The Horror Tree

Horror Tree is a resource for authors that lists open markets, articles, interviews, original fiction, and more!

Category: Pro

Pro Rates

Anthology / Events / Pro

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Taking Submissions: Don’t Touch That: An Anthology of Parenthood in SFF

Deadline: December 1st, 2020
Payment: $0.06/word
Theme: Parenthood in SFF
Note: Only 2 stories available

An anthology exploring the theme of parenthood from science fiction and fantasy authors who are parents themselves!

Thank you SO MUCH for your support for this anthology. Now that we’ve reached our funding goals, behind the scenes we’re organizing our timelines and getting started with writing. And thanks to your help in reaching our stretch goals, we’ll be open to TWO SLUSH STORIES!

The theme is, not surprisingly, parenting in SFF. You can interpret that any way you like, and take it in any direction you like. We’d love to see what you come up with! Stories should be no more than 5,000 words, and when they’re all edited and ready to go, can be submitted in a .doc or .docx file to [email protected] no later than 11:15pm EST on December 1, 2020. Please remember to include your name, pen name if you use one, and contact info on your submission (not part of your word count).

Thank you again, and stay tuned to our Kickstarter page for monthly updates and we move forward writing these fantastic stories of parents and kids in SFF!

– Mike, Kai, and Keena

Via: Don’t Touch That’s Kickstarter.

Audio / Events / Pro

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Taking Submissions: PseudoPod

Deadline: November 2nd, 2020
Payment: 8 cents per word for original work, $100 flat rate for short story reprints, and $20 flat rate for flash fiction reprints
Theme: Horror: dark, weird fiction. We run the spectrum from grim realism or crime drama, to magic-realism, to blatantly supernatural dark fantasy.
Note: Reprints welcome

PseudoPod is always looking for quality fiction to feed our listeners. If you’re a writer with a short horror story that you’d like to hear narrated by one of our talented performers, we’d like to see it. Probably. When we’re open, you can send it to us through our Moksha portal. Check to see if we’re open by reviewing our schedule.

Multiple and Simultaneous Submissions

For the submission period in 2020, we will consider one original and one reprint per author.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable WITH DISCLOSURE. Let us know that you are submitting this to multiple markets simultaneously. We’ll be transparent with you, and expect the same level of professionalism in return.

The only exception to this is simultaneous submission of a particular story to multiple Escape Artists podcasts (Escape Pod, PodCastle, Cast of Wonders, and PseudoPod), which we ask that you avoid. When submitting to one Escape Artists podcast, please wait to hear back about it before submitting the same story to another.

What We Want

PseudoPod is a genre magazine in audio form. We’re looking for horror: dark, weird fiction. We run the spectrum from grim realism or crime drama, to magic-realism, to blatantly supernatural dark fantasy. We publish highly literary stories reminiscent of Poe or Lovecraft as well as vulgar shock-value pulp fiction. We don’t split hairs about genre definitions, and we do not observe any taboos about what kind of content can appear in our stories. Originality demands that you’re better off avoiding vampires, zombies, and other recognizable horror tropes unless you have put a very unique spin on them. What matters most is that the stories are dark and compelling.

Since we’re an audio magazine, our audience can’t skim past the boring parts, so stories with beautiful language at the expense of plot don’t translate well. We’re looking for fiction with strong pacing, well-defined characters, engaging dialogue, and clear action. It can be beautiful too, if you’ve got all those other bases covered.
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Anthology / Events / Pro

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Taking Submissions: The Reinvented Heart

Deadline: October 31st, 2020
Payment: 8 cents a word
Theme: Interesting takes on how science will change our lives, see below for examples!

Science fiction often thinks about the technology and science without considering the ways social structures will change as tech changes — or not. What will relationships look like in the future when we have complications like clones, uploaded intelligences, artificial brains, or body augmentation? What happens when emotions like love and friendship span vast distances — in space, in time, and in the heart? And as we acknowledge differences in gender in a way we never have before, what stories are finally given the space in which to emerge?

Among the stories I hope to see:

  • Stories that focus on the relationship between an individual and a community or communities, or even on relationships between communities or social groups.
  • Stories that complicate sex and gender by showing how shifting technology may affect social attitudes and practices.
  • Stories with romances that reinvent traditional tropes and recast them for the 21st century.
  • Stories that experiment, astonish, and entertain.

