Events

Deadline: March 31, 2015 Payment: 1% royalty share of the profits from both the kickstarter and on-going sales, plus 2 comp copies and a 50% discount on purchased copies Whether you’re talking about the wild frontier, the Final Frontier, the literary frontier, or all three at once, The Weird Wild West edited by Misty Massey, Emily Lavin Leverett, and Margaret S. McGraw pushes those boundaries. This collection takes all those things you love about genre fiction and marries it to that western grit we cut our teeth on as kids with classics like The Lone Ranger, Kung Fu, and The Wild Wild West. Thank you for helping us make this project happen! SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: All submissions should be in Times New Roman, 12 point, in .doc or .docx format. Stories should be between 3,000 and 9,000 words. No multiple or simultaneous submissions, and please, no reprints. We seek stories of the Wild West in all its glory but with that delicious left turn into weirdness. The stories must be related to, inspired by, or set in a Western setting, whether on Earth, in a fantasy world, or on another planet. Let your imagination run free figuring out what dangers the frontier folk might face from magic or science (or both!) A couple of disclaimers here – we’re definitely not looking for hard erotica. If there’s sexual behavior in your story that drives the plot along, that’s fine. If the only point to your story is sex, please reconsider submitting it. eSpec Books and its editors do not support the marginalization or discrimination of any individual or group due to any trait, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, age, gender, or orientation. We seek to produce fiction that is respectful and in good taste. While individual characters in that fiction...

Deadline: March 31st, 2015 Prizes: Amazon gift cards and Inkitt custom mugs. The first place winner will also get a custom poster spotlighting their story! Readers, be on your toes, too: there's an Amazon gift card up for grabs for one lucky reviewer! Write a horror story that has people running for cover! What is Inkitt? Inkitt is a free platform for writers to cultivate ideas and watch their stories grow. On our site, users collaborate with fellow writers and readers to give each other feedback and improve their work. Inkitt wants to help writers get the exposure they deserve and the publishing deals they covet without suffering the frustrations and bias of traditional printing and selfpublishing. What is the theme of the horror contest? "Running Scared: The Most Terrifying Tale Ever Told." In the tradition of classic horror flicks and monster movies, we want the freakiest, flashiest fiction you can come up with. Make us scream! What are the guidelines? Frightening fiction up to 15,000 words. Entries must be posted on the Inkitt contest page to be considered eligible. The contest opens on March 3rd and closes on March 31st . It is free to enter , and authors will retain all rights to all work submitted. Authors will collect community votes, and the first, second, and third place winners will be chosen by Inkitt’s guest judges (horror authors J.D. Horn , Armand Rosamilia , and J. Thorn ) from the top 10% of entries. What are the prizes? All entrants will have the chance to show their work to a growing community of authors and readers hungry for high-quality fiction and win the following prizes: 1st Prize:  $25 Amazon gift card, customized movie poster (and high-resolution .pdf file) spotlighting the winner’s story, Inkitt custom mug, custom cover design for the Inkitt story of their choice (created by Inkitt’s designer). 2nd Prize:  $20...

Deadline: March 31st, 2015 Payment: 1 cent per word We are looking for stories 500-8000 words in length about the end of the world, in whatever form it takes. These stories will be published in our anthology, Selfies from the End of the World: Historical Accounts of the Apocalypse. We will accept submissions from March 1st through March 31st. The stories must include the following elements: The World Must End: At the very minimum, we’re looking for a catastrophic collapse of human civilization. The end of the world can either take place in the story or, in the case of post-apocalyptic tales, it can take place before the start of your story. It Must Be First Person: There must be a narrator that is telling the story as though they have experienced it. It does not need to have mad science in it at all. Though we are not requiring it, we would also love stories that feature protagonists or settings that are outside of what we typically see in mainstream fiction. We don’t want to just publish a couple dozen stories about straight white men in the ruins of the United States. We would also like to collect stories from a wide range of authors, including authors with little to no publishing history and authors from traditionally underrepresented groups. All our other submission guidelines still apply, particularly the request for Standard Manuscript Format. We will not be accepting reprints. Payment will be 1-cent a word. How To Send It You will want to send it through our submission form on Submishmash: http://madscientistjournal.submishmash.com/submit Questions? Queries can be sent to [email protected]. Via: Mad Scientist Journal.

