Events

Deadline: February 29th, 2024 Payment: 0.015 per word Theme: A chronicle of something speculative fiction related (see below for more details!) Note: The pay is a bit lower than what we usually would list, however we don't always see newer podcasts pop up and thought it could be interesting for those who want to get in on the ground floor. A brand new audible zine centering the bizarre, the horrifying, and the what-ifs. New Episodes bi-monthly with an exciting new theme every time. Imagine attending an open mic story-telling night in the cellar of that haunted house on the hill or the canteen of a starship that traverses time and dark dimensions. What stories would you hear? Would they inspire awe or disgust? Hope in the future or existential dread? Genres: Sci-fi, Slipstream, Weird Fiction, Near-Future, Retellings, Folk-Tales, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Surrealism, Cosmic Horror, Dark Fantasy, Speculative… Formats: Mainly Short Stories, Poetry, Flash Fiction, Short Plays/Extracts, (but open to) Personal Stories, Dreams/Nightmares, Songs, Soundscapes, Fictional or Real Mini-Docs, Interviews, and whatever else you can dream up… CURRENT THEME: THE CHRONICLE Imagine the diary of an awakening A.I.'s consciousness, ship logs chronicling a perilous journey through an ominous patch of space, an unearthed time capsule housing century-old audio solving an enigmatic mystery. Does your chronicle unravel the epic tale of a forgotten civilization’s rise and fall or narrate the everyday escapades of a lone passenger adrift at sea? Perhaps your chronicle is a tangible artifact, a relic hidden by a secretive order, demanding protection... or destruction. Think intricate field notes of a planetary explorer, official documents from the desk of a demon, heartfelt letters exchanged between lovers existing in parallel dimensions, and ancient spells encapsulated in a mystical grimoire. Each entry unfolding a unique tale, from the artificial to the mystical…...

Deadline: February 29th, 2024 Payment: $10 Theme: Punchy, genre-oriented short stories that can captivate, intrigue, and entertain a diverse audience.​ Epic Echoes is a digital magazine that reverberates with the pulse-pounding spirit of vintage pulp fiction while resonating with the modern sensibilities of today's diverse readers. Our publication offers a vibrant symphony of genre-oriented tales, each one a short, sweet echo of the epic narratives that have thrilled readers for generations! From the ghost towns of the Old West to the farthest reaches of space, from the mean streets of crime-ridden cities to the shadowy corners of the supernatural realm, Epic Echoes delivers captivating stories that intrigue and entertain readers while showcasing up-and-coming literary talents! WE ARE CURRENTLY ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS(Jan. 1 - Feb. 29, 2024) We're seeking punchy, genre-oriented short stories that can captivate, intrigue, and entertain a diverse audience.​ ​ Please see guidelines for submission below:​ What We're Looking For Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Crime, Adventure, Horror, and everything in between. We love genre-blending stories and unique takes on classic tropes. Grounded, more realistic stories are also welcome. Rating: Our stories should be accessible to a wide range of readers. Think PG-13—nothing gratuitously violent, explicit, or overly disturbing. Seriously, if "shock value" is what describes your story, it's probably not a good fit. Also, profanity and swear words does not a mature and well-written story make; there is a fine line between lazy writing and heightened narrative tension—tread it lightly. Length: We prefer stories between 1,000 and 3,000 words. However, we will consider outstanding stories outside this range with an aim toward serialization. Please note that this is a small publication with minimal payment. We encourage you to save your best work for higher-paying markets. Style: We seek stories with strong, clear storytelling and, most importantly, good characters. Compelling, diverse, heroic, flawed, larger-than-life, and...

Submission Window: February 1st - 29th, 2024 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: February 29th, 2024 Payment: 0.05 per word, maximum payout of $400 Theme: Fairy tales being retold as science fiction About Once Upon a Future Time, Volume 4 Return to a future full of mystery, magic, and malevolence. How can you tell friend from foe when faced with the cold darkness of outer space? The asteroid belt holds as much danger as the darkened woods, and the huntsman may be just another bounty hunter. The same warnings and concerns that were whispered over baby cradles and guarded by knights in shining armor can be found in the far reaches of space, but just a bit more…alien. The future is as expansive as the universe and full of untold stories. Rumors whispered in the dark of night and legends shared throughout the day. Is Cinderella’s fairy godmother truly a fairy, or is she perhaps a visitor from another world? Perhaps the rings of Saturn are giant gems and the far off supergiant is nothing more than glowing cotton candy. Was the beast transformed by a curse, or is he an offworlder in disguise? There are as many tales as there are stars in the sky and now is your chance to share yours, once upon a future time. This anthology will be the fourth anthology installment based on fairy tales retold as science fiction. Submission requirements: All genres welcome. Submissions must be all ages appropriate. Original, never before published content Submissions are to be 250-15,000 words Based upon a fairy tale or folk tale (Include title of original tale after author name in the manuscript) Standard manuscript format (https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/) No AI generated work No prior submissions No simultaneous submissions Period of exclusivity until three months past publication Author grants non-exclusive global, English language hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook licenses in perpetuity...

Deadline: February 29th, 2024 Payment: $5 Theme: original feminist tales, feminist retellings of traditional tales, and personal essays related to traditional tales We’re looking for original feminist tales, feminist retellings of traditional tales, and personal essays related to traditional tales. Although we started as a magazine of fairy tales, we’re now open to pieces based on or related to fairy tales, folklore, myths, legends, and pop culture. We accept fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and pieces that are in-between. For prose, we accept stories of up to 5,000 words. Longer pieces will be declined. Please note that you do not need to be female or femme to submit a piece; writers of any gender identity and expression are welcome. How to submit. To submit a piece, please fill out our submission form. Please submit only one piece per reading period. Multiple submissions will be declined. Our submission form is unfortunately not able to send an automatic response or a copy of your submission; if you aren’t sure if your submission has gone through, please email [email protected]. We’re always happy to check! Wish list. We encourage you to read through the journal to get a sense for the stories that generally speak to us, but here are some specific characters, themes, & forms we’d love to see in this round of submissions! coming soon! Policies. We do accept simultaneous submissions; reprints from defunct blogs, magazines, and presses; and pieces that have been pulled from publication for ethical reasons. We do not accept pieces that are currently still available online. We ask that you include content notes with your piece, and we’ll provide a dropdown list to choose from. We will not accept anything that promotes racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or other oppressive and harmful viewpoints; anything that uses sexual violence for shock...

We are looking for amazing stories from any genre that are fun to read and will take us on an adventure of epic proportions. Please download our standards template by clicking here ***NOTE*** We publish genre fiction with aspects of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. If your work does not include one of these aspects, we are less likely to pick up the title unless it is of exceptional quality. What we are NOT currently accepting: Poetry Single-author collections of short stories. Hard and fast rules of what not to send: Fan-fiction: Just simply don’t. It will be immediately deleted or tossed into the recycle bin. Gratuitous Sexuality: (i.e. smut, softcore adult content) (Please, we know that there is a market out there for stories in this genre, but it’s not for us. Contact our affiliate, Tanglewood press for submissions in this genre at tanglewoodromance (at) gmail.com Gratuitous Abuse/Violence: While we at Three Ravens Publishing understand that graphic situations can alter or otherwise move the plot forward in ways that the reader may not expect when properly used, these elements should not, however, be the primary focus of the story. (i.e. torture adult content). Discrimination: Again, whether racial, religious, social, etc., when used properly as a plot device can become a powerful tool in the authors arsenal, but should in no way become the focus of the story unless you’re writing something along the lines of “Schindler’s List”, “To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. And we do understand that to be perfectly accurate, period pieces will contain such things because historically, that is what happened. It’s sad, but it’s the truth. Message Fiction: While we understand that everyone has their own stance on a myriad of subjects that can become very emotional and heated, we will not publish...

