Events

Deadline: April 1st-3rd, 2021 Payment: $50 Theme: Healers, Midwives and Cunning Folk. Hi there! We’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 2021.   * Writers will have a chance to submit fairy-tale inspired stories/essays/poems 11 times this year. Since we will be choosing four works per publishing month, there are 44 slots...

Deadline: April 1st-3rd, 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 5th, 2021 Payment: $5 Theme: Time Travel II 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 67.) Time Travel II; deadline 5th April !!!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...

Submission Window: April 1st-7th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Original fantasy and dark fantasy stories. All types of fantasy and dark fantasy are welcome. Note: This is an early listing to give you some time to plan ahead for next month or to remember to finish revising your story for the upcoming month! Note: We are trusting that the submission windows listed in the ongoing call are valid for this publisher. If they are not, please let us know and we'll look into revising accordingly. Instructions for submitting to Fantasy Magazine follow. Please read everything on this page and read the magazine before submitting. SUBMISSION PROCEDURES Submission Periods: Fantasy is open to submissions the first week of every month (1st-7th). Please do not query about submitting outside our open submission periods. Anonymous Submissions: Fantasy only accepts anonymous submissions. Do not include your name, address, phone number, or other similar identifiers on the manuscript. All original short fiction, flash fiction, and poetry submissions will be read anonymously on first read: moving out of slush depends on the merits of the story alone. Please make sure the title is on the manuscript. Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: We do not accept simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions. Please do not submit more than one set of poems at a time, more than one piece of flash fiction at a time, or more than one story at a time. You may, however, submit a single entry in each category at the same time: you can submit one batch of poems, one flash fiction piece, and one short story all at the same (or overlapping) time, and each category will be considered a separate submission. If we are already considering work in any given category, please wait until you have received an acceptance or rejection before submitting again in that same category. Instructions: All fiction must be...

Deadline: April 10th, 2021 Payment: Royalties Theme: Young Adult and New Adult Dark Academia short stories Note: I do realize that the open call has 3/10 and 4/10 listed as the deadline. 4/10 is what they've confirmed as it was recently extended! AESTHETIC: A DARK ACADEMIA ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSIONS OPEN in 12/20 – 3/10!! From the independent editor and publisher of EDGE: A Killer Thriller Anthology and The Beckwith Brothers duology, this is a new Anthology open for Young Adult and New Adult Dark Academia short stories. Ready your Subs! We are accepting YA & NA SHORT STORIES between 1,000-15,000 words! IMAGINE STORIES WITH: Wisdom Loving, Intellectual, & Bookish Characters/Anti-Heroes Old Buildings, Dark Settings College Culture, Boarding School, Prestigious Private School Mysteries/Thrillers/Crime/etc. Fantasy/Time Travel/Sci-Fi/etc. Diverse Dark Humor Romance/Chaotic Romance/Forbidden Romance/etc. *(Any Sub-Genre of your choice)* NO ENTRY FEE! & We DO accept Simultaneous Submissions! *All contributing writers receive RIGHTS and ROYALTIES from sales through AMAZON KINDLE & PAPERBACK as well as a vote in cover design!! DEADLINE: ~ 4/10 Send ENTRIES: [email protected] or Submit through our Duotrope Listing! AESTHETIC: A Dark Academia Anthology Publishes on Amazon in e-book & Paperback on June 20, 2021!! (The first day of Summer Break)! ~ Ivana Sanders (The Novelette) Via: The Writer's Block.

Deadline: April 13th, 2021 Prizes: First, second, and third-prize winners will be awarded $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000 respectively, and nine additional finalists will each receive a $300 honorarium. Theme: Hopeful, future-looking fiction. Welcome to Imagine 2200 — a new climate-fiction contest by Fix, Grist’s solutions lab. What we’re seeking: short stories that envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress. What we’re offering: $8,700 in prizes, publication, and a reason to stay hopeful. The world is crazy right now, and the stakes are high: just, you know, our entire frickin’ future. Our newsfeeds are full of denial, delay, and doom that make us want to scream into our pillows. But that’s just the old story. At Fix, we are telling the new story, of a path to a clean, green, and just future, and the people who are driving it. Our mission is to make the story of a better world so irresistible, you want it right now. To that end, we decided to launch our first foray into the world of hopeful, future-looking fiction. In this inaugural year of our cli-fi contest, Fix is asking writers to assume the role of future ancestors, building the world they want our collective descendants to have — on paper. Stories will be judged by a board of literary experts including authors Adrienne Maree Brown, Morgan Jerkins, and Kiese Laymon. Submissions close in April, 2021. First, second, and third-prize winners will be awarded $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000 respectively, and nine additional finalists will each receive a $300 honorarium. Winners and finalists will be published in a stunning, immersive digital collection on Fix’s website and will be celebrated in a public-facing virtual event. Together, we can fix the future with fiction. Join this uprising of imagination, and help us turn the page on earth’s next chapter. In your story lies our...

