Events

Taking Submissions: Hellbound Books’ Anthology of Pandemic & Outbreak Horror

Hellbound Books Publishing

Deadline: June 30th, 2025 Payment: $5 Theme: Plagues, pandemics, original takes on zombies, outbreaks, and everything related! The HellBound Books team felt enough time has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic to warrant an appropriately themed anthology. We are looking for horrific tales of diseases ravaging mankind, viruses, bacteria, and fungal spores infecting and threatening to eradicate all of humanity - and, yes, we would love to see your terrifying, unique takes on the zombie trope! PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines...  * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * Double spaced * Absolutely NO extra lines between paragraphs! * 2.5K - 8K word count * Write 'PANDEMIC' along with your name and story title in the header of your email *The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. * The submission documents are to be separated and Word (.doc or .docx) documents are to be attached to your submission email. To submit, email your polished story to [email protected] - Make sure that you check your mss for grammar and punctuation, use our guidelines to help you: DOWNLOAD YOUR HBB GUIDE TO GRAMMAR HERE (PDF) DEADLINE: JUNE 30, 2025 (please note: all submissions are assessed only AFTER the deadline date and, due to the overwhelming response HBB receives for all anthologies, we are only able to contact the the authors of sucessful submissions). NO REPRINTS - ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY Payment - $5.00 for first rights. Anthology Capped at 120K words in total. Via: Hellbound Books Publishing.

Taking Submissions: Hellbound Books’ Anthology of Extreme Horror

Hellbound Books Publishing

Deadline: June 30th, 2025 Payment: $5 Theme: Extreme horror, brutal, splatterpunk, etc We are looking for your most brutal, bloodied,horrific stories - no holds barred; we challenge you to disturb our most seasoned, desensitized curators with your tales of extreme horror and mind-bending terror... PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines...  * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * Double spaced * Absolutely NO extra lines between paragraphs! * 4K-8K word count * Write 'EXTREME' along with your name and story title in the header of your email *The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. * The submission documents are to be separated and Word (.doc or .docx) documents are to be attached to your submission email. To submit, email your polished story to [email protected] - Make sure that you check your mss for grammar and punctuation, use our guidelines to help you: DOWNLOAD YOUR HBB GUIDE TO GRAMMAR HERE (PDF) Deadline: 30 June 2025 (please note: all submissions are assessed only AFTER the deadline date and, due to the overwhelming response HBB receives for all anthologies, we are only able to contact the the authors of sucessful submissions). NO REPRINTS - ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY Payment - $5.00 for first rights. Capped at 120K words in total. Via: Hellbound Books Publishing.

Taking Submissions: HellBound Books’ anthology of Campfire Stories

Hellbound Books Publishing

Deadline: June 30th, 2025 Payment: $5 Theme: Terrifying Tales to be told around a campfire! Send us your creepiest, most spine-chilling tales of terror best told around the campfire or a late-night sleepover! We're looking for mysterious strangers calling from inside the house, weird, inhuman beings lurking in the woods, inexplicable behaviours from once-trusted friends and relatives that may be madness, a brain-altering disease, demonic posession, or something much, much worse... PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines...  * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * Double spaced * Absolutely NO extra lines between paragraphs! * 4K-8K word count * Write 'CAMPFIRE' along with your name and story title in the header of your email *The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. * The submission documents are to be separated and Word (.doc or .docx) documents are to be attached to your submission email. To submit, email your polished story to [email protected] - Make sure that you check your mss for grammar and punctuation, use our guidelines to help you: DOWNLOAD YOUR HBB GUIDE TO GRAMMAR HERE (PDF) Deadline: 30 June 2025 (please note: all submissions are assessed only AFTER the deadline date and, due to the overwhelming response HBB receives for all anthologies, we are only able to contact the the authors of sucessful submissions). NO REPRINTS - ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY Payment - $5.00 for first rights. Capped at 120K words in total. Via: Hellbound Books Publishing.

