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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 Previously published No, we want original unpublished stories only.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...

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 Payment: Short stories: 1 cent a word, to a maximum of $20. Poetry: $5 per piece. Note: NZ and Australian authors only Guidelines We publish SF, horror and dark fantasy short fiction from NZ and Australian authors. We publish bimonthly and open for submissions for the month prior to release. Our submission periods for 2018 are as follows: Issue #08: August (to publish in September) Issue #09: October (to publish in November) Issue #10: December (to publish in January 2019) In the Zine All work must be original and previously unpublished. We pay for first worldwide publication rights for six months and nonexclusive reprint rights. Copyright belongs to the author or artist. We simply ask for you to credit Breach as the site of first publication if your work is then subsequently reprinted elsewhere (after the six month exclusive period). Stories between 500 and 2000 words, in doc format. Poetry of a page length, doc format. Cover art in A4, 600dpi, RGB. Payment Short stories: 1 cent a word, to a maximum of $20. Poetry: $5 per piece. Cover art: $20 per piece. From August, 2018 we'll also accept submissions of longer works of novella (17,000 to 40,000 words) and novelette (7,500 to 17,000 words) length. Our short stories lean toward horror and the darker side of science fiction and we'd like to carry that over to longer works. If you're interested in publishing with us, please send the first chapter and a single-page synopsis as a Word doc using the form below. All work must be original and previously unpublished. Breach pays 50% of royalties from all print and ebook sales - we don't offer advances. We pay for exclusive worldwide publication rights for one year and non-exclusive reprint rights. Copyright belongs to the author. Via: Breach.

Deadline: December 31st, 2018 To submit to Mirror World Publishing, please send the following:  A query letter (stating the genre, word count, and target audience of your manuscript)  A one-page synopsis of the plot, including the ending  The first three chapters or equivalent sample, attached as a .doc or .docx file All submissions should be sent to: [email protected]   Expect us to take up to six to eight weeks to respond. We try our best to provide some feedback regardless of acceptance and we respond to all queries we receive. Our submissions period annually is typically from November 1st until the end of the year. Outside of this period, we accept submissions by personal invitation only. In the meantime, we encourage you to improve your submission by watching the videos below, reading our guidelines, or keeping up with our blog for helpful tips and tricks of the trade. We're a small independent Canadian press and we are passionate about success. We partner with our authors to make the books we produce the best they can be and we aim to market them together for maximum exposure. We're proud to be able to offer full paperback and e-book services, higher royalties than the industry standard  (50% of net profits), author copies at better than wholesale rates, and worldwide distribution. We respond to all queries we receive within six to eight weeks with a personal response including suggestions on how to improve your manuscript even if it is not the right fit for us, so there is no need to send a follow-up inquiry. We're looking for Escapism Fiction... Our goal is to provide our readers with the ability to escape the mundane through wildly creative fiction. We're looking for books that act as gateways to other worlds, times, or versions of reality. We prefer strong story telling and strong character development as well as imaginative settings and...

Deadline: January 31st, 2019 Payment: 1 cent per word, a flat rate of $20 if under 2,000 words. The Overcast is currently open to submissions three times a year, during the months of January, April, and October. (Note we are no longer reading during July.  Our summers have just gotten too hectic.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Thank you for understanding.)   What We Want We are interested in speculative fiction, whatever that means to you, be it Science Fiction, Fantasy, Steampunk, Magical Realism, Slipstream, or an as-yet-unnamed genre.  Anything that looks at the world and life from an unexpected angle.  We want the original vision of William Gibson.  The magic and beauty of Erin Morgenstern.  The uncompromising voice of Margaret Atwood.  The technical brilliance of Ted Chiang.  We want to read stories that transport us to places that we've never imagined.  We want to still be thinking about a story days after reading it.  Be original.  Be amazing. We are based in Portland, OR, and shine a spotlight on writers hailing from, living in, or connected in some way to the Pacific Northwest, as loosely defined by the bioregion of Cascadia.  We feel there is an exceptionally strong talent pool of speculative writers in Cascadia, and we want to celebrate and promote them to a larger audience.  Roughly half the stories we publish are by PNW writers.  That said, we are not exclusive, and the other half of our stories come from authors all over the globe.  So no matter where you live, send us your stories.  If they make us laugh, cry, or turn cartwheels of astonishment, preferably all at once, we will find a place for them on The Overcast. This is an audio format publication.  We feel that stories of around 20-30 minutes in length are the best...