Events

Deadline: September 15th, 2016 Payment: 02 to .08 per word Behind the Mask (working title) is our next themed anthology and it’s all about superheroes! But not how they saved the world this time. We’re more interested in the ordinary day-to-day challenges facing these extraordinary individuals: growing up, growing old, relationships, career struggles, parenting. How they cope with that age-old desire to fit in when, let’s face it, they don’t. We want superhero stories with originality, diversity, and strong character development that celebrate the genre but manage to push its boundaries as well. Fun, quirky, serious, happy, sad: any tone will do, and we plan to have a nice variety. But bring us something fresh and relevant to this crazy world we live in today. So without further ado, here are the details! Short Fiction (3K to 6K words) for  Behind the Mask: A Superhero Anthology We are currently seeking short stories for our next short fiction superhero themed anthology, Behind the Mask. Submission Deadline 9/15/16 Submission Guidelines: Include a cover email containing genre, word count, brief bio, and contact information Please confirm that your story has not been published before Attach your complete story using  Proper Short Story Manuscript Format in .doc, .docx, .txt or .rtf format. We do not accept reprints We do accept simultaneous submissions for short stories (but ask that you contact us immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere) Send to [email protected] with subject line: Superhero – Genre – Title – Author Payment: We pay .02 to .08 per word for short fiction Via: Meerkat Press.

Deadline: September 15, 2016 Payment: Accepted poems will be paid for at the following rate: US 3¢/word rounded to nearest dollar; minimum US $3, maximum $25. Payment is on publication. Eye to the Telescope 22, the Ghosts issue, will be edited by Shannon Connor Winward. Existence is a circle, and we err when we assign to it for measurement the limits of the cradle and the grave. —Manuel Acuña, “Before a Corpse” For this issue of Eye to the Telescope, I am looking for more than thumps in the attic and pretty dead girls on a moonlit road. I want the unexpected, the unmeasured—I want poems that belie the limits of life and afterlife and what we think a ghost story should be. Give me phantoms and poltergeists, yes, bean-sidhe and È Guǐ, pathos or parody, space ship specters or transmigrating alien souls—I want any and all of it, as long the poem has meat on its bones. No restrictions on genre or form, though graphic violence or gore will be a hard sell. More than anything, I want to be moved. Submission Guidelines SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Please send submissions to [email protected] with the subject line “ETTT sub:” followed by the poet’s name. Please submit 1–5 poems in English (in body of email or attached as .rtf). Include a short bio. Deadline: September 15, 2016. The issue will appear on October 15, 2016. Payment and rights Accepted poems will be paid for at the following rate: US 3¢/word rounded to nearest dollar; minimum US $3, maximum $25. Payment is on publication. Payment can be made to either the translator or the poet or split between the translator and the poet, as agreed upon in each individual case. The Science Fiction Poetry Association normally uses PayPal to pay poets, but can also...

Deadline: September 15th, 2016 Payment: Contributor's Copy Jaded Books Publishing announces their next anthology open for submissions to be released Halloween Day. Black Candy is Halloween themed, so send in your best submissions with serial killers, monsters, creepy crawlies, and things that go bump in the night on Halloween! * Word format saved in .doc, .docx, and .rtf * 12 pt times new roman * Crisp clean work * Halloween themed madness * 2k-6k word count * Send with Black Candy as subject line   Submit to : [email protected]   Deadline September 15th The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. The submission documents are to be separated and Word (.doc) documents are required to be attached to your submission email. Please type your name, the title of your story in the subject line of your email [email protected]. Via: Jaded Books Publishing.

Deadline: September 15th, 2016 Payment: $50 usd Thanks for your interest in submitting to Black Girl Magic Lit Mag's Oct. 2016 All Horror Issue Submit stories in DOC, DOCX or RTF format. Standard Manuscript Format is strongly preferred. Use a standard font like Times New Roman or Arial, in 12 pt. Turnaround time for responses is one month following the end of your submission month. (e.g. if you submit during September, we’ll respond no later than October 31.) If you haven’t received a response by the end of the following month, please query. PAYMENT & RIGHTS We CURRENTLY pay $50 per short story and $25 for non-fiction. In 2017 we are establishing a Patreon in order to start paying our authors $0.03 - .08cents/word for original fiction up to 6,000 words on publication for First World Rights. Authors will also receive a free print and eBook copy of the anthology in which their story appears. Black Girl Magic accepts first world eBook and print rights, and non-exclusive anthology rights for Black Girl Magic’s biannual anthologies. We also accept non-exclusive online rights to publish and archive your story on our website. WHAT WE PUBLISH: Mainstream fiction with elements of the fantastic mixed in Dark fantasy / science fiction Magic realism (“a literary genre or style that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction—called also magical realism”) Surrealism: (“the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations”) Don’t be afraid to experiment or to deviate from the ordinary. WHAT WE DON'T PUBLISH: We are not a market for graphic, violent horror. The “horror” should be subtle and fall in with one or more of the themes above. Gratuitous/Violent Horror Weak women...

Deadline: September 30th, 2016 Payment: $0.01/per word and a contributor's copy Reprints Allowed Bring us your best prison stories. Any genre. Any point of view. The story can be from the perspective of an inmate. It can be from the POV of a guard. It can be from the viewpoint of a family member visiting a lifer. It can be a prison ghost story. It can be about redemption, or a spiral down into oblivion. It can be about friendship, or prison gangs and rivalries. It can be about a riot. It can be about an ex-con, who's gotten out and is struggling to reintegrate into an unforgiving society. As long as it holds true to the main theme of prison, it fits. Any genre works: historical fiction, paranormal, supernatural, drama, comedy, dark noir, mystery, etc. Just make certain your story has something to do with prison or confinement (incarceration). This can include inside a mental hospital, juvenile detention, or other correctional facility. Guidelines for Submissions: Deadline: September 30, 2016 Payment: $0.01/per word + one contributor's copy Word count: 1,500 – 6,000 Acceptable file types: doc. and docx. Simultaneous/multiple submissions: Yes Reprints: Yes (payment is 1¢/per word) All submissions should be formatted 12 pt. Times New Roman. Please use auto-indent for paragraphs, and no space between paragraphs. In your cover letter, include your contact information and a brief bio. We are asking for six months exclusive rights for all accepted stories. All authors included in the anthology will receive two contributor's copies. All authors will receive contributor listing on Amazon. We may send out rejections/acceptances before the deadline, but please do not query about your story's status until October 11, 2016, or later. There is NO fee per submission. The final TOC of selected authors and stories will be announced...

Deadline: September 30th Payment: £50 per included story and a contributor's copy Note: Only open to residents of Great Britain or Ireland IRON Press is seeking submissions of previously unpublished ghost stories for a new anthology, Cold Iron, to be co-edited by Peter Mortimer and Eileen Jones. We're inviting writers resident in Great Britain or Ireland to submit a maximum of two short stories (1500 to 3000 words per story) by post only please and including SAE to 'Cold Iron', IRON Press, 5 Marden Tce, Cullercoats, North Shields, NE30 4PD. Traditionally, ghost stories are pleasurably scary, suitable for telling round the hearth or the campfire, but they can incorporate serious moral themes as well as humour and romance. We share M. R. James' views that ghost stories work best when set near the audience's/readers' own time, invoking a chilling contrast between the known world and the menace of the paranormal, and that gratuitous violence should be avoided. Submit ghost stories only please - we're not looking for stories that really belong in the sci-fi cosmos, vampire crypt, zombie graveyard or werewolf woodlands. Also we're not looking for poetry or (see minimum word count) flash fiction. Closing date: 30th September 2016. Contributing writers will receive a payment of £50 per included story and one free copy of the anthology, and will be able to buy further copies at trade price. And - advance warning to those of a nervous disposition - we're already investigating some suitably spooky options for launch events in 2017. Readers’ Groups - IRON Press is keen to promote reading. We can offer you good discounts on bulk ordering of any of our titles for your readers' groups. We may also be able to put you in touch with the writers if you'd like them to visit your...

Deadline: September 30, 2016 Payment: 4 cents and 2 contributor's copies Lawless Lands: Tales from the Weird Frontier is an anthology embodying the frontier spirit of the American West, but with a weird twist. Gunslingers with laser pistols, cattle drives through the galaxy, cursed nuggets of gold, and talking jack rabbits that grant wishes. Fantasy, SF, or horror, if it’s weird, we want to see it. The book will be funded with a Kickstarter campaign in December 2016. We will pay each author a minimum of 4 cents a word, with the possibility of more if the Kickstarter is successful, and two physical copies. Editors: Emily Leverett, Margaret McGraw, and Misty Massey. Anchor authors: David B. Coe, Laura Anne Gilman, Barb Hendee, Faith Hunter, Nicole Givens Kurtz, Margaret McGraw, Seanan McGuire, Devon Monk, and Edmund Schubert (This Giant Leap). Word count: 3000 to 7000 words. We might be willing to entertain a story longer than the max, but please ask before submitting, and it had better be a pretty incredible story. Genre: Fantasy, SF, or horror. No erotica.  Format: Word documents (.doc; .docx) only; 12 point Times New Roman, double-spaced. Please include your name and email address at the beginning of your word document as it will get separated from your original email. Subject Line for Email: LawlessLands – (Your Name) – (Name of Story) Cover Letter: We’re happy to see a cover email explaining your previous publications, but try to keep it short and sweet. And don’t stress if you have no prior publication experience – we love discovering stars! Submission deadline: September 30, 2016 To submit your story or for more information, email: [email protected] Via: Falstaff Books.