Taking Submissions: Saturday Mourning Television

Sliced Up Press

Deadline: June 30th, 2025 Payment: $35 and a contributors copy Theme: Short horror fiction inspired by early morning kids TV Send us your best short horror fiction inspired by early morning kids TV for our next anthology, Saturday Mourning Television. Tune us in to something scary based on any decade you like: the educational/bizarre 1960’s & 70’s, the advert-packed 80’s, the radical 90’s, the wayward & wacky 2000’s or anything beyond. Even web-based entertainment is fair game. And don’t limit yourself to tales involving kids, what about parents, or performers & hosts, workers behind the scenes, even animated creations. Let your imagination go wild, and remember not to sit too close to the screen! What we’re looking for: All submissions must be in the horror genre. Bizarro, splatterpunk and extreme horror are welcome. Preference will be given to submissions from LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC authors. If you don’t like this, don’t submit. All submissions must be original. We will not accept reprints, or stories/poetry published elsewhere, including on blogs, social media etc. We realise this is a TV-related call but no fanfic or direct use of real-life persons please! No AI/machine generated anything– any AI/machine generated submissions (including covering emails) will be deleted without reply, and the submitter will be blacklisted from any future submission calls, grant programmes & other services offered by Sliced Up Press. Please try to avoid simultaneous submissions. Submit your work in modern or classic manuscript format (as outlined on www.shunn.net/format. Poems may be submitted in whatever form best suits the piece. Please send your submission as an MS Word .doc or .docx attachment. Anything sent in a different file type will be rejected without reply. You do not need to include your postal/mailing address or full birth name anywhere in your submission. These will only be requested if your...

Taking Submissions: SpecPoVerse Second 2025 Window

SpecProVerse

Submission Window: May 1st - June 30th, 205 Payment: $5 Theme: Speculative Poetry SpecPoVerse accepts poems with or without known formalism and also experimental forms. An illustrated poem in which the illustration was created by the poet is also acceptable; this must be submitted as a .pdf file with the embedded illustration. Poems created by AI are not acceptable. To submit your poem, fill out this form by clicking the "SUBMIT" button below. You will be asked to provide contact information and to upload your poem. You may upload 1 -3 files with 1 poem per file, including an illustrated poem. You may submit up to 3 poems per submission period, Because we review all poems author blind, please make sure that your poem(s) has(have) no informatio n identifying the poet; these will be automatically rejected. Note: Google will automatically append your name to your file name. IGNORE THIS. We strip your name from the files before review. Your poem must be submitted in .doc, .docx. or .pdf file format. Once a poem is accepted, the poet may later send an audio or video file of their spoken or sign language-interpreted poem, which will be made available on the Readings page from YouTube or Vimeo. Maximum length: 100 lines or 499 words for a prose poem Rights: SpecPoVerse acquires first publication rights only, so please do not submit poems that have already been published elsewhere. Poets retain their copyright on all works after first publication on the specpoverse.org website. By submitting content to SpecPoVerse, you agree that, should the content be accepted, you grant SpecPoVerse a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable right and license to digitally archive and display the content (aka Digital Archive Rights). In the case that we later desire to include your content in any other format (e.g. print, anthology, etc.), those...

Taking Submissions: Skull X Bones

Zombies Need Brains

Deadline: June 30th, 2025 Payment: 0.08 USD / word and royalties Theme: Science Fiction or Fantasy pirate stories Avast, ye scurvy dogs! It’s time to plunder! Pirates have enchanted and haunted readers for generations, from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island to the ill-fated Firefly. Whether it’s Blackbeard, Mal, or Han Solo, we love our swashbucklers, our One-Eyed Willies, and our scruffy-looking nerfherders. In SKULL X BONES, we want writers to give us their best science fiction or fantasy pirates, whether they be on the sailing ships of the deep wide ocean or the spaceships of the black void! The Zombies Need Brains Kickstarter for an SF&F pirate themed anthology called SKULL X BONES has funded! You can check out the Kickstarter here: tinyurl.com/ZNBSkullXBones . This means that the anthology is now open to submissions!!! Submission guidelines are below. If you've got an SF&F idea involving pirates, either on land, at sea, or in space, then writer it up, revise it, polish it, and send it on in! Deadline is June 30th, 2025. Zombies Need Brains is a SFWA Professional market. SKULL X BONES: Submission Guidelines Zombies Need Brains LLC will accept submissions to its anthology, SKULL X BONES, from the moment the Kickstarter funds until June 30th, 2025. This is a one-time open call; there will be no follow-up open calls. Follow us on BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/joshuapalmatier.bsky.social) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/zombiesneedbrainsllc) to keep track of the Kickstarter and the open call. Stories must be submitted in electronic format through the submissions management system Moksha here: https://zombiesneedbrains.moksha.io/. Word count: up to 7500 words. No exceptions. Pay rate: 0.08 USD / word (SFWA professional rate), plus royalties for anthologies (see below) Simultaneous submissions: No. Multiple submissions: Up to three per open call period; please submit each separately. You do not need to wait for one...

Dancing Star Press Is Open to SciFi and Fantasy Novellas

Dancing Star Press

Deadline: June 30th, 2025 Payment: Royalties Theme: Queerer weirder softer ragier hopier anarchier lovelier transier resistier indigenousier earth-lovingier resiliencier justicier LESS WHITE stories that are science fiction or fantasy What am I looking for? I want to publish queerer weirder softer ragier hopier anarchier lovelier transier resistier indigenousier earth-lovingier resiliencier justicier LESS WHITE stories. I love both fantasy and science fiction, but tend to be pretty picky about horror. Please no: Splatterpunk Graphic depictions of rape or sexual assault Needless brutalization of women and children Depictions of brutalization or abuse of people with disabilities Graphic abuse of animals I am not currently interested in works that are a part of a series, but works that are a part of a shared universe are okay. I am not looking for young adult, middle grade, or children’s works at this time. I am not interested in publishing works created in whole or in part with generative AI. If I unknowingly accept an AI-generated manuscript for publication, I reserve the right to remove that title from publication at any time. Please submit only one manuscript at a time. I currently have one reading period planned for 2025: April 1 – June 30 To submit: Email a copy of your completed manuscript in .pdf form only to [email protected]. Submissions in any other file format will not be considered. In the email, please include a short biographical statement including publishing history and the word count of your manuscript. What happens after submission? I generally email confirming the receipt of your submission within a week. I do my best to let you know whether or not I am interested in publishing your submission within six weeks. Royalties are based on 30% of gross profits for paperback sales, and 50% of gross profits for ebooks. Dancing Star Press does not charge...

Taking Submissions: Yay! all queer: Free and Queer

Inkd Publishing

Deadline: June 30th, 2025 Payment: Royalties Theme: Stories where the main character falls in the LGBTQ+ community in any genre Submission Period: April 1, 2025, to June 30, 2025 Theme: Yay! all queer II – An LGBTQ+ anthology. We’re searching for LGBTQ+ characters who have a central position within the story. This will be a diverse and inclusive anthology. There are no restrictions on gender or sexuality. Feel free to create an engaging story with your favorite genre or setting. Mystery, romance, fantasy, or sci-fi are all welcome if the story and characters grab the reader’s interest. Stories that contain infanticide, gratuitous gore, or rape, including dubious consent, will not be considered. Explicit romance will not be appropriate for this anthology, bring it down a notch, and we’ll certainly give it a look. Submission Period: April 1, 2025, to June 30, 2025 Submissions: No AI, 1 per author; no reprints, no simultaneous submissions; Submission Cost: Free Word Limit: 2,000 to 6,000 words Submission Guidelines: Anonymous submission with no author name in document; 12 pt Times or Arial; .Doc or .Docx; double-space; first line indent; no tabs used. Genres: LGBTQ+ Anticipated Pay: Royalty share of D2D sales Each contributor will receive a share, as will the publisher, from the sales on the D2D platform. This does not include Kickstarter funds unless detailed in the Stretch goals, wholesale to authors, or other retail outlets. Timeline Projections: Submissions close: June 2025 Review: July 2025 Acceptance / Rejection: July/August 2025 Edits: August/September 2025 Production: October 2025 Published: November 2025 Upon acceptance, the author is expected to work with the editors on at least one round of revisions in MSWord. Our publication goal will be in 2025; however, the extensive time needed to review and edit submissions may vary depending upon the submitted works and author’s response times. Inkd Publishing...

