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Taking Submissions: Letters from the Grave: A Collection of Epistolary Horror

Deadline: February 28th, 2019 Payment: 5 cents per word and a contributor's copy Letters from the Grave: A Collection of Epistolary Horror The epistolary form has a long, proud tradition in the horror genre. From the classics such as Frankenstein and Dracula, through modern classics like World War Z. We want to see your fresh takes on the idea. Remember that the epistolary genre doesn’t just include letters. It can be stories created from nearly any kinds or combinations of documents, i.e. crime scene reports, diary entries, interview transcripts, etc. This can include modern electronic and digital “documents” such as texts, voicemails, Tweets, blog posts, and more. Original stories only, no reprints. Preferred word count: 2,000 to 10,000 words Payment and rights: $.05/word on acceptance, and one paperback contributor’s copy. First Print and First Electronic Rights, exclusive for 1 year. The anthology will be published as an ebook and in paperback, and we reserve the right to produce a hardcover edition. Reading period: Now, through February 28, 2019. Stories should be submitted to [email protected], with the subject line “Letters from the Grave.” Please don’t send us: Fan-fiction or stories using other authors’ characters, settings, etc, unless they are in the public domain. Incest, child sex, sexual assault, racism, etc. This is a horror anthology, of course, so “adult content” and horrific, disturbing incidents are certainly going to be there. Make sure, however, that any of these elements are necessary to the story and that their depiction makes sense in the context of the letter or other documents. Random horror stories that you’ve stuck a “Hey, you’ll never believe what happened to me!” email frame around. Via: Orbannin Books.

Taking Submissions: THEMA: Six before Eighty

Deadline: March 1st, 2019 Payment: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10; artwork, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Upcoming premises (target themes) and deadlines for submission : Six before Eighty To download a PDF file of the guidelines, click here . ALL SHORT STORIES, ESSAYS, POEMS, PHOTOGRAPHS and ART MUST RELATE TO ONE OF THE PREMISES SPECIFIED ABOVE. NOTE: Previously published pieces are welcome, provided that the submission fits the theme and that the author owns the copyright. The premise (target theme) must be an integral part of the plot, not necessarily the central theme but not merely incidental. Fewer than 20 double-spaced typewritten pages preferred. Indicate premise (target theme) on title page. Be sure to Indicate target theme in cover letter or on first page of manuscript. Include self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with each submission. Rejected manuscripts unaccompanied by an SASE will not be returned. Response time: 3 months after premise deadline. NO READER'S FEE. Mail to: THEMA, Box 8747, Metairie, LA 70011-8747. Outside the US: email [email protected] On acceptance for publication, we will pay the following amount: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10; artwork, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Copyright reverts to author after publication. THEMA isn't for everyone. To find out why, click here. New to submitting manuscripts to journals? Click here to download a PDF file of a few basic guidelines. Unlike many publishers, we prefer works submitted by the authors themselves, without the involvement of an agent. Be sure to indicate premise and include SASE for each submission. BE SURE to include a separate SASE for each premise. No handwritten manuscripts will be considered. NOTE: We do not accept e-mailed submissions EXCEPT from authors who live outside the...

Taking Submissions: The Literary Hatchet

Deadline: March 1st, 2018 Payment: FICTION, SHORT STORIES: 500-6,000 words — $10 The Literary Hatchet is a journal devoted to provocative fiction, poetry and prose. We are interested in well-written but digestible works in any genre (except erotica). We will consider previously published material but prefer original works. We accept short fiction, flash fiction, first-person narratives, speculative fiction, short stories, poetry, photography, art, cartoons, and illustrations. We’re interested in new angles on old ideas, or topics that don’t get covered frequently. We like to showcase articles that don’t just sum up some issue but make us think and make us want to read further. The above is not exhaustive. If you don’t have an immediate idea for a piece, but you’d really like to write for us, let us know and be prepared to show us work you’ve done. We can always think of subjects! WHAT WE DON’T WANT We do not accept erotica, either as articles or images We do not accept articles or images with excessive crude language or outlandish sexual humor We cannot consider partial or incomplete stories or essays We do not accept Haiku poetry, unless as a part of a collection of five or more GUIDELINES BY TYPE OF SUBMISSIONSHORT STORIES: We accept short stories from 500-6,000 words in length. Feel free to contact us with inquiries about the type of stories we might be interested in if you are in doubt. We appreciate the well-written work, and acceptance is determined by whether the piece grabs the editor and holds their interest. We consider works of general fiction as well as horror, dark subjects, detective fiction, and stories about monsters, either real or imaginary. POETRY: We are looking for high-quality extraordinary poems (both serious and humorous) that explore the darkness that resides in each of...

