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Deadline: May 24th, 2022 Payment: $10 and a contributor's copy Theme: Tell us what really happened during the dancing plague of 1518 (full details below) The Dancing Plague: Our 4th Collection of Utter Speculation Tentative Deadline: May 24, 2022 October 2022 Release Pay: $10 payment and a contributors copy 10k words or less (less words will have a better chance of being included) In the summer of 1518, in the free city of Strasbourg, Frau Troffea stepped into the street and started to dance. Unable to stop, she danced until she collapsed from exhaustion. Then she got up and danced some more. Soon other citizens of Strasbourg joined her. At the peak of this bizarre mania, up to four hundred people danced, against their will, for months on end, until, just as mysteriously as it began, the dancing plague began to taper down. What happened in Strasbourg was not the only case of the dancing plague, but it was the most carefully documented. So, what happened? Wizards? Ergot? Brainwashing? That is what we want you to tell us. Send us your stories of utter speculation on the cause of the dancing plague, for our fourth collection. 10k words or less (less is more) How to submit: Name your file: Title – Dancing sub Include your title in both your submission email and on your piece. No cover letter necessary. Do not include your name on the work. All files will be downloaded into a folder and read blind to ensure fairness. Again, make sure you include the title of your piece in your email so that we can match them up later. Email submissions to: [email protected] Some tips for what we’re looking for First of all, we want stories that speculate, not speculations that are forced into a story. If...

Deadline: July 31st, 2022 Payment: $0.03 CAD per word, higher if crowdfunding is more successful. Theme: You - we are looking for your stories. Whether that's a deeply personal memoir, a fantastic tale close to your heart, or just something as ridiculous and silly as you are, we want to hear, share, and celebrate you, however you define it. Poetry will also be considered. Reprints are allowed if they have only been published in non-paying markets (e.g. personal blog, school newspaper, Wattpad, etc.). Note: Stories by trans youth It is rather inadequate to say times are tough for trans people right now. We want to show our support and spread awareness and understanding of transgender folks by assembling an anthology of stories by trans youths and recently transitioned people. The theme for this anthology is you - we are looking for your stories. Whether that's a deeply personal memoir, a fantastic tale close to your heart, or just something as ridiculous and silly as you are, we want to hear, share, and celebrate you, however you define it. Poetry will also be considered. Reprints are allowed if they have only been published in non-paying markets (e.g. personal blog, school newspaper, Wattpad, etc.). Brain Lag is a speculative fiction publisher, therefore priority will be given to new science fiction/fantasy short stories by trans youths (21 or younger). However, please don't self-reject! If you have an amazing literary, crime, or other genre piece you want to submit, we want to read it. Length: Up to 6,000 words. Restrictions: We are only looking for stories/poetry written by transgender youths (25 years old or younger) or recently transitioned/transitioning people of any age (2018 or later). Genre: No fanfiction. Erotica and/or gore will be a hard sell, but otherwise anything goes. Payment: A minimum of $0.03 CAD per word, to be...

Deadline: May 30th, 2022 Payment: 3 cents per word Theme: Shared world science fiction anthology based on the short story at the end of this post A Shared World Anthology based on an existing short story contained at the end of the this description. 500 to 5000 words. Obviously no repritns. Poetry considered. Pays 3 cents a word upon publication. Closes May 30, 2022.  Anticipated Pub Date, February 2023. This is the short simple story the world is set in. Use your imagination.  This is not the only settlement.  These are not the only characters.  I'm looking to fill a world here. Scott's Planet I set my gear on the shelf outside the back door and wiped my feet.  There was a downside to free range chickens. Lois spoke from the kitchen. “So it’s happened.”  She said the words matter-of-factly. “Yup.”  I answered.  I began shedding my boots--even cleaned, they didn’t enter the house. She continued. “I downloaded the details.  They say we have three weeks to be ready for transport. There’ll only be one ship.  A one-way trip to almost anywhere.” We had known this was coming.  Now it was final. Scott’s Planet, once in the first wave of colonization planets, was now determined by the Union to no longer be economically viable. “We don’t have to go.” I said. “Don’t be silly.  You know we’ve always talked about leaving.” She was right.  She often spoke of leaving. I let the silence speak for me. All sounds from the kitchen stopped.  There were footsteps.  Lois appeared in the doorway.  “You don’t want to go.” The bottom fell out of my stomach.  All the make-believe conversations I’d held in my head dropped with it. “I thought we might could talk about it.” “Talk about what?  Living in caves and eating...

