Events

Deadline: December 31st, 2016 Payment: 6 cents per word+ SUBMERGED, ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT CONQUERORS!, and THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS Submission Guidelines Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies SUBMERGED, ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT CONQUERORS!, and THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: SUBMERGED: Jellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple manuscripts in separate emails. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use New Times Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s real name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold. Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology. THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS is to feature stories where Death is a character in the story. The version of Death used should be unique, so consider all different types of versions of Death seen throughout history and in different cultures. Stories featuring more interesting takes on Death, and twists on how Death is integrated into the story, will receive more attention than those with more standard depictions of Death. So be creative and use Death in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a...

Deadline: December 31, 2016 Payment: 6 cents per word and a digital contributor's copy Weird Western/Steampunk. Dreadnaughts, "Wild West" world, cowboys and aliens, Victorian era, primitive post-Apocalypse, retro-futuristic inventions, and the like. Remember Oscar Wilde's inspirational visit to Colorado? Third Flatiron Publishing is based in Boulder, Colorado, and Ayr, Scotland. We are looking for submissions to our quarterly themed anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We want tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Light horror is acceptable, provided it fits the theme. Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Inquire if longer. Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today. For each anthology, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred. Submit by email to [email protected] either as an attachment (Word, RTF) or in the body of the mail (text). In the Subject: line of the email, please put flatsubmit:Title_of_Your_Work to avoid being deemed a canned meat product based on ham. If the work is for the humor section, please note that in the body of your email. A brief bio...

Deadline: December 31, 2016. Payment: 1 cent per word Is your story too heavy and hardcore for other “best of” anthologies? Then you’ve come to the right place because Comet Press is now accepting stories for YEAR’S BEST HARDCORE HORROR VOL. 2, a yearly collection intended to give recognition to the extreme, harder side of horror, stories that break boundaries and trash taboos. Editors: Randy Chandler and Cheryl Mullenax. Requirements: The story was (or will be) published in a 2016 anthology, single author collection, magazine, or online magazine. Self-published anthologies and collections are acceptable as well. Deadline: December 31, 2016. Length: Short stories/novelettes. Payment: 1 cent a word. What to Send Authors: In the body of an email: Author name Story title Name of anthology or magazine or online magazine it was published in: If the book is available on Amazon and your story credit appears somewhere on the page, send us the link. If not, send a link to the best source with that information (publisher’s page, etc). If the story was in a magazine, send us a web link to the issue TOC where your story appears, or if that’s not available send us a scan of the table of contents (print magazines, etc.). A bio A short synopsis. Attach the entire manuscript in rtf, doc, or pdf format. Note: please make sure this is the final version of your story, exactly as it appears in the published version. Important Note: Make sure your contract allows you to publish the story in a “best of” anthology. If you’re not sure, check with your publisher. If necessary, ask them for a waiver. Publishers In an email include the following: Author name and story title(s) for consideration Name of publication and publisher, date published and format (print, ebook, magazine, etc)...

Deadline: December 31st, 2016 Payment: Equal share of fifty percent of the royalties. Note: Reprints Allowed Note #2: Not fully sure that this is the anthology's title Descansos, or roadside memorials, mark an interrupted journey; the spot where a drunk driver struck a beloved son, or where a fatigued mother fell asleep at the wheel and veered herself and her family into eternity. While the word “descanso” means simply, rest, in Spanish, it has come to represent all kinds of memorials that mark the place where an intended path came to an unintended end. Descansos take many forms: from crosses festooned with ribbons and pinwheels, to a shattered motorcycle helmet nailed to a tree; from a collection of teddy bears affixed to a roadside fence, to a stone alter filled with photographs, candles, and milagros; to a stark white bicycle anchored in concrete. Consider the descansos of the heart, the smell, or song, or thought that brings us back for a moment to a time or a person now lost. While born of grief and loss, descansos memorialize love, and as such, represent the terrible beauty we all contend with as creatures who, by living, are condemned to die. Darkhouse Books is looking for flash fiction, traditional short stories, poetry, and essays that embrace the spirit of the descanso. There are no restrictions on genre. We just want your best work. Please limit your submission to 3000 words or less, and format appropriately (1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font). Submissions that do not follow these guidelines or match the theme will not be read. Previously published work will be considered, provided the publication date is prior to March of 2016, and the other publisher does not still have an exclusive for it. Authors will share equally in fifty percent...

