Events

Deadline: October 1st, 2016 Payment: 15 cents a word for the first 2,500 words and 6 cents a word after Bestselling author Hy Bender (BookProposal.net; 16 books including 5 Dummies books, a Complete Idiot's Guide, and The Sandman Companion; The New York Times, Mad Magazine) and book developer Will Paoletto (Enterprise Cometh; My Bad Parent) are putting together a short story fiction anthology titled Ghosts on Drugs. And we're inviting you to send us a story so great that we can't resist saying "yes" to it. The only rule is that a tale include some version of at least one ghost who's on some version of at least one drug. And both key terms are broadly defined—e.g., a ghostwriter hooked on cough syrup could fit, and a dead ancient god with an inhumanly intense craving to be worshipped again could too. Also, a story can run anywhere from 2 pages to 30 pages, so a short-short tale that's a solid fit for the collection will definitely be considered. We expect many of the stories will be a mix of comedy and fantasy. However, the book is also open to horror, SF, adventure, drama, etc., as well as any combination of genres. Whatever the category, we're seeking stories that are extremely entertaining, appeal to a wide-ranging audience (high concepts are especially appreciated), and provide an emotionally satisfying ending (smartly crafted character arcs/transformations are especially appreciated). We're aiming to include some of the world's top comedians, a bunch of superb writers, and one or two celebrities who happen to be drug fans. Some of the advantages of being in this anthology: Getting a credit for a book that's likely to receive substantial attention because of its cool high concept, wildly inventive range of ideas, and exceptionally fine writing. Having your name alongside...

Deadline: October 1st, 2016. Payment: ½¢ per word upon publication and a contributor’s copy FurPlanet Productions is announcing its next original short story anthology: The Dogs of War; an anthology of furry military-themed stories. Deadline:  October 1st, 2016. Wanted:  original short stories (no reprints) featuring furries in military situations, preferably of 4,000 to 20,000 words.  Lesser will be accepted.  Longer … let’s discuss it. These can range from actual warfare to peacetime training-camp scenarios (which may be humorous) to recruiting; from large division operations to small commando actions.  They can range from funny-animal multispecies armies to armies of one species versus another; from fighting in animal civilizations to uplifted animal soldiers fighting in human wars. The emphasis should be on military action, not politics; but as Clausewitz defined war as “the continuation of politics by other means”, a story may be heavily political as long as military action is at least threatened. Despite the title, which is a Shakespeare reference (to Julius Caesar), we want stories with a variety of anthropomorphic animals; not just dogs. Authors who want to contribute are urged to check with me (Fred Patten) first to make sure that story ideas are not too close to others already approved. Payment:  ½¢ per word upon publication and a contributor’s copy of The Dogs of War, a $19.95 anthology.  Contributors may buy additional copies at a 30% discount. Send submissions to [email protected]. Via: Anthro Aquatic.

Deadline: October 1st, 2016 Payment: Contributor's Copy The Women in Horror Annual is an anthology publication that showcases female voices in horror culture and entertainment. The anthology is a collection of fiction and nonfiction works that represent and reflect women’s contributions to and scholarship in the genre. As a literary genre, horror was primarily written for and read by women. As a cinematic genre, horror has always drawn a large female audience. And yet, in popular media and culture, horror is often branded male. The Women in Horror Annual is an anthology of horror fiction and nonfiction authored by female writers. The goal is to showcase female creative writing and scholarship in horror literature, culture, and entertainment. The WHA is a passion project led by two genre fans, Christine Makepeace and Rachel Katz. Christine is a former editor at Paracinema Magazine. Rachel is a former contributor to Paracinema Magazine. We are seeking submissions for fiction and nonfiction writing for the second issue. Submissions should be original works, and not have been previously published. Although we celebrate all veins of horror lit, we do not accept fanfic. Fiction 10,000 words maximum Nonfiction 15,000 words maximum research papers should include citations and a bibliography where necessary, in APA format articles do not have to include references, but sources should be noted in the text Send your submissions to [email protected]. Submission deadline is October 1, 2016. All submissions should be in .doc or .pdf format. Please include a short bio with your submission. Via: Human in Horror Annual.

