Events

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Prizes: $25-$100 usd   The Story Quest Short Story Contest at a glimpse One contest a year - Open for Submissions 1 August, closes 31 October. Winners and finalists announced mid November. The contest is restricted to Speculative Fiction, for general adult readership.  Note contest rules regarding content. Not for children. Periodically contests will have a broad theme - in these cases stories must adhere accordingly. Submissions must be strictly between 1000 to 3000 words - automatic rejection applies otherwise. This is the count of the body of the fiction, not the title, credits or other material included in the submission document. The Winner receives $100US cash prize and WILL be published in SQ Mag ezine. Second place receives $50US cash prize and WILL be published in SQ Mag ezine. Third place receives $25US cash prize and WILL be published in SQ Mag ezine. Judges will also identify a short list of non-winning finalists who WILL ALSO be published in SQ Mag ezine. Winners and finalists MAY ALSO be published in SQ Mag ezine's yearly 'best of' anthology. All material published in SQ Mag ezine and potentially its anthology, will be paid a token amount (other than the prize money stated above). All profits reaped by SQ Mag ezine is regenerated into running costs for the site.   Terms and Conditions Stories must be 1000 – 3000 words in length, no exception. Any English idiom is accepted. Stories must be written with an emphasis on the speculative fiction genres (horror, science fiction and fantasy). Note that the judges will be looking for fresh, character-centric stories with depth of skill in theme and plot construction. Zombies, vampires, elves, hobbits, orcs, are unlikely to get past round one. Fan fiction, or the like, will be automatically rejected. Stories must be oriented toward...

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: Pro rata share of 15% of list price and one copy of the anthology. Kraken Press will be publishing a 50’s themed horror and dark fantasy anthology called ”American Nightmare” in eBook and paperback editions with a tentative release date of January 2014 . We’re looking for original, unpublished horror and dark fantasy (sci-fi with a dark bend is okay) short stories between 2500 and 7000 words. We are not interested in flash fiction or poetry. The theme is 50s (and early 60s) Americana. We’d like to see modern genre fiction with a literary bend, set in those decades. We want to see classic cars, drive ins and white picket fences. Suburbia and small towns are a good choice for setting. Think Pleasantville, Mars Attacks, Fido, American Graffiti, October Sky, Ed Wood and Stand By Me. Deadline: October 31st Tentative publication date: January 2014 Payment: Pro rata share of 15% of list price and one copy of the anthology. Word count: 2500 to 7000 words. Simultaneous submissions: No. Multiple Submissions: No. Via: Kraken Press.

