Events

Deadline: March 18th, 2022 Payment: $100 per accepted story and $25 for reprints, and two contributors copies Theme: science fiction, fantasy, and speculative short stories Note: Stories by disabled authors who live in the United States Note: Reprints welcome Forest Avenue is seeking science fiction, fantasy, and speculative short stories by disabled authors who live in the United States. The anthology will be edited by disabled bookseller Annie Carl and published in paperback and ebook in the fall of 2023. Forest Avenue is distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West. If you’ve written a literary story with a touch of genre, send it our way. Horror isn’t our primary focus, but if you’ve written a story that borders on horror, we’d be happy to take a look. We are seeking stories of 5,000 words or less. Flash fiction is welcome. We will consider reprints, but hope to feature at least 80 percent new material. This is a paid opportunity. Rates are $100 per accepted story and $25 for reprints, plus two print copies. Our focus is celebrating and spotlighting disabled authors within these genres. If you do not self-identify as disabled, please do not submit. The disabled community is intersectional and we want this project to reflect that intersectionality. We are especially eager to see stories from disabled folx of color and queer folx. Neurodivergent writers who self-identify as disabled are welcome to submit. Authors may choose to put their diagnoses in their bios and/or cover letters, but it’s not necessary. We will consider your story based on its merits. If your disability prevents you from submitting via Submittable, please reach out to [email protected] and we'll assist with the process. This is a case-by-case situation, please do not email submissions without permission from the editor. Via: Forest Avenue Press's Submittable.

Submission Window: March 14th-18th, 2022 Payment: 8 cents per word (unclear if AUS or USD) Theme: Witches Note: Must be a BIPOC author to fit in this window Following on from the award-winning success of The Book of Dragons, Harper Voyager will publish an exciting new anthology, The Book of Witches, edited by Jonathan Strahan in the Fall of 2023. Like The Book of Dragons, The Book of Witches will be a big, inclusive, illustrated anthology of fiction and poetry, this time looking at “witches” (more specifically your witch and what it means to you). So far writers who have agreed to contribute to the book include Linda Addison, S.A. Chakraborty, Zen Cho, P. Djèlí Clark, Indrapramit Das, Amal El Mohtar, Andrea Hairston, Millie Ho, Nalo Hopkinson, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Cassandra Khaw, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, Ken Liu, Karen Lord, Usman T. Malik, Tochi Onyebuchi, C.L. Polk, Rebecca Roanhorse, Kelly Robson, Angela Slatter, Rivers Solomon, Andrea Stewart, Sheree Renée Thomas, and Tade Thompson, and we are reserving up to three spots in the final book for new BIPOC writers. If you are a BIPOC* writer – regardless of whether you’re widely published or just starting out – and would like to see your work appear in a major anthology like The Book of Witches, we’d love to hear from you. Just check out the submissions guidelines below and send us your story. * Black, Indigenous, and other People of Colour Guidelines for open submissions Submissions must not have been previously published in any form, whether by digital-only publisher, traditional publisher, or self-published. Submissions must be in English and be between 1500 and 6000 wordsin length. Submissions must be in a standard word processor format (MS Word or similar). No PDFs. Submissions should be accompanied by a short author bio (no more than 200 wds). You are welcome but not required to share any identity...

Deadline: March 22nd, 2022 Payment: 4 cents per word Theme: Essays exploring the intersection of queerness and the horror genre. Details for Divergent Terror: Essays exploring the intersection of queerness and the horror genre. Was there a specific film that you connected with that made you a horror fan? A type of horror or trope that speaks to you particularly as a member of the LGBTQ+ community? Tell us your story! 2500 to 5000 words in length Single submissions only Simultaneous submissions allowed (Please inform us when submitting.) No reprints Payment of $0.04 per word Submission Deadline: March 22, 2022 Off Limits Press LLC will retain English ebook and paperback rights for 6 months exclusively, non-exclusive thereafter. Guidelines: Please send your manuscript to [email protected]. Submissions should be double-spaced and typed in Times New Roman font, size 12. Please send submissions as an attachment in MS Word or PDF format. Please include a cover letter containing a brief bio in the body of your submission email. Please include the name of your submission, your name (and pen name if applicable), as well as the total word count of your submission in the body of your email. We cannot guarantee an exact response time-frame, but we aim for within 6 weeks after the submission call ends on March 22, 2022..   Funding for Divergent Terror is being raised via Kickstarter. For more information or to make donations, please CLICK HERE. Via: Off Limits Press.

