Events

Deadline: December 31st, 2020 Payment: $0.05 per word Theme: To lost contact (not being specific in the call, just what that means to you, ideas for themes below!) Hi! If you are a writer, this post will be of great interest to you. But, before we get to our big announcement, I do want to point out we’ve recently uploaded several new titles on our homepage. Please check it out and order (or, in some instances, pre-order) a couple books. If you love indie horror, the best way to show that is to support publishers directly, and you can do that by ordering books through our webstore. (We will be issuing out other posts at a later date going into more detail on the new titles uploaded, such as Jessica Leonard’s debut novel, Antioch, which is gonna blow y’all’s minds; seriously, you might as well just go ahead and pre-order it right now before reading anything else in this newsletter–it’ll be the wisest decision you’ve ever made.) Now, on to our announcement… Long-time fans of Perpetual Motion Machine know we have released two critically acclaimed anthologies titled Lost Signals and Lost Films. These anthologies have featured fiction from folks like Josh Malerman, Brian Evenson, Kristi DeMeester, Gemma Files, Damien Angelica Walters, and so on… One thing we’ve been asked about the most, probably, is when are we going to complete the trilogy of these…LOST anthologies. And…well, it’s pretty obvious by now, but we intend on completing the trilogy in 2021. But we need help. Which is why, beginning right now, we are officially open for story submissions for a brand-new anthology called…LOST CONTACT.  Now, what does LOST CONTACT mean? I guess that depends on what the word CONTACT means to you. To lose contact…does that bring to mind something physical, something intangible? Does it give you a sense of isolation?...

Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Payment: Small advance + royalties Theme: Horror and Crime fiction Hi, folks! Max Booth here, co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Perpetual Motion Machine. I’ve decided to reopen novel & novella submissions for our 2021/2022 lineup. Long-time fans of our press might notice we haven’t opened to full-length manuscript submissions in quite a while. Seems like a pretty good time to change that, right? And also, full transparency, while in recent years we have managed to publish more diverse authors in our horror magazine, Dark Moon Digest, I fully recognize we haven’t been the best at diversity on the book side of things. If you take a look at our novel roster, the pure whiteness might blind you. Please use caution. Obviously this wasn’t intentional, but I do take total blame in my laziness to seek out non-white voices. I screwed up there and I would like to do better. I love this press. I love the books we’ve published. I’ve dedicated the last eight years of my life to PMMP. But it’s never going to really evolve without making a significant step forward. Which is why, beginning immediately, Perpetual Motion Machine is reading novel & novella submissions from POC writers only. Sorry, white folks, but you gotta sit this open call out. Some general guidelines: Word count: 20k-150k Genres: Horror & Crime Deadline: January 01, 2021 Payment: Small advance + royalties Send all stories to [email protected] with “NOVEL/NOVELLA SUBMISSION_TITLE_LAST NAME_WORD COUNT” in the subject line. Please include a brief author bio in the cover letter. Via: Perpetual Motion Machine.

Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Payment: $20 Theme: Killing your... Family Note: Reprints welcome We want you to kill off those family members. Grandma, brother and sisters, even the pet bird. Make it good, make us squirm. Length: 3-10k Single spaced TNR 12pt Word or dox files Re-prints accepted Pay: $20/accepted story Send subs to: [email protected] Via: Terror Tract's Facebook.

Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Payment: One cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum) Theme: Fantastic Fiction You really NEED to read the description below. The Cafe Irreal is a quarterly webzine that presents a kind of fantastic fiction infrequently published in English. This fiction, which we would describe as irreal, resembles the work of writers such as Franz Kafka, Kobo Abe, Clarice Lispector and Jorge Luis Borges. As a type of fiction it rejects the tendency to portray people and places realistically and the need for a full resolution to the story; instead, it shows us a reality constantly being undermined. Therefore, we're interested in stories by writers who write about what they don't know, take us places we couldn't possibly go, and don't try to make us care about the characters. We would also suggest you take a look at the current issue, archives, and theory (especially the essay, "What is irrealism?") pages on this web site. We accept unsolicited fiction up to 2,000 words in length. Translations are welcome. There is no minimum length. We accept only electronic submissions via e-mail at [email protected]. We cannot, due to the various computer viruses and worms, accept attachments anymore, so please paste your story into the body of the e-mail. Also include your name, address, e-mail address, and a short bio in the text of the submission; please put the word "submission" in the subject heading of the e-mail to ensure that your submission doesn't get lost among all the spam. We pay an honorarium of one cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum) to buy first-time internet rights (the story will then be archived). Payment is made upon publication. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DON'T ACCEPT SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS and are only interested in reprints in unusual cases (e.g., the story has appeared in print but...

Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Payment: £5 per accepted story. Theme: "Commuting" and what that means for you in Horror, Sci-Fi or Fantasy Flash Fiction Note: So this is a completely unique opportunity. Editor Max Green is looking to expand his experience in quite an interesting way. This isn't a publishing opportunity though it would likely mean your work would end up online as a reference which could cause it to be a reprint. Mr. Green is hoping to build a portfolio of edited stories and is willing to pay you for them. If you're a new writer looking for feedback or have a story that just never lands, this could be a beneficial way to get insight and keep the story around for a future collection of your own or anthology which accepts reprints. Also, not every anthologist will see this available in a portfolio as a reprint. Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Overview: An opportunity to send in a flash fiction piece and have it edited as part of a 2020 Creative Writing graduates portfolio. Payment: £5 per accepted story. It’s for a non-profit cause so no further money will be made once approved (either for myself or for you) but you will retain all the rights to your story and receive free editing on the submission if it’s approved. This is a good chance to have your work fine-tuned by a 3rd party who has a degree in Creative Writing and offers further potential to have your work posted online. It would be a great outlet for work that hasn’t been accepted in the past, or old stories that never saw the light of day!  Theme + Word Count: The theme or prompt for these short stories is “Commuting”. I leave this open ended for you to take it...

Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Prizes: Grand Prize: $100 USD, First runner up: $50, second runner up: $25 Theme: Inclusion and representation for under-represented characters. The Non-Binary Stars anthology is about all kinds of inclusion and representation for under-represented characters. We are looking for excellent speculative fiction stories containing a character or characters that are representational of oppressed/under-represented groups, whether that be due to issues of gender, orientation, mental/physical health, body size, skin color, etc., in which the characters are just at home in the stories and they are accepted by those around them, and the storytelling itself is the focus. We want people to feel like there are characters out there that represent them and feel "normal". Note: this does not mean the story cannot mention the adversity such figures might face. Note: In order to have as broad an audience as possible, keep in mind that we cannot consider erotica or sex scenes unless they are only hinted at. Sorry for the damper this may put on some entries. HOW TO ENTER Submit your story to [email protected] with the words "Non-Binary Stars contest submission" or similar in the subject line. There is no entry fee. RULES Deadline is January 1st, 2021 and winners will be announced by February 1st, 2021 or as soon as possible after that. We will hang onto your story until the contest is finished, so please keep that in mind. LENGTH: 3,000-7,000 words SPECIFICS: One entry per contestant. Word count limits are absolute. No exceptions. Entries must be written in English. Entries must be new pieces, no reprints. Entries must be exclusive to this contest for its duration. No fan-fiction will be accepted. Include a short bio and your paypal payment address so we can distribute prizes promptly. JUDGING Each entry will be blind judged on a point system encompassing four factors: Creativity, Technique,...

Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Payment: $100 plus a one-year subscription to the magazine Theme: Goddesses, Nymphs and Supervixens Sexy Fantastic Magazine features the absolute highest quality of fiction, comics, book and movie reviews, articles, photos of sexy fantastic heroines, and other cultural delights by top professionals and award-winning authors and artists. We are currently accepting prose fiction submissions for issue 2. CURRENT ISSUE GUIDELINES The theme of Issue 2 is Goddesses, Nymphs and Supervixens. This theme should be interpreted loosely. We are currently looking for stories that loosely relate to that theme. What We Want The absolute best literature possible in the field of fantastic stories. The greatest emphasis of this magazine is the quality of writing. Whether an orthodox narrative tale, a dreamlike vignette, or a poetical prose scene, a story should be comprehensible on some level, stay truthful to the literary world that the author has created, and be pleasing or satisfying. Any type of story with fantastic elements is acceptable, such as a metaphysical or surreal modern tale, magic realism, a dark fantasy thriller, science fiction satire, historical legend, an imaginary world fantasy adventure, etc. The fantastic element may be blatant or only perceived or hinted at. We hope for stories that are either fantastic with at least a hint of eroticism or erotic stories that have at least a hint of the fantastic. In terms of quality and style, some examples would be stories by Jorge Luis Borges, Fritz Leiber, Catherine Lucille Moore, Gore Vidal, Lawrence Durrell, John Fowles, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Michael Moorcock, Jody Scott, Robert Heinlein, Carlos Fuentes, Anne Rice, Robert Aickman, Jack Vance, Conrad Aiken, Italo Calvino, Giovanni Boccaccio, Chaucer, Voltaire and Shirley Jackson. Comics would be work by creators such Moebius, Manara, or Esteban Maroto.  In TV or film, examples are...

