Events

Deadline: April 1st, 2013 Payment: One-time payment in the range of USD $50-70 (payable on publication) and 2 copies of the anthology. International call for original short story submissions: Darker Edge of Desire — an original anthology edited by Mitzi Szereto A trade paperback to be published by Cleis Press, USA Publication date: Spring 2014 Gothic literature has always possessed a dark attraction ripe with the promise of the forbidden and the sensual. This theme has been successfully explored in my anthology Red Velvet and Absinthe, but with a far gentler touch. In Darker Edge of Desire, I will take the sexualized Gothic and ratchet it up a few notches into the danger zone, opening the door into the darker side of lust and love that only the courageous dare to venture through. I am looking for atmospheric and high quality stories with a distinct Gothic flavour that explore our more forbidden desires and contain plenty of added kink. In these tales love and lust know no boundaries, and all nature of being—from vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, ghosts, succubae and creatures we may not even have heard of—can be found. Think Red Velvet and Absinthe, but with some very sharp edges! Submission deadline: April 1, 2013 (I’ll be selecting stories on a rolling basis, therefore earlier submissions are strongly encouraged, thoughI’ll still consider stories that make it in by the deadline). Word count: 3,000 to 6,500 What I’m looking for: Well-developed story lines and well-crafted prose told in a unique voice and containing interesting characters and settings. Stories may be set in the past, present, or future. Stories from female and male writers are welcome, as are those written from the POV of characters of any gender and containing characters of any sexual orientation. Note that sexually explicit content is...

Deadline: April 1st, 2013 Payment: $20 USD and a copy of the anthology Love writing short stories? We’ll be releasing three anthologies this year under our series line entitled, Three Little Words. Yep, you guessed it, each story in the respective collection must use the three little words in the title. Cute, huh? Stories between 5-15,000 words will be considered. Roms, Bombs, and Zoms - Have you always dreamed of writing an explosive romantic zombie story? What about a war torn computerized society where everyone marches around drooling for RAM in 1987? We want stories involving a bomb (this can mean many things), romance, and zombies. Deadline April 1, 2013. Please place story in the body of an email to: submissions at evilgirlfriendmedia dot com. In the subject line write submission and name of anthology. One submission per anthology will be accepted. Payment for anthology stories is $20 USD and a copy of the anthology. In return, you give us exclusive rights for one year from the date of publication, after that you are free to submit the story to other publications as long as you acknowledge us as first publisher. We only ask that for five years after date of publication that you do not self-publish the story on Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or any other self-pub medium.

Deadline: April 2nd 2013 Payment: 5% royalties after cost per story published Fringeworks is always trying to find clever ways of shaking a big stick. We are currently seeking submissions for an anthology entitled ‘Tiki Terror Tales’ Submission deadline for this anthology is midnight on Tuesday, 2nd April 2013. As the title suggests, we are looking for horror stories between 1,500 and 5,000 words, which are in some way related to Tiki culture. Tikis, for those not in the know, are the famous Polynesian carved stone or wooden statues, named for their version of the first man, and made famous by the popularity of Hawaiian and other Tiki Bars during the 1950s and 60s. We are looking for new and original stories on this theme with surprising elements. It could involve Tiki Bar Detective Noir, Horror Adventure, Curses or Possessions, Cthulhoid Cosmic Horror, Ocean Adventure, Tiki Tribes, Family heirlooms or whatever. However you choose to turn the traditional Tiki into a tool for terror is fine by us. We expect this anthology will appeal to writers of horror and adventure, and probably to Cthulhu Mythos fans and exotic cocktail drinkers. Submissions should be sent to [email protected] as word documents or rtf files. Your email subject header should read ‘SURNAME/TIKI/WORD COUNT (include word count) All submissions should; Be 1,500 to 5,000 words (max) Be typed in Courier or Times New Roman 12 Be typed in line with Standard Manuscript Format. Details can be found at http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html Include your full details (name/address/telephone number/email address) Previously published stories will be considered for this anthology. Authors will retain copyright. Multiple submissions up to a maximum of two stories per author can be submitted. We will write to you within approximately four weeks of the submission deadline to let you know if you have been...

