Events

Deadline: April 30th, 2023 Payment: An advance against royalties of $750, as well as 25% of net net receipts Theme: speculative fiction or literary novellas Psychopomp.com publishes otherworldly novellas about death, multiverses, time travel, and other strange lands. Open Call For Novellas We are currently open to otherworldly novella submissions. Please read the guidelines thoroughly before submitting. What We’re Looking For: We are looking for speculative fiction or literary novellas between 20,000 to 40,000 words that fall under one (or some!) of the following themes: stories where grief or loss play a leading role stories that feature the afterlife or the underworld stories that involve the journey through death/the journey of the dead stories that involve death personified (Death!) stories that take place in, or utilize a multiverse stories that involve time travel (esp. those that involve time travel + a previously mentioned theme) origin stories (especially as they relate to previously mentioned themes) stories where the characters slowly lose their sense of reality goth space, but make it goth stories where things that are not usually personified ARE personified (planets? galaxies? time? …bones?) creepy meta-horror amazingly original ghost stories We are ABSOLUTELY not interested in the following themes: conventional horror story tropes (zombies, werewolves, vampires, etc.) slashy, gory horror stereotypical christian afterlife stories of angels, devils, pearly gates, etc. stories that are heavy on the humor (Douglas Adams type of humor is a bad fit; dark, smart, black humor is more likely to land but will STILL be a hard sell) hard sci-fi military sci-fi sword and sorcery fantasy (we want nothing to do with goblins, orcs, etc.) the fae mermaids/selkies Submission Details: We are looking to acquire original, unpublished novellas. If your story has been published in any way (including self published or published on your Patreon) please...

Deadline: April 30th, 2023 Payment: 5 cents per word Theme: horror/dark fiction Breakdown of content:   8 fiction pieces (approximate word lengths) – 1x 5000, 1x 3000, 1x 2500, 2x 1500, 3x 500 3-5 non-fiction pieces – 1 article, 1-2 briefs, 1-2 interviews and/or review – Fiction:   We are looking for horror/dark fiction pieces between 500-5000 words firm. Genre mashing is absolutely allowed. We do not accept stories that involve the sexual abuse/exploitation of minors direct or implied. Common sense when submitting please. We are not looking for pure shock value. All components of your story should have merit. Gore for gore’s sake is not what we are looking for. While not a requirement, we strongly suggest you pick up a copy of the digital magazine to help better understand the types of work we’re looking for.   Our pay rates 5 cents per word All payments are made in US funds via PayPal. We accept submissions during the following reading periods , with an expected response time of up to 16 weeks. This way we are able to accommodate all the submissions we receive. If you have not heard back from us after 16 weeks, please feel free to send us an update query.   WINTER ISSUE: August 01 – October 31   SPRING ISSUE: November 01 – January 31   SUMMER ISSUE: February 01 – April 30   FALL ISSUE: May 01 – July 31 All submissions must be sent via e-mail to: [email protected] as an attached word document or .rtf with the word “Fiction Submission – STORY TITLE” in the subject line. In the body of the email include a word count. A short bio is welcome, but not mandatory. Please also include if you wish your story considered for both the quarterly print and the website publication. Note compensation rates are different for website so be certain.   ***VERY...

