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Deadline: December 31st, 2020 Payment: $10 for short stories (3000-8000 words) Theme: Horror romance/erotic horror Working Title: 50 Shades of Dark ​ Deadline: Dec 31 2020 or When Full Premise: Horror romance/erotic horror. This is not for pure erotica or romance (no standard PNR), and not for horror that lacks any romantic elements. The components of romance, sensuality, and horror should be well woven together. Happily ever afters not required. Sex not required, but if included should be well done. The best submissions will be equal parts titillating and nightmare fuel. Looking for stories at a hard R to NR rating, but all levels of sensuality and horror will be considered. If you have ever wanted to push boundaries, this is the call to do it in! Preference will be given to #OwnVoices, female authors, LGBTQA stories, but all are welcome to submit! Length Accepted: Flash, and Shorts. Eligibility: Open to all. No Reprints. No simultaneous submissions. Multiple Submissions: See guidelines and story lengths for the number of submissions per pen name. Publication: Feb 2021   Via: Wicked Taxidermy Press.

Deadline: December 31st, 2020 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, submissions with the stories pasted...

Deadline: December 31st, 2021 Payment: $5 and royalties Theme: Fantasy/Science Fiction/Speculative stories featuring a cross-species romance. Note: Reprints welcome I hereby announce that submissions are open for our very first anthology, Universe of Attractions! We are looking for Fantasy/Science Fiction/Speculative stories featuring a cross-species romance. Elves may be the champions of interspecies romance, but what about the others? What are some mythological races that usually are passed by? How do Venusians show their love? Do Alpha Centaurians get starstruck? Romance must be an essential part of the story, not just sprinkled on top, and the romance must contribute to character development. And because we are an all-inclusive press, you are not limited to any specific orientations. We’re not looking for hard adult content, but sexual intercourse is allowed. You should keep the striptease rule in mind—the more you leave to the imagination, the better. And if you mention body parts, do know where those body parts are! Inaccurate anatomy will get your story rejected. Length: the target range is between 2000-7500 words. We will consider works outside this, but they will be a harder sell. Deadline: December 31, 2021. Target date for publication is June 2021. Pay: $5, with a share of royalties after expenses are met. Payments will be made by Paypal, and will be sent upon receipt of a signed contract. Guidelines: Failure to follow guidelines will get your story rejected, but you may resubmit if you correct your mistakes. 1) Submit your story as an *.rtf file attached to your cover letter. 2) One-inch margins, double-spaced text. 3) NO TABS! Use the paragraph formatting tool to indent the paragraphs, and use CENTER to place your section dividers. 4) NO page numbers or other headers or footers on the pages! 5) Mark your italics with an underscore before and after the italics....

Deadline: December 31st, 2020 Prize: $10 Theme: A drabbled based on "Dead of Winter" Rune Bear Quarterly is a seasonal drabble contest. This season’s prompt is “Dead of Winter.” Submissions are open until December 31st. The winner of the contest will receive $10. Each season will feature a different prompt. Submissions should always qualify the prompt in some way. Stories should be exactly 100 words. Titles: 15 words or less. To submit to the Contest, simply type up your piece and send it to [email protected]. Your subject line should be the word: “QUARTERLY.” Make sure you attach your story as a .doc or .docx. No multiple submissions and no simultaneous submissions. Also submit an author bio of 50 words or less. By submitting, you grant us non-exclusive rights to publish your piece if it wins and to keep the winning story in our archives. We request the winner not reprint the story for six months after the drabble is published. Via: Rune Bear.

Deadline: December 31st, 2020 Payment: £15 per accepted piece or B. £5 plus a contributor copy Theme: Aftermath (see below.) ‘Aftermath’ (n) originated in the 1520s to mean the second crop of grass which is grown on the same land after the first had been harvested. From after- + –math (which meant ‘a mowing, cutting of grass’. Figurative language came about in the 1650s. Similar to the French regain, from re- + gain (which meant ‘grass which grows in mown meadows’. Aftermath is now defined as ‘the consequences or after-effects of a significant unpleasant event’, but really, it can mean so much beyond this as well. When we asked our staff what ‘Aftermath’ meant to them, there were many different responses, some of which might inspire all you writers out there for the upcoming issue. What We Publish Epoch is a publishing platform for original, creative nonfiction. We want to hear every voice. Epoch enthusiastically encourages submissions from marginalised voices, BlPOC, POC, LGBT+ folks, emerging writers and people outside of academia. We hope you’ll trust us with your stories. Original Material Submissions must be written and/or created by you and never before published. Epoch also accepts original translations, but we require a cover letter indicating where the work was previously published and whether you have the rights to authorise a translated publication. We will consider work that has been simultaneously submitted to other publications, but you must notify us immediately if your piece is accepted elsewhere. Creative Nonfiction Creative nonfiction is a vast genre, and we like it that way. We accept submissions for: memoir, personal essay, flash creative nonfiction, nature writing, travel writing, city writing, etc.— even poetry will be considered. We are interested in any narrative of real life that is well written. Artwork We encourage the submission of all types of original artwork which can...

Deadline: December 31st, 2020 Payment: Roughly $25 for stories under 1,000 words, $50 for stories between 1,000 and 5,000 words, $75 for stories between 5,000 and 7,500 words and $100, for stories of 7,500 words and over. Theme: Heroic fantasy — in both prose and poetry Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is generally open to fiction and poetry submissions four months per year. The months you can submit are: March June September  December  If you submit fiction or poetry in any other month, you will receive an auto-response and your tale will not be reviewed. * * * As its name suggests, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is a quarterly ezine dedicated to publishing heroic fantasy — in both prose and poetry. We are unrepentant in our goal of elevating unapologetic sword and sorcery to a rightful high place. We pay $100 for stories and $25 for poems, upon publication.  (Scroll down for info on art submissions.) We purchase first world English language electronic rights, electronic rights for 90 days, archival rights for twelve months, and excerpt rights. Our fiction word limit is a soft 10,000 words, although we are willing to serialize at a maximum of 50,000 words over four issues. You may submit up to three poems, with a cumulative maximum of 30 pages.   No simultaneous submissions, please. While we don’t have iron-clad rules regarding our fiction payment, we roughly pay $25 for stories under 1,000 words, $50 for stories between 1,000 and 5,000 words, $75 for stories between 5,000 and 7,500 words and $100, for stories of 7,500 words and over. Tolkienesque (as in really long) poetry epics/sagas/vedas will most likely be treated — and paid — like fiction. Similarly, prose pieces of fewer than 1,000 words will be paid at poetry’s standard rate of $25. Art: HFQ is looking for quality banner art to accompany...

Deadline: December 31st 2020 Payment: $0.01/word Theme: The best speculative stories published in 2020 under 17,500 words that implicitly or explicitly explores queerness and/or transness. We’re Here 2020 is now open for submissions. The anthology will be co-edited by CL Clark and series editor Charles Payseur. Please submit your work here. If anything prohibits you from using the form, please contact us at [email protected] for alternate submission instructions. We are looking for: The best speculative stories published in 2020 under 17,500 words that implicitly or explicitly explores queerness and/or transness. We refer to queerness that is inclusive of ace/aro stories, trans and nonbinary stories, and intersex stories. What we don’t want to see: Original/unpublished work, unqueer work, non-speculative work. Guidelines: Please submit your story in .pdf, .doc or .docx file, formatted for publication or in something approaching Standard Manuscript Format.  Please use italics and bold as necessary. This should be the final version that was published, not including editor notes or track changes. Please include a cover/query letter with the title, length, where/when the story was published, and a brief bio. You may include links to your website/social media, and previous publications if any. Please don’t stress about this cover letter, if we have additional questions about your submission, we’ll ask them. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Multiple submissions are welcome. Reprint submissions from 2020 only. This can include self-published stories, and those published on your blog or Patreon. Submissions are open to all.  Neon Hemlock Press is particularly interested in queer stories and authors.  Authors from all underrepresented backgrounds and marginalized communities are strongly encouraged to submit.  Please don’t self-reject. The compensation level for stories accepted to WE’RE HERE: THE BEST SPECULATIVE FICTION 2020 is $0.01/word. Submissions will close December 31st 2020. Editors are encouraged to recommend work from their...