Deadline: January 2nd, 2021 Payment: 6 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints Theme: Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world. Note: Reprints welcome     Submissions Schedule We have a new submissions schedule as of June 1, 2020: The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T. Only one submission per person. For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers. We pay 6¢ per word for new fiction, 2¢ per word for fiction reprints, 2 – 6¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles. For new poetry, we pay $1 a line, reprints would be 50¢ a line, up to 40 lines. We’ll look at longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 6¢ per word. We began The Kepler Award to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways. You can learn about The Kepler Award here. You can read a copy of our standard contract here.   It can be varied as needed to include the rights of translators, voice actors, etc. Writers Guidelines We accept new work as well as reprints, prose and poetry, anywhere from 1000 word flash fiction on up, but all else being equal, shorter pieces will be favored.   We have tough standards but only care about the quality of the writing, storytelling ability, characters, plot, and ideas, not whether you’re new or established.  Submit only work you are proud of —...

Deadline: January 3rd, 2021 Payment: $100 via Paypal Theme: Explore a world where gods reign as gods must, but this is not a happy story. It is the story of how a god fell from grace. The Fallen Gods Anthology is your invitation to explore a world where gods reign as gods must, but this is not a happy story. It is the story of how a god fell from grace. Specifically, we are looking for stories with gods in same-gender relationships where one deity dies by some means and the surviving god falls from their immortal reign. Maybe they gave in to anguish and lost their divine spark. Perhaps they sought revenge and were exiled from the celestial realms. The fall is yours to tell. This anthology is the first of ours to only include LGBTQIA+ stories. We will be accepting the eight best submissions for inclusion in this anthology. These stories can be of any genre, but the main character and their partner must be members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and we ask that you keep your stories to YA standards. Please carefully consider your submission before you send it to us. Check for simple errors. Have a beta reader comb through it. Do everything you can to make us say yes. We are looking forward to reading how your god fell from grace. Submission Guidelines 1. Submissions are due on or before 12:00 p.m. PST on January 3, 2021. Please submit all stories to [email protected] with Subject Line: JHP Fallen Gods Anthology and the title of your work. 2. All submissions must be in English and double spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font. 3. Please submit your story as a .docx file. Your name, the work’s title, and the work’s word count must be on the front page. Please also include a 50- to 100-word...

Deadline: January 3rd, 2021 Payment: $50 Theme: Healers, Midwives and Cunning Folk Note: This magazine is only open for submissions from January 1st to 3rd of 2021 for this call so I wanted to give you more time to pen something to submit Hi there! I’ll no doubt write more about this later in the next year, but for now, what follows below will tell you all you need to know. And the theme? It’s “Healers, Midwives and Cunning Folk.” (No more submissions are being accepted for publication in December of 2020–but we will be publishing stories that have already been accepted.) The following is relevant to all submissions for 2021, and the first submission window opens Jan. 1. More below.   Writing opportunities for 2021 include:   New Fairy Tales: Fairy tales that are almost or entirely new or are just new takes on old tales are all welcome. Mashups of existing fairy tales are welcome as well. Submissions must follow the theme below to be considered.   Essays: Nonfiction articles about any aspect fairy tales and folklore are being sought. The term “essay” just means you’ll be writing about fairy-tale related matters in a nonfiction article.  Creative nonfiction is welcome. You do not have to stick to the theme, but you can.   Poetry: Poetry inspired by fairy tales and that follows the theme is also welcome.   Please read the following in its entirety before submitting.   Want to know what is likely to get published here? There are well over 10 years of stories, essays and art on this current site. It’s the best place to start if you want to be published here.   HERE IS HOW YOU SUBMIT AND FORMAT   Only the kind of submissions outlined below will be accepted at EC in...