Taking Submissions: Contrary Spring 2019 Issue

Deadline: March 1st, 2018 Payment: $20 “Turning words into art is unnatural. It begins with a contrary attitude. It says, I am unhappy with the way things are and desire to make things different. Rather than represent the world, I will make something wildly and savagely new. I will defy logic. I will invest in new perceptions. I will combine and recombine and fabricate and juggle until something that I have never experienced is experienced. The process is alchemical. The process is violent. It goes to the heart of creativity. It disrupts and shatters. It is splendid with provocation. It is an aggression against banality. It is sharp and loud like a janitor scraping frost from a window. The hectic bounce of steam on a street after a truck roars by. The anarchy of waters, the comedy of the face, dangerous feelings vented from a cage of skin.” ~ John Olson Poetry — We believe poetry is contrary by nature, always defying, always tonguing the tang of novelty. We look especially for plurality of meaning, for dual reverberation of beauty and concern. Contrary’s poetry in particular often mimics the effects of fiction or commentary. We find ourselves enamored of prose poems because they are naturally contrary toward form – they tug on the forces of exposition or narrative – but prose poems remain the minority of all the poetic forms we publish. Please consider that Contrary receives vast amounts of poetry and that we can publish only a small percentage of that work. Please submit no more than three poems per issue. Our poetry editor is Shaindel Beers. Fiction — We ask our fiction writers to imagine their readers navigating a story with one finger poised over a mouse button. Can your story stay that finger to the end? We have published long stories on the belief...

Taking Submissions: ”Family” Fantasy Anthology

Deadline: March 1st, 2019 Payment: $25+ though payment structure is TBD. Attention Authors! We are soliciting short stories by new and established authors in the fantasy genre, between 3,500 and 7,000 words in length. (Shorter or longer works will be considered in cases of exceptional merit.) The goal is to select at least ten entries for publication* in a short-story anthology. Payment structure for the authors has not yet been determined, but will be no less than $25 all things considered. We are still awaiting publication on a previous anthology, which will help us decide whether it is fairer to authors to be given a flat fee or a percentage of revenues. That decision will be made by January 2019 at the latest; sign up here if you want to be kept up to date. (Our first Call for Submissions, in the military-fiction genre, can be viewed here. The associated Kickstarter met its goal, resulting in the authors being paid $100 each; ultimately, the anthology was placed under contract by an independent publisher. Our second, fantasy anthology is being self-published, and we are eager to see which anthology does better.) Submission Rules How to submit: Email your manuscript (acceptable document formats: Word, PDF, Pages, TXT, RTF) to the following address: submissions at orenlitwin dot com. Begin the subject line with “”, and make sure to list your contact information in the email itself. (Also, please mention how you heard of this anthology!) Submission deadline: March 1, 2019. Genre: Fantasy, broadly defined. This includes traditional high fantasy, urban fantasy, or any other flavor that includes a magical or fantastical element. (If you are interested in other genres, please suggest them for our next project!) Theme: “Family.” Your story must include as a significant plot element a family tie between a character...

Taking Submissions: “Asteroids” Science-Fiction Anthology

Deadline: March 1st, 2019 Payment: $25+ though payment structure is TBD. Attention Authors! We are soliciting short stories by new and established authors in the science-fiction genre, between 3,500 and 7,000 words in length. (Shorter or longer works will be considered in cases of exceptional merit.) The goal is to select at least ten entries for publication* in a short-story anthology. Payment structure for the authors has not yet been determined, but will be no less than $25 all things considered. We are still awaiting publication on a previous anthology, which will help us decide whether it is fairer to authors to be given a flat fee or a percentage of revenues. That decision will be made by January 2019 at the latest; sign up here if you want to be kept up to date. (Our first Call for Submissions, in the military-fiction genre, can be viewed here. The associated Kickstarter met its goal, resulting in the authors being paid $100 each; ultimately, the anthology was placed under contract by an independent publisher. Our second, fantasy anthology is being self-published, and we are eager to see which anthology does better.) Submission Rules How to submit: Email your manuscript (acceptable document formats: Word, PDF, Pages, TXT, RTF) to the following address: submissions at orenlitwin dot com. Begin the subject line with “”, and make sure to list your contact information in the email itself. (Also, please mention how you heard of this anthology!) Submission deadline: March 1, 2019. Genre: Science fiction, broadly defined. This includes “hard” sci-fi, “twenty minutes in the future,” “space opera,” or any other flavor that includes an advanced technological element. (If you are interested in other genres, please suggest them for our next project!) Theme: “Asteroids.” Your story must include as a significant plot element an asteroid....

