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Deadline: June 30th, 2021 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: June 30th, 2021 Payment: $30, a contributor's copy, potential royalties Theme: Navigating Ruins WriteHive has grown so much since it's started. We are excited to announce this new projects as another step toward Writing the Future We Need. In a collaboration with Inked in Gray we will be hosting our first ever anthology collection! As we come out of this last year and seek for ways to grow better and stronger, we felt that this theme would be a good first foray to showcase our writing community. More specifically the topic of navigating ruins. This open call opens May 1st, 2021 and closes on June 30, 2021. Writing the Future We Need: Navigating Ruins Theme: Navigating Ruins. There is no limitation to how you incorporate this theme into your work as long as the story falls within the Sci-Fi, Horror, or Fantasy genre. We encourage you to take the theme and show its manifestation beyond the physical, showing us something unique and engaging. Submission Period: May 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 Submission Cost: Free Word Limit: 10K words per piece, not including addition information below Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi Submission Details: Previously unpublished works You may submit up to 2 pieces, but each work must be a separate submission Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please let us know if the work is accepted elsewhere Include story as attached .doc (or .doc compatible format) please for ease of visual accessibility You will be asked to copy a short query with bio and mission criteria into our form submission Work must not have been previously published elsewhere What to Include with Your Submission: *Please read carefully* A 3 – 5 sentence bio with any relevant social media links (Social media is not required to participate) A short snippet (1 – 3 sentences)...

Submission Window: June 1st – June 30th, 2021 Payment: 3 cents/word Theme: Ecological Horror Field Notes from a Nightmare will be a print and e-book anthology about environmental and ecological horrors. Though some still try, there is no denying that humans have and continue to drastically alter the earth and its environment. Climate change, pollution, suburban sprawl, deforestation, etc. Give me your tales and observations on these impacts. What horrors have/will we see as a result? How will Mother Nature fight back in a struggle for survival? As long as it’s nature/environmental/ecological and horror, it’s good. Submission Period: June 1 – June 30. Do not send before June 1. Length: 1,000 – 4,000 words. Firm. Author Compensation: 3 cents/word, paid via PayPal upon acceptance. Publication: Print and ebook (target publication Winter 2021-22). Rights: Exclusive First Worldwide Publication and Electronic Rights for three months, and non-exclusive rights thereafter. Original stories ONLY. No reprints. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please withdraw your story immediately if accepted elsewhere. NO multiple submissions. Email your submission as a Word document attachment to [email protected] with “FIELD NOTES – – – ” in the subject line. OTHER SUBMISSION CONSIDERATIONS: Dark weird fiction and horror-adjacent sci-fi is also welcome. Please no fantasy or hard sci-fi. This is anthology about our earth, so to a large degree your story should be rooted in our reality. Meaning, stories with dystopian elements are expected, but full-on dystopian stories will be a hard sell. Happy endings are also a hard sell, but don’t be afraid to try a glimmer of hope. Tropes aren’t bad, but preference will given to unique usage and/or subversion of well-established tropes. Yes, we are pro-environment, but don’t be overly moralizing. Nuance is key. Stories that deal with bigotry are fine, but bigoted stories are not. Splatterpunk is fine, but gore and extreme elements should serve story, character,...

Deadline: June 30th, 2021 Payment: $100 OR $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits (whichever amount is GREATER) and a contributor's copy Theme: Sherlock Holmes mysteries taking place in 1882 Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mystery 1882 “When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which present strange and interesting features that it is no easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave.” - Dr. Watson Synopsis: Watson mentions that 1882 is one of the years with strange and interesting cases, yet the canon contains not a single adventure from this year. What happened during Holmes and Watson’s second year in Baker Street? What thrilling mysteries did they solve? Find out in Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mysteries – 1882. This collection contains a dozen cases, one for each month of the year, from January to December. Submission Guidelines: Stories must be canonical in nature. Holmes and Watson should be young and still getting to know each other. Authors interested in participating should first send a synopsis of their adventure and the month of the year they wish it to take place. If your story does not need a specific month (i.e. it takes place in autumn and could be in September, October, or November) please let us know that as well. Once your synopsis has been accepted, you should begin drafting the story. Submission length: 5,000 – 10,0000 words (it is okay to go over some). Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $100 OR $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits (whichever amount is GREATER) and a paperback copy of the anthology. Rights: Authors shall retain rights to their work. We only retain the...

