Events

Deadline: August 9th, 2024 Payment: Royalties Theme: Noir cat stories Moggie Noir Volume 2 Cats. Noir. Spectacular Tail. Do it again. Opens: 6/9/24 Closes: 8/9/24 Contracts: 8/24/24 Publication: 9/20/24 5,000 to 8,000 words. Length and genre are negotiable, as long as the story fits the concept, and is entertaining.   Any submission must be in Times New Roman, 12PT, double spaced, with your name, title of the story, and your email on it. Please name the file as -— Send in a .docx format.  Please attach the file to your email, no links. Please see the submission guideline graphic on the Raconteur Press Facebook page. Raconteur Press will hold the rights for one year after publication, after one year the rights will revert to the author, but we continue to pay you as long as the anthology is selling. Authors receive an equal percentage share of the proceeds from the anthology, along with the Press, our editors, and administration. Yes, you read that right. We don’t take 80% off the top and split the 20% left over between all the authors. We’re all in this together. This is why our anthologies are limited to ten stories. IMPORTANT: PLEASE do NOT submit stories until the date the call opens. We don’t want to hang on to your piece for longer than necessary. You might find another market for it, or it decides to grow into a novel, or…..so go ahead and write it, but tuck it away, and revisit it before submitting. Raconteur Press uses Pubshare (pubshare.com) to distribute payments and handle tax forms for anthology authors, so authors who contribute must have a free pubshare account. IMPORTANT: when you set up your Pubshare account you MUST choose the method by which you want to receive your royalties. There are currently two choices: PayPal...

Deadline: August 10th, 2024 Prizes: First: $25 bookshop.org giftcard, Second: $10 bookshop.org gift card Theme: Fantasy stories up to 500 words The Semi-Sages of the Pages is hosting a short fiction contest. We’re looking for fantasy stories, in whatever way that means to you. If it means fairies and elves where true love conquers all, then we want to see it. If it means a dark castle where a wizard preys a town of centaurs, then we’re looking forward to reading it. If it means a college-student makes a wish over a wishing well and falls into a land talking trees…well you get it. The rules: 1) Please keep it to no more than 500 words. Less is fine too, but submitting a longer story, no matter how great it is, will disqualify you. 2) We will be reading this on our YouTube channel, so please keep to a PG-13 level. Cursing and sex is fine, but PG-13 cursing and sex please. 3) We will not tolerate any stories with torture-porn, explicit sex, rape, hurting of children or animals etc. 4) Any age is welcome to apply. 5) Contest opens on July 20th and ends Aug 10th. We’ll send emails to all participants with the date of the announcement of the winners on YouTube. 6) The author keeps the rights to their story. We will read the winners (and maybe 3rd or 4th place) aloud on our YouTube channel. Your story will not be published anywhere, without your permission and a contract to do so. The prizes: First Place: $25 gift card for Bookshop.org Second Place: $10 gift card for Bookshop.org Use this form to submit your story.

Deadline: August 10th, 2024 Prizes: First: $25 bookshop.org giftcard, Second: $10 bookshop.org gift card Theme: Superhero stories up to 500 words In honor of Comic-Con we’re hosting a second contest looking for your superhero stories. Like above, we’re looking for stories of superheroes, in whatever way that means to you. The rules: 1) Please keep it to no more than 500 words. Less is fine too, but submitting a longer story, no matter how great it is, will disqualify you. 2) We will be reading this on our YouTube channel, so please keep to a PG-13 level. Cursing and sex is fine, but PG-13 cursing and sex please. 3) We will not tolerate any stories with torture-porn, explicit sex, rape, hurting of children or animals etc. 4) Any age is welcome to apply. 5) Contest opens on July 20th and ends Aug 10th. We’ll send emails to all participants with the date of the announcement of the winners on YouTube. 6) The author keeps the rights to their story. We will read the winners (and maybe 3rd or 4th place) aloud on our YouTube channel. Your story will not be published anywhere, without your permission and a contract to do so. The prizes: First Place: $25 gift card for Bookshop.org Second Place: $10 gift card for Bookshop.org Use this form to submit your story. Via: No Bad Books Press, LLC.

Open Window: August 1st to the 14th Payment: $50 per poem, $80 per story for flash, 8 cents per word for short fiction Theme: Works of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction that engage in a significant way with the long history of fairy tales Upcoming submission windows Submission window for Issue #3: 1 to 14 August (closes midnight AEST on 14 August) We do not accept multiple submissions (one piece per submission window, please!), or simultaneous submissions. Submitting your work All submissions must be emailed to [email protected] Word/line limits Poetry: up to 50 lines (but we’re a little bit flexible!) Flash: up to 1000 words Short fiction/non-fiction: up to 4000 words Payment Poetry: flat rate $US50.00 per poem Flash: flat rate $US80.00 per story (max 1000 words) Short fiction/non-fiction: $US0.08 per word (max 4000 words) We typically pay via PayPal, but we will do our best to accommodate your preferred payment method. Please note, however, that we cannot pay by cheque. What we’re looking for I am all for putting new wine in old bottles, especially if the pressure of the new wine makes the bottles explode (Angela Carter, ‘Notes from the front line’). We are seeking original works of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction that engage in a significant way with the long history of fairy tales. We are interested in works that stretch, expand, test, subvert, and challenge the fairy-tale tradition. We are interested in works that are entertaining, but also in works that matter: that is, in works that are both pleasurable to read and thought-provoking. We are interested in works in which the relationship between the your writing and the fairy-tale tradition is complex and thoughtful. Works that—ideally, though this is a Big Ask—open up our hearts and minds, offering us a new way to think or feel about the fairy-tale tradition as well as broader themes and issues. We are...

Submission Window: April 16th - Aug. 15th, 2024 Payment: Fiction: 2¢ per word for original, 1¢ per word for reprints. Poetry: $20 per original poem and $10 for reprints. $100 for issue cover art, $30 for back cover art, and $20 for art used on our site Theme: Stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia. Note: Reprints Welcome Radon welcomes short stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia. ​ We publish quality literature every mid-January, May, and September. Submissions are accepted year-round. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Reprints accepted if writer has the rights. AI submissions are not allowed at Radon. ​ Please click below to submit your work through our no-fee Submittable page: We kindly request a third-person bio that is 100-words or shorter in your cover letter.Author rights: For original work, Radon asks for first English digital rights and non-exclusive, indefinite archival rights. ​ Authors published in Radon cannot be accepted into the issue immediately following, but may submit after this period. ​ Our issue reading periods are: ​ January: Aug. 16 - Dec. 15 ​​ May: Dec. 16 - April 15 ​​ September: April 16 - Aug. 15 Prose We accept flash fiction and short story submissions up to 3,000 words. Radon pays a semi-professional rate of 2¢ per word for original work and 1¢ for reprints. ​ For quicker processing, please use a submission style similar to the modern manuscript format. We ask that you utilize single-spacing. Please note that we do not publish fantasy stories and are looking for work that includes leftist social commentary. Poetry Please submit up to five poems in a single Word document. There is no line limit. Radon pays a semi-professional rate of $20 per original poem and $10 for reprints.We request single-spaced formatting using a standard 11pt font such as Garamond,...

Submission Window: July 15th - August 15th, 2024 Payment: $15.00 for short stories, $5.00 for poems and flash (<1000 wds) fiction pieces., $5.00 for reprints Theme: Science Fiction and fantasy stories with complex female characters The Lorelei Signal is a quarterly SF/Fantasy electronic magazine - one that will feature strong / complex female characters. This does not mean your female character has to be the main hero or villain in the story. What it does mean is no shrinking violets, or women who serve only to get into trouble so the male hero can rescue them.Each issue I hope to publish:7 short stories, 1 flash fiction piece and 2 poemsthat meet the following guidelines:My primary guideline is simple:Write a good fantasy story with strong/complex characters.What I am NOT looking for - erotica / slash / or other such stories.Although well written love scenes that are IMPORTANT to the story will be considered on a story-by-story basis.1) Stories should be no longer than 10,000 words.However, tell the story - if it takes more than 10,000 words to tell the story properly so be it.Just try to cut it down if possible - but remember the story is the important part.2) Stories must feature 3 dimensional / complex characters.3) I will accept reprints as long as it has been at least 1 year since the story was previously published,rights have reverted back and you tell me where it previously appeared.These will be limited to 2 per issue.4) Please keep the graphic gore down to a minimum(only what's needed for the story).5) Please keep the obscene language to a bare minimum(again, only what's needed for the story).6) Simultaneous Submissions will be considered IF:a) You tell me up frontb) You inform me immediately if the story has been accepted elsewhereIf I have too many occurrences of finding...

Deadline: August 15th, 2024 Payment: Royalties Theme: Halloween HALLOWED Deadline – 15th August 2024 **EXTENDED** Publication – 31st October 2024 Word Count – 2,500 words to 7,000 Theme – Halloween. Genre – Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Horror Compensation – 40% of royalties split between all authors within the anthology for one year from the date of publication.  Reprints – No Simultaneous Submissions – No When submitting to Iron Faerie Publishing please remember the Submission Guidelines. Each submission should include a brief and polite introduction addressed to the Editor. Please make sure to include the following: Your name, legal name and pen name (if you use one). The title of your submission. The submission’s word count. The title of the anthology that you are submitting to. Author Bio written in 3rd person (150 words or less). Up to three (3) links. No amazon author page links. The following formatting is more or less industry standard, and our preference. Your submission should be in Shunn Short Story Format, and in Times New Roman 12 point font. No tabs. .doc and .docx. only. When sending your submission, please remember the following: All submissions should be sent to: [email protected] All submissions close at midnight of the specified date according to Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00), unless filled early. Email subject lines should read in the following format: ANTHOLOGY NAME – Title – Author Name (eg. HAWTHORN & ASH – Brid’s Lament – A.N. Author) Responses to submissions will be sent no later than SIX WEEKS after the SUBMISSION CALL has CLOSED. We always respond to each and every submission. At this time we ARE NOT accepting novel submissions. We DO NOT ACCEPT simultaneous submissions. Via: Iron Faerie Publishing.

Deadline: August 15th, 2024 Payment: $50 Theme: Urban Fantasy primarily followed by sword and sorcery, some gothic and supernatural horror will be accepted but it will be a harder sell Dirty Magick Magazine publishes short fiction, from 2,000 to 12,500 words. We pay a single-story rate of $50 which is halfway to SFWA qualification and fully HWA eligible. E-mail "submissions dirtymagickmagazine.com" with your story attached. We like a variety of stories but will only publish a few styles. Please read closely as these are the rules and they will not be broken. First and foremost, we are interested in urban fantasy which we define as fantasy adventure fiction which takes place in modern settings. These places can be real or imaginary (although we prefer the former), but the story must have some combination of those typical elements: magic, other sentient races, enchanted objects, and mythical backgrounds. These all may be underground and hidden, but they must play a part in the story. Next, we want sword and sorcery which we define as fantasy adventure fiction taking place in an ancient or alternative world where the protagonists must use their wits and weapons to survive. We contrast this with high fantasy (which we are not interested in) where quests taken on behalf of the rulers are world shaking. We are much more interested in the street level like the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tales of Fritz Leiber and the Conan/Bran Mak Morn tales of Robert E. Howard. Finally, we will consider gothic and supernatural horror. We won’t define this directly, but this is a market to submit vampire, werewolf, ghost, and cryptid fiction. Be warned, it would be best to use these creatures in one of the previously mentioned genres as that would be a quicker path to publication. Now that we’ve...

Submission Window: August 1st - 16th, 2024 Payment: 5 cents per word Theme: Thriller + Suspense + Psychological Horror that deal with Little Red Flags about cults, cons, and control The warning signs were there: those little red flags. But in the beginning, it all looked rose-colored. You thought you were getting community, belonging, and purpose. Maybe a lucrative new career. Maybe even salvation. Instead, you got control, fanaticism, greed, manipulation, and terror. Bring us your fiction stories of fanaticism, fundamentalism, extremism, and control. We want to read about cons people pull off that make our jaws drop. The horrors hiding just beyond the edges of our better judgment. We want the kind of monsters who hide in plain sight: charismatic cult leaders with a god-complex (think: NXIVM, Twin Flames Universe) and systems built to prey on the vulnerable (think: Lularoe). Give us MLM puppet masters, unhinged homeschooling movements, manipulative or extreme doomsday preppers, and weight-loss cults. We want characters who will give us a peek behind the veneer of a megachurch, an insider's view of the pressure to recruit for a pyramid scheme, an up-close look at love-bombing in action, along with the emotional fallout. NOTE: We’re not interested in stories that revolve around ideologies or theologies. Instead, we’re seeking stories that focus on the ways charismatic predators and extreme ideas lure vulnerable, well-meaning truth-seekers and turn ordinary people into monsters. We will give preference to well-executed, fast-paced, and dark psychological and suspense thrillers. We want twists that are earned and stories that really move and engage. Grab the reader by the eyeballs and don’t let go. This means well-written commercial prose. Think: The Push by Ashley Audrain, or anything Gillian Flynn writes. We want to create the grown-up version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Stories you’d want to read around the campfire to...

Deadline: August 23rd, 2024 Payment: Royalties Theme: Travels full of hijinks and strange circumstances, danger, humor, and odd encounters as we journey through the universe, the neighborhood, or across town. If you’ve watched our #RaconteurRoadTrip adventures in the North Texas Troublemakers Facebook group, you know we’ve had some…interesting adventures. So why not do an anthology? Tell us travels full of hijinks and strange circumstances, danger, humor, and odd encounters as we journey through the universe, the neighborhood, or across town. What about that time where you and your buddy got lost on the way to the great noodle bar on Asteroid B-643? Or that bunch of folks trying to deliver through a hostile corridor in space? Then there’s the endless side trips and NOW WHAT?! of travels interrupted by…a camel. The more adventure, the better! Opens: 6/23/24 Closes: 8/23/24 Contracts: 9/7/24 Publication: 10/4/24 Guidelines for all our anthologies: 5,000 to 8,000 words. Length and genre are negotiable, as long as the story fits the concept, and is entertaining.   Any submission must be in Times New Roman, 12PT, double spaced, with your name, title of the story, and your email on it. Please name the file as -— Send in a .docx format.  Please attach the file to your email, no links. Please see the submission guideline graphic on the Raconteur Press Facebook page. Raconteur Press will hold the rights for one year after publication, after one year the rights will revert to the author, but we continue to pay you as long as the anthology is selling. Authors receive an equal percentage share of the proceeds from the anthology, along with the Press, our editors, and administration. Yes, you read that right. We don’t take 80% off the top and split the 20% left over between all the authors. We’re...