Events

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: $5 USD Theme: "Most" Speculative fiction, read below for specifics. Note: Open only for women-identified authors. Simply follow the schedule below to be notified when we close and open for submissions. Criteria Luna Station Quarterly publishes speculative fiction written by women-identified authors. We think women write awesome characters and really cool stories and we want to show it to the world. We will consider stories submitted by any woman writer, regardless of experience or writing resume. If you consider yourself on the woman end of the gender spectrum in any significant capacity, you’re welcome here! Stuff we want: Fantasy Science Fiction Space Opera New Fairy Tales (not retellings) Some creepiness Stories that explore the nooks and crannies of an original world Big events from the everyman perspective Unique settings and storytelling forms Well written stories with strong characters Stuff we don’t want: Anything biased toward any religion, race or moral preference Extreme gore or sexual content, in particular no explicit rape or sexual assault. (everything in moderation) Bizarro fiction Poetry Fan Fiction (original stories only, please) Bad grammar/punctuation (please proofread and watch your sentence structure!) Plagiarism A further note about sex and violence in submissions. Science fiction has a long-standing tradition of pushing boundaries and asking difficult questions. It is meant to challenge us and ask us to look at ourselves and how we treat each other and the world around us. That said, LSQ is centered on uplift and so any story that contains explicit sexual situations or violence especially toward women will be considered more carefully than other stories and the content must be justified within the story’s arch. Format and Details Stories should be 500 to 7000 words in length. We may publish longer or shorter works, but the greater your story is...

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: .01 cents per word and a contributors copy Theme: New takes on fairy godmothers New Tales of Fairy Godmothers Anthologist: Kate Wolford Open for Submissions: September 15 - November 15, 2020 Expected Publication: 2021 Story Length: 4,000 to 7,500 words Payment: $0.01 per word (up to $75.00) + contributor copy Wands, wishes, and wonders. That’s the fairy godmother toolkit, and it’s been catching the imaginations of fairy tale lovers for centuries. But it’s time for some new fairy godmother tales, and that’s where you come in. Use your magic to come up with tales that illuminate, investigate or turn the fairy godmother trope on its head. Origin stories are welcome, but so are stories about fairy godfathers, fairy godparents, mundane godparents who find themselves in magical situations, the beneficiaries (or victims) of fairy godmothering—you get the idea. You can use existing fairy tales for inspiration or create a brand new story. What if Cinderella hates everything the fairy godmother does for her? Or, think about retelling “The Goose Girl” from the horse Falada’s point of view. Can the Giant’s wife in “Jack and the Beanstalk” be seen as a fairy godmother? I’m not just looking for old tales with a bit of retread. There’s a lot of that out there. Subvert the tales. Or just create a completely new tale of wonder and transformation. Stories set outside of dominant, Western culture are very welcome, as are new fairy godmother tales about and by people who aren’t usually represented in “classic” fairy tales. Please understand that we have a strong preference for "own voices" when it comes to tales about non-white people, queer or disabled people, and other marginalized groups. Absolutely none of the following: Sci-fi, dystopian, descriptions of people’s bodies through the objectifying eyes of the protagonist, erotica, high fantasy, excessive...

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: $150 Theme: Poetry in or about variety Englishes (see below for an explanation.) Submit poetry written in or regarding variety Englishes, to be published in Spring 2021 Issue (41.1). Poems in Singlish, Konglish, Spanglish, AAVE, and other English-associated linguistic forms will be considered for publication. Poets may be asked to contribute supplementary linguistic information to facilitate publication. *A maximum of three poems may be submitted. *No submission fee. Accepted pieces will be awarded $150 for publication. *Deadline November 15th. For inquiries, email [email protected]. Via: The Pinch's Submittable.

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: £10 Theme: Hell H is for Hell – Submissions open October 1st. Deadline November 15th.  For this one we’re thinking about experiences of Hell, whether that be a literal interpretation of fire and brimstone or a hellish situation. We are currently calling for submissions for a series of horror anthologies – The A-Z of Horror. The series will be based on a variety of themes and will consist of twenty-six books in total. We are looking for short horror stories, between 4000 and 8000 words, on each of the themes listed below. You may submit to more than one book, but we will only include a maximum of one story from each author, in each book. Being accepted into one book does not guarantee acceptance into one of the others. The story must be your own work, to which you hold the rights. The story must not be available elsewhere and, if accepted, we will hold the rights to it for three months from the date of publication. After that time, you may use the story however you wish. Any sub-genre of horror is suitable, even extreme, so long as the story fits the theme of that book and does not include anything which may unnecessarily cause offence ( ). Payment for the story will be £10, to be paid by PayPal, as well as a contributor’s e-book of the finished book. Please send submissions in a Word document (ideally Times New Roman 12pt, single spaced) to [email protected] with the title of the book you are submitting to in the subject line. Please ensure you have included your name on the Word document. If you have any queries, feel free to get in touch using the Contact page. We aim to respond to submissions within 2 weeks of...

