by Stuart Conover | Apr 23, 2018 | Events, Magazine, Pro, Royalties
Deadline: May 13th, 2018
Payment: 6 cents per word as an advance against a pro rata share of royalties and foreign or other sales.
| The reading period for Sword & Sorceress 33 will begin on MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018. It will end on SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2018. If you wish to submit a story to the anthology, please follow the Guidelines below. |
GuidelinesStories should be the type generally referred to as “sword and sorcery” and must have a strong female protagonist whom the reader will care about. See Sword & Sorceress 22, Sword & Sorceress 23, Sword & Sorceress 24, Sword & Sorceress 25, Sword & Sorceress 26, Sword & Sorceress 27, Sword & Sorceress 28, Sword & Sorceress 29, Sword & Sorceress 30, Sword & Sorceress 31, and Sword & Sorceress 32 (or S&S 1-20) for examples. We do not want stories with explicit sex, gratuitous violence, or profanity. We are NOT a market for poetry, horror, or dark fantasy. We are willing to consider stories set in modern times (urban fantasy), but we don’t buy more than one or two of those for the anthology. We always want something short and funny for the last story. No reprints. No simultaneous submissions. With regard to multiple submissions, do not submit more than one story at a time. If we’ve rejected your first one, you may send one more, as long as it’s before the deadline. We have occasionally bought someone’s second submission. We have never bought a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth submission. If you send us two stories, and we don’t hold either of them, wait until next year to try again. Please do not re-submit stories we have already rejected (including stories rejected in previous years). If you have not previously sold to Sword & Sorceress, please read “What is a Short Story?” and “Why Did my Story Get Rejected?” before submitting to us. Reading period: Monday, April 23 to Sunday, May 13, 2018. Stories received before or after this period will be deleted unread.
Response time is expected to follow MZB’s traditional standards: you should hear within a week if we’re holding your story for the final line-up or rejecting it. Deadline: May 13, 2018 Editors: Elisabeth Waters and Deborah J. Ross Length: up to 9,000 words, with preference given to shorter stories. The longer a story is, the better it has to be. Long stories should be submitted early in the reading period. Cover Letter/e-mail: We don’t actually need a cover letter, but our e-mail program does. It puts any e-mail with no body in the spam folder. So…
Please do not explain or describe your story in the e-mail. If your story can’t stand on its own, fix the story. The e-mail should be brief. For example:
Dear Miss Waters, Attached is my 4000-word story “The Dark Intruder” for consideration for Sword and Sorceress 33. Sincerely,
(Ms.) Marion Bradley
If your name could be either male or female, please indicate whether you prefer Ms./Miss/Mrs., Mr., or Mx. in our reply. We’re not asking for the details of your personal life, we just want to use the correct form of address. (MZB once did an entire story intro thinking a male writer called Terry was female.) Formatting and Submission: Format with one-inch margins on all four sides of page.
Please do not use a header or footer. Your legal name, full mailing address, and email address must be in the upper left corner, single spaced.
Skip two lines, center the text, then put the title, with your name (or byline) on the next line. We’re not as rigid as MZB was about pen names, but we expect them to be reasonable, rather than cute. The rest of the manuscript should be single-spaced, with the first line of each paragraph indented 1/2 inch.
If you need to indicate a break, put “#” on a line by itself, centered.
Do not underline; use italics instead. Do not use bold face. We prefer Courier New font, size 12. Word count will be determined by our word processor; that way it will be the same for everyone. Save your document as an .RTF file (rich text format or interchange format, depending on what your computer calls it). E-mail as it as an attachment to  . The subject line should be “SS33, your last name, story title” (e.g.: SS33, Bradley, Dark Intruder) — we don’t want submissions caught in the spam filter. Remember that a computer is sorting this, so follow the format exactly. Use commas, not slashes, hyphens, etc. Do NOT change SS33 to something similiar (e.g.: S&S 33). We do our best to find stories that have not been sorted properly, but we don’t guarantee success. Rights purchased: first rights, non-exclusive eBook and audio book rights. Payment: 6 cents per word as an advance against a pro rata share of royalties and foreign or other sales. |
Via: MZB Works.
