Events

Deadline: August 8th, 2021 Payment: 3 cents per word Theme: Found Footage Horror Stories Andrew Cull and Gabino Iglesias present: Found: An Anthology of Found Footage Horror Stories Open submission call. We're looking for your best, original, found footage tales. Stories can be written in first person, third person, as a transcript, journal, radio play, poetry, as a script. Play with the format. Do something you haven't read before. Think Lake Mungo, [REC. Think stories that shouldn't be read. Videos found in flooded basements. Broadcasts heard in your dreams. 2K to 4K words. No longer please. No reprints on this occasion. Payment: $0.03 per word. Submissions open from 10th April until Midnight 8th August. Email: [email protected]. Please include submission title and story length in email. We strongly encourage LGBTQ+ and BIPOC submissions. This is a project we've both wanted to do for a long time. We couldn't be more excited to read your stories!

Deadline: August 15th, 2021 Payment: 2 contributors copies and 3 cents per word Theme: stories should include horror in addition to speculative/sci-fi themes NOW READING FOR OUR WINTER HORROR ISSUE SUBMISSIONS CLOSE AUGUST 15TH It’s baaaaaaaaaaaack… Rising from the grave like an unstoppable masked slasher, it’s the Planet Scumm Winter Horror Issue. Autumn may be the more traditional time for things creepy and crawly, but we think horror, like revenge, is best served cold. (We also think revenge is best served à la carte, and that revenge pairs well with a nice stout. Maybe some cider.) Here’s how it works: all of our normal submission guidelines apply (see below), with the additional caveat that stories should include horror in addition to speculative/sci-fi themes. We’d also love to see submissions that work in wintery content—snowstorms, isolation, ritual, family, and so on. Come winter, it won’t just be the cold causing shivers—it’ll be your terrifying tale of terror in the Planet Scumm Winter Horror Issue! Brrrr, spooky!  Planet Scumm accepts submissions from writers across the world. (Our HQ is a roving meteor-sized space station—Earth’s borders mean nothing to us. We want to hear from writers of every race, nationality, and gender identity. WHAT TO SUBMIT Hard sci-fi, soft sci-fi, sci-fi that melts in your mouth-brain not your hand-brain Speculative fiction, weird fiction, slipstream Basically anything that pleases Scummy, our megaphone-toting slime buddy, will be considered for entry to the interstellar archive aboard Scummy’s saucer HOW TO SUBMIT Include submissions as a .doc attachment sent to [email protected] along with a brief cover letter in the email body. Please attach only your story (no images, do not put your story in the body text of the email). Stories, or collections of flash fiction, should be 2000 – 6000 words in length, and submitted in...

Deadline: August 15th, 2021 Payment: £50 payment Theme: A Sense of Community Tales From The Cyber Salon Event #3 – A Sense of Community Throughout 2021, Cybersalon will host ‘Tales of the Cybersalon’, a series of interdisciplinary technology and policy investigations through science-fiction storytelling. We want your stories and we want you. Help us imagine the future of our digital revolution in industry and society, and to identify and explore its emerging cultures. Each event will feature new speculative short stories purpose written for the exploration of The High Street, Social Communities and Political Representation. Each short story will interrogate where we are and where we might be going. And we’d like your submissions. Selected writers will be expected to engage with the panel experts ahead of the event to finesse the technological aspects of their fiction. Each event will have three or four new short stories which will be released in advance to the audience on Cybersalon’s Medium page. The stories will be read on the night by their authors, followed by a panel discussion between the writers and the technologist domain experts who inspired them, with an open invite to audience questions to wrap up. We’re looking for submissions of approximately 1000 words that explore the future by extrapolating from the present. Please bear in mind that we are not looking for the post-apocalyptic or utopias on other planets; the stories need to be plausible enough for our experts and audience to engage with them meaningfully. If you want to get a feel for Cybersalon you can view the first two ‘Tales from the Cyber Salon’ events on Health and the High Street & browse our video archive https://www.youtube.com/c/CybrSalon/videos. Submissions close at 11:59pm (BST) on 15 August 2021. Theme: The Internet’s role as a force for rapidly changing our experience of community was provided...