Taking Submissions: Stellar Parallax: Hope in A Grimdark World

Inked In Gray P.O. Box 493, Chandler, AZ, United States

Deadline: June 30th, 2025 Payment: $50 Theme: Science fiction that follows the title of the book We at Inked in Gray Press are excited to announce a new anthology in collaboration with AJ Van Belle! STELLAR PARALLAX: HUMAN HOPE IN GRIMDARK WORLDS. Let’s not sugarcoat it — things are rough, and we don’t know what the next year or even month will bring. This is why we need stories in which hope shines through the darkness. Give us your grimdark in space, in a near-future dystopia, in a far-future galaxy, or in a sci-fi version of the present day. This anthology will feature gritty sci-fi in which the personal message is hopeful while the external world is dark. We want world-building that’s vivid, immersive, and believable, with the focus on the characters’ direct experience. Sweeping spans of time and vast civilizations aren’t necessary here, nor are nifty tech or clever political machinations — but feel free to include any of these if they serve the story. Regardless of scale or time period, show us the characters’ sensory perceptions, physical experience, and emotional arc. Sci-fi is a genre uniquely equipped to allow expression of character growth because it lets us explore universal human experience within specific, sharply imagined futures. STELLAR PARALLAX will sit at the place where seemingly impossible circumstances meet the inventiveness of human agency, and we can’t wait to see what you come up with! ANTHOLOGY DETAILS Submission Details Submission Period: April 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025 Theme: All stories should have a message of hope whilst surrounded by darkness Parameters: Please include all trigger warnings, even if only mentioned and not described on the page (ie: References to alcoholism, but character does not drink on the page). Absolutely NO AI Please give us diversity! Mental health rep! Fat rep!...

Taking Submissions: Taking Submissions: Allegory Volume 48

Allegory Ezine

Submission Window: May 1st, 2025 - June 30th, 2025 Payment: $15 Theme: Speculative fiction, primarily horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Note: Reprints welcome Formatting Guidelines This is proving to be a recurring problem, so we're putting it up front. Please, for all our sakes, read this next part carefully. All submissions should be sent by e-mail (no letters or telephone calls please) to [email protected]. Below are some formatting rules to help us process your submission more quickly. EMAIL AND COVER LETTERS Email is accepted in both text and HTML formats. When submitting, please put this in the subject line: Submission: (Title) - (First and Last name) Include the following in the body of the email and in the attached submission: Your name Name to use on the story (byline), if different Your preferred email address Your mailing address The story's title The story's word count You may also include a cover letter in the body of the email. We get a lot of strange stuff in cover letters, so if you're unsure of what goes in them (and especially what doesn't) please refer to these cover letter tips: How to write a cover letter | What not to put in a cover letter by Jed Hartman SUBMISSION FORMATTING We ONLY accept submissions as attachments! All stories submitted as an attachment must follow standard manuscript formatting. We will no longer read any story not properly formatted. (And we much prefer Courier New to Times New Roman) For explanations and tips on what SMF is and how to do it with word processing programs, please see this article. Please send your submission as an attachment in Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) or Rich Test Format (.rtf) only. Other formats, such as Works, WordPerfect, Open Office, etc., have proven difficult to open. Please note that we no longer accept "inline" submssions; that is,...