Events

Deadline: July 31, 2016 Payment: $25 and contributor's copy SUBMISSION OPEN CALL! Anthology Deadline: July 31, 2016 Publishing date: October 30, 2016 Pay: $25 upon acceptance, plus one contributor copy Word Count: min| 3500, max| 5,000 Title: The Unleashed: Monsters Vs. Zombies Are you tired of the same old zombie stories? Have you had your fill of man vs. zombie? Stiched Smile Publications wants you to unleash your imagination and mash it up. We are looking for uncommon stories featuring a monster (dracula, big foot, frankenstein, etc) fighting the undead. Unleash your imagination and take us on a ride that we've never been on. Thank you Mark Deloy for the idea. It's why you're a part of SSP! How to submit: Please send your submission to [email protected] You must have your full name, pen name if applicable and mailing address include. Entries without all information will be disqualified. Via: Stitched Smile Publications.

Deadline: July 31st, 2016 Payment: $5.00 with an equal share of 50% of royalties. “Revenge is a dish best served cold..” Eugène Sue, Memoirs of Matilda, (1848) Indeed revenge is sweet! How about served with a big scoop of ice cream, with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a gleaming drop of blood red cherry on top? Just Desserts is all about vengeance. Whether your character is dishing it out or tasting the well-deserved (or not) fruits of their actions, we want to hear stories of revenge. We’ll accept most genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, horror (but keep the PG-13 rating in mind), romance, steampunk, Weird Western, and poetry of various types. We are especially looking for DIVERSE protagonists and characters, all races, including aliens, sexual orientations, disabilities, etc. RESTRICTIONS:  No fan-fic or erotica. Keep the content PG-13, please.  Limit profanity, seriously gory violence, and erotic content. We want to make this book available to young adult readers as well as adults. If you have questions about content, please feel free to email:  [email protected] SUBMISSION EMAIL: [email protected] READING PERIOD:  June 1 2016 to July 31, 2016 (DO NOT SUBMIT PRIOR TO JUNE 1, 2016) RELEASE DATE:  October 2016 SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED: We do not accept simultaneous submissions. Make this your best work. If we see spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, we’ll reject your story. We will accept reprints if you have the current rights to them. LENGTH:  Up to 7,000 words, but the “sweet” spot is between 3,000 and 5,000. FORMATTING:  Standard manuscript formatting, please. Margins should be 1” to 1.5” sides, top, bottom. Indent the first lines of each paragraph, double space, italics for thoughts, etc. Please, use italics for italics not underlining. (This makes unnecessary work for your editors) Font should be 12 point Times New Roman or Courier. File...

Deadline: July 31st, 2016 Prize: £10 This month sees our one year anniversary and to mark it, along with our announcement that here on out, we will grace the winner with the mammoth sum of £10, we are looking for your best and most original monster stories. Big Foot, the Yeti. Loch Ness Monsters and Beast of Moors Bodmin and beyond. We want your creations to grace our pages for the next month. Lacking in inspiration? Fear not, here are a few images from tabloids and websites of unimpeachable repute. (www.dailystar.co.uk, http://www.dailymail.co.uk,http://www.express.co.uk and http://www.ancient-origins.net) 300 words is the max. Aim for Times New Roman and 12 points if you would be so kind. Either submit in the body of the email or as an attachment. If you do decide to grace us with your prose, there’s a good chance that at some point (probably a year down the line) we might use it in a ‘best of’ collection. So, be warned, by sending us your stuff, it will/might be published in an outmoded form called paper and as such, you accept this. Should this happen you will be offered the opportunity to buy the book at ‘cost’ price + delivery. Please send your stories to: [email protected] Via: Zero Flash.

Deadline: July 31st Payment: 8 cents per word NOTE: During the last submission window there were some problems with email notifications getting through to users.  If you think of it when submitting, write down the tracking number shown in your browser; you can use that to check the status at any time.(normally that would also be emailed in an auto-notification).  If you didn’t write that down, you can query as described below–just be careful not to mention your story title to disqualify, just say the email address you used to submit. David Steffen is the editor.  He will be reading all submissions himself, no slushreader.  Be sure you read the guidelines and pay close attention to the requirements around anonymity–since there is a staff of one, the requirements for anonymity are extra important to avoid disqualifying your submission.   FICTION OVERVIEW Genres: science fiction, fantasy, horror (everything must have speculative element, even horror). Word count: 3500 words or less. This is a firm limit.  If you submit a longer story, it will be rejected unread and that will count as a submission. Do not query to ask permission to submit something longer either–the answer will be no. Pay rate: 8 cents per word (more than the professional rate as deemed by SFWA) Multiple submissions: A total of TWO submissions per author during this submission window.  You don’t have to wait for one response to send the second one–you can just send both whenever you want during the window.  We’re aiming to publish a couple stories of complementary length per month–one very short with one longer or two middling length ones–so I suggest that it would be a good idea to submit a short and long yourself if you have them available. Simultaneous submissions: No. Reprint submissions: No. That means you should not submit anything...

Deadline: July 31st, 2016 Payment: 1 cent per word Note: Female authors only Reprints allowed 'Killing it Softly'—Women. The softer sex. Maybe, but trust me, the frightening tales from the women in this anthology will not be soft. Not in any way. This select group of female authors will take you for a ride into the darkest part of your psyche; to places you’ve been too afraid to go. And once you’ve been there—you’ll never be able to ‘unsee’ the horrors they’ll bring… Suzie Lockhart - Managing Editor Welcome to Digital Horror Fiction. We are excited to announce a new open call for reprint short stories in the horror fiction genre - dedicated to stories by female* authors. These stories will be published as part of an anthology (Killing it Softly) of short stories, flash fiction, and some poetry under the Digital Horror Fiction imprint, by the publisher, Digital Fiction Publishing Corp. (Note that flash fiction and poetry are by invitation only and will be solicited directly by the Editor, this open call is for horror reprint short stories of 3,000 to 7500 words in length only.) We are looking for reprint short stories that have appeared in professional or semi-professional books, magazines, collections, or anthologies, and that are available to be re-licensed by Digital Horror Fiction and published through Amazon and elsewhere in an anthology of stories. We are not looking for (and will not license) self published stories (in any format/venue), stories that have been published and are available to download on-line (free or paid) as stand-alone stories (in collections and anthologies is fine), or stories that are available free on-line in any form (magazine, archive, blog etc, but podcasts that have not been made available in print are fine). Basically, if we search for your story on-line and find it, in writing, by title or content, and it's free in any format we won't license it - no exceptions. Reprint short stories must have a...

Deadline: August 1st, 2016 Payment: a percentage of the final product based on how many stories are in the collection. The Project:  In Fall 2016 we’ll be releasing our second collection of stories under the wide umbrella genre of ‘Horror.’ It will be released as one large volume. This collection will be edited by Head Editor of Onyx Neon Shorts, Jeffrey P. Martin. What genre are you looking for?: This isn’t for a specific sub genre, but more of a call for anything that fits under the larger umbrella of “Horror.” Stories about haunted houses, killer dolls, classic gore, weird fiction, or various other topics will fit right in. What authors inspire you? We are inspired by authors like Laird Barron, Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, Nathan Balingrud, M.R. James, H.P. Lovecraft How will this work? We’re looking for 13 stories and they will be released in one large collection in October/November. What’s the length? Because it’s a collection of stories they can range anywhere from 0-30,000 words. So, no minimum limit. What we pay: Our standard collection rate is a percentage of the final product based on how many stories are in the collection. What’s the deadline: Because the collection comes out in the fall, no stories will be considered if they come in after August 1st. We need time to read through stories and decide if we want to include them. This isn’t a moveable deadline. This is literally the final deadline that we will take submissions for the collection so please, be aware. First Print and Electronic Publishing Rights: It must be stated that when your story is published for the first time that publisher has taken your stories First Print Rights. What this means is that every publication that publishes the story after that has to list where the stories were published. In this case we...

Deadline: August 1st, 2016 Payment: $25.00 – $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 – $10.00 for poetry, and $25.00 for nonfiction (all U.S. dollars). We also send you a copy of the issue in which your piece appears. You’ll receive your money and issue at the same time. Fall Prompt: Mrs. Morrison was too busy to die. We love the fact that writers around the world are inspired by our first lines, and we know that not every story will be sent to us. However, we ask that you do not submit stories starting with our first lines to other journals (or post them online on public sites) until we've notified you as to our decision (usually two to three weeks after the deadline). When the entire premise of the publication revolves around one sentence, we don't want it to look as if we stole that sentence from another writer. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line. (Also, we understand that writers may add our first line to a story they are currently working on or have already completed, and that's cool. But please do not add our first line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our first lines.) One more thing while I've got you here: Writers compete against one another for magazine space, so, technically, every literary magazine is running a contest. There are, however, literary magazines that run traditional contests, where they charge entry fees and rank the winners. We do not - nor will we ever - charge a submission fee, nor do we rank our stories in order of importance. Occasionally, we run contests to help come up with new first lines, or we run...

