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Taking Submissions: Electric Spec May Issue 2018

Deadline: April 15th, 2018 Payment: $20 per story Please don't query us about your story submission. We don't have the manpower to answer such queries. An editor will email you back as soon as possible with the decision about your story. This can take a few days, or, up to three months. We make every effort to get back to authors in a timely manner but we get a lot of submissions so sometimes it's not possible. A note on our editorial policy: before publication we may edit the story for length or readability. However, we always remain true to the spirit of the story. Issues are published at the end of February, May, August, and November. We reserve the right to shift publication date slightly, as necessary. We have reading periods for each issue, though we never close to submissions. February closes January 15 May closes April 15 August closes July 15 November closes October 15 Please do not submit the same story more than once, and please submit only one story at a time. We consider any story between 250 and 7000 words with speculative fiction elements. We prefer science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. We do not consider poetry, stories with over-the-top sex or violence, serials, novels, fan fiction, or non-fiction. We don't accept multiple submissions; in other words, only submit one story at a time and wait for a response before submitting another. We accept simultaneous submissions as long as you let us know up front and tell us as soon as it's accepted elsewhere. We do not publish reprints, including anything that has appeared on a website. We pay $20 for each story we publish. We buy first-printing world exclusive rights for four months....

Taking Submissions Iridium Magazine Spring Issue

Deadline: April 15th, 2018 Payment: Original English short stories of up to 5,000 words (hard limit, shorter preferred) at $0.03/word, Reprints of stories up to 15,000 words (5,000 words or under preferred) at $0.01/word, Art pieces at $50/piece (reprints accepted), Essays at $50/piece (reprints not accepted) Note: Reprints accepted. Original English short stories of up to 5,000 words (hard limit, shorter preferred) at $0.03/word Reprints of stories up to 15,000 words (5,000 words or under preferred) at $0.01/word Art pieces at $50/piece (reprints accepted) Essays at $50/piece (reprints not accepted) *We define reprints as any work that has been seen by the public before, whether in another journal or online on personal sites/blogs/etc. Please inform us if your work has been printed before so we can credit.   Rights The author grants Iridium Magazine for first world electronic rights (text and audio) and first print rights with 3 months exclusivity from date of publication and archiving.   Format Manuscripts and essays should be in standard manuscript format as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf WITHOUT identifying information. DO NOT put your name anywhere on the manuscript—any manuscripts with identifying information (incl. email or address) will be auto-rejected. The document should be labeled “Title (Genre)”.   Trigger Warnings Please warn for any potentially triggering content in the body of your email. This includes mentions of or on-screen sexual assault, suicide/suicidal ideation, child sexual abuse, child abuse, abuse, etc. Don’t try to surprise or shock us–that will only result in a rejection.   How to Submit Send submissions to [email protected] with the subject line “SUBMISSION: AUTHOR NAME – TITLE” and a 100-word, third-person bio. Unless solicited, any submissions sent directly to the editors or other email addresses will be ignored. Simultaneous Submissions: Yes. Inform us in your cover letter that it is a simultaneous submission and email us if your submission has been accepted...

Taking Submissions: TBA Scifi Asexual Romance

Deadline: April 15th, 2018 Payment: $25 Note: While many of Circlet's calls tend to fall into speculative fiction, we're still in a gray area on anything that would be erotica. However, this one doesn't have that push unline many of the publisher's titles so we thought you might want to take a look at something a little different. Possible Titles: The Romantic Ace; Acethetic Edited by Victoria Pond It seems like every romance movie, book, and song out there equates lust with love, and that means some of us are left out. Not everyone feels lust. Not everyone even wants romantic love. Here’s your chance to talk about romance for the characters uninterested in sex. Give me your space pilots in serious relationships with their sentient ships. Think about how an incubus would patiently court a demi-sexual. Maybe you have a regency fantasy where only a virgin can wield the talisman, and thank goodness we’ve got an adult countess who can step up. Let’s not define this by what it isn’t. Allosexuality dominates the rest of the media. Here’s a chance for ace pride to shine. Submit your stories from all over the spectra—from science fiction to fantasy, from sex-repulsed to demi-sexual, from romantic to platonic. This romance anthology celebrates asexuality in all its forms, in all its levels. Maybe your characters will take things to their allosexual conclusions, but maybe they won’t. And, as it ought to be in reality, that’s up to you. “Ace” puns highly encouraged. (You know: the dogfighting “flying ace” who has a closer-than-lovers arrangement with his mechanic.) Email your submissions to [email protected]. We do not publish poetry. Stories should generally be between 2500 and 8500 words (though we’re flexible for a great story). Originals only, no reprints. We purchase first rights for inclusion in the ebook...

