Events

Deadline: February 28th, 2025, extended submission window of March 1st - 14th for marginalized authors. Payment: 5 cents per word Theme: Horror from the windy city by authors who live in or near Chicago The Second City is second to none when it comes to terror. From H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer, to the Jane Byrne Interchange at rush hour, there’s an ill wind blowing through the Windy City. In this new anthology, twenty stories by twenty authors from the Chicago area take you on a bloodcurdling tour of the best city in the world. Featuring new stories by Cynthia Pelayo, Nick Medina, Sahar Mustafah, LP Kindred, and Christopher Hawkins, Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories unearths the horrors, both real and supernatural, that populate the White City. 20 Stories by 20 Authors We’ve invited five authors to headline the collection: Christopher Hawkins – author of Downpour and Suburban Monsters LP Kindred – Author and editor of Voodoonauts Presents: (Re)Living Mythology among others. Nick Medina – author of Sisters of the Lost Nation and Indian Burial Ground Sahar Mustafah – author of The Beauty of Your Face Cynthia Pelayo – Bram Stoker Award winning author of Forgotten Sisters, The Shoemaker’s Magician, and others The rest of the book (around 15 more stories) will be chosen from the open call for submissions. Regional Bias In addition to our five invited authors, we’ll be holding an open call for submissions during the month of February 2025 to fill out the rest of the book (approximately 15 more stories). We believe in paying people for their work, so we’re paying HWA pro rates (5 cents per word) for horror stories of 1000-5000 words that take place primarily in Chicago. To submit, you must live or have lived in the following Illinois counties: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will, as well as Lake County, Indiana. General Info The submission window will be open from February 1, 2025 to February 28,...

Submission Window: January 15th - March 31st, 2025 Payment: $0.02 per word Theme: Science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and everything in between Note: Reprints Welcome We are open to submissions: Jan. 15 – Mar. 31 May 15 – Jul. 3 Oct. 15 – Oct. 31 Nov. 1 – Nov. 30 (Drabbles only) Before submitting, please read the writer’s guidelines below. Story Guidelines Flash Point Science Fiction wants speculative fiction stories from 100 to 1,000 words in length. Send us your science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and everything in between, so long as it’s short. We here at FPSF are partial to flash fiction and want to see the flash market grow. So as much as it pains us, please take your 10,000 word tour de force elsewhere. We’re not looking for the next Brandon Sanderson. (Unless you are, in fact, Brandon Sanderson, in which case we’d be delighted!) What we’re looking for: -Fantasy (all kinds—epic, adventure, contemporary, urban, grimdark, fairy tale, magical realism, myths and legends, etc.) -Science Fiction (all kinds—hard, space opera, military, near future, science fantasy, cyberpunk, dystopian, etc.) -Slipstream (make it as weird as you want, so long as it works) -Seasonal (we love stories with holiday and/or seasonal themes, but please submit AT LEAST 3 months in advance of the relevant occasion) -Anything that makes us laugh, cry, think, or smile. What we aren’t looking for: -Horror—it can be spooky or menacing, but we’re not a horror market, so the fright factor should not be the primary appeal. DARK fantasy and sci-fi, however, are welcome. -Literary fiction—this is a genre market, so there needs to be an SF&F element, however slight. -Gratuitous sex or violence—we’re big fans of Love Death + Robots, but don’t be that guy. -Fanfic—original concepts only, please. We know there was a lot going on in Hobbiton while...

Deadline: March 15th, 2025 Payment: $10 Theme: Stories that constitutes the ever-moving edge of its kind, as a place between light and dark, consciousness and un, today and tomorrow; work exhibiting the strange, the bizarre, that which is not of the world we know, but more of a twilight realm or even altogether alien place. Submission window: We are always open for submissions of art, animation, and music! We are currently closed for fiction and poetry submissions. We are open for fiction and poetry submissions from 15 June to 15 September and from 15 December to 15 March each year. Please note we have added some limits to submissions (as of 12 Dec 23)! Read on below for more info. In general ... I would love to see submissions representing not only multiple cultures but subcultures, exploring issues of race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, and many things I haven't thought of. Does this mean you have to represent everybody and everything in 1000 words? Of course not. But be aware that we are creating a magazine that overall reaches and represents the true diversity of the world we live in. In terms of genre, I am looking for work that constitutes the ever-moving edge of its kind, as a place between light and dark, consciousness and un, today and tomorrow; work exhibiting the strange, the bizarre, that which is not of the world we know, but more of a twilight realm or even altogether alien place. Not necessarily science fiction, not necessarily fantasy, not necessarily horror, and not necessarily not these things. In short, ideally edgy. Maybe even idealistically edgy. I am NOT looking for porn. Penumbric generally accepts submissions in the following categories: fiction, poetry, illustration, graphic narrative, animation, music, or combinations of these (e.g., a spoken-word version of a poem). If you have something that fits...

Deadline: March 15th, 2025 Payment: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25 Theme: Plants Eye to the Telescope 56, Plants, will be edited by Eva Papasoulioti. Trees, flowers, shrubs; a green sea of liveliness, thrumming with energy. We have been using plants’ offerings for our survival ever since the dawn of time. Oxygen, food, clothes, tools, medicines: the list is endless and ever-growing. At the same time, the local flora have influenced our beliefs, blossomed in our myths and tales, seeded our science; we’ve made gods of the forests, of spring, of harvest season. Plants and people coexist, co-depend, coevolve. Send us poems in the theme of plants, from all cultural backgrounds. Show the impact of plants not only in life, but also in death. Poems about conspiring rainforests and singing Venus flytraps, roses that hide secrets and communities in their hundreds of petals, alien ferns that translate feelings. Poison ivies that survive deep space, thirty-meter azaleas terraforming Mars, myths about children made of pine needles. Plants are home, culture and mystery. Create in their depths. Submission Guidelines SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Use the form at https://bit.ly/SFPAettt56 to submit. Please submit 1–3 unpublished poems in English (ideally, attached as .docx or .txt) and include a short bio. Translations from other languages are acceptable with the permission of the original poet (unless public domain). Inquiries only to [email protected] with “ETTT” in the subject line. Deadline: March 15. The issue will appear on April 15, 2025. Payment and rights Accepted poems will be paid for at the following rate: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25. Payment is on publication. The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association normally uses PayPal to pay poets, but can also send checks. Eye to the Telescope is an online publication. Therefore, First Electronic Rights (for original unpublished poems)...

Submission Window: March 1st -March 15th, 2025 Payment: 8 cents per word for fiction, $50 for poetry, $100 for non-fiction essays Theme: Animal-centric speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, horror) Submission Periods: The publishing schedule is quarterly/seasonly. Submission calls open at the start of each season, close in the middle of the first month for reading and responses, and issues aim to be released by the end of the season. Spring: March 1-March 15, 2025 Summer: June 1-June 15, 2025 Fall: September 1-September 15, 2025 Winter: December 1-December 15, 2025 PROSE Submission Guidelines -Word limit for original short fiction: 1000 (minimum) – 5000 words (maximum) (sweet spot/preferred: 3000 – 4000 words) -Maximum word limit for original flash fiction: 999 words -Reprints: not accepted at this time (unless we meet the Kickstarter stretch goal for 2025!) -Pay rate: 8 cents/word -Format: Standard Manuscript Format. 12 point Times New Roman, double spaced, .doc or .docx files. Mailing address and phone number are not required on the header. -Simultaneous submissions are allowed! Just make sure to give us a howl if your submission has been accepted elsewhere before we make a decision on it. -Cover letter: please include author name, name of submission, word count, publishing credits (if applicable), any experience pertinent to the story. (For example, if you are a marine biologist and your story features marine animals, do mention that!) Inclusion of content warnings is optional. Do not summarize your story in the cover letter; let the submission speak for itself. -Translations to English: allowed, welcome, and encouraged! They must be original short fiction or flash within the corresponding word limits. In the cover letter, please state that the work is translated into English from (original language), and include names of the original author and translator. –Plott Hound Magazine welcomes and encourages submissions from writers of all races, religion (creed),...

Submission Window: March 1st - 15th, 2025 Payment: Fiction: 8 cents per word, Poetry: $50, Non-fiction: $100 Theme: Stories with anthropomorphized animals as protagonists in any realm of speculative fiction Submission Periods: The publishing schedule is quarterly/seasonly. Submission calls open at the start of each season, close in the middle of the first month for reading and responses, and issues aim to be released by the end of the season. Spring: March 1-March 15, 2025 Summer: June 1-June 15, 2025 Fall: September 1-September 15, 2025 Winter: December 1-December 15, 2025 PROSE Submission Guidelines -Word limit for original short fiction: 1000 (minimum) – 5000 words (maximum) (sweet spot/preferred: 3000 – 4000 words) -Maximum word limit for original flash fiction: 999 words -Reprints: not accepted at this time (unless we meet the Kickstarter stretch goal for 2025!) -Pay rate: 8 cents/word -Format: Standard Manuscript Format. 12 point Times New Roman, double spaced, .doc or .docx files. Mailing address and phone number are not required on the header. -Simultaneous submissions are allowed! Just make sure to give us a howl if your submission has been accepted elsewhere before we make a decision on it. -Cover letter: please include author name, name of submission, word count, publishing credits (if applicable), any experience pertinent to the story. (For example, if you are a marine biologist and your story features marine animals, do mention that!) Inclusion of content warnings is optional. Do not summarize your story in the cover letter; let the submission speak for itself. -Translations to English: allowed, welcome, and encouraged! They must be original short fiction or flash within the corresponding word limits. In the cover letter, please state that the work is translated into English from (original language), and include names of the original author and translator. –Plott Hound Magazine welcomes and encourages submissions from writers of all races, religion...

Deadline: March 16th, 2025 Payment: Contributors copy and $50 Theme: Short story by Oregon or Washington writers, that takes place in one or both of those states, that has the reader go on a 'quest' Demagogue Press is OPEN for submissions from Oregon and Washington based writers for a new anthology! ROLL THE DICE, CHASE THE GOOSE, FACE DEATH, & UNLOCK THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST! Demagogue Press is thrilled to announce an all-new playable reading experience— let’s call it an anthology+— that will take readers on a journey through Oregon and Washington. Inspired by the Royal Game of the Goose, we are now open to submissions for original works from Oregon and Washington based writers that include a quest or chase element and prominently feature iconic (or soon to be iconic!) locations throughout the urban, wild, and lost places in our backyards. We have an editorial preference for works in a “spooky speculative” vein including fantasy and light horror. See below for more details!   OKAY- BUT WHAT DOES “PLAYABLE READING EXPERIENCE MEAN???” This is a book that plays like a game and a game that reads like a book! Like Demagogue Press’s previous publication, Winding Paths, we’ll be offering multiple ways for readers to experience stories and interact with our locations. The cover, for example, will be a functional game board for our custom-made Pacific Northwest-flavored interpretation of the Royal Game of the Goose with spaces correlating to YOUR work and there will be short activities and mini-games inspired by the anthology theme and stories interspersed throughout. Contributors are responsible for writing great stories that can stand-alone. We’ll do the rest! WHAT IS AN “ICONIC” OREGON OR WASHINGTON LOCATION? You tell us! We have some ideas but we’re open to seeing what you pitch. Some particularly iconic locations will have...

Deadline: March 16th, 2025 Payment: KES 1 per word Theme: Speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy or horror written by African writers Will This Be A Problem?: The Magazine is open for submissions until March 16th 2025. While we occasionally put out submission calls for specific projects, such as our anthologies and magazines, which may have different qualifiers, below are the general submission guidelines. Please read them twice over before submitting! FICTION SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Your story can be speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy or horror. Genre-mashing is completely fine, however your work must contain strong elements of one of these genres. We strongly encourage character-driven narratives and rich worldbuilding tied together with heavy African influences. We only accept submissions from African writers who are 18 years and above. We define an African writer as:- someone born in Africa, someone whose parents (at least one) are African, a Black person in the African diaspora. We particularly welcome submissions from women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, people living with disabilities, and members from other underrepresented and marginalised communities.  We only care about the quality of the writing, storytelling ability, plot and ideas, not whether you are new or established. Only send us work you are proud of; if you don’t like it, our readers won’t. If you’re not sure if your story is suitable, don’t query; please just submit it and let our editors decide. Most publications encourage potential readers to read their previous works to get a sense of what they like. Will This Be A Problem? encourages potential writers to peruse our back issues to find what we haven’t featured and introduce us to concepts and worlds we’ve never seen before. Our preferred length is between 2500 and 5500 words. However, this is just a baseline; if the story is strong enough, it can be longer or shorter. Flash fiction...

Deadline: March 17th, 2025 Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words (half a cent a word,) Theme: Speculative fiction stories that meld the mechanical with the mystical, where devices not only drive the narrative but are imbued with a spark of the extraordinary. Note: The anthologies from this press pay below what we like to share with authors but they always have such creative ideas that I'll let some slip through. Are you an architect of the arcane, a fabricator of futuristic fables, or a sorcerer of the silicon? We are seeking speculative fiction stories that meld the mechanical with the mystical, where devices not only drive the narrative but are imbued with a spark of the extraordinary. We want tales that push the boundaries of imagination, where gizmos and gadgets transcend their wires and circuits to become entities of enchantment and wonder. Send us your stories of large or small enchanted engines, digital divinations, and the magical machinations that lie in the overlap between the rigor of technology and the realm of spellcraft. Deadline: 17th of March, 2025. ** Please put the anthology you're submitting to, and the word count of the story in the subject line of the email.** Payment for accepted stories will be $5 USD per 1000 words for all current anthologies. Payments occur via PayPal, so please have a PayPal account into which we can pay you. We will also provide you with a digital copy (epub and pdf) of the finished manuscript. (Paperback and hard cover editions will be available via Amazon.) We're looking for speculative fiction across all anthologies (unless otherwise specified). That includes everything from high fantasy to hard scifi and anything in between. We do accept reprints, simultaneous submissions, and multiple submissions, though these will slow down our response time. Story lengths should be...

Deadline: March 17th, 2025 Payment: $0.01 (USD) per word and a contributor's copy Theme: Speculative ecofiction that was originally published in 2024 We’ve received more than 150 stories nominated by publishers, editors, and authors so far, and the range of stories, ideas, and perspectives has been so wonderful to read. As this is our first year of the anthology and our launch happened so quickly, we’ve decided to extend the submissions window out to Monday, March 17, to ensure that everyone publishing ecofiction gets a chance to submit. The full submission guidelines are below. ECO24: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction, edited by Marissa van Uden, showcases some of the most vivid, thought-provoking, and emotionally affecting ecofiction published in the previous calendar year. Speculative ecofiction is defined as stories that explore our place in the natural world and our relationships to non-human life (e.g. focused on themes related to ecology, nature, the environment, climate, conservation, wildlife and animal rights) and which also fall into speculative genres such as science fiction, fantasy, Weird fiction, New Weird, anthropomorphic fantasy, magical realism. Ecofiction engages with some of the most urgent issues facing us today and also looks ahead to the possibilities of the future. Even when dealing with dark or tragic themes, ecofiction stories are expressions of our human connection to the most beautiful planet we know, and to all of earthlife. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Please note this anthology is for previously published stories only. Editors and Publishers are encouraged to send their best works of ecofiction published in 2024. If not all of the stories in a magazine or anthology are eligible, please indicate which stories you are nominating. Authors may nominate their own works, but please check with your publisher first to see if they have already submitted your piece. Eligibility Criteria: The story...