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Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: 6 cents per word and royalties PORTALS is to feature science fiction or fantasy stories that contain a portal opening up between two different worlds and the consequences that come from that portal. We are attempting to fill half of the anthology with science fiction stories and half with fantasy stories. Stories featuring more interesting settings and twists on the typical portals will receive more attention than those that use standard tropes. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with a door in the back of the wardrobe leading to a fantasy world of gnomes, dwarves, and elves. If we do, it’s likely that only one, at most, would be selected for the anthology. We do NOT want to see time portals, connecting one time to another; however, it can be a portal from our reality to an alternate reality. We are interested in all kinds of portals: doors at the back of wardrobes, stone archways in the middle of the forest, wormholes, cracks in reality, etc. Be creative, choose something different, and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark. The PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE anthology kickstarter has hit its goal! If you have a story idea that fits one of the anthology themes, write it up, revise it, polish it, and send it in for consideration. I've posted the guidelines below.   The PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE Submission Guidelines   Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the...

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: 6 cents per word and royalties TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED is to feature stories where the author explores what the phrase “temporally deactivated” could mean with regards to a person, place, or thing. Stories featuring more interesting takes on the twisting of time and how it is integrated into the story will receive more attention than those with more typical twisted time stories. We do NOT want to see stories where “temporal deactivation” means simply death. So be creative and use time in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark. The PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE anthology kickstarter has hit its goal! If you have a story idea that fits one of the anthology themes, write it up, revise it, polish it, and send it in for consideration. I've posted the guidelines below.   The PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE Submission Guidelines   Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: WERE-: WereJellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple manuscripts in separate emails; you may submit to any or all of the anthologies as many times as you wish. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use Times New Roman...

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: 6 cents per word and royalties ALTERNATE PEACE is to feature alternate history stories where the divergence from our timeline comes from some kind of peaceful change to our past. It must explore the consequences of this divergence, not simply introduce the divergence. Stories featuring more interesting historical settings and twists on the consequences of the peaceful divergence from our timeline will receive more attention than those with more standard changes to the course of history. So be creative and come up with an unusual and unexpected break from the timeline. Please note that while the divergence in the timeline must be from some peaceful change, that change CAN lead to violence; in other words, you are allowed to have violence in the story, it just can’t be what’s initiating the alternate history. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark. Here are some example stories for ALTERNATE PEACE--stories where the divergence from the timeline comes from a peaceful change: Stephen Baxter: The Twelfth Album (Interzone 13, Hartwell’s Best Science Fiction of the Year 4) Michael F. Flynn: Quaetiones Super Caelo et Mundo (Analog, 7/07) Janet Kagan: Love Our Lockwood (Alternate Presidents) John Kessel: The Franchise (Pure Product, Fields of Fantasies) Mary Robinette Kowal: The Lady Astronaut series (Tor Books) Ian R. MacLeod: Snodgrass (Dozois’s Year’s Best Science Fiction 10, Past Magic) Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Recovering Apollo 8 (Asimov’s, 2/7, Recovering Apollo 8) Howard Waldrop: Heart of Whitenesse (Dozois’s Year’s Best Science Fiction 15, Heart of Whitenesse) The PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE anthology kickstarter has hit its goal! If you have a story idea that fits one of the anthology themes, write it up, revise it, polish it, and send it in for consideration. I've...

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: £75 and a contributor's copy. For our inaugural anthology, Curse the Darkness*, we’re throwing our doors wide open and inviting submissions on the theme of darkness. That could be the absence of light, the presence of evil, or the sinister thoughts of the afflicted. However you choose to interpret the theme, just make sure you leave us afraid to turn out the lights. We’re looking for stories with compelling characters, sparkling dialogue, and strong, original voices. Send us stories that step off the well-trod paths into the unlit wilderness of the unusual, the interesting, and the provocative. Please review our submission guidelines below before submitting your story via the submission form. *Curse the Darkness is a working title. Unlit Press reserves the right to change the title as necessary. Submission Guidelines Word Count 3,000 to 10,000 words. Deadline 31 December 2018. Payment Accepted authors will receive a one-off payment of £75 (approximately $100) or the equivalent in their local currency. Format We accept .doc, .docx, .rtf or .odt. Multiple submissions No, send us one great story. Simultaneous submissions Yes, but please let us know as soon as possible if your submission is accepted elsewhere. Previously published No, we want original unpublished stories only. Formatting Double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12pt, with a single space after periods. Rights Unlit Press will have first world rights for an exclusive period of 12 months from the date of publication. At the end of the exclusive term, rights will revert back to the original author with Unlit Press retaining world distribution rights for the format(s) originally contracted. Contributor copies Contributors will receive one free print copy of the anthology. You can submit your work here: Unlit Press.

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: 0.06/word and royalties, split evenly from fifty percent of the book’s gross sales profit For our first new anthology of short fiction after a two year hiatus, Bad Dream is now accepting submissions of humorous dark fiction. Editor Brett Reistroffer is looking for original horror fiction with a strong sense of comedy, and most themes, subjects, and settings are welcome but standard genre tropes are definitely discouraged (vampires, zombies, werewolves, etc.). The comedic aspect can be goofy and slapstick or black and morbid, just as long as there are equal amounts of darkness and humor. Horror has always been fertile ground for that unique juxtaposition and it’s exactly what we are looking for, so check out the specifics in the guidelines below and send in your best original horror humor.   -Stories should be between 1,500 and 8000 words in length, a few hundred on either side is fine, but if you have something significantly longer then you should inquire first. -We’re not afraid of blood, sex, and bad words but we’re also not interested in purely exploitative work. If you’re using graphic material make sure it has a point and serves the story. -The deadline for submissions is December 31st. -Multiple submissions are allowed, but limited to a maximum of two. You can submit additional stories after receiving responses for current submissions. -Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please, please let us know as soon as possible if a submission is accepted elsewhere while still in our queue. -We are looking for original fiction only, no reprints. First-time English translations are acceptable, however. -Submissions should be in standard manuscript format, with contact info and word counts on the first page. File types should be in .doc, .txt, .odt, or .rtf only. We don’t accept submissions...

