Events

Submission Window: February 1st - 28th, 2025 Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue Theme: Any genre, short story Mission = Revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful. Payout = Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Wait, you mean if this substack gets thousands of subscribers, the winner would get thousands of dollars? Yes! The New Yorker pays roughly $7,500 per story and I sincerely hope to go way past that. What does the timeline look like? Submit stories by the end of the month, winner to be announced on the 15th. There is ONE story that wins and receives the full payout. Where do I send submissions? [email protected] What are the rules for submitting? 1. No Fees 2. Send in Microsoft Word or Google Doc form 3. Any genre 4. 6- 10,000 words. Yes, just 6 words, like Hemingway's famous 6-word story "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn." 5. Reprints are ok so long as you still have the rights to distribute. 6. Acknowledge Distribution Rights on this Substack - You can still sell your story elsewhere but we need to be able to save and publish it here. The goal is to create a library for subscribers. 7. Only the winner will be published and rights will only transfer for the winning story. What do I get for subscribing? One beautiful story every month. The complete library. The joy of supporting artists and doing something interesting. What if I can’t pay right now? That’s ok! If you publish a blurb about this site on your website, blog, or social media, I will send you one full story of your choosing. Best of all, it is...

Deadline: February 28th, 2025 Payment: $20 Theme: Science fiction stories that fit snugly within the imagery, concept, and theme of first contact Samak Press is planning our first science fiction anthology Ripples in Space for publication in 2025. The anthology’s title, Ripples in Space, alludes to a central theme of first contact between intelligent species and what happens during these encounters. First contact could involve aliens visiting Earth, Explorers from Earth visiting an alien world, or aliens discovering other aliens. All of these scenarios are open territory meant to be explored in this anthology. What we want For this anthology, Samak Press seeks original science fiction stories that fit snugly within the imagery, concept, and theme of first contact. Tales submitted to Ripples in Space can encompass more than one science fiction subgenre or blend other speculative genres into the narrative, if the central sci-fi thematic element is present in the story. We want suspenseful stories you can’t put down and thoughtful tales that linger with you long after the final page. Original compelling stories will grab our attention. Stale retreads of familiar sci-fi cliches will banish you straight to the slush pile, never to return. Dare to think beyond the usual tropes. Resist the urge to travel down the lazy path and craft a tale that feels like it’s ripped straight from the writer’s room of a Star Trek or Star Wars series or reads like fanfic for a major franchise like Alien or The Terminator. Avoid lazy cliches and tropes like omniscient paternalistic aliens sending Earth a message or space marines battling virtually unstoppable alien monsters. Craft deep, layered characters, paint mind-blowing visuals, and evoke a sense of wonder or dread.  Surprise us with your story. Make us think. Samak Press will automatically reject stories with extreme gore or stories that glorify sexual violence, child abuse, cruelty to animals, or other deviant...

Deadline: February 28th, 2025 Payment: $20 Theme: Unique horror stories where 90% of the story takes place in the kitchen That Old House: The Kitchen ​​The slice of a knife. The heat of the oven.  If you can't handle the heat? Stay out of the kitchen.  Voices is seeking stories for the next installment in the That Old House! This time we take the journey into the horrors of the kitchen!  SUBMISSION WINDOW: Jan 1st- Feb 28th WORDCOUNT: 1k-4k PAYMENT: $20 per accepted story, due before release date (Est December Release) WHAT THEY'RE SEEKING: We are seeking unique stories where 90% of the story takes place in the kitchen. Houses have many stories to tell, but each room can be a different experience. Do not limit yourself to a haunted house! Reach into your imagination and show the horrors that can happen in the kitchen. PLEASE DON'T SEND: Stories that are not horror No erotica or smut. (This includes stories that are centered around sexual intercourse or masturbation. After last time, I feel I need to be specific.) Stories that do not reflect the theme of the call. Your story MUST take place 90% in the kitchen or it will not be considered for acceptance. Nothing racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/etc. Bigoted characters are fine (we’d love to see a few of those get eaten) but we won’t be accepting stories with harmful takeaways. This should go without saying, but we’re going to say it, NO AI GENERATED STORIES. We will blacklist you if you submit a story that you did not write. REPRINTS: SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: We are allowing simultaneous submissions BUT please include a note if it is being considered elsewhere, and please let us know as soon as possible if you have a piece accepted elsewhere or otherwise need to withdraw it...

