Events

Deadline: December 30th, 2016 Payment: $40 and a contributor's copy TRAGEDY QUEENS is an anthology that brings together two powerful muses: Sylvia Plath and Lana Del Rey. Sylvia’s voice haunts us from beyond the grave. Her words cut like diamonds—sharp, deadly, and forever beautiful. Lana Del Rey’s dark themes and enchanting vocals resonate with listeners from all around the world. Both of these artists explore taboo topics. They find the words to voice the things they are not proud of, the things that haunt them. It takes courage to do the verbal striptease. Let these two extraordinary muses guide you into your own heart of darkness. Themes and Topics: Bad Girls, Bad Boys, Sad Girls, Sad Boys, Self-Destruction, Self-Sabotage, Suicide, Addiction, Obsession, Hedonism, Paganism, Americana, Witches, Tarot Cards and Fortunetelling, BDSM, Crimes of Passion, Shameful Secrets, Blackmail, Deception, Decay, Madness, Fairy Tales Gone Wrong, Trauma, Depression, Alienation, Body Dysmorphia, Mythological Characters and Creatures, Greek Tragedy, Femmes Fatales, Lolitas, Monsters, Loss of Innocence, Loneliness, Dark Side of Hollywood, Bikers, Nazis, Cults, Voyeurism, Doomed Lovers. Submission Guidelines: Stories need to have clear plot beats and arcs. We want realism and logical causality even if the story is surrealistic and dreamlike. Characters must go through transformations, whether they self-destruct or they overcome their obstacles. We want catharsis. We want new perspectives on old themes and narratives. We want strong women, bad women, crazy women. This is a celebration of the dark side of femininity. The side that makes people uncomfortable. The side that scares men and threatens the social order. Pick your favorite Plath poem or Lana song/video as your springboard, or merge a Plath poem and a Lana song and see what comes out of their synergy. Pick a poetry collection or an album. Pick a theme or imagery that resonates. You...

Deadline: December 30th, 2016 Payment: $10USD Syntax & Salt publishes up to 13 magical realism pieces a season. We are open to general submissions from October 1 to December 30, 2016. Myths, Monsters, Legends, and Fairy Tales, our themed issue, is set for publication on October 30th. Here is how you win our hearts and minds: Magical Realism Stories that take up 3500 words or less Proofread, polished manuscripts Old stories told in a new way New stories told in an old way Sad endings that don’t rely on gimmicks or shock value Happy endings that hurt a little bit Beautiful prose and well developed plot Thank you, but no thank you to: Violence for the sake of violence We’re good with profanity, but it needs to fit the story Poetry – the thing is, we love it, but we’re not there yet Rape stories are vital stories. 1 in 4 women report being raped, and men are often silent victims of assault. However, many of the rape stories we’ve read in our careers as writers and slushers and editors do not explore the nuances of character available, and use the act of rape for shock value or to create a victimized character who can be saved. Here’s how you submit: We no longer accept email submissions. Please continue to read through the instructions here, then submit using our Submittable form.  For the sake of formatting, we do prefer standard manuscript formatting. You can find an example here. That does mean Times New Roman or Courier, 12pt., double-spaced. We won’t probably reject you out right for deviations, unless you submit in comic sans — that’s just not ok. We like cover letters — nothing crazy, just an idea of who you are, what you’re submitting, and the length of your submission. A third person bio can be...

Deadline: December 30th, 2016 Payment: 6 cents per word Note: Looking for female authors Announcing an open call for submissions for an anthology of dark and speculative fiction in the Women Up To No Good book series, co-edited by H.L. Nelson and Joanne Merriam, to be published by Upper Rubber Boot Books. Authors must identify as female, non-binary, or a marginalized sex or gender identity. Stories may be funny or serious, set anywhere on or off the world, in any time period, but must feature female protagonists. Word/page count: Up to 5,000 words/story. Payment: six cents per word. Publication history: Original stories only. Reprints may be submitted by invitation only. Multiple submissions: No. Simultaneous submissions: No. Deadline: Friday, 30 December 2016. We plan to reply within a month. To submit: Send to joanne at upperrubberboot dot com: (a) your complete manuscript as a .RTF, (b) a bio of 100 words or fewer, and (c) make sure you provide the following information: legal name (if different from the name you write under), mailing address, and word count. Put “WOMEN UP TO NO GOOD” in the subject line. If the work is a translation, please also provide a statement from the rightsholder that you are authorized to translate and submit it (both author and translator will receive full payment). Via: Upper Rubber Boot.

