Events

Deadline: January 1st, 2025 Payment: One cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum) Theme: Fantastic Fiction You really NEED to read the description below. Why The Irreal Cafe? "When I enter a cafe, the first thing I perceive are implements. Not things, not raw matter, but utensils: tables, seats, mirrors, glasses and saucers... Taken as a whole, they belong to an obvious order. The meaning of this ordering is an end — an end that is myself, or rather, the man in me, the consumer that I am. Such is the surface appearance of the human world... Now let us describe the cafe topsyturvy. "...Here, for example, is a door. It is there before us, with its hinges, latch and lock. It is carefully bolted, as if protecting some treasure. I manage, after several attempts, to procure a key; I open it, only to find that behind it is a wall. I sit down and order a cup of coffee. The waiter makes me repeat the order three times and repeats it himself to avoid any possibility of error. He dashes off and repeats my order to a second waiter, who notes it down in a little book and transmits it to a third waiter. Finally, a fourth waiter comes back and, putting an inkwell on my table, says, 'There you are.' 'But,' I say, 'I ordered a cup of coffee.' 'That's right,' he says, as he walks off. "If the reader, while reading a story of this kind, thinks that the waiters are playing a joke or that they are involved in some collective psychosis, then we have lost the game. But if we have been able to give him the impression that we are talking about a world in which these absurd manifestations appear as normal behaviour, then he...

Deadline: January 1st, 2025 Payment: Fiction: 2c per word plus a paperback contributor copy, Poetry: $25 plus a paperback contributor copy Theme: Reprints of horror stories published in 2024 by authors who identify as trans or nonbinary Last week, just a few days after the election, I had a bit of a manic episode that ended with me dying my fading lavender hair black and posting the following on Bluesky: the incredible urge to launch an annual “best trans horror of the year” anthology series as a direct fuck-you to this state, this country, this world I had spent the whole day anxiously pacing around our bookstore attempting to figure out a way to control the various emotions bursting through my body. Rage, fear, depression. A general sense of hopelessness. You know, the usual cocktail. Usually, when I get like this, I throw myself at a new project without much consideration. It’s the way my brain operates. I crave creative outlets as both a distraction and a form of healing. At some point, the anthology idea hit me, and it wouldn’t leave. Believe me, I tried to forget about it. This is coming from someone who already decided to get out of the anthology game, and only focus on our magazine Ghoulish Tales going forward. Despite how much I love anthologies, they’re a lot of work, a lot of money, a lot of energy. The smart thing to do would be to forget about the idea. But is it the right thing to do? Immediately, upon conceiving the idea, I felt in my heart that this needed to happen, that I wanted to do it, that it was already in the process of becoming a thing. I live in Texas. I am surrounded by terrible, awful humans who thrive on hatred. There needs to be...

Deadline: January 1st, 2025 Payment: $30 CAD Theme: Poetry, non-fiction, experimental fiction, fan fiction, and more that deal with the idea of "The Future" (Think Sci-fi and utopian/dystopian.)  In The Mood Magazine is a pop culture journal about the things we like to watch. Published triannually, we delve into film, TV, music videos, and celebrity culture through essays, conversations, and unconventional forms of criticism like film diaries, poetry, and comics. Our focus is on the viewer, their viewing habits, highs, and hang-ups. Why can't we stop thinking about the exact shade of pink of Suki’s car in 2 Fast 2 Furious? Or the look on Marnie’s face after she’s fired the shotgun? Tell us what you're obsessed with, we want to hear all about it. But you should know that we’re terrible at keeping secrets. So… are you in the mood? Magazine: Submissions are currently OPEN. Theme: The Future Deadline: January 1st, 2025 Our last issue was out of the past… now we’re heading into the future. From sci-fi (A.I. Artificial Intelligence) to utopian/dystopian (Born in Flames), in places near (Her) or far (Solaris), for our 12th issue we’re looking for experimental criticism on any films, TV, or music videos set in or that engage with the future ✨ If you need some inspiration, check out this comprehensive list! 💡 Some topics and films we’d love to see pitches for: - Focus on specific sci-fi fashion, food, technology, and/or architecture - Films set in the future (Robocop, High Life, Strange Days, Gattaca) or near future (The Purge, Ghost in the Shell, Moon) - Apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic (The Happening, Children of Men, The Terminator, The Falls (1980), I Am Legend) - Climate change/“cli-fi” themes (The Day After Tomorrow, Silent Running, Beasts of the Southern Wild) - Arthouse/experimental/video art (Planet Heaven (2022), Liquid Sky, Ryan Trecartin, Hito Steyerl) - Retrofuturism (Heart of the World, Metropolis, Death Race 2000) - Film technology...

