Events

Deadline: January 8th, 2021 Payment: $75 Theme: Gothic horror and romance stories take on new depths and terrifying outcomes when happily ever after is no longer an option Love can be a curse. True love can have dark depths. “Till death do you part” might be prophetic. And beware the unrequited, shunned, and spited romantics. In the Twisted Love Anthology, gothic horror and romance stories take on new depths and terrifying outcomes when happily ever after is no longer an option. Jazz House wants to read your twisted, dark, and despairing stories about romantic and gothic horror and the people who find love to have a bitter aftertaste. This is a Valentine’s Day-themed anthology, so please incorporate this holiday’s themes and aesthetics in your twisted tales. We encourage every interpretation of this theme, including supernatural, magical, Victorian, and contemporary settings and characters. Submission Guidelines 1. Submissions are due on or before 12:00 p.m. PST on January 8, 2021. Please submit all stories to [email protected] with Subject Line: JHP Twisted Love and the title of your work. 2. All submissions must be in English and double spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font, paragraphs must be tab-indented, and manuscripts must have Shunn formatting (click here for an example) and use the Chicago Manual of Style. Any edits we make will enforce both Shunn and Chicago formatting to include grammar, punctuation, and layout. 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 author’s bio with your submission. If you have a social media account, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, please also include your handles. 4. Story length is 7,000 to 9,000 words. Your story must meet the minimum word count. Submissions below 7,000 words and above 9,000...

Deadline: January 9th, 2020 Payment: 10 cents per word for fiction, $50 – $100 for poems, reprints: $0.01 per word for these Theme: Everything should in some way relate to merfolk! Note: Reprints Welcome are. What don’t you want? Submissions that are longer than we ask for in our guidelines. We have made these lengths our limits so that we can afford to pay fairly for your work, and we cannot commit to taking longer pieces. Work that promotes homophobia, transphobia, racism, fascism, ableism, misogyny, bigotry, or other attitudes that harm people and go against our love of inclusivity. We are very particular about stories containing violence, child abuse, and sexual assault. We may publish pieces that refer to or depict this kind of thing, but we want it to be justified within the context of the piece, and not there for the sake of sensationalism or shock value. We will place content warnings on any piece we publish containing these. Things that aren’t in some way related to our mertheme. How should I format my submission? For prose, we suggest Word documents, but we will read other kinds. If for some reason we can’t read your document, we’ll email you to let you know. Please use a format that you personally find comfortable to read. We’d like it to be in a widely available font, and at a size that is not too small (12pt is always a good default if you aren’t sure). For poetry, we’d like to see it as you intend it to look on the page. If your poetry has special shaping, we’re okay with a PDF. For comics and art, please send jpeg image files. If we accept a piece we will ask for a higher quality version, but a compressed file is fine...

Deadline: January 10th, 2021 Payment: $75 for Short Stories for the journal and $50 for Short Stories accepted for publication on the website Theme: Speculative Fiction/Horror ONLY Note: Black women writers only We are looking for previously unpublished, character-driven, speculative short stories written by Black women writers Speculative fiction is a broad genre encompassing fiction with certain elements that do not exist in the real world, often in the context of supernatural, futuristic, or other imaginative themes. This includes, but is not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, fairytale fantasy, and supernatural fiction. Please submit your short story no later than January 10, 2021. Stories must meet our minimum 1,400 word count requirement.  Please include the word count at the top of your submission. All submissions will be considered for publication on a rolling basis on midnightandidigo.com or in our annual Speculative fiction special issue (online and/or print - October 2021). We offer $75 for Short Stories accepted for publication in our literary journal (eBook, print, and/or audiobook) and $50 for Short Stories accepted for publication on midnightandindigo.com. We accept only previously unpublished work. Responses will be provided by February 23, 2021. ***** Optional Add ons We DO NOT charge a fee for submissions, but do offer optional add-ons should you wish to participate. Again, these fees are optional - you are not required to pay to submit your work. Standard Submission ($0) You are not required to pay for submission. You will be notified of acceptance/decline by February 23, 2021. Expedited Reading option ($20) If you choose this option, we'll put your work at the very top of our reading pile for review. Choosing this option will not influence whether your submission is accepted for publication. This only grants a quicker accept/decline response; guaranteed by January 26, 2021. For extended feedback options, please contact us directly via your Submittable account for details....

Deadline: January 10th, 2021 Payment: 2 cents a word and 3 contributors copies Theme: Hard sci-fi, soft sci-fi, sci-fi that melts in your mouth-brain not your hand-brain. Speculative fiction, weird fiction, slipstream Note: This issue is only open to cisgender women, transgender women, transgender men, non-binary people, and genderqueer people. On Planet Scumm, we want to read stories that are different and unexpected. Stories that introduce new ideas, or that look at old ideas with a fresh perspective. And while we like to think that Planet Scumm is a space where historically marginalized writers can be heard, we also know there's always more work to be done to support representation in sci-fi and speculative fiction. That's why, for Planet Scumm #11: Snake Eyes, we're asking for submissions from cisgender women, transgender women, transgender men, non-binary people, and genderqueer people.  We kindly ask authors who don't identify along those lines to not submit to this call. Joining the Good Ship Scummy as guest editor for this issue is Hailey Piper. Hailey is a regular contributor to Planet Scumm—"Reptile" appeared in Planet Scumm #7, and her story "Brain Trust" will be in the upcoming Planet Scumm #9: A Bloody Pulp. Hailey's work has also appeared in Daily Science Fiction, The Arcanist, Flash Fiction Online, and Year's Best Hardcore Horror, and she's the author of horror novellas The Worm and His Kings, Benny Rose, The Cannibal King, and The Possession of Natalie Glasgow. And gracing the hallowed halls of the “Scummy Memorial Gallery & All-Ages Foodatorium” is Maura McGonagle, who will spearhead art direction for Planet Scumm #11. Maura is a sequential artist carrying on the tradition of story telling as best they can. They have participated in numerous anthologies including the Prism award nominatee ‘Being True’ and produce a monthly Webtoons series...