Deadline: December 31, 2016 Payment: $200 for short stories that are under 5,000 words and $500 for stories that are 5,000 words or longer How do you cure your Netflix (or Amazon, Google movie, or Hulu) addiction and return to your first love, reading books? You know you want to read more. You know you enjoy reading. You know you look forward to finishing a book because then you can start a new adventure. But how? How do you get into reading when the siren call of streaming movies becomes more powerful every year? A three-hundred page novel is daunting in the face of Netflix and friends’ wonders. It’s too easy to put on pajamas, pour a glass of wine, and offer your eyes to a TV, tablet, or computer screen until sleep summons you. Enter The Binge-Watching Cure: Fabulous Stories that Start Small and Grow Longer, edited by Bill Adler Jr. The Binge-Watching Cure will be an anthology of short stories of increasing size. The first story will be 100 words—anyone can read that. The next, 200 words. Then 500, then longer, all the way to novella length. By the time you’ve finished reading The Binge-Watching Cure, you’ll be able to tackle Joyce and Pynchon. Or at the very least, you’ll enjoy novels you hear about from friends and family. The Binge-Watching Cure will reignite your love for reading; it will better your life. Just as you enter a cold swimming pool one body part at a time, get used to drinking beer sip by foamy sip, or learn to enjoy spicy food in little, fiery nibbles, The Binge-Watching Cure gradually acclimates you to reading longer and longer stories, until a novel-length book goes down smoothly, tasting sweet, and making you want more. We want your writing.  We’re looking for stellar stories of various lengths for The Binge-Watching Cure. The stories must have strong characters and compelling plots. Genre fiction is...

Deadline: December 31, 2016 Payment: $250/story Word limit: 3000-6000 words. Pay rate: $250/story Genre: Science Fiction only (no Fantasy, Steampunk or Horror, although horror elements may be present in the story). Language: English (translations are welcome). Submissions open: August 1, 2016 Submissions close: December 31, 2016 Rights: We claim first world English rights (no reprints). For an excellent break down of what this means, please see Neil Clarke’s post here. When going somewhere dangerous, take a human. Humans are tough. Humans can last days without food. Humans heal so quickly, they pierce holes in themselves or inject ink under their epidermis for fun. Humans will walk for days on broken bones in order to make it to safety. Humans will literally cut off bits of themselves if trapped by a disaster. You would be amazed what humans will do to survive. Or to ensure the survival of others they feel responsible for.  That's the other thing. Humans pack-bond, and they spill their pack-bonding instincts everywhere. Sure it's weird when they talk sympathetically to broken spaceships or try to pet every lifeform that scans as non-toxic. It's even a little weird that just existing in the same place as them for long enough seems to make them care about you.  But if you're hurt, if you're trapped, if you need someone to fetch help? You really want a human.  (Thanks to Tumblr user iztarshi for the idea and the above copy. Used with permission) I am looking for stories that show diverse humanity in a positive light, as useful contributors to the universe. I want humans who build relationships and forge new paths, not humans that destroy or devastate those they meet. Submit stories with strong characters in positive stories that portray humans as useful and generally helpful to the universe....

Deadline: December 31 2016 Payment: $0.06 per word up to $500 As of August 23, 2016 Book Smugglers Publishing is currently open for short stories submissions for publication in 2017. General information and theme: We’re looking for original short stories from all around the world as long as they are written in English. Our goal is to publish at least three short stories, unified by a central theme. Each short story will be accompanied by one original piece of artwork from an artist commissioned by us separately. For the publication period between May and August 2017, the theme is: GODS AND MONSTERS GODS AND MONSTERS will be Book Smugglers Publishing’s fourth season of short stories, following Fairytale Retellings, First Contact, and Superheroes. When it comes to Gods and Monsters, anything goes. You – the author – should take the theme and run with it any way you want. It can be Gods VERSUS Monsters, or Gods but not Monsters, or Monsters without Gods. As usual, we encourage authors to subvert these sample themes, to expand upon what “gods and/or monsters” means, and adapt the prompt to other possible connotations and genres under the Speculative Fiction umbrella. What We’re Looking For: DIVERSITY. We want to read and publish short stories that reflect the diverse world we live in, about and from traditionally underrepresented perspectives. We more than welcome stories featuring LGBTQIA characters. Following Fireside Fiction’s recent report on underrepresented black writers, we more than welcome black writers to submit their stories. Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Adult audience submissions are welcome.Good speculative fiction is ageless! We are VERY keen on receiving Romance stories – or stories with strong romantic elements. We are VERY keen on receiving Horror stories – or stories with strong horror elements. Creativity & Subversion. We love subversive...