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: 0.02/word & contributor copy A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest... because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her." - Terry Pratchett What We Want We want your witch stories! Though they do not necessarily have to be female-centric, they do need to be tales of powerful, unique beings. Remember, this is a horror anthology, so while you can have elements of other genres, we want to be scared. The Details Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: 0.02/word & contributor copy Length: short stories up to 5,000 words Rights: 1st edition publication rights to digital, print, and audio. ​ To submit please send your story and a short bio to [email protected]. Simultaneous submissions are allowed and you may send in as many submissions as you would like. Please allow 2 - 3 weeks to hear back. Via: The Horror Queen.

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: $50usd There's a stirring at Inklings Tower. Something is afoot. The time has come for the Inklings crew to throw the doors open wide again in search of submissions for the next anthology. And it's a return to our beginnings this time. The first anthology released by Inklings Press was Tales From The Tavern - a short collection of five fantasy stories by some of the early, happy crew that thought it was time to have a go. You can still read that - it's collected in the Tales From The Tower anthology that rounds up the first year of Inklings Press. Fantasy was where we began - and fantasy is where our next anthology will take us. We want you to dare to dream. We want you to imagine fantasy worlds that will surprise, that will excite. It's also a new beginning in a different way. We're trying out a new payment structure. Previously we have paid a share of royalties for each book - but we're going to test out something new this time. For the next anthology, payment is $50 per story, with payment made upon publication. Why are we doing this? Well, our ambition is to aim towards becoming SFWA eligible in time - and a flat payment works more easily for that than the royalty structure. We've got a distance to go, but it's a first step, and all great journeys need a first step. We would also love to see submissions from members of under-represented groups - and fantasy worlds that might go beyond the more familiar. We'd love to see what you've got. Send your stories to and feel free to ask us questions by email or on Twitter @InklingsPress. The deadline is December 31, 2018. Further details...

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: $15 Note: Reprints Allowed Publishing Schedule Volume 35/62 Submission Period: November 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018 Publication Date: May 1, 2019 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...

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: 6 cents per word “I just hate it,” says Brian's friend Andrea, whom he's known since he was five, “when some insensitive clod gets his hands on a good Modern Spacetime Opera with Lesbian Cyborg Time Nazis and Dominatrix AI Mayan Gods versus Hermaphrodite Space Pirate Dinosaurs and their Ambisexual Steampunk Alchemical Gnome allies libretto and then screws it up.” Folks, we want his snarky friend to be happy. Science-Fiction has done a very poor job over the years at giving us good Opera. Space Opera is too often seen as an extension of “Horse Opera” which is not opera at all. Where are the arias? Who is that singing coloratura diva soprano during the overture? "Doctor Dinosaur, you are cleared for blast-off in ten ... nine ... eight ..."(It's got to be "blast-off" for that pulpy 50s sensibility.) https://t.co/tO65lUP8JL— Charlie Stross (@cstross) July 20, 2018 And thus, we the editors owe a debt of gratitude to Charlie Stross for showing us the way.
Soooo… With the prelims out of the way, we’re looking for: Dramatic, large-scale stories of the distant future, focused on optimism and inclusion and blowing things up. Weird mashups. Actual arias. Fat ladies singing on funeral pyres. Watery tarts distributing swords optional. Play fast and loose. No holds barred as long as it’s a tasteful treatment written with respect. Stories between 2,500 and 7,000 words. Exceptions will be made for really great stories, but try to keep it within these limits. Original stories preferred but we will accept a few outstanding reprints. Diversity. Straight white dudes are fine. We all know a straight white dude we love. But space opera is for everyone, so we want stories about everyone. Give us women, nonbinary people, disabled folks, people of all races and beliefs (or...

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: 3 cents per word (or 1 cent per word for reprints) and a contributor's copy Here are the guidelines for Simian Publishing’s next anthology Apotheosis 2: More Stories of Survival After the Rise of the Elder Gods.  (This anthology doesn’t open to submissions until December 1st 2018, but I like to give my writers plenty of time to ponder the sort of story they might write for me. Due to an illness in the form of a stroke for the editor, we have delayed the opening of submissions.)  Apotheosis 2 – More Stories of human survival and defiance in a world subjugated by the return of the Elder Gods. Humanity struggled to grow and evolve as a species for thousands of years forever caught in the shadow of a dread threat known only to a devoted few. When the stars are right, the Old Ones will return to claim utter dominion of the world. Lovecraft Mythos stories often climax at the moment of the fateful return of the Elder Gods and the audience is left to ponder what might happen next. This anthology features stories about humanity under the reign of the Elder Gods and ancient terrors. What do we mean by Lovecraft Mythos stories in relation to Apotheosis? We’re looking for stories inspired by the stories of H.P. Lovecraft and associated writers such as August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smit , Robert E. Howard , Robert Bloch , Henry Kuttner, and Frank Belknap Long.   We’re also interested in writers that inspired Lovecraft such as Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood and Lord Dunsany. We’re interested in classic mythos gods and monsters and originals that have inspired by the mythos. Good Fiction Examples: Apotheosis: Stories of Human Survival After The Rise of The Elder Gods “Boojum” by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette...