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Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Prizes: Grand Prize: $100 USD, First runner up: $50, second runner up: $25 Theme: Inclusion and representation for under-represented characters. The Non-Binary Stars anthology is about all kinds of inclusion and representation for under-represented characters. We are looking for excellent speculative fiction stories containing a character or characters that are representational of oppressed/under-represented groups, whether that be due to issues of gender, orientation, mental/physical health, body size, skin color, etc., in which the characters are just at home in the stories and they are accepted by those around them, and the storytelling itself is the focus. We want people to feel like there are characters out there that represent them and feel "normal". Note: this does not mean the story cannot mention the adversity such figures might face. Note: In order to have as broad an audience as possible, keep in mind that we cannot consider erotica or sex scenes unless they are only hinted at. Sorry for the damper this may put on some entries. HOW TO ENTER Submit your story to [email protected] with the words "Non-Binary Stars contest submission" or similar in the subject line. There is no entry fee. RULES Deadline is January 1st, 2021 and winners will be announced by February 1st, 2021 or as soon as possible after that. We will hang onto your story until the contest is finished, so please keep that in mind. LENGTH: 3,000-7,000 words SPECIFICS: One entry per contestant. Word count limits are absolute. No exceptions. Entries must be written in English. Entries must be new pieces, no reprints. Entries must be exclusive to this contest for its duration. No fan-fiction will be accepted. Include a short bio and your paypal payment address so we can distribute prizes promptly. JUDGING Each entry will be blind judged on a point system encompassing four factors: Creativity, Technique,...

Deadline: January 1st, 2021 Payment: $100 plus a one-year subscription to the magazine Theme: Goddesses, Nymphs and Supervixens Sexy Fantastic Magazine features the absolute highest quality of fiction, comics, book and movie reviews, articles, photos of sexy fantastic heroines, and other cultural delights by top professionals and award-winning authors and artists. We are currently accepting prose fiction submissions for issue 2. CURRENT ISSUE GUIDELINES The theme of Issue 2 is Goddesses, Nymphs and Supervixens. This theme should be interpreted loosely. We are currently looking for stories that loosely relate to that theme. What We Want The absolute best literature possible in the field of fantastic stories. The greatest emphasis of this magazine is the quality of writing. Whether an orthodox narrative tale, a dreamlike vignette, or a poetical prose scene, a story should be comprehensible on some level, stay truthful to the literary world that the author has created, and be pleasing or satisfying. Any type of story with fantastic elements is acceptable, such as a metaphysical or surreal modern tale, magic realism, a dark fantasy thriller, science fiction satire, historical legend, an imaginary world fantasy adventure, etc. The fantastic element may be blatant or only perceived or hinted at. We hope for stories that are either fantastic with at least a hint of eroticism or erotic stories that have at least a hint of the fantastic. In terms of quality and style, some examples would be stories by Jorge Luis Borges, Fritz Leiber, Catherine Lucille Moore, Gore Vidal, Lawrence Durrell, John Fowles, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Michael Moorcock, Jody Scott, Robert Heinlein, Carlos Fuentes, Anne Rice, Robert Aickman, Jack Vance, Conrad Aiken, Italo Calvino, Giovanni Boccaccio, Chaucer, Voltaire and Shirley Jackson. Comics would be work by creators such Moebius, Manara, or Esteban Maroto.  In TV or film, examples are...

Deadline: January 2nd, 2021 Payment: 6 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints 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 6¢ 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 will be favored.   We have tough standards but only care about the quality of the writing, storytelling ability, characters, plot, and ideas, not whether you’re new or established.  Submit only work you are proud of —...

Deadline: January 3rd, 2021 Payment: $100 via Paypal Theme: Explore a world where gods reign as gods must, but this is not a happy story. It is the story of how a god fell from grace. The Fallen Gods Anthology is your invitation to explore a world where gods reign as gods must, but this is not a happy story. It is the story of how a god fell from grace. Specifically, we are looking for stories with gods in same-gender relationships where one deity dies by some means and the surviving god falls from their immortal reign. Maybe they gave in to anguish and lost their divine spark. Perhaps they sought revenge and were exiled from the celestial realms. The fall is yours to tell. This anthology is the first of ours to only include LGBTQIA+ stories. We will be accepting the eight best submissions for inclusion in this anthology. These stories can be of any genre, but the main character and their partner must be members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and we ask that you keep your stories to YA standards. Please carefully consider your submission before you send it to us. Check for simple errors. Have a beta reader comb through it. Do everything you can to make us say yes. We are looking forward to reading how your god fell from grace. Submission Guidelines 1. Submissions are due on or before 12:00 p.m. PST on January 3, 2021. Please submit all stories to [email protected] with Subject Line: JHP Fallen Gods Anthology and the title of your work. 2. All submissions must be in English and double spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font. 3. Please submit your story as a .docx file. Your name, the work’s title, and the work’s word count must be on the front page. Please also include a 50- to 100-word...

Deadline: January 3rd, 2021 Payment: $50 Theme: Healers, Midwives and Cunning Folk Note: This magazine is only open for submissions from January 1st to 3rd of 2021 for this call so I wanted to give you more time to pen something to submit Hi there! I’ll no doubt write more about this later in the next year, but for now, what follows below will tell you all you need to know. And the theme? It’s “Healers, Midwives and Cunning Folk.” (No more submissions are being accepted for publication in December of 2020–but we will be publishing stories that have already been accepted.) The following is relevant to all submissions for 2021, and the first submission window opens Jan. 1. More below.   Writing opportunities for 2021 include:   New Fairy Tales: Fairy tales that are almost or entirely new or are just new takes on old tales are all welcome. Mashups of existing fairy tales are welcome as well. Submissions must follow the theme below to be considered.   Essays: Nonfiction articles about any aspect fairy tales and folklore are being sought. The term “essay” just means you’ll be writing about fairy-tale related matters in a nonfiction article.  Creative nonfiction is welcome. You do not have to stick to the theme, but you can.   Poetry: Poetry inspired by fairy tales and that follows the theme is also welcome.   Please read the following in its entirety before submitting.   Want to know what is likely to get published here? There are well over 10 years of stories, essays and art on this current site. It’s the best place to start if you want to be published here.   HERE IS HOW YOU SUBMIT AND FORMAT   Only the kind of submissions outlined below will be accepted at EC in...

Deadline: January 5th, 2021 Payment: $50 Theme: sci fi, fantasy, horror, and crime. Use the following guidelines to submit fiction content for publication consideration: email [email protected] put the words Fiction Submission in the subject line along with the submission call, story title and word count (example: Fiction Submission – Winter Blues – This Crazy Story I Wrote – 1972 words) Email Format: include a brief bio of no more than 80 words in the body of the email (do not include a list of all your publication credits) in the email state if this is a simultaneous submission in the email verify that first worldwide English publication rights are available verify you have Paypal and understand payments will only be made using Paypal File Format attach your submission as a .doc or .docx file – PDFs, RTFs and other formats will not be open, reviewed, or responded to use Times New Roman or Arial 12 pt font in black text do not have track changes on – do not send a file showing comments from beta readers or revisions double-spaced text, with the first line of each paragraph indented half an inch (using the format tool – not manually spaced by hitting the space bar 5 times) and one space after the end of a sentence word count: stories should be no less than 1,000 words and no more than 2,750 words *we do not accept reprints at this time*   The current submission call theme is redemption. All submissions should fit into one of the genres Dark Dispatch covers. We do not accept multiple submissions. We do accept simultaneous submissions. If you are simultaneously submitting it should be noted in the email with your submission, and you should withdraw your story immediately if it is accepted for publication elsewhere. We will not respond to submissions that do not follow...

Deadline: January 7th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Original fantasy and dark fantasy stories. All types of fantasy and dark fantasy are welcome. Instructions for submitting to Fantasy Magazine follow. Please read everything on this page and read the magazine before submitting. SUBMISSION PROCEDURES Submission Periods: Fantasy is open to submissions the first week of every month (1st-7th). Please do not query about submitting outside our open submission periods. Anonymous Submissions: Fantasy only accepts anonymous submissions. Do not include your name, address, phone number, or other similar identifiers on the manuscript. All original short fiction, flash fiction, and poetry submissions will be read anonymously on first read: moving out of slush depends on the merits of the story alone. Please make sure the title is on the manuscript. Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: We do not accept simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions. Please do not submit more than one set of poems at a time, more than one piece of flash fiction at a time, or more than one story at a time. You may, however, submit a single entry in each category at the same time: you can submit one batch of poems, one flash fiction piece, and one short story all at the same (or overlapping) time, and each category will be considered a separate submission. If we are already considering work in any given category, please wait until you have received an acceptance or rejection before submitting again in that same category. Instructions: All fiction must be submitted through our Moksha online submission system. Please do not email your submissions. If one of the Submission Type options is grayed out, that means we are currently closed to that Submission Type. Questions/Problems: Email [email protected] for all submission-related inquiries, or if you have any trouble using our online submission system. Please do not email your submissions to this address. All submissions must be submitted...

Deadline: January 8th, 2021 Payment: $75 Theme: Gothic horror and romance stories take on new depths and terrifying outcomes when happily ever after is no longer an option Love can be a curse. True love can have dark depths. “Till death do you part” might be prophetic. And beware the unrequited, shunned, and spited romantics. In the Twisted Love Anthology, gothic horror and romance stories take on new depths and terrifying outcomes when happily ever after is no longer an option. Jazz House wants to read your twisted, dark, and despairing stories about romantic and gothic horror and the people who find love to have a bitter aftertaste. This is a Valentine’s Day-themed anthology, so please incorporate this holiday’s themes and aesthetics in your twisted tales. We encourage every interpretation of this theme, including supernatural, magical, Victorian, and contemporary settings and characters. Submission Guidelines 1. Submissions are due on or before 12:00 p.m. PST on January 8, 2021. Please submit all stories to [email protected] with Subject Line: JHP Twisted Love and the title of your work. 2. All submissions must be in English and double spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font, paragraphs must be tab-indented, and manuscripts must have Shunn formatting (click here for an example) and use the Chicago Manual of Style. Any edits we make will enforce both Shunn and Chicago formatting to include grammar, punctuation, and layout. 3. Please submit your story as a .docx file. Your name, the work’s title, and the work’s word count must be on the front page. Please also include a 50- to 100-word author’s bio with your submission. If you have a social media account, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, please also include your handles. 4. Story length is 7,000 to 9,000 words. Your story must meet the minimum word count. Submissions below 7,000 words and above 9,000...

Deadline: January 9th, 2020 Payment: 10 cents per word for fiction, $50 – $100 for poems, reprints: $0.01 per word for these Theme: Everything should in some way relate to merfolk! Note: Reprints Welcome are. What don’t you want? Submissions that are longer than we ask for in our guidelines. We have made these lengths our limits so that we can afford to pay fairly for your work, and we cannot commit to taking longer pieces. Work that promotes homophobia, transphobia, racism, fascism, ableism, misogyny, bigotry, or other attitudes that harm people and go against our love of inclusivity. We are very particular about stories containing violence, child abuse, and sexual assault. We may publish pieces that refer to or depict this kind of thing, but we want it to be justified within the context of the piece, and not there for the sake of sensationalism or shock value. We will place content warnings on any piece we publish containing these. Things that aren’t in some way related to our mertheme. How should I format my submission? For prose, we suggest Word documents, but we will read other kinds. If for some reason we can’t read your document, we’ll email you to let you know. Please use a format that you personally find comfortable to read. We’d like it to be in a widely available font, and at a size that is not too small (12pt is always a good default if you aren’t sure). For poetry, we’d like to see it as you intend it to look on the page. If your poetry has special shaping, we’re okay with a PDF. For comics and art, please send jpeg image files. If we accept a piece we will ask for a higher quality version, but a compressed file is fine...

Deadline: January 10th, 2021 Payment: $75 for Short Stories for the journal and $50 for Short Stories accepted for publication on the website Theme: Speculative Fiction/Horror ONLY Note: Black women writers only We are looking for previously unpublished, character-driven, speculative short stories written by Black women writers Speculative fiction is a broad genre encompassing fiction with certain elements that do not exist in the real world, often in the context of supernatural, futuristic, or other imaginative themes. This includes, but is not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, fairytale fantasy, and supernatural fiction. Please submit your short story no later than January 10, 2021. Stories must meet our minimum 1,400 word count requirement.  Please include the word count at the top of your submission. All submissions will be considered for publication on a rolling basis on midnightandidigo.com or in our annual Speculative fiction special issue (online and/or print - October 2021). We offer $75 for Short Stories accepted for publication in our literary journal (eBook, print, and/or audiobook) and $50 for Short Stories accepted for publication on midnightandindigo.com. We accept only previously unpublished work. Responses will be provided by February 23, 2021. ***** Optional Add ons We DO NOT charge a fee for submissions, but do offer optional add-ons should you wish to participate. Again, these fees are optional - you are not required to pay to submit your work. Standard Submission ($0) You are not required to pay for submission. You will be notified of acceptance/decline by February 23, 2021. Expedited Reading option ($20) If you choose this option, we'll put your work at the very top of our reading pile for review. Choosing this option will not influence whether your submission is accepted for publication. This only grants a quicker accept/decline response; guaranteed by January 26, 2021. For extended feedback options, please contact us directly via your Submittable account for details....