Deadline: April 1st 2015 Payment: £130 This is another anthology of brand new material I have been asked to edit for Constable Robinson. I am seeking original stories to feature Jack the Ripper (or whoever he was…) in a fictional context. Ideal length between 4,000 and 7,500 words. Rights required are non-exclusive World English language anthology rights, with an option for foreign language translation within the anthology should offers be made for overseas editions. Delivery April 1st 2015. I will accept email submissions (in Word doc). Payment £130 (or, at current exchange rate $215) on publication. As some might recall, I edited a collection of non fiction speculations about Jack the Ripper (in collaboration with Nathan Braund) over a decade ago and it has proved a great success, so have great hopes for this new project. The stories should tackle the theme of his identity, his crimes, his secret life or any variation you can come up with that you think will prove original and interesting. Ideally, they should concord with known facts but within that framework, the more imaginative the better. US editor Gardner Dozois edited a similar volume in 1988 but with emphasis on fantasy and SF tales; this time around our book will be double the size at 600 pages or so, and I would prefer the angle to focus on mystery and crime as well as horror, although any other variations would always be welcome (within the limits of taste as we are after all dealing with a serial killer). If the project tickles your fancy, do let me know well in advance that you are hoping to do a story so I can plan the project and keep a slot open for you. This call for submissions is not just going out to crime and...

Deadline: April 1st, 2015 Payment: 1/2 cent per word and one contributor's copy Note: As you read this is for Furry fiction, which the thought of that is kind of horrifying in itself if you ask me! ROAR 6 is open for submissions! We're looking for excellent general audience furry stories on the theme "scoundrel."  Submissions should be under 12,000 words, no lower limit.  If you have an excellent story, but you're not sure it fits the theme, give it a try.  We can be flexible on "scoundrel," but all stories have to be furry.  That means an anthropomorphic animal figure should be significantly featured in your story -- it could be anthropomorphic in body or only intelligence.  We'll consider any type of furry fiction from secret life of animals to fox in Starbucks -- as long as it's excellent. Please send submissions as an attached .doc, .docx, or .rtf file in standard manuscript format to ROARanthology(at)gmail.com.  We're hoping to release ROAR 6 at AnthroCon, so the deadline is April 1st, 2015.  For multiple submissions, reprints, or other questions, please query.  We do not accept simultaneous submissions. ROAR is a paying market.  Payment will be 1/2 cent per word and one contributor's copy on publication.* All submissions will be replied to by May 1st, possibly much earlier. The ROAR anthologies are a FurPlanet production.  The editor for ROAR 6 is Mary E. Lowd. *While mainstream sf/f/h markets may pay higher rates, 1/2 cent per word is currently standard in the furry genre.  Hopefully, it will be possible to increase the standard rate in the future.  For now, keep in mind that publishing in ROAR does use up a story's first rights; subsequent publications of the story would only be reprints, which are not accepted by most markets and often receive...

Deadline: April 1st, 2015 Payment: 6 cents per word through 4000 words Super science. Madness. Transhumanism. Some things can’t be unlearned. This is the dawn of posthumanity. Gleaming labs whir with the hum of servers as scientists unravel the secrets of the universe. But as we peel away mysteries, the universe looks back at us. Even now, terrors rise from the Mariana Trench and drift down from the stars. Scientists are disappearing—or worse. Eldritch algorithms are erected as countermeasures. Experiments take on minds of their own. Some fight back against the unknown, some give in, some are destroyed, and still others are becoming… more. The human and inhuman are harder and harder to distinguish. Mankind is changing, whether it wants to or not, using implants, chemical alterations, genetic manipulation, new senses that man did not evolve to process, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, drugs—brand new ways of thinking. Of course, the Old Ones laugh at our laws, scientific and otherwise. What havoc is wreaked by those humans trying to harness and control their science to grow as a species? As big science progresses and the very particles and substance of this universe are understood, what stories are being hushed up? Tell us a tale, and make sure it has a beginning, a middle, an end, and a Cthulhu… (Well, incorporate the Cthulhu Mythos, anyway. Big C himself doesn’t need to make an appearance.) Broken Eye Books wants your transhumanist near-future science fiction tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. These are tales of more than merely cosmic dread. They exist in our world of the next couple years (no more than that!). This is the era of big science, with stories that have full-tilt plots and characters writhing in the throes of—what is that? We’ll be right back. Send us your maddening masterwork of less than 4,000 words....

