Events

Deadline: September 30th, 2021 Payment: £10 Theme: L is for Lycanthropes L is for Lycanthropes – Submissions open August 1st. Deadline September 30th.  Where werewolves turn on a full moon, lycanthropes are not as restricted. This opens up to more possibilities as they may turn at the most awkward moment, leading to terrifying carnage. We are currently calling for submissions for a series of horror anthologies – The A-Z of Horror. The series will be based on a variety of themes and will consist of twenty-six books in total. We are looking for short horror stories, between 4000 and 8000 words, on each of the themes listed below. You may submit to more than one book, but we will only include a maximum of one story from each author, in each book. Being accepted into one book does not guarantee acceptance into one of the others. The story must be your own work, to which you hold the rights. The story must not be available elsewhere and, if accepted, we will hold the rights to it for three months from the date of publication. After that time, you may use the story however you wish. Any sub-genre of horror is suitable, even extreme, so long as the story fits the theme of that book and does not include anything which may unnecessarily cause offence (glorification of child abuse, rape, etc.). Payment for the story will be £10, to be paid by PayPal, as well as a contributor’s e-book of the finished book. Please send submissions in a Word document (ideally Times New Roman 12pt, single spaced) to [email protected] with the title of the book you are submitting to in the subject line. Please ensure you have included your name on the Word document. If you have any queries, feel free to...

Deadline: October 1st, 2021 Payment: USD $130, and 2 contributors copies Theme: Nonfiction, true crime accounts of individuals who have resorted to criminal means because of love, passion, obsession, jealousy, betrayal, etc. Writers Call for Submissions: True Crime/Nonfiction “THE BEST NEW TRUE CRIME STORIES: CRIMES OF PASSION, OBSESSION & REVENGE” I’m seeking original true crime stories for the fifth volume in my true crime franchise. What I’m looking for: Nonfiction, true crime accounts of individuals who have resorted to criminal means because of love, passion, obsession, jealousy, betrayal, etc. Stories can take place anywhere in the world and be from any time period. Material can cover a wide range of crimes. First-person accounts are welcome from writers with a connection to their cases. Tell us something new, offer a different viewpoint or angle to the story. Material must be meticulously fact-checked before submission, including dates, names, locations, etc. This is a nonfiction book, so it’s imperative that everything is 100% correct. To get an idea of the quality and variety of material I accept, please refer to the previous books in The Best New True Crime Stories series. Note that criminal subjects already covered in these volumes cannot be considered. No reprints or fiction. Important: Query first with a brief pitch. Word count: 4,000-7,000 words One-time payment per story: USD $130, and 2 print copies of the book. Contributor fees paid approximately one month following publication. (Preferred payment method: PayPal.) For: Non-exclusive rights, with one-year’s exclusivity from date of publication. Deadline for submissions: Oct 1, 2021 (I select material on an on-going basis; writers who submit work in advance of the deadline often have a better chance of acceptance.) Email: TheBestNewTrueCrimeStories @ gmail.com (not case-sensitive) Submission requirements: Format: double-spaced Arial 12-point Word document (sent as attachment). Do not indent paragraphs; instead enter one space between them. No irregular spacing between words...

Deadline: October 1st, 2021 Payment: Royalties Theme: Slasher stories! Note: Reprints accepted Note: Open to anyone who identifies as a woman SLASH-HER open call for submissions    With Volume 3 of our Women of Horror series doing well and Volume 4 currently in editing, we are delighted to announce our next project – Slash-Her. Slash-Her is a Women of Horror slasher anthology which is a mixture of invite and submissions. The foreword, cover and TOC so far will all be revealed in time, but we can tell you that everyone involved is very excited about this. I (Janine) will be editing in the main on this project but for anyone choking on their coffee at the thought of that, Jill will be holding my hand throughout the entire process.  We would like to see varied interpretations of this genre. Of course, we (Janine!) are hoping to see some splatterpunk submissions but this anthology will be filled to the brim with nuance. Wow us with your quiet horror, surprise us with your humour. You want an axe wielding soccer mom who has had enough of the other yummy mummies with their lattes, do your worst! Show us what you believe women can bring to the slasher sub-genre. We also want this to be as diverse as possible and are looking for own voices to bring a unique twist to their narrative.   Open to anyone who identifies as a woman and we encourage all writers, whether you have pages of previous publications or still looking for your first acceptance. This book will be published March 2022. DETAILS: Theme: Slashers Deadline: October 1st, 2021 Word Count: 3000-5000 Words (we won’t bite much if you go over by a little) Restrictions: No rape, child abuse, homophobia, transphobia, racism or animal abuse! And please, absolutely...

Deadline: October 1st, 2021 Payment: $0.01 per word for new stories and/or $25 for reprints PLUS $5 for complimentary flash fiction. Theme: Beach Vacation Horror Please read carefully. Submissions that don’t meet the guidelines may be automatically rejected. Submissions will be accepted until October 1st, 2021. Please submit to [email protected], ensuring ’Slice of Paradise’ is in the subject line. What we are looking for: Horrifying short stories that occur on a tropical beach paradise. We also encourage writers to have good representation of POC, LGBTQ+, and strong female characters. What we are NOT looking for: Please, do not submit stories that do not take place on a tropical beach. Submissions cannot contain graphic rape scenes. Please ensure any scenes of a sexual nature are necessary and non-exploitative. Submissions must be between 2,000 and 10,000 words. Complimentary flash fiction submissions must be between 1,000 and 2,000 words. Selected flash fiction will be used in our YouTube series, Bite-Sized Terror as well as a free sampler to entice readers. Title, submitter’s name, pen name (if different), story word count, and author email address must be centered at the top of your submission. Submissions must be written in 12 pt. Times New Roman and double spaced. We do not require exclusivity. You hold copyright, licensing us just for this publication. If your story is a reprint, please include its original publication details in your submission email. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology. Notify us by email at [email protected] if you need to withdraw your submission. The deadline for submissions is October 1st, 2021.

Deadline: October 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: October 1st, 2021 Payment: $10 and a contributor's copy Theme: Holiday monsters with a furry twist Deadline: October 1, 2021 Word count: 2,000-8,000; a little above and a little below will be acceptable The horned Krampus. The Rat King of the Nutcracker. The giant cat Jolakotturinn. The Mari Lwyd. There are so many holiday monsters. And there are other holiday characters who could be monstrified! Rudolph. The snow-wolf. Jack Frost. Santa. The editor of 12 Days of Yiffmas is back with another holiday erotic anthology for furries, but this time, it's horrific, too! Stories must be furry in nature. That means anthropomorphic animals that walk on two legs and can talk. Stories must be erotic in nature. Stories must be horror as well. And of course, stories must focus on Christmas, Yule, etc. The winter holiday! We will NOT accept: Racism, sexism, or discrimination presented in a positive light. Pedophilia or sex with characters under the age of 18 presented in a positive light. Rape, torture, dubious consent, forced seduction presented in a positive light. Snuff or Necrophilia presented in a positive light If you are in doubt, ASK. Better to ask then to get a straight up rejection! If you are unsure, just shoot me an email at [email protected].(restrictions borrowed from Voice: https://t.co/MWykJ6RY36) You can submit up to three stories, but we will only accept one per author (if any). Reprints are fine, but you have to own full permission of the work in order for us to consider it. We will not accept simultaneous submissions. Payment: Authors will receive 10 USD per story accepted and discount on author copies. This book may be illustrated. It also may get a soundtrack. We will inform all authors regarding decisions within a week or two after the deadline. Via: Weasel Press's Submittable.

Monthly Submission Window: October 1st-2nd, 2021 Prizes: First prize: $300, optional second and third prizes of $200 and $100 Theme: Using modern science facts to create a science fiction story The Kepler Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy   The mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler wrote "Somnium" (The Dream), a science fiction/fantasy story to present his research and thoughts on astronomy and lunar geography in a way he hoped religious and scientific authorities of the day would find acceptable.  Through his science fiction/fantasy filter he put forth ideas on moon-based astronomical observation, likely lunar life forms, and space travel. The purpose of the Kepler Award is to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways.  Fantasy elements that don't contradict established scientific fact may used. So far, 2021 Judges of the Finalists will Include: Professor Virginia L. Trimble --  Professor of physics and astronomy, University of California, Irvine, specializing in the structure and evolution of stars, galaxies, the universe; the communities of scientists who study them; history of science; and scientometrics.  She has published more than 600 works in Astrophysics and dozens of works in the history of other sciences. She received the NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing "for informing and enlightening the astronomical community by her numerous, comprehensive, scholarly, and literate reviews, which have elucidated many complex astrophysical questions," the Klopsteg Memorial Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the George Van Biesbroeck Prize  for "many years of dedicated service to the national and international communities of astronomers, including her expert assessments of progress in all fields of astrophysics and her significant roles in supporting organizations, boards, committees and foundations in the cause of astronomy."  She is known for an annual review of...

Submission Window: October 1st-2nd, 2021 Payment: 8 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...

Submission Window: October 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...

Deadline: October 5th, 2021 Payment: US: $40 and a contributor's copy / non-US: $45 Theme: Short stories that give Grimm's Fairy Tales a unique and creative twist Quill & Crow Publishing House is putting together their third anthology just in time for the end of the year when the leaves are dead and the wind becomes chill. For this anthology, we are looking for short stories (5,000 - 8,000 words) that give Grimm's Fairy Tales a unique and creative twist - extra points for maintaining a Gothic feel. We are excited to see some of the less common stories come to life and even more excited to see some of the horrific aspects of the original tales come back in a fresh way. Things we are looking for: deconstructed Grimm's tales gothic horror historical horror dark folklore gothic/macabre elements modern adaptations considered ONLY if they maintain a Gothic feel Things we are not looking for: young adult extreme horror rape/child abuse heavy sci-fi overtly modern adaptations ​ Submission Requirements Please note: Submissions that do not follow requirements will not be considered. 1. We are accepting original works only. You must own the copyright to your submission. 2. Submissions period is from August 20 - Oct 5, 2021. Please submit all stories to [email protected] with the subject line: Grim & Dread / Your Title / Genre / Title of the Tale You're Retelling/Twisting. 2. All submissions must be in English and follow standard MLA formatting (double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font). Work must be polished and edited (to the best of your ability). Please submit as a .docx file and include your name, title, and word count on the front page. 3. Story length is 5,000 to 8,000 words. Submissions below 5,000 words and above 8,000 words will not be considered. 4. Accepted authors...