Category: Royalties

Under-Represented UK Horror Authors Check Out The Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers’ Prize

Deadline: July 25th, 2025
Prize: A publishing contract with Penguin Michael Joseph, with a £10,000 advance, and representation by Bell Lomax Moreton Agency.
Theme: Horror novels by under-represented UK horror authors

Penguin Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Books, is a leading publisher of commercial fiction and non-fiction.

We are proud to be entering our third year of The Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers’ Prize to find new authors from underrepresented backgrounds who we can bring to the widest possible readership.

Last year, we asked for submissions in the romance genre and were thrilled to announce Brandon Purves, whose debut novel Do Not Kiss Nicholas Prince publishes Summer 2026, as our second Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers Prize winner.

This year we want something scary! If you’re an aspiring horror author, we want to hear from you. We’re looking for the best horror novels that have a strong hook and even stronger atmosphere.
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Taking Submissions: Cthulu: Dreams

Deadline: July 31st, 2025
Payment: Royalties
Theme: Lovecraftian horror

Cthulu: Dreams – our Lovecraftian anthology

Cthulu: Dreams

This is horror.
Express yourself as the theme moves you.
Incorporate the Lovecraftian theme as you will into your horror story. Not all need contain an eldritch horror, remember The Alchemist. Good writing will triumph over concepts tightly aligned to a perception of the theme. We encourage you to weave the theme into an engaging story with well-developed characters and deep emotion.
Stories that contain infanticide, or rape will not be accepted. Consideration might be made for gratuitous gore, if the story calls for it.
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Lefthand Path Press Is Open To Novel Submissions

Payment: $1000.00 to $2000.00 cash Royalty Advances, industry standard or better royalty rates and  a big box-o-books (22 free author copies)
Theme: Strong elements of Horror and/or Dark Fiction as well as strong characters and character driven storylines

Lefthand Path Press is a new horror and dark fiction publisher with big plans. We will be launching our publishing house along with our awesome upcoming website later this year, probably close to Halloween.

While we are gearing up for the launch, we ate still looking for one or two incredible new novels.

 

We are currently open to submissions for NOVELS only.

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Taking Submissions: Search for the Any Key

Submission Window: May 1st – August 29th, 2025
Payment: $15.00 plus equal share of 50% of the anthology’s royalties.
Theme: Action/adventure mixed with any drama, can’t use a physical key, the why of the search should be the most important part

This will be mostly action/adventure, but can be placed in any time period, on other planets or any type of setting. All genres accepted and may contain humor, drama, romance, etc. Diverse characters welcome, human or otherwise.

The catch – no traditional keys accepted. If the characters don’t find the key, that’s okay.

Example – on a certain TV show, characters were searching for forgiveness and the key to enter was tears of regret. Another film had a key as part of a puzzle box which opened several artifacts.

Please think outside the box when writing these stories. The Why of the search is the most important point.

ALL writers are encouraged to submit. Doesn’t matter if you’re a pro with years of credits, a beginner just starting out, or a teenager – please feel free to send the editor a story. In your cover email, please tell the editor a bit about yourself and a quick one-line synopsis of the story. Include genre. If experimental, please explain the type or how so the editor doesn’t edit out the form or reject it out of hand.

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Taking Submissions: Elven Rock of Ages

Deadline: August 31st, 2025
Payment: Royalties
Theme: A 1980s band that end up in a fantasy kingdom (a few specific details to include below.)

Announcing the latest open call by Ps and Qs Publishing! Elven Rock of Ages

 

What I’m Looking For: 

 

Rift is tired of ruling his Elven Kingdom. He’s been maintaining peace for a thousand years. His son is ready to take over and his daughter is leading his armies. He has nothing to do except sit in his court and pretend to be entertained. Enter a 1980s band that managed to stumble into his kingdom. Finally, something new. Deciding that playing rock music is how he wants to spend his time, he and three of his most trusted guards head out into the world. They take on the names, 

 

Rift – singer

Belanger – bass 

Draye – guitar 

Todd – drummer (Someone has to have a normal human name.) 

1988 – Band Name

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Big Thinking Publishing is open to Novellas

Payment: 20% Royalties
Theme: Fantasy, Science Fiction novellas

Right now, we are only looking for:

  • Middle-Grade Fiction (8-12)
  • Teen (11-14)
  • Novellas (20,000-45,000 words) – Any age range for novellas, in the following genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, LGBTQ+, Historical Fiction, Romance, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, Contemporary.

We are not accepting Horror submissions at this time.

We are not currently looking for poetry, picture books, or chapter books.

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Ongoing Submissions: Incensepunk Magazine

Payment: $100 and royalties of the profits from the magazine
Theme: High tech, high church. A literary magazine on the intersection of faith and sci-fi.

Length: About 4,000 to 6,000 words

Pay: $100, plus lifetime “paid” subscription to Incensepunk Magazine. Stories included in annual anthology also receive pro-rata share of 50% of profits (each story’s author receiving a share from that 50% proportioned by the length of their contribution to the total length of the book) and a print copy of the anthology. See the sample contract for details.

Rights: First digital print plus one-time non-exclusive digital and print rights for the annual anthology.

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