Deadline: February 28th, 2025 Payment: $1 Theme: Drabble (100-word story) about a "Gear" Submissions for the 100 Word Project from Manawaker Studio are open January thru May and July thru November. The 100 Word Project is an ongoing project focused on 100 word stories which will be published as a monthly, themed online journal and in a yearly print anthology. Each month (except for June and December) will bring a new prompt, and on the first half of the next month nine of the submitted drabbles for that prompt will be posted in the public-facing section of the Manawaker Patreon alongside one drabble from Manawaker EiC, CB Droege. At the end of the year, the ten stories from each of the ten prompts will be assembled into the next volume of the 100 x 100 series. The project is curated and edited by CB Droege. 100 x 100 is published by Manawaker Studio as part of their regular line of anthologies. Current prompt The Prompt for February 2025 is ‘Gear‘. The stories The only restrictions are that the stories are 100 words long (granting small leeway for different methods of counting, and not including the title (you don’t have to have a title, but we do like them)), previously unpublished, and written entirely by a person (We know it’s particularly tempting to get a generative AI to help meet the wordcount more precisely, but it’s totally against the spirit of our project.) The idea is that each contributor is writing a brand new story for each prompt as they are announced, but if you happen to have an unpublished drabble that already fits the theme, that works too. There are no genre requirements, but please keep content family friendly (No gore, no explicit sex, use profanity sparingly. General guideline: Would you feel uncomfortable reading the story to a group that...

Deadline: February 28th, 2025 Payment: $10 for each 1000 words and a contributor's copy Theme: Folk Horror Note: This is the lightest on details open call I've seen in ages! Harvest the Night: An Anthology of Folk Horror Open to submissions during February 2025! Authors should submit their tales (between 2K and 5K words) via the email provided below and allow up to two months for a response. Send only one story. No reprints. Simultaneous submissions welcome. > Payment: $10 per 1K words, and one contributor copy. > Submit [email protected]  Via: Chthonic Matter.

Deadline: February 28th, 2025 Payment: Fiction/Non-Fiction: £0.01 per word, $85 for original covers and $15 per illustration Theme: Science Fiction and Fantasy We are open for short story submissions. We’re open for non-fiction and artwork queries. Our submission window will remain open at least until the end of February 2025. We may be open longer. Short Fiction We’re looking for stories for our July issue and for the website. Up to 6,000 words, science fiction and fantasy for publication in Wyldblood Magazine and/or online. Submit via email [email protected] (SUB – name – title on subject line) with a Word/RTF file and a short bio. £0.01 per word. Sim subs okay, but no reprints (except by invitation) and definitely no AI content. Name and contact details on the manuscript. Non-fiction Query us with ideas for articles, reviews and interviews at [email protected]. Don’t send the text – we’ll ask for it if we think it might be suitable. If we buy, it’ll be at our short fiction rate of $0.01 per word. Put ‘QUERY‘ in your email’s subject line, please, otherwise we may miss it. Artwork We need covers and interior illustations for Wyldblood Magazine (one per story). We pay $85 for original covers and $15 per illustration. Query us with samples at [email protected] We are a speculative fiction publisher. Interpret that as you will when deciding what to submit, but bear in mind that we are unlikely to publish fiction without a speculative element (science fiction or fantasy) and we’re not keen on horror, humour or high fantasy. We pay for fiction. Response times We aim to respond to all short fiction submissions within 3 months (hopefully much quicker). If we miss that deadline, please assume it’s a ‘no’ and accept our apologies for being slow. We’re still holding some longer fiction submissions (please bear with us).   . For reference, our submissions guidance (with payment rates) is here. Via: Wyldblood Press.

Deadline: March 1st, 2024 Payment: Royalties Theme: Bravery and courage still matter. Genre: Speculative Fiction Theme: Bravery and courage still matter. Concept: Cruel enemies we have in plenty. Let’s remember that there are some things that still matter more than the cruelty of our enemies or the darkness of the hour. Come on in, grab a seat by the fire, and join us in telling stories where grit, bravery, determination and courage in the face of cruelty and darkness matter. We want kick-ass tales of brave knights and heroic courage. Nihilistic stories of dread and darkness without hope need not apply. And remember, not all knights wear shining armor; not all heroes are square of jaw and fair of countenance. Note: This is a two-volume anthology focused on hope, grit, courage and determination in the face of adversity. Genre: Any. Brave knights and heroic courage are found everywhere you care to look. Word Count: 5,000-10,000 Opening Essay by: TBD Edited by: David Hensley Anchor Author(s): TBD Due Date: March 1, 2025 Email submissions to: [email protected] with “Brave Knights” in the subject line. Payment: Stories selected for publication in the upcoming Anthology(ies), will receive a percentage of sales divided equally between the contributing authors. We are looking for amazing stories from any genre that are fun to read and will take us on an adventure of epic proportions. Please download our standards template by clicking here ***NOTE*** We publish genre fiction with aspects of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. If your work does not include one of these aspects, we are less likely to pick up the title unless it is of exceptional quality.   What we are NOT currently accepting: Poetry Single-author collections of short stories. Hard and fast rules of what not to send: Fan-fiction: Just simply don’t. It will be immediately deleted or tossed into the recycle bin. Gratuitous Sexuality: (i.e. smut, softcore...

