Submission Window: June 1st – June 30th, 2021
Payment: 3 cents/word
Theme: Ecological Horror

Field Notes from a Nightmare will be a print and e-book anthology about environmental and ecological horrors. Though some still try, there is no denying that humans have and continue to drastically alter the earth and its environment. Climate change, pollution, suburban sprawl, deforestation, etc. Give me your tales and observations on these impacts. What horrors have/will we see as a result? How will Mother Nature fight back in a struggle for survival? As long as it’s nature/environmental/ecological and horror, it’s good.

Submission Period: June 1 – June 30. Do not send before June 1.

Length: 1,000 – 4,000 words. Firm.

Author Compensation: 3 cents/word, paid via PayPal upon acceptance.

Publication: Print and ebook (target publication Winter 2021-22).

Rights: Exclusive First Worldwide Publication and Electronic Rights for three months, and non-exclusive rights thereafter.

Original stories ONLY. No reprints. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your story immediately if accepted elsewhere. NO multiple submissions.

Email your submission as a Word document attachment to [email protected] with “FIELD NOTES – [Story Title] – [Author Name] – [Word Count]” in the subject line.

OTHER SUBMISSION CONSIDERATIONS:

• Dark weird fiction and horror-adjacent sci-fi is also welcome. Please no fantasy or hard sci-fi.
• This is anthology about our earth, so to a large degree your story should be rooted in our reality. Meaning, stories with dystopian elements are expected, but full-on dystopian stories will be a hard sell.
• Happy endings are also a hard sell, but don’t be afraid to try a glimmer of hope.
• Tropes aren’t bad, but preference will given to unique usage and/or subversion of well-established tropes.
• Yes, we are pro-environment, but don’t be overly moralizing. Nuance is key.
• Stories that deal with bigotry are fine, but bigoted stories are not.
• Splatterpunk is fine, but gore and extreme elements should serve story, character, and theme.

Please see the General Submission Guidelines below for additional formatting information.

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General Submission Guidelines

Rejections for Dose of Dread submissions will be sent by the end of the month submitted. If you have not received a reply by then, feel free to follow-up. All rejections will be form rejections. It’s not personal, promise. Which also means please don’t respond to rejections. It’s unnecessary.

For Dose of Dread submissions, please send your work by email to [email protected] with the subject line format: “DOSE – [Story title] – [Author name]”. For FIELD NOTES anthology, submit your work by email to [email protected] with the subject line format: “FIELD NOTES – [Story title] – [Author name] – [Word count]”.

Address your email to “Editor” or “Alex”.

Please provide a brief cover letter in the body of the email (title, word count, relevant info, etc). Do not stress over or overthink this.

Please include an author bio of 100 words or less, written in third person, plus any links (e.g. to a website / Twitter) if you wish to include them.

Please submit your work as an email attachment in .doc/.docx format. Any other attachment type or stories copy/pasted into the body of the email will not be read.

Ensure your document contains your story title, your name (or pen name), and an approximate word count.

Please include a header on each page of your document with your surname, title and page number.

Your document should be formatted in Times New Roman, 12pt., with double line spacing and indented paragraphs.

All payments will be made via PayPal.

Query [email protected] for any questions or concerns.

Via: Dreadstone Press.