Category: Magazine

Taking Submissions: Diet Milk Magazine Food Themed Issue Window

Submission Window: May 1st – May 15th, 2024
Payment: $10 per poem, $15 per short story
Theme: Food

From May 1st – May 15th, Diet Milk Magazine will be accepting submissions for its annual themed mini-issue. We will be open to poetry and prose. While the most detailed information can be found on our website, here’s a quick rundown of what potential contributors need to know!

2023 THEME: FOOD

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

  • All submissions must fall under the Gothic umbrella, but aren’t required to be a specific genre
  • All submissions must adhere to the current theme
  • 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

P O E T R Y :

Poets may submit up to three poems at a time. No single poem should exceed one page in length.

P R O S E :

Authors may EITHER up to 3 stories of less than 999 words OR a single story of 1k—2k words. Stories exceeding 2025 words will be rejected automatically.

Responses, Rights, & Payment

  • Please allow up to six weeks for a response. After that, send a gentle nudge via email
  • Diet Milk Magazine asks for first serial rights. Upon publication, all rights revert back to the creator. A contract will be provided upon acceptance
  • All payments made via PayPal. For more information on pay scale, visit our website

(more…)

Taking Submissions: Radon Journal September 2024 Issue

Submission Window: April 16th – Aug. 15th, 2024
Payment: Fiction: 2¢ per word for original, 1¢ per word for reprints. Poetry: $20 per original poem and $10 for reprints. $100 for issue cover art, $30 for back cover art, and $20 for art used on our site
Theme: Stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia.
Note: Reprints Welcome

Radon welcomes short stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia.

We publish quality literature every mid-January, May, and September.

  • Submissions are accepted year-round.

  • Simultaneous submissions are welcome.

  • Reprints accepted if writer has the rights.

  • AI submissions are not allowed at Radon.

Please click below to submit your work through our no-fee Submittable page:

We kindly request a third-person bio that is 100-words or shorter in your cover letter.

Author rights:

For original work, Radon asks for first English digital rights and non-exclusive, indefinite archival rights.

Authors published in Radon cannot be accepted into the issue immediately following, but may submit after this period.

(more…)

Taking Submissions: Eye to the Telescope #53

Deadline: June 15th, 2024
Payment: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25
Theme: Strange Mixology

Eye to the Telescope 53, Strange Mixology, will be edited by Gretchen Tessmer.

As your fearless bartender, I’m looking for cosmic concoctions, time-twisted tinctures and charmed potions. Give me something with a kicker, the green fairy’s secret spells, the sweet sap of the old woods and the moonshine of mermaids, alien aperitifs and speakeasies in space. All spirits welcome, even the ones that don’t come in glass bottles. Feel free to interpret the theme broadly but make sure there’s a spec element.Give me your old-fashioned verse and cosmopolitan compositions, pink squirrels, bee’s knees, gimlets and juleps, juniper berries, elderflowers, the marriage vows of Old Tom Collins and Bloody Mary. Garnish with kaleidoscopic umbrellas and a twisty straw. In Poetry Veritas. Sláinte.
(more…)

Taking Submissions: Eidetic Quarterly – Beach Horror

Deadline: April 18th, 2024
Payment: $10 and a contributor’s copy
Theme: Beach Horror

We’re back baby and we’re looking for your best creepy stories. The talented team – Nora B. Peevy (Managing Editor and Submissions Reader) and Thomas Stewart (Art Director and Submissions Reader) will be working together to bring you the newly vamped version of Eidetic Quarterly. Our inaugural summer issue is coming out on July 4th, Independence Day, 2024. 

We are accepting ten stories.

Theme: Beach Horror

(more…)

Ongoing Submissions: Frontier Tales

Payment: 1 cent per word
Theme: Stories of action and conflict. Open to some mixed genres, so it can include horror, etc, if it captures the theme and time period of a Western.

Short stories up to 10,000 words in length. Finished and edited.

Our top priority stories are what we like to call “strait shooters”. These are stories of action and conflict. We want gunslingers dueling in saloons, cowboys taking on bandits, Lawmen bringing order to the chaos of the West, bounty hunters going to the ends of the continent to catch their man, a Comanche warrior making his last stand on the open plains, Settlers defending their home from raiders, etc.

While these sorts of yarns are our preference we are still open to other varieties. Romantic western tales of love triumphing or dying on the frontier, ghost stories of the lost souls doomed to wander the among western winds, or weird westerns featuring deep ancient horrors revealing themselves to unsuspecting victims.

