Events

Deadline: July 11th, 2022 Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Theme: A setting in an area that is normally hidden from regular people. Note: Reprints Welcome We're delighted to let you know this new call for submissions is open! Please read through submission details carefully before sending us your stories and ensure you include HIDDEN REALMS first in the subject of your email. Hidden Realms Short Stories Open your mind to contemplate the ways in which places can be hidden – tucked away in remote corners of the world, buried underground, existing on another physical plane or a different dimension in time or on a quantum level, on another planet, accessible only to those with the secret knowledge, or even in plain sight under our noses... They may be inhabited by beings just like you and me, or creatures utterly different to us. Hidden Realms Short Stories will delve into the secret corridors, the hidden doors at the end of the alley, the hole in the trunk of an ancient oak. Your new submissions will sit alongside classic tales from many traditions, including classic literature (from Alice in Wonderland to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) or even tales of the hidden city of Harar in Ethiopia, exploring the adventures of hidden places, secret gardens, and shadow lands in forests and mountains, in the swamps and wild places of our world, and beyond. Submissions to [email protected] Terms: Multiple submissions are fine. Simultaneous submissions are fine but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology. For accepted stories we pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within...

Deadline: July 11th, 2022 Payments: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Theme: Alternate history stories (that can also show how a change in history would have changed today.) Note: Reprints Welcome We are very excited to announce a new call for submissions, which is now open! Please read through the details for submissions carefully before submitting your stories and make sure to include ALTERNATE HISTORY at the beginning in the subject of your email. Alternate History Short Stories This is a topic to really get your imagination into gear. Alternative history is a big topic for movies and real-world events alike, on Netflix, HBO and more. It's all science fiction, and this new book aims to cover every angle from ancient worlds to distant futures, world wars, steampunk and more. What if the course of history had been changed by a different decision, a different victor, a different invention? Utopian stories and alternative history stories by H.G. Wells, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Castello Holford and others will be combined here with new stories submitted by you, exploring the variety and delight of alternative history to reimagine the world around us – some examples just to give you an idea: What if the Ancient Egyptians had conquered Rome? What if World War II had been won by the loser, not the victors? What if women had ruled the world for 4,000 years not men? The options are limitless for tales of true originality and with a vivid sense of realism... Submissions to [email protected] Terms: Multiple submissions are fine. Simultaneous submissions are fine but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology. For accepted stories we pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original...

Submission Window: July 1st-14th, 2022 Payment: 3 cents per word for original fiction. 5k words = $150. 1 cent per word for reprints. 20 – 30 dollars for artwork chosen as interior content. Negotiable. 100 dollars for cover art. Negotiable. Theme: Cosmic Horror, Lovecraftian, Weird stories, original and reprints Note: Reprints Welcome Cosmic Horror Monthly is a horror and weird fiction magazine edited by Charles Tyra. *SUBMISSIONS CLOSED!* – Submission periods are twice yearly from January 1st – January 14th and July 1st – July 14th. January stories accepted will appear in issues from the following July – December July stories accepted will appear in issues from the following January – June SUBMISSION PROCEDURES We are now accepting Non-Fiction submissions as well as Fiction. We would love to see Non Fiction pieces that explore the state of horror as well as the philosophies that are often found in Cosmic Horror, existentialism, nihilism, etc. Instructions: All writing must be submitted via email to [email protected]. When submitting, include a little background information about yourself in the body and attach the story in the form of a Microsoft Word file. Please include a word count and a brief synopsis of the work. For artwork, please put a link to the gallery/pieces in the body of the email along with any relevant background information. You may also attach example work. Acceptable file formats for attachments are DOC, and DOCX for fiction, JPG, and PNG for art. The subject line of the email should read: “CHM Fiction Submission” for fiction, “CHM Non-Fiction Submission” for non-fiction, and “CHM Art Submission” for art. Guidelines Cosmic Horror Monthly is seeking Cosmic Horror, Lovecraftian, Weird stories, original and reprints. If you aren’t sure if your work qualifies, submit it and we can decide. No subject is off-limits and we do...

