Category: Semipro

Events / Flash / Magazine / Semipro

 by 

Taking Submissions: midnight & indigo Fourth Quarter 2023 Call

Deadline: December 31, 2023
Payment: $0.07 per word
Theme: Character-driven fictional short stories written by Black women writers. All genres are welcome.

We’re Currently Accepting Submissions!

Next Deadline: December 31, 2023 at 11:59 pm ET
(short fiction – all genres and narrative essays)
*updated 10/1/23

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT!

short stories. essays. melanin. Whether you’re an established writer or are just starting out, we want to hear from you!

midnight & indigo, a literary journal celebrating Black women writers, has issued a call for submissions to review short stories and narrative essays. We publish content on our digital platform and in our literary journals (paperback/ebook/audiobook). In 2024, we will publish our first long-form anthology!

Writers are invited to share their original, fictional, or personal stories. Stories can funny, entertaining, serious, or sincere. Stories must be character-driven and leave readers with something to think about. All genres are welcome!

(more…)

Events / Magazine / Poetry / Semipro

 by 

Taking Submissions: Eye to the Telescope #51

Deadline: December 15th, 2023
Payment: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25
Theme: Speculative Poems related to Death

Eye to the Telescope 51, Death, will be edited by Robin Wyatt Dunn.

This bourn, boundary stone, from where no traveler—

Die is said to be a borrowed word in English, used out of “superstitious dread.” Douglas Harper tells us the Dutch euphemism is “to give the pipe to Maarten.”

He will not give it back.

These pipe dreams, doors and canyons into which we dive, some willingly, some not, some with trepidation, some with relief, are less final than they appear:

For our Neil Gaiman she was second only to Destiny: the one we all share.

A bodiless zone beyond all reach, or earthly cave filled with the standing bodies awaiting some unknowable future.

Give me death, since we cannot have liberty.

Give me death, in all its colors. As a gift it is a strange one, non-returnable, non-exchangeable. As an exile, like other exiles, there are occasional modes of return.

He or she who rules it orbits the human spirit like a malevolent moon, spinning faster:

with a beautiful face.

(more…)

Artwork / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Online / Semipro

 by 

Taking Submissions: Diet Milk Magazine In The Bleak Midwinter

Submission Window: October 1st – 31st, 2023
Payment: Microfiction: $3 per piece, Flash Fiction $5 per piece
Theme: Gothic stories

From October 1st – 31st, Diet Milk Magazine will be accepting micro and flash fiction for its December series, IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER. Twenty-five works will be chosen to be posted from December 1st through Christmas to our website and boosted on twitter.

At the end of the month, all pieces will be compiled into an easy-to-read .PDF and made available for free (though donations are appreciated!) on our issues shop.

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

  • All submissions must fall under the Gothic umbrella, but aren’t required to be a specific genre
  • No reprints or multiple submissions
  • Simultaneous submissions permitted, though we ask to be informed promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere!
  • Submissions should be .doc, .docx, or .pdf format
  • If you receive a rejection, you may submit again (with new work) immediately

(more…)

Artwork / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine / Semipro

 by 

Taking Submissions: Archive of the Odd #4

Deadline: December 15th, 2023
Payment: $0.01/word for fiction, $20/page for art
Theme: Found fiction (aka epistolary, found footage, or found file fiction)

Archive of the Odd is a biannual magazine of found fiction—stories told in the style of found footage, also known epistolary, neo-epistolary, found file, or found document fiction. Essentially, stories told in the form of other documents.

All submissions must be found fiction. We realize this is oddly specific, so if you’re not sure what we’re looking for, the best way will be to look at the stories on our website, or buy an issue to see the full zine treatment (in fact, if you email us or DM us on Twitter we’ll give you a coupon code for being a savvy author… just saying). Alternately, think about all the things you read on a daily basis that aren’t fiction. Newspapers? Emails? Product support guides? …Submissions calls?

If you read all of this and still have questions, please refer to our FAQ, or query!

Alright, let’s dive in!

(more…)

Events / Flash / Magazine / Semipro

 by 

Taking Submissions: Spooky Magazine #1

Submission Window: October 1st – December 31st, 2023
Payment: 1 cent per word
Theme: Cozy horror. Fun horror. Classy horror. Dare we say, wholesome horror?

Cozy horror. Fun horror. Classy horror. Dare we say, wholesome horror?

Oxymoron? We don’t think so. One place you can start your exploration of this idea is an article from Nightmare Magazine penned by one of our co-founders.

But perhaps the easiest way to understand what we mean is to read stories by some of the old masters we love: Ray Bradbury, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Roald Dahl. Watch classic episodes of Thriller, The Twilight Zone, and Night Gallery. Read old horror comics. Listen to radio dramas like Suspense, Quiet, Please, and Inner Sanctum Mysteries. Consume enough vintage horror, and you’ll probably begin to get an idea of the type of thing that’s likely to appeal to us.

In short, we’re looking to provide a space for a type of storytelling that has largely gone out of style – dark and scary, but playful and approachable with an emphasis on plot. To clarify further, here’s a list of things we want and things we don’t, which may help you hit the sweet spot.

(more…)

Artwork / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine / Poetry / Semipro

 by 

Taking Submissions: NonBinary Review #35

Deadline: February 1st, 2023
Payment: Fiction: 1¢ per word, Poetry: $10 flat fee, Artwork: $25 flat fee (Cover art is $50)
Theme: Lies for Children

NonBinary Review is open for submissions on the theme of “lies for children.”

“If you keep making that face, it’ll freeze that way.” “We found you under a cabbage leaf.” “If you drink coffee, it’ll stunt your growth.” “If you go to sleep with wet hair, you’ll catch pneumonia.”

Adults tell children some outrageous lies. Think back to your own childhood and explanations your parents gave you for things you didn’t understand or superstitions they perpetuated. Why do adults feel that children need credulity-straining fictions rather than objective truths? What things do we find so uncomfortable that we can’t explain them to children? How do those lies affect our relationship with the children we lied to, or the adults who lied to us? Some of these lies are benevolent (although kind of weird), but some can be trauma-inducing. We want to hear the stories behind those lies, and the consequences they engendered.

We’re NOT looking for fairy tales, re-tellings of children’s bedtime stories, tall tales, Santa Claus/Easter bunny/tooth fairy origin stories, or any other fictions that even children know are stories told for fun.

(more…)

Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Semipro

 by 

Taking Submissions: Nightmares Before Bed

Deadline: January 31st, 2023
Payment: 3 cents a word and a contributors copy
Theme: All horror, ideally cross-genre with fantasy or science fiction

Nightmares Before Bed is exactly what you think it is.  This will be our first horror anthology and we want to be clear, no sexual violence, abuse of children, overly disturbing images and ideas, or gore will be published.  We want horror, we want to be scared, but let’s do it in a way that is respectful.  We’d love to see fantasy horror or sci-fi horror here.  Closes 11:59 pm 01/31/2024.

(more…)

Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flash / Semipro

 by 

Taking Submissions: Best of British Science Fiction 2023

Deadline: December 17th, 2023
Payment: 1p a word up to £50.00 and a contributors copy
Theme: Science fiction stories published by British authors in 2023

Best of British Science Fiction 2023
is now open for submissions.
We are seeking science fiction stories (not fantasy or any other flavour of genre in this instance) that were first published during 2023. Authors must be British, Irish, British-based or ex-pats.
This is a reprint anthology, so we are not interested in seeing previously unpublished work on this occasion.

(more…)