Deadline: January 1st, 2025 Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Theme: Robots Past & Future Note: Reprints Welcome We're delighted to announce a new call for submissions which is now open! The theme is Robots Past & Future Short Stories. Please read through the submission details carefully as we’ve changed some of our guidelines and it could result in your submission not being acknowledged if you do not follow them. Robots Past & Future Short Stories We enjoyed our Robots and AI book so much that we’re following up by splitting these topics in two, particularly because in the new world of Generative AI, Robots and Artificial Intelligence are moving rapidly in new directions. For this theme, we’re looking for submissions that delve into the fascinating evolution of robots — from the mechanical marvels of the past to the imaginative possibilities of the future. Whether exploring the nostalgia of retro robotics, envisioning futuristic automatons, or crafting unique stories that bridge the two, we invite you to bring your vision of robots to life in this exciting collection. Submit to: [email protected]   Terms: Multiple submissions are fine but must be in separate emails. Simultaneous submissions are fine but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology. For accepted stories we pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline. Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website flametreepublishing.com for details), although some may be paid earlier than that. Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read...

Deadline: January 1st, 2025 Payment: 1 cent per word and a contributor's copy Theme: Cozy horror. Fun horror. Classy horror. Dare we say, wholesome horror? SUBMISSIONS FOR ISSUE 3 ARE OPEN FROM NOV. 1ST – JAN. 1ST!   WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR Cozy horror. Fun horror. Classy horror. Dare we say, wholesome horror? Oxymoron? We don’t think so. One place you can start your exploration of this idea is an article from Nightmare Magazine penned by one of our co-founders. But perhaps the easiest way to understand what we mean is to read stories by some of the old masters we love: Ray Bradbury, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Roald Dahl. Watch classic episodes of Thriller, The Twilight Zone, and Night Gallery. Read old horror comics. Listen to radio dramas like Suspense, Quiet, Please, and Inner Sanctum Mysteries. Consume enough vintage horror, and you’ll probably begin to get an idea of the type of thing that’s likely to appeal to us. In short, we’re looking to provide a space for a type of storytelling that has largely gone out of style – dark and scary, but playful and approachable with an emphasis on plot. For a concrete example of the kind of thing we’re likely to love, grab a copy of one of our issues. To clarify further, here’s a list of things we want and things we don’t, which may help you hit the sweet spot. THINGS WE LOVE: Stories with a moral core. It need not happen in every tale, but we like to see good prevail (or at least evil punished). Ironic justice, in which cleverly nasty things happen to bad people, as in old EC comics, makes us chuckle with ghoulish delight. Well-earned twist endings. There’s nothing we love more than a really good surprise or a clever way to subvert our expectations. Pull...

Submission Window: January 1st - 2nd, 2025 Payment: 8 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints, For artwork: $10 for the non-exclusive right to use each image, for as long as the site is online.  If we publish a print collection we will pay a pro-rata share for each image used. Theme: Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world. Note: Reprints welcome     Submissions Schedule The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T. For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers. We pay 8¢ per word for new fiction, 2¢ per word for fiction reprints, 2 – 8¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles. For new poetry, we pay $1 per line, and for reprints we pay 50¢ a line  We’re looking for poems up to 40 lines. We’ll consider longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 8¢ per word. We sponsor The Kepler Award to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways. You can learn aboutThe Kepler Award here. You can read a copy of our standard contract here.   It can be varied as needed to include the rights of translators, voice actors, etc. Writers Guidelines We accept new work as well as reprints, prose and poetry, from a minimum of 1000 words on up.   All else being equal, shorter pieces will be favored, and we have yet to find a story over about 9-10,000 words we...

Deadline: January 5th, 2025 Payment: $5 Theme: Storm We are currently reading for our Winter 2025 issue. The theme for this issue is storm. In our changing climate, storms are here to stay. They batter us from within and without. Whether writing about a literal tempest or a figurative deluge, we want to read your torrential landscapes. Send us fiction, flash fiction, poetry, or art that strikes lightning in our hearts. Please read the general guidelines below before submitting. The deadline to submit for the winter issue is January 5th, 2025. The best way to learn what we are looking for is to read us! All of our issues are available to read for free online. To check out our Summer 2023 issue, click here. To read our latest flash fiction contest winners, click here. You might just find something you like, too! Guidelines for General Submissions: All submissions should follow the core code of the magazine: write or illustrate something fantastic. We are interested in all things fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal, surrealist, fabulist, and magical realist. Show off your weird! Fiction submissions should be no longer than 3,500 words. Fiction submissions that are 1,000 words or fewer will be considered as flash fiction. Poetry submissions should be no longer than 50 lines and under three pages. Please send no more than two fiction or flash fiction pieces or four poems per issue. Fiction submissions should be double-spaced. All submissions should be in a size 12, no-nonsense font (arial, times new roman, etc). We can work with Word DOC, DOCX, and PDF files for fiction and poetry. For art, we can take JPG, PNG, and PDF files. We do not discriminate based on race, sex, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, disabilities, or religious beliefs. In fact, we welcome and celebrate diversity in our contributors. Similarly, we will not publish works that promote discrimination or bigotry of any kind. Please do not send us work...