Deadline: August 15th, 2021 Payment: $15 and a contributor's copy Theme: Mother Nature is pissed Mother Nature is pissed and earth is striking back. Give us the dark side of nature, of Gaia. This is a very open concept, but at the end of the day we want to see nature fight back in some way. Submission Guidelines: ​​ Must be clean and edited to the best of your ability Submissions cannot be published elsewhere. Simultaneous submissions okay (but please let us know if yours is accepted elsewhere) 3000-8000 words Submissions must be 12 pt. Times New Roman font, double spaced with special first-line indentation of 0.5" Submissions must be in .Docx or .Doc format with 1" margins all around No child abuse, please. We will not be accepting graphic sexual scenes however use your discretion on what fits the story. Submissions to be sent to [email protected] with the name of the anthology in the subject line  Publication and Payment Submissions closed August 15, 2021 Announcements on accepted stories to be sent by Sept 15, 2021, a memorandum to be sent for signing at this time October 2021 release date A one-time payment of $15 plus author copy per acceptance Additional author copies available at cost 13 stories to be accepted Via: Macabre Ladies Publishing.

Deadline: August 16th, 2021 Payment: $25 plus a contributor’s copy. Theme: gaslamp and dreadpunk stories, which embrace the Victorian gothic Submissions are now open for the DeadSteam II anthology, the second Grimmer & Grimmer Books anthology. DeadSteam II is a collection of more gaslamp and dreadpunk stories, which embrace the Victorian gothic. In this edition, we’re really focusing on driving home the dread. We want your scariest, darkest stories that embrace the classic traditions of horror (monsters, gothic castles & haunted houses, dark and stormy nights, foggy walks through gas-lit cobblestone streets) but pair them with modern sensibilities and pacing. About the anthology Your tale should include at least one monstrous or undead creature, be it a werewolf, a ghost, a witch, a zombie, or something along those lines, and should take place in or before the Victorian era. Bear in mind, this isn’t a typical steampunk anthology, so the cogs and gears should be used sparingly, if at all. I want your chilling tales of haunted London, your ghastly stories of bloodthirsty murderers lurking in gaslit alleyways, your suspenseful tales of dead things coming back to life to consume the blood of the living. Stories should fall between 2,000-8,000 words. I will accept reprints, so long as you have the appropriate rights for republishing, and please let me know if it has been previously published. Payment $25 plus a contributor’s copy. Note, because this is a publication from a small, start-up publisher, we are unable to pay more to contributors at this time (we hope to change that in future publications). I understand how hard writers work (I’m a writer myself) and would like to advise writers that I will be asking for Non-Exclusive Publishing Rights; however, you should be aware that most publications will not publish pieces that have previously been published (in print or otherwise). In other words, after...

Submission window: July 1st - August 20th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Astrobiology, alien life, life detection and its social impacts Note: There are only two open slots so competition will be rough! What are we looking for? What would life be like if it evolved in a cold ocean beneath an impenetrable shell of ice? Or on a world obscured by haze, with no view of the universe beyond? Is there a common template for life, or can we expect to find preciously fragile silicon creatures drifting in seas of liquid nitrogen? How would finding alien life change human societies on Earth? Life Beyond Us explores worlds beyond—and within—ours, with the aim to publish brilliant SF and promote science understanding and critical thinking. The book is connected by the theme of astrobiology: searching for life wherever it might arise in the universe. We’re looking for original short stories exploring the unknown: life forms we’re not familiar with on Earth (from extreme environments, to those right beneath our noses) and beyond our planet; strange life’s discovery, peculiarities, and the ethical questions arising from these. Alien life does not have to feature there; consider exploring the implications of finding a potentially life-bearing environment in space, trying to answer a burning question about habitability, or exploring the far past or future of life in the universe. If alien life does appear—microbial to huge, ‘stupid’ to ‘intelligent,’ perceptions similar to ours or very different—the perspective doesn’t have to be human. We love a well-written brainy piece as well as a clever space adventure, experimental as well as classic styles, action-focused pieces or deep character dives. We welcome submissions from writers of all backgrounds, life stages, nationalities, and phases of their career, and we encourage submissions by underrepresented communities. We certainly welcome translations. Hard sells...

