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Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: $0.01/word (1 cent a word) USD for fiction and $5 per poem Theme: Speculative fiction and poetry—science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but also compelling work that blurs the lines between these and falls outside of neat genre categories. Kaleidotrope publishes predominantly speculative fiction and poetry—science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but also compelling work that blurs the lines between these and falls outside of neat genre categories. Man does not live on space ships, elves, and ghostly ax murderers alone, after all. We’d suggest looking through the archives to familiarize yourself with the zine, and/or checking out other work by our past contributors, to get a sense of what we’re looking for and what we like. We are also interested in publishing diverse writers. Kaleidotrope welcome writers of color and other groups, as well as work that represents the diversity of characters we want to see more of. Fiction We have no minimum or maximum word count but strongly prefer stories over 250 words and under 10,000. Poetry We consider all forms. However, individual haiku, or other very short poems, may be a tougher sell. Artwork We are looking for primarily full-color illustrations to serve as cover art. We currently do not commission new cover artwork or pieces to appear with individual stories and poems. The best way to submit artwork is to email a link to your online portfolio or gallery, though you may also send individual pieces for consideration. Reprints Kaleidotrope does not consider fiction or poetry reprints. This includes work that has appeared on your personal website or in public online forums. We do, however, consider artwork that has appeared in online galleries or elsewhere, provided you own the copyright to the piece and any characters depicted therein. (Sorry, no fan-art.) Rights For fiction and poetry, we buy...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word (USD), plus a pro-rata share of 50% of royalties. Theme: Completed speculative stories about positive queer possibility The basics Editors: Isabela Oliveira (she/her) and Jed Sabin (they/them) Deadline: Saturday, February 27th, at 9pm Pacific Length: We've set the upper limit at 15,000 words to allow for flexibility, but most acceptances are likely to be under 7,000 words. There is no minimum. Rate: We pay 8 cents per word (USD), plus a pro-rata share of 50% of royalties. Simultaneous submissions: No, please do not submit an original (non-reprint) story anywhere else while we are considering it. Multiple submissions: Yes, you may submit up to 3 stories to us at once. There is no limit on total number of submissions as long as there are not more than 3 under consideration at one time. Reprints: We will consider previously published stories, including those that have been self-published online. Reprints are paid at the same rate as originals. Audio rights must be available. Identity statements: We do not require or expect authors to disclose their identities to us, and if authors do choose to share their identities, we will not disclose that information to others without permission. We encourage submissions from authors who have never submitted their fiction to a paid market before, and we've tried to develop these guidelines to be clear to those who aren't familiar with industry norms. Please don't hesitate to submit for fear of doing it wrong, and feel free to contact us here with questions or accessibility requests. Content guidelines We are looking for completed speculative stories about positive queer possibility, written in English, which do not use intellectual property currently under copyright by someone other than the author. Stories may feature near-future social and political change, far-future imaginings of new societies, alternate universes with completely different systems of gender and...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: $0.03 per word and inclusion in an anthology Theme: Clowns, Carnivals, and Sideshows! Note: Apologies for the quick deadline, I missed this being posted Your March theme is... Clowns, Carnivals and Sideshows! Authors, you have up to 1,000 words to write a Dark Fiction / Horror story based on this theme. The submission deadline is end of February at midnight. Please send your submission in the body of an email to [email protected], with the title of your story as the subject email. Payment includes $0.03 per word, publication in an upcoming Shallow Waters anthology, and an author spotlight on our Patreon page and newsletter. We'll post the best stories here on Patreon for our $5 and higher patrons to read, after which they'll vote for the winner. Authors are not allowed to vote for their own stories. Have fun! Via: Crystal Lake Publishing's Patreon.