Taking Submissions: Galileo’s Theme Park

Deadline: April 15th, 2018 Payment: 6 cents per word "Galileo's Theme Park" -   Space opera, SF, physics. The great Italian scientist is famous for standing up for science in the face of the Inquisition, doing his best work while under house arrest. He also brought us our first views of Jupiter's moons by combining a convex lens with a concave one to invent a high quality telescope. We invite you to take us on a journey to the lands beyond Earth revealed to us by Galileo and other space scientists. Suggested reading: "The Old Astronomer" by Sarah Williams (Art: Galileo during IUS burn. NASA. http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/images/artwork.html) Reading Period: March 1 - April 15, 2018 Writer Deadline: April 15, 2018 Publication Date: June 15, 2018 Third Flatiron Publishing is based in Boulder, Colorado, and Ayr, Scotland. We are looking for submissions to our (approximately) quarterly themed anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We want tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Light horror is acceptable, provided it fits the theme. Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Inquire if longer. Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today. For each anthology, we will also accept  a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or...

Taking Submissions: Visions Magazine

Deadline: April 15th, 2018 Payment: 4 to 5p (~6¢) per word Submission guidelines Submissions are currently opened for our first issue and will close on 15th April 2018. Please read and follow the guidelines below to ensure your piece can be processed promptly. The theme The first issue will centre on the concept of home in the broadest sense, from the physical structure to the social construct. For instance, we hope the stories will revisit what the notion of home is – a house, a planet, a device? – and what it means to feel at home or homesick. What do we mean by home? How does the concept of home adapts as the world around us changes at a radical pace? What we’re looking for We welcome a range of science fiction and speculative short stories, from micro fictions to 5000 word pieces. This is not a hard limit, but use your best judgement when it comes to sending something longer than that. We accept multiple submissions of micro and flash fictions totalling less than 5000 words. For longer texts, please only send the one that’s most relevant to the theme. We understand that authors sometimes send the same story to multiple outlets simulataneously but insist that you send withdrawal requests to the concerned parties if your piece is accepted. We’re generally not open to reprints and will not accept anything that is still available online or in print, regardless of time of publication. If you feel your piece is particularlyrelevant and is not available anymore, please get in touch. We tend to commission non-fiction but we do accept submissions (or pitches) if you have written or can write something that fits the theme. Process Please send your story in an editable format such as a Word document (.doc, .docx) or rich...

Taking Submissions: Future Visions Volume 1

Deadline: April 15th, 2018 Payment: $150+ (Read below.) About The Future Visions Anthologies is a science fiction anthology series, aiming to deliver excellent and diverse short story collections on a quarterly basis. In the tradition of great television anthology series such as The Twilight Zone, and Black Mirror, the Future Visions Anthologies will broadly explore all genres and traditions of science fiction and speculative fiction, seeking in each story to explore deeply themes that are relevant to a modern audience. Themes What do you hope the future will bring? What are you afraid we may become? How do our visions of the future inform and give shape to the hopes and fears that we have today? These questions are what defines anthology series like The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror. Rather than mandating a theme for each publication, (one publication for cyborgs, one for time travelers, etc...) I want authors to feel free to explore these larger questions using any and all of the popular science fiction tropes: new technology, exploration, nightmarish dystopians, alien species, baffling utopias, the list goes on... Diversity The Future Visions Anthologies seeks to bring diversity to all aspects of their publications, from the stories and authors we publish, to the themes and genres we explore. All authors may apply regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or political affiliation. Terms The Future Visions Anthologies seeks to engage authors with fair and equitable terms through participation in the anthologies. The anthologies will be enrolled in Kindle Unlimited for an initial six-month term, during which stories will be exclusive to the anthology. After this, anthologies will continue be available as an ebook (not in KU) for an additional six-month term. During this term, partial publication rights will return to the author to publish as an ebook, except for in KU. After one year, the ebook will be unpublished,...