Deadline: October 31st, 2013 Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication Flytrap, the little zine with teeth, will open to submissions for issue #11 on September 3, 2013. Fiction: I will consider work up to 5,000 words (query for longer, but don't let it hurt your feelings if I say no). Any form, any style, any genre welcome; cross-genre and experimental work especially appreciated. I consider vignettes, fantasias, and hallucinagenia in addition to more traditional narrative approaches. Surprise me, or delight me, or both. I like stories with sex and feminism and apocalypses and snarky humor in them, but don't let that limit you. Straightforward adult content and conventional horror are unlikely to find a home here, but otherwise, I'm happy to consider pretty much anything. Send stories to Heather Shaw at [email protected]. Send in the body of an e-mail, or as Word or RTF attachments. Non-Fiction: Due to enthusiastic pre-soliciting, we are full on non-fiction for this issue. Poetry: We are not open to poetry submissions for issue #11. We're having a featured poet instead. But you might be able to slip a prose poem past the fiction editor. Multiple submissions are okay, within reason (that is, sending two pieces won't annoy us too much, but sending three probably will). No simultaneous submissions (but we'll try to answer every submission by mid-November, so it shouldn't cramp your submitting style too much). Deadline: We open September 3, 2013, and close October 31, 2013. Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication. Via: Kickstarter.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: $25, plus one paperback contributor’s copy. We are now open to submissions for Tales of the Black Arts, a swords & sorcery anthology, for POD paperback and eBook publication. We are looking for dark fantastic tales in the tradition of Moorcock’s Elric stories, Wagner’s Kane tales, or the Morlock Ambrosius stories by James Enge. As you might expect from the title, magic must play a central role in the story, not just be in the background. Cover art by Luke Spooner, www.carrionhouse.com. Word Count: 2,000 to 15,000 words. Payment: $25, plus one paperback contributor’s copy. Rights: we purchase First Electronic and First Print Rights, with a 6 month exclusivity period. Please remember that you can only sell your various “First” rights once, and that you will only be able to market your accepted story later as a reprint, once we have published it, which may limit where you can submit it to in the future, and how much you may be paid for it. Only you can make this business decision for yourself. Deadline: October 31st, 2013. Expected publication in January 2014. Submit the full story to us as a doc or rtf file to [email protected], with “Tales of the Black Arts” in the subject line. Include a little information about yourself as well. Multiple submissions: Ok Simultaneous submissions: Ok, just let us know. Reprints: No reprints, please. Via: Hazardous Press.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: Contributor copy: 1 copy of paperback, eBook in ePub and/or mobi format; permanent 25% discount on paperback (resale permitted); 1 free eBook from our catalogue A memory, a spectre, a feeling of regret, a sense of déjà vu, ghosts, machines, something you can’t quite put your finger on, a dark double, the long shadow of illness, your past, a nation’s past, your doppelgänger, a place, a song, a half-remembered rhyme, guilt, trauma, doubt, a shape at the corner of your eye, the future, the dead, the undead, the living, a grey cat, a black dog, a ticking clock, someone you used to know, someone you used to be. We are all haunted. Submissions wanted for a new anthology of short stories based on the theme of haunting. What we want: Edgy, dark and weird fiction. Any interpretation of the theme is welcome – and we have no preconceptions about what ‘haunting’ might mean. Any genre considered: dark fantasy, urban fantasy, Gothic, horror, sci fi, steampunk, cyberpunk, biopunk, dystopian, slipstream. We’re looking for original and fresh voices that challenge and unsettle. (And, please remember, we do not publish misogyny, misandry, homophobia, transphobia or racism.) Editor: Hannah Kate Publisher: Hic Dragones Word Count: 3000-7000 Submission Guidelines: Electronic submissions as .doc, .docx or .rtf attachments only. 12pt font, 1.5 or double spaced. Please ensure name, story title and email address are included on the attachment. Email submissions [email protected]. Submissions are welcome from anywhere, but must be in English. Submission Deadline: Thursday 31st October 2013 Payment: Contributor copy: 1 copy of paperback, eBook in ePub and/or mobi format; permanent 25% discount on paperback (resale permitted); 1 free eBook from our catalogue. Via: HIC Dragones.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: Grand Prize of $25 and second through forth will recieve $10 each   This year’s edition of The Rogues Gallery will feature images from one of the tabloids of the late 1800s: The Illustrated Police News A newspaper vendor in the nineteenth century could always ensure sales with the gruesome cry “Murder! ‘Orrible Murder!” Published around 1870, the Victorian tabloid The Illustrated Police News took this business angle to heart. It had the largest circulation of any periodical of that time and fed the public on a weekly diet of real-life horrors calculated to chill the strongest stomach and boost the next issue’s sales. Sharpen your pencils for a gruesome Halloween contest! Firbolg Publishing is giving away Amazon gift cards just in time for the Christmas shopping season. GRAND PRIZE one $25 Amazon gift card First, Second, Third prize one $10 Amazon gift card   There will be four winners, and just in time for the holiday season! Here are the rules: 1) You may send in as many stories as you like, but your name is only entered once. 2) Submissions must be in by 31 October. Winners will be announced 1 November. 3) Gift cards will send via email. 4) All authors already accepted are automatically entered in the drawing. Every author who submits a story will be entered into the drawing. 5) The top twenty-five stories selected by our editors will be published in The Rogues Gallery anthology due in January. 6) All authors selected will receive an e-copy of the anthology. 7) Your story must use one of the image prompts, and you must indicate which prompt you’ve chosen. (They are numbered) 8) 500-1000 words (this is strict) 9) Avoid excessive gore/ violence. We are most interested in gothic dark fiction rather than splatter style horror. Atmosphere and...

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: 7cents per word An original science fiction anthology of cyborg stories edited by a cyborg. Pay rate: Seven cents per word Story Length: 1000-8000 words Simultaneous Submissions: NO Reprints: NO Formatting: .doc or .rtf files in Standard Manuscript Format Paper Submissions: NO Electronic Submissions: clarkesworldmagazine.com/cyborg Rights Purchased: First Print and Electronic Rights. Book will be published in print, ebook and (possibly) audio editions. Deadline: Tentatively set for 9/15/2013. Will revise after first week of submissions. October 31, 2013 Obvious Requirement: Cyborgs or cyborg-related issues must play a role in the story. Feel free to explore this theme as widely as you like. Have fun with it and keep in mind that not all cyborgs need to be human. Don’t Send: Zombie stories. Seriously. NO. Stories previously rejected by Clarkesworld. (I’ve seen it already.) Stories involving horrible things happening to children. Cyborgs that just escaped from Doctor Who, Star Trek, etc. Authors already scheduled to appear in this anthology: Elizabeth Bear, Helena Bell, Tobias S. Buckell, Pat Cadigan, Greg Egan, Xia Jia, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Chen Qiufan, Robert Reed, E. Catherine Tobler, Genevieve Valentine, Peter Watts, E. Lily Yu. Via: Neil Clarke.

