Events

Deadline: May 1st, 2024 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry Theme: Story must begin with: "Thank you for taking the time to meet with me today." We love that writers around the world are inspired by our first lines, and we know that not every story will be sent to us. However, we ask that you do not submit stories starting with our first lines to other journals (or post them online on public sites) until we've notified you as to our decision (usually four weeks after the deadline). When the entire premise of the publication revolves around one sentence, we don't want it to look as if we stole that sentence from another writer. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line. Also, we understand that writers may add our first line to a story they are currently working on or have already completed, and that's cool. But please do not add our first line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our first lines. And, just to be clear, we do not accept simultaneous submissions. One more thing while I've got you here: Writers compete against one another for magazine space, so, technically, every literary magazine is running a contest. There are, however, literary magazines that run traditional contests, where they charge entry fees and rank the winners. We do not - nor will we ever - charge a submission fee, nor do we rank our stories in order of importance. Occasionally, we run contests to help come up with new first lines, or we run fun, gimmicky competitions for free stuff, but the actual journal is not a contest in the traditional sense....

Deadline: March 1st – May 1st, 2024 Payment: $50 Theme: Writing that attempts to salvage something pure from the collision of warmth and cold, that says what it can about the world it finds itself in. A Note on Our Aesthetic We believe there is beauty in scars on smooth skin, in the small fissures where things begin to break apart. Sundogs are not the sun itself but phantom stars appearing on the horizon, illusions produced by the play of the sun’s heat with crystals of ice. They shed their light all the same. Many are tinged with color. We look for this same quality in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. We want writing that attempts to salvage something pure from the collision of warmth and cold, that says what it can about the world it finds itself in. We seek a diversity of voices speaking from visceral, lived experience. We like truth we can stare at until our eyes water, words so carefully chosen we want to reread them as soon as we have finished. Schedule We publish two issues a year, September 1 and March 1. We accept general submissions for poetry, nonfiction, and fiction between two reading periods, and the first 300 submissions to each are free. We also run a collaborative writing contest in August. We also accept visual art all year. General Submissions: March 1 – May 1 General Submissions: October 1 – December 1 Collaboration Contest: July 15 –  August 31 Payment We are thrilled to finally be able to say that, starting with issue 17, we will be able to offer our contributors a small payment of $50 upon publication. Practical Matters We are grateful to be a part of a literary community that is taking action against systemic racism. We will also be donating submission fees...

Submission Window: April 1st -May 1st, 2024 Payment: Short Story-2,500 words or less. $0.015 USD per word/$37.50 USD max, Poems-less than 200 words $10, Flash Fiction-less than a 1,000 words $0.015 USD per word/$15 USD max Theme: Fire! Last Girls Club Summer Issue Theme is Fire Season. The world is on fire, environmentally and politically. On the US West coast we have rains of ash in the fall from all the forest fires. The Canadian border was plagued with smoke pollution from raging fires. It's a thing now. Your characters can be fleeing a fire, starting one, or surviving one. Take it where you want. Acceptances will be notified on May 15. No more than two fiction or flash fiction stories per author per submission period. Fiction is limited to 2,500 words or less. Authors are paid $0.015 USD per word upon acceptance ($37.50 USD max). Flash fiction is limited to under 1,000 words. Authors are paid $0.015 USD per word upon acceptance ($15 USD max). No more than three poems per poet. Poems are limited to 200 words or less for each poem. Poets are paid $10 USD upon acceptance. I prefer to use PayPal to pay authors, but will work with authors where PayPal is not available. Nonfiction columns will must be pitched to editor in chief before submission. Email your idea to [email protected] Authors must be 18+. Submissions from underage authors will not be considered. All submissions must be submitted as .doc or .docx 12 pt Times New Roman. Please do not copy/paste onto an email. Short Story-2,500 words or less. $0.015 USD per word/$37.50 USD max upon acceptance and a PDF of the magazine issue Poems-less than 200 words $10 upon acceptance and a PDF of the magazine issue Flash Fiction-less than a 1,000 words $0.015 USD...

