Events

Deadline: April 15th, 2017 Payment: 5% of the gross profit will be paid for each accepted story. These payments will be issued to you at quarterly intervals. Stories under 1,500 words will only receive 4% of the gross profit. o the office of the Prime Minister: As you have no doubt been made aware from previous correspondence, Mr. Gladstone, problems of an unusual nature still arise in the further reaches of Her Majesty’s empire. You remember the transport we lost in the Chinese seas, and manpower spent keeping it from the press. One of the officer’s wives, a Mrs. Kathleen Morland, was found drifting in the same waters. Yes, two years later. She wore strange finery, speaking in a language that we still haven’t placed, and only telling a broken story through far more broken English. She complains of voices from some long ago time, saying things she wishes she could forget. The ship which rescued was followed to port by strange lights. One exploratory party Africa reported total darkness for a period of 106 hours. No trace of the sun. Light suddenly returned around noon. When their guide returned the following day, he was nearly mad with grief. “The darkness now resides within us. Our light has faded.” Just as I was about to hand this to my secretary, one more report arrived. Trouble along the Indian border, as ever. Word is fragmentary, also as ever, but suggests something unhealthy and alive in the biting wind. While troubling, I don’t believe there is anything the foreign office can do at this time. We’ll continue to look into these on a case by case basis—but the difference in geography, actors, and dates seems to suggest we can do little but watch, record, and pray. Yours truly, What We Want Their...

Deadline: April 15th, 2017 Payment: $20 usd Please don't query us about your story submission. We don't have the manpower to answer such queries. An editor will email you back as soon as possible with the decision about your story. This can take a few days, or, up to three months. We make every effort to get back to authors in a timely manner but we get a lot of submissions so sometimes it's not possible. A note on our editorial policy: before publication we may edit the story for length or readability. However, we always remain true to the spirit of the story. Issues are published at the end of February, May, August, and November. We reserve the right to shift publication date slightly, as necessary. We have reading periods for each issue, though we never close to submissions. February closes January 15 May closes April 15 August closes July 15 November closes October 15 Please do not submit the same story more than once, and please submit only one story at a time. We consider any story between 250 and 7000 words with speculative fiction elements. We prefer science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. We do not consider poetry, stories with over-the-top sex or violence, serials, novels, fan fiction, or non-fiction. We don't accept multiple submissions; in other words, only submit one story at a time and wait for a response before submitting another. We accept simultaneous submissions as long as you let us know up front and tell us as soon as it's accepted elsewhere. We do not publish reprints, including anything that has appeared on a website. We pay $20 for each story we publish. We buy first-printing world exclusive rights for four...

Deadline: April 15th, 2017 Payment: 6 cents per word 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. Continuing with Third Flatiron's quarterly themed anthologies, we will be soliciting SF/Fantasy/Horror short stories with the following themes. Themes are designed to be open-ended, allowing authors considerable leeway. We appreciate short, imaginative tales, preferring those that work with the theme in some way. Short stories should be 3,000 words or less. Flash humor pieces (<=1,000 words) can be on any theme. We aim to be inclusive and encourage submissions from all creators. "Cat's Breakfast" - Science fiction/satire. Now at the 10th anniversary of his death, Wikipedia says Kurt Vonnegut was...

Deadline: April 15th, 2017 Payment: Varies on length, see below. Helios Quarterly Magazine aims to publish quality fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art that illuminates the darkness. HQM wants stories and poems that grab ahold of a reader from the opening lines all the way to the finish line. Works that push boundaries, are succinct, and well developed are smiled upon. CURRENT ISSUE Our potential to do good in this world is always held back by the propensity for humanity to fall back on vice and old mistakes. Science fiction acts as the test grounds for what the world could be, predicting dreamed dystopias coming into reality, and producing the ingredients for innovation. The horror genre wouldn’t be so frightening if not for the fact that humans often prove to be their own worst enemy. Fantasy literature pits the forces of good and evil against one another only to reveal a world painted in murky, muddled, shades of gray. Redux and Progression wants stories that address how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go. What stops us from unlocking a world in which everyone prospers? When the promised day arrives, why does nostalgia beckon us to an age that has passed away? Open to submit between April 1- April 15 11:59PM EST. FICTION, POETRY & NON-FICTION IDEAS We’d love to see the following but encourage you to not treat these as prompts: Social criticism with a political activist edge Stories, poems, and nonfiction narratives within the cyberpunk, solarpunk, dieselpunk, punk realm Characters struggling with the ramifications of utopia achieved. What were the costs left unspoken? Catastrophic events reshaping the natural order. How do we recover or move forward after returning to a post-Industrial Age? How can literature, science, etc. shape our future by learning from the triumphs and mistakes of the past? TWO GENRE EXAMPLES...

Deadline: April 27th, 2017 Payment: Up to 10¢ per word Cicada YA/teen lit magazine seeks fiction, poetry, comics, and essays on the theme of Aliens. Tell us a story of a stranger in a strange land, whether they be a three-headed visitor from the Andromeda Galaxy or just someone trying to navigate an unfamiliar place. Of course, feeling like an alien does not always have to do with physical location—sometimes you might feel like an alien in familiar spaces. We love works about extraterrestrials and outer space, but we also encourage authentic and diverse works about immigration, gentrification, and feelings of otherness and dissociation. Not welcome: cultural appropriation. General Information CICADA is a YA lit/comics magazine fascinated with the lyric and strange and committed to work that speaks to teens’ truths. We publish poetry, realistic and genre fic, essay, and comics by adults and teens. (We are also inordinately fond of Viking jokes.) Our readers are smart and curious; submissions are invited but not required to engage young adult themes. CICADA does not distribute theme lists for upcoming issues. Especially welcome: works by people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQAI+ folks, genderqueer folks, and other marginalized peoples. Not welcome: cultural appropriation. Fav writers, YA and otherwise: Sarah McCarry, Nnedi Okorafor, Sherman Alexie, David Levithan, Daniel Jose Older, Debbie Urbanski, Nalo Hopkinson, Kelly Link, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ntozake Shange, Anne Carson, Jacqueline Woodson, ZZ Packer, Angela Nissel, Sofia Samatar, Richard Siken, Malory Ortberg, Saeed Jones, Octavia Butler, Andrea Gibson, @cicadamagazine / cicadamagazine.tumblr.com Guidelines Before submitting, be sure to familiarize yourself with our magazines. (Sample copies are available for viewing at the Cricket Media Store, or you can order a current issue by calling 800-821-0115.) Issues are also available at many local libraries. Fiction Realism, SF/fantasy, historical fiction: Yes, yes, and yes Length: flash fic to novellas; up to 9,000 words   Nonfiction Narrative nonfic (especially...

Deadline: April 30th, 2017 Payment: Unknown at this time but paying, will update asap oir at the Salad Bar, Culinary Tales with a Bite This anthology of short crime fiction will focus on culinary stories seasoned with murder and mayhem. Submission Guidelines for Noir at the Salad Bar, Culinary Tales with a Bite: Stories must feature food or drink, restaurants, bars or the culinary arts in some way. We seek crime stories in the following genres: mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, and horror, from any time period (historical, modern day, future, etc.). Authors from any geographic area are welcome to submit stories to Level Best Books, and stories may be set anywhere in the world. Culinary professionals are encouraged to submit, ensuring their stories adhere to the overall theme. Stories must not exceed 5,000 words Stories must be previously unpublished in print or electronically, including self-published works (to include author websites). Stories from both published and unpublished authors are welcome. The Level Best editors will consider up to two stories from the same author per anthology. We will not consider stories that feature graphic scenes of torture or sex Submissions will be accepted from December 1, 2016 through April 30, 2017 How To Submit: Please email your submission to [email protected] Type Short Story Submission in the subject line of your email (without it attachments will not be opened) Include your name, address, phone number, email, story title, word count, and a brief summary of your publishing experience (if any) in the body of the email Please paginate your story (format page numbers in either the header or footer of the document) Send your story as a Word attachment, double-spaced Please either type ### or “The End” to indicate the ending of your story Submissions will be read blindly by the judges. Your...

Deadline: April 30th, 2017 Payment: AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released Post-apocalyptic military horror. The end of the world as we know it. What we want: Invading space aliens, demonic invasion as in Doom, DNA-grafted dinosaurs taking over the planet, manmade viral infections that nearly wipe out humanity, or artificial intelligence like in Terminator… anything you can think of that would bring about the end of the world. And SOLDIERS! Tell us about what happens during the worst of the fall of humanity or afterwards. No zombies. That’s already taken care of. Full action. Nothing less. Hoo-rah! Edited by Amanda J Spedding and Geoff Brown Payment: AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released. Wordcount range: 2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer) SUBMISSIONS OPEN FEBRUARY 1 2017. Closing date is April 30th 2017 (anything submitted outside this period will be deleted without being read or replied to). No selections will be made until after the period closes. Projected publication date: Late 2017 We will have some solicited authors alongside the open call, with the first being Jonathan Maberry. Please follow these guidelines when submitting to us: Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript top left, with word count top right. Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting. Courier or Times New Roman set at 12pt. Italics as they will appear. No underlining. Double spaced. Please don’t use TAB or space bar to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure or using a program that has no styles, DO NOT indent at all. That’s still cool. NO SPACE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required. ONE SPACE after full stops. Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s...