Deadline: April 5th 2013 Payment: Compensation is 1 contributors copy. Writing for Z Magazine At Z Magazine our articles take place in a specific zombie world. Please take a look at an overview of concepts and ideas that are already established. We ask you to do this so that we might keep the content of the magazine as consistent as possible. The reference guide can be found here. When reviewing articles we will deny any that indicate the writer has not considered the rules of the world. Articles cannot contradict what is already in the reference guide. You don’t have to mention ideas in the reference guide, but it’s a good starting point to get a feel for Z Magazine world. I've never written before... Not a problem! Some of our best articles are by people who had a cool idea and wanted to give it a shot. We don't care if you're a famous published author or are writing your first creative piece for the first time. An awesome article can come from anyone! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us via email or our Facebook. Guidelines & Formatting -Word DOC as an attachment. Please don't copy and paste into email unless you have no other choice! -Easy to read font -Contact information on top of first page -50-70 word author bio written in third person at end of document. (Bio should be of YOU the real author. "Zombie" author bio can also be added if desired). Twitter, Facebook, or website also acceptable. -*300-1700 words -Limit 3 articles per writer *Here is a rough idea of how articles are laid out based on their word count: 1000 words with no graphic = 1 page 630 words + a 270 word accompanying column = 1 page...

Deadline: April 15, 2013 Payment: Payment is $10 plus a contributor’s copy. Working Title: Young Adult Dark Moon Digest Special Issue Edited by: Stan Swanson Publisher: Dark Moon Books Projected Publishing Date: June 2013 Contact info: [email protected] DEADLINE: April 15, 2013 PAYMENT: Payment is $10 plus a contributor’s copy. Dark Moon Books is now accepting submissions for a special issue of Dark Moon Digest. This younger sibling of Dark Moon Digest will still stress the quality of stories you have come to expect from our quarterly publication, but will be geared toward the young adult population. Ghosts? Zombies? Vampires? Witches? Werewolves? Chupacabra? It’s all up to you. Just remember: Keep it exciting and moving along. Let’s give the younger generation a taste of horror and keep them reading. Send all submissions (and questions) to [email protected]. Submission Guidelines: Submissions should fall between 500-4000 words, but a few words over is fine. However, submissions that are excessively long will not be considered. Submissions will only be accepted as attachments in either .doc or .rtf format. Please do not embed your story in the e-mail. Include your real name (and pen name if using one), address, phone, email, story title and word count on the title page of the submission as well as in the body of your email. Include a brief bio (100 words or less written in 3rd person POV) in the body of the email. Original works only, no reprints Format your masterpiece as it will be read, meaning use italics, bold, etc. when appropriate. Avoid the use of underlining and all caps. No headers or page numbers. Please use Times New Roman, Courier, Verdana, Arial or Georgia 12 point for submissions. We reserve the right to reject any submissions not following these guidelines. By submitting your horror short fiction...

Deadline: April 29, 2013 Payment: An eBook copy will be sent to all contributors and up to 5 paperback copies per author will be available to purchase at cost plus shipping. 50% of the royalties will be distributed between all contributors. Fear, it seems such a simple word, a common word; one syllable that can be applied to almost anything. Well, we're applying it to our new series. There is always something to be afraid of in the dark; just the dark itself can paralyze some. Is it really quite as simple as it seems? We don't think so, and we're pretty sure you'll agree. There is plenty to fear in the dark. Perhaps something lurking unseen in the shadows, a place so foreign no human mind has return from it unharmed, paranoia so pervasive it can drive the most sane individual over the edge. Or maybe you are the dark; maybe you are what we need to be afraid of... Elementary in concept? Maybe, but so much more complex when told with the finesse of a wordsmith. Tell us your tale of why we should be afraid of the dark. We love horror, we love bite, we love fear most of all. Think you can scare one of us? Give it your best shot! Accepting Submissions: March 10, 2013 - April 29, 2013 Word Count minimum: 4,000 words - nothing less will be reviewed; no reprints considered. Submission guidelines: Accepting Submissions: March 10, 2013 - April 29, 2013 Word Count: 4,000 - 10,000 words. Please submit your manuscript as a *.doc or *.docx file (all other formats will automatically be rejected. Contact us prior to submitting if this presents an issue for you.) Font and formatting: Please submit in Times New Roman, 12 point font; single line spacing with...

Deadline: April 30th 2013 Payment: $35 flat free Firbolg Publishing has decided to add one more stunning Gothic story to our latest anthology! We are seeking authors interested in a truly challenging writing project. The latest Enter At Your Own Risk collection is a radical look at differing points of view. Every story has a protagonist. However, every story also has a cast of secondary characters to round out the narrative and themes. Below you will see a list of the stories we are offering and the fascinating look into the perspectives of some of those secondary characters. Interested in a challenge? We are adding one more Gothic master to our list! Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous Gothic dark fiction writers of all time. In his infamous story “The Black Cat,” we descend into a madman’s fears and paranoia. But what of the other two characters in the tale? The cat and the narrator’s wife play very significant roles in this story, but we never hear directly from them. We want the stories from the cat and the wife. How did they see these horrific events? How did they feel as they watched the protagonist slip into madness? Choose one of Poe’s other characters and re-tell his terrible tale! Submission guidelines: Deadline: 30 April word count: 2000-7000K Payment: $35 flat fee We want the tone, atmosphere, and feel of the Gothic masters. Less gore/ blood and more fear/ suspense. send submissions to: [email protected]