Deadline: December 31st, 2016 Payment: $5 Note: Female authors only Alyss accepts submissions in poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction and art, by female identifying writers/artists, for the online literary journal Submissions for our January 2017 issue will be accepted until December 31, 2016 here: https://alyss.submittable.com/submit Simultaneous submissions are welcome but please notify us immediately if a work is accepted elsewhere. Previously published material will not be considered. In the cover letter section please include a short bio (in the third person) of up to 100 words. Please remove any identifying information from the submissions as we read blindly. If accepted you agree to grant us First North American Serial Rights and the right to archive your work.  Upon publication all rights revert back to the author.  You also agree if your work later appears elsewhere you will credit Alyss as the original publisher. For info on the type of work we’re looking for check out these two interviews: Six Questions For… and Duotrope Editor Interview Payment: Beginning with Issue Tre we will be paying a flat rate of $5 per piece published in the journal. Via: Alyss.

Deadline: December 31st, 2016 Payment: $10.00 What we want We want fiction and poetry that is both literary and speculative. Realist work sensitive to the magical and strange. The fantastical. Slipstream. Fabulist. Gothic. Weird tales. Work that unlocks. Work that restocks. We love writers who see familiar things in unexpected ways, and writers who revel in playing with language. This issue’s object The theme for Issue 7 is resurrected things. We’re looking for stories and poems that are alive-again—revived, resuscitated, revivified. Send us rekindled relationships and recovered memories, near death experiences and premature obituaries. Show us characters who are revisiting their lives after a long absence, or rebuilding something they once thought lost. You might invoke Mary Shelley’s charnel house Creature galvanized to life, or the “sort of walking miracle” of Plath’s “Lady Lazarus.” Maybe you’re interested in the story of Janina Kolkiewicz, the Polish woman who was discovered alive eleven hours after being declared dead at the morgue. Or perhaps you want to channel Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, the so-called zombie ant. Send us resurrections both hopeful and horrible. Send us work that grips us in the jaws of life and leaves us gasping, hearts racing, stunned by a view of life as we’ve never seen it before. Please note, we are not interested in religious allegory, either explicit or implicit. You’re welcome to borrow from and re-envision mythological sources, but this is not a forum for spiritual discourse. We will be reading for our Resurrected Things issue between October 17 and December 31. Work for Issue 7: Resurrected Things will be published every other week beginning in January, 2017. Illustration If you’re interested in illustrating an issue of The Golden Key, please feel free to query us with an email—we’d love to hear from you! – Guidelines updated as of September...

Deadline: December 31st, 2016 Payment: 3cents/word Edited by Matthew Bright, Clockwork Cairo is Twopenny Press's inaugural anthology. An anthology of Egyptian-themed steampunk stories, it will take you an adventure from the steam-powered souks of Cairo, to the clockwork bazaars of Alexandria and the shadowy mysteries of the pyramids. The collection features a host of exciting authors, including Gail Carriger, Tee Morris & Pip Ballantine, George Mann, Nisi Shawl, Rod Duncan, E. Catherine Tobler, David Barnett, Tiffany Trent, Jonathan Green, with more to be announced. Clockwork Cairo is currently open for submissions until December 31st. We are seeking steampunk fiction themed around Egypt to fill the last two slots in the anthology. Pay rate is 3 cents per word, up to a limit of 7000 words, for first publication rights. Notes on what we are looking for: - Stories set in Egypt, or heavily associated enough to justify their inclusion in the theme; however, it is worth noting that due to the existing stories in the collection, we are pre-disposed towards specifically Egypt-set stories. - Although we're aware that steampunk has its roots in the pastiching of colonial-era fiction, we are very keen to avoid narratives with an imperialist flavour to them, and we actively encourage stories with native viewpoints and characters. In other words: there are far more stories to tell than white explorers in exotic foreign lands. - Avoid stories with clockwork mummies, with museums, and with incarnations of gods--not because we don't like them, but because we already have them. Please submit (and feel free to query) to the editor via [email protected]. Via: Two Penny Books.