Submission Window: March 16th, 2023 - April 30th, 2023 Payment: 3 cents per word (potentially higher depending on Kickstarter) and a contributors copy Theme: Hauntings Note: women military veterans only A horror anthology written by women military veterans. Submissions will open March 16th for those who identify as a woman and have served in the military. Closing date is April 30, 2023. Do not send submissions early. THEME: Hauntings/to be haunted/to haunt. We’re not looking for service-related stories, only that haunting be the central theme. Hauntings of a classic horror nature, as well as other types such as psychological, haunted by trauma, life choices, and similar that take the reader into a dark, horror tale. The goal is to highlight excellent talent from women military veterans who are horror writers, not for stories to be focused on the military, although you may include the military in your story if you wish. Submission Guidelines: File: .docx or .doc Format: Modern Shunn https://www.shunn.net/format/story/ Length: Short stories 2,000 to 4,000 words. Poems may be up to 60 lines with no special indenting or other unusual formatting requirements. Email to: info at tundraswanpress dot com Submission Subject Line: HauntedZone_StoryTitle File Name: Please name your manuscript like this: HAUNTED ZONE_StoryTitle_AuthorName Author Bio: Provide a brief third-person bio—no more than 300 words. Include your author website link if you have one. Include 1-2 sentences about your military service, branch, dates served, etc. Simultaneous/Multiple/Reprint Submissions? You may submit simultaneously to other markets, but please notify us right away if the story is accepted elsewhere. You may send up to two submissions, but only one per category (one short story, one poem). Original, unpublished stories only. No reprints. Payment & Rights Pay: **$0.03/word per accepted submission (minimum). Each author will also receive a contributor copy. Exclusivity/Reversion of rights: We distribute our anthologies in both paper and eBook formats across multiple retailers. We ask for...

Deadline: April 30th, 2023 Prizes: The GRAND PRIZE winner will be published as the featured story on the Baen Books main website and paid at industry-standard rates for professional story submittals. The author will also receive a handsome engraved award and a prize package containing $500 of free Baen Books. SECOND place winner will receive a prize package containing $500 of free Baen Books. THIRD place winner will receive a prize package containing $300 of free Baen Books. Theme: Fantasy, though all fantasy genres are open, e.g. epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, contemporary fantasy, etc. Write and submit a short story of no more than 8,000 words. It must be a work of fantasy, though all fantasy genres are open, e.g. epic fantasy, heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, contemporary fantasy, etc. No entry fee. But only one submission per person...we suggest your best one! No reprints (i.e. the story must be unpublished). All entries must be original unpublished works in English. Plagiarism, poetry, song lyrics, settings and/or characters from published gaming worlds or another author’s works of fiction will not be considered. E-mail submissions only. Send entries as .RTF attachments to: [email protected] Please put BFAA SUBMISSION in the subject line when sending a contest entry and BFAA QUESTION in the subject line for questions to the contest administrator. Please include the following in the body of your email: the title of the work the author's name, address, and telephone number an approximate word-count The manuscript should be a RTF attachment, in standard manuscript format, and should be titled and numbered on every page, but the author's name MUST BE DELETED to facilitate fair judging. Click here for our standard manuscript format guidelines. Employees of Baen Books and Staff of Dragon Con are not eligible. Previous Grand Prize winners are...

Submission Window: April 1st - 30th, 2023 Payment: 8 cents per word and $500 for custom cover art and $100 for cover art drawn from an artist’s existing portfolio. Theme: Fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. THEMED ISSUE: FLASH ONLY Note: You must identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms. This includes, but is not limited to, first- and second-generation immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, persons who identify with one or more diaspora communities, persons who have been displaced or whose heritage has been erased due to colonialism/imperialism, and anyone whose heritage and history includes ‘here and elsewhere’. khōréō is a quarterly publication of stories, essays, and art: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. We’re especially interested in writing and art that explore some aspect of migration, whether explicitly (themes of immigration, colonialism, etc.), metaphorically, or with a sly nod and a wink. Most importantly, we’re a new magazine and we’re still finding our identity: therefore, please don’t self-reject because you’re not sure if your work is a good fit. We won’t know until we see it, so please give us a chance to look! 2023 Themed Issue: Flash (April submission period) Our last issue of the year is focused on flash fiction. We’re looking for stories of 1,500 words or fewer; flash submitted in earlier reading periods will also be considered for this issue. Submissions will be open April 1-30 for publication in December 2023. See submission requirements & how to submit at the following pages: Fiction Non-fiction Art Voice actors Who can submit? khōréō is dedicated to diversity and amplifying the voices of immigrant and diaspora...

Submission Window: April 1st-30th, 2023 Payment: $1 per accepted piece Theme: horrorku, horror themed tanka, haibun, see below for details The Submission may include any or all of the following: · Up to seven (7) horrorku or horror tanka  · Up to three (3) haibun · Up to five (5) pieces of cover art All submissions must be original, unpublished work that is not under consideration by a print or web-based journal. Posts in closed, critique-oriented groups and social media sites are acceptable for submission, but public posts on forums such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are not. By submitting a piece to us, you are guaranteeing that it is your original work and not under consideration or published anywhere else in the world. E-mail submission is required. Type poems into the body of the e-mail; no attachments of poetry will be opened. For art submissions, please include all five pieces in a .PDF file or send us a link to a private gallery. If we purchase an art piece for our cover, we will ask that you provide a 300 dpi version of said piece. E-mail: [email protected] Subject: Otoroshi Submission Please include a cover letter noting location in the world. Please include handles for Instagram and Twitter for promotional purposes. At this time, only one submission per issue will be considered unless the editors directly request a second submission. Submission periods are one month long: · January for the Spring Issue · April for the Summer Issue · July for the Fall Issue · October for the Winter Issue Acceptances will be sent shortly after the end of each period. Please note: Although most journals may publish your work as is, we are editors, too. This means we will make suggestions to your work as we see fit. This is to...

Submission Window: April 1st-30th, 2023 Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue Theme: Any genre, short story Mission = Revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful. Payout = Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Wait, you mean if this substack gets thousands of subscribers, the winner would get thousands of dollars? Yes! The New Yorker pays roughly $7,500 per story and I sincerely hope to go way past that. What does the timeline look like? Submit stories by the end of the month, winner to be announced on the 15th. There is ONE story that wins and receives the full payout. Where do I send submissions? [email protected] What are the rules for submitting? 1. No Fees 2. Send in Microsoft Word or Google Doc form 3. Any genre 4. 6- 10,000 words. Yes, just 6 words, like Hemingway's famous 6-word story "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn." 5. Reprints are ok so long as you still have the rights to distribute. 6. Acknowledge Distribution Rights on this Substack - You can still sell your story elsewhere but we need to be able to save and publish it here. The goal is to create a library for subscribers. 7. Only the winner will be published and rights will only transfer for the winning story. What do I get for subscribing? One beautiful story every month. The complete library. The joy of supporting artists and doing something interesting. What if I can’t pay right now? That’s ok! If you publish a blurb about this site on your website, blog, or social media, I will send you one full story of your choosing. Best of all, it is on the...

Submission Window: April 1st - 30th, 2023 Payment: 1 cent per word for fiction, $5 for poetry, 1 cent per word for non-fiction, $35 for cover art Theme: Speculative fiction It's our goal to publish diverse voices from around the world, and to do that, we are actively seeking stories, poems, and non-fiction pieces by authors from backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented in the science fiction and fantasy canon. Our submission cycle is therefore split into two categories, where every other month is explicitly reserved for submissions by authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups. The interposing six months remain open to everyone. Guidelines for Fiction We are seeking stories in the English language up to 6,000 words by writers from around the world. We favor submisions that have not been published before (including on your own website), though we do accept a limited number of reprints not currently appearing anywhere online. For our two issues focused on the climate crisis, we're particularly interested in publishing stories from people displaced by or threatened by the climate emergency (see our themes below). For our other four issues, we're open to a wide variety of stories across the SFF and weird spectra. We pay 1¢ per word for fiction, and we try to respond to all submissions within ten weeks. We will also accept a limited number of previously published stories, so please indicate on the form if your submission is a reprint. All submissions must use the Shunn manuscript format (we prefer Courier New) and be either .rtf, .doc, or .docx. We like stories that are subtle in their telling and stick with us long after we've finished. We're more likely to buy stories that balance a sense of wonder with a bold plot and...