 

This anthology is open to female and nonbinary writers.
Writers of color, QUILTBAG writers, writers with disabilities, and neuro-diverse writers are actively encouraged to apply, as are writers from outside the United States.

Open for submissions Oct 1-October 31. Submission portal.

Guidelines:
Please remove identifying information from the manuscript, but otherwise use standard manuscript format.
Length: 500-5000 words (5k is going to be a tough sell)
Buying: Original fiction; exclusive rights for 18 months with standard “best of” anthology exceptions.
Paying: 8 cents a word (SFWA pro rates)
No multiple or simultaneous submissions

Timeline:
Submissions open Oct 1 and close October 31.
The first round of reading will run November 1 through the end of the month. All submissions will be informed on December 1 whether or not they are being held for further consideration. The final table of contents will be announced on December 31.

The book will be published in the summer of 2021 by Arc Manor Press.

Via: Kitty Wumpus.

Events / Magazine / Pro

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Taking Submissions: khōréō

Deadline: October 31st, 2020
Payment: $0.08/word
Theme: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element.

General Information

khōréō is a quarterly publication of stories, essays, and art: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. We’re especially interested in writing and art that explores the impact of human or cultural migration, whether voluntary or forced, peaceful or forceful. Examples include themes of immigration, diaspora, and anti-colonialism, as well as more metaphorical interpretations of the term. Most importantly, we’re a new magazine and we’re still finding our identity: therefore, please don’t self-reject because you’re not sure if your work is a good fit. We won’t know until we see it, so please give us a chance to look!

Who can submit?

khōréō is dedicated to diversity and amplifying the voices of immigrant and diaspora authors and artists. We welcome, but do not require, a brief description of the author’s/artist’s identity in their cover letter.

We invite you to submit if you identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms. This includes, but is not limited to, first- and second-generation immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, persons who identify with one or more diaspora communities, persons who have been displaced or whose heritage has been erased due to colonialism/imperialism, and anyone whose heritage and history includes ‘here and elsewhere’. We especially encourage BIPOC creators who identify as the above to submit their work.

When reading submissions, we take in good faith that you identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora as described above. If you still aren’t sure if you should submit, please email [email protected]

We kindly request individuals who do not identify as such to support the magazine by reading our stories, subscribing, and helping spread the word instead.

Submission Periods

Our first submission period will open at midnight Eastern time on October 1, 2020. We will close submissions at 11:59pm on October 31, 2020.

In our first year, we will have the following reading periods:

  • January 1-January 31
  • April 1-April 30
  • July 1-July 30
  • October 1-October 31

Fiction

What we want

We are looking for short fiction under 5,000 words. Because we are a new journal, we have a stricter budget and therefore prefer stories under 3,500 words. Anything over 5,000 words will be rejected without being read.

Please submit stories through our Moksha system, which you can access at this link: https://khoreo.moksha.io/publication/1/1/submit.

Please format your story using the Shunn modern manuscript format (details at this link: https://www.shunn.net/format/story/). Authors are not expected to provide their mailing address until acceptance.

If your story requires a content warning, please include a brief description below the title of your piece as well as in your cover letter. In addition, please check the box indicating that your story has content warnings on the submission form. This does not affect your chances of getting accepted; it’s just for the awareness of our First Readers and Editors.

Please note simultaneous submissions are accepted, but we request that you note this in your cover letter and withdraw the story from our consideration if it is accepted elsewhere.

What we don’t want

Please do not send us stories with gratuitous gore or violence; fridging (where a character dies or undergoes pain in service of the protagonist’s story or to serve as character development); racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc. elements; clichés; “it was all a dream” endings; stories where a person from a non-marginalized group experiences life as someone from a marginalized background.

We are currently not accepting novelettes or novellas, but hope to expand in the future. We may also consider serialized stories one day. We do not accept multiple submissions, unsolicited resubmissions, or reprints.

What we offer

Payment at SFWA pro rates ($0.08/word).

Non-fiction

Submission status

Non-fiction submissions are currently closed. We will open on October 1st.

What we want

We are looking for original personal or critical & analytical essays that examine speculative fiction, especially from a perspective of migration. We will also consider reprints, but request that this be noted in your cover letter.

We are looking for essays up to 5,000 words. Please submit through our Moksha system at this link: https://khoreo.moksha.io/publication/1/2/submit.

 

What we offer

We pay $100 for original essays and $40 for essay reprints.

Via: khōréō.

