Events

Deadline: June 9th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word, 4 cents a word for reprints Theme: 100-word stories of science fiction General Submissions will be OPEN May 10, 2021 – June 9, 2021 Martian magazine publishes drabbles, stories of exactly 100 words (excluding title). Stories submitted of greater than or less than 100 words will be rejected. We use Google Docs to determine word count. We publish science fiction. Every subgenre of science fiction is acceptable but the science fiction element must be present. Submitted works must be stories. They must have a beginning, middle, and at least hint at the end. They may be 100 words, but we are not interested in thoughts or feelings without action or characters that don’t do anything. We will have set reading periods each year. Submissions will only be read in those reading periods. Stories sent outside of the reading periods will not be read unless they were specifically solicited by the editor. We pay .08 per word for original fiction, paid on publication of the selected work. Reprints are accepted and paid at .04 per word, half that of original fiction. We accept simultaneous submissions. Just please let us know if your work was selected elsewhere if we have not yet gotten back to you. We accept multiple submissions-up to three at a time, sent as separate emails. We will respond within two weeks with either a rejection or hold request. The rights we ask for are first-time world electronic rights for original fiction and non-exclusive reprint rights for reprints. We do not have an exclusivity period, you are free to sell your work as a reprint upon publication in Martian. We publish a yearly anthology gathering the work from the previous year. This anthology will be published in digital ebook and print. We also ask for the...

Deadline: June 14th, 2021 Payment: 15GBP Theme: Doppelgängers 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 72.) Doppelgängers II; deadline 14th June !!!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 • Ensure that your name and an email address are somewhere on the document • Stories must fit an upcoming theme • By submitting your story to us, you are...

Deadline: June 14th, 2021 Payment: Contributor's copy Theme: something got out Note: My apologies for the short window, only saw the open call on it this morning No Bad Books Press is pleased to announce its first anthology call for submissions. We expect publication in September 2021. The name of the Anthology is "Released" and the theme is, "something got out." SUBMISSION DETAILS Submission Deadline: June 14, 2021 Word Count: 1,500-4,000 Guidelines: Please keep it into a speculative-fiction world or theme. Please don’t include anything that involves rape, violence for the sake of violence, erotica, abuse of animals or children. Explicit language is fine in moderation as are mild-sexual scenes. Author compensation: You will receive a physical copy of the anthology, an e-book copy, authors will retain the rights to their stories after 6 months, and receive our undying support and appreciation. Submit submission in the email body (no attachments) to [email protected] Via: No Bad Books Press.

Deadline: June 15th, 2021 Prizes: 1st place: $700, 2nd place: $200, 3rd place: $100 Theme: Engaging and original stories in the Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror realm The Contest $1000 short story contest instructions: Deadline June 15th Deadline: June 15th Word Limit: 5000 words (if you're a few words over, that's fine). All genres accepted. Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror smiled upon. 1st place: $700 and publication in the journal. 2nd place: $200 and publication in the journal. 3rd place: $100 and publication in the journal. HOW TO SUBMIT: Email your stories to: submissions (at) muddypawpress (dot) com The subject of your email should read: CONTEST: title of story  e.g. CONTEST: The Dirty Dog . Include your name and contact information on page 1. No reprints. Original, unpublished work only. Guidelines We're not going to waste your time with obscure and lengthy guidelines, and we hope you won't waste ours by neglecting to read these brief tips. If it's not already clear, we're primarily seeking engaging and original stories in the Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror realm. That said, we're looking for fiction that has literary merit above all else. Share a story with us that's demanding to see the light of day. Give us a conflict that's cannot be ignored; give us a character that commands attention; give us a novel situation or a compelling predicament or a totally unique angle on a familiar trope. Send us a good piece of fiction and we'll figure out everything else later. Edit your manuscript. Gaping plot holes, typos, mistakes, and cliched writing is certain to be rejected. No idea is clever enough to overpower bad or unpolished writing. We cannot stress this enough: edit your manuscript. Hyper analyze your first page. Then, hyper analyze your first chapter. There's an overwhelmingly high chance that our editors will recognize within...