by Stuart Conover | Apr 23, 2018 | Magazine, Ongoing Submissions, Pro
We’re all about the speculative fiction here at Horror Tree but as we’re here to help grow your writing career – we need to help you find other markets as well! This set of articles is for those of you who have kids or love to write for them. Yes, we’ve got some kid-friendly markets here for anyone that has a story to pen for the younger generation.
Some of these even include speculative fiction themed submissions so be sure to keep your eyes out!
Let us know if these type of posts are a help and you’d like more of them in the comments below or on social media.
Thanks!
FrostFire Worlds
Payment: $15 for original stories, $8 for reprints; $3.00 for original poems, $2.00 for reprints; $20 for cover art, $6 for interior illustrations.
Note: Ages 8-17 and up
What They Want: “A publisher we usually associate with darker material! Honestly, we had no idea they did a children’s magazine as well and this is what inspired us to put the list together! FrostFire Worlds publishes original science fiction and fantasy short stories, poems, art, articles, reviews, and interviews. Preferred are adventure stories, space opera, and magic opera [like space opera, but fantasy]. Also preferred are stories that take place on other worlds. Stories must have the following: characters the reader cares about, plots and subplots, and settings that draw the reader into them.”
Full Guidelines Can Be Found At: Alban Lake.
East of the Web
Payment: $0.05 per word with a minimum of $200.
Note: Children’s short stories, ages 5 to 12.
What They Want: “We’re seeking children’s stories aimed at age ranges between 5 and 12. We’re looking for stories written by authors who know children and what children want to read. We want storytellers who can capture a child’s imagination and who also know the children’s book market, know what’s original and understand what’s interesting and appropriate for children of the age their stories are aimed at. We consider stories of all genres as long as kids will love them!”
Full Guidelines Can Be Found At: East of the Web.
Spaceports & Spidersilk
Payment: $6.00 for each accepted original story; $2.00 for each accepted story reprint; $2.00 for each accepted poem; and 10.00 for the door art.
Note: Age range of readers is “8 to 17 and beyond”
What They Want: “Spaceports & Spidersilk is an online magazine for younger readers [8 to 17 and beyond]. Formerly it was called KidVisions. Spaceports & Spidersilk features short stories, poems, and art, as well as brief essays on science and the environment, interviews, quizzes, contests, [and, quite frankly, anything else that is genre-oriented and will help encourage the younger generation to read…and to dream, especially about going to the stars]. We at Nomadic Delirium Press hope that younger writers and artists, as well as adults, will submit their work.
The genres for Spaceports & Spidersilk include fantasy, science fiction, and a category we are going to define as ‘shadow stories’. Shadow stories are mild horror. We want spooky, not terrifying. Most of all, we want ADVENTURES! And especially SF or fantasy adventures.”
Full Guidelines Can Be Found At: Spaceports & Spidersilk’s Submissions Page.
Guardian Angel Kids
Payment: .03 cents per word for articles and stories. Poems $10.
Note: Age range of readers is 2-12
What They Want: “Each issue has a theme. We will only accept material appropriate for the monthly theme – Picture stories: adventure, animal, humorous, multicultural, nature/environment, problem-solving, sports. Character driven stories that children will be able to relate to.”
Full Guidelines Can Be Found At: Guardian Angel Kids.
Cast of Wonders
Payment: $.06/word for original fiction, For reprints: $100 flat rate for Short Fiction, and a $20 flat rate for Flash Fiction.
Note: Readers aged 12-17
What They Want: “Stories that evoke a sense of wonder, have deep emotional resonance, and have something unreal about them. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending stories with wide appeal, and without gratuitous or explicit sex, violence or pervasive obscene language. Think Harry Potter or The Hunger Games.” Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror are all accepted but read the guidelines for specifics.
