Events

Deadline: March 1st, 2023 Payment: Fiction: 10¢/word USD, Poetry: $50 per poem, Non-Fiction: $50 for a column, $40 for a reprinted essay, $150 for an original essay, $45 to an interviewer, and $45 to an interviewee, $20 to a roundtable moderator, and $20 to each other contributor Theme: Stories that fit in wuxia and xianxia fiction Imagine yourself as a sword fighter, a vigilante hero and upholder of justice. Imagine you are a xia in the world of jianghu—whether a solitary traveller on a mission, an outlaw on the run, or a member of a powerful sect or dying clan. Or imagine you are a Daoist cultivator, soaring across the sky atop swords and clouds, with a story that stretches across realms and even lifetimes. Welcome to the Wuxia & Xianxia Special, fellow walkers of the jianghu. Many of us have become fans of wuxia and xianxia fiction ever since we first encountered eminent wuxia and xianxia authors like Jin Yong, Gu Long, and Huan Zhu Lou Zhu. Others among us fell in love with these genres through films from the Shaw Brothers Studio, Pili puppet shows, drama adaptations, RPGs, manhua, and other kinds of popular media. Over the past decade, there has also been a new and revived interest in the xianxia genre with the rise of web novels, and more recently, through the lens of danmei, as shown by the popularity of dramas like The Untamed. For this special issue, we are interested in: Traditional and new approaches to wuxia and xianxia fiction Stories full of action, conflict, drama, and intrigue Rich, diverse, colourful, and nuanced worldbuilding, whether featuring the jianghu, a xianxia world, the imperial court, or other kinds of setting Unique approaches to classic wuxia themes like honour, free love, good versus evil, and individual choice versus...

Deadline: March 1st, 2023 Payment: £100 per article, interview or short story and £50 for poetry and rituals Theme: The Vampire We are open to non-fiction pitches and short fiction and poetry submissions for issue 6 until 1 March 2023. The theme is THE VAMPIRE. “Vampires are so nearly human that they are excellent to think with.” –Professor Nick Groom, author of The Vampire: A New History Vampires charm and terrify us. We fear them, envy them, and pity them, eternal witnesses to the passage of time, conquerors of impermanence, and creatures of the night. The vampire is a symbol of the shadow side, of the old world meeting modernity, and of the 19th-century preoccupation with mesmerism and blood; the vampire eludes, too, to the pitfalls of aestheticism, for behind this creature’s seductive glamour lies a ruthless – often narcissistic and nihilistic – consumer. Of course, the vampire also has roots in older, Eastern European folk beliefs, such as the Romanian strigoi – which had much in common with the witch of the witch trials – and this supernatural being converges with many other cultural beliefs around the undead. The modern vampire continues to haunt our collective imagination, from Count Dracula and Carmilla to Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and True Blood, exposing our basest impulses and thoughts, and forcing us to confront the personal and collective shadow. Why does this monster appear to us in dreams and sleep paralysis? Why are we scared of – and fascinated by – the liminal space between life and death? What even is death? What is it to live forever? And what does the vampire’s infinite quest for blood tell us of our own lives? Are we, too, a little vampiric? How can we fend off the vampires exterior and interior to ourselves? We...

Deadline: March 1st, 2023 Prizes: $50 to the and $10 to honorable mentions Theme: Poetry with a theme of: Seasick the theme for this year's contest is seasick. with global greenhouse gas emissions climbing, we want poetry that examines the way human activity is affecting the ocean. we want your drowning islands, your melting glaciers, your bleached coral. we want your hurricanes, your flooding, your erosion. we want your seasick. ​ contest submissions will remain open from november 1 to march 1. winners will receive a $50 prize and publication. honorable mentions will also be published and receive a $10 prize. all decisions will be announced in early april and made by our editing staff. to get a feel for what we publish, we'd encourage you to scroll through our archives. do beware that our publishing software doesn't handle formatting very well, so think twice before you submit a work heavily dependent on visual presentation. for an example of what the display would look like, we'd encourage you to look at the page of "ghost ship" by charlotte oliver. (thetiderises.org/read/ghost-ship) reprints are welcome, as long as you own the right to do so. simultaneous submissions are allowed as well, and if you need to withdraw your piece for any reason, please email us immediately. there is no entry fee, but we accept a maximum of three submissions per poet. you can always submit any of your other ocean poems to the regular literary magazine as you wait to hear back from us. ​ if you do not receive a response from us by april 20, please notify us via email: [email protected] Submission link is at the bottom fo the page:   submitters should know... we will not publish hate speech of any kind, and we reserve the right to rescind an acceptance if we...

Submission Window: March 1st - 3rd, 2023 Payment: 8 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints, For artwork: $10 for the non-exclusive right to use each image, for as long as the site is online.  If we publish a print collection we will pay a pro-rata share for each image used. Theme: Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world. Note: Reprints welcome     Submissions Schedule We have a new submissions schedule as of June 1, 2020: The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T. Only one submission per person. For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers. We pay 8¢ per word for new fiction, 2¢ per word for fiction reprints, 2 – 6¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles. For new poetry, we pay $1 a line, reprints would be 50¢ a line, up to 40 lines. We’ll look at longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 6¢ per word. We began The Kepler Award to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways. You can learn about The Kepler Award here. You can read a copy of our standard contract here.   It can be varied as needed to include the rights of translators, voice actors, etc. Writers Guidelines We accept new work as well as reprints, prose and poetry, anywhere from 1000 word flash fiction on up, but all else being equal,...

Submission Window: February 1st – March 8th, 2023 Payment: $25 Theme: The Cosmic and The Void Accepting: Short Stories up to 3000 Words Flash and Micro Fiction up to 1200 Words Narrative Poetry/Stories in Verse up to 1200 Words Author Compensation: $25.00 (USD) per piece Rights: We request first worldwide and digital rights for four months following publication. Thereafter all rights revert to the author. All copyright remains with the author. Issue Theme: “The Cosmic and The Void” Call Status: CLOSED Publication: Digital Format (PDF) Submission Period: February 01, 2023 – March 08, 2023 Decisions By: March 31, 2023 Release Date: April 27, 2023 What We’re Looking For: Quiet Horror and Dystopian genre works. You may be as creative with your interpretation of the theme as you like as long as your submission fits the genres we publish (see our FAQ page for more on how we define Quiet Horror and Intimate Dystopia). EMail Submissions To: [email protected] Continue below to read our submission rules and guidelines… ~ Submission Guidelines ~ For all open calls, submit your work by email to [email protected] with the subject line formatted as such: “ ” (ex.“April 2023 – The Sinkhole – Emily Young – Adult”). Please submit your work as an email attachment in .doc/.docx format. Authors may submit up to two pieces per issue. We request that each piece be submitted via its own individual email. You are welcomed to interpret each issue’s theme however you like but keep in mind that your interpretation should be within the realms of quiet horror and/or intimate dystopia. Ensure your document contains your story title, your name (or pen name), and an approximate word count. In the event that your story is selected for publication, we will need your legal name for the contract. Please include a header on each page of your document with your surname, title and page number. Your document should be formatted...

Deadline: March 12th, 2023 Payment: $25 and 2 contributors copies Theme: Dark fantasy fictional stories that give people with mental illness hope using metaphors Our first anthology, Living With Demons, is now accepting short story submissions. We are partnering with WriteHive on this project. All proceeds will go to WriteHive with none being retained by Tea With Coffee Media. We will choose 10-15 submissions to be published in our 2023 spring anthology, Living With Demons! Prompt: The prompt: We are looking for fictional stories that give people with mental illness hope using metaphors. We want to hear from more than just depression and anxiety, we want to reach other mental illnesses as well. Accepted stories will be published in both e-book and print copies of the Living With Demons anthology! Parameters: We are looking for dark fantasy genre. Works must be previously unpublished. Must be at least 3,000 words but no more than 7,500 words. Submissions must be in Times New Roman 12pt. Full name and/or pen name, and title go on the top-left of the first page. Please do not use any headers or footers. The submissions deadline is 11:59 pm est March 12, 2023. We want you to write what you want to tell your story appropriately. We encourage gender fluidity, gender-bending, LGBTQIA+ retellings, and . All submissions must be submitted using the form below. Authors will be notified by email (acceptance or decline) no later than April 15th, 2023. Payment: If accepted, contributors will receive $25.00 as a flat fee for their story and receive (2) author copies of the printed anthology after publication. Contributors will be paid via PayPal. International Contributors:  Due to high postage rates (and/or postal accessibility) to some regions in the world, author copies may not be feasible and we’ll adjust the flat fee to accommodate. Author Rights: Authors will retain the copyrights...

Submission Window: March 1st - 14th, 2023 Payment: Fiction: 1500-7500 words ($.08 per word, $100 minimum), Poetry: up to 5 poems or 5 pages of poems, whichever is shorter. ($40 per poem), Nonfiction: 1000-2000 words ($75 per essay or article), Cover Art: $100 for reprints, $200 for original unpublished, Interior Art: $50 for reprints, $100 for original unpublished Theme: Colorful Roots: works that stir readers with themes of defiance, change, and achievement Note: BIPOC authors only The Basics: If your work is accepted, please wait two full submission windows before submitting again. For example, if a story you receive word in April that your story is accepted, please do not submit during the May and July open windows, but feel free to do so once the September window opens. Simultaneous submissions: Yes, but please let us know immediately if your submission gets accepted elsewhere before you hear from us. Unsolicited reprints: No Translations: Yes Multiple Submissions: No, not within each category. But you can enter one submission per category per submission period. For example, you can submit one short story, poetry, and a nonfiction article all in the same submission window using each individual submission portal. 2023 Submission Window Schedule: January 1-14 March 1-14 (Colorful Roots: BIPOC authors only) April 1-14 May 1-14 July 1-14 September 1-14 2023 Issue Release Schedule: Issue #7 – January 10 Issue #8 – March 14 Issue #9 – May 9 Issue #10 – July 11 (Theme: Colorful Roots)* Issue #11 – September 12 (Theme: Solarpunk Myths)** Issue #12 – November 14 *Submissions for the Colorful Roots themed issue will be accepted during our March submission window. This is to accommodate our guest editor’s (TBA) schedule. **Submissions for the Solarpunk Myths themed issue will be accepted during any open submission window. Please include #SolarpunkMyths in...