Deadline: January 6th, 2025 Payment: Prose—$25/published piece, Poetry—$10/published piece, Cover art—$50 Theme: Defiance We are shifting focus to works OF DEFIANCE—we are looking for works of and by voices of protest that challenge our current status quo. We are looking for resistance literature. This can be fictional prose of any genre, poetry, or nonfiction essays. We are also looking for cover art submissions which should fit a 6"x9" cover (the left edge may need cropped up to 0.25” due to some recent issues we’ve had with “shifting” with the printing company!) To be clear, the ideology of the work should oppose right-wing ideology, Nazism, Authoritarianism, Christian nationalism, white supremacy, etc. or uplift voices of dissent or marginalized voices. Let's make future issues the target for bans by Moms for Liberty. Our current pay rates are as follows: Prose—$25/published piece Poetry—$10/published piece Cover art—$50 We will start accepting submissions for Volumes 3 and 4 on December 1, 2024. Submit Our magazine was founded in 2024 as a "cozy" literature magazine, however, we are now in the process of transitioning to publishing resistance literature. We value artistic expression! We are looking for works that are daring, even challenging. Works should protest right-wing ideology, particularly of the far/alt-right variety. Our digital releases will come in many convenient formats as well, including e-reader formats. We plan to release digital and print versions of our magazine on a quarterly basis. We may release some free online or online-only stories on our website from time to time as well (authors will be asked beforehand for permission for an online release.) We are located in the Jackson, Mississippi greater area/Huntsville, Alabama greater area. We will open for submissions for volume 3 and 4 December 1, 2024! We pay $25 for accepted prose, $10 for accepted poetry, and...

Submission Window: January 1st - 7th for general submissions and an extended window to January 14th for LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and Palestinian authors Payment: Flash (400-1500 word) $10, Shorts (1,501-8,000) $20, Black and white Artwork: $10 Theme: Paranoia Volume 5: Paranoia General submissions: January 1,2025 – January 7, 2025 Extended window for LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and Palestinian authors: January 1, 2025 – January 14, 2025 Publishing in March 2025 Submission Guidelines Fraidy Cat Press is proud to present Fraidy Cat Quarterly, published four times annually in print and ebook formats. What To Submit Fraidy Cat Press loves all things horror – from the eerie, creeping terror of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”’s systematic violence to the unhinged tilt of Laird Barron’s “The Imago Sequence” and everything in between. We want your stories that go bump in the night, your stories that creak like an intruding foot on the staircase, your best writing that screeches through the calm darkness. Put simply, Fraidy Cat Press is interested in: Horror (and its related genre mashups and sub-genres) Wordcount Fraidy Cat Press is seeking: Flash fiction (400-1,500 words long, $10 per accepted piece) Short stories (1,501-8,000 words long, $20 per accepted piece) Black and white artwork ($10 per accepted piece) When To Submit We open for a limited weeklong period four times annually. Space in our quarterlies are limited. We reserve the right to close to submissions early if we are flooded. Submit early to be sure your story will be considered. How To Submit Your submission should be in Shunn format, but we prefer you NOT include your address or phone number. Please submit ONE story per reading period. Multiple submissions will be deleted unread. Simultaneous submissions are encouraged! Just please let us know as soon as your submission is accepted elsewhere. We strive to respond...

Deadline: January 10th, 2024 Payment: $30 Theme: Speculative Stories that feature food in a way that makes you want to eat it Ever read something that made you hungry? Ever had an author so skilled at sensory description make you crave the food in their story? We want to make an anthology out of that feeling. Send us your stories that feature food. The food doesn’t need to be central to the plot, however, the sensory description of the food needs to stand out for us. We want our readers hungry, both for the rest of your story and for the food it contains. Wow us with your culinary plot points. All stories must feature a speculative element, whether it’s magic or monsters or anything in between. All subgenres of speculative fiction are welcome, although military/political/alien-based sci-fi will be a harder sell. We will judge all stories by their own merits though, so if you think you have something that fits, we want to read it. All food featured in your story must be appetizing and must be something that can be made in the real world. We want speculative fiction, but not speculative food. All stories must be previously unpublished (this includes your own website/blog). We will not accept any stories featuring bigotry, hateful language, or sexual assault of any kind. This is an anthology for adults so some sex/violence/profanity is fine, as long as it directly pertains to the story and isn’t used solely for shock value. We do want our mothers to read this, so any sex should be fade-to-black rather than overly descriptive. Guidelines: Deadline: January 10th, 2025 at 11:59 EST Word count: 2,500-7,000 words Payment: Flat payment of $30 USD per accepted story, paid through PayPal or Venmo. Rights: First world print and digital publication rights with one year...