Deadline: March 28th, 2022 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy Theme: Folk Horror Submissions Open January 20 - March 28th, 2022 Night is falling, amplifying the stillness of the woods. There are several whispers calling your name, and whoever is watching you doesn't want you to leave. The looming threat is quite common in one of the most chilling subgenres of horror: folk horror. The genre blends the themes of horror and folklore to explore terror, alienation, displacement, and a sense of the other. Folk horror invokes fear using the elements of folklore. The stories are characterized by rural settings and themes of isolation, religion, nature's power, and the darkness of the rural landscape. These stories are often focused on naive outsiders coming up against these forces. The submissions are open for, THEIR GHOULISH REPUTATION, an anthology of Folk Horror. Short horror stories based on folk tales. We have made a spotify playlist for inspiration. Their Ghoulish Reputation Playlist What we are looking for:  Rural settings  Cult Creeps  Mythological Horror  Weird Horror  Cosmic Horror  Horror of real people  Ghouls, witches, basically everything that makes a folklore chilling.  Divers set of characters.  Strong female charaters(We mean it. Please don’t make the heroine a weak link. Let her take charge and fight, don’t just make her scream “Who’s there?”) What we don’t accept: Erotic themes, extreme gore, Homophobia, transphobia, or any derogatory term used toward any culture, race, or sexuality. Submission Requirements:  The submissions period is from January 20 - March 28th, 2022. Please submit us your best work to [email protected]. The subject line should read: Their Ghoulish Reputation Story Submission with (Author Name).  Word Count: 2500-10000.  Multiple submissions / Reprints are not allowed.  Only original stories are accepted. Must own the copyright to your work.  Make sure your final manuscript is...

Submission Window: May 1st-15th, 2022 Payment: 1 winner each month will win $10 Canadian Theme: A story at exactly 50-words If you’d like to have a 50-word story that you wrote featured on FiftyWordStories.com, first make sure that you understand exactly what a 50-word story is, and then read the submission requirements below closely. Submissions System Each month, submissions will be open between days 1 and 15 of that month. Any stories received on days 16 to 31 of a month will be deleted, but can be resubmitted the following month. You may only submit one story per month. From the stories received in those 15 days, the best stories will be selected to be published that same month. Only enough stories will be selected to publish two stories per weekday. There is no payment associated with stories. However, each month a “Story of the Month” is selected, and receives a prize of $10 Canadian. Stories that were not selected will not be published, will not roll over into the following month, and cannot be resubmitted in following months. Authors will be notified whether their story has been selected or not once all stories from the month’s submissions have been reviewed. How to Submit Please email your submission to [email protected]. Paste the story into the body of the email. Please include a title, your name, and a brief third-person bio. Feel free to include a link to your website! If you are submitting a story related to a specific date or holiday, please include that information in the Subject line of your submission. You can also send your story in using the form at the bottom of this page. Tips and Guides Looking for help with writing microfiction? Check out Bob Thurber’s Anatomy of a Microfiction page. Terms and Conditions Please keep the content of your submissions appropriate for...

Deadline: March 30th, 2022 Payment: $10 and a contributors copy Theme: Different horror stories - from nastysplattergore to comedy. ​We’re looking for original and different horror stories - from nastysplattergore to comedy. Your tale will feature alongside award winners like Keith Gray (Smarties Prize. Angus Book Prize), Anita Sullivan (BBC Radio Drama. Writers' Guild. Race in the Media), Geneve Flynn (Bram Stoker Award. Shirley Jackson Award) and Jan-Andrew Henderson (Royal Mail Award. Doncaster Book Prize). Submission guidelines The deadline for receiving submissions is March 30th, 2022. Submit by email to: [email protected] Length: Anything up to 7,000 words. We'll also accept flash fiction and poems (but those have to be truly excellent). Reprints: We'd prefer previously unpublished work but will accept a few reprints if they're really good. Format: Preferred format is Doc or Docx, double-spaced  and 12 point. Remember to include your name and a couple of paragraphs about you. Please use the anthology title, THAT IS SO WRONG! in the subject heading of your email and send to [email protected] Acknowledgement of receipt of your manuscript will be emailed within 3 business days. Deadline 31st March 2022. Successful authors will receive a contract upon acceptance. Edited by Jan-Andrew Henderson. Our Mission The purpose of this anthology is to combine established authors with talented new voices - so they can reach the widest readership possible. Hard copy and eBook versions will be on sale through Amazon, select bookstores and featured on the City of the Dead Website. (Which has had over 2 million views since inception - that's why it has to be horror!) This is an invitation and open-submission anthology (approx. 30% invitation 70% open-submission) as we are looking to showcase the very best writers. Don't be annoyed if you're not picked. Via: Black Hart Entertainment.