Anthology / Events / Flash / Pro

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Taking Submissions: Campfire Macabre

December 26th, 2020
Payment: 8 cents per word
Theme: Any of the following: Cemetery Chillers, Spook Houses, Supernatural Slashers, Witchcraft, Within the Woods

We’re looking for 500-1,000 word horror flash fiction for a “pocket-sized” anthology. Paying $.08/word for original stories, no reprints. Reading until DEC 26, 2020(or until we fill each section of the book, approx. 40-50 stories .) The theme of the anthology is horror subgenre medley. Please choose a theme to write and submit a story for: Cemetery Chillers, Spook Houses, Supernatural Slashers, Witchcraft, Within the Woods.

You’re free to submit (1) story per theme, so up to (5) stories. The ‘themes’ are open to interpretation, but we are looking for sinister tales. In your submission email subject line please include the title of your story, word count, and theme! Please attach your story as an RTF or DOC file. You’re welcome to submit stories up to 1,200 words, but we will delete stories over 1,200 words and under 500 words.

We will accept stories before December, but will hold many stories without responding until we have a complete TOC. Simultaneous submissions are fine. We’re looking for First Rights Publishing and will ask that you don’t reprint your story until OCT 31, 2021.

Send submissions to [email protected]

-Joe Sullivan, Editor

Note for debut/young authors:

Established authors hate writing anything under 6k words. This call is wide open. We want to give you a space, but you have to give yourself a chance. Write something new with the theme in mind, have at least a vague idea of what we publish, and don’t go over 1k words. We like NoSleep Podcast, Michael Wehunt, timeless urban legends, and stories with fresh takes on popular themes(no ghost POV stories, please.)

Stories accepted per theme as of 9/14:

Cemetery Chillers 4/10

Spook Houses 5/10

Supernatural Slashers 4/10

Witchcraft 5/10

Within the Woods 4/10

Via: Cemetary Gates Media.

Events / Magazine / Pro

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Taking Submissions: Nightmare Magazine

Deadline: September 21st, 2020
Payment: 8 cents a word
Theme: Original horror and dark fantasy stories. All types of horror and dark fantasy are welcome.

Nightmare is a horror & dark fantasy magazine edited by John Joseph Adams (current editor) & Wendy N. Wagner (incoming editor, starting Issue 101). All submissions from Aug. 2020 onward will be considered by Wagner for Issue 101 & beyond.

GENERAL PROCEDURES

Instructions for submitting to Nightmare follow. Please read everything on this page and read the magazine before submitting.

NOTE: If Nightmare is currently closed to submissions, please do not query asking when we’ll be opening again. When we know when we’re opening, we’ll make that information available on this page and spread it widely.

Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: We do not accept simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions. You may make one submission to The Horror Lab category (or in the case of poetry, a batch of  up to 5 poems in one document) and one submission to our Short Story category every seven days (i.e., after submitting a short story you must wait seven days before you can submit another, but you can submit a piece of flash fiction to the Horror Lab before those seven days are up).

Instructions:  All fiction must be submitted through our Moksha online submission system. Please do not email your submissions. If one of the Submission Type options is grayed out, that means we are currently closed to that Submission Type.

Questions/Problems: Email [email protected] for all submission-related inquiries, or if you have any trouble using our online submission system. Please do not email your submissions to this address. All submissions must be submitted via our Moksha online submission system.

Rejections/Response Times: Be aware that we expect to receive several hundred submissions during our submissions periods. As such, we cannot offer personalized feedback on each story. If we say “send more” it means we really do hope to see something else from you. Most rejections will be sent out within a few business days, while stories being seriously considered may be held for up to a few weeks. Please do not respond to rejection letters, even just to say “Thanks for the quick turnaround” etc. We appreciate the thought, but it is unnecessary and will just clutter up our editorial inbox.

Cover Letters: Your cover letter may include your name and other identifying elements. It should contain the length of your story, your publishing history, and any other relevant information (e.g, if you send us a fantasy story about the Byzantine empire and your doctoral dissertation was on Byzantine empire politics, mention that). If you don’t have credentials to cite, don’t worry! We care about your story, not your resume. If you’re not sure what should go in your cover letter, this article on cover letters might help.

Diversity Statement: Horror is for everyone! We encourage people of color, Black people, Indigenous people, Native people, women, people with disabilities, older people, LGBTQIA+, and anyone from typically marginalized or underrepresented communities to submit their work. Translations are welcome and encouraged—stories that have never before been published in the English language would be considered original work.