Deadline: January 10th, 2021 Payment: $10 and a contributors copy Theme: Winter horror or any story concerning the cold. Note: Reprints welcome Served Cold edited by R. Saint Claire and Steve Donoghue. Seeking submissions from authors with active BookTube or AuthorTube channels for the next HorrorTube Anthology. Our first release, Local Haunts, has been very successful so far, reaching Amazon’s number #1 bestseller rank in Canada and Australia and garnering excellent reviews. Again, we are looking for a diverse group of authors with active BookTube and/or AuthorTube channels (no channel too small) so please do not hesitate to submit. Genre: Horror, including suspense, mystery, and weird fiction. Sci-fi and fantasy are fine as long as there are some horror elements. Theme: Winter horror or any story concerning the cold. No overt erotica or anything too hardcore. Contact Regina at [email protected] with any questions. Length: 1,000 – 7,000 words Deadline: January 10, 2021 Details: Please submit your story and other materials as separate attachments along with a link to your YouTube channel to [email protected]. Please use the standard submission format. For guidance see https://www.shunn.net/format/story.html. Please submit only your best, most polished work. Reprints are okay. The terms include the nonexclusive right to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit and sell digital and print reproductions of your story worldwide. English language only. Pay for accepted submissions: $10 honorarium, print and digital copy. All proceeds will be donated to the literacy charity First Book. Deadline: January 10, 2021 Release Date: February 2021 Cover Design: Cameron Roubique Via: R. Saint Claire.

Deadline: January 11th, 2021 Payment: $5 Theme: Lost Civilisations. If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. (Vol 64.) Lost Civilisations; deadline 11th January !!!NEW SUBMISSION PROCESS!!! SUBMIT YOUR STORIES USING THIS FORM If, this form isn’t working, then please email your submission to [email protected] as a last resort. But please let us know why as we’re hoping to use the form going forward. Title your email with the following syntax: SUBMISSION | STORY TITLE | THEME | WORDCOUNT (e.g. SUBMISSION | THE MARTIAN | SPACE | 1,982) It is important that your story complies with our Submission Guidelines. Any stories found not to be in compliance will be immediately discarded. Click HERE for details If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: • Stories must be 2,000 (10% tolerance +/-) • Save stories in a Word document - Times New Roman font, size 12 • Include a 1-2 sentence log line for your story at the end of the document • Title your email with the following syntax: SUBMISSION | STORY TITLE | THEME | WORDCOUNT (e.g. SUBMISSION | THE MARTIAN | SPACE | 1,982). Failure to do this...

Deadline: January 11th, 2021 Payment: 10 for every 1,000 words prorated, $50 for every 5,000 words prorated, and so on. Theme: Short horror stories with a focus on ghosts, the supernatural, paranormal, monsters, and dark tales. Scare Street is accepting submissions for short horror stories with a focus on ghosts, the supernatural, paranormal, monsters, and dark tales. Unpublished short stories must be 3,000-7,000 words and will be included in our Night Terrors anthologies consisting of ~65,000 words each. These stories will be published in e-book, print, and audio formats in English within 6 months after the submissions close date. Based on reader reception, we may also publish them in e-book, print, and audio formats in German and Spanish. WHO ARE WE? Scare Street is a horror publishing company dedicated to helping fellow horror lovers experience sleepless nights. We’ve been around since September 2015 and have published 200+ e-book and paperback titles along with 150+ 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 (12,000+ subscribers), Facebook Page (26,000+ followers), Facebook Group (11,000+ members), Pinterest (145k+ monthly views) and the rest of our social media channels. Afterwards, thousands of readers on Amazon and other retailers will organically find your stories. Our first few volumes clenched the top 3 new release spots in horror anthologies category and continue to be found on the first page of various horror categories. Work with an experienced publisher. We’ve been publishing high-quality manuscripts, non-stop for 5 years. We’ve ironed out the kinks and know what it takes to bring stories to the masses, operationally. And we know a few things about getting your stories read, too! Distribution in e-book, print, and audio formats, in various languages. You’ll also receive a complimentary digital e-book and audio...

Deadline: February 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: April 15th, 2021 Payment: $20 per story Theme: Electric Spec prefers science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. Fiction Submission Guidelines   submissions at electricspec (dot) comPlease 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...

Deadline: January 15th, 2021 Payment: $20 per story Theme: Electric Spec prefers science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. 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...