Events

Deadline:       January 15, 2020 Payment:        .01 a word up to 7000 words Bring us your blossoming sociopaths, your creepy ironies, your ruthlessly ambitious characters yearning to breathe free. We want to second guess that character’s mental stability. We want a closer glimpse at the dark corner of the brightly lit kitchen. We want an insider’s view of the method in the madness. We want the unreliable narrators, the psychological breakdowns, the dangerous fixations, but leave the fantasy elements at the door: vampires, ghosts, zombies, and magic are on hiatus for this one; we are looking for realistic dark fiction. Think Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado,” O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Jackson’s “The Lottery,” Oates’ “The Corn Maiden,” and King’s “Apt Pupil.” We want to hear your Session 9. We can’t wait to see your Audition. Word count:     2000-7000 words, a little under or over is fine (but payment is capped at 7000) Response time:  Decisions will be emailed before March 15 Don’t sit on your submission until the deadline. Submit early. Call may be closed early if the anthology reaches its maximum word count. Multiple submissions:           No, thank you. Please send your one best story. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere, and if we select your tale, we ask that you remove it from consideration elsewhere immediately. No reprints; work must not have been printing elsewhere, including a blog or personal webpage. Publication date:       Fall 2020 Submission guidelines: •       Please use traditional Shunn manuscript format •       Include a biography of 50-150 words on the same document as your story. Previous publication is not a requirement for acceptance; we just want to know...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $20usd for original work, $10 for reprints. Note: Reprints Welcome Genre: Mystery/suspense   Publisher: Superior Shores Press   Editor: Judy Penz Sheluk   Deadlines: January 15, 2020. Late submissions will not be considered. All submissions will be acknowledged. Acceptance/rejections will be emailed to all submitting authors on or before April 1, 2020. Please, no simultaneous submissions.   Publication Date: *June 18, 2020 (trade paperback/Kindle; Kobo, Nook, Apple to follow at publisher’s discretion)   *The Publisher reserves the right to postpone and/or cancel due to unforeseen circumstances or if an insufficient number of qualified stories are submitted/accepted.   Description: A multi-author anthology of 21 short stories of mystery and suspense, with an overarching theme of Heartbreaks and half-truths. Estimated length: 250-300 printed pages in trade paperback format. An introduction, acknowledgments, and author bios will be included.   Submission Guidelines: Both previously published and unpublished authors are welcome to submit. There is no entry fee.   Authors may submit 1 (one) reprint or 1 (one) previously unpublished short story, ideally ranging between 1,500 to 5,000 words (though great stories falling “slightly” outside this range will be considered). Preference will be given to new material; reprint material will not exceed 30% of the collection.   Note: Authors of new material will be expected to work with the Editor promptly on any requested revisions to ensure the timeline for release is met without delay. Failure to do so will result in exclusion from the anthology.   For Reprints: Author must own the print and digital copyright and provide complete details of any previous publication(s), including website/blogs. Stories must not currently be available online in any format. Any online availability will immediately disqualify the submission.   Sub Genres: Traditional, locked room, noir, historical and suspense will be considered; however, do...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse is looking for short stories about, well cats and their women – their badass women. It’s time to turn the “man and his dog wandering through a dystopian world” trope on its head, and tell the stories about cats and their women in appropriately dystopian settings. We’re looking for stories that feature a strong woman with at least one cat, in tales that bring hope in the darkest of times. The “cat lady” in your story can be anyone who identifies as female and loves cats – and we welcome stories featuring older, wiser protagonists. “Hope” can range from a single person reminded that their life can improve to changing the course of the dark, dystopian world. However you tell the tale, we want vivid descriptions, engaging characters, and unique takes on the kinds of missions cats and their women would take on in a broken world. To Submit: Title: Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse Length: 4000 – 8000 words NOTE: We WILL consider reprints previously published prior to Jan 1, 2019, for which you have reprint rights. Please include the original publication information with your submission. Deadline: January 15, 2020 Anticipated release: late March, 2020 Exclusivity/Reversion of rights: We distribute our anthologies in both paper and ebook formats across multiple retailers. We ask for 6 months exclusivity post-publication, after which we continue to market the anthology, but you have the right to submit the story elsewhere, publish it yourself, etc., as you wish. Pay: Royalty-Share, via PayPal NOTE: A royalty-share anthology is only successful if all of the participants help with the promotion. We will provide art and marketing copy, and promote the anthology as we are able; but if you submit, you should also be prepared to promote the anthology to your readers – and share...