What are we not looking for

Smut/pornographic stories

Space/science fiction with western themes

Neo-westerns taking place in a contemporary setting

Stories set outside of America, in the future we may open up this to include other locales but for now it will be exclusively stories set in the US

Serialized stories, we may open this up in the future but for the time being we strictly want stand alone tales

(more…)

Taking Submissions: The Lorelei Signal 2024 Oct – Dec Issue

Submission Window: April 15th – May 15th, 2024
Payment: $15.00 for short stories, $5.00 for poems and flash (<1000 wds) fiction pieces., $5.00 for reprints
Theme: SF/Fantasy (ideally fantasy) with strong and complex female characters
Note: Reprints Welcome

 

The Lorelei Signal is a quarterly SF/Fantasy electronic magazine – one that will feature strong / complex female characters. This does not mean your female character has to be the main hero or villain in the story. What it does mean is no shrinking violets, or women who serve only to get into trouble so the male hero can rescue them.


Each issue I hope to publish:
7 short stories, 1 flash fiction piece and 2 poems
that meet the following guidelines:

My primary guideline is simple:
Write a good fantasy story with strong/complex characters.



What I am NOT looking for – erotica / slash / or other such stories.
Although well written love scenes that are IMPORTANT to the story will be considered on a story-by-story basis.

1) Stories should be no longer than 10,000 words.
However, tell the story – if it takes more than 10,000 words to tell the story properly so be it.
Just try to cut it down if possible – but remember the story is the important part.

2) Stories must feature 3 dimensional / complex characters.

3) I will accept reprints as long as it has been at least 1 year since the story was previously published,
rights have reverted back and you tell me where it previously appeared.
These will be limited to 2 per issue.

4) Please keep the graphic gore down to a minimum
(only what’s needed for the story).

5) Please keep the obscene language to a bare minimum
(again, only what’s needed for the story).

6) Simultaneous Submissions will be considered IF:
a) You tell me up front
b) You inform me immediately if the story has been accepted elsewhere
If I have too many occurrences of finding out a story was accepted somewhere else when I contact an author to tell them I would like to accept their story for The Lorelei Signal – I will no longer accept simultaneous submissions.
(more…)

Taking Submissions: NonBinary Review #37

Deadline: August 1st, 2024
Payment: $10 for poetry, $25 for artwork, 1 cent per word for fiction
Theme: False Memories
Note: Reprints Welcome

NonBinary Review is currently open for submissions on the theme of FALSE MEMORIES.

False memories first came to public consciousness in the 1980s when a group of pre-schoolers at a California preschool were coached by well-meaning social workers and police investigators into “remembering” Satanic abuse that never happened. The fallout from that episode wasn’t just the persecution of an innocent family, but a nationwide mass delusion now known as “the Satanic Panic,” where authorities were warning the public about supposed widespread satanic cults committing heinous acts of abuse. Not a single one of these warnings were founded in fact, and it is now known that a large number of them were propaganda.

But false memories aren’t always bad. There is a common phenomenon wherein people hear stories of their early childhoods so often that those stories turn into “memories.” It is common in dreams to have “memories” of things that happened to the dream self, but not to the real self. Or a person might believe that they took their regular medication, brought in the garbage bins, or picked up the mail when they haven’t.

We’re looking for weird and wonderful stories of not just the memories themselves, but of their production, their repercussions, their wider meanings. We’re looking for false memories that might have changed history, that led to remarkable discoveries, that impacted lives.

We’re NOT looking stories of recovered memories. Recovered memories are memories of real events that have been suppressed because they’re traumatic, and are a widely disputed phenomenon. We would also like to avoid stories centering abuse, trauma, and violence.

(more…)

Taking Submissions: khōréō April 2024 (Early Listing)

Submission Window: April 15th – May 15th, 2024
Payment: 10 cents per word and $500 for custom cover art and $100 for cover art drawn from an artist’s existing portfolio.
Theme: Fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element.
Note: You must 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’.

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 explore some aspect of migration, whether explicitly (themes of immigration, colonialism, etc.), metaphorically, or with a sly nod and a wink. 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!

See submission requirements & how to submit at the following pages:

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

We have the following reading periods for fiction in 2024:

  • January 15-February 15 (Issue 4.3)
  • April 15-May 15 (Issue 4.4)
  • July 15-August 15 (Issue 5.1)
  • October 15-November 15 (Issue 5.2)

Please see the fiction submissions page for additional details.

In some cases, we may cancel a reading period as we have filled all available slots for the next issue. We will note these changes on our website and announce them on social media. Please follow us in Twitter, Instagram, or BlueSky to hear about these updates in real time.

Please note that art submissions are open year-round and audio submissions are open on an ad hoc basis.

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. 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!

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, transnational/transracial adoptees, 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.

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.

Stories must contain a speculative element in order to be considered; if there isn’t some element of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc. in the story, it’s not for us. The speculative element should be integrated into the piece—a random mention of a ghost on page 12 of 16 isn’t going to be the right fit.

