Events

Taking Submissions: khōréō April 2024 (Early Listing)

khōréō

Submission Window: April 15th - May 15th, 2024 Payment: 10 cents per word and $500 for custom cover art and $100 for cover art drawn from an artist’s existing portfolio. Theme: Fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. Note: You must identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms. This includes, but is not limited to, first- and second-generation immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, persons who identify with one or more diaspora communities, persons who have been displaced or whose heritage has been erased due to colonialism/imperialism, and anyone whose heritage and history includes ‘here and elsewhere’. khōréō is a quarterly publication of stories, essays, and art: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. We’re especially interested in writing and art that explore some aspect of migration, whether explicitly (themes of immigration, colonialism, etc.), metaphorically, or with a sly nod and a wink. Most importantly, we’re a new magazine and we’re still finding our identity: therefore, please don’t self-reject because you’re not sure if your work is a good fit. We won’t know until we see it, so please give us a chance to look! See submission requirements & how to submit at the following pages: Fiction Non-fiction Art Voice actors Who can submit? khōréō is dedicated to diversity and amplifying the voices of immigrant and diaspora authors and artists. We welcome, but do not require, a brief description of the author’s/artist’s identity in their cover letter. We invite you to submit if you identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms. This includes, but is not limited to, first- and second-generation immigrants, refugees,...

Taking Submissions: Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers, Vol. 9

Deadline: May 15th, 2024 Payment: 1 cent per word and 5 contributors copies Theme: Horror stories based in Texas by Texas-based authors DEADLINE: MAY 15, 2024 Starkweather Imprints is pleased to announce plans for the 2024 edition of Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers, Vol. 9. Road Kill co-creator Bret McCormick will edit Vol. 9 of the series, which has featured the works of Joe R. Lansdale, Katherine Anne Porter, Stephen Graham Jones, Robert E. Howard, O. Henry, Russell C. Conner, Madison Estes, Patrick C. Harrison, E. R. Bills and others. McCormick is looking for original horror stories 1,500-10,000 words in length. The stories must be written and submitted by Texas authors and must be set (based) here – hence the title. One cent per word and contributing writers will receive five free copies. Writer stipends will look something like this: 10,000 words – $100, 7,500 words – $75, 5,000 words – $50, 2,500 words – $25, 1,500 words – $15. All payments will be made after official acceptance, and when acceptance is communicated, each author will need to send a short bio. Starkweather Imprints will be requesting one-year non-exclusive rights. This means we will use your story in this anthology and we can print excerpts of it online and otherwise (for promotional purposes, etc), but one year down the road you can do with it what you like. The Submission Period begins on February 5, 2024. The deadline to turn in stories is May 15, 2024, and our intent is to have the book printed and available by October 1, 2024, in plenty of time for Halloween. Please send submissions to: [email protected]

Taking Submissions: The Lorelei Signal 2024 Oct – Dec Issue

The Lorelei Signal

Submission Window: April 15th - May 15th, 2024 Payment: $15.00 for short stories, $5.00 for poems and flash (<1000 wds) fiction pieces., $5.00 for reprints Theme: SF/Fantasy (ideally fantasy) with strong and complex female characters Note: Reprints Welcome   The Lorelei Signal is a quarterly SF/Fantasy electronic magazine - one that will feature strong / complex female characters. This does not mean your female character has to be the main hero or villain in the story. What it does mean is no shrinking violets, or women who serve only to get into trouble so the male hero can rescue them.Each issue I hope to publish:7 short stories, 1 flash fiction piece and 2 poemsthat meet the following guidelines:My primary guideline is simple:Write a good fantasy story with strong/complex characters. What I am NOT looking for - erotica / slash / or other such stories.Although well written love scenes that are IMPORTANT to the story will be considered on a story-by-story basis.1) Stories should be no longer than 10,000 words.However, tell the story - if it takes more than 10,000 words to tell the story properly so be it.Just try to cut it down if possible - but remember the story is the important part.2) Stories must feature 3 dimensional / complex characters.3) I will accept reprints as long as it has been at least 1 year since the story was previously published,rights have reverted back and you tell me where it previously appeared.These will be limited to 2 per issue.4) Please keep the graphic gore down to a minimum(only what's needed for the story).5) Please keep the obscene language to a bare minimum(again, only what's needed for the story).6) Simultaneous Submissions will be considered IF:a) You tell me up frontb) You inform me immediately if the story has been accepted elsewhereIf I have...

Taking Submissions: Diet Milk Magazine Food Themed Issue Window

Diet Milk

Submission Window: May 1st - May 15th, 2024 Payment: $10 per poem, $15 per short story Theme: Food From May 1st - May 15th, Diet Milk Magazine will be accepting submissions for its annual themed mini-issue. We will be open to poetry and prose. While the most detailed information can be found on our website, here's a quick rundown of what potential contributors need to know! 2023 THEME: FOOD GENERAL GUIDELINES: All submissions must fall under the Gothic umbrella, but aren't required to be a specific genre All submissions must adhere to the current theme No reprints or multiple submissions Simultaneous submissions permitted, though we ask to be informed promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere! Submissions should be .doc, .docx, or .pdf P O E T R Y : Poets may submit up to three poems at a time. No single poem should exceed one page in length. P R O S E : Authors may EITHER up to 3 stories of less than 999 words OR a single story of 1k—2k words. Stories exceeding 2025 words will be rejected automatically. Responses, Rights, & Payment Please allow up to six weeks for a response. After that, send a gentle nudge via email Diet Milk Magazine asks for first serial rights. Upon publication, all rights revert back to the creator. A contract will be provided upon acceptance All payments made via PayPal. For more information on pay scale, visit our website All submissions are processed through Duosuma, available to anyone with a free Duotrope account. Our manager can be accessed through the button above after logging into or creating your account. We don’t accept multiple submissions or, generally, reprints. However, we’re willing to consider pieces posted exclusively to an author’s website OR that have appeared in now-defunct publications. If this applies to your work, please say so in your cover...

Taking Submissions: Crimson Quill Quarterly Spring 2024 Window

The Crimson Quill Quarterly

Deadline: May 15th, 2024 Payment: $30, or $25 per issue if serialized over multiple issues. Theme: Sword & Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, and Grimdark subgenres of fantasy fiction Just as the classic pulps continue to bring attention, praise, and droves of new readers to legendary writers such as Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Crimson Quill Quarterly wishes to bring attention to budding authors of the Sword & Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, and Grimdark subgenres of fantasy fiction. We appreciate creativity and talent equally and would love to see well written stories driven by developed and intriguing characters and invigorating action that unfolds throughout the plot. While we are not looking for stories that "reinvent the wheel", we appreciate originality above all else.   WHAT WE WANT Original tales of nail-biting peril faced down by a fearless protagonist or protagonists reliant upon their mental might as much as their physical prowess to achieve their goals and overcome their enemies in action packed adventures, preferably told in 10,000 words or less. We do understand that fantasy writers can have a tale’s word-count get away from them and are willing to accept stories up to 30,000 words that will be serialized over several issues. NOTICE: Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please identify it as such in the body of your email and keep us informed if you decide to go elsewhere. As always, there are never any hard feelings if you choose to have another publication print your story. A payment of $30 USD via check or digital transaction (authors who have longer works accepted for serialization will be paid $25 USD per issue they appear in rather than a flat $30 rate). We will buy First Rights and will obtain aforementioned rights for six months. Should this...

Contest: Pulp Asylum Fiction Contest

Pulp Asylum

Deadline: May 15th, 2024 Prize: $10 US (payable via PayPal only) plus a copy of Pulp Asylum’s first novella, When Harry Comes to Call Theme: Rebirth/Renewal Call for Submissions Pulp Asylum Fiction Contest ​ I am looking for drabbles for this contest.  A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words, no more and no less.  Do not count the title or your byline, just the body of the text itself.  Entries not meeting the 100-word requirement will not be considered.  Keep the following guidelines in mind: -- The theme for this contest is rebirth/renewal.   Your entry should connect with this theme in some way.  For this contest,  I will be considering drabbles that fall into the following genres: crime, mystery, horror, suspense,  fantasy, science fiction, western, or just plain weird. -- No reprints.  Previously unpublished work only. -- No multiple or simultaneous submissions, please. -- Submit via email as a .doc or .pdf attachment to [email protected].  Your subject line should be DRABBLE CONTEST .  Treat the body of your email as your cover letter.  No need to sweat the cover: keep it informal and brief–-just a bit about yourself. -- Submission deadline: end of the day Wednesday May 15th, 2024. -- Responses will be sent between May 16th and June 1st, 2024. -- The winning author will receive $10 US (payable via PayPal only) plus a copy of Pulp Asylum’s first novella, When Harry Comes to Call, due out June 1st, 2024.  Plus, of course, bragging rights and the happy glow of victory. ​-- The winning drabble will be published at the Pulp Asylum site in mid-June 2024 (date subject to change depending on scheduling and production needs). Via: Pulp Asylum.

Third Estate Books Is Open To Novel Submissions

Third Estate Books

Deadline: May 15th, 2024 Payment: $300 and 50% royalties on all sales Theme: Horror novels between 50k-100k words Third Estate Books, publishers of Spectrum: An Autistic Horror Anthology and the forthcoming The Monologist, is proud to announce our first Open Submission period. From April 15-May 15, 2024, we will be accepting submissions for horror novels that give voice to the voiceless. Three books will be selected for publication in 2025. We are looking for: works that align with the philosophy of Third Estate Books. Click here to read the vision statement. horror, and only horror. If you have any doubts if your book is horror, don't send it to us. previously unpublished novels. Do not send us previously published material. This includes self-published and traditionally published material. word ranges of 50k-100k. Anything more or less will be rejected outright. We will not accept: works which promote or excuse racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ableism, or any other form of discrimination. working with sexual harassers or abusers. If that statement makes you nervous, we're not the press for you. use of A.I. We are champions of the PEOPLE, not programs! Any writing that has been created with the use of A.I. will not be accepted. It will, in fact, be mocked. werewolf stories. Don't do it! What should you send us? A query letter—one page maximum—in which you explain a bit about your story and why you think it's a good fit for Third Estate Books. The first three chapters of your manuscript in Shunn format, file formats .doc or .docx only. Trigger warnings are welcome but not required. Submit to: https://thirdestatebooks.moksha.io What do you receive if we publish your book? $300 payout prior to publication. 50% royalty rate on paperback, ebook, and audiobook sales. Other odds and ends: Simultaneous submissions...

Taking Submissions: A Killing at the Copa: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Barry Manilow

Misti Media, LLC

Deadline: May 30th, 2024 Payment: $25 Theme: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Barry Manilow There are few musicians in the world today who are more recognizable than Barry Manilow. With a chart-topping career spanning decades and a current residency in Las Vegas, Manilow continues to demonstrate his incredible musical talent and creativity. Manilow created a crime story of his own in his hit song Copacabana, and now we look to provide the same treatment to his many other hits. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 1. Your work must be based on a song that’s an original Barry Manilow song and cannot be a cover performed by him. For example, although his cover of “Memory” from the musical Cats is iconic, it is not eligible for this anthology. Feel free to reference the list HERE and HERE for inspiration. 2. Your work must relate strongly to the song it’s inspired by, whether that’s by the lyrics or the name. 3. You still must have a STORY and a good crime/mystery. 4. LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC characters and authors very, very strongly encouraged. Be authentic! 5. All works must be original to this publication and cannot have been published or self-published previously. 6. We’re perfectly ok with simultaneous submissions to other publishers, but please let us know if you’d like your story withdrawn from consideration. 7. Please make sure your song choice is not too obscure. From past musical mystery anthologies we’ve found that readers have a lot more interest if there are songs they immediately recognize. TECHNICAL GUIDELINES 1. We’re not looking for flash fiction, but we’re not against it if it works. Prefer more in the regular short story length (3000-5000 words). 2. All submissions need to be in DOC, DOCX or Pages format. Everyone knows by now that we don’t care about fonts and spacing and all that...

Taking Submissions: The Stygian Zine July 2024 Issue

Stygian Society

Deadline: May 31st, 2024 Payment: $20 (CAD) and a contributors copy Theme: Writing on your view of the meaning of the word "Stygian" After the release of our first publication "The Stygian Collection", there was demand to continue producing anthologies. To continue growing our community and keep the anthology spirit alive, The Stygian Society will be releasing a literary zine every January and July! ​ Focusing on the theme "Stygian", we ask writers to meditate on their meaning of the word. We are open to poetry, short stories, non-fiction articles, personal insights and visual art (including comics)! For written works please do not exceed 2500 words (poetry included). For comics please do not exceed 5 pages. Submissions are always open, so send us something and see what we think. ​ Works received between June 1 and November 30 will be considered for the January issue Works received between December 1 and May 31 will be considered for the July issue ​ We will accept written submissions in Word or PDF format. If your work has previously been published, please be sure to note this when reaching out and let us know where it is currently featured. For artwork, please send in any high res file format - 300dpi minimum. Colour or black and white welcome. ​ For selected works, you will receive a $20 (CAD) honorarium and one print copy of the zine.   Submit Your Work Via: Stygian Society.

Taking Submissions: Skin

Bag of Bones Press , United Kingdom

Deadline: May 31st, 2024 Payment: £0.005 per word (Low pay is due to being a charity anthology for skin cancer.) Theme: Speculative stories that include skin We’re looking for stories (2-5k words) on the theme of skin (after all, we are skeletons, we crave what we lack). Take the prompt as literally or as abstractly as you like. We tend to prefer speculative, surreal, supernatural, dark fiction with creeping, poetic, dread-inducing prose, and endings we can't predict, but we're open to all subgenres of dark fiction. Elements of sci-fi and/or fantasy are fine, as long as your story veers towards the dark. We are not, however, the market for violent, bloody, racist, homophobic, or masochistic fiction. If you want an idea of what sort of story we publish (my oh my, it is an eclectic collection), why not check out any of our other publications? Links can be found by clicking on the Books tab at the top of this page. Deadline: May 31st 2024 (midnight, last place on earth) or until full.  One piece per author - send us your best! No reprints. No AI fiction. £0.005 per word (after edits). Profits made during the year of publication will go to a skin cancer charity. An anthology of selected stories will be published in print and as an e-book publication. Do get in touch via email or Twitter with any questions. Submission Guidelines Stories must be typed in English. Pieces must be your own, original work (no AI), and previously unpublished in any format. Size 12 font, Times New Roman or similar easy-to-read font. Please do not double space after a full stop (period). No paragraph indents. Leave a line between paragraphs. Please use " for speech marks, not '. No colour or images please. Please tell us your name, title of your story,  and which call you are submitting to in the subject line of your...