Deadline: September 30th, 2016 Payment: Contributor's copy We all love stories about great intellects whose work frequently crosses moral and ethical boundaries. From Cronenberg’s The Fly, where Dr. Seth Brundle drunkenly splices his DNA with an insect's while trying to perfect teleportation, to medical student Herbert West’s fanatical quest to re-animate the dead; from Dr. Moreau and his macabre island of genetically manipulated half-human beasts, to Walter Bishop manipulating and altering reality in FOX's Fringe—or the granddaddy of all “mad scientists,” Dr. Frankenstein, and his creation of Life, assembling a creature from the body parts of the deceased. These are the kinds of stories we’re looking to include in the inaugural charity anthology from Shadow Work Publishing, DARK DESIGNS. If you have a story of the fantastic, about a “mad scientist” character who is somewhat scatterbrained or altogether insane, whose practices are questionable (at best), and whose works frequently meet some sort of insidious end… then please, send us YOUR story! Length: 3000-7,500 words. For longer stories, please query first, but be aware, they have to be pretty damn good to get our attention! Considerations: Please do not submit nonfiction, fanfiction, poetry, or children's stories, as these are not the types of submissions we are looking for. What exactly are we looking for? This is a “mad scientist” anthology—so think dark fiction, twisted thrillers, and bizarre, horrifying tales of ambiguous ethics.  Selection: We will choose up to 20 (but not limited to) stories for inclusion—the best of the best—through a finely tuned selection process. Please, once you submit your story, give us to the deadline date before asking if you were selected. If you submitted a story near the deadline date (better late than never, right?), please give us two weeks before asking if you were selected.  Pay: This is...

Deadline: September 30th, 2016 Payment: .025/word and 3 contributor's copies Open Submissions for Only the Light We Make; Volume three of Tales from the world of Adrian's Undead Diary have begun. This anthology set in the world of AUD will be edited and published by Chris Philbrook in print, ebook, and audiobook format. Mark Tufo has agreed to write the foreword for the book, and Chris will be writing between 3 and 5 new stories for the book as well. This is a paid anthology. Stories should follow the canonical rules of the AUD setting in terms of the undead, timeline of events and available characters. (silent zombies, no undead animals, no one dreams of the living, etc) Submissions should range in length between 500 and 7,500 words in length. Stories are due September 30th. You may use existing characters as mentioned above, but the stories must fit in with the core AUD storyline for inclusion. Submissions are open to professionals as well as fans. If you have a solid story that uses the undead, or the apocalypse as a basis, you may submit it for inclusion, but please be aware that it must be edited to make sense before publishing. Stories selected will be paid out within 45 days of editing (or as applicable based on release and printing schedules) according to the following; 1.) Each contributor will receive in hand or by mail three print copies of the anthology.  All copies will be signed by Chris Philbrook prior to shipping. The previous anthology contributor copies were sent out with four author's autographs. 2.) Each contributor will receive a free .pdf copy of the anthology. 3.) Each contributor will receive a free .mobi copy of the anthology. 4.) You will receive two free Audible download codes for the book....

Deadline: September 30th Payment: $10 and a digital copy February  1 - March 31  (Spring issue) August 1 - September 30 (Fall Issue) Publication will be one year after reading period. Anything sent to us outside these reading periods will be deleted unread. Fiction We here at Bete Noire are looking for stories that are well written, character driven and have a dark bent to them.  We are open to most genres as long as they have a dark side.  This includes horror, dark sci-fi, dark fantasy, crime, mystery or dark humor.  However, vampires plus sparkle equals rejection. Please don't send us sword & sorcery or space operas.  Tolkien and Lucas have their place, but not here.  Also, we don't and can't accept "fan fiction" which includes anything based on a video game, book, movie or any other creator's work or conception unless you have written permission from the creator.  If you don't own the copyright to the characters in your story, we cannot publish your work.  By submitting to us, you, as the author of the work, accept responsibility for any possible copyright infringement. Please don't send us "Slash" or "Fem-Slash" or anything graphically describing sex.  Sex is okay as long as it's integral to the story but don't overdo it.  Please don't use gore for gore's sake.  Again gore is okay as long as it's integral to the story.  Though we cringe at the thought of violence toward children or pets, we understand that this type of violence does occur in real life, but we just don't want it in our magazine. Stories with acts of violence toward animals or children will not have a chance with us.  Any story that insinuates an act of sex or sexual violence between an adult and a child will be rejected.  This includes...