Confidentiality: An author’s personal information (name, address, email, phone, or secret identity) will not be shared with anyone outside our editorial staff, unless the author gives us permission to share such information.

 

SHORT FICTION

Nightmare is seeking original horror and dark fantasy stories. All types of horror and dark fantasy are welcome. No subject should be considered off-limits, and we encourage writers to take chances with their fiction and push the envelope. We are not currently seeking reprints.

Format: Please submit your manuscript in double-spaced Times New Roman or Courier font. Please include your byline as you’d like it to appear in publication, but we prefer to see no addresses or telephone numbers on the manuscript (including your email address is fine, though). Your manuscript must be in either .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX format.

Word Count: For Short Fiction submissions, we are open to stories of 1500-7500 words. Stories of 5000 words or less are preferred.

Work previously rejected by Lightspeed: Please do not submit work previously rejected by Lightspeed. (There is significant overlap between the editorial staff at Lightspeed and Nightmare, so it makes sense to share submissions between the two sister-magazines.)

Work previously rejected by Fantasy: We welcome submissions that were previously rejected by our sister-magazine Fantasy.

Pay Rate:  Nightmare pays 8 cents a word for original short stories.

Rights: To see which rights we’re seeking, please review our contract template for original fiction & poetry.

 

THE HORROR LAB

“The Horror Lab” is where Nightmare puts a spotlight on experimental horror. It’s a place to explore the boundaries of form, trope, and genre—a playground for writers and readers alike. We’re looking for poetry (all styles and forms, but due to the limitations of ebooks generally and Kindle Periodicals specifically our typographical options are limited), flash fiction, and creative non-fiction. (And yes, dark fantasy is fine!)

Special instructions for poetry: You may submit up to five poems in the same document. (Our submission system will not allow multiple attachments.) We do not accept simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions. Do not submit more than one batch of five poems at a time. Please ensure that the title of the poems are in the manuscript!

Word Count: All Horror Lab submissions should be less than 1000 words. (For poetry, this means the total word count of all five poems in your submissions packet should fall under 1000 words.)

Pay Rate: We pay $40 for a poem and 8 cents a word for prose (including nonfiction and flash fiction).

Rights: To see which rights we’re seeking, please review our contract template for original fiction & poetry.

 

NONFICTION

All nonfiction outside of “The Horror Lab” submissions are by invitation only, and all feature interviews are assigned in-house. If you wish to pitch an idea for an “H Word” essay, email [email protected] with the subject line “H Word Essay Pitch.” Essay pitches should be no more than a few lines, and should connect in some way to the theme of horror. Thought pieces which bring an interesting or unique perspective will be considered.

Pay Rate: Nightmare pays $75 per essay.

Rights: To see which rights we’re seeking, please view our contract template for nonfiction.

 

REPRINTS

Though Nightmare previously featured reprints as part of our publishing model, going forward we are only open to original, never-before-published works. We plan to stay closed to reprints permanently; if that changes sometime in the future, we’ll update our guidelines accordingly.

 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Nightmare is edited by John Joseph Adams (through Issue 100), with Wendy N. Wagner incoming as editor in 2021, starting with Issue 101, and is published by John Joseph Adams via Adamant Press. You can learn more about our wonderful team on our Staff page.

Sexual themes and stories with strong sexual content are acceptable, but Nightmare is not a market for erotica. If in doubt, feel free to submit your story and let our editors decide.

Nightmare is not a market for media-based fiction (e.g., stories set in the A Game of Thrones or Buffy the Vampire Slayer universes, etc.), or any kind of fan fiction. (Note: We love fan fiction or media-based fiction as much as you do, but we’re not legally allowed to consider publishing it.)

If you’re not sure if your story is suitable, don’t query; please just submit it and let our editors decide!

Nightmare pays professional rates as defined by HWA and SFWA.

Via: Nightmare Magazine’s Moksha.

Anthology / Events / Pro

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Taking Submissions: When Worlds Collide

Deadline: December 31st, 2020
Payment: 8 cents per word+
Theme: Science fiction and fantasy stories, including alternate history stories, where two different cultures “collide” in some way.

THE MODERN DEITY’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY, DERELICT, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE anthology Kickstarter (back us at tinyurl.com/ZNBDeity) has hit its goal!  If you have a story idea that fits one of the anthology themes, write it up, revise it, polish it, and send it in for consideration.  I’ve posted the guidelines below.

