regional identity/connection.

We’re looking for stories that push the usual superhero tropes while shining a spotlight on unique corners of Canada. We want stories set in and around the nation’s more often overlooked locales—isolated small towns, remote reservations, bedroom communities, and other underrepresented areas of Canada. Give us rural superheroes, backwater supervillains, and tales of characters/communities at a crossroads.How does place impact your character? Are they unable to reconcile their superpowers with their residence or is it the people who pose the problem? Does your hero struggle to maintain a secret identity where everyone knows everyone or do they find that familiarity weirdly comforting given the challenges of being superpowered?

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