Deadline: August 20th, 2021 Payment: $200 and a contributor's copy (as noted by their social media, not their call.) Theme: medieval grimoires, collections of ancient and/or obscure spells, alchemy, symbols, and all things odd and gnostic Our latest anthology series is inspired by medieval grimoires, collections of ancient and/or obscure spells, alchemy, symbols, and all things odd and gnostic. We divide the book into thematic chapters based around the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air, with a fifth “ether” thrown in to catch the truly undefinable. Thus, although the elemental structure of the book should not determine the story, preference will be given to submissions that best fit and reflect the alchemical, elemental theme of the collection. For more specifics, take a look at the structure and content of our first grimoire anthology, Birthing Monsters, published to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Margaret Garner Links/Resources: http://library.cincymuseum.org/aag/bio/garner.html https://www.amazon.com/Speaks-Margaret-Garner-Mark-Reinhardt-ebook/dp/B005MX7DS2/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=margaret+garner&qid=1622861440&sr=8-3 https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/876 https://www.amazon.com/Gendered-Resistance-Slavery-Margaret-Studies/dp/0252079426/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=margaret+garner&qid=1622861440&sr=8-4 https://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/Margaret-Garner.aspx Write-Up: Human beings comprise earth’s only death cult. Since the beginning of recorded history, we have regarded our dead with love, reverence, fear, hatred, sorrow, awe. We have performed elaborate burial rights and sacred rituals. Despite the profound silence of the corpse, we seek to speak with the dead, see them, engage with them through mysticism and supernatural belief. We also hope, not for the finite decay of those which we love, but for its opposite: that they live on after death, and that we will, too. In the fatal knowledge of our own certain demise begins the very human quest to not simply prolong our earthly lives as long as possible, but to extend our existence into some as yet still imagined eternity. In Firbolg Publishing’s second grimoire collection, we bring together an eclectic mix of folklore, literature, anecdotes, artwork, letters and historical documents, and bizarre facts and...

Deadline: August 30th, 2021 Payment: Royalty Split Theme: Needs to use ink (and whatever ink means to you) within the story Open Submission Call Indomitable Ink invites you to submit to the anthology, Unbreakable: Ink, curated by Shebat Legion Genre: Speculative Fiction Rating: R for restricted (a “soft” R). Some material may not be suitable for children. Theme: Unspecified (show me what you got!) What does this mean? The word, Ink, suggests the flow of ink upon a virgin page, an outpouring of a vision, dream, or nightmare. All genres will be considered; diversity is encouraged. Word Count: 500-5000 words No reprints. Simultaneous submissions allowed. No multiple submissions. Guide: Submission deadline: August 30th, 2021 This is a royalty share project with 50% royalties going to the authors and 50% directly back into marketing. The publisher assumes all other costs. Send submissions to [email protected]

Deadline: August 31st, 2021 Payment: Royalties Deadline – August 31st, 2021 Publication – November 2021 Word Count – 5,000-15,000 Theme – Anything involving a twist on old fairy tales, whether it be the classics or lesser known ones. Note: As long as you keep to the theme, originality is fully appreciated. Cliff-hangers are more than welcome. * 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: August 31st, 2021 Payment: $50.00 (CAD) per story Theme: Hard boiled detectives, in space Crime is out there, finding hiding places in the folds of the universe. Laws are being broken by all manner of beings. Murder is sometimes the outcome of shady deals.  Order needs to be brought to the chaos by beings who have the wit and nerve to do it. Sound like you? Tyche Books along with editors Jeff Campbell and Shannon Allen invite you to delve into the mash up world of the hard-boiled detective and science fiction in our anthology, The Astronaut Only Rings Twice. We are looking for stories that have the themes, characters and plot twists of noir crime fiction crossed with all the elements of science fiction. Let your inner Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon or Adam Christopher out and file your story with us. If you accept our challenge, you will need a look at what is in the file so far. Deadline is August 31, 2021 at 11:59:59pm There are no hard word counts, but ideally 5, 000 – 7, 500 words. Longer works will be considered. Stories need to be in keeping with the theme. Rate of pay is a flat rate of $50.00 (CAD) per story We ask that all submissions are in William Shunn format. Publication date is slated for August 2022. Gratuitous violence of any kind is not acceptable. Submissions should be sent to [email protected] Via: Tyche Books.