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: 8 cents/6 pence for each word Theme: An unthemed horror anthology Note: Competition will be tough on this one, there are only 4 open slots. Beyond the Veil A New Collection of Horror Stories We are very excited to open submissions for this new anthology, edited by Mark Morris ("...one of the finest horror writers at work today" – Clive Barker)! Beyond the Veil is the second book in the Flame Tree Book of Horror series, and follows After Sundown, which published October 2020. Mark has once again approached an impressive range of authors but we've reserved space for four new stories from the online submissions. This is a prestigious anthology and will be published worldwide in hardcover and paperback. Fees, Copyright and Other Terms: We pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence for each word for new stories. We will not accept reprints for consideration to this anthology. We would prefer to pay for the selected stories via PAYPAL because bank charges to the US and Canada in particular can be crippling for all concerned. Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website flametreepublishing.com for details), although some may be paid earlier than that. Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel. Please submit in .doc, .docx or .rtf formats, double spaced, with your name and email address in the footer or header of each page. We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline. The anthology will be published worldwide, available online and to bookstores worldwide, in print and ebook formats. Guidelines: Please only submit unpublished/original/new stories for consideration....

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: $10 Theme: Nuclear Winter Nuclear winter. The frozen plains of the wild west. The ice-capped mountains of a dark wizard. Modern cities drowning in dunes of snow. Wherever or whenever the story takes place, winter is the worst enemy and is the deadliest monster chasing the hero. Survival is almost impossible as the sun hides behind billowing, gray clouds. The wind chaps their flesh. Whether the world has been covered in a 100-year winter or the snow has just started to fall, inciting an anticipated panic, Winter’s Vindication is at hand. ​ Stories of fantasy, sci-fi, literature, and/or survival are acceptable genres. Stories between 5,000 and 9,000 words will be selected for this anthology. Submissions close November 15th, 2020. Tentative release date: January 15th, 2021. ​ Please see the submission guidelines on how to submit to this anthology before you send your story. Pay: $10 per accepted story. Via: Summer Storm Press.

Deadline: November 20th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Previous works are primarily fantasy We are opening a submission window for novel manuscripts (over 60k). The limited reading period will run from 20 September through 20 November 2020. We are looking for books to release for our 2021-2022 calendar. Anything submitted before 20 September or after 20 November will be deleted unread. BEFORE you submit, please read ALL of our guidelines. Submissions that plainly ignore the guidelines will be deleted unread. Kindly send your English language manuscript to [email protected] as follows: Query letter, with novel synopsis and first three chapters pasted into the email, in standard manuscript format. No attachments, please. (For a good example of standard manuscript format, both classic and modern, kindly go here.) Kindly place in the subject line: Title: Author Name, Genre Full manuscripts ONLY UPON REQUEST BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and international authors are particularly welcome to submit. PLEASE BE AWARE: We are a very small press and, as such, cannot pay advances at this time. Royalties are paid on a quarterly basis for books sold. Before you submit, bear in mind our mission statement: Forest Path Books has been formed as a specialty publisher of divergent speculative fiction, with an especial focus upon literary, diverse, and expressive prose. We publish the books we want to read; ones that aren’t merely ‘consumed’ then forgotten, but ones that give a lingering, provocative, and extraordinary reading experience. The work published by Forest Path Books is written, not to ever-narrowing specifications controlled by a status quo of marketers, but to readers like ourselves, who often find themselves dissatisfied with the boundaries that genre fiction can set. FPB welcomes authors from varied walks of life, many of whom have voices and viewpoints sorely underserved in much of the mainstream publishing industry. Our especial focus includes not only well-written...