Deadline: May 1, 2024 Payment: $5 Theme: Splatter/Gore-friendly horror The Carnage House editors invite submissions for Issue 3, due out in summer 2024. We want solid, entertaining writing that evokes feelings. Carnage House is a splatter friendly web ’zine—so nothing against cozy, but cozy, we’re not. We’re looking for gore, extreme horror, splatterpunk, and horror with sexual elements to it. For a better understanding of what we’ll take, think of the Hot Blood book series or Love in Vein. Or, as a more practical proposition, read Issues 1 and 2 at carnagehouse.com. We invite LGBTQIA and BIPOC themes, and we encourage authors from diverse backgrounds to submit to us. Hard NOs: Nothing with children in an adult manner. If you’re writing a story about a child predator who gets what’s coming to him—great. But we don’t want to read about that predator violating his victims. We won’t publish anything supporting a racist, transphobic, or homophobic agenda, so don’t try it. Our description includes the words “splatter” and “friendly” for a reason. We love splatter, and we’re super friendly. Carnage House is about supporting writers and entertaining readers, and we’re dedicated to both in equal measure. Please review the guidelines (below and at our website) for more important details, including submission format and word count. We look forward to reading your work in all its splattertastic glory. We want solid entertaining writing. That has to be clearly stated because we are open to gore, extreme horror, splatterpunk, and horror with sexual elements to it. Sounds great? Like anything too good to be true, there is a catch. We have some hard “Nos.” Before you go off about the freedom of expression, remember, this is a web ‘zine, not a government. We donate our time to it and if we’re not getting joy...

Deadline: May 1st, 2024 Payment: $25 Theme: Horror stories with a focus on the oft-unclear distinction between a scary-enough reality and our less-or-more-frightening imagination, both in personal and social realms Whisper House Press is pleased to announce its first call for submissions. We’re looking for carefully constructed Horror stories with a focus on the oft-unclear distinction between a scary-enough reality and our less-or-more-frightening imagination, both in personal and social realms. Our working title is Costs of Living.   These are some possible interpretations of this potentially broad theme: The Neighbors/HOA/City Council Really Are Trying to Kill Us A Bad Element… is Already Here in the Neighborhood Why do I feel like everyone is watching me in my new town’s grocery store? “How can I be sure I am not dreaming?” without the “Oh, it was all a dream” cliché Philosophical quandaries run amok in one’s mind Attic dweller keeps neighborhood watch via security cameras on smart home system starts seeing what they/he/she cannot explain Payment Until we find our footing, we will offer token payments for short fiction. Authors will be paid $25 per accepted work.   Who We Are & What We Love Whisper House Press is an independent press based in Salt Lake City, Utah. We believe in inclusion and equity and in using the privileges we’ve been gifted to boost the voices of those with fewer opportunities. We celebrate submissions from frequently marginalized groups. We love horror that reminds us of Event Horizon (McDonald then adapted by Eisner, 1997), Knocking (Broström & Theorin, 2021), Master (Diallo, 2022), The Handyman Method (Cutter & Sullivan, 2023), Get Out (Peele, 2017), and of The Last House on Needless Street (Ward, 2021) or Dear Hannah (Stage, 2024). We’ve got a small web presence on the editor’s website. You can find it...

Deadline: Opens and likely closes May 1st, get in on midnight folks! Payment: 10 cents per word for original fiction, 2 cents per word for reprints Theme: Science Fiction and Fantasy A magazine, publishing house, and academy for writers & readers of dark speculative fiction. Gamut was made to showcase and celebrate readers, writers, and artists who love dark speculative fiction. We have three guiding principles: Enrapture your senses and ensnare your minds via our magazine and our published works. Support writers through all stages of their careers. With courses crafted to inspire, educate, and elevate. Embrace our foundational principles of equity and diversity and uplift and amplify those readers, writers, and artists who’ve been marginalized in the past. Fiction: Gamut magazine is open to dark speculative fiction. FOR THIS CALL WE ARE ONLY LOOKING FOR FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. Stories should be in the 1,000-5,000 word range. We support diversity here at Gamut, across the board, especially those voices that are marginalized. Please remove all identifying information from your submissions as we read blind. Simultaneous submissions are okay, just let us know immediately if your story gets accepted elsewhere. Multiple submissions are only allowed for poetry. But you may submit one entry to each category—so that means one submission each to new and reprint fiction, new and reprint non-fiction, and new and reprint poetry. Thank you for thinking of us, and we look forward to your work. Non-Fiction: THIS MONTH WE ARE FOCUSED ON FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION ONLY. Gamut magazine is open to speculative fiction, so our non-fiction articles should keep that in mind. As far as content, we tend to lean toward the tragic and uncanny, exploring transgressive themes—the taboo, the emotional, global experiences, you name it. So, for example, we might be open to a travel...

Submission Window: May 1st-2nd, 2024 Payment: 8 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints, For artwork: $10 for the non-exclusive right to use each image, for as long as the site is online.  If we publish a print collection we will pay a pro-rata share for each image used. Theme: Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world. Note: Reprints welcome     Submissions Schedule We have a new submissions schedule as of June 1, 2020: The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T. Only one submission per person. For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers. We pay 8¢ per word for new fiction, 2¢ per word for fiction reprints, 2 – 6¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles. For new poetry, we pay $1 a line, reprints would be 50¢ a line, up to 40 lines. We’ll look at longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 6¢ per word. We began The Kepler Award to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways. You can learn about The Kepler Award here. You can read a copy of our standard contract here.   It can be varied as needed to include the rights of translators, voice actors, etc. Writers Guidelines We accept new work as well as reprints, prose and poetry, anywhere from 1000 word flash fiction on up, but all else being equal, shorter pieces...

