Events

Deadline: July 31st, 2020 Payment: 3.0 cents per word, contributors copy, $150 advance maximum on longer stories Theme: Fiction short stories and poetry in support of an election year theme “Dear Leader Tales” (DLT) anthology. We want stories of a humorous or satirical bent which illustrate or lampoon an emperor’s hubris (and lack of clothing). Note: Reprints allowed Theme:  We’re looking for original fiction short stories and poetry in support of an election year theme “Dear Leader Tales” (DLT) anthology. We want stories of a humorous or satirical bent which illustrate or lampoon an emperor’s hubris (and lack of clothing). In that spirit, we don’t want any real life current or past Dear Leaders named directly, but their known foibles are fair game. If you’re one of the oppressed, regardless of who’s in charge, this is your chance to deploy devastating humor, satire, wit, and sarcasm to bring them down a few notches. If nothing else, we can amuse ourselves in a trying time. Examples beyond the political include CEOs who constantly quote Sun Tzu or Machiavelli incorrectly, cats plotting to overthrow their human overlords, in short anywhere clueless oppressors operate. Rules: The stories can range from 1,000 to 5,000 words. First world rights are preferred. Reprint rights will be accepted if the story is good enough. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as well, provided prompt notice is given should the story be picked up elsewhere. Stories may exceed the 5K word count limit, if it merits, however the advances are limited to a maximum of $150 per story. Schedule: Submission period is July 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, after which no further submittals will be accepted.The email address for submissions will only be active during that period. We plan to release the anthology in mid-September 2020. Team: The evaluation team will consist...

Deadline: July 19th, 2020 Payment: Advances and royalties Theme: Science fiction, fantasy, and horror. From old-school to modern, pulpy to literary, classic to cross-over, if it’s genre, and it’s good, then we’d love to read it! Note: This call officially opens on July 6th but we wanted to get this up asap in case you needed some last-minute polishing on your story! Open the Pod Bay Doors! Open Submissions 2020 It’s the most wonderful time of the year once again! No, not Christmas, the Angry Robot Open Submissions Period! If you’re an SFF/horror writer without agent representation, this is YOUR chance to submit your novel-length manuscripts to Angry Robot Books! In recent years our Open Submissions have led to publication of acclaimed and award-nominated novels including Shrouded Loyalties, The Light Years, and The Imaginary Corpse, and as always we’re excited to see what gems are sent in by budding authors this time around. As an imprint devoted to publishing the very best in genre fiction from the very widest range of voices, we particularly encourage those from minority and underrepresented backgrounds to send us their work. The 2020 Open Subs period will run for two weeks, from 12:00am BST (British Summer Time) Mon Jul 6th to 11:59pm BST Sun Jul 19th – there’s no preference of any kind given to early submissions, so please do take the time to polish your submission documents before sending them in! What we’re looking for: novel-length works (60k words minimum) only science fiction, fantasy, and horror. From old-school to modern, pulpy to literary, classic to cross-over, if it’s genre, and it’s good, then we’d love to read it! You can check out our complete publication list here to see how wide our tastes run one submission per author, so take this as an opportunity to send us your best work! finished manuscripts...

Deadline: July 21st, 2020 Payment: $5 for anything under 5000 words. $10 for anything over 5000 words. Theme: Halloween-themes horror! Note: Reprints Welcome It's time for Halloween Horror again! Same as last year, we're looking for spooky, scary, gross, funny, dark, and demented tales all about our favorite holiday, Halloween. The call here is pretty wide open. Whatever you can think up, we want to read. The only rule is that it must relate to Halloween in some way.  Submission Deadline: July 21st, 2020 Word Count: 2,000 - 8,500. A little over or under is fine. Payment: $5 for anything under 5000 words.                     $10 for anything over 5000 words. Important Bits Include a bio or greeting with your email. We don't need a lot, but at least let us know who you are. Please send all submissions as a .docx or .rtf attachment with the subject line of your email as: DBND - HalloweenHorrorII - Story Title  Stories sent after the submission deadline will be rejected unread. Multiple submissions welcome. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please keep us updated on the status if your story is picked up elsewhere. Reprints will be considered. Don't sit on your submission! If we reach the word count for the anthology, we will close submissions early. Send submissions to: [email protected] Via: DBND Publishing.

