Events

Submission Window: December 1st, 2021 - January 15th, 2021 Payment: $25 Theme: Cryptids! Sasquatch, Chupacabra, Jersey Devil. All these things are deemed by Cryptozoologists as creatures that may exist out in the wild, but are dismissed by mainstream media science. Scientists will say it’s all just pseudoscience. Mumbo-jumbo, if you will. They’ll will even go as far as to say it’s all just claims based on fairytales, that there really is no actual scientific research to back up cryptozoology’s assertion that these creatures exist. But what if mainstream scientists are wrong. What if these creatures are out there, lurking in the darkest reaches of our planet. Prepare yourself for Cryptid Carnage! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bxpamj7I9A Open call for Splatter Ink Publishing's Cryptid Carnage starts on Dec. 1st, and we close our doors for submissions on Jan. 15th. We are looking for stories from 2,000 - 10,000 words and we do not want reprints. Simultaneous Submission are okay, as long as you tell us it is a Simultaneous Submission and if it gets picked up elsewhere. We will have exclusive rights to your story for a year, then it switches over to non-exclusive rights after that. Send your stories to [email protected] and we'll get to them as soon as we can! Payout for accepted stories is $25

Deadline: January 15th, 2022 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. 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 work with the author to edit the story for length or readability. However, we always remain true to the spirit of the story and the author has final approval. 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...

Deadline: January 15th, 2022 Payment: £50.00 plus a contributor's copy Theme: Reprints of science fiction published in 2021 Note: Must live in UK or be a British ex-pat Note: Reprints only Submissions for Best of British SF 2021 are now open! Series editor Donna Scott is seeking the very best short stories written by British authors that were first published during 2021. For our purposes, 'British' means authors who are resident in the UK or British ex-pats who currently live elsewhere. Please bear in mind that this is a reprint market and we are not interested in original stories in this instance; nor do we wish to see self-published stories. Also, we are looking specifically for Science Fiction with this one; fantasy and other flavours of genre will not be considered. There is no specific limit on a story's length, though anything over 10,000 words will be a tough sell. Submissions should be sent as attachments to:   [email protected] Please follow standard manuscript formatting. We are interested in seeing your very best work. Therefore, multiple submissions are not encouraged; if you really cannot decide, please submit no more than two stories. This is a paying market, with successful authors receiving payment of 1p a word up to a maximum of £50.00 plus a contributor's copy of each edition of the book. Via: Newcon Press.

Deadline: January 15th, 2022 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Crime stories of the future (not needed but think mixing with science fiction, more details below!) BOOK 2 IN THE REINVENTED ANTHOLOGY SERIES Edited by Jennifer Brozek and Cat Rambo CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS As we move forward into the age of information, what happens to our ideas of detection and crime? How do you handle it when your smart car blackmails you or you need to murder the downloaded personality of your enemy? What acts to enforce society's norms and catch those violating them in the future? Will our definitions of crime — or punishment — change, and what new forms of either might appear? ​ Among the stories we hope to see: Updated tropes like but not limited to the hardboiled detective, the police procedural, or the locked room mystery. Kidnapped AIs, stolen memories and identities, virtual crimes vs physical ones. What constitutes murder when the victim's got a backup? What if you accidentally unplug someone's server? Stories that experiment, astonish, and entertain. This is our open call. Writers of color, QUILTBAG writers, writers with disabilities, and neuro-diverse writers are actively encouraged to apply, as are writers from outside the United States. ​ Guidelines: ​ Open for submissions: November 15th, 2021 through January 15, 2022. All submissions should be submitted through our Moksha portal. Please remove identifying information from the manuscript, but otherwise use standard manuscript format. In the cover letter, list your full author name, the title of your work, and the word count. ​ Length: 1500-5000 words (5k is going to be a tough sell) ​ Buying: Original fiction; exclusive rights for 18 months with standard "best of" anthology exceptions. ​ Paying: 8 cents a word (SFWA pro rates) ​ No multiple submissions. Simultaneous submissions are okay but you must notify us...

Submission Window: January 1st-15th, 2022 Payment: 1 winner each month will win $10 Canadian Theme: A story at exactly 50-words If you’d like to have a 50-word story that you wrote featured on FiftyWordStories.com, first make sure that you understand exactly what a 50-word story is, and then read the submission requirements below closely. Submissions System Each month, submissions will be open between days 1 and 15 of that month. Any stories received on days 16 to 31 of a month will be deleted, but can be resubmitted the following month. You may only submit one story per month. From the stories received in those 15 days, the best stories will be selected to be published that same month. Only enough stories will be selected to publish two stories per weekday. There is no payment associated with stories. However, each month a “Story of the Month” is selected, and receives a prize of $10 Canadian. Stories that were not selected will not be published, will not roll over into the following month, and cannot be resubmitted in following months. Authors will be notified whether their story has been selected or not once all stories from the month’s submissions have been reviewed. How to Submit Please email your submission to [email protected]. Paste the story into the body of the email. Please include a title, your name, and a brief third-person bio. Feel free to include a link to your website! If you are submitting a story related to a specific date or holiday, please include that information in the Subject line of your submission. You can also send your story in using the form at the bottom of this page. Tips and Guides Looking for help with writing microfiction? Check out Bob Thurber’s Anatomy of a Microfiction page. Terms and Conditions Please keep the content of your submissions appropriate for...