Deadline: March 1st, 2021 Payment: $.02 a word and royalties Theme: A fun filled romp into the concept and nature of Death. B Cubed Press is pleased to announce an open call for Alternative Deathiness.  A fun filled romp into the concept and nature of Death. Seriously what the hell is death, big guy with bones and a sickle? An ominous Tarot Card?  Or is it simply the passing of one thing for another.  A change in phase. Or, it is the ending of you, and just you, a personal FU from the universe that say oopsie, you’re out of here? So be prepared to look hard at this topic, its rituals, its layers.  Have fun.  May as well,  considering the end comes for us all. This book will be edited by Bob Brown and Irene Radford, the team that brought you the best selling Alternative Truths. If you wonder what perspective the editors bring just remember, we’re old.  Our friends are old, our families are old.  Death is beginning to feel more like a roommate than a concept.  So?  Let the stories rip, show no deference to religion, ritual, or sensitivities.  For god’s sake, we’re talking death here! And don’t try sneaking zombies and ghosts and vampires in to get around death.  Oh we might buy one or two REALLY GOOD Ones, but that isn’t the focus. Does this mean we will not accept sensitive looks at this from a more popular perspective?  No, but it means that it will be tested against the criteria that the writing be good, and carry an explanation of the nature of death. In terms of what we are looking for, think openly about the concept of death and life, can’t have one without the other.  The setting is open anywhere in time...

Deadline: March 1st, 2021 Payment: 2 cents a word and Royalties Theme: A critical look at War and what it does to us. B Cubed Press is pleased to announce an open call for Alternative War.  A critical look at War and what it does to us.  This book will be edited by Bob Brown and Debora Godfrey, the team that brought you the best selling Alternative Apocalypse. If you wonder what perspective the editors bring, I refer you to War, written by  Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1969: Oh no-there's got to be a better way Say it again There's got to be a better way-yeah What is it good for? War has caused unrest Among the younger generation Induction then destruction Who wants to die? War-huh What is it good for? Absolutely nothing Does this mean we will not accept military Sci-Fi?  No, but it means that it will be tested against the criteria that the writing be good, and carry an understanding of the cost of war. In terms of what we are looking for, think openly about the concept of war and conflict from origin, to back stage, to the field of conflict.  The setting is open anywhere in time and space.  As anyone who has read Churchill will know, war is much more than the fighting. This book will be part of the best-selling Alternatives series.  We will be accepting stories, poetry, and essays from now through March 1, 2021. 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...

Deadline: March 1st, 2021 Payment: $0.005 per word Theme: Furry horror! Deadline: March 1, 2021 Theme: Furry horror! Word Count: 1,500-6,000 Payment: $0.005 per word Editor: Thurston Howl Expected release: Just in time for Howloween! With all the more recent furry horror anthologies emerging—Bleak Horizons, Infurno, Seven Deadly Sins, The Haunted Den, Dread, Slashers, and the upcoming The Howling Dead—we thought it would be useful to have a regular anthology that allowed all furry horror submissions, rather than specific types of horror. So bring us your worst! We want to see the furry Jason attacking a camp of squirrels. We want to see the Howling of Hill House. We want to see an ethereal Bad Dragon toy haunting the user who threw it away. We want to see a couple of foxes collecting knots from the tops they kill. So, slashers, erotic horror, ghost stories, movie monsters, transformation, all types of horror are welcome and encouraged! Kink and fetish are perfectly fine (and maybe even encouraged) with submissions, and you are free to play around with genre here. While erotic horror is accepted, , Characters that you do not own or characters under copyright, Bigotry, and extreme violence. Reprints are fine with us as long as you own the rights to your story. Simultaneous submissions are fine! If your story is accepted elsewhere, it is your responsibility to let us know. Max of three subs per writer. Weasel Press asks for Non-Exclusive rights to your story in perpetuity. BIPOC Authors, Queer Authors, Disabled Authors, Authors who are currently or former Sex Workers are strongly encouraged to submit. Submissions are taken through Submittable. Use one submittable form to upload your story(stories if more). The form will take up to 3 DOC or DOCX documents. That means you’ll have to have all...

