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Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: Royalties Theme: Elements of sci-fi. Whether discovering aliens, space travel, or terraforming new planets are involved, the options are endless. Deadline – March 31st, 2021 Publication – June 2021 Word Count – 5,000-15,000 Theme – All stories must include elements of sci-fi. Whether discovering aliens, space travel, or terraforming new planets are involved, the options are endless. Publisher INFORMATION Company name:        Dragon Soul Press Anthology Submission Email: [email protected] Website:                    http://dragonsoulpress.com/ Facebook:                  http://www.facebook.com/dragonsoulpress/ Duotrope:                   https://duotrope.com/listing/26543/dragon-soul-press The Grinder:              https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market/Index?id=9529   CHECKLIST Introduction of author                                                        This is not where the biography goes. Author Contact Information / Pen name MUST be included with real name. If real name is same as pen name, state so in email. Author Biography in Third Person in 100-200 words        Mandatory minimum of 100. Submission Word Count                                                   Also applies to poetry. Word count. Not line count.   Submission Formatted in Times New Roman 12 PT Font. One-inch margins. No indentations. No double-spacing. No extra spacing between paragraphs. No chapters. Only DOC and DOCX accepted.   Summary/Query Letter                                                      Summarized outline of all major events within the story. All emails should be addressed as “Dear Editor” Email subject and file name must be as follows – “Story Title by Author Name for (Name of) Anthology” All of the author’s social media links, including website if applicable Author must have an active social media account.   Important information Maximum of two submissions per anthology per author. Authors can submit to all anthologies simultaneously. Reprints from third party sources accepted IF author currently holds full rights. We will not publish duplicate stories within DSP. Authors get 30% Royalties for first year from date of publication. Afterwards, 30% of all proceeds go to a charity chosen by the Publisher. Story rights - The Publisher permanently reserves the right to publish the Work within...

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: Royalties, starts at 1% per story of gross sales in both e-book and trade paperback. (not displayed on website at this time.) Theme: Each story must have a Pagan, Heathen, Occult influence that has a spark of truth in regards to the connection with the feminine aspect of the divine. DREAMING THE GODDESS: AN ANTHOLOGY Will be open for submissions from  September 1, 2020 - March 31, 2021   SUMMARY DREAMING THE GODDESS will be a collection of short stories between 2,500 and 20,000 words. Each story must have a Pagan, Heathen, Occult influence that has a spark of truth in regards to the connection with the  feminine aspect of the divine.  We are looking for stories that speak to the spiritual soul. It doesn’t matter in which aspect the Divine Feminine is portrayed–Maid, Mother, Crone, Dark, Warrior, Gender Fluid etc., are all welcome. Uplifting stories, inspirational  stories, dark tales, fantastic, written with truth or complete fantasy are all welcome. We are open and inclusive to LGBTQ2+ stories that meet the parameters of our main theme - the Divine Feminine in all Her aspects, which we believe includes LGBTQ2+ experiences. The main aspect is exhibit, in both fiction and nonfiction stories, the great breadth of how the Divine Feminine is portrayed across cultures and across interpersonal experiences. We welcome new authors and well experienced authors. Another goal for this anthology is to educate readers about the Divine Feminine, so including mythology, culture, politics, paganism, heathenism, Wicca, Witchcraft, geography etc., is important to the plot. If you pique your reader’s interest and get them looking up references to learn more about the Divine Feminine, you’ve done your job. The idea is for your reader to not only be entertained, but also to walk away from your story a...

Deadline: May 31st, 2021 Payment: $500 and 25 contributors copies Theme: literary fiction Note: DO NOT SUBMIT prior to January 15th, 2021 One Story Submission Guidelines: Submission Periods: January 15th - May 31st | September 7th - November 14th What kinds of stories is One Story looking for? One Story is seeking literary fiction. Because of our format, we can only accept stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. They can be any style and on any subject as long as they are good. We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone. Does One Story pay? Yes. One Story pays $500 and 25 contributors copies for First Serial North American rights. All rights will revert to the author following publication. Does One Story accept previously published material? No. One Story is looking for previously unpublished material. However, if a story has been published in print outside of North America, it will be considered. Stories previously published online—on blogs, personal websites, online literary magazines, or forums—will not be accepted. Does One Story accept simultaneous submissions? Yes, but please notify us immediately if your submission is accepted for publication elsewhere. What file types can I submit? We accept PDF, RTF, and TXT files that are less than 500KB. Please include the story title and all writer contact info on the first page of the submitted file. Will you send me comments on my story? No. One Story receives close to 100 submissions each week. Please understand that we do not have time to comment on individual stories. Can I change the story I submitted with an updated draft? No. Do you consider translations? Yes. Please include the name of the original author and language, as well as the name of the translator on the first page of your submission. How do I submit to One Story? We have an automated system for you...