Deadline: December 31st, 2020 Payment: $100 OR $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits and a paperback copy Theme: For one, Holmes's client must be a real historical figure, for the other, it must be a public domain character and fit in with the Victorian/ edwardian time frame of Holmes and Watson Note: I APOLOGIZE for how short this call is, usually these hit my inbox much sooner. Call for Submissions to Two NEW Sherlock Holmes Anthologies Sherlock Holmes: Stranger than Truth Sherlock Holmes: Stranger than Fiction Guidelines: These traditional Sherlock Holmes adventures are sure to be a lot of fun. For Sherlock Holmes: Stranger than Truth Holmes's client is a real historical figure. It could be Queen Victoria, Billy the Kid, President Harrison, The Dalai Lama, Nellie Bly, Laura Ingalls Wilder, or any person who lived during the time Holmes and Watson worked together. For Sherlock Holmes: Stranger than Fiction Holmes's client is a fictional character. It must be a public domain character and fit in with the Victorian/ edwardian time frame of Holmes and Watson. Perhaps the client is an elderly Oliver Twist or a young Dr. Caligari. Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson could be visiting London and need help from a detective. Maybe Alice needs help finding Wonderland or Dorothy returning to Oz. Submissions:  Sherlock Holmes: Stranger than Truth - Stories must fit traditional Holmes. Submissions should be 5,000 – 10,000 words in length (it is okay to go over or under some). Since these cases involve historical figures they should be canonical in nature. Holmes and Watson must be their traditional selves.   Sherlock Holmes: Stranger than Fiction -  Since these stories involve fictional characters, you have some leeway in adding elements of fantasy, horror, and science fiction (i.e. if you use Dracula, or the Time...

Deadline: December 31st, 2020 Payment: $0.05 per word Theme: To lost contact (not being specific in the call, just what that means to you, ideas for themes below!) Hi! If you are a writer, this post will be of great interest to you. But, before we get to our big announcement, I do want to point out we’ve recently uploaded several new titles on our homepage. Please check it out and order (or, in some instances, pre-order) a couple books. If you love indie horror, the best way to show that is to support publishers directly, and you can do that by ordering books through our webstore. (We will be issuing out other posts at a later date going into more detail on the new titles uploaded, such as Jessica Leonard’s debut novel, Antioch, which is gonna blow y’all’s minds; seriously, you might as well just go ahead and pre-order it right now before reading anything else in this newsletter–it’ll be the wisest decision you’ve ever made.) Now, on to our announcement… Long-time fans of Perpetual Motion Machine know we have released two critically acclaimed anthologies titled Lost Signals and Lost Films. These anthologies have featured fiction from folks like Josh Malerman, Brian Evenson, Kristi DeMeester, Gemma Files, Damien Angelica Walters, and so on… One thing we’ve been asked about the most, probably, is when are we going to complete the trilogy of these…LOST anthologies. And…well, it’s pretty obvious by now, but we intend on completing the trilogy in 2021. But we need help. Which is why, beginning right now, we are officially open for story submissions for a brand-new anthology called…LOST CONTACT.  Now, what does LOST CONTACT mean? I guess that depends on what the word CONTACT means to you. To lose contact…does that bring to mind something physical, something intangible? Does it give you a sense of isolation?...

Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Payment: Small advance + royalties Theme: Horror and Crime fiction Hi, folks! Max Booth here, co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Perpetual Motion Machine. I’ve decided to reopen novel & novella submissions for our 2021/2022 lineup. Long-time fans of our press might notice we haven’t opened to full-length manuscript submissions in quite a while. Seems like a pretty good time to change that, right? And also, full transparency, while in recent years we have managed to publish more diverse authors in our horror magazine, Dark Moon Digest, I fully recognize we haven’t been the best at diversity on the book side of things. If you take a look at our novel roster, the pure whiteness might blind you. Please use caution. Obviously this wasn’t intentional, but I do take total blame in my laziness to seek out non-white voices. I screwed up there and I would like to do better. I love this press. I love the books we’ve published. I’ve dedicated the last eight years of my life to PMMP. But it’s never going to really evolve without making a significant step forward. Which is why, beginning immediately, Perpetual Motion Machine is reading novel & novella submissions from POC writers only. Sorry, white folks, but you gotta sit this open call out. Some general guidelines: Word count: 20k-150k Genres: Horror & Crime Deadline: January 01, 2021 Payment: Small advance + royalties Send all stories to [email protected] with “NOVEL/NOVELLA SUBMISSION_TITLE_LAST NAME_WORD COUNT” in the subject line. Please include a brief author bio in the cover letter. Via: Perpetual Motion Machine.