Deadline: March 30th, 2022 Payment: 3 cents per word Theme: Female leadership B Cubed Press is pleased to announce an open call for Madam President.   An anthology about leadership. President of what you say? A country? The universe? The local PTA? A paramilitary group of insurrectionist witches? Your choice. Your vision must look through the lenses of speculative fiction.  Your world can be the one we live in, far away in time and space, or just around the corner. Ask yourself how would life work when Madam President is in charge? Do you want to live there? Or maybe you want to be Madam President. This book will be edited by Bob Brown and Debora Godfrey, the team that brought you the best-selling Alternative Apocalypse. We are looking for good writing, imaginative scenarios, and a good bit of humor in stories, essays or poetry. This book will be part of the best-selling Alternatives series.  We will be accepting stories, poetry, and essays from now through March 30, 2022. Story length for our books average about 2200 words but have ranged from 100 to 7500 words. However, we only use one or two stories over 5,000 words and our advice is to keep it under 5K, unless we communicate in advance. Reprints are accepted, but we hold them to a higher standard and limit them in number. Please let us know about prior publication (reprints) on submission (Moksha has an indicator), not after acceptance (that makes us cranky). Multiple submissions are accepted. Simultaneous submissions are tolerated. Publication date anticipated August 2022. Pays $.03 a word upon publication, plus a share of the profits. As always, a share will go to the  ACLU. Submissions need to include your name, e-mail, wordcount and address on the submission. If in doubt, SFWA guidelines for short...

Deadline: March 30th, 2022 Payment: $.03 a word and royalties Theme: Holidays as seen through the lens of Speculative Fiction. Note: Reprints welcome, though are a hard sell Tell us Holiday stories. Write us Holiday poems. Holidays as seen through the lens of Speculative Fiction. This book will be edited by Bob Brown We are looking for good writing, imaginative and imaginitive scenarios, and a good bit of humor in stories, essays or poetry. This book will be part of the best-selling Alternatives series.  We will be accepting stories, poetry, and essays from now through March 30, 2022. Story length for our books average about 2200 words but have ranged from 100 to 7500 words. However, we only use one or two stories over 5,000 words and our advice is to keep it under 5K, unless we communicate in advance. Reprints are accepted, but we hold them to a higher standard and limit them in number. Please let us know about prior publication (reprints) on submission (Moksha has an indicator), not after acceptance (that makes us cranky). Multiple submissions are accepted. Simultaneous submissions are tolerated. Publication date anticipated August 2022. Pays $.03 a word upon publication, plus a share of the profits. As always, a share will go to the  ACLU. Submissions need to include your name, e-mail, wordcount and address on the submission. If in doubt, SFWA guidelines for short fiction is a great guide: https://www.sfwa.org/2005/01/04/manuscript-format/. It’s always good to make an editor happy. Adherence to guidelines makes Debora happy. Poetry should be formatted as you wish it to appear. EACH POEM SHOULD BE SUBMITTED SEPARATELY. Via: B Cubed Press's Moksha.

Deadline: March 31st, 2022 Payment: £10 per story accepted. Theme: Steampunk adventure featuring lots of cogs, steam and airships Title: Airship Adventures ​Opens: 17th November 2021 Closes: 31st March 2022 Genre: Steampunk Fantasy ​ Reader Age Range: 12+ ​ Word Count: 4000 - 8000 10% wiggle room over. ​ Info: I will be looking for steampunk adventure featuring lots of cogs, steam and airships. Make it fun, make it steampunk and tell a story. ​ Reprints: Not allowed Simultaneous Submissions: Allowed, but please email if accepted elsewhere. Multiple Submissions: Up to 2 accepted per author Author Compensation: £10 per story accepted. Paid via Paypal only Via: Raven And Drake Publishing.

Submission Window: January 1st - March 31st, 2022 Payment: AU5c/word Theme: Weird Western action horror AU5c/word / 2k-10k words  Opens Jan 1st 2022/ Closes March 31st 2022 (in your time zone)  Fantasy, Horror, or Science Fiction  Theme – Weird Western action horror. WHAT WE WANT ACTION-BASED horror, themed within conflict in the wild, wild West. Think Bone Tomahawk, Ravenous, Westworld, Cowboys & Aliens and The Burrowers for films, and Dead in the West by Joe Lansdale, Deadlands: Ghostwalkers by Jonathan Maberry, Skin Medicine by Tim Curran, and The Crossings by Jack Ketchum for writings… anything that can be considered a high-action monster story set within an obviously Western theme. For level of unnatural creature we will give priority to, think Dog Soldiers or Aliens in oldie times. We want lots of monster goodness and lots of action. We will also be looking for soldiers/cavalry, bandit gangs (or bandidos, for south of the border), sheriffs, private security for gold claims. Hell, even a group of bodyguards protecting some arsehole business overlord in his desert property. Just ensure the action is central to the story, from start to finish, and don’t forget monsters! This volume is like the previous volumes squared. All action. We want extreme action, and it really should be in the style of military or paramilitary action, although we definitely see cowboys or a posse or bandit gang or demon hunters as suitable in this theme. And to say it again, full action. Nothing less. Hoo-rah! We actively encourage submissions from all cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, and identities. Storytelling is for everyone, and we are richer for it when all voices are heard. SOME GUIDANCE – IF YOU TAKE THIS PLOT PATH, IT BETTER BE DAMNED GOOD: Wendigo tales. These are the most common of things in weird westerns, and just like Highlander, there can be only one! Good cowboys versus bad First Nation People. This is an almost impossible sell....