Submission Window: May 1st – 30th, 2022 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Is There Anybody Out There? Stories about unexpected encounters in isolated places. What we’re looking for We want stories that challenge our relationship with space—past, present, and future. Get wild. Show us new mythologies and undiscovered gods. Show us what emerges from a black hole when its egg finally cracks. Show us the place where science becomes magic. Your characters don’t need to be human, but there should be something undeniably human in their story. We want social outcasts and lovable bastards. We want courageous optimism in the face of despair. We love dark fiction and elements of horror, but there should be a glimmer of hope in it all. For a sense of our taste, our favorite authors working in this genre include Kameron Hurley, Nnedi Okorafor, and Tamsyn Muir. What we’re not looking for Humans conquering/dominating as a monolithic group. We love unapologetically kickass characters, but we want more nuanced interactions with power. Moralizing from the author. We eagerly welcome stories that reveal a reader’s blindspots and/or biases. We believe the most impactful stories accomplish that through character and narrative, not by telling us how to feel. Gore Erotica Poetry or nonfiction Hateful content directed/analogized toward any group   Issue #1: Is There Anybody Out There? The call for our inaugural issue will be May 1 – 30, 2022, with the theme, Is There Anybody Out There? We’re seeking stories about unexpected encounters in isolated places. We will publish one story a month from June through November 2022. All six stories will be compiled in a PDF and made available for download as Issue #1 in December 2022. Here is a sample of our contract: PDF link Before You Submit Our submission window will run from May 1...

Deadline: May 31st, 2022 Payment: Charity anthology that pays: £25 Theme: Horror-themed fictional stories that simply feature a house that was once somewhere, but is no longer. “𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦 𝘢 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺.” We are now officially open for submissions to our third anthology and our first charity anthology, titled There Used to Be a House Here. This anthology is raising money in support of the UK-based charity, Shelter, which strives to tackle poor housing and homelessness across the country. Our cover art will be finalised and uploaded to this page in the near future. If this has piqued your interest, please scroll down for the full details! What are We Looking For? We are looking for horror-themed fictional stories that simply feature a house that was once somewhere, but is no longer. Why the house no longer stands where it once did is up to you; perhaps it was simply torn down, or maybe it was sucked into another dimension entirely. Setting and theme-wise, we are open to any approach; classic haunted house stories, tales of gentrification or displacement, or maybe the house isn’t even a physical object at all—how you interpret the premise of this anthology is really up to you. We are also open to poetry pieces for this anthology too, provided they fit the general concept of the anthology. IMPORTANT: This is a charity anthology. 100% of proceeds from the sale of this anthology will be going directly to the UK-based charity, Shelter. Shelter is a charity that does terrific work across England and Scotland to help combat poor housing conditions and homelessness. Charities of...

Deadline: May 31st, 2022 Payment: $500 and 25 contributors copies Theme: literary fiction Submission Periods: January 15th - May 31st | October 4th - November 14th What kinds of stories is One Story looking for? One Story is seeking literary fiction. Because of our format, we can only accept stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. They can be any style and on any subject as long as they are good. We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone. Does One Story pay? Yes. One Story pays $500 and 25 contributors copies for First Serial North American rights. All rights will revert to the author following publication. Does One Story accept previously published material? No. One Story is looking for previously unpublished material. However, if a story has been published in print outside of North America, it will be considered. Stories previously published online—on blogs, personal websites, online literary magazines, or forums—will not be accepted. Does One Story accept simultaneous submissions? Yes, but please withdraw your submission immediately if your submission is accepted for publication elsewhere. What file types can I submit? We accept DOC, DOCX, PDF, and RTF files. Please include the story title and all writer contact info on the first page of the submitted file. Will you send me comments on my story? No. One Story receives close to 200 submissions each week. Please understand that we do not have time to comment on individual stories. Can I change the story I submitted with an updated draft? We strongly prefer that you only send us final drafts, but if you must upload a new version, please withdraw your submission through Submittable and resubmit. Can I send a revision of a story that was previously rejected? No. Please send us new work. Revisions of previously rejected stories will not be considered and will be automatically declined. Do you consider translations? Yes. Please include...