Deadline: June 19th, 2021 Payment: $10 for short fiction, $5 for poetry Theme: Dark fiction, horror, sci-fi/horror, speculative horror, creature feature, suspense, thriller, weird horror, cosmic horror, and crime. Note: Apologies for the short notice, just stumbled across this on Twitter. Originally for a magazine, this call was turned into an anthology release Active: June 5-19 Expected Release: Fall or early Winter Will be accepting up to 10-13 pieces, mostly short fiction but some poetry, as well. Compensation: $10 for short fiction, $5 for poetry – USD sent via Paypal, Venmo, or Cash apps prior to publication / Accepted authors will be able to purchase physical copies of the anthology at print cost and shipping (usually a few dollars cheaper this way) We’re looking for variations of dark fiction, horror, sci-fi/horror, speculative horror, creature feature, suspense, thriller, weird horror, cosmic horror, and crime. We do not want: romance/erotica fiction or poetry … fanfiction … excessive amounts of sex … excessive blood/gore without substance to the story … descriptive sequences of rape … racist or homophobic content that serves no purpose to the story (and even if it does, we may determine it’s too much for this publication to be accepted) … religious pieces (nothing preachy or promoting an agenda) Word Count (Short Fiction): 1500-7000 (some flexibility) Word Count (Poetry): Under 1000 (firm) Be aware #1: Content warnings will be placed in the back of the magazine that will note such things as “rape” or “child abuse.” If you refuse to allow us to include a content warning in the back pages of our magazine, your story will not be accepted. Please read this article if content warnings are foreign to you. Be aware #2: We are supporters of the LGBTQIA+ community. We want stories from all, regardless of race, cultural background, sexual orientation, or identification. Be aware #3: We most likely...

Deadline: June 20th, 2021 Payment: Contributor's Copy Theme: Shine a spotlight on the background characters of a hero's story Note: Reprints welcome Since its beginnings in the early 1980s, the Life, the Universe, & Everything Symposium has been a staple of the Utah and Intermountain West author and artist community. Many authors, artists, and editors have found inspiration for their careers at the feet of scores of symposium guests. Influential professors and others have mentored those planning and running the symposium, but many of these mentors have passed on. The symposium helps students of all ages by providing greatly discounted student memberships. Hemelein Publications—in conjunction with LTUE Press—created a series of memorial benefit/charity anthologies to help the symposium continue to help these aspiring creators learn about their crafts at a reasonable cost. Author, artist, and editor proceeds from the anthology go to LTUE to help students attend for a very low cost. The fifth of these anthologies, A Hero of a Different Stripe, is a science fiction, fantasy, or light horror (along the lines of the original Twilight Zone) unusual hero adventure anthology, created in honor of Tom Grover. Tom was always helping out with LTUE, volunteering for anything and everything. He always seemed to be there when help was needed, and he was tireless in his efforts to make LTUE a success. He passed away in 1988 following a mountain climbing accident. Theme Ever wonder what the background people get up to when the hero’s not around? Write a story about it! We’re looking for stories featuring the people usually relegated to the role of mobile furniture in a story: the janitor on the starship, the granny knitting quietly on a park bench, the little kid with his dog, street merchants and performers, innkeepers just trying to take care of their customers, librarians, geeky teens who wouldn’t ever be...

Submission Window: June 15, 2021 (9AM EST) to June 22, 2021 (9AM EST) Payment: Novels are an advance on royalties, Novellas are the same or pure royalties Theme: Novels and novellas for adults across the breadth of the horror genre—from the cosmic and Lovecraftian to the beloved undead tropes of zombies, ghosts, and slashers and the more uncanny and internal terrors of isolation, lost love, and aging. The following guidelines outline how to submit novels and novellas to Nightfire. Please be sure to read them carefully so that your submission does not get disqualified. Note: Tor/Forge Books’ submission information is here, and Tor.com’s submission information is here. To learn more about the Tor/Forge, Tor.com, and Nightfire editorial teams, check here. Nightfire will be open to novel and novella submissions from June 15, 2021 (9AM EST) to June 22, 2021 (9AM EST). To submit your work, visit us on Moksha. When submitting, please upload your full manuscript. Our submission portal will also ask for a cover letter, where you should include a pitch and a short author bio. Once you have registered on Moksha, you can use that portal to check the status of your submission. If you have trouble with our submission portal, please email [email protected]. What We’re Looking For: The Nightfire team is looking for novels and novellas for adults across the breadth of the horror genre—from the cosmic and Lovecraftian to the beloved undead tropes of zombies, ghosts, and slashers and the more uncanny and internal terrors of isolation, lost love, and aging. We are actively looking for submissions from writers from underrepresented populations. This includes, but is not limited to, writers of any race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, class, and physical or mental ability. We believe that good stories reflect the incredible diversity and potential of the human species, and want...