Deadline: June 30th, 2021 Payment: 5 cents per word original, 1 cent per word reprint, min $50 Theme: Weird/Occult Detective stories, RETRO-TECH/VINTAGE/ALT-HIST SETTINGS STRONGLY PREFERRED Note: Reprints welcome Special Session: 1-30 June 2021 Weird/Occult Detective stories ONLY* *RETRO-TECH/VINTAGE/ALT-HIST SETTINGS STRONGLY PREFERRED Hello! This project is a comfortable two-headed beast at play in the curious and often dark corners of retropunk fiction. That means steampunk, dieselpunk, dreadpunk, bronzepunk, others that haven’t even been invented yet punk … but not atompunk. Sorry, space fans, we draw our line at Sputnik. About 2/3 of rejections are for “bad fit.” We buy nonexclusive rights for fiction, cover & interior art, music & sound effects usage, and narration services. What we do: Curiosities, a short story anthology series published two or three times a year, which is available in digital and print on demand formats, and The Gallery of Curiosities, a podcast which features stories from the publication. Not every story we buy will make it to an audio podcast release, but we do make good effort to get it there before our rights expire. We started out as a podcast, and went to print later.  Audio production is incredibly time intensive. Short version: 5 cents per word original, 1 cent per word reprint, min $50 Length up to 7500 words We read blind. Anonymize your manuscript before sending it as a doc, docx, or rtf. Use the format SUBMISSION: Story Title in the title bar of your email or it gets lost. Multiple? No more than 3 at a time. Always send in separate emails. Simultaneous? Yes. Please be prompt with a withdrawal if sold If accepted, your story will be published in ebook and print-on-demand formats If accepted, your story may possibly be produced for podcast send to [email protected] Long version: What we’re looking for: As an audio venue, we want...

Deadline: June 30th, 2021 Payment: 0.5p per word (£5 per 1000 words) and 2 contributors copies Theme: Fiction that explores "Depth, Time and Infinity" in any way you choose. Note: My apologies on the short deadline, this recently hit my inbox. Abyss: Stories of Depth, Time and Infinity Exciting news! Following the success of our first anthology, Vast, Orchid’s Lantern is opening its doors once more. Abyss: Stories of Depth, Time and Infinity will be our second anthology, and this time we’re seeking fiction that explores these metaphysical topics in any way you choose. We want high-impact experimental pieces, streams of consciousness, unusual perspectives and fictional accounts of altered states. We want extrapolations and interpretations of our present reality, or visions of drastic changes. We want the literary and the speculative. The entertaining will be juxtaposed, or combined, with the philosophical. We do not want highly fantastical settings unless they explicitly link back to the theme. We want complete stories, not chapters of something bigger. Please do not send us: Stories of a racist, sexist or bigoted nature Stories promoting particular religions or political stances Vampires, werewolves, superheroes or magic Erotica We like: Maniac, Russian Doll, The OA, Mr Robot, Black Mirror, The Matrix, Philip K Dick, Mark Z. Danielewski, Franz Kafka, Clarice Lispector, Sylvia Plath, Hermann Hesse, Jean-Paul Satre, Kurt Vonnegut, Anna Kavan, Robert Anton Wilson, Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts and Terence McKenna. Guidelines: All submissions should have fewer than 7,500 words. There is no lower limit because we are fans of flash fiction, so long as it is strong and impactful. We aim to have a variety of lengths in the finished publication. The initial deadline is 30th June 2021, but we reserve the right to extend this should we not receive enough quality submissions by this date. We will...

Deadline: July 1st, 2021 Payment: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10 Theme: Watch the Birdie! To download a PDF file of the guidelines, click here . ALL SHORT STORIES, ESSAYS, POEMS, PHOTOGRAPHS and ART MUST RELATE TO ONE OF THE PREMISES SPECIFIED ABOVE. NOTE: Previously published pieces are welcome, provided that the submission fits the theme and that the author owns the copyright. The premise (target theme) must be an integral part of the plot, not necessarily the central theme but not merely incidental. Fewer than 20 double-spaced typewritten pages preferred. Indicate premise (target theme) on title page. Be sure to Indicate target theme in cover letter or on first page of manuscript. Include self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with each submission. Rejected manuscripts unaccompanied by an SASE will not be returned. Response time: 3 months after premise deadline.  NO READER'S FEE. Mail to: THEMA, Box 8747, Metairie, LA 70011-8747. Outside the US: email [email protected] On acceptance for publication, we will pay the following amount: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10; artwork, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Copyright reverts to author after publication. THEMA isn't for everyone. To find out why, click here. New to submitting manuscripts to journals? Click here to download a PDF file of a few basic guidelines. Unlike many publishers, we prefer works submitted by the authors themselves, without the involvement of an agent. Be sure to indicate premise and include SASE for each submission.  BE SURE to include a separate SASE for each premise. No handwritten manuscripts will be considered. NOTE: We do not accept e-mailed submissions EXCEPT from authors who live outside the U.S. For those living outside the U.S., submit manuscript as an email attachment (readable by MSWord ― either as a DOC file or an RTF file), and include the following information on the title...

Deadline: July 1st, 2021 Payment: One cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum) Theme: Fantastic Fiction You really NEED to read the description below. The Cafe Irreal is a quarterly webzine that presents a kind of fantastic fiction infrequently published in English. This fiction, which we would describe as irreal, resembles the work of writers such as Franz Kafka, Kobo Abe, Clarice Lispector and Jorge Luis Borges. As a type of fiction it rejects the tendency to portray people and places realistically and the need for a full resolution to the story; instead, it shows us a reality constantly being undermined. Therefore, we're interested in stories by writers who write about what they don't know, take us places we couldn't possibly go, and don't try to make us care about the characters. We would also suggest you take a look at the current issue, archives, and theory (especially the essay, "What is irrealism?") pages on this web site. We accept unsolicited fiction up to 2,000 words in length. Translations are welcome. There is no minimum length. We accept only electronic submissions via e-mail at [email protected]. We cannot, due to the various computer viruses and worms, accept attachments anymore, so please paste your story into the body of the e-mail. Also include your name, address, e-mail address, and a short bio in the text of the submission; please put the word "submission" in the subject heading of the e-mail to ensure that your submission doesn't get lost among all the spam. We pay an honorarium of one cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum) to buy first-time internet rights (the story will then be archived). Payment is made upon publication. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DON'T ACCEPT SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS and are only interested in reprints in unusual cases (e.g., the story has appeared in print but...

Deadline: July 1st, 2021 Payment: Poetry International authors will receive a free copy of the issue. Australian authors will receive $25-40 + a copy. Payment: Flash International authors will receive $20 + a copy of the issue. Australian authors will receive $50-75 + a copy of the issue. Payment: Short Fiction International authors will receive $60-125 + a copy of the issue. Australian authors will receive $80-140 + a copy of the issue. Theme: Speculative Fiction stories that excite, that break the boundary between real and unreal SUBMISSIONS OPEN UNTIL 01 JULY 2021 Send us your stories! We want to read your elegant and ugly. We want to pore over your terrifying, your elegiac. We want to ponder over your profound and your silly. We can’t wait. We accept poetry and short fiction up to 5,000 words in length. Double-spaced with a serif font such as Garamond, Times New Roman or Georgia is a requirement. Send all submissions in a Word document (.doc or .docx) by email to [email protected]. Previously unpublished work only. Absolutely no PDFs. Those go straight into the recycling bin. One short story per author OR up to three poems OR up to two pieces of flash fiction (750 words or less). The subject of the email should read “<Name of Author> – <Title of Piece> – <Word Count>”, i.e., “John Citizen – This Story I Wrote – 2,500 words” (If you’re submitting poetry or flash, just your name and either “Flash” or “Poetry” will suffice). Please include a short cover letter in the body of the email, as well as a short (50-75 words) author bio. We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your piece has been accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions, however. As stated, we’re looking for stories that excite, that break...

Deadline: July 2nd, 2021 Payment: $15 Theme: Mythos Reborn Volume I, Issue VI ​ Theme: Mythos Reborn ​ We all know Zeus as king of the Greek panoply of gods and a ruthless tyrant. But we don't know what Zeus did when he wasn't mercilessly pursuing those who defied his will. Maybe he was a great baker. Maybe he liked to sing in the shower. ​ For this issue, we're looking for stories that give us a unique take on mythological figures and characters from all the cultures of the world. Retell a classic tale from a minor character's perspective. Reintroduce us to a story lost to the ages. Or invent your own mythology. ​ Deadline: July 2, 2021 Word Limit: 6,000 words ​ Compensation: flat $15 fee upon publication, plus a digital copy of the magazine (which you're free to share). ​ Format: We will accept short-form fiction any way you want to write it. This can include poetry, flash fiction or short stories. We're particularly interested in the subversion of form. We don't care about hard and fast rules, so don't worry too much about formatting. If you feel its good, chances are that shines through in the writing. And we want to read it. ​ Genre: Anything that's dark, creepy, weird and just a little off-kilter. We're open to genre fiction, particularly anything related to horror, science-fiction, speculative fiction or weird fiction. But we're also interested in anything that twists or subverts these genres in some unexpected way. ​ Simultaneous submissions: We will accept simultaneous submissions, but please inform us if this applies to you. If a story may be pulled away from us at the last minute, we want to know as this may affect our decision on acceptance. ​ Multiple Submissions: We do not accept multiple submissions. ​ Reprints: We do not...