by Stuart Conover | Jun 8, 2018 | Magazine, Ongoing Submissions, Token Payment
Payment: 1¢ / word
We are looking for highly imaginative stories with a healthy dose of the odd. Odd characters, odd experiences, odd realities. We’re looking for genre / speculative stories and are quite partial to slipstream, cross-genre, magic realism, absurdist, and the surreal.
We want character. For us, stories live and die by their characters. We’re looking for fully drawn characters who surprise us with their honesty, complexity, and contradictions.
We want mysterious. We’re looking for stories that grab the reader, make them ask, “what the hell is going on?” and then deliver on the tease.
We want ideas and we want action. We love exploring big, philosophical ideas, but we revel in suspenseful plotting. If you’re adept at blending these elements, we can’t wait to read your work.
We want fresh voices and exciting prose. We want to be surprised. We want to be inspired. We want to find stories that we can’t wait to publish, promote, and evangelize.
Check out J.J. Abrams’ TEDTalk, Mystery Box. If you find that the sensibilities he describes in this video shape your own work, we want to see your stories. But watch the video. We’re not looking for J.J. Abrams imitators. Don’t “rip off the wrong stuff.”
Some books we love:
Payment: 1¢ / word
Length: 2000 – 7500 words
Email formatted submissions as an attached .doc, docx, or .rtf file to [email protected]. Use the body of the email for your cover letter.
Response time is between one and three months. We are not considering reprints or excerpts at this time.
We do not accept simultaneous or multiple submissions.
Author’s rights: Use of the author’s work by Bourbon Penn entails the assignment of first world English rights, for publication in the English language anywhere in the world. Bourbon Penn may use the author’s work only in the above-mentioned publication—paperback, web, and electronic editions—and re-printings of it.
Via: Bourbon Press.
by Stuart Conover | Jun 8, 2018 | Events, Magazine, Token Payment
Deadline: June 30th, 2018
Payment: Varies, 1 cent per word for the first 2000-3000 words and changes above that (see below.)
Submissions for Issue No.3, the “Coexistence” issue, are NOW OPEN through June 30th, 2018!
What We’re Looking For
WCP is looking for stories to publish in Issue No.3 (theme: “Coexistence”) of its magazine, Weird City. These stories should:
- Fit the Issue No.3 theme of “Coexistence”. Click here for theme details.
- Be well-written and carefully proofread. Stories with obvious or gratuitous typos or grammatical errors will be disregarded.
- Be formatted according to the William Shunn Manuscript Format, including the following:
- Font: Courier New or Courier, 12pt.
- Spacing: Double-spaced.
- Margins: At least 1″ on each side.
- Italicized Words: Underline italicized words and remove italics.
- File Format: *.doc, *.docx, or equivalent format.
- Be original works — no copied works, fanfics, or reinterpretations. We also discourage incorporating distinct elements from other works into yours (e.g. We don’t want to see Cthulhu stories).
- Be self-contained, standalone stories. No chapter excerpts please.
- Be between 2000 and 10000 words.
In case you’re wondering: YES, we do accept simultaneous submissions.
What We’re NOT Looking For
- Multiple submissions. Submit one story at a time, please.
- Reprints. We’re buying first publication rights only.
- First drafts. Rough stories or those with obvious or gratuitous typos or grammatical errors will be disregarded.
- Cliches. We agree that it’s all been done, but we are not looking for stories that rely on cliches or tropes.
- Smut. We at WCP have nothing against erotica, smut, or dirty writing, but we’re not looking to publish it.
- Offensive material. That includes everything you think it does: racism, bigotry, sexism, etc. Yes, a character in a story may be a racist (for example) but know the difference between this and ideology pushing.
- That one story you just couldn’t get published anywhere else. Don’t make us your safety school.
Rates & Rights
At this time, WCP is using a progressive payment scale (listed below) for accepted submissions. This payment is for first publication, English language rights under a limited contract. The scale is as follows:
- For the first 2000 – 3000 words: 1 cent per word, for a total payment between $20 – $30.
- For the next 2500 words (word 3001 to 5500): 1.25 cents per word, for a total payment between $30.02 – $61.25.
- For the next 2000 words (word 5501 to 7500): 1 cent per word, for a total payment between $61.26 – $81.25.
- For words above 7500 (up to 10000): 0.25 cent per word, for a total payment between: $81.26 to $87.50.
How To Submit A Story
If you have a story that meets our guidelines above that you would like to submit for consideration in Weird City Issue No.3, please follow these instructions:
- Draft an email to [email protected].
- Set your subject line to: [WCNO3] (Your Story Title) by (Your Name)
- For example, if your story is called “Buttons” and your name is Johnny Smith, your subject line would be: [WCNO3] Buttons by Johnny Smith
- Please include a brief note that mentions:
- A 1-2 line summary of your story.
- Your story’s word count.
- Why you would like your story to be considered for Weird City.
- Any accolades or publishing credits you wish to share.
- Attach your story as a *.doc, *.docx or equivalent format making sure you have followed the formatting guidelines above.