Please submit stories through our Moksha system. Please submit based on length — stories ≤1,500 words should go into our flash queue, while stories 1,501-5,000 words should go into the short story queue.

UPDATE 10/2022: We now allow authors to submit one story each to the short story and flash queue. We do not allow authors to submit more than one story every submission period to a given queue.

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.

Cover Letters

Cover letters aren’t mandatory, but there are a few things that are really helpful for us to see from you.

  • Submission status: If the piece is a simultaneous submission, please let us know in your cover letter and withdraw the piece immediately if it is accepted elsewhere. Being a simultaneous submission won’t impact whether or not we accept the piece.
  • Content warnings: Please include content warnings in your cover letter and in the text of your piece. Content warnings will not impact whether or not we accept your piece; we’ve published some really dark stories. However, they do let us assign stories to our First Readers more thoughtfully. More on content warnings in the next section.
  • Genre: Please include the general genre of the piece in your cover letter (fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc.); this makes it easier for us to assign it to our First Readers according to their preferences. Submissions that omit this won’t be penalized — it’s just a little more convenient for us. 🙂
  • Feedback preference: We can’t provide feedback on every piece we receive, but we try where we can. If you do not want feedback, please let us know in the cover letter! We’ll respect your wishes.
  • Author bio: Tell us a bit about yourself! This can include, but is not limited to, your identity; past sales; inspiration for the piece or particular qualifications for writing it (e.g., if you are an internationally renowned chess player and your story is about chess, tell us!).

Content Warnings

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. Including content warnings will not negatively impact your chances of getting accepted—in fact, noting them where they are warranted actually helps your chances, since that means we can get the story to the right First Reader!

If you’re not sure if your story requires content warnings, it’s better to err on the side of caution. We’ve included a list below for some ideas of what could constitute a content warning, so just flip through it and see if your story contains any of the terms.

If you are fundamentally against the concept of content warnings and refuse to include them on principle, then we are not the right venue for you and we wish you the best of luck submitting your work elsewhere.

  • Sexual Assault
  • Abuse
  • Child abuse/pedophilia/incest
  • Animal cruelty or animal death
  • Self-harm and suicide
  • Eating disorders, body hatred, and fatphobia
  • Violence (specifying graphic, against children, domestic violence, etc. is helpful)
  • Pornographic content
  • Kidnapping and abduction
  • Death or dying (specifying death of a parent, child, etc. can be helpful)
  • Pregnancy/childbirth
  • Miscarriages/abortion
  • Blood
  • Illness (e.g., cancer, seizures)
  • Mental illness and ableism
  • Racism and racial slurs
  • Sexism and misogyny
  • Classism
  • Hateful language directed at religious groups (e.g., Islamophobia, antisemitism)
  • Transphobia and transmisogyny
  • Homophobia and heterosexism

Source: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/inclusive-teaching/inclusive-classrooms/an-introduction-to-content-warnings-and-trigger-warnings/

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); overwhelming racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc. elements that are not subverted or challenged; 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.

Please do not withdraw and resubmit the same story in one submission window; stories that are caught doing this will be rejected. Stories are assigned to first readers at least once per day and usually read quite quickly.

Stories over 5,000 words will be rejected without being read. Please don’t try to “trick” us.

Submission Process

Each story is assigned to a first reader, who reads the piece in its entirety before scoring it and providing an initial recommendation (reject or pass up to editors). This step is usually complete within a couple of days.

Regardless of score, an editor reviews each story before finalizing the decision. While most stories have their first read complete within a couple of days, this second step tends to be our bottleneck, since there’s just a small team reading the Fiction stories, and we usually get ~400/window.

Therefore, having a high queue number does not mean your story hasn’t been read already. For this reason, please do not withdraw and resubmit the same story in one submission window; stories that are found doing this will be rejected.

If you made a truly horrific mistake (like, you submitted the wrong file), reach out to [email protected] when you make the discovery and we’ll figure out if there’s a way to make things right.

A typo does not count as a horrific mistake; we haven’t rejected a single story because of a typo. Realizing you could have rewritten a few sentences or added/killed a paragraph does not count as a horrific mistake either, and stories that are accepted go through a revision process; however, please make sure your story is ready and final before submitting it.

What we offer

Payment at SFWA pro rates ($0.08/word $0.10/word).

What we ask for

At a high level, we ask for:

  • Non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-transferrable first-world English-language rights to publish in digital, ebook, and print
  • Right to republish in an anthology of stories that have previously appeared in the magazine within 24 months of initial publication in our magazine
  • Nonexclusive, non-assignable, non-transferable license to archive the story on our website for at least 36 months
  • Nonexclusive right to record audio and share it on our website for at least 36 months

Any rights not granted explicitly to us by the contract are retained by the author.

Via: khōréō.