Deadline: September 30th, 2020 Payment: $50 CDN and a contributor's copy for fiction, $20 for poetry Theme: magical beings associated with water Water is the most yielding of all elements, changing to fit its container, whether that be a thimble or a lake bed. At the same time, anyone who has ever watched the unrelenting progression of a tsunami understands its raw power. It is the tranquil azure of a tropical sea, the tumultuous waves and whitecaps of an ocean embroiled, or the insidious progression of overflowing from a riverbed and encroaching on people’s homes. As many faces as water may wear, the creatures within and associated with it have even more. For this, the fourth and final anthology in this series, I’m looking for stories about shapeshifting selkies, deceptively beautiful sirens, all the monsters of the deep and any other magical water creature you can imagine—water dragons, naiads, kappa, kelpies… If it’s a magical being associated with water, I want to read about it. I welcome submissions from writers of all backgrounds (including, but not limited to, race, color, religion, gender/gender expression, age, disability, and national origin), and am always looking for submissions with diverse characters. Rights and compensation: $50 CDN flat fee and a paperback copy of the anthology for stories. $20 CDN flat fee and a paperback copy of the anthology for poems. In exchange we are seeking first world rights in English and exclusive right to publish in print and electronic format for six months after publication date, after which publisher retains nonexclusive right to continue to publish for the life of the anthology. Open submission period: August 1, 2020 — September 30, 2020 Length: Under 7,500 words Publisher: Tyche Books No simultaneous or multiple submissions. No reprints. Canadian spelling please. Submit here:  https://niteblade.submittable.com/submit/170590/water-selkies-sirens-and-sea-monsters  (link won't...

Deadline: July 25th, 2020. Payment: $0.01 per word and a percentage of royalties. Payment made upon publication. Due Date: July 25, 2020. Word Count: 1,000 to 7,500 words Payment: $0.01 per word and a percentage of royalties. Payment made upon publication. The idea of seeing the future or having warnings of what is to come is an idea that spans nearly every culture. Whether the omens are good or bad, there is the potential to affect us all. To be considered, your story must deal with the idea of omens in some fashion. Please email your submission in standard manuscript format and a short bio to [email protected]. Please put “Omens Submission” in the subject line. Expected publication date is January/February 2021.   Via: Ael Press.

Deadline: July 25th, 2020 Payment: $10 Theme: Stories that are dark, literary; we are looking for the creepy, the weird and the unsettling Note: Reprints accepted Scare Street is accepting submissions for short horror stories with a focus on ghosts, the supernatural, paranormal, monsters, and dark tales. Short stories must be 3,000-7,000 words and will be included in a collection totaling 50,000 to 65,000 words.  These stories will be published in e-book, paperback and audiobook formats. WHO ARE WE? Scare Street is a horror publishing company dedicated in helping fellow horror lovers experience sleepless nights. We’ve been around since September 2015 and have published 180+ e-book and paperback titles along with 110+ audiobooks (and counting!). WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU? Get visibility from thousands of horror readers. We will promote your work on our email list (23,000+ active subscribers), Facebook Page (17,000+ followers), Facebook Group (7,000+ members), Pinterest (600k+ monthly views) and the rest of our social media channels. Work with an experienced publisher. We’ve been publishing high quality manuscripts, non-stop for 4 years. We’ve worked out the kinks and know what it takes to bring stories to the masses, operationally. And marketing, too (see the point on visibility). Distribution in e-book, print and audiobook formats. You’ll also receive a complimentary digital e-book and audiobook formats when they’re published. Note: These cannot be distributed without written permission. Non-exclusive rights. Keep your rights and sell your work again! We’re looking to purchase non-exclusive license so you’re free to continually distribute your story and/or sell your stories to other publishers. We accept reprints. Dust off your old horror stories. We’ll happily bring them back from the dead. Jump to the top of our queue. Stories willing to be offered for a 6 month to a 1-year e-book exclusivity period will jump to the top of our submissions pile....

Deadline: July 31st, 2020 Payment: Royalties Publication – November 2020 Word Count – 5,000-15,000 Theme – A new twist on fairytales with a fresh element: dragons. Each fairytale has been reimagined with these beasts based on the author’s preference. Wise dragons, evil dragons, elemental dragons, oh my! These classic characters will never see this coming. Note: Any kind of dragon is welcome. Fairytales can be from any country and dark or cheerful. * Introduction of yourself should be a short biography in 3rd Person between 100-200 words. Upon acceptance, this will be used within the anthology. Send a bio with every single anthology submission. We work with hundreds of authors and will not take time to retrieve yours from a previous anthology. * Poetry submissions: All poetry needs to be contained within a single e-mail. Each poem should be in a separate document. Haikus may be grouped together. * All e-mails should be addressed to “Dear Editor.” After receiving edits back, the author has two weeks to return the submission for formatting. All submissions will be reviewed within thirty (30) days of the anthology’s submission deadline. This ensures submission calls do not close early and gives everyone a chance to submit. You will know your submission has been received for consideration by receiving a generic response. Whether accepted or rejected, you will always receive a response. View our blog articles on how to submit to a publisher and how to write a proposal.   Failure to submit following all of the guidelines will result in an immediate refusal. You are able to submit again before the submission call deadline.   Rating – Check each anthologies‘ rating. Word count – Check each anthologies‘ word count requirements. E-mail address to submit to – [email protected]   NOTICE –  Failure to submit correctly will result in refusal of submission. Via: Dragon Soul Press.

Deadline: July 31st, 2020 Payment: Royalties Deadline – July 31st, 2020 Publication – October 2020 Word Count – 5,000-15,000 Theme – In a world where so many dark things go bump in the night, terror awaits around every corner as these authors take horror stories to the next level. * Introduction of yourself should be a short biography in 3rd Person between 100-200 words. Upon acceptance, this will be used within the anthology. Send a bio with every single anthology submission. We work with hundreds of authors and will not take time to retrieve yours from a previous anthology. * Poetry submissions: All poetry needs to be contained within a single e-mail. Each poem should be in a separate document. Haikus may be grouped together. * All e-mails should be addressed to “Dear Editor.” After receiving edits back, the author has two weeks to return the submission for formatting. All submissions will be reviewed within thirty (30) days of the anthology’s submission deadline. This ensures submission calls do not close early and gives everyone a chance to submit. You will know your submission has been received for consideration by receiving a generic response. Whether accepted or rejected, you will always receive a response. View our blog articles on how to submit to a publisher and how to write a proposal.   Failure to submit following all of the guidelines will result in an immediate refusal. You are able to submit again before the submission call deadline.   Rating – Check each anthologies‘ rating. Word count – Check each anthologies‘ word count requirements. E-mail address to submit to – [email protected]   NOTICE –  Failure to submit correctly will result in refusal of submission. Via: Dragon Soul Press.

Deadline: July 31st, 2020 Payment: $15 or more Theme: Stories with a unique perspective and honest insight into our world We are looking for submissions of poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction and visual art. Writing that grabs us conveys a unique perspective and honest insight into our world. We are especially interested in underrepresented voices of all kinds, and we want to see submissions from writers and artists of all races, sexualities, nationalities, religions, and genders, as well as disabled and neurodivergent creators. Genre fiction submissions are welcome, particularly speculative fiction. We are all writers and artists, so simultaneous submission are encouraged, but please let us know immediately if it has been accepted elsewhere. Previously published work will not be considered, and this includes work published on social media and personal websites. If it available publicly online, that means it is published. Once you have received a response to a submission, please wait two months before sending us a new work. Submitting is free, but please consider tossing a couple of dollars in the feedback option – you’ll receive personalized feedback on your submission! We are closed to regular submissions during the months of January, May, and September as we put together the new issue, although feedback and visual arts submissions will remain open. ****NOTE**** Due to the uncertainty of when things will return to a normal schedule, we will be publishing May’s issue combined with September’s in a special jumbo 20th issue. We will remain open to submissions until July 31st, 2020, with scheduled printing of the jumbo issue coming the beginning of September!! Prose Submissions: There is no minimum number of words, although we most frequently publish fiction and non-fiction between 500-5,000 words. We accept up to three prose submissions per author as long as the total number of words...

Deadline: July 31st, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: The Wonderful Weird Volume 3, Issue 1: Winter 2020 Coming in November 2020 Theme: The Wonderful Weird Preferred Genres*: Weird 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: July 31, 2020 Show us the strange side of your imagination, from tales of cosmic horror that explore the unknowable to delving into supernatural mysteries. Weird fiction is a genre that both pre-dates and defies speculative fiction genre conventions. Blending fantasy, horror, and science fiction with elements of the supernatural; it is more an exploration of tone and theme than one of genre conventions. Learn more about what we’re looking for in The Origins and Evolution of Weird Fiction by our Editor-in-Chief, B.K. Bass. *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 place to remind us. The elevator pitch. In one to three sentences, what’s the selling point for the story? What’s it about? What makes it stand apart? What are the genre(s), main theme(s), and word count? The...