by Stuart Conover | Aug 9, 2018 | Magazine, Ongoing Submissions, Semipro
Payment: 5 cents per word to a maximum of $50
Gumshoe Review is now open to accept original fiction (mysteries, not character studies). The short stories should be no longer than 1,000 words. Pay will be 5 cents per word to a maximum of $50 (so if the story is longer you still only get $50). Our plan is to publish one short story per month. Stories should be sent as plain text within the body of an email or as a .txt, .pdf (not password protected), .doc, or .wp attachment to [email protected] Please use the subject line “Gumshoe Short Story Submission: Story Title”. Please include a short bio with the story. Works should be original and unpublished.
We try will acknowledge receipt of the story immediately but it may take us longer to respond about whether we will use the story in an upcoming month. (Updated: 07/2017) If you don’t hear from us in a reasonable amount of time, feel free to query about your status. The staff is very small and health and time issues have severely impacted our response times–including acknowledgements of receipt of submissions. Thus, a query is more than acceptable under current circumstances.
Simultaneous submission are okay but notify us if it is accepted elsewhere before we get back to you.
What are we looking for? Our Senior Editor put it quite succinctly: “We’re looking for stories where the investigator is the protagonist, or at least a significant character, and the focus is on solving a crime, or getting someone out of a jam, or seeking some sort of justice.”
Via: Gumshoe.
by Stuart Conover | Jul 31, 2018 | Anthology, Events, Semipro
Deadline: November 1st, 2018
Payment: 4¢ per word if funded through Kickstarter
Concrete Dreams — an Urban Fantasy anthology of Magic and Gears that we will be attempting to fund via a Kickstarter campaign. This anthology has an open call for manuscripts and will pay at least 4¢ per word, if funded. Word count guidelines 5-10k, for a total anticipated length of 120k. Open for any Urban Fantasy (“Modern” fantasy, essentially fantasy set in the era of paved roads) submission with a magic and gears flavor. Juried. Deadline for submission is November 1st 2018. Accepted authors are expected to participate in anthology promotion during the Kickstarter campaign.
Via: Prospective Press.
by Stuart Conover | Jul 30, 2018 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events, Royalties, Semipro
Deadline: September 30th, 2018
Payment: $0.03/word, royalties, contributor’s copy
Theme: “Bubble Off Plumb” (BOP) is a colloquial expression for things being not quite right. We’re looking for original fiction short stories of such a nature; odd, unsettling, full of twists, etc. All genres are welcome, if you have a story which doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere else, we might be the home for it! If you’re not sure a story is odd enough: submit it. We know BOP when we see it. If you submit a love story about a dreamy vampire meeting up with a young person, it had better be damn good!
Rules: Story can range from 1,000 to 5,000 words. Multiple submittals will be accepted for consideration, but please do not overwhelm us with unpolished drafts. First world rights are preferred. Reprint rights will be accepted if the story is good enough.
Deadline: Submission deadline is September 30, 2018.
Editor: Our Lead Editor is author Kathy Finfrock who, along with Sarah Fields from Dreamlined LLC, will shepherd the work to a polished end product.
Submission Process: All submissions should follow proper manuscript format. Email to submissions @ feralcatpublishers.com. Subject line to read: “BOP-[Author Name],[Story Title], [Reprint or First]”. Please attach all submissions in .doc, .docx, or rtf formatted electronic files—No submissions embedded within the body of an email will be considered. Include personal bio and relevant copyright information for story in your cover letter.
Compensation: Selected authors will receive an advance of $0.03/word of final, edited version of their story, plus a pro rata share of downstream royalties less up-front expenses, plus one paperback proof copy, and wholesale unit rates when purchasing extra paperbacks. The authors of the three highest-ranked stories will be listed on the front cover; the remaining authors will be listed on the back cover.
Terms and Conditions: Standard contract terms example available here.
Questions: Direct other questions to mmcnulty @ feralcatpublishers.com
Via: Feral Cat Publishers.
by Stuart Conover | Jul 24, 2018 | Anthology, Events, Semipro
Deadline: September 1st 2018
Payment: 4¢ per word, if funded
Tales From the Old Black Ambulance — a horror anthology that we will be attempting to fund via a Kickstarter campaign. This anthology has an open call for manuscripts and will pay at least 4¢ per word, if funded. Word count guidelines 5-10k, for a total anticipated length of 100k. Open for horror and weird stories about graveyards, cemeteries, mausoleums, morgues, funeral homes, funerary rites, and, of course, hearses. Juried. Deadline for submission is September 1st 2018. Accepted authors are expected to participate in anthology promotion during the Kickstarter campaign.