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $20 and a contributor paperback copy Note: Reprints welcome but original stories preferred Death’s Head Press will be accepting submissions for Dark Stars, an anthology of sci-fi horror, starting December 1, 2019 through January 15, 2020 What we’re looking for: Death’s Head Press is seeking short stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. The short stories MUST HAVE ELEMENTS OF SCIENCE FICTION AND HORROR. Think the Alien movies or Event Horizon or Pandorum. We will only accept one submission per author for this anthology. So, send us your best! Simultaneous submissions are fine, but let us know if another publisher picks up your story before us. We are not scared away by graphic content. We can handle all the blood, guts, and sex you can dish out. Just remember, this is not an erotica or splatterpunk anthology. While we won’t turn your story away based on those elements, they aren’t necessary for acceptance either. How to submit: Email your submission to [email protected] with the Subject line reading DARK STARS ANTHOLOGY. Consider the body of your email the cover letter and tell us whatever you like. Just remember what was mentioned above: we don’t care about you, we care about your story. Then give us a brief description of your work (2-5 sentences). Let me repeat that, GIVE US A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR WORK. Attach your entire manuscript to the email in .doc, .docx, or .rtf formats. Use 12 pt font in Times New Roman. Your author name, email address, book title, and word count should appear on the first page of your manuscript. All subsequent pages should have your name, title, and page number in the header. Get your work as clean of grammatical errors as possible. We don’t expect a perfect manuscript, but if it is riddled with one mistake after another,...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $0.10 CAD per word (with a minimum of $20 for very short tales) Submission Guidelines (fiction) It’s AE Micro time again. We give you a theme. You send us a very short story. We pick the best and publish a microzine. This year’s theme is “stars“. Become a galactic idol, journey to a white dwarf, or follow your horoscope. We will select a minimum of five entries for publication in the microzine: three Canadian stories and two international. As always, we publish science fiction, though our interpretation of the genre is broad and ‘speculative’ fiction without a science-y feel is welcome. The word limit for this one is a minuscule 200 words. Requirements and details: Submissions must be previously unpublished (in print or online) and should stand alone (i.e., no excerpts from a larger work). Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your piece is selected elsewhere. Please submit no more than two micro submissions at a time. We buy First Serial and First Electronic rights and non-exclusive Audio rights. AE is proud to offer all fiction authors reimbursement of $0.10 CAD per word (with a minimum of $20 for very short tales), paid within 60 days of acceptance. Licensing: All content in AE is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives license upon publication. We believe in the Creative Commons mission and feel that it benefits both authors and their readers by allowing creators to reach the widest possible audience. Note that the use of the Creative Commons license has no effect on the ability or right of the author to sell reprint rights, film rights or other secondary rights in the future. Copyright remains at all times with the author, and commercial reproduction is prohibited. Response Time: we aim to respond to all queries and submissions promptly....

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $60 for each poem, illustration, or photograph, $80 for each flash piece (fiction or nonfiction), and $100 for each essay accepted for publication Theme: Writing and art that explores the unintended side effects or consequences of scientific advancement, including but not limited to the areas of biology, physics, chemistry, and geology. Issue 2: The Dark Side of Science (to be published on February 1st) Submissions Deadline: January 15, 2020 We’re looking for writing and art that explores the unintended side effects or consequences of scientific advancement, including but not limited to the areas of biology, physics, chemistry, and geology. An example of a piece that fits this criteria, and which we will be publishing in February, is artwork on the topic of human-created lead pollution, its history and its implications. If you have questions about the Issue 2 prompt, please contact us at [email protected] Poetry For this issue, we are accepting the following forms of poetry: experimental/hybrid, traditional, prose poetry, found poetry and poetry written in a non-English language, with the requirement that an English translation accompany the original. We aren’t considering long form, haiku, micro poetry or erasure poetry for this submission call. Send up to 4 poems in one Word document (.doc/.docx). Flash fiction/flash nonfiction Min: 500 words. Max: 1,000 words. Send up to 2 flash pieces in one Word document (.doc/.docx). Essay Min: 1,000 words. Max: 2,500 words. Send up to 2 essays in one Word document (.doc/.docx). Original illustrations and photography We're accepting all styles of illustration (including visual poetry) and photography. By submitting art, you are agreeing to a resized version of the art being published, to suit the online layout and aesthetic of the magazine. Send up to 5 pieces of art for consideration. Rights By submitting to Kanstellation Magazine, you...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $0.08 per word Theme: — Stories must play in some fashion on the idea of magic pens. Not just about writing. About magic pens. Thank you for your interest in the Community of Magic Pens anthology. Bottom line: — Send your unpublished, original, beautifully authentic story of 1-3000 words to [email protected] between 15 December 2019 and 15 January 2020 with the subject “Magic Pens Submission”. Format: — Please submit your story in text or Word format. As long as I can read and edit it (for purposes of feedback only), it’s fine. Not trying to stress people out about submission format. — Sorry, I’m using email for submissions again. I wanted to use a submission program this time, but the fees have gone up and I want to concentrate all our resources toward paying professional rates. — Include your: name, writing as, country (please specify if your residence is different than the country that claims you for taxes), and pronouns. If you are not familiar with specifying pronouns, this is not about the story (e.g. first/third person) this is about you: how we should refer to you (e.g. she/her). — Include the story’s: title, number of words, and primary genre(s) (e.g. romance, fantasy, contemporary, mystery). The genre designation isn’t important; just gives me an idea how you view the story. — Optionally, tell us anything else we should know: your background, whether the story has special meaning to you, etc. Please stay brief. — We are not trying to stress out writers with the guidelines. Not looking to get people on technicalities. If you have any accessibility needs beyond what we are providing, please let me know. — We are interested in new content crafted specifically for this anthology. We are not interested in reprints...