Taking Submissions: Reimagining Classics

Deadline: March 1st, 2019 Payment: $25 Left Hand Publishers is announcing their call for submissions for their next anthology. The working title is “Reimagining Classics.” It’s going to be a collection of short stories based on classics. Take a classic story, character, or theme of your choice (of any type) and reimagine it. The writer must make it easy for the reader to identify the character or storyline from the classic, but then take the reader in a different direction by reimagining the story – perhaps with humor where there wasn’t before, or maybe tragedy, or even mystery. Word count will be 4,000 to 10,000 words.  Do not submit before the submission date stated in the call. Submissions begin: Friday, January 4th, 2019, 12:00 a.m. EST Submissions close: Friday, March 1st, 2019, 5:00 p.m. EST. Notice of acceptance or declination will be emailed approximately: Friday, March 29th, 2019 Submission URL: https://lefthandpublishers.com/reimagining-classics/ (available Jan. 4th) COPYRIGHTS The trick is to make the story or characters recognizable WITHOUT violating copyright law. For example, if you were reimagining the story of Superman, you need to find a creative way to do that without using any proper names such as “Clark,” or “Lois,” or “Superman.” HINT: Stories over 75 years old are rarely active in copyrights. If you submit a really good story but it dances all over copyright issues, we may send it back with a note regarding same. Left Hand Publishers reserves the right to decline any short story that could infringe on copyright law and have legal ramifications. TWIST OR MORAL All short stories submitted MUST have a twist or a moral somewhere in the story, preferably at the end. Good twists (and morals) will catch the reader off guard and surprise them with more than a touch of irony or shock. NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS No simultaneous submissions, please. We...

Taking Submissions: Glass & Gardens: Solarpunk Winters

Deadline: March 1st, 2019 Payment: $0.01 per word + contributor copy GLASS & GARDENS: SOLARPUNK WINTERS Anthologist: Sarena Ulibarri Open for Submissions: January 1 - March 1, 2019 Expected Publication: January 2020 Story Length: up to 8,000 words Payment: $0.01 per word + contributor copy Solarpunk is a type of eco-conscious science fiction that imagines an optimistic future founded on renewable energies. Often aiming for a balance of nature and technology, and always inclusive and diverse, solarpunk stories show the ways we have adapted to climate change, or the ways we overcome it. For this anthology, I want to see solarpunk stories that take place in winter. That might mean working together to survive extreme blizzards, or feeling the heat in places that no longer see snow. Which renewable tech works best during long winter nights? How do solarpunk societies celebrate the winter holidays? Keep it planet-based (Earth or other), and optimistic. Solarpunk worlds aren’t necessarily utopias, but they definitely aren’t dystopias. We're a northern hemisphere publisher, but southern hemisphere winters are also welcome! Need inspiration? Read New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson, the Ecopunk! anthology, or Glass & Gardens: Solarpunk Summers. For more on what the anthologist is looking for, as well as some writing prompts, see Sarena's blog, "Solarpunk Winters Writing Prompts." Submission Method: *After January 1, 2019,* Send your story as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf attachment to solarpunkworldweaverpresscom with Submission: in the subject line. Please include a brief cover letter, but DO NOT summarize your story in the cover letter. Submissions received before January 1st will be discarded. Simultaneous submissions: Yes, you may submit your story to other markets before you hear back from us. Please let us know ASAP if someone else accepts it. Multiple submissions: No, please only send us one story for...

Taking Submissions: Switchblade Magazine Issues 9, 10, 11

Deadline: March 1st, 2019 Payment: $15 Switchblade is an outlaw fiction print anthology featuring authors writing in the hardboiled/noir genre, and nothing else. So think Richard Stark, Ross MacDonald, Jim Thompson, Don Winslow, Ken Bruen, James Ellroy, Lawrence Block, Iceberg Slim, Max Allan Collins, Christa Faust. (just to name a few) We don’t do cozies. We don’t do procedurals. We’re not a literary magazine, and we don’t do other genres. That said, we will consider noir/crime fiction ranging from the early twentieth century up to present day. Aside from that, we are a no limit hardboiled fiction journal—we publish the kind of stories no one else will consider. Back in the day there was a Nynex yellow pages ad campaign that went like this: if it’s out there, it’s in here—that’s how we feel. The world is filled with deviance, and good hardboiled fiction reflects that. We like strong characters, and good story telling, and we will not reject anyone based on mainstream morality. Amoral protagonists are encouraged. We will not however, publish masturbation fodder for masochistic pedophiles. We’re not interested in torture erotica. But if you’ve got a deplorable protagonist, and there’s a good story—we’ll print it. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES **Submissions for 2019** Our next reading period will be FEBRUARY 1ST to MARCH 1ST for all 2019 regular issues(9, 10, 11) Content. Rural noir is fine (very popular right now) but we love urban noir too. Urban being the setting.(not a reference to the racial demographic--any racial demographic is fine) We do mob stories. And not just Russian mob stories. Got a tight piece of fiction about the Sicilian mob in Jersey—we’ll look at it. Anyone who thinks the Italian Mafia (LCN) in America evaporated into thin air after the John Gotti trial, hasn’t spent any time in Philadelphia. That...

