Deadline: March 31st, 2022
Payment: $50
Theme: You must include some sort of abandonment, whether real or virtual, that concludes by the end of the story to meet the theme requirements.

Legion of Dorks Presents: Abandoned – An Anthology of Vacant Spaces is searching for short stories no more than 7000 words exploring the phenomenon of full spaces gone empty. Submissions are open from January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2022. Your story must be an original, never-before-published creation that centers around this theme.

You must include some sort of abandonment, whether real or virtual, that concludes by the end of the story to meet the theme requirements. You cannot write in anyone else’s world. Otherwise, have fun and let your imagination dominate.

A videographer meets a ghost in a haunted house.

A lone explorer finds an abandoned spaceship.

An old base on the bottom of the ocean offers treasures to a deep-sea scientist. But who built it?

The ideas are endless.

We are offering $50 per accepted story.

Fifty percent of all revenue after cost of production will be donated to Toys for Tots in conjunction with the Legion of Dorks December fundraiser.

Email all submissions to [email protected] in standard short story format with the subject “Submission for Abandoned (last name).” One story per email please and no more than three submissions total.

If you’re curious about the stories we like, check out the others in the series: Laundered – An Anthology of Monster Messes and Horizons – An Anthology of Epic Journeys.

Manuscript Submission Guidelines:

We are accepting submissions of complete, previously unpublished manuscripts in the speculative fiction genre that have series potential. Speculative fiction encompasses horror, fantasy, and science fiction—and all of the niche categories under those large umbrellas.

We’re only considering full length novels between 40K and 100K words. If it’s shorter or longer, please don’t send it to us.

Also, we do not publish for young children. Please don’t send us anything intended for an audience younger than high school age.

All submissions must be in standard manuscript format. If you’re unsure what that means, check out this helpful guide—though do not underline. Italics is fine. (https://www.shunn.net/format/story.html)

Queries should be sent to [email protected] with a subject of “{Category} – {Author Name}.” For instance, “Epic Fantasy – Brandon Sanderson” or “Space Opera – Kevin J. Anderson.” If you don’t know the exact category, at least put the big one: horror, fantasy, or science fiction.

Please include in your submission:

• Query letter in the body of the email
  • with the genre and word count
• First three chapters of the manuscript as an attachment (.docx or .doc)
• Synopsis as an attachment (.docx or .doc).

Via: Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing.