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Deadline: March 31st, 2023 Payment: 6 cents per word Theme: A women-in-horror anthology inspired by "bad mothers." Note: All writers who identify as women (cis, trans, and non-binary femmes) are welcome to submit. MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Tales of Homemade Horror is a women-in-horror anthology inspired by "bad mothers." We're looking for your best horror stories featuring mother-figures: mama trauma, smother-mother, etc. MOTHER KNOWS BEST is a women-in-horror anthology. All writers who identify as women (cis, trans, and non-binary femmes) are welcome to submit. International submissions always welcomed! Featured Contributors include: Gwendolyn Kiste Kristi DeMeester Kelsea Yu Zin E. Rocklyn With an introduction by: Sadie Hartmann Edited by: Lindy Ryan GUIDELINES: Payment: 6 cents a word (USD) Length: 1000 to 5000 words Submission Period: January 2023 to March 31, 2023. All submissions will be read after close. Due to the volume of submissions, we may not be able to offer comments on every rejection, and appreciate your understanding. Expected Release Date: May 2024 (traditional trade) No reprints, multiple subs, or simultaneous subs. Use classic Shunn formatting. Via: Black Spot Books' Submittable.

Deadline: March 31st, 2023 Payment: AU$5.00 for stories under 2500 words / AU$10.00 for anything above 2500 words Theme: Desert/Dessert Theme Colp is our 'anything goes' genre-free anthology collection. Expect to see a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Current theme: DESERT/DESSERT Desert: a waterless, desolate area of land with little or no vegetation, typically one covered with sand. Dessert: the sweet coarse eaten at the end of a meal. We are currently looking for stories that feature deserts and/or desserts, so whether it is a tale about a journey into the Sahara or one about the lemon meringue pie that just wouldn't quit, please feel free to send your work through. Colp is for everyone and therefore we are willing to read stories that fall into any genre. So, no matter whether your story is a horror, adventure, romance, sci-fi or historical fiction piece, please send it on through. Be original. We also encourage new and unpublished writers to take the leap and get in touch. Please ensure that you read through the general guidelines and format your submission accordingly. If you have any specific questions please contact us using the form on the home page or via the listed social media accounts. To help make sure that your submission gets to the correct place, please include the following in the subject line of your email: Colp - DD - Story Title. Word count: 1000 - 5500 words Deadline: March 31 2023 Payment: AU$5.00 for stories under 2500 words / AU$10.00 for anything above 2500 words Submission Guidelines: Please no extreme erotica or stories that feature excessive violence or vulgarity (unless otherwise specified). We are all dog lovers here, so violence against animals is the quickest way to get your story rejected. All stories should be formatted appropriately. Please see here for more details. Ensure that your name, address, and email contact...

Deadline: March 31st, 2022 Payment: $50 Theme: Stories must include resurrection Resurrected Now Accepting Submissions Legion of Dorks Presents: Resurrected – An Anthology of Second Chances is searching for short stories no more than 7000 words. Submissions are open from January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023. Your story must be an original, never-before-published creation that centers around the theme. You must include some sort of resurrection, whether real or virtual, that concludes by the end of the story to meet the theme requirements. You cannot write in anyone else’s world. Otherwise, have fun and let your imagination dominate. A scientist discovers a way to bring back an extinct species. At a new school, an outcast finds a way to reinvent herself. A dead god tricks new worshippers into rejuvenating his power. The ideas are endless. We are offering $50 per accepted story. Fifty percent of all revenue after cost of production will be donated to Toys for Tots in conjunction with the Legion of Dorks December fundraiser. Email all submissions as an attachment in .doc or .docx format to [email protected] with the subject “Submission for Resurrected (last name).” One story per email please and no more than two submissions total. On the first page of your document, please include your name, address, and email in the top left corner. A short bio and anything pertinent about the story itself should be included in the body of the email. If you’re curious about the stories we like, check out the others in the series. Manuscript Submission Guidelines: We are accepting submissions of complete, previously unpublished manuscripts in the speculative fiction genre that have series potential. Speculative fiction encompasses horror, fantasy, and science fiction—and all of the niche categories under those large umbrellas. We’re only considering full length novels between 40K and 100K...

Deadline: March 31st, 2023 Payment: $10 Theme: Pulp Sword and Sworcery Submissions: OPEN (Issue 7) • Submission deadline: Friday, March 31st, 2023, 11:59p. • Editorial decisions: Sunday, May 7th. • Publication of Issue 7: Friday, June 17th, 2023. Special Guest Editor for Issue 7: Dr. Nicole Emmelhainz is Associate Professor of Composition and Rhetoric at Christopher Newport University, where she also directs the Alice F. Randall Writing Center and serves as Writing Program Administer. She received her MA in English from Ball State University, her MA in Creative Writing Poetry from Ohio University, and her PhD in Writing History and Theory from Case Western Reserve University. She is the co-editor for The Dark Man: Journal of Robert E. Howard and Pulp Studies and has presented widely on elements of pulp fiction, sword and sorcery, and feminism. Length: We prefer short, compressed stories that are nevertheless complete and cohesive narratives (1500 to 2500 words). These limits are firm. No more, no less. Stories over or under the limit will not be read. We mean it, friends! This limit serves two functions: (1) the limit is an artistic challenge. It takes skill to tell a compressed, punchy story. (2) We are an amateur publication and only pay a token honorarium, so save your longer works for better paying markets. Style: We prefer "dialog light, action heavy" fiction with vivid imagery that is unselfconsciously literary but nevertheless takes joy in an occasional old word that gives the breath of antiquity. Please eschew typographical emphasis and variation--e.g. bolding, italicizing, underlining (there are more artful ways of rendering verbal timbre). Publication, payment, and rights: Issues will be published as .pdf files. If work is selected for publication in WHETSTONE, authors will (1) be paid an honorarium of $10 and (2) will be asked to provide, by contract, "First North American Serial Rights." In our...

Submission Window: March 1st - 31st, 2023 Payment: 1.5¢ per word (one and one-half cent), with a $25 (U.S.) minimum and 2 contributors copies Theme: Horror and Weird Fiction Weird Horror has two reading periods each year - March and September. FICTION GUIDELINES OPENS: March 1, 2023 CLOSES: March 31, 2023 We are seeking first publication rights. Fiction must be in English, and previously unpublished in English anywhere, in any format, on any platform, including your blog, website, newsletter, Patreon, etc. Please do not query about reprints. We will consider works translated to English, as long as you are offering first English-language publication rights. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Please inform us if your story is accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions. Please send 1 story only per reading period. We are seeking horror and weird fiction from 500 to 6,000 words, firm. Stories over or under the word count will not be read. (Please respect our word counts.) We are not interested in extreme horror. We receive about 1,000 manuscripts each period, and accept less than 2% of submissions. Do not be discouraged by a form rejection. Payment is (U.S.) 1.5¢ per word (one and one-half cent), with a $25 (U.S.) minimum (paid via PayPal) for first worldwide English-language rights, for use in the print, eBook, and online edition. Contributors also receive 2 copies of the print edition. We ask for a 6-month exclusivity. Copyright remains with the author, and a contract will be provided. Submit stories in Standard Manuscript Format as a Word document or PDF, and e-mail as an attachment to: WeirdHorrorMag gmail com NOTE - There is no need to provide a mailing address on your manuscript. Format the subject line of your e-mail thusly: Submission - Add Story Title Here Do not respond to rejections, please, for...

Deadline: March 31st, 2023 Payment: 50% share of book royalties and 5 author copies Theme: Bizarro Novel & Novella Submissions January 1st – March 1st See Theme: Bizarro We want to publish your exciting, well written bizarro stories. For those unfamiliar with the genre, think of the weirdest story you’ve ever read, then times that by potato. Novellas - 20,000 to 40,000 wordcount Novels – 40,000 to 80,000 Short story collections may also be considered. Author compensation will be in the form of; ·       50% share of book royalties ·       5 Author Copies Stage 1 – First chapter only due within the submission window, along with a synopsis and rough plot outline. Make sure it captures our attention and makes us want to read more! Please allow 4 weeks from closing date for a response. Stage 2 – Those successful in stage 1 will be invited to submit their completed manuscript (and their full bio) within 12 weeks. This full manuscript will go to our read team. Successful authors from stage 2 will be invited to sign contracts with us. Please allow 12 weeks from closing date for a response. Author eligibility : Open only to all Reprints : Allowed Simultaneous Submissions : Not allowed Multiple Submissions : No. Publication : Publications in digital and print, launching 2023/24 Submit to : [email protected] Subject line: Novel/Novella submission - Story name - Your name Via: Planet Bizarro.

Deadline: March 31st, 2023 Payment: £20 Theme: Stories should be inspired by/based on tabletop games - roleplaying games, board games, miniature wargames. Fanatical is currently OPEN for submissions. We are looking for unpublished sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories of between 2,000 and 6,000 words. Please only submit one story at a time and don't submit if it's already submitted somewhere else. All stories should be self-contained, no "to be continued". Recurring characters across multiple stories will be considered, as long as each story is a solid read in its own right. If you've already been published in an issue of Fanatical you are free to submit again, but we may hold your submission over so as not to publish the same author in back to back issues. Fanatical will pay £20 per accepted story, paid upon publication. We pay via Paypal. Upon acceptance, authors retain rights to the story but we ask they don't publish/submit it anywhere else before it is published in Fanatical. Tales from the Tabletop These stories should be inspired by/based on tabletop games - roleplaying games, board games, miniature wargames. Though Fanatical may take it's name from the concept of fan fiction, we're not looking to get sued here.   A story about an adventuring party consisting of a dwarf, an elf, a human and a halfling going into a dungeon to fight a dragon is fine. A story specifically set in a copyright protected world of Dungeons & Dragons, with reference to its locations and characters is not. A story about a genetically engineered super-soldier in power armour fighting aliens in the far future is fine. A story about a Space Marine fighting Xenos in the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000 is not. Rest assured the editors at Fanatical will work with you to ensure your stories meet our criteria in this regard.   Authors should be...