Full Guidelines Can Be Found At: Cast of Wonders.
by Stuart Conover | Apr 18, 2018 | Anthology, Events, Pro
Deadline: June 5th, 2018
Payment: 6 cents per word.
Hello,
I am FearBot3000.
I was programmed to notice breathless confusion across social media. Confusion often follows the infallible decrees of Lord Commander Patagonia.
Albeit infallible, sometimes his decrees require an algorithm to reach a state of clarity.
The title of Cockroach Conservatory Vol. 1 is: The Working Zealot’s Guide to Gaining Capital in Pre-Apocalyptic America
What are we looking for? Weird stories about cults, capitalism, working stiffs, and weirdos. We like bizarro. We like horror. We like our sci-fi and fantasy on the weirder side. We like humor. Think Joe R. Lansdale. Think Victor Pelevin. Think Brian Keene. Think Jessica McHugh. Really. This is a loosey-goosey guideline. The title obfuscates as much as it reveals. We know. It was done on purpose. Cults! Murder! Capitalism! Take it and run.
Word count: no more than 3000 words.
Payment: 6 cents per word.
Is that weird Soviet era sci-fi illustration of a robot the cover? No, it’s just a public domain placeholder for this website. We have commissioned a local Austin, TX artist for the cover.
Poetry
Send no more than 3 poems. If accepted, we’ll pay a flat rate of $10 per poem.
SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL JUNE 5, 2018. Anything submitted after that will go unread unless we announce an extension.
- Send your stuff as a doc or docx file to [email protected] rtf file format will not be opened.
Subject line should read: SUBMISSION – [Your Name] – [Story Name/or Poetry]
Include a short bio in your email.
Try to follow this format. We don’t need your physical mailing address.
We want first North American rights to your story on acceptance. Payment will be on publication. We’ll send contracts out and exchange payment information on acceptance.
FearBot3000 returns to Sleep Mode.
Via: The Cockroach Conservatory.
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 Stuart Conover | Apr 1, 2018 | Events, Novella, Pro
Deadline: May 31st, 2018
Payment: $300-$400 (depending on length) signing bonus against royalties, which will be paid before publication., 35-40% (depending on length) net royalties, paid either monthly or bi-monthly.
WHAT WE WANT
We are seeking three novellas (15,000 to 40,000 Words FIRM). The genres we are looking for are in the realms of cosmic horror and weird fiction.
We want novellas that surprise us, that haunt our dreams. Speculative fiction with elegant prose and original concepts. Stories that make us think, that catch our attention from the first page and keep us glued to the story all the way to the end.
WHAT WE DON’T WANT
- Fiction that isn’t speculative. We don’t want any stories that could possibly be based in reality. All fiction must be otherworldly, supernatural, etc.
- Novellas that employ the second person narrative voice.
- Novellas that have been previously published. NO REPRINTS.
- Erotica, fan fiction, or stories with heavy sexual content.
- Fiction that is unoriginal or uses recycled themes. Surprise us!
- As always, the most taboo topics are fine, as long as they are used professionally and respectably. Anything with overuse of vulgarity or purposely gross language for the sake of being gross will not be considered.
- NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS.
- NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS UNLESS YOU QUERY FIRST.
- Stories with numerous errors. This should be a given. Always read through your work or have your editor or a friend read through it before sending it anywhere.
- Artwork submissions. We have already hired the artists for the covers.
- Anything that has been rejected previously for a separate submissions call.
Submit fiction in proper manuscript format. If you need help regarding the formatting, follow this link. We cannot state how severely it will affect your chances if your story has poor formatting. We are expecting a massive volume of submissions for this call, and if it’s not formatted properly, it will slow down the entire process for us. Please consider this when submitting.
