Deadline: March 17th, 2025
Payment: $0.01 (USD) per word and a contributor’s copy
Theme: Speculative ecofiction that was originally published in 2024

We’ve received more than 150 stories nominated by publishers, editors, and authors so far, and the range of stories, ideas, and perspectives has been so wonderful to read. As this is our first year of the anthology and our launch happened so quickly, we’ve decided to extend the submissions window out to Monday, March 17, to ensure that everyone publishing ecofiction gets a chance to submit.

The full submission guidelines are below.

ECO24: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction, edited by Marissa van Uden, showcases some of the most vivid, thought-provoking, and emotionally affecting ecofiction published in the previous calendar year.

Speculative ecofiction is defined as stories that explore our place in the natural world and our relationships to non-human life (e.g. focused on themes related to ecology, nature, the environment, climate, conservation, wildlife and animal rights) and which also fall into speculative genres such as science fiction, fantasy, Weird fiction, New Weird, anthropomorphic fantasy, magical realism.

Ecofiction engages with some of the most urgent issues facing us today and also looks ahead to the possibilities of the future. Even when dealing with dark or tragic themes, ecofiction stories are expressions of our human connection to the most beautiful planet we know, and to all of earthlife.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please note this anthology is for previously published stories only.

Editors and Publishers are encouraged to send their best works of ecofiction published in 2024. If not all of the stories in a magazine or anthology are eligible, please indicate which stories you are nominating.

Authors may nominate their own works, but please check with your publisher first to see if they have already submitted your piece.

Eligibility Criteria:

1. 1. The story must be ecofiction; e.g., the plot or main themes but be focused on ecology, climate, the environment, conservation, the natural world, our relationship to animals and other non-human life, and related issues. A climate-crisis setting alone is not enough to qualify.
   2. The story must contain speculative elements; e.g. it should be eco-science fiction, eco-fantasy, futuristic or secondary-world climate fiction, ecological Weird, ecological magical realism, or any other blend of speculative fiction.
   3. The original publication date must be between January 1 and December 31 of the eligibility year. If it’s a translation, the eligibility year is the English publication date.
   4. Stories must be complete (no excerpts) and between 1,000 and 6,000 words
   5. The story must have been published in an anthology, collection, journal, or magazine (online or print) by an editor or publisher that is not the author. Self-published works are not eligible. Unpublished works are not eligible.
   6. Stories published in Apex Magazine or Apex Book Company anthologies or in works edited by staff are eligible.
   7. Stories authored by the paid staff of Apex Magazine, Apex Book Company, and Violet Lichen are not eligible.

   Rights and Payments

   • Nominations for 2024 calendar year open: January 27, 2025
   • Nominations for 2024 calendar year close: March 17, 2025
   • Word Count: 1,000 – 6,000
   • Rights: non-exclusive World anthology rights in English
   • Payment: $0.01 (USD) per word + 1 physical print copy and 1 ebook copy
   • Simultaneous submissions: yes
   • Multiple submissions: yes
   • Self-published: no<
   • Translations: yes, if the English version was first published in the eligible calendar year. Please include the translator’s name and email address in your cover letter.
   • Cover letter: Please include the publisher, publication date, and whether you are the publisher or the author. Include a link to the story if published online (optional).
   • Responses: Unfortunately, we will not be sending individual rejections. Authors of the final selected works will be notified once all nominations have been considered.
   • Formats:
     • DIGITAL: Submit via Moksha as an EPUB or .DOC or .DOCX or RTF using Standard Manuscript Format (Modern or Classic). Inclusion of your mailing address and phone number is not required.
     • PRINT: Send physical copies to
       Marissa van Uden / Violet Lichen
       PO Box 146
       Eden, VT 05652
       USA
     • Multiple files: For publishers and editors sending multiple files, you may email them to marissa.vu at apexbookcompany.com.

     We welcome and encourage submissions from writers of all races, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, and military status. We want and value diverse voices. Saying that, please be aware that we do not collect any information that might clue our editors to any of these attributes other than your name, email, and cover letter before any decisions are made regarding your submission.

Via: Apex Book Company.