Deadline: November 20th, 2020 Payment: $100 (Canadian) per page of their story and a contributors copy Theme: Scary stories appropriate for From the publisher of Bones of the Coast and The Witching Hours comes a fantastically spooky new comics anthology! The Cloudscape Comics Society is proud to announce that FANTASTIC FRIGHTS, the all-ages fantasy/horror comics anthology, is now open for submissions! Fantastic Frights is a modern day love letter to the retro-pulpy horror of the 90s and early 2000s but with a fantasy twist. Think fantasy Goosebumps, but in comic book form. CLICK HERE TO APPLY Why Fantastic Frights? Despite the rising demand for more kid friendly graphic novels, we’ve observed a great deficiency in content, ESPECIALLY in the horror genre. Fantastic Frights seeks to fill that gap, providing kids with a safe and engaging way to jump into the genre by literally transitioning them into it! Stories will be ordered by least to most spooky (as judged by the editors), culminating in the most horrific (but still safe) stories we have to offer. The book will challenge readers by posing the question of how far into the book are they willing to get, and warning them that it only gets scarier from here! What we’re looking for The main theme of the anthology is the Fantasy/Horror cross. While stories can lean more heavily towards one genre, they must contain elements of both. Stories that can come up with unique and creative ways to weave the genres together are more likely to catch our attention. Some examples of what we’re looking for are Are You Afraid of the Dark, Goosebumps, and Tales from the Cryptkeeper (the cartoon), but leaning slightly more heavily on the fantasy element. By “Fantasy” we mean it in the broad sense of the world. You’re welcome to create a high fantasy setting with extra terrestrial creatures and locations, but a low/urban fantasy story...

Deadline: November 27th, 2020 Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words Theme: Solarpunk, cyberpunk with a hopeful outlook, futuristic fantasy Note: Reprints welcome Note: Sorry for the short window, I was just notified of this market. Solarpunk, cyberpunk with a hopeful outlook, futuristic fantasy, we're looking for your spec-fic stories of all kinds that leave us with the idea that despite the doom and gloom in the universe, things can possibly work out if we strive to make life better, even if in a small way. Send us your stories! Submissions deadline November 27th. NOTE: We are currently only accepting short stories for the anthologies and cannot accept full-length novel manuscripts at this time. ** Please put the anthology you're submitting to in the subject line of the email!** Payment for stories will be $5 USD per 1000 words for all current anthologies (excepting contests). We're looking for speculative fiction across all anthologies (unless otherwise specified). That includes everything from high fantasy to hard scifi and anything in between. We do accept reprints, simultaneous submissions, and multiple submissions, though these will slow down our response time. Story lengths should be anywhere from flash-length to about 15k words, but we have at times made exceptions. We know a story is complete when it's complete, and arbitrary word count requirements are not always helpful. If you have an amazing story that exceeds 15k words, let us know. We may be able to make special accommodations. :) With regard to copyright, we request the non-exclusive right to publish your story in the anthology to which it was accepted. You retain the rights to your individual story to do with as you wish. Please let us know if you have any questions. Note: We do have long lead times with our anthologies, because we want to ensure...

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Deadline – November 30th, 2020 Publication – February 2021 Word Count – 5,000-15,000 Theme – It is rare for soul mates to be discovered early on in life. These characters have begun creating their own fairytale happily ever afters. Whether it be the boy next door, a loyal princess, or a supernatural being, all of these stories have two things in common: everlasting love and * Introduction of yourself should be a short biography in 3rd Person between 100-200 words. Upon acceptance, this will be used within the anthology. Send a bio with every single anthology submission. We work with hundreds of authors and will not take time to retrieve yours from a previous anthology. * Poetry submissions: All poetry needs to be contained within a single e-mail. Each poem should be in a separate document. Haikus may be grouped together. * All e-mails should be addressed to “Dear Editor.” After receiving edits back, the author has two weeks to return the submission for formatting. All submissions will be reviewed within thirty (30) days of the anthology’s submission deadline. This ensures submission calls do not close early and gives everyone a chance to submit. You will know your submission has been received for consideration by receiving a generic response. Whether accepted or rejected, you will always receive a response. View our blog articles on how to submit to a publisher and how to write a proposal.   Failure to submit following all of the guidelines will result in an immediate refusal. You are able to submit again before the submission call deadline.   Rating – Check each anthologies‘ rating. Word count – Check each anthologies‘ word count requirements. E-mail address to submit to – [email protected]   NOTICE –  Failure to submit correctly will result in refusal of submission. Via: Dragon Soul Press.