Deadline: October 1st, 2016 Payment: Contributor's Copy and royalty split Stories about life under Trump Submission period:  August 1st through September 15th Target publication date:  October 1st Darkhouse Books is looking for light-hearted, satirical stories envisioning life under President Trump. Length: 2500 to 5000 (exceptions will be considered) Graphic stories will be considered, as well as paranormal. Please Note: This is a quick turn-around project. We will begin selecting stories before submissions close, best not to wait until the last day. We are not looking for political diatribes, and such will be rejected regardless of the quality or cause. Sorry, but Trump can only appear as an ancillary character, and we’d prefer he not appear at all. UPDATE – Okay, we’ll let in some stories with Trump as a character, darn it! We will accept for consideration stories in most any genre. We like stories told well, with openings that draw the reader in, and endings that make the reader sit back and say, ‘yes, that’s how this story should end’. We will not be accepting erotica, no matter how well written. Nor will we accept ultra violent stories. We are expecting to select between twelve and twenty-four stories, with a total length of around eighty thousand words for the full volume. Authors will share equally in fifty percent of the royalties. Authors will also receive a paperback copy. Distribution of paperbacks will be POD via CreateSpace (Amazon) and Ingram/Spark. Ebook editions will be available for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. Please follow standard manuscript formatting. Here are some tips. Guidelines are available here. When ready, send your submission to: [email protected]. Via: Dark House Books.

Deadline: October 1st, 2016 Payment: $25 and contributor's copy Note: This just hit my inbox so I apologize about the short notice! Hell is for Children is a horror anthology and it’s all about terrifying stories involving children. Whether they are ghost stories, tales of possession, or simply being about children who are bad seeds, we are looking for stories that will terrify and linger with you long after you've finished reading. We want dark, original stories with strong character development that embraces the theme of the anthology but still manage to push its boundaries as well. Gory, haunting, twisted or dark, if it's fresh and original we want to read it. Here are the guidelines: Short Fiction (3,000 to 6,000 words) for  Hell is for Children We are currently seeking short stories for our first horror themed anthology, Hell is for Children. Submission Deadline 10/1/16 Submission Guidelines: Include an email containing word count, brief bio, and contact information Please confirm that your story has not been published before Attach your complete story in .doc, .docx, .rtf format. We are not accepting reprints Simultaneous submissions for short stories are allowed but we ask that you contact us immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere Send to [email protected], with subject line: Hell is for Children – Title – Author Payment: We pay $25 per accepted submission and a digital and print copy of the anthology Via: Off The Beaten Path Press.

Deadline: October 1st, 2016 Payment: Royalty Split Floppy Shoes Apocalypse III: Cream Pie Facials An Anthology of Erotic Clown Horror from Nocturnicorn Books. Edited by Alex S. Johnson and Chris Thompson. 1. Subs are open now and close October 1st. 2. All submissions must be original and contain erotic, dark, viscous matter involving clowns. You need not include cream pies. You know where I'm going with this. Make it hot! 3. Any length for poetry. 4. Short stories 2-10k. 5. Please send all submissions as an attached word file only to [email protected] with the subject header YOUR NAME/YOUR STORY OR POEM/CREAM PIE FACIALS. 6. Contributors will receive a pdf copy of the print anthology, a straight royalty cut and my publisher's discount. 7. Taboos: absolutely no erotic/sexual material involving minor children. Rape is acceptable if presented in a non-prurient way.

Deadline: October 3rd, 2016. Payment: $4 USD per 1000 words Due to high demand, we are putting together a steampunk-themed anthology. We're looking for more than just the goggles-and-gears accoutrements of what we think of as steampunk. The era of the steam engine affected much more than Victorian England, so let yourself be inspired by everything the new and amazing inventions might have touched, from the stratified class systems to the various places colonized, and then allow your imaginations to soar into worlds beyond our own. Submissions deadline, October 3rd. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Formatting a manuscript for submission is a pain. Every publication has its own rules--headers, spacing, font, file format, required information, and so on and so forth. The truth is, it's just a means of separating those authors who are genuinely serious from those who are just inundating publications with their as-yet unappreciated epic. We want to make it simple. Our submission guidelines are:   Send a short query describing your work to: [email protected]   If we like what we read, we'll ask for more info. If we don't, we won't.   Just keep the following in mind: Make it clear. You're a writer, so that's the easy part, right? :) Include your name. (You'd be surprised how many forget.) A "short query" is probably fewer than 500 words, but use your best judgment. A full plot summary (including the ending) is helpful. Please don't send marketing copy. Word count is also helpful. We won't/can't read anything in a format we can't open or a language we can't read.   Microsoft Word doc files are always a safe bet, and Apple's Pages is also good. If you're an Open Office user, please save as a Rich Text File or similar. We reserve the right to reject a manuscript or...

