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Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: $10 RAYGUN RETRO: A Science Fiction Anthology is now open for submissions. We're seeking science fiction stories 2000-6000 words in the style of 50s and 60s classic science fiction. Send us your best stories reminicent of Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Dick, Bradbury, and Vonnegut. Tell today's stories through the lens of yesteryear. One submission per author. Submissions close 1st Feb, 2020. Pays accepted stories $10 and an ebook copy. Send your stories to [email protected] No simultaneous submissions or reprints. SUBMIT YOUR STORY Submitting to Zombie Pirate Publishing is easy. Simply email your manuscript to [email protected] following the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page. We DO NOT accept reprints or simultaneous submissions. Your email should have your name, the story title, the word count, and the anthology you are submitting towards in the header and the body of the email. The attached word document should be labeled with this information as well. For example: 'Daddy-Adam Bennett-Full Metal Horror 2-6500 words.doc' Your submission should have a Word document attached to your email. Do not paste the story into the body of your email. Most programs including Google Docs will allow you to save your finalised work as a word document before submission. If you are unsure exactly what to do to set up your file correctly, download this document before you start writing. It is set up to be ready to go ASAP. Simply highlight the title, or author name or body of the document to replace with your own text. Google Docs version is available here for those without Word. Simply copy the document and change the name, and then click the 'download as' option in the file menu, and select word doc. This will save as a word document which you can then attach to your email.      SUBMIT YOUR...

Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry We love that writers around the world are inspired by our first lines, and we know that not every story will be sent to us. However, we ask that you do not submit stories starting with our first lines to other journals (or post them online on public sites) until we've notified you as to our decision (usually three to four weeks after the deadline). When the entire premise of the publication revolves around one sentence, we don't want it to look as if we stole that sentence from another writer. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line. Also, we understand that writers may add our first line to a story they are currently working on or have already completed, and that's cool. But please do not add our first line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our first lines. One more thing while I've got you here: Writers compete against one another for magazine space, so, technically, every literary magazine is running a contest. There are, however, literary magazines that run traditional contests, where they charge entry fees and rank the winners. We do not - nor will we ever - charge a submission fee, nor do we rank our stories in order of importance. Occasionally, we run contests to help come up with new first lines, or we run fun, gimmicky competitions for free stuff, but the actual journal is not a contest in the traditional sense. Fiction: All stories must be written with the first line provided. The line cannot be altered in any way, unless otherwise noted by the editors. The...

Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: $0.03 per word (USD) + contributor copy Theme: Stories that acknowledge humans as part of a larger ecosystem, for characters who strive for balance with (rather than dominance over) the creatures surrounding them, for settings that depict an optimistic balance of nature and technology. MULTISPECIES CITIES A science fiction anthology in partnership with the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan Open for Submissions: January 1 - February 1, 2020 Story Length: 500 to 5,000 words Payment: $0.03 per word (USD) + contributor copy In order to attain better futures, we first must imagine them. But at this crucial tipping point for our planet, it’s important to imagine futures that include the many other species we share our world with. Cities tend to be anthropocentric—designed for the comfort and convenience of humans, often with little regard for the plants, animals, and insects local to that area. Science fiction tends toward anthropocentric as well, concerned with either the great achievements or failures of humankind. For this anthology, we want to see more-than-human stories that investigate humanity’s relationship with the rest of the natural world. We’re looking for stories that acknowledge humans as part of a larger ecosystem, for characters who strive for balance with (rather than dominance over) the creatures surrounding them, for settings that depict an optimistic balance of nature and technology. Authors may wish to envision futuristic cities where people and wildlife can thrive together, or urban landscapes re-designed to heal past ecological destruction. Characters might need to make tough decisions to maintain the multispecies ecosystem of a city, struggle to negotiate coexistence between human and non-human residents, or fight back against a project that would threaten the balance of that ecosystem. Stories could focus on conservation efforts for currently living species, or explore...

Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: Potentially royalty split Theme: All "great" sci-fi themed ones are welcome but the general ideas they're looking for are Antarctica, climate change or AI Note: This is way off base from what we'd usually list but I came across it and it sounded interesting, so there you go! Science Fiction Theatre Festival: Antarctica THE PLEASANCE THEATRE - Downstairs 19th - 23rd May 2020 London,UK  7pm, 3:30pm Submissions for Horatio Productions' Science Fiction Theatre Festival 2020 are open! ​ This will be the third edition of the festival. The festival is headlined by Horatio Productions' latest show, which is on every day of the festival followed by short plays. This year's production is called Antarctica written and performed by Juan Echenique, directed by Fumi Gomez. The short plays are selected and curated carefully by the core members of the company: Juan and Fumi. Please keep in mind that the short plays DO NOT need to be inspired by Antarctica, climate change or AI. If they are great, if they aren't that's great too. We just want mind-blowing sci-fi short plays! ​ Submissions open: ​ We're looking for groundbreaking short science fiction plays, for writers coming from all walks of life, for daring and innovative creators, for new ideas, revolutionary dreams, crazy stories, for the bold, the daring, and the unique. These are the details: ​ Length: Up to 15 minutes per play. Cast: Up to 4 performers. Set restrictions: The stage will be shared with several other companies; time for setting up will be minimal, so don't submit anything that involves complicated set design, or too many props. Submission limit: Writers can submit as many plays as they want. We will do our best to read all the material sent, and to get back to every applicant in due time. We do not encourage re-submissions unless substantial edits have...

Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: Contributor's Copy Theme: What happens when we transform the much beloved style and stories and characters of Dr. Seuss into something much more nefarious? Thurston Howl Publications is now accepting submissions for its horror parody anthology The Grinch Has Eyes. ​ Deadline: February 1, 2020 Word count: 100-8,000; a little above and a little below will be acceptable ​ Everyone knows Dr. Seuss. He is famous for works like Fox in Socks, Cat in the Hat, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and many, many more. But what happens when we transform the much beloved style and stories and characters of Dr. Seuss into something much more nefarious? This horror anthology seeks to celebrate horror in a tongue-in-cheek way that is all too...grinchly. ​ I am anticipating three possible ways to read this prompt (but I am open to others): Telling a unique horror story as if you were Dr. Seuss Turning a Dr. Seuss story into a prose horror story Throwing Dr. Seuss characters into a horrific world outside Dr. Seuss’ universe All of these are fine and valid! I encourage all kinds of horror: sci fi horror, slashers, erotic horror, creature horror, body horror, etc. ​ We will NOT accept: Racism, sexism, or discrimination presented in a positive light. Pedophilia or sex with characters under the age of 18 presented in a positive light. Rape, torture, dubious consent, forced seduction presented in a positive light. Snuff or Necrophilia presented in a positive light If you are in doubt, ASK. Better to ask then to get a straight up rejection! If you are unsure, just shoot me an email at [email protected].(restrictions borrowed from Voice: https://t.co/MWykJ6RY36) You can submit up to three stories, but we will only accept one per author (if any). Reprints are fine, but...

Deadline: February 10th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Classic trickster trope: have them fearlessly playing pranks on the powerful – not picking on the weak.   If you get them in deep trouble, get them out before the end of the story. It’s finally time! We’ve been looking forward to this since the very first Grumpy Old Gods.  We’re inviting you to submit your trickster stories. That’s right. We’re gearing up for Grumpy Old Trickster Gods (to be released April 1st). Send us your best tales of conniving tricksters that are past their glory days, tricksters that find their mojo again after being retired.   We want to see the classic trickster trope: have them fearlessly playing pranks on the powerful – not picking on the weak.   If you get them in deep trouble, get them out before the end of the story. We want the readers to finish each story with a grin. Trickster myths are all about the canny and clever winning.  We want stories where they defend the less powerful from those who are in power: have them take on the IRS, the local homeowners association, a diamond smuggling ring, or Zeus when he’s being rapey. In many cultures, tricksters are generally male, but we’re equal-opportunity editors, so we’ll take tricksters in any form they come in, though we’d prefer most of the stories to keep the trickster in human form for at least part of the story, because it works better with the modern setting we’re asking for. Trickster Gods In April Call for Submissions V7 Stories need to be 3000-4000 words and include a Grumpy Trickster God – preferably one that’s coming out of retirement, or planning to retire (though he’s not required to actually retire; the world needs the tricksters today more than ever). We try to only use...

Deadline: February 14th, 2020 Payment: Royalties VOLUME ONE: THE ONCE AND FUTURE KINGDOM Theme: Camelot. King Arthur. Merlin the magician. Knights in shining armor. It's one of the most frequently told stories in the history of Western civilization... But we haven't heard YOUR story yet. Tell us your tale of Camelot, Avalon, the Once and Future King, any of the Knights of the Round Table or their ladies (faithful or otherwise). Genre: Fantasy and all of its subgenera - as light or as dark as you want to go Heat level: PG to R; if there are enough submissions, we will do a volume of Camelot-related erotica. Length: 5,000 - 10,000 words NO TV OR FILM RELATED STORIES - THIS IS NOT A FAN FIC COLLECTION DEADLINE: 2/14/20 PUBLICATION DATE: 3/17/20 IRISH HORSE ANTHOLOGIES is a small publisher specializing in themed anthologies. We will accept submissions according to the theme of each anthology. Submissions should be provided electronically to our email or via private message on Facebook. Submission guidelines: 12 pt. Times New Roman 1.5 line spacing Indent 0.5" All submissions should at a minimum be proofread and spell checked before being sent. NO simultaneous submissions. NO buy-in ever. word length 5k-10k Royalty structure: 40/60. Publisher retains 40% to recoup editing and cover art costs. 60% will be split evenly between the authors. Via: Irish Horse Productions' Facebook.

