Events

Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: 3 cents per word Theme: introduce young minds to the fabulous world of horror fiction. Dark Moon Digest, the quarterly magazine published by Perpetual Motion Machine, is now open for submissions to a special annual young adult edition titled Night Frights. We want to introduce young minds to the fabulous world of horror fiction. Sounds great? Of course it does! Want to order it right this second? Of course you do! Good news: if you purchase an annual subscription of Dark Moon Digest, you will also receive issue one of Night Frights upon its Summer 2020 release, in addition to the four issues of DMD.  SUBSCRIBE HERE. Or, if you’d rather subscribe electronically only, you can do so by pledging as low as $1 over on our Patreon. PLEDGE HERE. Interested in submitting to Night Frights? Read on… What we want: the same awesome stories that we use for our quarterly magazine. We want stories with complex characters and new ideas. Scare us. But also, inspire young readers into a lifelong obsession with the genre. Cool it on the profanities, no sexual situations, nothing too graphic. Consider the following scenario: we are selling books at a local county fair. A family approaches with their kids (9 and 11 years old, maybe). One of the parents asks, “Is this okay for my kid?” We want to be able to confidently answer, “Yes,” without going through a long interrogation of what they’re allowed to read and watch at home. Stories should not exceed 3,500 words. No reprints. No multiple submissions. Simultaneous submissions are fine. All submissions should be in a legible font (think TNR) with your contact information in the upper left-hand corner. We are not too strict on format, but some consistency to readability would be nice. Deadline is May 31st. Please do not...

Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $10 Theme: We’re looking for speculative literary poems that touch the heart as much as the head; poems of the liminal, the fluid, and the fantastic. In anthropological terms, liminality is the midpoint of a ritual: the threshold where a person is no longer quite who they were, not yet who they might become. In between masks, what face might you have? What might you be in transit? Where will you go? Everything is possible in that moment; change is its own goal. Liminality is the space between. Liminality is an online quarterly magazine of speculative poetry edited by Shira Lipkin (co-founded and co-edited through our third year by Mattie Joiner). We are very pleased to meet you. We’re looking for speculative literary poems that touch the heart as much as the head; poems of the liminal, the fluid, and the fantastic. We’d love to see work that shifts shape, refuses to be to be easily pinned down or categorised. We actively welcome diversity; we want to hear new as well as established voices. Tell us tales we thought we knew, the way only you can tell them. Give us new myths. Liminality pays $10 per poem, for first worldwide publication rights and non-exclusive anthology rights. We will be open: January 1-February 28 April 1 – May 31 July 1 – August 31 To submit, send up to five poems to liminalitypoetry AT gmail.com with the subject line “SUBMISSION – ”. Please include your poems in the body of the e-mail; if you have formatting that makes that untenable, you may attach the poem as an .rtf. You may send up to five poems per reading period. We do not accept reprints or simultaneous submissions. (If the poem has been publicly viewable online, yes, it would be a reprint.)  “Dear Editor”, “Dear Shira”, and “Dear Mx. Lipkin” are...

Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $50 and a contributors copy Theme: Mental Note: This magazine is only from people based in Australia Submit your work for our 2020 edition, 'Mental' What is ‘mental’? Does it solely refer to the inner workings of the mind? Is it an exclamation attached to an extraordinary occurrence, or inherently tied to mental health? How has the word affected humanity throughout history? How does the label ‘mental’ entwine, enrich or even damage one’s sense of self? Can the word be reclaimed from its loaded history?  At Antithesis this year, we’re keen to know your thoughts on your thoughts. It is our mission to feature raw, diverse voices that uniquely illuminate the trials and wonders of the human condition. We want to learn of your quirks, of your ‘plights and gripes, as bad as Achilles’. Why do we say and do as we say and do, and how much control do we truly have over our minds? How can ‘madness’ be defined as we enter this new decade, denial and toilet rolls abound?  Tell us. We want to know. What is mental in your mind? Important info: Nothing you submit can have been previously published in any form. While we’re happy to consider works that have been sent to other journals, we ask you to please let us know well in advance if any work you have submitted to Antithesis has been accepted elsewhere for publication. We accept submissions via Submittable only, and only from people based in Australia. Living overseas? Send us a pitch first to [email protected]. We also strongly recommend you pitch us your idea first. Pitching guidelines can be found on our website. We encourage submissions from writers and creatives who are queer and/or trans and/or of any colour, religion, age, ability or gender. You do not need to be...

Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $10 Theme: Stories must include a key worker and a hopeful ending Flashes of Hope is a Flash Fiction anthology being funded by Theresa Derwin to raise money for foodbanks to support victims of Covid 19. Francois Vaillancourt is donating the cover art. He is a Montreal-Canadian artist who has worked on Stephen King projects. I will be purchasing HWA Adverts and Newsletter space to help promote the book and also seeking advertising in other venues including Crystal Lake Publishing Newsletter and Twitter boost. What we ARE looking for:• Flash Fiction – stories of 500 – 1,000 words. Please see info on payment caps in pay rate section below) that can be characterized as being within the broad category of “horror” fiction and having met the following two criterion; as described above.  A key worker hero of any gender, race, creed, ability, religion, etc. By key worker, we mean those currently working to keep the UK running * nurses, doctors, porters, ambulance drivers, paramedics, shop workers, refuse workers * this list is not exhaustive A hopeful ending to the story * right now we need to encourage hope in light of the challenges we are all facing. Together we are stronger. • Successful submissions will be highly original, well written and cleanly edited.• Stories must hook the reader in opening paragraphs and remain engaging throughout.• Stories that imagine fresh new horrific futures different from anything we’ve seen or read about before.REPRINTS are allowed. What we ARE NOT looking for:• No multiple or simultaneous submissions.• We are not seeking “extreme horror”Explicit language, sexuality and violence is acceptable, however, if handled in a tasteful manner and integral to the story.• We are not seeking abstract mood pieces, vignettes, or highly experimental approaches to literature. We are not accepting poems.• Stories must not include actual individuals or living public figures. No matter how tempting ….•...

Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $0.03 per word, minimum of $30.00 dollars for short stories. $30 per poem Theme: Redemption Note: This call doesn't officially open until the 15th but is going live early due to the short submission window Apparition Lit is open for poetry and short story submissions four times a year. February 15-28 May 15-31 August 15-31 November 15-30 Submissions received outside of posted open dates will be deleted unread. Our themes for 2020 will be: Experimentation (Submission period November 15-30, 2019 CLOSED, Published January 2020) Transfiguration (Submission period February 15-29, 2020, CLOSED Published April 2020) Redemption (Submission period May 15-31, 2020, CLOSED Publishing July 2020) Satisfaction (Submission period August 15-31, 2020, CLOSED Publishing October 2020) Our previous themes for 2019: Resistance (Published January 2019) – Ambition (Published April 2019) – Retribution (Published July 2019) – Euphoria (Published October 2019) for 2018: Apparition (Published January 2018) – Delusion (Published April 2018) – Vision (Published July 2018) – Diversion (Published October 2018) Apparition Lit also holds monthly flash fiction contests. These stories will follow selected themes and be published online. For more information on themes and submission guidelines, please see the flash fiction drop down below. PAYMENT: Apparition is a semi-pro rate magazine, paying $0.03 per word, minimum of $30.00 dollars for short stories (excluding flash contest. See details in the Flash Fiction dropdown for flash rates) and a flat fee of $30 per poem. If we accept your story, we are purchasing the right to publish the story online and in the quarterly edition. Rights will revert back to the artist after one year. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: (Click on the sections to see detailed guidelines for each classification.) SHORT FICTION SHORT FICTION: We will only accept stories between 1000-5000 words. If the story is complete with an extra hundred words, then it will still be considered. Any stories over 5,100 words, or incorrectly formatted, will automatically be rejected. PAYMENT: Apparition is a semi-pro magazine, paying $0.03 per word, minimum of 30.00 dollars (excluding...

Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $15 for novellas, $3 for flash fiction, $8 for short stories, half that for reprints. Theme: Cutting edge Science Fiction, Slipstream, Classic and Modern Fantasy Note: Reprints Welcome Note: My apologies for the short notice, that should be resolved for the next open window. Submissions Welcome to the Silver Pen Writers Association group of publications. From this web page, you will have an opportunity to submit your work to Silver Blade Magazine. General Guidelines (Updated February 2020) Give us something unexpected and well written.  Technique, voice, characterization, and language will all play a part in our decision to publish.  Amaze us with your writing, use of language, sense of story, and memorable characters.  Give us a story readers will not be able to forget and will eagerly recommend to others. The following are “hard sells” here: Stories possessing several of the cliché elements listed here. Fan Fiction or erotica Anthropomorphism (talking cats, foxes, toasters or whatever) Sloppy work–significant typographical, spelling, or grammatical errors (please proofread before you submit) Publicly available items (seriously, why would we pay to publish something being given away on a blog, forum, social media, etc?) Our editorial policies respect the artistic license of our authors.  However, there are occasions when changes are needed that go beyond basic spelling, grammar, and punctuation corrections. In any case, the author will be given the choice of final approval, prior to publication, over substantial edits made by our staff. We appreciate your willingness to work with us in this regard. Do not submit if you are not open to suggestions. Formatting All submissions should… Have 1 inch margins, 1 1/2 line spacing and double space between paragraphs. NO fancy headers or footers, text effects, background colors or images. Use a standard font (Arial, Calibri, Times Roman, Courier)...

Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: Contributors Copy Theme: Public Domain with a twist (see below.) Note: Reprints welcome Note: My apologies on the short window, just hit my inbox. Demonic Classics: Once Upon A Debacle ​ The Pitch: Demonic Classics is quite the challenge this time around. We are looking for Authors and Writers who want to add a dark humor twist to a fanfiction angle installment. Whether you intend to retell the whole story in a shortened format or dive deep into a famous scene and unravel it from within, we want your story to be inspired by a Public Domain literary work. We expect irony, a laugh, an ‘Oh no’, and some satirical twists to unfold. This year we are looking for stories between 2,000 to 5,000 words. Do not limit yourself to the list below, but feel free to email us if you need a title checked. Gutenberg.org is a great resource for doing so! ​ What stories fall into this category? Here’s a sampling: Pride and Prejudice The Raven Moby Dick Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Tale of Two Cities Great Expectations War of Worlds Christmas Carol Ulysses Picture of Dorian Grey Little Women Anne of Green Gables Count of Monte Cristo Wuthering Heights Treasure Island Legend of Sleepy Hollow Scarlet Letter Time Machine Find more here: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/scores/top ​​ CURRENTLY TAKEN Alice in Wonderland Dracula Nutcracker MacBeth Much to do about nothing - Shakespeare Odyssey Peter Pan Beowulf Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ​ Deadline MAY 31st 2020 at Midnight EST ​ Publications September 2020 ​ Rights, Usage, Compensation? You retain rights to the work. I am simply approving it to be added with your permission to publish it in my collection for both eBook and Paperback. We are perfectly fine if its been published before,...