Deadline: December 31st, 2016 Payment: £15 Sterling Following the success of REVOLUTIONS, the speculative fiction anthology produced by the Manchester Speculative Fiction Group, we have decided to produce a sequel, titled (you guessed it) REVOLUTIONS 2! We want your sci-fi, horor and fantasy stories! Payment rates have also gone up, so see the guidelines below and get submitting! The theme will be the same as for the first anthology, which is that all stories must be speculative fiction and be linked to Manchester, England in some way. REVOLUTIONS 2 will be available in e-book and print formats later this year. Submissions are open to anyone who is aged over 18 from anywhere in the world. The last date we will accept submissions is: 31st December 2016 Please read ALL of the guidelines BEFORE you submit.   GUIDELINES What We Want Stories must contain speculative fiction elements. This includes: science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, urban/contemporary fantasy, and dark fantasy. Stories must be between 1,500 and 6,000 words in length. All stories must be associated with Manchester or the Greater Manchester area in some meaningful way. For example, a story set aboard an orbiting space station that just happens to be called Manchester in the Alpha Proximae star system will probably be rejected. Having said that, we are flexible on this. The editors all have different tastes in fiction. If in doubt, submit! Be creative. We want stories that are fresh, smart, entertaining, and emotionally satisfying. We want stories that surprise us, horrify us or offer us a glimpse of something we never imagined. You can be ultra-realistic or far removed from reality. The only thing is that your story must be set in Manchester or its suburbs. You can find out about Manchester right here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester Stories should be attached to an email and sent to...

Deadline: January 1st, 2017 Payment: $500 and 3 contributor's copies The intoxication from a pint of vodka, the electric buzz from snorting cocaine, the warm embrace from shooting heroin – drinking and drugging provides the height of human experience. It’s the promise of heaven on earth, but the hell that follows is a constant hunger, a cold emptiness. The craving to get high is a yearning not unlike that of any other blood-thirsty monster. The best way to tell these truths of addiction is through a story, and dark truths such as these need a piece of horror to do them justice. It’s with great enthusiasm that I invite submissions to an addiction-themed horror anthology with an expected spring/summer 2017 publication date.  Garden of Fiends is the working title. Submissions should be from 16k to 25k words. The publisher will have one title in the anthology, and from 3 to 4 additional works will be included. Characters should be individuals and not caricatures, and the substance use should ring true with verity of terms and modes of transmission. Any type of substance can be featured, including alcohol, with any point of view. There does not have to be an anti-drug message, and addiction can just be part of the setting (a drug dealer, for example) but should be a major part of the conflict.  Some compassion for the plight of addiction is preferred, but the insidious nature of both addict and addiction should certainly shine through. The publisher is a recovering addict/alcoholic who has worked in the field of addiction for 20 years. Supernatural elements are welcome. Blood, guts and gore only if it is part of the story. Powerful emotions and visceral elements are expected. Nothing is too challenging or controversial. Tropes such as zombies, werewolves, and vampires are...

Deadline: January 1st, 2017 Payment: $50 upon acceptance and an equal share of profits from sales Note: The deadline was JUST extended so some of the dates below haven't been updated to reflect that as of yet. Pine Float Press is pleased to open a solicitation for its latest anthology project, PALOOKAVILLE. Powell Heights has always kept its distance from the City. The town, half an hour away from the Federal Penitentiary and the State Hospital and twenty minutes by train from the City, has made a handy living from crime since Vincenzo “Pretty Vinnie” Buonatesta muscled his way into defacto ownership of the prison during his incarceration and rebuilt the town as a place where his crew and hangers-on could regroup and live out from under the eye of the law. The locals started to call their town “Palookaville.” The name stuck, changing from a mark of shame to a badge of pride as more Mob soldiers and the freelance muscle that served the growing ranks of supervillains settled in the town and the town grew to accommodate their needs. They left the struggles of their workaday world in the City for the most part, blowing off steam on the Boardwalk or mixing it up in the roving barfight by the docks and then going home to their families. They felt secure in Palookaville, knowing that they were as close to invisible and untouchable as anyone could be in a world where the gods walked and titans battled in the skies. Untouchable and invisible until Gaia of the Five Freedoms was found dead in Buonatesta Park. PALOOKAVILLE, tenatively scheduled for release in Q4 of 2016, is a blue-collar supervillain antholology set in the shadows of the superheroic world. Second-string criminals, masked mooks and clued-in henchmen leave the stresses of the criminal world behind and live “normal lives,” until the outside world muscles its way in. Fortunately, the citizens of Palookaville know all about muscling in. THE DREARY, PEDESTRIAN...