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $10 Hello fellow travelers, We are now officially open for submissions for the fifth issue of Underbelly Magazine! If you're a writer looking for a place for your strange and disturbing fiction, check out our Submission Guidelines page and get in contact with us. If you're interested in seeing the kinds of things we're looking to publish, our first four issues are available for free here. The deadline for submissions is January 15th, 2020, so get writing and/or submitting! We look forward to exploring the Underbelly with you once more... What We Want: We are a semi-annual zine interested in Extreme Horror, Splatterpunk, Bizarro, LGBTIQ+, Adult Content freaky fantasy worlds and futures, ridiculous mash-ups, or anything just plain weird. Dark, twisted, and disturbing stories that push the envelope and explore the far reaching limits of the unnerving side of humanity. The things that people won’t talk about in polite company. The things that we all think about but refuse to acknowledge. Bring it to the light, let us look at it directly in the eye, and if we like what we see, we want it. What We Don’t Want: Don’t mistake permissiveness for blithe acceptance. We don’t want your gross-out rape fantasies, sick fantasies, unless there’s a good reason for it. We want art! Length/Payment/Legal Stuff: We’re interested in a wide range of lengths, from 1,000 word flash pieces up to 7,500 words. We would also be willing to accept longer stories on a case-by-case basis. A token payment of $10 will be issued upon publication. Be aware if you publish with us that any future submission of your story to another publication will be as a reprint, which can hurt its future value. We retain worldwide first publishing rights on your story for both electronic...

Deadline: January 30th, 2020 Payment: 2 cents a word, up to 1500 words ($30 max) for prose stories For the first time, Murder Park is open to submissions from the world at large. While we started as a small zine showcasing the work of L.A.-area authors, we have decided to expand the scope to consider work from anywhere, so long as it’s spooky! Submissions will be open through January 30, 2020, or until we have enough acceptances to fill the volume. What we want: Original horror or dark fantasy stories of no more than 2000 words. Sci-fi is also welcome so long as it’s scary. We don’t have a strong preference for any particular style or subgenre, but we do prefer writing that is more literary than pulp, that achieves its scares from impacts to fully realized characters as opposed to splatter, gore, or shock value.  We would rather be unsettled than grossed out. We will happily consider formats outside of traditional prose. Comics, email chains, tweet threads, and other methods of spooky storytelling are welcome. Don’t be afraid to surprise us. But please, no poetry. We are open to authors of all backgrounds and publication histories. Preference will be given to authors based in Southern California (we are an L.A. zine, after all) and to authors of underrepresented backgrounds. However, the strength of the writing and impact of the story is by far the biggest consideration. Hard sells: Parody/horror-comedy. Zombies. Clowns. Serial killer protagonists. Stories featuring gratuitous violence and gore at the expense of plot or character arcs. Anything with an explicit or implicit message of racism, sexism, queerphobia, or other bigotries is a definite no. Compensation: 2 cents a word, up to 1500 words ($30 max) for prose stories, and $30 flat for comics or other visual stories. Payment...

Deadline: January 30th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction Volume 2, Issue : Spring 2020 Coming in May 2020 Theme: Shattered Worlds Preferred Genres*: dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction Word Count: We are looking for short stories and novelettes ranging from 2,500 to 15,000 words, and poetry of up to 20 pages in length**. Submission Deadline: January 30, 2020 Some men just want to watch the world burn, and our Editor in Chief B.K. Bass is one of them! We’re looking for dystopian, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic science fiction for our Spring issue! Dystopian: Send us your visions for a grim future. What’s your version of a nightmare world? Is it a place of government oppression, constant war, or scarce resources? Is anybody fighting back, or is mankind trapped in a prison of his own making? Apocalyptic & post-apocalyptic: How does the world end? Whether it’s caused by climate change or nuclear war, we want to see what you think it would be like to experience the apocalypse or survive after it. *We hope to ensure that the majority of each issue fits a theme, but will consider other submissions for each issue. Stories in the Preferred Genres will receive primary preference, related genres and or themes will be considered next, and unrelated content will be given tertiary consideration. ** 20 pages in an 8.5″ x 11″ Word doc at 12 pt TNR or Courier, single-spaced with spaces between stanzas. Submission Guidelines Please read through this section thoroughly before sending your story! Submissions that do not follow these guidelines may not make it through our initial screening process. What to Include in the Email An introduction is always nice. Tell us who you are. Have we met, or did somebody refer you to us? Here is a good...