Deadline: March 1st, 2022
Payment: Royalties
Theme: Stories about mermaids

The thing about mermaids is they have a tail problem.

It seems they either want to get rid of their tail so they can walk on land,

or they want to get their tail back, having somehow lost it so they could be on land.

Or, they fell in love with someone who doesn’t have a tail…

It never seems to end. All we know for sure, is that it’s a problem.

Submission dates January 15, 2022 to March 1, 2022

We want stories about mermaids. All kinds of stories about mermaids. Be creative!

There are no genre restrictions on this anthology, however the main premise of Mermaidens implies water-dwelling, fish-tailed women. Please keep this in mind if your story does not contain those elements. It will be up to the editors to decide if a non water-dwelling, un-fish-tailed woman (or merman) fits the theme well enough.

For this anthology, please no extreme horror or sex. Please keep content and language limited to the equivalent of a “PG-13” rated movie. We want to be able to share this with our mothers and children.

Please remember, Knight Writing Press will not accept a story that glorifies, supports, encourages, or gratuitously includes hate, hate crimes, rape, sex, sex crimes, or any other forms of inhumanity. While we know it is tempting to walk those lines with mermaids being “sirens” who lure men, do not send us stories about  rape, torture, or abusive mind control unless you are showing the consequences and why it shouldn’t be done. Even then, we probably don’t want to see it. This anthology is supposed to fun escapism, not an outlet for high-handed morality stories nor mentally masturbative abusers.

Please make sure you read and follow all submission guidelines and look over the sample contract before you submit. In the text of your query letter, please include confirmation that you understand we are using Draft2Digital and that you must have an account there in order to receive royalties for your story.

Submit stories to:

[email protected]

with the subject heading:

Mermaidens Submission—(story title) by (author pen name)

While rejections may be sent out prior to the deadline date, acceptances will not be determined until after the close of submissions.

Word count maximum (firm) of 7,000 words. Anything under 2,000 words will be considered flash fiction.

Rights asked for: worldwide, nonexclusive, English Language publication rights, for both print and electronic, for as long as the anthology remains in print.

Payment: royalty sharing.

Reprints, poetry, flash fiction, and B&W art are welcome and will be paid at 1/2 rate of original stories. Please disclose in your cover letter if your story is a reprint at the time of submission.

Multiple and simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please be aware that while we may not mind publishing your story at the same time someone else does, other publishers may not feel the same way, and you should keep them informed of the multiple submissions status of your story.

Via: Knight Writing Press.