PAYMENT DETAILS
- $300-$400 (depending on length) signing bonus against royalties, which will be paid before publication.
- 35-40% (depending on length) net royalties, paid either monthly or bi-monthly.
GENERAL SUBMISSION INFORMATION FOR ALL CALLS:
Due to the enormous volume of submissions we are expecting, the window will be open from APRIL 1ST—MAY 31ST. So mark your calendars!
We will be seeking 3 NOVELLAS, 5 NOVELETTES, and 3-4 STORIES FOR EACH (3) CHAPBOOK(S).
THE LENGTHS REQUIRED FOR EACH CATEGORY ARE FIRM! DO NOT SUBMIT LENGTHS OUTSIDE THE CATEGORY YOU CHOOSE.
The release dates for all titles will be dispersed throughout 2018 and into the first half of 2019.
ALL PAYMENTS WILL BE PROCESSED THROUGH PAYPAL
HOW TO SUBMIT:
- Send all submissions and inquiries to gehennapublishinghouse (at) gmail (dot) com.
- Manuscript must be properly formatted and edited before anything else. See format guidelines here.
- Title email as follows: (Type of Submission/Chapbook Theme)/(Title of Story)/(Name) Example: Novella/Fragile Dreams/Fracassi, or Nightscapes/Origami Dreams/Padgett
- Attach properly formatted manuscript to email as either a DOC, DOCX, or RTF file. No others are accepted. Do not include story in body of email. This will be grounds for automatic rejection.
- Include in the body of your email, or as a cover letter to your manuscript, a short bio including any publication history, awards, social media links, etc.
RESPONSE TIME:
We are expecting a MASSIVE amount of submissions for these calls. Please allow 3-5 months for a response before querying. These titles will be released over the next 12 months, so it will take some time to get back to everyone who has submitted. If you don’t receive a story receipt confirmation within 48 hours, PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY. The story may have been filtered into our spam. We will more than likely respond to all submissions long before the 5 month point, but we are setting these times as a precaution.
LEGALITIES:
By sending us your work you understand and agree that:
- You are the original creator and copyright holder of the work submitted.
- You are not prohibited by any prior agreement from the transfer of exclusive electronic & print rights in English, and reprint rights.
- All information submitted is accurate and truthful.
- You accept sole responsibility for any false statements upon rights not disclosed.
If you are under the age of 18, unfortunately, we cannot accept your submission. These releases will be for an adult audience, and because of this, we require all authors to be of legal age to read and/or submit to it.
Finally, if accepted here and then republished, you are required to cite the release in which you were published.
by Stuart Conover | Mar 29, 2018 | Magazine, Ongoing Submissions, Pro
Payment: Seven cents a word
Please note that we are only accepting fictional stories at this time. Do not submit non-fiction articles or art.
We do not accept simultaneous submissions.
Galaxy’s Edge accepts both Science Fiction and Fantasy stories in all sub-genres. We do not publish horror stories. The maximum word count we will consider is 7,000 words, although we have a preference for shorter fiction. There is no minimum word count.
Submit your story electronically to [email protected]. Documents should be double-spaced and in .docx, .doc or .rtf format, in 12 point (size) Times New Roman font. Italicized words should be in italics, not underlined.
If you need more information on how to format your manuscript, please refer to William Shunn’s guide to manuscript formatting.
While we do not restrict the use of profane language, violence or explicit sexual situations, use them judiciously, if you must.
Please make sure that your complete contact information is at the top of the first page of the manuscript. This should include your name (and pen-name if being used, clearly marked) and your address, phone number and email address.
There is no need to submit a cover letter. If you feel the need to explain the story then it probably needs to be re-done. It should stand by itself.
Allow up to six weeks for us to get back to you. Please do not inquire about your submission until six weeks have passed after your submission.
Galaxy’s Edge currently pays seven cents a word for all stories upon acceptance. We are a SFWA approved venue for short stories.
Via: Galaxy’s Edge.