Deadline: June 1st, 2020 Payment: Royalty Split Theme: Stories of lights in the sky, further explanation below! Note: Reprints Welcome Submission Open: March 1, 2020 Submission Close: June 1, 2020 12:00 a.m. EST Publishing timeline: August 2020 SOON Horror/ Dark Speculative Fiction Rated R ​ Theme: Send me your stories of lights in the sky, a storm that brings with it more than rain, comets that crash, aliens that secretly invade, or a wishing star that is hell-bent on revenge. The stories themselves do not have to take place in the sky, but the evil bad does need to come from it in some way or form. We are requesting the stories take place in "our world". Fantasy and fantastic creatures are welcome, but they should occur within our reality. Word count: 1000 - 10000 (preferably over 2k under 8k but we will read all within these) ​ Compensation: Equal royalty split per story. Digital copy emailed to you. ​ Formatting guidelines: See our Submission Format guide below All fiction manuscripts should be in standard manuscript format. Most important: Pen name, title and email on top, double-spaced, 12 pt standard font (e.g. Times, Arial, Courier), and page numbers. ​ How to submit: Please submit using this FORM when the submission window is open. ​ Multiple Submission: Yes - We will be happy to read up to FOUR stories per author. However, we will publish a max of two stories per author, per book. Please send each story in a separate form. ​ Reprints: Yes we are accepting a small number of reprints. ​ Things that are a hard pass: any animal erotica and all forms of rape Click through for the submission form link: Via: Eerie River Publishing.

Deadline: June 1st, 2020 Payment: $20 Theme: We ask our fiction writers to imagine their readers navigating a story with one finger poised over a mouse button. Can your story stay that finger to the end? “Turning words into art is unnatural. It begins with a contrary attitude. It says, I am unhappy with the way things are and desire to make things different. Rather than represent the world, I will make something wildly and savagely new. I will defy logic. I will invest in new perceptions. I will combine and recombine and fabricate and juggle until something that I have never experienced is experienced. The process is alchemical. The process is violent. It goes to the heart of creativity. It disrupts and shatters. It is splendid with provocation. It is an aggression against banality. It is sharp and loud like a janitor scraping frost from a window. The hectic bounce of steam on a street after a truck roars by. The anarchy of waters, the comedy of the face, dangerous feelings vented from a cage of skin.” ~ John Olson Poetry — We believe poetry is contrary by nature, always defying, always tonguing the tang of novelty. We look especially for plurality of meaning, for dual reverberation of beauty and concern. Contrary’s poetry in particular often mimics the effects of fiction or commentary. We find ourselves enamored of prose poems because they are naturally contrary toward form – they tug on the forces of exposition or narrative – but prose poems remain the minority of all the poetic forms we publish. Please consider that Contrary receives vast amounts of poetry and that we can publish only a small percentage of that work. Please submit no more than three poems per issue. Our poetry editor is Shaindel Beers. Fiction — We ask our fiction writers to imagine...

Deadline: June 1st, 2020 Payment: 2.5¢ per word (maximum of $100 per story.) Theme: We are looking for short story submissions that explore the shape of sex and sexuality in the decades and centuries to come. Must be science fiction themed in nature. What will sex look like in the future? What will change about physical interaction? What new challenges will sexuality face a hundred years down the line? Five hundred? A thousand? Future//Tense: Sex is an anthology of transfuturistic science-fiction. The stories within will explore the way sex, intimacy, and kink may change over time, from the near future to far, on Earth or other planets, in humans or those from the stars. How will society change? How will we? About the anthology Future//Tense: Sex is an anthology of short fiction edited by Madison Scott-Clary. It will comprise several pieces from diverse authors. The anthology will be released in both physical and e-book formats, as well as, depending on interest, audiobook format. Here is what HYBRID will be looking for: Submission content We are looking for short story submissions that explore the shape of sex and sexuality in the decades and centuries to come. There is no restriction on gender of characters or perceived orientation, including anywhere on the asexuality spectrum. Neither is there a restriction on the sexual content of the story. We are particularly keen on featuring #OwnVoices authors. Do keep in mind that Future//Tense: Sex is, at it’s core, an anthology about sex. HYBRID Ink will not, under any circumstances, publish content that portrays any of the following without justification or in a positive light: Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or other forms of discrimination Pedophilia or sex with characters under the age of 18 Rape, torture, dubious consent, or forced seduction Gratuitous violence, gore, or death For more information, please see here, and remember that...