Submission Window: July 1st-14th, 2022 Prize: $30. Theme: Inspired by the image above Apparition Lit is a speculative fiction magazine that publishes themed issues four times a year. We publish poems and stories between 1k-5k words in January, April, July, and October. We also hold monthly flash fiction contests between the 1st and 15th of each month. Flash stories must be under a 1000 words and be inspired or based on the chosen theme. Full details for submission guidelines are below. Submissions for Flash Fiction (pieces under 1k) will be accepted on the first 14 days of every month (For example, January Flash submissions will be accepted January 1-14). Stories must be based on the image prompt for that month. No rejections will be sent for flash submissions, and one winning story will be selected each month. After the selected writer is notified, their story will be posted in the 4th week of the month. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR We want succinct speculative stories. Flex your writing muscles and send us flash fiction of 1k words or less. Each month Apparition Lit holds a flash fiction contest. We’ll be looking for previously unpublished stories that are inspired by the monthly photograph prompt.  Flash fiction should be a complete story, not an excerpt of a larger work. If you aren’t sure how to write a flash piece, check out the write-up at Writer’s Digest. For 2022 we chose to highlight photographers whose work inspires us! We’re fond of the creativity that ekphrastic writing sparks, so we’ve selected some images to light that flash flame. Ekphrastic writing is the act of creating a vivid description of a specific image or artwork. We encourage you to create a full story (under 1k words) about the characters and worlds in the images we’ve chosen. Flash...

  Submission Window: July 1st to July 15th, 2022 Payment: $40 Theme: Sword and Planet fiction. While the magazine is still in limbo, Broadswords and Blasters is making a return... in the form of an anthology! They're going with a very underutilized area of science fiction these days and one that might be fun to write for. If you love pulpy sci-fi mixed with a dash of fantasy, this might be just the anthology that you'll want to be submitting to (or picking up when it goes on sale!) What we’re looking for: Sword and Planet fiction. Think John Carter (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Flash Gordon (especially the comic strip, the early serials, and the movie – not so much the attempted reboots), and Leigh Brackett (Eric John Stark). Need more examples? Check here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_and_planet. Word count is 5,000 to 10,000. This is for a one-off themed anthology, so no serials. Stories should be self-contained, with a readily identifiable beginning, middle, and end. Don’t send us a chapter of your novel unless it can completely stand on its own. Payment is $40 flat plus an electronic comp copy, regardless of word length. If we manage to secure additional funding, the first thing we’ll be doing is upping the pay rate for contributors. Payment will be made through PayPal, no exceptions. Submissions will open 12:01 AM EDT (GMT -4) July 1, 2022 and close July 15, 2022 at 11:59 PM EDT (GMT -4). Anything outside of that time frame will go unloved, unread and rejected. Our goal is to have read every submission and sent final acceptances/rejections within sixty days after the submission window closes. The plan is to have the finished anthology up for sale in time for the Christmas holiday season 2022. Maybe even by Black Friday if we really get...

Submission Window: April 22nd-July 15th, 2022 Payment: 4c per word for original stories, 1c per word for reprints (Australian currency) Theme: The stories must feature Australian animals and must contain partial 'body horror' but are otherwise open Note: Open to Australian writers only Note: Reprints Welcome Submissions open: 22 April 2022 Deadline: 15 July 2022 Payment: 4c per word for original stories, 1c per word for reprints (Australian currency) Publisher: IFWG Publishing Australia (co-published in North America through the IFWG Publishing International imprint) Note: Open to Australian writers only (citizens, residents and ex-pats) To be edited by award-winning author and anthology editor, Deborah Sheldon. Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite will comprise stories from Australian writers obtained entirely from open callout. The stories must feature Australian animals; in other words, no cryptids, ghosts, legends or monsters. The animals can be of any type – mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, invertebrates, fish, arthropods – as long as they are real creatures that are native to Australia. While each story must be nominally “body horror”, there is no restriction on subgenre: anything from sci-fi to fantasy to gothic to action to psychological and beyond will be considered. Stories must be between 1500 and 5000 words. Stories outside of these word counts risk being deleted unread. Reprints will be considered, but must not be available for free anywhere online. The anthology will have only a small number of reprints, regardless. While graphic violence and swearing are acceptable, submissions must have a literary bent, i.e., a high standard of writing. For a clearer understanding of requirements, you might read Deb’s IFWG anthology, Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies. What to avoid: Gratuitous gore used purely for shock value. Cliché tropes such as: the adventures of a young boy and his dog; the main...