Deadline: May 31st, 2022 Payment: £10 Theme: Dark Fantasy Title: Into the Darkness - Book One Title: Out of the Darkness - Book Two ​ Opens: 01 February 2022 Closes: 31 May 2022 ​ Genre: Book One - Dark Fantasy           Book Two - Light Fantasy ​ Reader Age Range: Teen ​ Word Count: 4000 - 8000 10% wiggle room over. ​ Info: Very open call. No specific theme besides genre. Must be a clear distinction between light and dark. ​ Reprints: Not allowed Simultaneous Submissions: Allowed, but please email if accepted elsewhere. Multiple Submissions: Up to 1 accepted per author per book - You may submit to both books Author Compensation: £10 per story accepted. Paid via Paypal only Please note any submissions accepted before or after the varying Submission dates will be deleted. Additionally, any submissions sent without the anthology title in the subject or email body will be automatically rejected. Via: Raven and Drake Publishing.

Deadline: May 31st, 2022 Payment: $5 Theme: Vampires In celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the first publication of Dracula, the grandaddy of them all, we are courting vampire stories of all kinds. So, send us your very best vampiric tales - gothic, contemporary, speculative - chill our bones and have us panic-buying garlic and wooden stakes... PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines...  * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * Double spaced * Absolutely NO extra lines between paragraphs! * 4K- 10K word count (although we are incredibly flexible for awesome stories!) * Write ''VAMPIRES' along with your name and story title in the header of your email *The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. * The submission documents are to be separated and Word (.doc or .docx) documents are to be attached to your submission email.   To submit, email your polished story to [email protected] - Make sure that you check your mss for grammar and punctuation, use our guidelines to help you: DOWNLOAD YOUR HBB GUIDE TO GRAMMAR HERE (PDF) Deadline: 31 May 2022 Payment - $5.00 for first rights. Capped at 120K words in total. Via: Hellbound Books Publishing.

Deadline: May 31st, 2022 Payment: £10 Theme: Light Fantasy Title: Into the Darkness - Book One Title: Out of the Darkness - Book Two ​ Opens: 01 February 2022 Closes: 31 May 2022 ​ Genre: Book One - Dark Fantasy           Book Two - Light Fantasy ​ Reader Age Range: Teen ​ Word Count: 4000 - 8000 10% wiggle room over. ​ Info: Very open call. No specific theme besides genre. Must be a clear distinction between light and dark. ​ Reprints: Not allowed Simultaneous Submissions: Allowed, but please email if accepted elsewhere. Multiple Submissions: Up to 1 accepted per author per book - You may submit to both books Author Compensation: £10 per story accepted. Paid via Paypal only Please note any submissions accepted before or after the varying Submission dates will be deleted. Additionally, any submissions sent without the anthology title in the subject or email body will be automatically rejected. Via: Raven and Drake Publishing.

Deadline: May 31st, 2022 Payment: 5 cents per word Theme: Lovecraftian gods featured in the wildly successful The Gods of HP Lovecraft OPEN CALL Anthology Title: Azathoth: Ordo ab Chao Edited by Aaron J. French Based on The Gods of HP Lovecraft Publisher: JournalStone Publishing Anthology Theme This project will be the first in a series of anthologies focusing on each of the Lovecraftian gods featured in the wildly successful The Gods of HP Lovecraft (published in 2015 by JournalStone Publishing). This first anthology begins with primal origins and the god Azathoth, who represents primordial chaos in the world of the Lovecraftian Mythos. H.P. Lovecraft described Azathoth as a demon king ruling from a dark throne in the middle of the fiery cosmic void, out of which all created things emanated. Surrounding this orbiting spiral of infinite chaos and creation sounded the repetitive notes from an incessant flute. This is a reference to the god Pan in Greek mythology and the symbol of created chaos behind the apparent orderliness of the natural world. Taking this imagery as our departure, the stories presented in this first anthology will deal with the notion of “order out of chaos” (Latin: Ordo ab Chao) and will engage with the cosmic demon Azathoth as ruler standing over this endless chaotic process. Stories must include Azathoth in some shape or form, the more creative and different the better. Furthermore, some aspect of the story must include the theme of order out of chaos. How this looks and develops in the story is up to the author. Not interested in overt Lovecraft pastiche. Elements of occultism, esotericism, and magic are very much appreciated. Submission Guidelines – Submissions Now Open Seeking stories: 5000 to 7000 words Format: double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font Payment: 5 cents a word and a copy...