Submission Window: January 1st-15th, 2022 Payment: $10 Theme: Un-themed, general horror flash fiction. Preference to dread-inducing stories. **STARTING IN 2022, SUBMISSIONS OPEN JANUARY, APRIL, JULY, AND OCTOBER (1-15th of each month)** Submissions CLOSED. Un-themed, general horror flash fiction. Preference to dread-inducing stories. Length: 500 – 1,000 words. Firm. Author Compensation: 2c/word, paid via PayPal. (Rounded to nearest whole dollar) Publication: Dread Stone Press website (Dose of Dread). Reading Periods: January, April, July, and October; 1st to 15th. Any stories submitted outside of each reading period will not be read. 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 reading period 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. 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. Please see the General Submission Guidelines below for additional formatting information. General Submission Guidelines 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 them. Please submit your work as an email attachment in .doc/.docx format. Any other attachment type or...

Deadline: January 15th, 2022 Payment: For full-length stories, 2,500 words or more, payment is $500. For flash fiction, under 1,000 words, payment is $200. Theme: Short stories that examine lives impacted by policy and politics Adi is seeking new short fiction for our winter 2022 issue. Send us your work! We’re looking for short stories that examine lives impacted by policy and politics. This should be interpreted expansively and imaginatively. Please familiarize yourself with the range and spirit of our archives; Adi tends toward creative, experimental approaches to political writing, with a particular focus on those on the margins and in the global south. We’ve previously published fiction on ghosts in a post-fossil fuel world; love on opposing sides of a military crackdown; intervention through the eyes of a fugitive lion. We’re not interested in the drearily righteous; we want stories that unearth new worlds, that plumb interior lives alongside external conflicts, that satirize and fantasize, that disturb, beguile, challenge, surprise, ignite. Translators: we’d love to hear from you! If you have unpublished work from writers who fit the bill, please get in touch. (If the story’s already been translated, just go ahead and submit, but if not, feel free to email us with a blurb about the potential story and we’ll take it from there). For full-length stories, 2,500 words or more, payment is $500. For flash fiction, under 1,000 words, payment is $200.   The deadline for submissions is January 15th, 2022, though we welcome them earlier. Email your piece in a word document to [email protected] with POLITICAL FICTIONS in the subject line. One submission per author, please. Include a short biographical note and word count on the first page of the document. We aim to make selections by February 15th, 2022.   ***   Adi is a literary journal of global politics. Founded in 2019, we’ve published new...

Deadline: January 16th, 2022 Payment: $10 and a contributor's copy Theme: Edgy, fearless, and experimental subject matter and styles great weather for MEDIA seeks poetry and prose for our annual print anthology. Our reading period runs October 15, 2021 to January 16, 2022. (Midnight PST) Our focus is on edgy, fearless, and experimental subject matter and styles. We highly recommend reading one of our previous collections to see the type of work we are interested in and the design of our books. Our latest anthology is Paper Teller Diorama. (Looking for a bargain? We have a very limited number of slight seconds for $5 at our online store.) Let us know in your cover letter how you found us and what you like about us. We are based in New York City and welcome submissions from both national and international writers. https://www.greatweatherformedia.com/ Guidelines: Surprise us with your fearless best!  We do not consider previously published work, whether print or online. This includes limited edition chapbooks and personal blogs. If your work appears in our most recent anthology, please wait a year before submitting again in any genre. Please submit only once in each genre (poetry / prose) and do not submit again until you have received a response. 1-4 poems of any length and theme. If you are submitting more than one poem, include them all in a single document. Do not submit multiple poems in separate files. Single-spaced please, or how it should appear on the printed page. Start each poem on a new page. One prose/creative nonfiction piece, two if both under 500 words. Maximum word count: 2,500. Please include the word count on the first page. Simultaneous submissions are fine - just notify us with your good news immediately.  If you wish to withdraw individual pieces from consideration, click on the title of your submission, click on Active, and add a note listing the title(s)...

Deadline: January 17th, 2022 Payment: 4 cents a word and one contributor copy Theme: Hard sci-fi and weird fiction 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 or .docx attachment 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 no more than 5,000 words in length, and submitted in standard manuscript format. Submit only one short story or flash collection. We will not accept multiple submissions from the same author in one reading period. Simultaneous submissions are okay, as long as you promptly withdraw a story accepted elsewhere. SCHEDULE, RIGHTS, AND PAYMENT Accepted authors receive 4 cents a word and one contributor copy. Our publication operates in print, e-book, and audiobook. Some accepted stories will also be published on our website. We purchase exclusive English language print, audio, and electronic publishing rights for six months, with non-exclusive rights thereafter. Authors will receive payment within 3 months of signing their contract. Via: Planet Scumm's Submission Page.

Deadline: January 28th, 2022 Payment: $10 Theme: Horror in the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean From 1st November 2021, we’re taking submissions for the first three anthologies in the Dead Seas collection. All three anthologies will have slightly different themes, but for all three we’re looking for aquatic or nautical horror stories - supernatural, realistic or altogether otherworldly - between 1,000-6,000 words (upper limit flexible). 100% of the profits from these anthologies will be going to The Shark Trust, supporting the protection and conservation of sharks and sea life. For more information, please visit https://www.sharktrust.org/ Our submissions process is 50% invite and 50% open, meaning there are 5-6 slots available through open submission for each anthology. But don’t fear! If you submit to one anthology and we like your story, but feel it could be a better fit for another (whether that’s another of these three, or one later in the year), then we’ll email you and see if you’d consider that slot instead. All accepted authors will receive a $10 fee upon the publication date of the volume featuring their work. We know this isn’t a lot, but we’d like to say thank you for helping us support the cause. Themes for the first three anthologies are as follows: Terror in the Trench (coming March 2022): this book will focus on the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean. Feel free to interpret this theme as you wish; we’ll consider stories about the unknown, about strange, leviathan creatures… Submissions close January 28th. Submissions Guidelines Please ensure you follow these guidelines for all submissions. Any stories not following these guidelines may, unfortunately, be rejected. Refer to individual submissions calls for an outline of the theme we’re looking for, but bear in mind that we will be releasing a lot of...