Deadline: October 14, 2016 Payment: Royalty split and 1 contributor's copy Mocha Memoirs Press is pleased to announce that they will be publishing another Sherlock Holmes anthology with editor A.C. Thompson! So sharpen those pencils and get ready to write. “The game is afoot!”   Welcome back to Baker Street! Holmes and Watson are there to greet you once more with amazing tales of murder, mayhem, and mystery with a supernatural twist. This time the great detective and his stalwart companion will venture into alternate universes, histories, and futures to solve puzzling cases of the paranormal beyond the bounds of imagination.   In Curious Incidents: More Improbable Adventures, I am looking for stories that diverge from the original canon setting of Victorian England. The adventures should be paranormal in nature, but the universe is completely open. In fact, stories set in the traditional Victorian will not be considered. Some examples of alternate settings might be: steampunk, weird west, distant future, space, ancient world (ok, so I’d just really like to see if someone could do it…), dystopian, American noir, or even modern times (BE CAREFUL WITH THIS. I CAN’T PUBLISH SHERLOCK BBC FANFICTION!).   Word of warning:  Sherlock is a beloved character with a very distinct voice and manner.  We want to be sure that we keep and/ or expand on those attributes that have made him a literary icon. However, I am very interested in seeing diverse characters in starring roles (gender, ethnicity, etc.). The entire original canon is available on Kindle for FREE.  Take advantage.   This time, I’m a little more flexible with genre. I am looking for stories that will fall into the speculative fiction genre and all its subspecies (horror, sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk, magical realism, gothic horror, etc.). I’m even being adventurous this time and allowing...

Deadline: October 14th, 2016 Payment: $5 and a contributor's copy It's finally here: October's issue is now open for submissions! The theme prompts this time around are "macabre" and "Gothic". Here's the important part: October's issue is a flash-submission issue - this means that all non-fiction and fiction submissions are limited to a maximum word-count of 1000 words, and all poems are limited to a maximum of 1 page, up to 5 poems per submission. Art submissions remain unaffected. Happy writing/arting everyone - we can't wait to see what you have for us! Are you a poet? An essayist? A short story writer? An artist? If you have a piece you'd like to submit for the next issue of The Violet Hour, we want to see it! Send us an email to the address listed below and attach any written work in PDF or Word.doc format, and all artwork in jpeg format to submit it for consideration. With the exception of submissions for the open December anthology, don't forget to use at least one of the themes chosen for each issue. (For details about issue themes, launch dates and more, see the above "News & Events" posts.)       [email protected] Submission Periods The Violet Hour Magazine is published quarterly, with three themed issues (published at the end of April, August and October) and one anual open-themed anthology (published at the end of December). Submission periods for the issues are as follows: 1. December 15th to March 31st (for April issue) 2. April 15th to July 31st (for August/September issue) 3. Septebmer 7th to October 14th (for October issue - *IMPORTANT:   October is a flash-submission issue - see News & Events post for details.) 4. Submissions accepted throughout the year (for December issue) *Please Note: Submissions made to any of the themed issues that are not selected for publication in their relevant issue will not be automatically considered...

Deadline: October 15th, 2016 Payment: AUD$100 The Worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Vol II Words required: 4500 - 10 000 words ( Deadline = 15th October 2016 -- firm) Payment for each story - AUD$100 Genres - any variation on the title is suitable. NOTE: This anthology is given away free as an e-book in many formats, and through amazon sold at cost price, or the minimum price amazon will allow. Usually what they make from any sale is what the cost price is for e-book and print. Altair Australia Pty Ltd, the publisher creates these works as a promotion for authors. Robert endeavours to get new and known voices out to a wider reading audience who may then buy something with these authors in, or a novel they have written. All authors are paid on day of acceptance, and the anthology is usually launched on, or before January 31 each year - 2017 To get an idea of what was in Volume I you can download a FREE copy from All submission need to be double spaced and sent as rtf documents, or .doc  no other formats will be accepted. No double space after full-stops. Double quotes for dialogue. No line space for paragraphs and paragraph indents not tab indents. If tab indents discovered then the work will either be rejected or asked to be resubmitted in the correct format. What is wanted: Original - (previously unpublished - NO REPRINTS) genre fiction that explores as well as entertains. Readers like to get involved with bright characters and strange worlds. They like to be frightened and unnerved and they like to see magic and fantasy worlds that are not a slightly different Tolkien or Martin. Read the FREE anthologies published in the previous 2 years and get a feel for what can...