Events

Deadline: July 16, 2016 Payment: Pro Rata depending on the number of stories accepted – an equal percentage of royalties will be split Submission Period: May 16, 2016 – July 16, 2016 We will accept .doc and .docx submissions ONLY Only standard manuscript format accepted Payment: Pro Rata depending on the number of stories accepted – an equal percentage of royalties will be split Word Count: Anywhere between 500-10,000 words Poetry WILL be considered Send stories to [email protected] E-mail subject: SUBMISSIONS/Story Title Calling all writers! As of today, I am opening up submissions to a new anthology: “Tales of the Once and Future King”. This will be an anthology of juvenile stories about King Arthur and all things Arthurian related. Juvenile is a broad term that can mean anything from a “Chronicles of Narnia” reading level to the later Harry Potter books. The guidelines are very broad. Since it’s juvenile: No sex No unnecessary gore No nihilism HOWEVER – “juvenile” is not the same as “sanitized”. So: There CAN be romance There CAN be fighting Things CAN get dark We don’t want to see stories that talk down to children. Children are young, not morons. No stories that insult the Arthurian tradition. This means nothing like “And King Arthur was really a BAD King and later scribes changed it!” or “Chivalry is sexist and horrible and the knights were all misogynist pigs”. This is one that’s more on our end than yours – if you think it might work, submit it, and we’ll see what we think. Stories that insult Christianity probably won’t be accepted. I have no problem if you’re more interested in things like Druidic mysticism or Paganism than Christianity, it’s just flat-out insults I’m not really interested in. Once again, if you’re not sure, submit it and we’ll make...

Deadline: July 22nd, 2016 Payment: 6 cents per word Note: Usually I wouldn't double up but with these both coming from the same publisher and ending SOON I wanted to get a post up. UPDATE: SUBMISSIONS are now OPEN for Swords & Steam and Dystopia Utopia.  Following the great success of last year’s Gothic Fantasy, Deluxe edition short story compilations, Ghosts,Horror and Science Fiction, 2016 sees the publication of four new books. Submissions are now open and will close on 22nd July for the second two: Swords & Steam and Dystopia Utopia We need between twenty to thirty short stories by new writers to complement a selection of classic tales. Submit by email to [email protected] What’s the difference between the books? Swords & Steam covers any form of historical fantasy and steampunk flavoured mystery, horror, crime and sf. From Walter Scott to Dr Who, Legend to Prester John. Dystopia Utopia focuses on stories which offer perfect worlds gone wrong, or imperfect worlds with perfect people, Somewhere between Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, Mad Max and The Hunger Games gives you the taste and the breadth. Accentuating the Printed Form Last year’s titles speak for themselves (see here). Still available they work because their unusual mix of modern and classic writing, combined with the tactile deluxe presentation offers something beyond the sea of consumable digital fare. They’re books you can be proud of, you can leave on anyone’s table and guarantee they’ll be picked up, and loved. We make illustrated books, gorgeous notebooks and calendars with incredible fine and fantastic art, but we also devour fiction. The economics of publishing and selling new stories is pretty tough but we really enjoyed reading and selecting the stories last year, so settled on four new titles for 2016. Call for Submissions We are looking for new and recent short stories. We...

Deadline: July 25th, 2016 Payment: Contributor's copy Penny Dread Tales Volume 5 is a GO! This is a call for submissions for the next installment of the Penny Dread Tales series. The deadline for submissions is July 25th, 2016, and we’re shooting for a publication date of December, 2016. The theme for this volume of steampunk short fiction is heroism and heroes. The story length can be anything from 1,000 to 10,000 words. We’re still pretty small, so it’s a token payment proposition, with a free copy for each accepted story. Also, contributors can get author copies for 10% over cost plus shipping, which gives you a good option for selling copies at your own events and making some money. Send all submission to PDT5Submit (AT) RuneWright (DOT) com. (Yes, that’s an email. Fill in the stuff so SPAM web crawlers don’t bury me with bad submissions) Submissions must be in Standard Manuscript Format: Title On First Page By Line On First Page 1 Inch Margins Times Roman 12pt Double Spaced (No Tabs, Use Styles) Include on your first page header: Legal Name Pen Name EMail Mailing Address EMail Address Include on subsequent header: Last Name Of Legal Name Story Title Page Number Attach your RTF or DOCX file to your email, and feel free to include a very brief cover letter in your email including story genre, word count, and log line. Can’t wait to see your stories! Via: Rune Wright.

Deadline: July 31st, 2016 Payment: $25 We are having another open call for submissions! This one will be done EARLY because it will take some time to put together this project. Title: Gothic Betty Crocker Cookbook (And DIY Crafts) We are looking for your own original recipes and craft how-to’s. This will collection will be hardcover and released in October for Halloween. This is a fun book with recipes from everything from Meatloaf to Fake Blood. You must submit your own photos for a step-by-step process of making your recipe. We also invite you to make a video of you making it so we can post it here! We are not posting a word limit at this time because some projects are bigger than others. You will be asked to sign a release form for the pictures so do not scan the internet for these. Pay: Each accepted submission will be paid $25 This will be an annual project. Some entries will be kept for future published cookbooks, so when you submit please remember that we may hold onto it and reserve the right to publish it in another book (yes, you’ll still get paid for it). Categories (names subject to change): Dead Cow Recipes Dead Chicken Recipes Is This Dead? (Sushi, raw recipes) Something’s Fishy (Fish recipes) Carnivorous Cravings (all other meats: pork, lamb, etc) Rise from the Earth (Vegan) Betty’s Baubles (jewelry) Crafty Conjurings (all crafts) ***NOTES*** We’d love for authors and their wives, and/or family to participate in this who are already part of our family. It is open to anyone, though! Several copies will be donated to Authors Supporting Our Troops: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ASOT2014/ How to Submit: Please submit by emailing your edited recipe to [email protected] along with your high quality photo and step-by-step photos for completing your recipe! Deadline: July 31st, 2016...

Deadline: July 31st, 2016 Payment: $30USD plus a copy of print, electronic, and audiobook formats Expanses of water so vast they seem to go on forever…the silhouette of a dead ship on the horizon…stars filling the night that have never shone over our earth…nightmares made flesh, rippling just under the surface…a siren’s call no man can deny…this is what waits for you in CETO’S BRINE. CETO’S BRINE is open to ocean-themed horror – mermaids, selkies, doorways to other dimensions, ghost ships, curses, madness, mythical beasts from beyond, Lovecraftian horrors, and demonic forbidden love are just a few of the tales we’re looking for. Genres accepted: Horror Dark Fantasy Horror Erotica Adult-level fiction only (no children’s/preteen fiction). To be published in print, e-pub, and audiobook formats Pay is $30USD plus a copy of print, electronic, and audiobook formats Submit any questions to [email protected].   SUBMISSION INFORMATION SUBMISSION LENGTH: 5,000-12,000 words. Query for shorter/longer FILE FORMAT: Submit work in RTF, ODT, DOC, or DOCX formats as an attachment. Do not put your submission in the body of the e-mail. PAGE MARGINS: 1 inch margins. LINE SPACING: Double-spaced. SENTENCE SPACING: Single or double-space between sentences FONT: 12 point Times New Roman, Courier New, Arial, or equivalent font. PARAGRAPH INDENT: Auto-indent new paragraphs. Do not manually indent with spaces or tabs. CONTACT INFORMATION: Name, address, phone number, phone number, and e-mail address at the top-left of the cover/first page. HEADERS / FOOTERS / PAGE NUMBERS: Do not include any headers, footers, or page numbers. Submit your manuscript as an e-mail attachment to [email protected]. Via: Strigidae Publishing.

Deadline: July 31st, 2016 Payment: Five cents per word on fiction or five cents per word or a flat twenty bucks for poems, whichever is greater. For our fourth issue, Deep Black Sea, we want short stories, flash, and poetry hauled from the brine of oceans both real and fantastic: the shipwrecked rocket bobbing in the black ocean waves of a starless planet, its bloodied crew and their flashlights at the hatch that opens into the perfect dark, and the heavy thump against the hull; the work song of a dozen sailors, and the lilting mezzo-soprano that begins to harmonize from the empty crow's nest; the fleeing galleon's dreadful captive gnawing the last rivet from its iron box; the granddaughter that chucks a sharpened stick and spears a skull-sized opal blob galloping across the sand on its little wet fingers. We want your stories and poems. Descend by choice or let yourself be dragged under by those things that grasp upwards. Come back with the meanest, meatiest, most vigorous weird fiction you can wrestle to the surface. Watch them gasp and flop and promise you everything in ten languages. Once you're done with them, give them to us. Submission Guidelines: We will only be accepting work that fits with the set theme. Your work could be terrific, but if it's a bad thematic match we can't use it. For general questions, including our rates and rights acquired, see our FAQ Word limits as follows: Short stories and poetry to 2,500 words, flash stories to 1,000 words. With this in mind, here's how you format your email submission: 1. Subject Line: Submission, (your story title & approximate word count), (submission theme) 2. Email Body: Please summarize in a few lines how your story fits the theme. Any submission that doesn't include...

Deadline: July 31, 2016 Payment: $25 plus one contributor’s copy Many of the Christmas stories we hold dear in Western culture focus around male figures – Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, the Krampus, Rudolph and Frosty. But if you look to the past, female figures were central to family and hearth celebrations occurring on or around the Winter Solstice. Do some research and tell us your own unique story about the feminine spirit in the Yuletide. Here’s some links to get you started: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modranicht http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/yulethelongestnight/a/Winter_Sol_Gods.htm What we don’t want to see: Gratuitous anything – violence, sex, profanity, doesn’t matter. If it is not integral to the story and it’s not advancing the plot or character development, we don’t want to see blood, gore, or sex just for shock value’s sake (this goes for language too). We are not opposed to violence, sex, or profanity – as long as it belongs in the story and it’s not just there to shock and titillate. Some things would be a very hard sell for us, like rape or torture of any sort, and torture of children or animals will get an immediate rejection. Think of how far we’re willing to go based on the well known movie rating system – if it would qualify for a PG, PG-13, or R rating, we’ll look at it. If it would be NC-17 or up, we’ll have to pass, thank you. Word Count: We’re looking for stories that fall in the 3,000 to 10,000 word range. We will consider looking at stories outside this range, but they need to be just too good for us to pass up. You have a much better chance if you keep the word count within our range. Please query us before sending a story outside of the word count guidelines. Reprints:...

Deadline: July 31, 2016 Payment: $25 and contributor's copy SUBMISSION OPEN CALL! Anthology Deadline: July 31, 2016 Publishing date: October 30, 2016 Pay: $25 upon acceptance, plus one contributor copy Word Count: min| 3500, max| 5,000 Title: The Unleashed: Monsters Vs. Zombies Are you tired of the same old zombie stories? Have you had your fill of man vs. zombie? Stiched Smile Publications wants you to unleash your imagination and mash it up. We are looking for uncommon stories featuring a monster (dracula, big foot, frankenstein, etc) fighting the undead. Unleash your imagination and take us on a ride that we've never been on. Thank you Mark Deloy for the idea. It's why you're a part of SSP! How to submit: Please send your submission to [email protected] You must have your full name, pen name if applicable and mailing address include. Entries without all information will be disqualified. Via: Stitched Smile Publications.

Deadline: July 31st, 2016 Payment: $5.00 with an equal share of 50% of royalties. “Revenge is a dish best served cold..” Eugène Sue, Memoirs of Matilda, (1848) Indeed revenge is sweet! How about served with a big scoop of ice cream, with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a gleaming drop of blood red cherry on top? Just Desserts is all about vengeance. Whether your character is dishing it out or tasting the well-deserved (or not) fruits of their actions, we want to hear stories of revenge. We’ll accept most genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, horror (but keep the PG-13 rating in mind), romance, steampunk, Weird Western, and poetry of various types. We are especially looking for DIVERSE protagonists and characters, all races, including aliens, sexual orientations, disabilities, etc. RESTRICTIONS:  No fan-fic or erotica. Keep the content PG-13, please.  Limit profanity, seriously gory violence, and erotic content. We want to make this book available to young adult readers as well as adults. If you have questions about content, please feel free to email:  [email protected] SUBMISSION EMAIL: [email protected] READING PERIOD:  June 1 2016 to July 31, 2016 (DO NOT SUBMIT PRIOR TO JUNE 1, 2016) RELEASE DATE:  October 2016 SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED: We do not accept simultaneous submissions. Make this your best work. If we see spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, we’ll reject your story. We will accept reprints if you have the current rights to them. LENGTH:  Up to 7,000 words, but the “sweet” spot is between 3,000 and 5,000. FORMATTING:  Standard manuscript formatting, please. Margins should be 1” to 1.5” sides, top, bottom. Indent the first lines of each paragraph, double space, italics for thoughts, etc. Please, use italics for italics not underlining. (This makes unnecessary work for your editors) Font should be 12 point Times New Roman or Courier. File...

Deadline: July 31st, 2016 Prize: £10 This month sees our one year anniversary and to mark it, along with our announcement that here on out, we will grace the winner with the mammoth sum of £10, we are looking for your best and most original monster stories. Big Foot, the Yeti. Loch Ness Monsters and Beast of Moors Bodmin and beyond. We want your creations to grace our pages for the next month. Lacking in inspiration? Fear not, here are a few images from tabloids and websites of unimpeachable repute. (www.dailystar.co.uk, http://www.dailymail.co.uk,http://www.express.co.uk and http://www.ancient-origins.net) 300 words is the max. Aim for Times New Roman and 12 points if you would be so kind. Either submit in the body of the email or as an attachment. If you do decide to grace us with your prose, there’s a good chance that at some point (probably a year down the line) we might use it in a ‘best of’ collection. So, be warned, by sending us your stuff, it will/might be published in an outmoded form called paper and as such, you accept this. Should this happen you will be offered the opportunity to buy the book at ‘cost’ price + delivery. Please send your stories to: [email protected] Via: Zero Flash.