Submission Window: June 15th, 2021 to June 22nd, 2021 Payment: Novels: advance against royalties, Novellas: Optionally can go royalty-only. Theme: Tor's horror imprint is actively seeking un-agented submissions, The following guidelines outline how to submit novels and novellas to Nightfire. Please be sure to read them carefully so that your submission does not get disqualified. Note: Tor/Forge Books’ submission information is here, and Tor.com’s submission information is here. To learn more about the Tor/Forge, Tor.com, and Nightfire editorial teams, check here. Nightfire will be open to novel and novella submissions from June 15, 2021 (9AM EST) to June 22, 2021 (9AM EST). To submit your work, visit us on Moksha. When submitting, please upload your full manuscript. Our submission portal will also ask for a cover letter, where you should include a pitch and a short author bio. Once you have registered on Moksha, you can use that portal to check the status of your submission. If you have trouble with our submission portal, please email [email protected]. What We’re Looking For: The Nightfire team is looking for novels and novellas for adults across the breadth of the horror genre—from the cosmic and Lovecraftian to the beloved undead tropes of zombies, ghosts, and slashers and the more uncanny and internal terrors of isolation, lost love, and aging. We are actively looking for submissions from writers from underrepresented populations. This includes, but is not limited to, writers of any race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, class, and physical or mental ability. We believe that good stories reflect the incredible diversity and potential of the human species, and want our catalog to show that. We encourage you to scroll through our book announcements and to listen to our free audio anthology, Come Join Us By the Fire, to get a sense of our vision and tastes. Good luck—we look forward to...

Submission Window: June 21 to June 27, 2021 Payment: $250 for short fiction; $25 for poetry Theme: Dark stories focused on folklore linked to South America Submission Guidelines for Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas Submission Period: June 21 to June 27, 2021 Hex Publishers is proud to announce our Open Call for Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas, a collection of dark stories focused on folklore linked to location. Authors and folklore enthusiasts Carina Bissett and Hillary Dodge, and four-time Colorado Book Award finalist and StokerCon™ 2021 souvenir book publisher, Joshua Viola, will be jointly editing this anthology. Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas will be a collection of dark tales intrinsically rooted in the places from which they’ve sprung. We seek haunting and folkloric tales where setting is character and landscape is an essential part of the story. We want stories that draw from the wellspring of cultural destinations and local folklore in their shaping - most especially, stories that are tied to a specific and concrete location. This can include places that never existed, or those with connections created by the author, but they must take place in South America. Original tales, mash-ups, and new takes on known folkloric elements/cryptids/legends are all welcome. There is an old saying that wisdom sits in places. Open an atlas across the Americas, and you will soon discover this knowledge hidden in fragments of shared memory marked on maps. The ancient peoples knew which areas to avoid, which spirits to appease. Later, invasive superstitions from far-flung countries seeded into the landscape. In order to survive, newcomers learned the cautionary tales and secret lore linked to the terrain. But not all paid heed to superstitions. These are their stories, each tale a new entry in the field guide to dark landscapes. From...

Submission Window: June 21st to June 27th, 2021 Payment: $250 for short fiction; $25 for poetry Theme: A collection of dark stories focused on folklore linked to location, short stories exclusively set in South America, and poetry set in the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and South America. Submission Period: June 21 to June 27, 2021 Hex Publishers is proud to announce our Open Call for Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas, a collection of dark stories focused on folklore linked to location. Authors and folklore enthusiasts Carina Bissett and Hillary Dodge, and four-time Colorado Book Award finalist and StokerCon™ 2021 souvenir book publisher, Joshua Viola, will be jointly editing this anthology. Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas will be a collection of dark tales intrinsically rooted in the places from which they’ve sprung. We seek haunting and folkloric tales where setting is character and landscape is an essential part of the story. We want stories that draw from the wellspring of cultural destinations and local folklore in their shaping - most especially, stories that are tied to a specific and concrete location. This can include places that never existed, or those with connections created by the author, but they must take place in South America. Original tales, mash-ups, and new takes on known folkloric elements/cryptids/legends are all welcome. There is an old saying that wisdom sits in places. Open an atlas across the Americas, and you will soon discover this knowledge hidden in fragments of shared memory marked on maps. The ancient peoples knew which areas to avoid, which spirits to appease. Later, invasive superstitions from far-flung countries seeded into the landscape. In order to survive, newcomers learned the cautionary tales and secret lore linked to the terrain. But not all paid heed to superstitions. These are their stories, each...