Deadline: 8/01/16 Payment: $5 for flash fiction and $10 to $20 (depending on length) for short stories "We are not afraid." Body Parts Magazine is an online literary magazine of horror, erotica, speculative fiction, essays and art. Each themed issue honors Eros and Thanatos, the Greek gods of libido and mortido—life and death. We celebrate the vast and various expressions of dreams and darkness, our primitive desires and urges, and seek to encounter—and embrace—those shadowy monsters who dwell in the dimly lit corners of human experience. Submission Guidelines Upcoming Themes Submissions for each issue are accepted through the last day of each reading period (if specified). You are welcome to submit material for any issue--simply indicate which issue you would like your work to be considered for. Issue #7: Fairy Tales, Mythology and Gods & Monsters (Fall/Winter 2016) Submission deadline: 8/01/16 Fiction Body Parts accepts well-written, thoughtfully structured horror, erotic horror, speculative fiction, dark fantasy (including fairy tales and mythology), exceptional stories about ghosts, ghouls, monsters and wretched creatures, Gothic fiction, and all combinations of the above. Our boundaries are few and far between. Flash Fiction: 1,000 words or fewer. Short Stories: up to 8,000 words. Serialized or Longer Fiction: query us with total word count. Art/Photography We accept your original artwork and photography reflective of an issue’s theme. Email a query with a link to your art online (web, Dropbox, Google album, etc.) Payment varies. Essays & Interviews We accept short essays and interviews (up to 1200 words) about topics that fit within our themes, people integral to the type of work published in Body Parts (writers, artists, photographers, etc.). Query first. We do not accept book/game/music reviews. Payment varies. Payment Body Parts is a paying market. We offer an honorarium of $5 for flash fiction and $10 to $20 (depending on length) for short...

Deadline: August 1st, 2016 Payment: $25.00, plus digital and 1 trade paperback copy upon distribution Elven, Dwarven, Orc or Mage. Fae and Seelie leap off the page. Poems, sagas, epics too, this is what we ask of you. With parchment and quill in hand, take us to your mythic land. Build a world ethereal and fair, bring it to us so we can share. An anthology for us to build, helping us, the lily gild. Please do not use or reference stories, characters etc that are already established and/or property of someone else. No copyright infringements please.  We are looking for original work with original characters and the plot should be original as well. Please, NO fan fiction. Characters must be your own, originally created, and not a version or fan fiction of an existing character. Do not use the names or personalities of existing trademarked characters. No references should be made to characters from well-known sources. Please keep stories relatively clean as we are looking to make this available to all ages. Therefore in keeping with the Codes of Chivalry, profanity, gratuitous violence, sexual themes and the like will be deemed as unsuitable for this work. Only submit unpublished, original stories, and characters. Story length, between 2,500 minimum and 8,000 maximum words. This is going to call for a high level of skill to keep your story fast paced and interesting without falling back on those particular crutches to carry the plot along. We are looking forward to some high quality, entertaining reading. We are looking for short stories between 2500 and 8000 words. Please spend time reviewing the guidelines, this will ensure that your best work is submitted free of editorial issues, such as spelling, formatting, and grammar. Any submission with EXCESSIVE formatting, spelling, grammatical or editing issues...

Deadline: August 1st, 2016 Payment: $50 Great fiction never simply reinforces what we already know, and a good scary story, by the same token, goes beyond a mere exploitation of those fears with which we have become familiar. Old, dilapidated houses, primordial forests, dark alleys, and cramped, creaking elevators may provide familiar settings, but a good scary story does more than remind us of the everyday dangers inherent to these uncomfortable places. What we find in truly terrifying fiction is not only the possibility of violence or even annihilation, but a confrontation with a world that is utterly different than we perceive it to be. To fear not just a set of negative outcomes, but the utter dissolution of reality, is the challenge and triumph of every great scary story. While most of us have at some point in our lives feared the death of a loved one, rarely do we stop to consider the ramifications of our departed returning home a half-feral and decaying corpse, but this awful scenario is precisely what Nathan Ballingrud forces us to consider in his horrifying and heartbreaking story, “The Good Husband.” Many people suffer from a natural revulsion to cockroaches, but those who have read “Mimic” by Donald Wollheim have found themselves pondering in disgust the possibility that their strange and mysterious neighbor might be an unidentified species of man-sized bug with an apartment full of fertilized eggs. The devices and methods by which fiction can terrify its readers are as broad and twisted as the imaginations of the authors who dream them up. Scary stories can come in all shapes and sizes, from surrealistic fever dreams like Franz Kafka’s “A Country Doctor” to contemporary, enigmatic ghost stories such as Kelly Link’s “I Can See Right Through You,” from vicious retellings of classic fairytales...