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Submission Window: November 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023 Payment: 8¢ per word Theme: Speculative flash fiction Interstellar Flight Press seeks speculative flash fiction for 2024 publication in our online magazine and yearly anthology. We will publish one piece of flash fiction a month in 2024, celebrating micro and small fictions. Submissions will be read by our team of readers and final selections will be made by flash series editor, Annika Barranti Klein.  Guidelines: Genres: as long as it’s speculative (even a little bit!), anything goes for genre. Please see below for specific content hard sells and loves.  Length: up to 1,250 words (no minimum) Payment: 8¢ per word (minimum payment $25) within 30 days of publication. 1 print contributor’s copy of our yearly anthology.  Simultaneous subs? Yes! Please let us know right away if you need to withdraw a story by emailing [email protected]. Multiple subs? Yes! Up to three stories per person; please fill out a separate form for each story.  Response times: We aim to reply to submissions in 90 days. We will try to get first round answers (rejections or holds) out as quickly as possible.  Terms: Original stories, no reprints please. First English Rights with a 3-month exclusivity period. Inclusion in our annual print anthology.  Please do not send anything generated using the large language models commonly called AI; they are built on plagiarism and we won’t publish them. Tools like spellcheck are absolutely fine.  Accepted stories will be featured on our website and Patreon, where authors will be asked to complete a short Q&A interview for our patrons. All accepted stories will also be in our yearly anthology, along with the interview.  About the Flash Series Editor Annika Barranti Klein’s flash fiction has been in Mermaids Monthly, The Future Fire, Milk Candy Review, HAD, Hallowzine, and Worlds of Possibility. Her...

Deadline: December 31, 2023 Payment: $0.07 per word Theme: Character-driven fictional short stories written by Black women writers. All genres are welcome. We’re Currently Accepting Submissions! Next Deadline: December 31, 2023 at 11:59 pm ET (short fiction – all genres and narrative essays) *updated 10/1/23 CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT! short stories. essays. melanin. Whether you’re an established writer or are just starting out, we want to hear from you! midnight & indigo, a literary journal celebrating Black women writers, has issued a call for submissions to review short stories and narrative essays. We publish content on our digital platform and in our literary journals (paperback/ebook/audiobook). In 2024, we will publish our first long-form anthology! Writers are invited to share their original, fictional, or personal stories. Stories can funny, entertaining, serious, or sincere. Stories must be character-driven and leave readers with something to think about. All genres are welcome! How to Submit: Format:  All submissions should follow proper manuscript format and Microsoft Word .doc format. We will not accept submissions that do not follow our guidelines. All stories must be submitted via Submittable — we will not accept stories via email. You may submit up to three stories at any time. Our average response time is 120 days Word length:  Short stories: 1,500-8,000 words. Narrative essays: min. 1,200 words Please note:  Calls for Submissions will be held on a rolling basis with deadlines four times per year: March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, and December 31st. Submission does not guarantee that your work will be published. All submissions will be considered for our long-form anthology Genres: All genres and writing styles are welcome. It may be helpful to view our current short stories, essays, and literary journals to get a general sense of what we publish, but don’t be afraid to push the needle! Compensation: We pay for all accepted pieces. Information is available below Fiction...

Submission Window: December 1st - 31st, 2023 Payment: $0.08 CAD per word Theme: short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships in any genre (though they prefer uplifting so probably better for Scifi/Fantasy.) Note: Looking for at least 50% Canadian authors We're looking for short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. We don't want the blaze of new love or the obsession of a new friend. We want pieces that show that comfort that develops when people know each other for years. Give us deep space, dusty frontiers, or dreamy fantasy. We want stories and poetry with strong, confident relationships amid all the sci-fi/fantasy. While we are primarily looking for stories with happy endings (yeah, yeah), we also want endings that are earned. If things get a little teary or gory, that's ok. We are especially interested in stories featuring queer platonic relationships, ace/aro love stories, and polycules. Payment Payment is $0.08 CAD per word for short fiction (1,000-3,500 words) and $60 CAD flat per poem. We are purchasing first publication rights, to revert back to the author after one year. Canadian Writers Since Heartlines Spec is primarily a Canadian magazine, we're looking to feature writers identifying as being from Canada/Turtle Island. This includes expats, refugees and displaced people living in Canada, new immigrants, and people who refuse/resist Canadian Identity. Heartlines welcomes submissions from writers of all identities. If you are comfortable, we encourage writers to indicate their intersections in their cover letter. Disclosure is not a requirement to submit, and we recognize that not all people are safe to disclose their identities. We are committed to addressing barriers and systemic discrimination faced by equity-deserving groups, which includes (but is not limited to): Racialized people People with disabilities LGBTQIA+ people Indigenous people Women Neurodivergent people Our goal...