Deadline: April 15th, 2021 Payment: $10 Theme: Portals to fantasy worlds and what is beyond them! Through the wardrobe, into the woods, going under a mysterious highway bridge, crawling into a cave, logging in to an online game, escaping into a world within your own--wherever the portal is, you no longer are. In this anthology, a collection of portal fantasies follow protagonists from all parts of our world into a new, fantastic reality. These portals could lead to another planet, a different reality, a magical land in need of a savior, or a past version of our world steeped in steam, magic, or over-run by a villainous overlord. ​ Stories of fantasy, LitRPG, sci-fi, literature, steampunk, time travel--so long as someone from one world passes into another--are acceptable. Stories between 5,000 and 9,000 words will be selected for this anthology. Submissions close April 15th, 2021. Tentative release date: June 15th, 2021.    This anthology is rated PG-13. Please see the submission guidelines on how to submit to this anthology before you send your story. No reprints, no simultaneous submissions. Up to 2 submissions per storyteller. Pay: $10 per accepted story. Via: Summer Storm Press.

Deadline: April 15th, 2021 Prizes: First-place receives $200 and publication in the 2020 Confluence program book (Confluence)., Second-place receives $100, Third-place receives $50 Theme: Still Waters, Deep Thoughts. The theme for the 2021 contest is: Still Waters, Deep Thoughts. This can be conveyed in the setting, plot, characters, dialogue…the only limit is your imagination. The theme must be integral to the story in some way and not just mentioned in passing. Contest opens: January 1, 2021 and closes April 15, 2021. There is no fee to enter and all entrants will be notified of the results by June 15th. Word count for all entries: No minimum, no more than 3500 words. Genre: All stories must be of the Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror genres. How to Submit: Electronic submissions will be accepted through Submittable: (Opens January 1, 2021) If this is your first time using Submittable, you will need to create a FREE account with them. Instructions for this will appear after you hit the submit link. It’s easy and quick. –> submit your story here <– Publication status: Stories must be original, unpublished, and unsold to any other market. Manuscripts should be in standard manuscript format, double-spaced, and written in either Courier or Times New Roman font. Acceptable formats include .doc, .docx, and .rtf. For an example of standard manuscript format, see: https://www.shunn.net/format/story.html Prizes and Eligibility: The contest is open to non-professional writers (those who have not met eligibility requirements for SFWA or equivalent: sale of a novel or sale of 3 stories to a large-circulation publication (http://www.sfwa.org/about/join-us/sfwa-membership-requirements/). Previous first-place winners and current contest coordinators are ineligible to enter. Requirements: The winning story will be the one that most effectively uses the contest theme as a key element. First-place receives $200 and publication in the 2020 Confluence program book (Confluence). Second-place receives $100 Third-place receives $50 Submission to the...

Deadline: April 15th, 2021 Payment: 3 contributors copies and payments range up to $75, based on length Theme: Previously published erotic stories about male vampires. These bloody assignations and trysts and relationships should be homoerotic. Note: Reprints only We are seeking previously published erotic stories about male vampires. These bloody assignations and trysts and relationships should be homoerotic. So far we have accepted: ​ "Invite the Night" A story from L.A. Fields about a boarding school student who finds at his window a boy reported missing... "Black Samba" Jeff Mann's story features an ancient Scottish vampire encountering another while in Rome. The specifics: Stories should be 1,000 to 8,000 words long. Stories can have previously appeared in print or on websites. Stories can be anywhere on the vampire spectrum of romantic to horrific, but must be erotic. Lethe is seeking one-time reprint rights for print, digital, and audiobook editions. Payments range up to $75, based on length. In addition, contributors will receive 3 copies of the finished print book. Please submit your story as an attachment (MS Word docx) in an email to the editor, Steve Berman. In the subject line put BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS SUBMISSION. Please include in the body of the email where and when the story was first published. Deadline is April 15, 2021. Via: Lethe Press.

Deadline: April 15th, 2021 Payment: $10 Theme: Un-themed, general horror flash fiction. Preference to dread-inducing stories. Submissions OPEN (Monthly, 1st – 15th). Un-themed, general horror flash fiction. Preference to dread-inducing stories. Length: 500 – 1,000 words. Firm. Author Compensation: $10, paid via PayPal. Publication: Dread Stone Press website (Dose of Dread). Reading Periods: Monthly, 1st to 15th. Any stories submitted outside of each reading period will not be read. Two (2) stories will be selected out of each reading period for publication the following month. Rights: First World Electronic Rights. Non-exclusive rights thereafter. No reprint restrictions after publication. Original stories ONLY. No reprints. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but NO multiple submissions. You may submit again the next month if rejected. If your story is accepted, please sit out one reading period before submitting again. Please, for everyone’s sake, no rough drafts. Successful pieces will require little to no proofreading edits. Email your submission as a Word document attachment to [email protected] with “DOSE – – ” in the subject line. Please see the General Submission Guidelines below for additional formatting information. General Submission Guidelines Rejections for Dose of Dread submissions will be sent by the end of the month submitted. If you have not received a reply by then, feel free to follow-up. All rejections will be form rejections. It’s not personal, promise. Which also means please don’t respond to rejections. It’s unnecessary. For Dose of Dread submissions, please send your work by email to [email protected] with the subject line format: “DOSE – – ”. Address your email to “Editor” or “Alex”. Please provide a brief cover letter in the body of the email (title, word count, relevant info, etc). Do not stress over or overthink this. Please include an author bio of 100 words or less, written in third person, plus any links (e.g. to a website / Twitter) if you wish to include...