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: A physical copy and at least 30% royalties (negotiated prior to signing.) Theme: Horror, thriller, mystery, and fantasy/dark fantasy Little Demon Books has recently opened a submissions call for writers. We're looking for short stories, anthologies, novellas, and novels in the horror, thriller, mystery, and fantasy/dark fantasy genres up until March 31st. Give us your terror tales and scary stories! Little Demon Books is now open for all submissions! Give us your short stories, your anthology collections, your novellas, novels, and yes, even graphic novels! Whatever you’ve written, we want to see it! We’re hungry for books and authors to bring under our demonic wing. Please read the guidelines below and get your submissions to us by March 31st! Please allow time for our editing team to read through each submission. Best of luck and we cannot wait to see what you’ve got! Submit to [email protected] SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FORMAT: All submissions should follow proper manuscript format. Please attach all submissions in .doc or .docx format. We will not accept submissions embedded in the body of an email. Please adhere to standard manuscript guidelines (12-point font, Times New Roman, double spaced, word count, etc). EMAIL: Please send your submissions to [email protected], include what book your submitting, your name, and your story title. WHAT WE WANT: We are primarily interested in Flash Fiction or Short Fiction submissions but are open to novellas and novels. PAYMENT: Please understand that LDB is a very small publishing brand but because of that we put greater consideration into the stories submitted. Flash Fiction (1,500-4,000 Words) – FREE DIGITAL COPY Short Fiction (4,001-8,000 Words) – $5 + FREE DIGITAL COPY Anything larger than the Short Fiction format will be handled on a case-by-case basis. All contributors will receive a free digital or physical copy of...

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: $50 Theme: magic and the mishaps that could happen with its use. Misspelled Now Accepting Submissions. Legion of Dorks Presents: Misspelled – Magic Gone Awry is searching for short stories no more than 7000 words exploring the theme of magic and the mishaps that could happen with its use. Submissions are open from January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021. Your story must be an original, never-before-published creation that centers around an exploration epic in scale. You must include some sort of adventure, whether real or virtual, that concludes by the end of the story to meet the theme requirements. You cannot write in anyone else’s world. Otherwise, have fun and let your imagination dominate. A witch casts a spell to allow her cat to talk, but then it won’t stop. A love spell hits the wrong target. A down-on-his luck magician finds a real magic box, but where are all the objects going? The ideas are endless. We are offering $50 per accepted story. Fifty percent of all revenue after cost of production will be donated to Toys for Tots in conjunction with the Legion of Dorks December fundraiser. Email all submissions to [email protected] in standard short story format with the subject “Submission for Misspelled (last name).” One story per email please and no more than three submissions total. If you’re curious about the stories we like, check out the others in the series: Laundered – An Anthology of Monster Messes and Horizons – An Anthology of Epic Journeys. Manuscript Submission Guidelines: We are accepting submissions of complete, previously unpublished manuscripts in the speculative fiction genre that have series potential. Speculative fiction encompasses horror, fantasy, and science fiction—and all of the niche categories under those large umbrellas. We’re only considering full length novels between...

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: $10 and a contributors copy Theme: A Queer Sword and Sorcery Romance Anthology open to all LGBTQIA+ stories set in adventure fantasy worlds Queer Blades: A Queer Sword and Sorcery Romance Anthology is a twice-yearly print and ebook publication open to all LGBTQIA+ stories set in adventure fantasy worlds, particularly stories of queer romance. Follow our Twitter: @QueerBlades. Submissions for the first anthology will be open from 1 December 2020 through 31 March 2021. If you miss the submissions window by a few hours, don’t worry! Editor: Rick Hollon (they/them). Adventure fantasy settings range a spectrum of secondary worlds—not just sword and sorcery, but also heroic fantasy, epic fantasy, historical fantasy, wuxia, “Old Mars” and “Old Venus” settings, fantasy westerns, portal fantasy, and Fae realms of all descriptions. If it’s a setting in which you might readily play a D&D campaign, it will fit right in. (Though please don’t submit stories set in Faerûn, Greyhawk, or any other trademarked, copyrighted IP.) Our preference is for pre-gunpowder, magic-heavy worlds, but run wild with your imagination and bring us fresh wonders! Sword and sorcery has a lot of baggage. Its classic stories are laden with racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry. Those elements, obviously, are not welcome here. We want to get rid of sword & sorcery’s awfulness and instead explore its potential for awesome. Be inventive with your adventures! All stories must feature LGBTQIA+ protagonists and storylines. Romance is preferred but not necessary. The romance could be a nascent crush or a long established partnership or anything in between. Aromantic stories could focus on the growth of a friendship. Let your characters’ relationships be as diverse as you are! Black, Indigenous, Trans, and similarly marginalized / historically excluded authors are especially encouraged. Content. No prejudice or bigotry of any kind is permitted....

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: $.005 per word Theme: Stories of tragic love, preferably with a horror theme In “Fornever After” we seek stories of tragic love, preferably with a horror theme, although we are well aware that tragic love is often a horror story all on its own. These kinds of stories tend to be heartbreaking, but they can also be wonderful in other ways. After five years, did you finally get the nerve to confess romantic love to a friend? Did he or she feel the same? Did you get that nerve because you were both in a scary situation (fighting a vampire, home invaders, etc.) that you might not make it out of? Did they not survive it, leaving you all alone and kicking yourself that you waited so long. How tragic. At least you said something though, you know? We are not interested in tales regarding the loss of children, parents, or siblings.. Just lovers. Scary new twists on the Romeo and Juliet theme perhaps. Rip our hearts out with tales of tragic love, and if it’s within a traditional horror story, that’s what we are looking for. If you can manage some humor in it too, even better- although with this anthology, humor is not necessary. We will probably like those stories better though. Your story must include elements of both horror and tragic love. Specific guidlines are below: "Fornever After" Guidelines Here are a couple of tips to put your story in better position to be accepted. 1. Fit the theme. Tragic Love. Horror. Scare us and rip our hearts out. 2. Be within our word count guidelines (for “Fornever After”, 2000 to 6000) or query us for shorter/longer. 3. No matter how good your story is, if it hasn't been edited, there is a big chance we won't accept it. In...

Deadline: March 1st-March 31st 2021 Payment: Winner: $500, two runner ups: $50 Theme: Philosophical, Metaphysical, or Epistemological fiction Speculative Philosophical Fiction Contest A new contest will be coming to Theme of Absence this year. The theme of this contest is Philosophical, Metaphysical, or Epistemological fiction. Keep reading for the details. The contest is sponsored by a donor who whishes to remain anonymous. It will open March 1, 2021 and remain open for submissions until March 31, 2021. The winning story and runners-up will be published on June 1, 2021. Entry and submission guidelines: Only original, unpublished flash fiction is eligible for this contest. The story must revolve around some metaphysical or epistemological issue, like the nature of time or knowledge of the external world. The maximum word count for this contest is 1,000. A story that has at any point been made publicly available in print or online (including personal blogs) is considered previously published and will not be eligible. We are also not accepting multiple submissions, meaning submit only one story for the contest. The payment for the winning entry is $500.00, payable through PayPal. The top two runners-up will receive $50.00 each. I won’t seek any rights, other than the non-exclusive right to archive the story here as long as the site is live. Bear in mind that a large percent of publications will not accept pieces that have been previously published in print or online, so after your work is published at Theme of Absence, it can only be marketed elsewhere as a reprint. All copyright is retained by the author. If you agree with these terms, please submit your story in the following way: Email your story to [email protected]. In the subject, include the words PHILOSOPHICAL SUBMISSION, the story title and word count (example: PHILOSOPICAL SUBMISSION: Rappelling Into Plato’s Cave, 500 words). Paste the story in the...

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: $0.08 per word for original fiction. USD $100 per story for reprint fiction. Theme: A month-long celebration of Black voices in science fiction Note: Reprints Welcome Escape Pod is pleased to announce a new special project for 2021: Black Future Month, a month-long celebration of Black voices in science fiction. We are excited to have Brent Lambert of FIYAH Magazine as our guest editor. For this special event, we are only accepting submission from authors of the African diaspora and the African continent. This is an intersectional definition of Blackness, and we strongly encourage submissions from women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and members from other underrepresented communities within the African diaspora. Episodes will air in the month of October and feature two original works of short fiction as well as two reprints. Submissions will be open from March 1 – 31. Stories must be between 1,500 – 5,000 words, and manuscripts do not need to be anonymized. Pay rate, content, and format will follow Escape Pod’s regular guidelines. The term Black Future Month is inspired by N.K. Jemisin’s essay titled, “How Long ’til Black Future Month,” (as well as a recent short story collection with the same title), and timing is aligned with Black Speculative Fiction Month (October). Submit your stories via our Moksha Portal for this project! Via: Escape Pod.