Deadline: March 1st, 2024 Payment: Royalties Theme: Stories inspired by the music of Jethro Tull. Note: Reprints Welcome Love Story Jethro Tull has an amazing discography. Spanning everything from folk music to heavy metal over 50 years - and yes, the flute is indeed a heavy metal instrument! - their music has inspired generations of artists of all types. Including authors! Songs in the Key of Tull is an anthology of fiction that pays tribute to that inspiration. Just as the music of Jethro Tull spans genres, so does out call for stories. While we have a preference for science fiction, fantasy, and horror, any genre - western, romance, MilSF, you name it - is welcome. We are currently planning on two potential volumes, depending on response:  Volume I: Minstrels in the Galaxy (SF focus) Volume II: Tales from the Wood (Fantasy focus) Dot Com Our goal, first and foremost, is to entertain our readers. That's the primary criteria we will use to judge a story. We're looking for stories of between 5k-8k words, though length (shorter or longer) is negotiable for a solid story. Reprints are acceptable, but we prefer new stories. If you submit a reprint, please note that in your submission email. Submissions close at midnight, March 1st, 2024. We hope to have an initial read-through of submissions and final acceptance notices sent by April 1st, 2024. Estimated publication date is third quarter of 2024 (with a target date of August 10th, 2024). If your story is accepted, we will ask you to provide an introductory paragraph (up to 100 words) for your story, describing how a particular Jethro Tull song or songs inspired you. We will also ask you to provide an author's biography (up to 100 words) for inclusion in our end matter, along with a link (Amazon...

Deadline: March 1st, 2024 Payment: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10, artwork, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Theme: Bookmarks The Missing Piece of the Puzzle (November 1, 2023) 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. NOTE: Stories longer than 20 double-spaced typewritten pages will not be considered. 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...

Deadline: March 1st, 2024 Payment: Royalties Theme: Horror and dark romance novellas and novellas, series or stand alone Eerie is and has always been an inclusive publishing house. We would love to read manuscripts from all walks of life including BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA and marginalized humans. If you have a horror story, we want to read it. Eerie River Publishing only publishes a handful of novels a year. Regrettably, this means we will have to pass on some fantastic writing. We wish we could publish them all but the truth is we wouldn't be able to put the resources needed behind each project to make them a success. And that is what we are here to do.  ​ We are an inclusive company that accepts submission from anyone regardless of race, gender or sexuality. We accept agented and non-agented submissions during our submission window. What are we looking for?HORROR & DARK FANTASY We are seeking high-quality, novel and novella series in horror and dark fantasy. The series should be two or more books within the same world or following the same characters throughout. At this time we are not interested in short story collections, erotica, strictly religious fiction, YA Fiction, or poetry. ​ We want unique, well-crafted stories with compelling plots, terrifying twists, and entertaining characters, for mature audiences. Give us your grim, heart-wrenching twist. The perfect story would balance the light and the dark pieces of the storyline with humour, alongside the emotional twists and turns. In essence, if you can evoke a gambit of emotion throughout the story then we will be hard-pressed to say no.  ​ Manuscripts should be written in good taste, and be aimed for a mature audience. As this is horror we expect the scary and horrible, and we encourage a step toward darker, more horrific tones...

Deadline: March 1st, 2024 Payment: $30 Theme: Quiet horror Note: Apologies on the short deadline, this just hit our inbox Submission Call! Read veeery carefully. There's a lot of information here. GASPS is an anthology of Quiet Horror ... from splatter authors. Proving our versatility and skill ... this collection sets out to unnerve and chill. No theme other than the requirement that it fit into the "Quiet" category. Meaning no graphic gore or gross out content. Other than that ... you write whatever you want! I want a variety of creative and unique stories, rather than stories that blur together with an overarching theme. Also, of note, just because we're writing more subtle stories doesn't mean I want authors to avoid mature or dark themes. This is going to be a book marketed to adult readers, not children. If you are not familiar with Quiet Horror, seek out the works of authors like Charles L. Grant, Ramsey Campbell, and T.M. Wright. If you're struggling with the definition, the easiest way to describe it is that quiet horror is the exact opposite of extreme horror. Submissions open January 20th and close on March 1st. I'm hoping to have a finished book released by July, but I'm still working on dates. As I've learned from SCRAPS ... anything can happen. 3k to 6k words. Six open spots! Absolutely NO tabs key indents. Size 12, Times New Roman, Double Spaced paragraphs. Double lined too. Anything that doesn't meet these requirements is automatically rejected. Title your emails AND word documents GASPS SUBMISSION. In all caps. If you do not use this title for your email or word document, it will be automatically rejected. Emails must be sent to [email protected]! Invited authors are all splatterpunks, but YOU don't have to be an established or...