Deadline: April 1st, 2025
Payment: Royalties
Theme: Two stories that, together, give us supernatural parables, stories filled with polarities conflicting with each other at their core.

The title for the fourth Dead Birds Publishing anthology is Supernatural Parables: Myth versus Reality.

What happens when opposing supernatural forces collide? Yang and Yin. Death versus life. Villain against hero. Vampire hunting priest. Senses versus truth.

Parables are stories with life lessons woven into the pages. Lessons your characters must confront, lessons they must overcome to survive.

We are looking for supernatural parables, stories filled with polarities conflicting with each other at their core.

Tell us the morbid of your story.

What We’re Looking For

Dead Birds Publishing is looking for two short stories from each *author. The stories do not need to be mirror stories of each other, but must contain some element of opposites and some element of supernatural. Angels and devils, tricksters, the undead, myths reborn, cryptids.

While we prefer a good horror parable, writing can include magical realism, science fiction, or even dark satire.

If you’re not familiar with Dead Birds Publishing, please have a look at our most recent collection, Sasquatch is My Neighbor, to get a sense of what we’re after.

What We’re Not Looking For

We don’t accept fanfic; any characters or settings featured in your work must be your own original creations.

We will not consider any political or covid related stories, unless the topics are buried so well that even Rod Serling would have trouble spotting them.

We may accept work that has been previously published as long as the author has regained all rights. Include previously published details when submitting.

Absolutely no AI. Anyone caught submitting AI written material will be banned from our wickedly fun publication for life.

Editors

This anthology will be co-edited by A.M. Symes and Jayne Carlson.

Timeline

The deadline for submissions is April 1st, 2025.

Contributors will be notified of acceptance or rejection by June 2025.

The anthology will be published late fall of 2025.

Submission Format

Each story should have a word count in the short story range: 2,000 – 6,000. We’re not going to toss out anything below or above that count, but this is the range of our target audience.

If you’re submitting poetry, you may send up to four poems as long as they contain the polarity and supernatural elements listed above.

Send submissions in the form of Word documents (either .doc or .docx files).

While we do not have rigid submission formatting requirements, don’t go crazy with the fonts and special characters unless absolutely necessary.

Submission Process

Email all submissions to [email protected]. The subject line of your email should be your last name plus the words “Dead Birds Publishing Submission.”

If you’re submitting poetry, please send all of them in a single email.

There’s no need to send an author bio with your submission. If your submission is accepted, we’ll be reaching out to you for a bio closer to the date of publication.

Our editorial process for accepted submissions includes a close copy-edit. We will approve all edits with you before publication. Please note that we do not send pre-print author proofs.

Payment

Payment for accepted submissions will be royalties, with the option of purchasing two additional copies at a discounted publisher rate.

*We are asking for two stories from each author. However, if you and another author want to each write a story and submit as one bundle, that is acceptable. Royalties will split between the two authors, though.

Via: Dead Birds Publishing.