Deadline: December 31st, 2023 Payment: $30 CAD Theme: Hometown (Writing about film, TV, and pop culture related to your hometown. I suspect there are plenty of speculative fiction options out there that can fit this theme.) Note: Not our usual fiction call but I felt that this would be a great fit for some of the authors who frequent the site and have pop culture knowledge about where they live (or whose own books may have taken place in their hometown.) Submissions are OPEN for In The Mood Magazine Issue 9: HOMETOWN! We’re looking for writing about film, TV, and pop culture related to your hometown—however you may define it. These could be films shot or set in your town, state/province, or country. Or maybe it’s a town you’ve always identified with, an invented hometown, or a hometown hero. - Theme: HOMETOWN ‍- Deadline: December 31st, 2023 ‍- Word count: 1,000 words max for features, 300 words max for Film Diaries - Honorarium: $30 CAD for features, $20 CAD for Film Diaries 💡 Some ideas for inspiration: ‍ ‍- Cities pretending to be others (Vancouver as L.A., Toronto as New York) - Films set in your hometown, school, or workplace (What do they get right/wrong? How does it affect the town's reputation?) - Hometown heroes (stars or filmmakers from your hometown, what the hometown thinks of them) or celebrities that went to your school - Movies that were big in your hometown (Phantom of the Paradise in Winnipeg, Bon Cop/Bad Cop in Ottawa) - Imaginary hometowns (In the Mouth of Madness, Pleasantville) - Films about places you wish were your hometown - Film/TV production hotspots (Atlanta, New York, Vancouver, Toronto) 👇 Please read our guidelines before submitting:‍ Submission/Pitch Guidelines Magazine: Submissions are open 3 times a year, and issues are themed. If you have an off-theme and/or timely pitch, consider sending it to our newsletter. ‍Newsletter: Submissions are always open, and we...

Deadline: December 31st, 2023 Payment: $0.01 per word and a contributors copy Theme: horror stories with a mathematical theme Polymath Press is pleased to announce a new anthology to be titled Arithmophobia: An Anthology of Mathematical Horror edited by Robert Lewis.  We are now open for submissions of original horror stories with a mathematical theme. Please read these guidelines carefully to maximize your chances of placing a story in our anthology. About the anthology: Polymath Press founder and executive editor Robert Lewis has spent years looking for good horror stories with some kind of mathematical content.  As it turns out, they’re rather rare, so he’s decided to assemble a brand new anthology of such short stories.  The anthology is to be called Arithmophobia: An Anthology of Mathematical Horror and will be published by Polymath Press in early 2024. What we’re looking for: We want your best horror stories with some kind of mathematical theme.  Of course, the story must come first, so don’t bog us down in technical details.  After all, we don’t want to limit our readership to only doctoral-level mathematicians.  However, make sure the mathematical ideas are clearly featured in the story.  What kind of mathematical ideas do we want? That’s for you to decide.  Think outside the box and give us something interesting.  Show us weird geometries, cursed numbers, mathematicians going crazy, you name it.  Most importantly of all, remember that we want math AND horror, so make it as scary as you can. What we don’t want: Try to avoid giving us stories whose only mathematical content is that someone is afraid of going to math class.  We know a lot of people are afraid of mathematics, but generic math anxiety isn’t really the kind of horror we’re looking for (though if you think such a story is brilliant enough to overcome our kneejerk reaction,...

Deadline: December 31st, 2023 Payment: $75.00 and 10% of the cover price for print books, 40% of the cover price for eBooks with an optional $25 advance and 5% for audio rights Theme: Primarily Science Fiction and Fantasy Novellas and Novels All material must be submitted as a .rtf document.Please follow standard manuscript formatting when submitting:Manuscripts should be double-spaced.Indicate scene breaks with # or another symbol - but please be consistent throughout.Please use tabs or paragraph settings to indent the first line.Make sure you include your contact information on the first page of the manuscript.The body of your email should include the following information:Contact informationTitle of manuscriptApproximate word countGenreBrief Synopsis of the storyA general idea of how you will be marketing and promoting your book.We are looking primarily for Science Fiction and Fantasy Novellas and Novels, but will consider other genres except children's and erotica. For YA - we prefer books that are geared for older teens that might also appeal to adult readers as well.Our minimum word count is 25,000 and our preferred maximum word count is 80,000 words.Please note 80,000 words is the preferred maximum - it is not a hard and fast limit. Prefer stories to have a PG-13 rating - but this is not a hard requirement.We will only be publishing a maximum of 10 print titles per year.Submit the complete manuscript to [email protected] put 'WolfSinger Submission - "the title of your submission" - your last name' in the subject.While we are primarily a royalty press, authors will receive an initial up front payment of $75.00 for books (contributors to anthologies will receive $15.00). Books and anthologies will start to earn royalties after initial production costs are earned back from all revenue received through book sales. Once a book earns back its production costs royalties will be calculated as 10% of the cover price for print books, 40%...