Via: Weird City Press.
by Stuart Conover | Jun 7, 2018 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events, Token Payment
Deadline: June 30th, 2018
Payment: 1 cent/word and a contributor copy
The Rabbit Dies First
FurPlanet is pleased to invite writers of anthropomorphic fiction to submit to its upcoming anthology, The Rabbit Dies First. We are looking for stories of all genres: scifi, fantasy, horror, mystery, crime, romance, or slice of life — to name a few — all centered around two concepts: the rabbit is going to die, and someone else is next.
But I don’t want to kill a rabbit!
Then don’t! Maybe the rabbit knows the rabbit is supposed to die first. Maybe everyone only expects the rabbit to die. Maybe death isn’t what it seems. We encourage you to play with the concept, rebel against it, or adhere to it–whatever makes a great story.
Seriously, what genre? Is erotic fiction okay?
Erotic fiction is okay as long as it contributes to a good story. We’re looking for a balanced anthology with many different genre types, so give us the type of story you love to write the most, or take this opportunity to try a genre you’ve always wanted to write in. We want to put out a book full of stories that are fun, gripping, heartbreaking, suspenseful, sweet, sexy, terrifying, and any combination. Want to write a prison drama or a high seas adventure? Send it to us! Just remember: The Rabbit Dies First.
Is there anything you don’t want?
Glad you asked! We’re not looking for stories including gratuitous descriptions of extreme violence (torture porn), bestiality, or non-consensual sexual situations. We’re not interested in publishing stories that give a voice to racist or sexist ideologies. We also do not want stories with only humans and no anthropomorphic animals. We do welcome and will be looking for diverse voices.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be in standard manuscript format and attached in .doc, .docx., or .rtf format in an email to [email protected] with the subject STORY SUBMISSION: [Story Title Goes Here]
In the message body, please include a brief cover letter introducing yourself and your story.
Word Length: 2000-12000 words
Payment: 1 cent/word + contributor copy
Submission Deadline: June 30, 2018
Multiple Submissions: Maximum 2
Reprints: No
Simultaneous Submissions: No
The Rabbit Dies First is a FurPlanet Production. The editor is Ryan Campbell.
Via: Fur Planet.
by Stuart Conover | May 25, 2018 | Anthology, Events, Reprints Allowed, Token Payment
Deadline: January 31st, 2019
Payment: One penny Sterling per word
Note: Reprints allowed.
Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) is my favourite fantasy author. I’ve had the pleasure of publishing several stories in the vein of CAS’s works. I’m very interested in publishing an anthology of stories, poems and prose poems in CAS’s vein. Whether the stories are based in Averoigne, Hyperboria, Poseidonis, Zothique or anywhere else, as long as it fits CAS’s mode of storytelling, I’ll be more than interested. If your story, etc. has been published elsewhere, please let me know where and when the work was published.
I will pay one penny Sterling per word, with a minimum payment of £10 Sterling for poems and very, very short stories and prose poems. For illustrations, I will pay £30 for ‘header’ illustrations to a story, £100 for full page illustrations and £200 for the cover illustration. All rights are reserved by the author or artist.
I would like to have all the material in by January 31st, 2019 so I can publish the anthology by June 2019.
Contact me by email ([email protected] or [email protected]) or by post to Jon Harvey, 56 Mickle Hill, Sandhurst, Berkshire, GU47 8QU, UK.
Via: Atlantean Publishing.
by Stuart Conover | May 16, 2018 | Anthology, Contributor's Copy, Events, Token Payment
Deadline: July 1st, 2018
Payment: $0.01 per word and a contributor’s copy
Details:
- Stories can be 1,000 words to 10,000 words.
- The anthology will be published in ebook and paperback formats.
- We pay upfront $0.01 / word. Authors will receive the e-book and one print copy of the anthology, plus wholesale pricing for additional print copies.
- Previously unpublished submissions strongly preferred.
- We are seeking twelve months of exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights and non-exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights in perpetuity.
- Multiple submissions are fine, but simultaneous submissions are discouraged. Please don’t re-submit a rejected story unless we request revisions.
- We hope to have responded to everyone within one month of the submission window’s closing. Feel free to query if it’s been longer than two months.
- Stories must be double spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font (or something similar). Do not submit in Courier. The story title, your byline, a word count, and contact information should appear on the first page, and your last name, story title, and page number should appear in the header information of all other pages. We’re not particular about whether you use italics or underlining for emphasis, how many spaces are after the period, or whether you use straight or smart quotes.
- Submissions may be sent to the email address:
Submit your stories via email as an attachment in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. The subject of your email should be SUBMISSION: <story title> by <byline>. The email body should contain a short list of your publishing credits and any pertinent biographical details. - The submission period begins April 1, 2018, and ends July 1, 2018.
Theme guidelines
- The story must have a fantasy/speculative element. Science fantasy is ok, but we’re aiming for fantasy rather than straight science fiction. We prefer “clean” stories and strongly prefer noblebright stories. For more on noblebright, please see noblebright.org.