Deadline: March 15th, 2023 Payment: $10 and royalties if included in the yearly anthology Theme: Edgy speculative fiction (see below) Submission window: We are always open for submissions of art, animation, and music! We are currently closed for fiction and poetry submissions. We are open for fiction and poetry submissions from 15 June to 15 September and from 15 December to 15 March each year. In general ... I would love to see submissions representing not only multiple cultures but subcultures, exploring issues of race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, and many things I haven't thought of. Does this mean you have to represent everybody and everything in 1000 words? Of course not. But be aware that we are creating a magazine that overall reaches and represents the true diversity of the world we live in. In terms of genre, I am looking for work that constitutes the ever-moving edge of its kind, as a place between light and dark, consciousness and un, today and tomorrow; work exhibiting the strange, the bizarre, that which is not of the world we know, but more of a twilight realm or even altogether alien place. Not necessarily science fiction, not necessarily fantasy, not necessarily horror, and not necessarily not these things. In short, ideally edgy. Maybe even idealistically edgy. I am NOT looking for adult content. Penumbric generally accepts submissions in the following categories: fiction, poetry, illustration, graphic narrative, animation, music, or combinations of these (e.g., a spoken-word version of a poem). If you have something that fits some other category that can be displayed to advantage on the web, try me; I'll take a look. All works must be the creation of the author(s) submitting them, and must not infringe upon any right of any other person or entity. We buy non-exclusive worldwide periodical rights to publish your work in...

Deadline: March 15th, 2023 Payment: $10.00 and a contributors copy Theme: A game or contest where a person's life is at stake PsychoToxin Press presents it’s second themed anthology title in “The Reaper’s Games” *Humans are competitive creatures by design. From the very beginning, man has always fought in many ways and forms for a prize. Land, gold, goods or lust, there’s always a prize and someone to strive for it by whatever means necessary. But what prize may be more worth fighting for than you very life? What would one do if perhaps it was their life, their very soul, or those of the ones they’d hold oh so dear to them? What price would be paid? And more importantly… How long could they even last? Such answers are sought to be answered by you in this second ever themed anthology title from PsychoToxin Press, “the Reaper’s Games”. Be it a tournament of strength, a test of wits, perhaps a series of dares that goes too far, or even a simple game of cards… One where more than just one’s measly life savings money is at stake, us freaks at PsychoToxin Press seek stories that tell of horrifying games that go far, FAR beyond the boundary of “Innocent fun” and breach into the realm of life threatening and maybe even soul rending… * Guidelines: Word count: between 3,000 and 7,500 words Original work ONLY -- no reprints No multiple submissions -- ONE story per author We ask for first world print and digital rights for three months after publication, after which all rights revert back to the author. -(We WOULD however, appreciate it if you’d credit us with first appearance if you do later publish the story elsewhere. Stories must be horror and set around some sort of game...

Deadline: March 15th, 2023 Payment: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25 Theme: Poetry involving fungi! Details below Eye to the Telescope 48, Fungi, will be edited by Avra Margariti. FUNGI: Mushrooms, molds, and other fungi are organisms that live all around us, yet for the longest time they have eluded classification. They can offer sustenance and ensure survival, or cause a slow, poisoned death. Their mycelium and spores spread--subterranean, airborne--beyond our perception. Within forest ecosystems, fungi are decomposers: feeding on dead matter, returning the nutrients to the soil in a perpetual cycle of destruction and rebirth. I am particularly interested in cli-fi, body horror, and fabulism from marginalized voices. Make me feel the sublime ache of metamorphosis, the transcendental comfort of belonging in a colony. Send me poems about prehistoric Prototaxites populating the earth; mycologists using parasitic cordyceps to reanimate the dead; Amanita princesses, priests, and witches; the Fungal Folk evolving to survive in space, a starship built out of their own filaments and tendrils. Embrace the beauty in decay, and let your imagination mushroom like foxfire gleaming bioluminescent through the forest dark. Submission Guidelines SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Use the form at  to submit. Please submit 1–3 unpublished poems in English (ideally, attached as .docx or .txt) and include a short bio. Translations from other languages are acceptable with the permission of the original poet (unless public domain). Inquiries only to [email protected] with “ETTT” in the subject line. Deadline: March 15. The issue will appear on April 15, 2023. Payment and rights Accepted poems will be paid for at the following rate: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25. Payment is on publication. The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association normally uses PayPal to pay poets, but can also send checks. Eye to the Telescope is an online publication....