Deadline: April 30th 2013 Payment: 5 cents per word Penumbra is looking for original, unpublished stories of 3500 words or less. We prefer that writers use Standard Manuscript Format for submissions. (You can read this article by Chuck Rothman on the SFWA site on preparing a manuscript for submission if you are unfamiliar with SMF.) Please send your stories as file attachments in .rtf or .doc formats only. Please include a cover letter in the body of your email, with the manuscript title, you pen name if applicable, the exact word count of the story not including title and byline, and a publication history if applicable. Penumbra is a professional rates paying publisher, paying 5 cents per word. We will evaluate poetry submissions for each issue. We will also consider previously published stories with rights reverted to the author. Penumbra has multiple issue calls open at the same time, therefore it is imperative that you include the issue theme in the subject line of your email. Submissions that do not include this information risk getting lost in our queue and not read before the deadline. Penumbra uses Musa Publishing's house style guide, which relies upon the Chicago Manual of Style. All accepted stories will be edited to reflect Musa house style. If you have never been published before, please tell us. Penumbra likes publishing new authors as much as we like publishing experienced authors. Every month, we select one of the best stories from an author with little or no publishing experience and feature that story and author as our Rising Talent recipient for the month. The Rising Talent author's story, biography, and a non-fiction essay will be featured on our website for a full year, as well as spotlighted in the Penumbra issue for that month. We absolutely do...

Deadline: May 1st, 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Yeah, we spent two months thinking about it, but still couldn’t come up with a better title than that. We know you’re busy setting pen to paper crafting devious, speculative (possibly metrical) verse for our recently unveiled Poetry Issue, but we also wanted to give you the what-for’s and how-to’s on the second of three special editions JDP will be publishing in 2013. Simply put, we’ve always wanted to do a Lovecraft issue. But not just the standard collection of pastiches, because there are lots of other people around doing that and doing it well. So…inspired by Gaiman stories like “A Study in Emerald” and “I Cthulhu,” we’re looking for something special…a mash-up of one literary style or theme with ol’ Howard Phillips to create something new, ideally something dark and ferocious, very possibly with a healthy dose of humor. In short, write Lovecraft like Neil Gaiman! Guidelines 1. No copyright infringement. We’d love to see Batman fist-fight Nyarlahotep as much as the next quirky lit mag, but we can’t publish characters that belong to someone else. So whatever you’re going to mash-up with Lovecraft, make sure that either a) you created it or b) it’s in the public space. Related: since Neil already went to town with Sherlock Holmes and won a Hugo for his troubles, you might want to scratch that character off your list. 2. No trunk stories. Look, we love Innsmouth Free Press and things like the Cthulhurotica anthologies by Dagan Books, but if they’ve already rejected you, we’re probably not interested. (Unless they said, “Wow, this is something like Neil Gaiman would write!” But they probably would’ve accepted it if that was the case.) Bottom line: conjure something fresh from depths of outer space for us. We want...

Deadline: May 1st 2013 Payment: $20 USD and a copy of the anthology Love writing short stories? We’ll be releasing three anthologies this year under our series line entitled, Three Little Words. Yep, you guessed it, each story in the respective collection must use the three little words in the title. Cute, huh? Witches, Stitches, and Bitches – What if you had the power to sew up the mouth of the evil bitch who called you fat in 10th grade? How would you deal with a curse that caused you to be infertile because you stole the heart of someone else’s love? Would you choose love or the ability to have children? We are looking for 13 stories involving a witch, a stitch, and a bitch. The stories will revolve around the witches’ calendar which begins with October. We would like five stories in the book to involve holidays (Samhain-we will take two- one to open the book and the other to close it, Yule, Beltane, and Mabon). If you plan to write a holiday story please identify this in your submission letter. Deadline May 1, 2013. Please use the form at the right to submit your story for consideration. One submission per anthology will be accepted. Payment for anthology stories is $20 USD and a copy of the anthology. In return, you give us exclusive rights for one year from the date of publication, after that you are free to submit the story to other publications as long as you acknowledge us as first publisher. We only ask that for five years after date of publication that you do not self-publish the story on Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or any other self-pub medium.