- The story must address the “Oath and Iron” theme in some way. To us, oath and iron is a reference to fairies and the treacherous bargains they make. We’re interested in both classic and new interpretations of fairies. We’re interested in clever, dangerous, unpredictable creatures, bargains and promises that aren’t what they seem, and bright, brave characters rising to the challenge. We expect a fairy, faery, fae, elf, pixie, kobold, nixie, dryad, brownie, or other creature of Faerie in the story, but the role this character plays is up to you (protagonist, antagonist, contagonist, innocent bystander, etc.).
Via: Spring Song Press.
by Stuart Conover | May 11, 2018 | Flat Amount, Magazine, Ongoing Submissions, Token Payment
Payment: $15 flat up to 1000 words, 1.5 cents per word over that.
Who We Are
Edited by award-winning science fiction writer Bruce Bethke, STUPEFYING STORIES is a bold attempt to grow a new general-interest science fiction and fantasy magazine from the ground up. Right now we are a small-press, semi-pro, payment-on-publication market, publishing on a somewhat erratic schedule, but our goal is to grow to become a regular monthly magazine that pays professional rates on acceptance—
And here’s the radical part. We want to do this not by begging people to contribute to our Kickstarter or GoFundMe campaign or put money in our Patreon tip jar, but by selling lots of books and magazines.
Sounds pretty crazy, doesn’t it?
What We Publish
Genres: Science fiction, fantasy, and horror, in roughly that order of preference.
Venues: STUPEFYING STORIES magazine and the Saturday SHOWCASE feature on our website.
Length: Generally, from flash fiction up to 10,000 words. We will consider longer novelettes and novellas, but space for longer works is limited, so please query first before sending anything longer than 10,000 words.
Original Novels: We publish original novels through our parent company, Rampant Loon Media, but do not read unsolicited novel manuscripts. Please query first. See further information below.
Reprints: We do not publish reprints.
TIP: The best way to see what we like to publish, of course, is to buy and read a few issues of our magazine. If you have a Kindle or Kindle Reader app and a subscription to Kindle Unlimited, it’s free. If you don’t have a Kindle, the next best way is to click on the SHOWCASE link in the left column and read a good sampling of the stories you’ll find there. What we’ve published in the past is not necessarily a foolproof guide to what we’d like to publish in the future, but it’s a good place to start.
What We Buy and What We Pay
Rights: Worldwide English-language first serial rights, for publication in both print and electronic formats.
Base word rate: 1.5 cents (USD) per word.
Flash fiction: For stories up to 1,000 words in length, we pay a flat rate of $15.00.
Cover bonus: For stories selected to be magazine cover stories, we pay a bonus of $50.00 USD.
When we pay: On publication.
How to Submit a Short Story
We accept electronic submissions only. Submit your story as an attachment to an email message sent to [email protected].
CRUCIAL CONSIDERATIONS!
• One story at a time, please.
• No simultaneous submissions.
• Seriously, we do not publish reprints. Don’t send them to us.
• By sending us a submission, you agree to let us put your email address on our mailing list. While we promise never to sell our mailing list to anyone else, if you do not want to be on our mailing list, don’t send a submission to us.
• Send submissions and queries to [email protected] only. Over the years we have had a plethora of other email addresses, but these are all outdated now. If you’ve found another email address for us somewhere, don’t use it, as it most likely goes straight to /dev/null.
• We prefer submissions in .rtf, .docx, and .doc format, in roughly that order. We can handle .odt files if necessary, but they have proven troublesome, so we’ll be happier if you re-save your story in .rtf format. We cannot handle other formats such as Apple Pages files, so don’t send them.
• Do not send submissions as links to cloud or file-sharing sites. Submissions sent as links to file-sharing sites are deleted unread.
• The name of our publication is STUPEFYING STORIES. Stupefy with an “e” means to stun, astonish, or astound. Stupify with an “i” means to make stupid. Address your submission to STUPIFYING STORIES and it will be dead on arrival.
• Kindly remember that everyone here is a volunteer, working purely for love of the SF/F genre and the short story format. While we’d really like to pay our staff, right now we’re plowing everything we make back into paying our authors and artists more. If you want us to become a better-paying market, and along the way help the wonderful people who make this magazine possible, tell your friends about us. HELP US GROW!
After You Submit a Short Story
Within a week of your submission, you should receive an email message telling you either a.) we can’t use your story at this time, or b.) that it’s being held for further consideration, in which case you’ll receive a submission tracking number and further information. However, this one-week response time is a goal, not a guarantee. If you have not heard from us within 30 days, please query, as this mostly likely means either we did not receive your submission, it’s stuck somewhere in the evaluation process, or you did not receive our reply.
How to Submit a Novel
We do not consider unsolicited novel manuscripts. If you want to submit your novel to us, please send a query first to [email protected]. If we like your proposal, we’ll ask to see a partial and outline; if we like the partial and think your book looks like something that might fit well into our lineup and budget, we’ll ask to see the completed manuscript.
At this time we are not interested in reprinting previously published novels. However, over the years we have amassed considerable expertise in converting existing books to ebook and print-on-demand content, and if you would like our help in converting your rights-reverted novel into a ready-to-self-publish property, we’re willing to talk.
One More Time: Our Email Address Is…
[email protected]
If you’ve found another email address for us somewhere, don’t use it, as it most likely is no longer in use.
Via: Stupefying Stories.