Deadline: April 30th, 2023 Payment: $10 Theme: Your darkest, strangest microfiction in the form of user manuals, FAQs, and how-to guides for the use of (or by) robots! We are looking for your darkest, strangest microfiction in the form of user manuals, FAQs, and how-to guides for the use of (or by) robots! Tell us a story while guiding humans through the use of a strange machine, or guiding sentient robots through human activities they may not understand. Reveal deep yearnings and dark secrets between the lines, show us fascinating futures or weird horrors, and don’t be afraid to mix biology with machine. Let your imaginations go wild to create beautiful, surreal, and dark user-guides for strange machines! Please no simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions. We will aim to have first responses back within 30 days of closing to submissions. Word count: Up to 250 words Payment: $10 Submissions open: April 01 Submissions close: At midnight US central time on April 30. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 1) Submit your work in Shunn Standard Manuscript Format (Modern or Classic) and attach as a DOC, DOCX, RTF, or ODT file format. 2) Maximum word length is a firm 250 words. Anything more will be auto-rejected. 3) Payment for original fiction is $10 and a digital copy. 4) Please include a brief bio in the body of the email; we ask that bios are kept short and sweet, considering the size of the piece being published. 5) If the work you are submitting is an English translation, please include the translator name and email address either in your cover letter or within your manuscript. By submitting, you are verifying in good faith that you have the right to have your translated work published in Apex Magazine. 6) Strange Machines welcomes and encourages submissions from writers of all races, color, religion...

Deadline: April 30th, 2023 Payment: 10 cents per word Theme: Shadows & Knives, and a crow Note: There is ALSO a contest you can enter your work into instead of a magazine for a chance to win $3,000. However, it is pay to play on the contest. Write a story involving Shadows & Knives, and a crow. $3,000 grand prize. Hurry down the street as night falls. Is that movement in the shadows? Don’t look back. Dark figures block your path, steel glinting. No time to think. Do you run, fight, or scream? Murder is as old as time. The lights come on and someone’s dead. Everyone’s a suspect. The genius detective plays cat and mouse with a meticulous villain. Bodies, blackmail, and bloodstained letters. The cozy mystery is anything but for the victim. Prepare your alibi, avoid suspicion, and hope the trail of bodies leads back to the butler. The investigator has a secret, and the killer is working with the police. Conspiracies, confessions, and court intrigue. Assassins and bloody night raids—danger lurks in the dark. So accept the invitation, gather round the campfire, and hope the train doesn’t go through a tunnel. It’s a mystery, and we’re all gathered for the big reveal. This contest invites you to explore shadows and knives, whatever that means to you. Fantasy, contemporary, romance, crime. All genres are welcome. Submissions close April 30th at 11:59 pm EST. Contest only open to new writers All new writers can submit work to the magazine. It’s free. We don’t believe publications should charge authors to be published. However, we have a specific submission process you must adhere to in order to have your work considered. Our submissions window opens on the first and closes at midnight on the final day of each month. Each issue...

Deadline: April 30th, 2023 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Science fiction drabbles General Submissions are open April 1st – 30th! What we want more of: Cyberpunk Sci-fi horror Stories with Tech Starships Holograms Stories involving other planets Dark sci-fi Characters making a decision What we want less of: *GASP* we were really talking about humans, Earth, etc. Twist stories where the twist doesn’t change the way we view the story. We caused the apocalypse because humanity sucks. We accidentally called the aliens who are invading us because of some silly reason. General Guidelines Martian magazine publishes drabbles, stories of exactly 100 words (excluding title). Stories submitted of greater than or less than 100 words will be rejected. We use Google Docs to determine word count. We publish science fiction. Every subgenre of science fiction is acceptable but the science fiction element must be present. Submitted works must be stories. They must have a beginning, middle, and at least hint at the end. They may be 100 words, but we are not interested in thoughts or feelings without action or characters that don’t do anything. We will have set reading periods each year. Submissions will only be read in those reading periods. Stories sent outside of the reading periods will not be read unless they were specifically solicited by the editor. We pay .08 per word for original fiction, paid on publication of the selected work. Reprints are accepted and paid at .04 per word, half that of original fiction. We accept simultaneous submissions. Just please let us know if your work was selected elsewhere if we have not yet gotten back to you. We accept multiple submissions-up to three at a time, sent as separate emails. We will respond within two weeks with either a rejection or hold request. The rights we...