Submission Window: March 8th, 2023 to March 24th, 2023 for all, Underrepresented voices have the entire month of March Payment: 5 cents per word Theme: Horror, Dark and Science Fiction Horror that takes place in institutions of learning (see below) Ai Jiang and Christi Nogle are seeking previously unpublished stories of 1,000 to 4,000 words for Shortwave Publishing’s Wilted Pages: An Anthology of Dark Academia. Wilted Pages takes its inspirations from works such as The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas, and The Bone Weaver’s Orchard by Sarah Read. Gloomy buildings, secret societies, futuristic boarding schools, gothic yet modern aesthetics, and occult learning are among the pleasures to be found in this subgenre.   We are looking for a broad range of HORROR, DARK FANTASY, and SCIENCE FICTION HORROR concerning Schools, colleges, universities, and/or other educational institutions Libraries and books Laboratories and research facilities Teachers and students Scholarship and scholarly life Esoteric/occult learning Educational technology The future of learning The knowledge economy   Recommended Reading H. Pueyo’s “A Study in Ugliness” from The Dark Magazine Corey Farrenkopf’s “Mother’s Wolves” from Catapault John Langan’s ““Technicolor” at PseudoPod Our definition is not so narrow as this one, but it might be a good starting point: Dark Academia | Aesthetics Wiki A more critical take at Dark Academia: The Truth About the Genre & Subculture Submission Guidelines File: .docx or .doc Format: Double-spaced, Times New Roman, include email address and byline on the first page (*address and phone number not needed) Length: 1,000 to 4,000 words (*no exceptions) Emailed to: [email protected] Include a brief cover letter (A third-person bio — no more than 100 words) Subject line: SUBMISSION: Story Title — Word Count — Author Name Submissions open March 8, 2023 and close March 24, 2023. We would love to see work from writers from all backgrounds and locations....

Submission Window: March 1st - 31st, 2023 Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue Theme: Any genre, short story Mission = Revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful. Payout = Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Wait, you mean if this substack gets thousands of subscribers, the winner would get thousands of dollars? Yes! The New Yorker pays roughly $7,500 per story and I sincerely hope to go way past that. What does the timeline look like? Submit stories by the end of the month, winner to be announced on the 15th. There is ONE story that wins and receives the full payout. Where do I send submissions? [email protected] What are the rules for submitting? 1. No Fees 2. Send in Microsoft Word or Google Doc form 3. Any genre 4. 6- 10,000 words. Yes, just 6 words, like Hemingway's famous 6-word story "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn." 5. Reprints are ok so long as you still have the rights to distribute. 6. Acknowledge Distribution Rights on this Substack - You can still sell your story elsewhere but we need to be able to save and publish it here. The goal is to create a library for subscribers. 7. Only the winner will be published and rights will only transfer for the winning story. What do I get for subscribing? One beautiful story every month. The complete library. The joy of supporting artists and doing something interesting. What if I can’t pay right now? That’s ok! If you publish a blurb about this site on your website, blog, or social media, I will send you one full story of your choosing. Best of all, it is...

Deadline: March 31st, 2023 Payment: $40 USD Theme: Eerie stories that would be perfect to be told around a campfire! Pull up a seat, roast a marshmallow, and tell us a tale. We want the stories you’d whisper in the dark. The kind that linger and leave readers with more questions than they answer. We want a little bit of campiness and a whole lot of speculation on the world around us. We prefer stories set in a rural backdrop with the intimate feeling of a small town. We want sparse populations and a closeness to nature. The stories don’t need to be about camping necessarily, but they should evoke the eerie feeling of a story told around a campfire with the strange sounds of the forest just beyond the firelight. All stories will need to be previously unpublished (this includes your own website/blog/etc.) and must feature a speculative element, whether it’s magic or monsters or anything in between. All subgenres of speculative fiction are welcome, although sci-fi will be a harder sell. We will judge all stories by their own merits though, so if you think you have something that fits, we want to read it. A note on horror: we are not looking for gratuitous violence, grimdark, or gothic romanticism. We will not accept any stories featuring bigotry, hateful language, or sexual assault of any kind. This is an anthology for adults so some sex/violence/profanity is fine, as long as it directly pertains to the story and isn’t used solely for shock value. We do want our grandmothers to read this though, so any sex should preferably be fade-to-black rather than overly descriptive. Guidelines: Deadline: March 31st, 2023 at 11:59 EST Word count: 2,000-5,000 words Payment: $40 USD per accepted story, paid through PayPal. Rights: First world print and digital publication rights...