Deadline: April 1st, 2015 Payment: 6 cents per word for up to 4,000 words Super science. Madness. Transhumanism. Some things can’t be unlearned. This is the dawn of posthumanity. Gleaming labs whir with the hum of servers as scientists unravel the secrets of the universe. But as we peel away mysteries, the universe looks back at us. Even now, terrors rise from the Mariana Trench and drift down from the stars. Scientists are disappearing—or worse. Eldritch algorithms are erected as countermeasures. Experiments take on minds of their own. Some fight back against the unknown, some give in, some are destroyed, and still others are becoming… more. The human and inhuman are harder and harder to distinguish. Mankind is changing, whether it wants to or not, using implants, chemical alterations, genetic manipulation, new senses that man did not evolve to process, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, drugs—brand new ways of thinking. Of course, the Old Ones laugh at our laws, scientific and otherwise. What havoc is wreaked by those humans trying to harness and control their science to grow as a species? As big science progresses and the very particles and substance of this universe are understood, what stories are being hushed up? Tell us a tale, and make sure it has a beginning, a middle, an end, and a Cthulhu… (Well, incorporate the Cthulhu Mythos, anyway. Big C himself doesn’t need to make an appearance.) Broken Eye Books wants your transhumanist near-future science fiction tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. These are tales of more than merely cosmic dread. They exist in our world of the next couple years (no more than that!). This is the era of big science, with stories that have full-tilt plots and characters writhing in the throes of—what is that? We’ll be right back. Send us your maddening masterwork of less than...

Deadline: April 1st, 2015 Payment: 6 cents per word up to 4000 words Ghosts. Gaslight. Gears. In the wondrous age of steam, pirates, rust, and syphilis aren’t all you need to worry about. Ghosts abound! In this hissing and clanking steampunk world, there are moments that science just can’t explain. All the mechanical geniuses scratch their heads and whisper words of ghosts and powers, of spirits and demons. Possessed automatons take on lives of their own. Superstitious pilots take all necessary precautions. Avant-garde machinists harness the spirits to power their creations. Revenge-minded ghosts stalk haunted gasworks. This is a mechanized playground for the souls of the dead. These are the tales we’re looking for: where the spirit world proves itself at times inspiring and dangerous, useful and annoying. In a rich steampunk world, chock full of gizmos and gadgets aplenty, tell us the stories that go bump, clatter, boom in the night. What if Jules Verne wrote Ghostbusters? What if Scooby and the gang rode around in a steam-powered airship? What if Tesla talked to the dead? Broken Eye Books wants your alternate history steampunk ghost stories. So send us your mechanized masterwork of less than 4,000 words. If you would like to submit a story for one of them, we are having an open reading period for original fiction submissions from March 1, 2015 to April 1, 2015. We are paying six (6) cents per word for up to 4,000 words. Publication requires first rights for the print and digital versions of the anthology. No reprints. You may submit one submission per anthology. Please, no simultaneous submissions. Send your manuscript as an attachment (.doc, .docx,  or .rtf only) in standard manuscript format. Burn your story in a graveyard under the full moon, or just send it to [email protected] (with “GITC Submission: ” in the subject line)....

Deadline: April 3rd Payment: $25 per story This is an open call for agented and unagented submissions. Bring us your ghosts, monsters, night terrors…all taking place on Christmas Eve. Your middle grade short stories should be appropriate for grades 6-8. 1500-2000 words. This is a paying market. $25 / story. Please send submissions to: [email protected] with FRIGHTMARE in the subject line, followed by your story title. (FRIGHTMARE: My Story) Via: Leak Books.

Deadline: April 11th, 2015 Payment: 12.5 cents per word Fireside is open to flash-fiction submissions We are accepting submissions of flash fiction (1,000 words or less, firm limit) from March 15-April 11. Please read all the guidelines before following the submissions link at the bottom of the page. Payment, etc. Fireside pays 12.5 cents per word, with payment on completion of edits. We buy first world publication rights and six-month exclusivity, as well as the right to reprint the story once, non-exclusively, in a Fireside anthology.   Please DO NOT resubmit stories that we have previously rejected, even if you have revised them. They will be rejected unread.   You may only submit one story to us at a time. If you receive a rejection from us while we are still accepting stories, please wait one day before submitting another story.   Please do not submit a story that you have already submitted elsewhere but have not heard back from. (Often called simultaneous submission.)   We are not looking for poetry, nonfiction, reviews, art, or anything else but fiction. What we are looking for Fireside’s goal is to publish great storytelling, regardless of genre. What do we mean by great storytelling? We want stories that go somewhere, with plot and a beginning, middle, and end. We’re not looking for character studies or metafiction or hallucinatory visions. (We LIKE those things; it’s just not what we publish in Fireside.)   I’ll let Neil Gaiman say it again, as I have in our Kickstarters. This is from his introduction to his “Stories” anthology, writing of his response to a question about what quote he would want inscribed on the wall of the kids’ section in a public library. He captured the reason why we love good stories in his response:   I’m not sure I’d put...