Deadline: May 3rd, 2024 Prizes: $35 for first place, $25 for second, $15 for third Theme: 25 to 50 word story about hats, details below! Premise: For this mini-contest, tell, show, or evoke a complete story between 25 and 50 words long in which a hat of some kind matters to the story. We're going with the fairly traditional definition of "hat" for this one. Scarves, hijabs, earmuffs, wigs, hoods, and other head coverings do not qualify. I'm going to say that even helmets don't qualify. Caps are okay; they're an informal hat. The judges will not care if anyone wears the hat in the story, so that's up to you. Deadline: Friday, May 3, 2024, 11:59 PM Eastern US time. Length: Between 25 and 50 words. Hyphenated Words: Words that are normally hyphenated, but generally considered one word, are considered one word for this contest. Examples: "Twenty-three", "Jack-o-lantern", and "Mother-in-law" are each one word. However, stringing a bunch of words together with hyphens for artistic effect will result in each connected word being counted separately. Example: "It was a get-out-of-my-way day." That hyphenated phrase counts as five words. Prizes: $35 for first place, $25 for second, $15 for third, all in US dollars. Honorable mentions get published but make no money. If international currency exchange fees are necessary to pay an author, that fee comes out of the mini-contest prize money. Other Rules: One entry per author. There is no fee for entering this contest. On The Premises is an on-line fiction magazine founded in 2006 by Tarl Kudrick and Bethany Granger. We publish issues in HTML and PDF formats (and maybe someday, ebook formats). Stories published in On The Premises are winning entries in short story contests launched every June and December. Each contest challenges writers to produce a great story based on a broad...

Deadline: May 6th, 2024 Payment: $25 and a contributors copy Theme: Hilarious short stories that are character-driven and culturally striking Eggplant Emoji, the comedy literary journal is currently seeking previously-unpublished comedic short fiction submissions for its fourth volume.   Eggplant Emoji Volume 4 will be a print and eBook collection of hilarious short stories that are character-driven and culturally striking. We are not looking for essays; we want scenes with dialogue, and stories with a beginning, middle, and an end. For a better sense of what we’re looking for, check out previous Volumes of Eggplant Emoji, available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Submissions should be 1,000 – 7,000 word prose, with a comedic tempo of at least one witty line or funny moment per page, but ideally more than one. The intended audience will be 17+ and we encourage adult or sexual themes. Submission Guidelines: We use a blind submission process. That means your name, email address, or any other identifying information should be absent from the pages of your .doc/.docx piece. Please title your work and reference it in the body of your email. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please immediately advise us if your piece is accepted elsewhere. A maximum of 2 pieces will be accepted per person for consideration. Contributors will receive a $25 one-time payment and author copy per accepted piece. Please send submissions to [email protected] Deadline: Monday, May 6, 2024. Decisions will be rendered by Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Projected release date: September 3, 2024. PDF Via: Eggplant Emoji.

Deadline: April 30th, 2024 and May 10th for writers of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and other underrepresented groups Payment: 5 cents per word for original fiction works and 1 cent per word for reprints. Accepted recipe submissions will receive $5 Theme: Real-world recipes and food horror fiction Note: Not looking for cannibalism stories Note: Reprints Welcome Cursed Cooking: A Horror Community Cookbook and Food Horror Anthology Open call submission window: March 15 - April 30, 2024. Extended submission window exclusively for writers of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and other underrepresented groups: May 1 -May 10, 2024 Cursed Cooking is a horror community cookbook and food horror anthology, featuring both real-world recipes and food horror fiction. This hybrid publication aims to feed not only your body with frighteningly good food, but also your imagination with cleverly crafted horror stories. So, send us your tales of haunted hamburgers, killer chocolate chip cookies, monstrous manicotti, world-ending wontons, and everything in between. Cook up a story filled with genetically modified grossness, fast-food freakiness, or homemade horrors. Get creative. Get hungry. Think outside the pizza box. But also, send us the recipes that you love, recipes that make your mouth water and have people screaming for seconds (and thirds and fourths). We want it all! Submissions Categories Cursed Cooking accepts horror stories and recipes for three categories of submissions: appetizers, entrées, and desserts. Appetizer recipes and drabbles (100-word stories) to introduce readers to Cursed Cooking in bite-sized portions. Entrée recipes and short stories (1,501–4,000 words) will serve as the book’s main course. Dessert recipes and flash fiction (500–1,500 words) will round out the book—they’ll be short and oh so sweet. You can submit fiction, recipes, or both. Whatever you choose to do. Fiction should fall reasonably in the food horror subgenre....