THE MODERN DEITY’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY, DERELICT, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE Submission Guidelines

Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies THE MODERN DEITY’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY, DERELICT, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE.  Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format.  The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example:  DERELICT:  Ghost Ships Gone Wild!).  The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for.  Please send multiple manuscripts in separate emails; you may submit to any or all of the anthologies as many times as you wish.  Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered.  Please use Times New Roman font.  The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s real name.  Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.

Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology.

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE is to feature science fiction and fantasy stories, including alternate history stories, where two different cultures “collide” in some way.  We expect mostly first contact types of collisions, but the story does NOT need to be a first contact story. The cultures can be human, alien, technological, fae, etc. They should clash in some significant, meaningful way. Stories featuring more interesting juxtapositions of cultures and the ways in which they meet and interact will receive more attention than those that use the more typical, expected collisions.  So be creative and come up with an unusual and unexpected meeting of different cultures.  We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.

DEADLINE and TIMELINE:

The deadline for submissions is December 31st, 2020.  Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of February 2021.  Please send submissions to [email protected].  You will receive a receipt email within a few days of us receiving the submission and having it filed for consideration.  Notices about decisions on the stories will be sent out no later than the end of March 2021.

If your story is selected for use in the anthology, you should expect a revision letter by the end of April 2021.  Revisions and the final draft of the story will be expected no later than the end of May 2021.  These dates may change due to the editors’ work schedules.  Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication/release of the anthology, non-exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages after that.  Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that first year.  Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of 8 cents per word.  The anthology will be published as an ebook and an exclusive mass market paperback edition, distributed to the Kickstarter backers.  The book would be available after that to the general public in ebook and trade paperback formats.  Advances would be immediately earned out by the success of the Kickstarter.  Royalties on additional sales beyond the Kickstarter will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) between the authors in and editors of the anthology.

Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to [email protected].  Thank you.

Via: Zombies Need Brains LLC Patreon.

Anthology / Events / Pro

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Taking Submissions: Derelict

Deadline: December 31st, 2020
Payment: 8 cents per word+
Theme: Abandoned ships, whether it be ships at sea or starships in space.

THE MODERN DEITY’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY, DERELICT, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE anthology Kickstarter (back us at tinyurl.com/ZNBDeity) has hit its goal!  If you have a story idea that fits one of the anthology themes, write it up, revise it, polish it, and send it in for consideration.  I’ve posted the guidelines below.

THE MODERN DEITY’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY, DERELICT, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE Submission Guidelines

Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies THE MODERN DEITY’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY, DERELICT, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE.  Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format.  The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example:  DERELICT:  Ghost Ships Gone Wild!).  The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for.  Please send multiple manuscripts in separate emails; you may submit to any or all of the anthologies as many times as you wish.  Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered.  Please use Times New Roman font.  The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s real name.  Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.

Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology.

DERELICT is to feature stories involving abandoned ships, whether it be ships at sea or starships in space.  We are attempting to fill half of the anthology with science fiction stories and half with fantasy stories.  We are somewhat flexible as to the definition of “ship” for this anthology, but it must still be somehow abandoned in some way. Stories featuring more interesting takes on the use of the abandoned ship will receive more attention than those that are more mundane or are tropes.  Make certain the story is centered on the ship! If the abandoned ship element is removed, the story should fall apart. So be creative and use the abandoned ship in an unusual and unexpected way.  We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark, including horror.

DEADLINE and TIMELINE:

The deadline for submissions is December 31st, 2020.  Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of February 2021.  Please send submissions to [email protected].  You will receive a receipt email within a few days of us receiving the submission and having it filed for consideration.  Notices about decisions on the stories will be sent out no later than the end of March 2021.

If your story is selected for use in the anthology, you should expect a revision letter by the end of April 2021.  Revisions and the final draft of the story will be expected no later than the end of May 2021.  These dates may change due to the editors’ work schedules.  Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication/release of the anthology, non-exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages after that.  Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that first year.  Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of 8 cents per word.  The anthology will be published as an ebook and an exclusive mass market paperback edition, distributed to the Kickstarter backers.  The book would be available after that to the general public in ebook and trade paperback formats.  Advances would be immediately earned out by the success of the Kickstarter.  Royalties on additional sales beyond the Kickstarter will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) between the authors in and editors of the anthology.

Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to [email protected].  Thank you.

Via: Zombies Need Brains LLC Patreon.