Submission Window: January 1st - March 1st, 2025 Payment: 2 cents per word and a contributors copy Theme: Mixing horror and weddings From Jacob Steven Mohr and Crystal Lake Publishing comes The Joining: Scenes of Wedding Terror, a new anthology set to debut (tentatively) September of 2025. We’re looking for stories between 2,500 and 5,000 words in length concerning the rite of matrimony. Weddings are unusual events, bringing together masses of humanity that might never interact under any other circumstance, requiring them to travel great distances or take part in bizarre rituals ranging from the solemn to the frenzied and sometimes even dangerous… But: stories submitted to The Joining need not concern only the event itself. They might take place at any time, so long as nuptials are central to the narrative. Imagine it: proposals gone wrong, literal bride-zillas, unsettling in-laws, bachelor parties that end in bloodshed—and of course, trips to destination weddings held just north of Hell itself… We will be accepting 10-15 stories from this open call. Accepted tales will appear alongside original yarns from a cast of invited authors, including Gemma Files, Joe Koch, J.A.W. McCarthy, Gordon B. White, Jack Lothian, Rae Wilde, and Scott J. Moses… and one mystery guest, as all weddings should no doubt have! Submissions Open: January 1, 2025          Submissions Close: March 1, 2025 Length: 2,500-5,000 words Payment: $0.02 per word Format: Stories should be formatted in 12 pt. Times New Roman, double spaced. Rights: Exclusive First Worldwide Publication, Print and Electronic Rights for 1 year (from date of publication), and non-exclusive rights thereafter. Contributor Copies: 1 paperback and 1 eBook copy. Simultaneous Submissions: Allowed. But please promptly withdraw your story if it is accepted elsewhere. No reprints or multiple submissions. Contact: All submissions should be sent to [email protected] (Word files only, please...

Deadline: March 1st, 2025 Payment: short story, $25; nonfiction/essay, $25, short-short piece under 1000 words, $10; poem, $10; artwork/photography, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Theme: The Lost Sock Upcoming premises (target themes) and deadlines for submission : The Lost Sock (March 1, 2025) ALL SHORT STORIES, ESSAYS, POEMS, PHOTOGRAPHS and ART MUST RELATE TO ONE OF THE PREMISES SPECIFIED ABOVE. NOTE: Previously published pieces are welcome, provided that the submission fits the theme and that the author owns the copyright. The premise (target theme) must be an integral part of the story, not necessarily the central theme but not merely incidental. NOTE: Stories longer than 20 double-spaced typewritten pages will not be considered. Indicate premise (target theme) on title page. Be sure to Indicate target theme in cover letter or on first page of manuscript. Include self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with each submission. Rejected manuscripts unaccompanied by an SASE will not be returned. Response time: 3 months after premise deadline. NO READER'S FEE. Mail to: THEMA, Box 8747, Metairie, LA 70011-8747. Outside the US: email [email protected] On acceptance for publication, we will pay the following amount: short story, $25; nonfiction/essay, $25, short-short piece under 1000 words, $10; poem, $10; artwork/photography, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Copyright reverts to author after publication. THEMA isn't for everyone. To find out why, click here. New to submitting manuscripts to journals? Click here to download a PDF file of a few basic guidelines. Unlike many publishers, we prefer works submitted by the authors themselves, without the involvement of an agent. Be sure to indicate premise and include SASE for each submission.  BE SURE to include a separate SASE for each premise. No handwritten manuscripts will be considered. NOTE: We do not accept e-mailed submissions EXCEPT from authors who live outside the U.S. For those living outside the...

Deadline: March 1st, 2025 Prize: $50 Theme: 1,000 word stories that tale with Folk Myth & Fairytales Unexplained noises from the house at the end of your street. Bizarre cryptids and forgotten places. Symbols that ward off evil. Places you dare not go. Words you dare not say. This year’s Tales to Terrify flash fiction contest takes us from the dawn of the spoken word to the darkest depths of modern day, with whispered tales of the terrors that have followed us down through the ages. Do your worst.   Contest Rules The story must have horror elements and relate to the theme of Folk Myth and Fairytales. How you choose to interpret that theme is up to you, but it must be central to the story. The image included on this page is for interest purposes only and not intended as a prompt. Deadline to submit is March 1, 2025 (11:59pm CST) It must be previously unpublished. Submissions must be in English, but authors from anywhere in the world are welcome to submit. A minimum of ONE winner will be announced on or before May 1, 2025. The top flash piece will be produced for audio narration on Tales to Terrify and receive $50 (USD). Up to four runners up may also be considered for production. Authors retain the rights to their submitted stories. Submission Format up to 1,000 words Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format Double spaced 12 pt. Courier New or Times New Roman font Please include author, title and word count on first page. Stories pasted into the body of an email will be rejected without being read. For further details on submission criteria and what styles/topics of horror fiction we look for, please check out our standard Submissions page. Enter Contest Via: Tales to Terrify.