Dealdine: October 31, 2013. Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication.   We just wanted you to be the first to know that Flytrap will be opening to fiction submissions starting next Tuesday, September 4th! Below are the guidelines. Go forth, submit, and conquer! Flytrap, the little zine with teeth, will open to submissions for issue #11 on September 3, 2013. Fiction: I will consider work up to 5,000 words (query for longer, but don't let it hurt your feelings if I say no). Any form, any style, any genre welcome; cross-genre and experimental work especially appreciated. I consider vignettes, fantasias, and hallucinagenia in addition to more traditional narrative approaches. Surprise me, or delight me, or both. I like stories with sex and feminism and apocalypses and snarky humor in them, but don't let that limit you. Straightforward adult content and conventional horror are unlikely to find a home here, but otherwise, I'm happy to consider pretty much anything. Send stories to Heather Shaw at [email protected]. Send in the body of an e-mail, or as Word or RTF attachments. Non-Fiction: Due to enthusiastic pre-soliciting, we are full on non-fiction for this issue. Poetry: We are not open to poetry submissions for issue #11. We're having a featured poet instead. But you might be able to slip a prose poem past the fiction editor. Multiple submissions are okay, within reason (that is, sending two pieces won't annoy us too much, but sending three probably will). No simultaneous submissions (but we'll try to answer every submission by mid-November, so it shouldn't cramp your submitting style too much). Deadline: We open September 3, 2013, and close October 31, 2013. Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication. Thank you to...

Deadline: November-ish, 2013 Payment: $0.05 US per word, $0.025 US per word, by invitation only, or if queried first and accepted. VIRAL INVITATION Written Backwards is accepting submissions for Chiral Mad 2, an anthology of psychological horror. While the first two anthologies by Written Backwards were open to submissions following initial invites, Chiral Mad 2 is by viral invitation only. What does that mean? Well, if you can read this, you are invited. It’s that simple. You know someone or heard about this incredible opportunity by someone, or read a thread on Facebook, or twatted a tweet on Twitter, or found out somehow on one of the other social media outlets, or you possibly know a highly-respected acquaintance of yours truly, and here you are. Personal email invitations were sent to a select few prior to this page going live, like before, but you are now reading this, and this will soon go viral, so, well, you are invited to submit a story. Who’s the editor? This anthology will be edited by Michael Bailey, creator of the Chiral Mad and Pellucid Lunacy anthologies, and author of Palindrome Hannah, Phoenix Rose, and the upcoming Psychotropic Dragon. He has a few collections as well (Scales and Petals and the upcoming Inkblots and Blood Spots), and has appeared in some other books and magazines. You may have heard of him, maybe not. What really matters is this next book. Why should you submit? To date, Chiral Mad and Pellucid Lunacy have raised over $6,500 for Downs syndrome charities, with a majority of that donated to the Down Syndrome Information Alliance (DSIA). That’s why. Well, that’s the main reason. There are other reasons: both have received nothing but positive reviews, critical praise, and some awards. Pellucid Lunacy, during its run, won the International Book...

Deadline: November 1st 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Quick Snippets: Genre -- Horror Word Count -- 2k to 4k Payment -- None Story Status -- Unpublished Submission Period -- August 1st through November 1st (not before) Illustrations -- Please Reading Period -- November 1st through January 1st Response Time -- 30 days after end of submission period Publication Target -- First quarter 2014 STORYLINE Angels versus Zombies - one would assume what we are looking for and you would be right. Give us angels and give us zombies, pitted against one another in any format you want. Horror, fantasy, Weird, erotic, romance ... go ahead, use your imagination. FORMATTING We prefer standard manuscript formatting (good example: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html). FIRST PRINTING RIGHTS Bear in mind that most publications will not publish pieces that have been published in print, eBook, or on the web, so for all intents and purposes after your work is published by us it can only be marketed as a reprint, which severely limits the number of markets that will accept it, and drastically reduces the pay rate it can receive. It is up to you, the author, to decide if publishing your work in print and/or eBook formats and/or on the web, giving up your First Publishing Right for no and/or a token payment, is really what you want to do. Format MS Word (.rtf .doc .docx) WORD COUNT Our target is ten to fifteen short stories composed of two- to four-thousand words each. We may accept slightly longer or shorter stories if they appeal to us, so don’t feel that you need to drastically shred your story or add unnecessary material to fit the qualifications. ILLUSTRATIONS Love to see what you have - please do so in JPG/JPEG format and follow the storyline! SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS Sorry, are not...