Submission Window: December 1st - 31st, 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: December 31st, 2023 Payment: $25 USD for original stories and $10 for reprints Theme: Subtle and atmospheric ghost stories that give the reader a chill. Note: Reprints Accepted The Black Beacon Book of Ghost Stories is open until the 31st of December, 2023. For more details on the pirate anthology, click the link above. For the ghost story anthology, we're looking for subtle and atmospheric ghost stories that give the reader a chill. Do you need some classics to get you in the mood? Think May Sinclair's "Where their Fire is Not Quenched", Joan Aiken's "Listening", Robert Aickman's "Ringing the Changes", and just about anything by the master, M.R. James. For both anthologies, read the full guidelines on this page. We regularly post news on our Facebook page. You can also get a feel for what we like by buying our previously published titles. Publishing quality fiction is an expensive passion, so the more we sell, the more we can publish. It's that simple. Our cherished Patreon patrons also provide us with the means to keep producing quality books. # Rates: We use PayPal to pay our contributors. If your submission is successful, you'll need an account. Alternatively, we can pay with an electronic Amazon gift coupon. Payment is made upon publication. $25 USD  for original stories and $10 for reprints regardless of length, plus one print copy. Preferred word count between 3,000 and 9,000 words. Please read the all the guidelines below before submitting. # ANTHOLOGY GUIDELINES AND DETAILS Please submit one story per publication. No simultaneous submissions for original fiction. Stories are chosen on merit and suitability for the anthology. However, when it comes to choosing between equally worthy submissions, social media presence and engagement may be taken into account. Social media is at the heart of our marketing strategy and most of...

Deadline: December 31st, 2023 Payment: $50 Theme: Short stories in the style of John Steinbeck or in his book's settings that also include classic monsters.</strong. In the Eyes of the Hungry, ed. by Barbara Castro-Rojas and Michael Tichy, expected publication date: Summer 2024. One of the great American authors wrote a werewolf novel and sadly, we will likely never see it. But wouldn't it be great to speculate on what such a book might look like? We invite you to do exactly that. We are asking for short horror stories, 2500 to 6000 words, in the style of Steinbeck, in his settings, and/or covering his themes. But we're not going to limit you to werewolves. What fun would that be? We invite you to populate these stories with any of the classical monsters (think Universal), so if you can find a way to put the Creature from the Black Lagoon into a Steinbeck-style yarn, go for it! We will be paying a flat fee of $50 for 6-month exclusive print and ebook publication rights, with non-exclusive rights thereafter. We wish it could be more, but hey, it's Barbara and Michael's first anthology. Submission window will open on November 15 and run through December 31. No invite-only stuff here. This is open to anyone and honestly, we would prefer to publish first-time authors and diverse voices.  Submissions should be sent to [email protected] and must be submitted as an attachment in .doc or .docx. If you paste your story text into an email, it will not be read. Please include in your email a few sentences about yourself, including any previous publications. Via: Castaigne Publishing.

Deadline: December 31st, 2023 Payment: 10 cents per word Theme: A horror fantasy fiction anthology focusing on the Upper YA (18+) to New Adult and Adult age range. Submissions are now open for “Monsters In Masquerade” Coming in mid-2024, Monsters In Masquerade will be OwlCrate's first-ever published anthology book as part of a larger fantasy fiction anthology by OwlCrate! About Monsters In Masquerade Monsters In Masquerade will be a horror fantasy fiction anthology focusing on the Upper YA (18+) to New Adult and Adult age range. Utilizing our amazing in-house team of creatives, graphic designers, and readers, we are partnering with our incredible friend and editor of this anthology, Robin Alvarez, to bring you new and exciting stories from your favorite subgenres of fantasy.⁠ ⁠ BUT!⁠ ⁠ What makes this even more exciting is that YOU, our incredible community members, will have the opportunity to earn a space in our anthology and get your work published alongside acclaimed bestselling authors! How To Submit For Our Anthology If you would like to be a part of OwlCrate's new story, you need to submit yours! You can find our submissions form here or on The Nest (it's our free app that's for readers, by readers). From there, be sure to carefully fill out all required information. Submissions will be open from November 24th to December 31st at midnight EST! We Hope You Take This Journey With us This is a significant moment for OwlCrate as we embark on a journey to highlight marginalized voices, discover emerging talents and provide our readers with the best books we can curate. ⁠ Monsters In Masquerade will begin our epic adventure in creating our own stories WITH YOU! ⁠ Monsters In Masquerade FAQ How Will Authors Be Chosen? Authors and stories will be chosen by Team OwlCrate, our awesome editor Robin Alvarez,...