Deadline: December 31st, 2016 Payment: 6 cents per word+ SUBMERGED, ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT CONQUERORS!, and THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS Submission Guidelines Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies SUBMERGED, ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT CONQUERORS!, and THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: SUBMERGED: Jellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple manuscripts in separate emails. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use New Times Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s real name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold. Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology. THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS is to feature stories where Death is a character in the story. The version of Death used should be unique, so consider all different types of versions of Death seen throughout history and in different cultures. Stories featuring more interesting takes on Death, and twists on how Death is integrated into the story, will receive more attention than those with more standard depictions of Death. So be creative and use Death in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a...

Deadline: December 31, 2016 Payment: 6 cents per word and a digital contributor's copy Weird Western/Steampunk. Dreadnaughts, "Wild West" world, cowboys and aliens, Victorian era, primitive post-Apocalypse, retro-futuristic inventions, and the like. Remember Oscar Wilde's inspirational visit to Colorado? Third Flatiron Publishing is based in Boulder, Colorado, and Ayr, Scotland. We are looking for submissions to our quarterly themed anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We want tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Light horror is acceptable, provided it fits the theme. Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Inquire if longer. Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today. For each anthology, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred. Submit by email to [email protected] either as an attachment (Word, RTF) or in the body of the mail (text). In the Subject: line of the email, please put flatsubmit:Title_of_Your_Work to avoid being deemed a canned meat product based on ham. If the work is for the humor section, please note that in the body of your email. A brief bio...

Deadline: December 31, 2016. Payment: 1 cent per word Is your story too heavy and hardcore for other “best of” anthologies? Then you’ve come to the right place because Comet Press is now accepting stories for YEAR’S BEST HARDCORE HORROR VOL. 2, a yearly collection intended to give recognition to the extreme, harder side of horror, stories that break boundaries and trash taboos. Editors: Randy Chandler and Cheryl Mullenax. Requirements: The story was (or will be) published in a 2016 anthology, single author collection, magazine, or online magazine. Self-published anthologies and collections are acceptable as well. Deadline: December 31, 2016. Length: Short stories/novelettes. Payment: 1 cent a word. What to Send Authors: In the body of an email: Author name Story title Name of anthology or magazine or online magazine it was published in: If the book is available on Amazon and your story credit appears somewhere on the page, send us the link. If not, send a link to the best source with that information (publisher’s page, etc). If the story was in a magazine, send us a web link to the issue TOC where your story appears, or if that’s not available send us a scan of the table of contents (print magazines, etc.). A bio A short synopsis. Attach the entire manuscript in rtf, doc, or pdf format. Note: please make sure this is the final version of your story, exactly as it appears in the published version. Important Note: Make sure your contract allows you to publish the story in a “best of” anthology. If you’re not sure, check with your publisher. If necessary, ask them for a waiver. Publishers In an email include the following: Author name and story title(s) for consideration Name of publication and publisher, date published and format (print, ebook, magazine, etc)...

Deadline: December 31st, 2016 Payment: Equal share of fifty percent of the royalties. Note: Reprints Allowed Note #2: Not fully sure that this is the anthology's title Descansos, or roadside memorials, mark an interrupted journey; the spot where a drunk driver struck a beloved son, or where a fatigued mother fell asleep at the wheel and veered herself and her family into eternity. While the word “descanso” means simply, rest, in Spanish, it has come to represent all kinds of memorials that mark the place where an intended path came to an unintended end. Descansos take many forms: from crosses festooned with ribbons and pinwheels, to a shattered motorcycle helmet nailed to a tree; from a collection of teddy bears affixed to a roadside fence, to a stone alter filled with photographs, candles, and milagros; to a stark white bicycle anchored in concrete. Consider the descansos of the heart, the smell, or song, or thought that brings us back for a moment to a time or a person now lost. While born of grief and loss, descansos memorialize love, and as such, represent the terrible beauty we all contend with as creatures who, by living, are condemned to die. Darkhouse Books is looking for flash fiction, traditional short stories, poetry, and essays that embrace the spirit of the descanso. There are no restrictions on genre. We just want your best work. Please limit your submission to 3000 words or less, and format appropriately (1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font). Submissions that do not follow these guidelines or match the theme will not be read. Previously published work will be considered, provided the publication date is prior to March of 2016, and the other publisher does not still have an exclusive for it. Authors will share equally in fifty percent...