Deadline: March 1st, 2021 Payment: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10 Theme: A Postcard from the Past ALL SHORT STORIES, ESSAYS, POEMS, PHOTOGRAPHS and ART MUST RELATE TO ONE OF THE PREMISES SPECIFIED ABOVE. NOTE: Previously published pieces are welcome, provided that the submission fits the theme and that the author owns the copyright. The premise (target theme) must be an integral part of the plot, not necessarily the central theme but not merely incidental. Fewer than 20 double-spaced typewritten pages preferred. Indicate premise (target theme) on title page. Be sure to Indicate target theme in cover letter or on first page of manuscript. Include self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with each submission. Rejected manuscripts unaccompanied by an SASE will not be returned. Response time: 3 months after premise deadline.  NO READER'S FEE. Mail to: THEMA, Box 8747, Metairie, LA 70011-8747. Outside the US: email [email protected] On acceptance for publication, we will pay the following amount: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10; artwork, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Copyright reverts to author after publication. THEMA isn't for everyone. To find out why, click here. New to submitting manuscripts to journals? Click here to download a PDF file of a few basic guidelines. Unlike many publishers, we prefer works submitted by the authors themselves, without the involvement of an agent. Be sure to indicate premise and include SASE for each submission.  BE SURE to include a separate SASE for each premise. No handwritten manuscripts will be considered. NOTE: We do not accept e-mailed submissions EXCEPT from authors who live outside the U.S. For those living outside the U.S., submit manuscript as an email attachment (readable by MSWord ― either as a DOC file or an RTF file), and include the following information on the title page: target theme, title of work, name of...

Deadline: March 1st, 2021 Payment: 2 cents a word and Royalties Theme: This book will explore protests with stories, essays and poems. We want to see the people, the protest, the issues that make this something that puts people on the streets. B Cubed Press is pleased to announce an open call for The Protest Diaries.  2020 is not the first year of protests.  The American Revolution started with protests.  India used protest to free themselves from British rule. I could go on, the protestant reformation, the storming of the Bastille.  Protests seldom feel like the birth of freedom and a new era at the time.  At the time, it is anger, resentment, and a fundamental need for change. But the past four years have re-introduced America to the protest, whether in the name of the BLM movement, the Pussy Hats, even the Back the Blue rallies.  No political ideology has a lock on protests. This book will explore protests with stories, essays and poems.  We want to see the people, the protest, the issues that make this something that puts people on the streets.  When we read your story, poem, or essay, we want to know what makes it necessary to take to the streets. So be prepared to look hard at this topic, its rituals, its layers.    We don’t want just the darkness.  B Cubed publishes satire, humor and laugh out loud.  These stories define us, so don’t be afraid to bring it.  Laughter is part of our humanity. This book will be edited by Nathan Ockerman and Vanessa Cozzo. And don’t be afraid to reach.  Past present and future are all within the scope of what we will consider stories for. Story length for our books average about 2200 words but have ranged from 100 to 7500...

Deadline: March 1st, 2021 Payment: $200/story + royalties Theme: Urban Fantasy only (no Science Fiction or Horror, although horror elements may be present in the story) that involves Cryptids We are currently accepting submissions for We Cryptids. The guidelines are as follows: Word limit: 3000-6000 words. Pay rate: $200/story + royalties Genre: Urban Fantasy only (no Science Fiction or Horror, although horror elements may be present in the story). Other forms of fantasy (epic fantasy, Historical Fantasy, or Steampunk, for example) will not be accepted. If the cryptid you choose to write about was sighted in a timeframe earlier than 2020, you are welcome to write within that time frame, but the more modern the story, the better. Language: English (translations are welcome). Submissions open: October 31, 2020 Submissions close: March 1, 2021 Rights: We claim first world English rights (no reprints). For an excellent break down of what this means, please see Neil Clarke’s post here. Cryptids have long haunted our imaginations and folklore. Bigfoot, the chupacabra, Nessie, the Jersey Devil, vampires, the fae, kraken, the mothman, werewolves, and more all feature in the stories we tell ourselves to inspire wonder and mystery. By living on the borders of society, at the edges of the map marked "here be dragons", cryptids exist in the liminal spaces between fact and fiction. We Cryptids invites you to consider what would happen if cryptids existed and lived among us. Would they be our neighbors, or would their children be barred from our schools? Would they be disproportionately stopped by police just because of what they were and what they looked like? Would their children be taken from them to be raised by "approved parents" to uphold other people's values. Would they be allowed to fight for the country, but not allowed to...

Deadline: March 1st, 2021 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...