Events

Submission Window: July 15th to October 15th 2023. Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Transfeminine cyberpunk by transfem authors, including trans women, transfems, nonbinary trans women, etc. We’re excited to announce Embodied Exegesis, an upcoming transfeminine cyberpunk anthology to be edited by Ann LeBlanc. The book will be published in late 2024. Some of the incredible writers to be included in this project include Hailey Piper, TT Madden, Catherine Kim, Riley Tao, Lillian Boyd, J Jennifer Espinoza, Izzy Wasserstein and Ryka Aoki. We will be open to submissions for the anthology from July 15th to October 15th, 2023. Here’s a preview of the submissions guidelines: Submissions are open to transfem authors, including trans women, transfems, nonbinary trans women, etc. We’re not the gender cops, and you don’t need to justify or explain your identity. If you think you’d fit in an anthology of transfem authors, you belong here. We’re especially interested in submissions from disabled writers, Black writers, Indigenous/Native writers, and other writers of color. What we’re looking for: Originals and reprints. Wordcount: Under 6,000 words. Pay: $0.08/word for originals, $0.01/word for reprints Concept: Cyberbunk and posthuman short stories by transfem authors. What we want to see: Augmented bodies. Uploaded minds. Cybernetics, real cities, and virtual worlds. Putting the trans in transhumanism. We’re looking for stories that push characters' bodies and minds to their limits. This anthology will use a very broad definition of "cyberpunk"—anything from ten minutes into the future all the way through the distant and unrecognizable eons. We’re open to stories that infuse magic into the setting. We want the full spectrum: stories of trans joy and gender euphoria, and darker stories of trans sorrow, struggle, and dysphoria. What we don’t want to see: We’re not interested in stories that retread ableist tropes equating body modification with...

Deadline: October 15th, 2023 Payment: $20 per story or artwork Theme: Electric Spec prefers science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. submissions at electricspec (dot) comPlease 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 work with the author to edit the story for length or readability. However, we always remain true to the spirit of the story and the author has final approval. 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...

Submission Window: September 15th to October 15th, 2023 Payment: 3 cents per word Theme: Speculative Fiction in the science fiction or fantasy variety Note: The first week of submissions (March 15-21 and Sept 15-21) is reserved for writers of color. We are open annually for submissions from March 15th through April 15th for our August issue, and from September 15th through October 15th for our February issue. The first week of submissions (March 15-21 and Sept 15-21) is reserved for writers of color. The remainder of the window will be for general submissions. If you’re a writer of color who submits during that first week and you hear back from us before the general window closes, you’re welcome to send a second submission during that time. We are not interested in machine-generated (AI/LLM) characters, plots, or text of any kind. Spellcheckers and grammar checkers that run off machine learning are absolutely fine by us (though we also don’t want you to let a machine strip out your natural writing voice in the name of someone else’s idealized grammar!) WHAT TO SUBMIT The short version: We pay $0.03 per word with a minimum of $20 in exchange for first world electronic rights in English. We ask for an exclusivity period of 3 months from date of publication. Maximum 5,000 words. Your story must contain speculative elements: that means science fiction or fantasy. We do not accept nonfiction. No simultaneous submissions. Only one submission per writer per open period. Save your manuscript as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf and email it as an attachment to [email protected]. As far as manuscript formatting goes, use a readable 12-point font (we like Times New Roman and Courier just fine but we’re not unreasonably picky). Italicize your italics and please double-space; we’re reading on screens and a little white space goes a long way....