Deadline: February 15th, 2020 Payment: Equal royalty split per story. Submissions Open: Now Submissions Close: February 15, 2020 12:00 a.m. EST Publishing timeline: April 2020 Style: Dark Specualtive Fiction/Horror Theme: Give me your tales of monsters in the woods, urban legends, a family that mysteriously goes missing, a haunted cabin, a hiker that stumbles upon something unthinkable. Anything that happens in the woods or is from the woods is welcome. ​ Word count: 1000 - 4000 (hard limits) ​ Compensation: Equal royalty split per story. PDF digital copy. ​ How to submit: See our Submission Format guide below - stories will be rejected or sent back. ​ Send your story as an attachment in Word format to  [email protected] Your email title should be read: "Submission: Forest Anthology - Story Name - Author name" ​ Multiple Submission: Yes - Please send no more than five. Up to three acceptances. Must be sent in a separate email. What is speculative fiction? Think paranormal or anything that cannot be rationalized. Here is a better description. Things that are a hard pass: any animal erotica, rape or unnecessary violence. Via: Eerie River Publishing.

Deadline: February 15th, 2020 Payment: $5 USD Theme: "Most" Speculative fiction, read below for specifics. Note: Open only for women-identified authors. Submissions for Luna Station Quarterly close on February 15th. Simply follow the schedule below to be notified when we close and open for submissions. Criteria Luna Station Quarterly publishes speculative fiction written by women-identified authors. We think women write awesome characters and really cool stories and we want to show it to the world. We will consider stories submitted by any woman writer, regardless of experience or writing resume. If you consider yourself on the woman end of the gender spectrum in any significant capacity, you’re welcome here! Stuff we want: Fantasy Science Fiction Space Opera New Fairy Tales (not retellings) Some creepiness Stories that explore the nooks and crannies of an original world Big events from the everyman perspective Unique settings and storytelling forms Well written stories with strong characters Stuff we don’t want: Anything biased toward any religion, race or moral preference Extreme gore or sexual content, in particular no explicit rape or sexual assault. (everything in moderation) Bizarro fiction Poetry Fan Fiction (original stories only, please) Bad grammar/punctuation (please proofread and watch your sentence structure!) Plagiarism A further note about sex and violence in submissions. Science fiction has a long-standing tradition of pushing boundaries and asking difficult questions. It is meant to challenge us and ask us to look at ourselves and how we treat each other and the world around us. That said, LSQ is centered on uplift and so any story that contains explicit sexual situations or violence especially toward women will be considered more carefully than other stories and the content must be justified within the story’s arch. Format and Details Stories should be 500 to 7000 words in length. We may publish longer...

Deadline: February 16th, 2020 Payment: 04 per word for original work, $0.01 per word for reprints, and a contributors copy Theme: Fairytale related-stories based on non-mainstream characters Note: Reprints welcome Inverted Fairy Tales & Folklore (Title Pending) We’ve all heard the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, the Princess and the Pea, and other faithful classics. We're sure that more than a few are familiar with the mythology of ancient Greece, Egypt, and others. Great! That’s NOT what we're looking for, with a few exceptions. ​ We're looking for folklore, mythology, or fairy tales from other places, and fantasy stories that invoke these. Have a story about Baba Yaga? Toss it over here. One about Raw Head and Blood Bones? Sure, would love to see it! We want tales that have been lost to time, but we want you to twist it into being your own story. Give us something new and imaginative! What we DO NOT want: Explicit Gore – You’ll have a much better shot at being selected if we can make it through your story without feeling physically ill. Horror without explicit gore is more than fine. Explicit Sex/Erotica – Not that kind of anthology. Romance or alluded intimacy among characters is fine, but nothing that would require us to use a brown paper covering. The intended audience for this is 14+, so if you wouldn't feel comfortable with a 14-year-old reading the story, don't send it in. "Zipperbacks" (meaning characters that are animal-people, and the fact that they are part animal has no significance to the story) – Some examples of what you can do to avoid having "zipperbacks": if your story has wolves in it and they don’t engage in canine behavior (the occasional scratching, boundless energy, a fixation on scents, etc), then...