Events

Taking Submissions: Quantum-Steampunk Short-Story Contest

Deadline: January 15th, 2023 Prizes: $4500 in gift cards up for grabs, the grand prize lands $1500 worth. Theme: Steampunk story that takes place at least partially in the 1800s and have at least one piece of quantum technology The year I started studying calculus, I took the helm of my high school’s literary magazine. Throughout the next two years, the editorial board flooded campus with poetry—and poetry contests. We papered the halls with flyers, built displays in the library, celebrated National Poetry Month, and jerked students awake at morning assembly (hitherto known as the quiet kid you’d consult if you didn’t understand the homework, I turned out to have a sense of humor and a stage presence suited to quoting from that venerated poet Dr. Seuss.1 Who’d’ve thought?). A record number of contest entries resulted. That limb of my life atrophied in college. My college—a stereotypical liberal-arts affair complete with red bricks—boasted a literary magazine. But it also boasted English and comparative-literature majors. They didn’t need me, I reasoned. The sun ought to set on my days of engineering creative-writing contests. I’m delighted to be eating my words, in announcing the Quantum-Steampunk Short-Story Contest. The Maryland Quantum-Thermodynamics Hub is running the contest this academic year. I’ve argued that quantum thermodynamics—my field of research—resembles the literary and artistic genre of steampunk. Steampunk stories combine Victorian settings and sensibilities with futuristic technologies, such as dirigibles and automata. Quantum technologies are cutting-edge and futuristic, whereas thermodynamics—the study of energy—developed during the 1800s. Inspired by the first steam engines, thermodynamics needs retooling for quantum settings. That retooling is quantum thermodynamics—or, if you’re feeling whimsical (as every physicist should), quantum steampunk. The contest opens this October and closes on January 15, 2023. Everyone aged 13 or over may enter a story, written in English, of up to 3,000 words....

Taking Submissions: The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread

Deadline: January 15th, 2023 Payment: $0.08 a word for original stories Theme: Queer stories featuring gothic horror, perversion and depravity. The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread will be an anthology of gothic depravity, horror and perversion. It will likely straddle genre lines, stalking the line between fantasy and science fiction. We will be open to queer horrors both psychological and supernatural, gory and cerebral. But more than anything, we're asking contributors to scandalize us. General submission notes: Unless the editors are otherwise specified, you can address cover letters to “Dear editors” or “Dear dave.” Please avoid “Dear Mr. Ring.” If you joke about how straight white men are underrepresented in speculative fiction, it will not win you any points. Please query [email protected] if you aren’t sure if your submission went through. We’re happy to check. Thanks for thinking of Neon Hemlock for your work! Please don’t self-reject. Neon Hemlock Press is open to submissions of short stories for The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread. The anthology, edited by dave ring, will include queer stories featuring gothic horror, perversion and depravity. The compensation level for original stories accepted to this anthology is $0.08/word. Submit stories on Submittable until January 15th, 2023. Please contact us if there are any accessibility concerns for any reason and we’ll work with you. We are looking for: Wordcount: Under 6,000 words. 1-4,000 words is probably the sweet spot. Concept: Horror stories exploring gothic elements, depravity and perversion. What we want to see: We are looking for dark stories that subvert the gothic and explore the filthier edges of horror. We would like to be scandalized. We’re using the most inclusive definition of queer. Queer, trans, ace, undefinable. Throughout, we’re looking for rich, varied and nuanced understandings of gender, family and ethnicity. What...

Taking Submissions: The Ferryman

Deadline: January 15th, 2023 Payment: Royalties on stories above 4k Theme: While ferrying souls across the river to their judgement, Charon, the ferryman, has seen some sh*t. Tell us the wildest stories of his passengers, the adventures in the land of the dead, but make sure Charon plays his part--and make sure he gets paid. Title: The Ferryman Opens: 15 Oct 2022 Closes: 15 Jan 2023 11:59 pm EST Theme: While ferrying souls across the river to their judgement, Charon, the ferryman, has seen some sh*t. Tell us the wildest stories of his passengers, the adventures in the land of the dead, but make sure Charon plays his part--and make sure he gets paid. Word Limit: 500-6k words, excluding title Author Eligibility: Open to All Reprints: Not allowed Simultaneous Submissions: Not allowed Multiple Submissions: Max of 2 (two) acceptance per author Author Compensation: One (1) digital copy and word count based royalty split for 4k+. Send your story and up to a 100-word author bio with 2 (two) links as a Word doc attachment to: [email protected] Please include the Anthology Title, Story Title, and Author name in your email subject line, with your document file name as: Author Name - Story Title. Manuscript Formatting We follow industry standard formatting for professional submissions. Please adhere to the following guidelines: 12 pt standard font (Times New Roman, Arial, Garamond, etc.) Double-spaced, with no extra spacing between paragraphs NO TABS or spaces at the beginning of a paragraph. Use paragraph formatting to indent the first line of each paragraph at .50 1" margins, letter size (8.5"x11"), portrait All manuscripts must be in .doc/.docx format We will not follow links Scene breaks: # Spelling: American English A separate cover sheet is unnecessary. Hyphenated words will be counted as one word. Paragraph/scene breaks, title, and author name are not included in word counts. Word count requirements, deadlines, and...