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: Contributors Copy and $25 CAD for stories up to 1000 words and $50 CAD for stories over 1000 words Theme: Better holiday celebrations featuring Canids 2020 was a hard year, with the holidays hitting harder than usual. Many traditions had to be reconfigured or dropped all together. Visitations were restricted, parties were non-existent, and travel was impossible.   Home for the Howlidays will be an anthology focusing on better holiday celebrations. What will next year look like? Or any year that isn’t hobbled by COVID-19 restrictions for that matter? Send me those stories.   Specifically, I’m looking for stories with canids. I’m also looking for winter holidays. These could include, but are not limited to: Yule, Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Diwali…any winter celebration is fair game. And finally, I’m looking for people getting together—friends, found family, family of origin, work colleagues, or even perfect strangers—during the holidays. For further inspiration, check out the cover!   I welcome and encourage submissions from writers of all backgrounds, including, but not limited to: gender/gender expression, disability, race, colour, religion, age, and national origin.   Submission period: 1 February 2021 – 31 March 2021   Story length: 7,000 words max   Payment: Flat $25 CAD for stories up to 1000 words + contributor copy; Flat $50 CAD for stories over 1000 words + contributor copy   Submission details: Standard short story formatting, with Canadian spellings, please. Send your story to: [email protected] with the subject heading of: Home for the Howlidays. Simultaneous submissions are okay; multiple submission are not. Expected publication is November of 2021.   Via: Tyche Books.

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: 3 cents per word Theme: Hotels, Motels, and Apartment buildings Note: My apologies for the short notice, this JUST hit my inbox about 5 minutes before I'm posting this. Your April Shallow Waters theme is... ...Hotels, Motels, and Apartment buildings! To celebrate the release of Jonathan Winn's Eidolon Avenue: The Second Feast (out today on paperback and Kindle), we're going with the same dark setting/theme as his shared-world collection. Authors, your word count is 1,200 words max. I'll personally read all the submissions and post the best 10 to 15 stories here on Patreon (to our $5 a month and higher tiers). Our patrons will then read all the entries, posted one per day, and vote for a winner. The winner will receive 3c USD per word, publication in a future Crystal Lake publication (anthology or magazine), and an author spotlight in our newsletter and here on Patreon. Please email your submission in the body of an email to [email protected]. Your email subject should be the title of your story. The deadline is end of March, whatever time zone you live in. And be sure to check out Eidolon Avenue. ;-) Via: Crystal Lake Publishing's Patreon.

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: Flat rates per word/type, see below Theme: The worst work environments in the world (or underworld, or space, or...) Note: Reprints Welcome My Job is a Hellhole! Working for demons, imps, devils, and other minions of hell. You boss is a denizen of the underworld, but the story can take place in any setting. Any setting means: hell, another planet, Modern Earth, Future Earth. Heaven? Sure why not? Maybe there's an employee exchange program between heaven and hell. I'm looking for fantasy, dark fantasy, horror, humor (oh HELL YES) and science fiction if you can come up with a science fiction-y hellscape. Flash/shorts (750-1500 words. No MORE than 1500 words, no LESS than 750 words for flash, no more than 2500 words for shorts) for $10 per piece original, previously unpublished flash, shorts $15). Microfics (350-749 words) will pay at a $5 per story rate for original, previously unpublished stories.  Will consider publishing a couple of drabbles for this, at $1 per drabble. Reprints accepted for this one, $10 for shorts, $5 for flash, $3 for micro. No drabble reprints. No poetry for this one. Submissions accepted from Dec 4, 2020 til March 31, 2021.   Down to the Sea in Bits (coming in 2021) Water monsters, undead pirates, sentient murderous seaweed, what have you! Horror. Water monsters. Undead pirates. SENTIENT MURDEROUS SEAWEED, YEAH! More info will be posted on this issue in December.​ No Submissions accept for this issue at this time. Via: The Were Traveler.

Deadline: March 31st, 2021 Payment: £10 Theme: I is for Internet I is for Internet – Submissions open February 1st. Deadline March 31st. We need short horror stories exploring the dark side of the Internet – think online dating gone wrong, killers for hire, cyber bullying etc. SUBMISSIONS OPEN FOR A-Z OF HORROR We are currently calling for submissions for a series of horror anthologies – The A-Z of Horror. The series will be based on a variety of themes and will consist of twenty-six books in total. We are looking for short horror stories, between 4000 and 8000 words, on each of the themes listed below. You may submit to more than one book, but we will only include a maximum of one story from each author, in each book. Being accepted into one book does not guarantee acceptance into one of the others. The story must be your own work, to which you hold the rights. The story must not be available elsewhere and, if accepted, we will hold the rights to it for three months from the date of publication. After that time, you may use the story however you wish. Any sub-genre of horror is suitable, even extreme, so long as the story fits the theme of that book and does not include anything which may unnecessarily cause offence (glorification of child abuse, rape, etc.). Payment for the story will be £10, to be paid by PayPal, as well as a contributor’s e-book of the finished book. Please send submissions in a Word document (ideally Times New Roman 12pt, single spaced) to [email protected] with the title of the book you are submitting to in the subject line. Please ensure you have included your name on the Word document. If you have any queries, feel free to get...