Deadline: October 15th, 2023 Payment: 6 cents per word Theme: Fun and thought-provoking stories about magical animal familiars and their humans. A collection of fun and thought-provoking stories about magical animal familiars and their humans. Familiars can be feisty felines or other imaginative animals. This is the fifth anthology put together by the Publishing masters degree students at Western Colorado University, taught by bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson and award-winning editor Allyson Longueira, funded by Draft2Digital. Previous anthologies include Monsters, Movies, and Mayhem; Unmasked; Gilded Glass; and the just-released Merciless Mermaids: Tails from the Deep. See the examples at http://wordfirepress.com/gpcw Please read the Guidelines carefully. Submission Guidelines for FEISTY FELINES AND OTHER FANTASTICAL FAMILIARS We're familiar with familiars ... or are we? Gifted adventurers across time and space have traveled with an animal familiar—often a cat, but other fuzzy, scaly, or prickly creatures make appearances, too. These magical companions might lead their humans into mischief, help them out of a sticky situation, or provide opinionated commentary along the way. But when the wizards are away, the familiars will play. Feisty Felines and Other Fantastical Familiars is an original collection that shines the limelight on the sidekicks, the familiars. Familiars have lives of their own, a sense of humor, and a shadowy underbelly that we totally overlook. Does the Siamese cat companion develop powers of telekinesis … maybe to knock deadly potions off the counter? What happens when a rat studies to become a familiar in a class full of cats? Is the circus leopard really the puppet master who makes her handler look good? They don’t all have to be felines. What about unfamiliar familiars? A time-traveling elephant that never forgets a grudge against his warlock? A lowly earthworm horrified to find itself bonded for life to an ungrateful enchanter? Now it's time for these fantastical...

Deadline: October 15th, 2023 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Cosmic horror and weird tales written by marginalized peoples whose experiences and worldviews have influenced their interpretation of dread. BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF INFINITY is an anthology, edited by Vaughn A. Jackson & Stephanie Pearre, of cosmic horror and weird tales written by marginalized peoples whose experiences and worldviews have influenced their interpretation of dread. The anthology hopes to bring these diverse perspectives to the forefront of the horror community and, of course, make Lovecraft roll over in his grave! We are looking for original short stories of weird fiction and cosmic horror that coil up inside us and leave us begging (and fearing) for more. Any genre is fair game so long as it has a twisted knot of horror for a heart. While stories may contain violence, sexuality, and religion, we are not looking for extreme/splatter-punk, erotica, non-fiction, or religious diatribes. Submission Window: September 15th – October 15th. Stories submitted before or after these dates will be deleted without being opened. Word Count: 2000 – 4000 words. There is a limited amount of flexibility to these, but the farther outside of this range you go the less likely we are to choose your story. Simultaneous Submissions: Yes. Just let us know in your email, and update us if the story is selected elsewhere. Multiple Submissions: No. One submission per person. Target Age Group: Mature Readers Rights: World English first rights in print, electronic, audio, and ebook, including a six-month exclusivity period. All copyright belongs to the author. Response Time: We hope to make selections and respond to authors within 1-2 Months from the close of submission. Pay Rate: 8 cents per word. Diversity – Our definition of diversity includes: Persons of Color Persons of Native American Heritage Persons identifying as LGBTQIA+ Persons with disabilities Neurodivergent persons Women Persons adhering to...

Deadline: October 15th, 2023 Payment: $10 CAD Theme: The death spiral of a great metropolis. MYRIAD is a zine series designed to give experience to emerging editors. Each subscriber-exclusive digital zine features five flash fiction pieces selected to fit a theme chosen by a guest-editor. The death spiral of a great metropolis. What happens when cities are stripped of their purpose? We’re looking for stories of the monsters that lurk in the skeletons of brutalist structures. The strange rituals of those who found ways of surviving. Labyrinths of crumbling stone. Spirits inhabiting a dilapidated ballroom. Plants flourishing in abandoned train stations. Chimaeras stalking the ruins of a long forgotten urban landscape. The cities can be real or imaginary. The editor has a fondness for strange stories which embrace ambiguity. Think weird for this call. As always, Hexagon encourages submissions from diverse backgrounds, such as LQBTQ+, BIPOC, ESL, disabled, neurodivergent and working class authors. You are welcome here. This call is open to original speculative fiction up to 1,000 words. Please submit in Shunn manuscript format. No multiple submissions, simultaneous submissions are OK, but please let us know if the piece is accepted elsewhere. Necropolis will be guest-edited by R.L. Summerling and available exclusively for subscribers of Hexagon Magazine in Winter 2023. All accepted authors will be paid a $10 CAD flat rate via Paypal and sent a PDF contributor copy. Submissions open September 15th. Deadline to submit for general submission is October 15th. An extended window for authors from marginalised communities runs from 16th-21st October. Submit here for NECROPOLIS! Via: Hexagon Magazine.