Deadline: April 30th, 2017 Payment: $10 Topic: Last Shot Fired Imagine a war going so long that every last resource has been used up in the fight for survival, or a world that has taken extreme measures to end warfare and violence. In this anthology we want to explore what the idea “Last Shot Fired” means to you. This could be about a spouse that has finally reached their breaking point and said that one thing that cascades the relationship into total chaos, or being against the wall against overwhelming odds with almost no resources or backup, what imagery is brought to your mind by this phrase? We are looking for a wide variety of stories from almost every genre.   Limitations: Keep it PG-13. Not too much gore, nothing sexually explicit, and keep the cursing down. Word count: 2,000-6,000 words Due Date: 30 April, 2017 Payment: We will pay $10 for each story that is accepted, send you a free ebook copy, and you will receive a 40% discount code for paperbacks which you can sell at full price. You will also be invited to a private forum just for anthology members. Contract Details: We are asking for Exclusive (for 6 months from publication) First Anthology Rights. Formatting: Use a standard font (Times New Roman, Courier new), 12 point, double spaced. Indent the first line of each paragraph WITHOUT using tabs. You will be expected to work with our editor to polish your story. About the Author: Please include a short biography (1-2 paragraphs) about the author at the end of your story (after the words THE END). This biography will be used in the anthology if your story is accepted. How to submit: Email your story as a .doc or .docx to moc.yteicoSsretirWthgindiM@snoissimbuS. You WILL receive conformation of receipt within seven days. Via:...

Deadline: April 30th, 2017 Payment: For flash fiction, the pay is $5 USD per story; For short stories, pay is $10 USD per story; For poems, pay is $2 USD per poem. Donald John Trump is an American businessman, television personality, and the 45th President of the United States. His Twitter account has been making news on a daily basis since his election. With a deadline of April 2017 for submissions for this anthology, no one is certain if he will be still President by then, but we will assume that he will be for this book. This anthology is an attempt to collect stories from both the pro and anti Trump sides. What type of utopia do Trump supporters envision for the world? What type of dystopia do anti-Trump supporters fear? Trump does not have to be the main character of the story, but it must be mentioned that he is the President. We want this collection to be diverse, with stories containing characters from all walks of life. In speculative fiction, anything goes. Maybe he’ll release a virus and zombies will dominate the landscape or perhaps he becomes the first person on Mars! Make the story fantastic, funny and interesting! Alternatively, a depressing, insightful story that can hold its own will be fine. There are two sides to every coin and this book will be a time capsule, capturing the visions and nightmares that people are feeling at the moment. If there are more stories for one side versus the other, the book become either “Trump Dystopia” or “Trump Utopia”! We shall see. Submission Details We are looking for poems, flash fiction and short stories. Ratio of each will depend upon quality of submissions received. For guidelines, compensation and formatting details, visit our submissions page. Submitting is a two step process:...

Deadline: April 30th, 2017 Payment: For flash fiction, the pay is $5 USD per story; For short stories, pay is $10 USD per story; For poems, pay is $2 USD per poem. This anthology is a 150 Alliance project, created to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017! Dark Helix Press is wondering – where will Canada be in  the future? Will the next 100 years be peaceful with lots of technological advances or will Canada become a colony on a spaceship after Earth blows up? Robot beavers, poutine currency, there’s no limit to what can happen! Canada in the future must be a well defined landscape in the stories submitted, so it’s essential that the world built by the author resonates well with the readers. Bonus points for those who can sneak in Canadian cultural references and diverse characters is a must. We are aiming to release this book before July 1, 2017.    Submission Details We are looking for poems, flash fiction and short stories. Ratio of each will depend upon quality of submissions received. Since this is a project celebrating Canada, preference will be given to Canadian writers. However, if you are an international writer who sends in a fantastic story and understands our country, we are open to this as possibility as well. For guidelines, compensation and formatting details, visit our submissions page. Submitting is a two step process: 1) Fill in and submit this Google form to ensure your name is listed in our database for review 2) Email in your submission to  “darkhelixpress at gmail.com” with subject headline: “Canada- (author name) – (title)” Any questions can be sent to “darkhelixpress at gmail.com”. What We Are Looking For Each anthology may feature flash fiction, short stories, essays, and poetry. Ratio of each depends on submission quality received. Specific guidelines...