Taking Submissions: Dose of Dread January 2023 (Early Listing)

Deadline: January 15th, 2023 Payment: 2 cents per word Theme: Un-themed, general horror flash fiction. Preference to dread-inducing stories. **SUBMISSIONS OPEN JANUARY, APRIL, JULY, AND OCTOBER (1-15th of each month)** 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 stories copy/pasted...

Taking Submissions: 34 Orchard January 2023 Window (Early Listing)

Submission Window: January 1st - 15th, 2023 Payment: $50 Theme: Stories that are "scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad" What We Publish At 34 Orchard, we like dark, intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad. We like things we can’t put down and things that make us go “wow” when we’ve finished. But our main goal here at 34 Orchard is to publish the stuff we like to read, and you’re not in our heads. So don’t over think it. Just submit. We are an international journal and welcome submissions from everyone, all over the world. As of our Fall 2021 issue, we have published work from Africa, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Word Counts Short fiction from 1000 to 7500 words Poetry any style or length When We Publish We publish two issues per year, one in the spring (April) and one in the fall (November). Issues are hosted on this site as PDFs. Reading Period Our reading period for the Spring Issue is January 1-January 31. Our reading period for the Fall Issue is July 1-July 31. We only accept submissions, therefore, during January and July. Anything submitted to us outside those months will be deleted unread, and no response will be sent. Simultaneous Submissions Yes, we welcome and encourage them! Just notify us at [email protected] if it’s been accepted elsewhere as soon as you know. Multiple Submissions No. We only consider one piece of fiction per writer at a time. Poetry: you may send up to three at once as three separate documents attached to one email. Reprints No. We don’t accept anything from our open submissions call that has been previously published. How to Submit  Pieces which do not follow guidelines will be rejected unread.  Shunn formatting for fiction or Shunn formatting for poetry .DOC...

Taking Submissions: The Devil Take You

Sentinel Creatives

Deadline: April 15th, 2023 Payment: $125 - $200 Theme: Original weird tales set in the medieval period that explore the human (and inhuman) experience through the lens of horror. Sentinel Creatives has opened up for submissions for our “THE DEVIL TAKE YOU: TALES OF MEDIEVAL HORROR” anthology. Deadline for Submissions: 15 April 2023 Wordcount: 3,000 - 6,000 Remuneration: $125 - $200 Simultaneous Submissions: Yes WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR We’re looking for original weird tales set in the medieval period that explore the human (and inhuman) experience through the lens of horror. Some clarifications: Weird: The term “weird” should be understood to mean a certain sense of breathless and unexplainable dread, of outer, unknown forces present, a suggestion of the defeat or suspension of the laws of nature which have hitherto served to protect our minds and bodies (and souls) from the assault of chaos. By its very nature, weird fiction should invoke in the reader a sense of profound uneasiness and dread, it should hint at the inability of the human mind to comprehend the true nature of existence, and it should cause us to question the stability of our faith in the established laws of nature. Medieval: The term “medieval” denotes the period in Europe lasting from around 500AD to 1500AD and is typically divided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. There is a temptation here that often proves too powerful to ignore, to view Europe through a monist lens: to see all of Europe as Christian, white, and “Western”. But this is a strange way to view a continent and a period that saw so much strife and upheaval precisely because of the differences of those living within its borders. These are the differences—the tensions—that create the opportunity for compelling storytelling. Tell us stories set in the Iberian Peninsula, where the Muslim Moors and Spanish Ibero sit uneasily beside one...