Taking Submissions: The Blue Route #22

Deadline: March 1st, 2019 Payment: $25 The deadline for submissions for Issue #22 is March 1, 2019. Prose – Submit 1-3 pieces of fiction or creative nonfiction totaling no more than 3000 words. Poetry – Submit up to 3 poems. We want good, highly imaginative writing about contemporary life as you see it. We’re not interested in genre writing (romance, detective, horror, sci-fi) unless it somehow rises above the conventions associated with those types of writing. If your writing is clichéd, inspired by TV, emphasizes end rhyme above all else, has flat characters, exhibits a general insensitivity to the beauties and subtleties of language, it will not find a place in this journal. No adult content. No racism. No sexism. If you’ve got to use profanity, remember a little goes a long, long way. We do not accept previously published work. However, we do accept simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. Our response time is about three months. IMPORTANT: Undergraduate Students: Only previously unpublished work of current undergraduate writers will be considered. In order to verify your status as an undergraduate, we ask that with your submission you send along the email of a faculty member from your department. Until we gain confirmation of undergraduate status from this reference, we will not be able to publish your work. Note to Widener Students: At this time, work from Widener students will not be accepted. Widener students are invited to submit their work to Widener Ink, the university’s print journal. Frequency of Submission: If your work has been published in The Blue Route, we ask that you please wait at least one issue before submitting again. Terms: We pay twenty-five dollars upon publication. We acquire First North American Serial Rights, a one time, non-exclusive use...

Taking Submissions: Deranged

Deadline: March 1st, 2019 Payment: $25 Got some sick, twisted suppressed sexual desire you’ve been dying to write about? Well, that crazy Welsh writer David Owain Hughes and I might be able to help you release your pent-up tension. Check out our new open call for Deranged, an anthology celebrating taboos. Horror, splatterpunk, horrotica, bizarro, and black comedy are the chosen genres, so get your gimp masks on, you deranged people, and jump on board! Deranged Anthology Open Call Facebook Group Page Most of us have sexual fantasies. For those of us who do, these fantasies are harmless enough, and we have no problem sharing them with our partners in the hope they’ll indulge us. Maybe your fantasy is seeing a female in a good pair of black stockings, a nice pair of high-heels and a short skirt? Or possibly a muscleman dressed as a fireman? Perhaps the fantasy involves being tied up, or having your bits locked away in a chastity device? Whipped? Beaten? Ridiculed? Maybe you border more on the extreme edge: adult toys or sticking a dick in a Hoover until it bleeds, cannibalism, torture? Or maybe your carnal desires are deemed illegal in your neck of the woods? Whatever it is, we need it. Repressing it would be futile—unless it’s a killer kink or perversion that’s going to land you in hot water up to you neck if left unchecked . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GENRES: Horror, Horrotica, Splatterpunk, Bizarro, Black Comedy We are looking for original, well-layered stories with strong character development. Your tale should feature a woman as the key protagonist/antagonist and should...

Taking Submissions: Movie Monsters

Deadline: March 1st, 2019 Payment: Contributor's Copy Note: Reprints Welcome Thurston Howl Publications is now accepting submissions for its second volume of its HOWLERS series, Movie Monsters. Deadline: March 1, 2019 Word count: 2,500-8,000; a little above and a little below will be acceptable Wolfman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Blob...All of these are examples of the classic movie monster. They are big, they are bad, and they are often mindless in their pursuits of the terrified protagonists. We want to see a collection of monster horror at its finest. For this editor, movie monster horror is best defined as literature that centers its conflict around a monster that is supernatural in origin. This genre typically does not have the suspenseful finesse of the slasher but instead focuses on sensory details and grotesque description to make readers terrified through the specificity of your creation. You are free to make a parody or spin-off of famous movie monsters, or you can create your own! We will NOT accept: Racism, sexism, or discrimination presented in a positive light. Pedophilia or sex with characters under the age of 18 presented in a positive light. Rape, torture, dubious consent, forced seduction presented in a positive light. Snuff or Necrophilia presented in a positive light If you are in doubt, ASK. Better to ask then to get a straight up rejection! If you are unsure, just shoot me an email at [email protected]. (restrictions borrowed from Voice: https://t.co/MWykJ6RY36) You can submit up to three stories, but we will only accept one per author (if any). Reprints are fine, but you have to own full permission of the work in order for us to consider it. We will not accept simultaneous submissions. Payment: Authors will receive a free copy of the print book. Send submissions...