Deadline: July 15th, 2022 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy Theme: Short stories heavily grounded in science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, or thriller, or some blend of genres. As a publisher in the best of genre fiction, we are looking for novels that blend genres and styles to deliver stories as surprising and shocking as they are relevant.  ​ WHAT WE WANT -- Novels and short stories heavily grounded in science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, or thriller, or some blend of genres. Novels and short stories that speak to pulp and/or literary conventions. Well-written stories, strong characters, interesting voices.  ​ WHAT WE DON'T WANT -- Novels or short stories that promote hate speech, first drafts, stories and novels submitted outside our submissions window or fan fiction. (Any submissions submitted outside our window will be deleted unread).  SHORT STORIES -- for our annual anthology, Tales of Sley House, 2022 -- Open 7/1/2022 - 7/15/2022 for college students only. Graduate or undergraduate, you must send in your submission from your school email address to be considered. Beginning 7/16/2022, we will open submissions for everyone (students and non students) and go until we fill the anthology. We are looking for well-written genre fiction, around 6,000 words. Please attach your short story as a word document (.doc or docx). DO NOT share in a google drive.  In the subject line, write "SUBMISSION -- story genre + Story title -- word count". In the body of your email, tell us a little about yourself and a little about the story.  If you've been published elsewhere, tell us about that also. We will pay $25 via PayPal upon contract signing + 1 eBook copy & 1 print copy. We also offer a discount on any future print copies. SUBMISSIONS Via: Sley House Publishing.

Deadline: July 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: July 15th, 2022 Payment: $20 Theme: No set theme Submissions now OPEN for the Summer Issue I until 2022/07/15. $20 USD if accepted, paid through Paypal only. We have no specific aesthetic. Read Spring Issue I and Winter Issue I to get an idea of what we publish. Samjoko purchases first worldwide English-language serial and electronic rights from the date the contract is signed and paid for up until 4 months after publication date. Bear in mind that most publications will not publish pieces that have been published in print, eBook, or on the web, so for all intents and purposes after your work is published by us it can only be marketed as a reprint, which severely limits the number of markets that will accept it, and drastically reduces the pay rate it can receive. It is up to you, the author, to decide if publishing your work in print and/or eBook formats and/or on the web, giving up your First Publishing Right for a token payment, is really what you want to do. After initial publication date, Samjoko Magazine will maintain non-exclusive rights to publication. Paid submissions must not use the intellectual property of any other author or company. Just To Clarify: your work will not appear, and will not have appeared, in any other available format (blogs and public forums included) until 3 months after the release date of the story in Samjoko Magazine. After 3 months, we’ll retain ongoing non-exclusive distribution rights, but you can self-publish your work or sell your story to another paying market. Each piece we acquire will be published on samjokomagazine.com in an electronic seasonal issue. We may also excerpt pieces for promotional purposes. The author retains all other rights. We pay up to 4 months after publication through PayPal only. Payment projected to happen sooner....

Submission Window: June 1st, 2022 - July 15th, 2022 11:59 pm EST Payment: $5.00 Theme: Your story about raging against the machines, surviving attacks on your privacy, navigating the deliberately confusing systems out there, or dealing with the trials and tribulations of ever advancing technology. West Mesa Press Anthology Call Summer 2022 Title: Are You A Robot? Opens: June 1, 2022 Closes: July 15, 2022 11:59 pm EST Theme: Tired of verifying that you’re a human online. Sick of dealing with automated protocols rather than talking to real people when you call for service. Worn out by having to give your personal information to make a purchase. Maybe the machines (robots, computer programs, etc.) are taking over.) Send us your story about raging against the machines, surviving attacks on your privacy, navigating the deliberately confusing systems out there, or dealing with the trials and tribulations of ever advancing technology. Only the other day, in a national fast food restaurant, there was a sign in the lobby that orders weren’t taken in person, you had to enter them on a kiosk. In a national department store, standing in front of the clerks, people are required to identify themselves as human. Has your robotic vacuum been watching you? WE’RE NOT ROBOTS AND WE AREN’T GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! Use your imagination and interpret the call as broadly as possible. Just be careful, because you know that THEY’RE watching everything you type. Word Limit: 1500 words-4000 words. No exceptions. Genre: Open. Whatever you can imagine except erotica. Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Urban, Mystery, Adventure, Cyberpunk, and even western, if you can figure that out. Author Eligibility: Open to All Reprints: Not Allowed Simultaneous Submissions: Of course, as they always should be. Just let us know if you sell it someone else. No harm, no foul. Multiple Submissions: NO Author Compensation: $5.00...