Taking Submissions: Neon Magazine: Machines

Neon Magazine

Deadline: January 15th, 2023 Payment: Prose 2p per word, Poetry 20p per line, Photography £5 per image, Comics £5 per page Theme: Machines Neon is a magazine of slipstream fiction, poetry, and artwork. We publish creative work that is fantastic or surreal, and which crosses the boundaries between science-fiction, horror and literary fiction. It is one of the longest-running independent literary magazines in the UK. It is supported entirely by its readers: no adverts, no sponsors, no public funding – just a community of people who all enjoy the same kind of weird literature. Neon publishes dozens of writers and artists each year – all from unsolicited submissions. If you’ve got something which might fit the magazine, please read the guidelines below to find out how to get it published. Before sending work for publication… The best possible thing you can do to increase your chances of being accepted is to read the magazine! This is easy to do: the print edition costs less than a sandwich and a coffee (and ships to anywhere in the world) and you can set your own price for the instant-download digital edition. Download Now Not only will reading the magazine give you the clearest possible idea of Neon‘s aesthetic, but by subscribing, purchasing a copy or donating you’ll be supporting one of the UK’s longest-running independent literary magazines. On top of that, anyone who supports the magazine in any of these ways will receive expedited responses to submissions, complete with editorial feedback. If that’s something you’d value, please consider supporting the magazine before making your submission. What we’re looking for We prefer darker pieces, especially those with an element of the surreal or speculative, but are open to anything and like to be surprised. Images, comics, and graphic poems are also welcome, as are self-contained extracts. If you have any doubts about whether something is suitable, go ahead and...

Taking Submissions: Great Weather For Media 2022 Winter Window

Deadline: January 16th, 2023 Payment: $10 and a contributors 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, 2022 to January 16, 2023. (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 Arriving at a Shoreline. (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/ If you choose to leave us a tip with your submission, we will deeply appreciate your support. We do not however distinguish between free and Tip Jar categories during our reading and selection process.  Your tip goes towards Submittable fees, maintaining our website, and paying contributors. After Submittable processing fees, we receive $1.86 per $3 tip donation.  Your contribution ensures we keep a no-fee option for our submission calls.  Donations are entirely voluntary. We are all writers ourselves and know tips are just one way to express your love and respect. 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...

Taking Submissions: Literally Dead: Tales of Holiday Hauntings

Deadline: January 20th, 2023 Payment: 6 cents per word Theme: Classic paranormal, poltergeists, ghosts, spirits, haunted places and objects, and the eerily unexplained that take place on or around the winter holidays. Edited by Gaby Triana Release Date: September 21st, 2023 LITERALLY DEAD is back for more ghostly atmospheric moodiness with a new volume: Tales of Holiday Hauntings. We’re inviting writers of dark fiction to submit short stories of classic paranormal, poltergeists, ghosts, spirits, haunted places and objects, and the eerily unexplained that take place on or around the winter holidays. #ownvoices, BIPOC, gender-diverse, LGBTQIA, and authors of other marginally represented groups highly encouraged to apply. NOT looking for: Children’s, poetry, long fiction, novellas, flash fiction, slasher, vampires, werewolves, zombies, extreme, or creature horror. Just ghost stories that take place during the winter days of Christmas, Hanukkah, winter solstice, Yule, Kwanzaa, etc. Whimsical, action-packed, funny, terrifying, melancholy…the tone is up to you. ​ Contributors so far: Ramsey Campbell, Cynthia Pelayo, John Palisano, V. Castro, Hailey Piper, Jonathan Janz, Stephanie Wytovich, & more! No reprints, multiple submissions, or simultaneous submissions. Original fiction only. ​​ Pay: $0.06/word Length: 2,000 to 4,000 words Submission Deadline: January 20, 2023 Expected Publishing Date: Sep. 21, 2023 Submit .doc or .docx attachment to: [email protected] Subject line: LITERALLY DEAD 2 - “Story Title” by “Author Name” Via: Alien Head Entertainment.

Taking Submissions: Real Stories of the US Space Force

Deadline: January 22nd, 2023 Payment: New stories pay pro rate, $0.08 per word, to 10,000 words. Verse pays $50. Theme: Science fiction short stories and fact articles illustrating current and future near-Earth space-related threats The US Space Force has a PR problem. Several, in fact. It was not Donald Trump’s idea. It did not steal its iconography from Star Trek. It is not just a lunatic scheme to expand the military-industrial complex by sending battleships into space. Yet judging from social media, many think all these things and more. Space has become critical not only to the military but to the economy and all aspects of daily life, and as we stand at the dawn of a new age of space commerce, that’s only going to intensify. Several nations have already developed capabilities to deny, degrade, and disrupt access to and utilization of space–based assets, whether to degrade US military capability or as a direct economic attack. Like it or not, the militarization of space started long ago, threats are already up there, and wherever people and their interests go next, so too will go conflict, intrigue, heroes and villains, everything that comprises good stories. WHAT WE ARE UP TO Real Stories of the US Space Force will be a collection of science fiction short stories and fact articles illustrating current and future near-Earth space-related threats and dispelling misconceptions about America’s newest service branch. It will be published by Baen Books in 2023 WHAT WE WANT Stories that grab us from the start and stay with us for days. Scientifically plausible drama about people facing interesting challenges related to the US Space Force or more generally, the policing and defense of near-Earth space and related issues, now or in the foreseeable future (the next century or so). Stories don’t have to take place in space, involve the actual US Space Force, or...