Via: Prospective Press.
by Stuart Conover | Jun 25, 2018 | Events, Magazine, Poetry, Semipro
Deadline: September 15th, 2018
Payment: US 3¢/word rounded to nearest dollar; minimum US $3, maximum $25.
Eye to the Telescope 30, Witches, will be edited by Ashley Dioses.
A witch is defined as someone who is said to possess usually malignant supernatural powers. Since speculative fiction covers fantasy and science fiction as well as horror, we’re going to focus on ‘usually’ in that definition. I want any take on witches with any gender. Horrific witches, saintly witches, pretty witches, ugly witches, witches from different planets, witches from different dimensions, historical witches with a speculative spin. I want witches performing rituals, witches celebrating the sabbats, witches casting spells or curses. I know sorceresses, conjurers, enchantresses are similar but they are not the same. I prefer traditional formal and metrical verse done well. Prose poetry is fine. For free verse, enchant me with imagery and beautiful language. That doesn’t mean archaic language (though a little is fine). Think of Edgar Allan Poe, Clark Ashton Smith, George Sterling, David Park Barnitz, Charles Baudelaire.
Submission Guidelines
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
- Please submit 1–3 poems in English (in body of e-mail, or attached as .doc, .docx, or .rtf).
- Please send submissions to [email protected] with the subject line “ETTT sub:” followed by the poet’s name.
- Include a short bio.
- Deadline: September 15. The issue will appear on October 15, 2018.
Payment and rights
- Accepted poems will be paid for at the following rate: US 3¢/word rounded to nearest dollar; minimum US $3, maximum $25. Payment is on publication.
- The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association normally uses PayPal to pay poets, but can also send checks.
- Eye to the Telescope is an online publication. Therefore, First Electronic Rights (for original unpublished poems) are being sought.
Who can submit?
Anyone writing speculative poetry.
What is Speculative Poetry?
Speculative poetry is poetry which falls within the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and supernatural horror, plus some related genres such as magic realism, metafiction, and fabulation. It is not easy to give precise definitions, partly because many of these genres are framed in term of fiction rather than poetry.
A good starting point is “About Science Fiction Poetry” by Suzette Haden Elgin, the founder of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Despite its title, this article is applicable all forms of speculative poetry.
Tim Jones, editor of Issue 2, had a go at defining science fiction poetry on his blog, in two parts (These blog posts date from 2009, and the Voyagersanthology has since been published. These posts do refer specifically to science fiction poetry, rather than the broader field of speculative poetry.):
timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-science-fiction-poetry-part-1.html
timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-science-fiction-poetry-part-2.html
What Is the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA)?
As the SFPA says on its website at sfpoetry.com, “The Science Fiction Poetry Association was founded in 1978 to bring together poets and readers interested in science fiction poetry. What is sf poetry? You know what they say about definitions—everybody has one. To be sure, it is poetry (we’ll leave that definition to you), but it’s poetry with some element of speculation—usually science fiction, fantasy, or horror. Some folks include surrealism, some straight science.”
See the SFPA site for lots more information—and please consider joining.
Via: Eye to the Telescope.
by Stuart Conover | Jun 19, 2018 | Anthology, Events, Semipro
Deadline: October 1st 2018
Payment: 3 cents per word
The future is now. At least, that’s what we’re told, but the more advanced technology gets, the more ways people find to hurt each other. Many say that technology changes the way we define ‘human.’ In this anthology, we’ll erase the definition entirely.
That’s what you’ll answer. In Crash Code, we want to see the pinnacle of our technology meeting the depths of our depravity. Let’s talk voluntary amputations so we can wear cybernetic limbs as fashion statements. Tell us how commercial interplanetary flight changes human tracking. Show the world what the criminal underworld can do in an age of quantum computers. This anthology is going to focus on just how far human kind is willing to fall in pursuit of the next innovation, whether it’s paying for bionic sex in bitcoins, five-year-olds browsing the Dark Web, bar code tattoos, mainstream holographic snuff films, or corrupted neural implants driving their users mad.
Think Neuromancer with even more drugs and crime. Imagine Blade Runner meets Saw. Picture Wrath James White’s version of Brave New World. Imagine a test-tube baby made from George Orwell and Jack Ketchum. If your story makes people think American Mary merged with Altered Carbon, we want it.
These are just some ideas. Pick one if you like, or come up with your own sick, twisted future. Just make sure it answers one question:
In a world where everything demands a dollar sign and subscription fees, is humanity something we can afford to lose?
Stories must be previously unpublished in any form
Email: [email protected]
Length: 1,500 words up to 7K
Deadline: October 1st 2018
Multiple Submissions: No
Simultaneous Submissions: No
Payment: 3 cents/word
Editor: Kevin Holton
Publisher: Blood Bound Books
Via: Blood Bound Books.
