Events

Deadline: July 1st, 2015 Payment: 7 cents per word Defying Doomsday will be an anthology of apocalypse-survival fiction with a focus on disabled characters. We already have some fantastic stories lined up, but we want more! If you have an apocalypse story featuring a character with disability, we would love to read it.Submission Guidelines: (One of) the protagonist(s) must be a character with disability, such as physical impairments, chronic illnesses, mental illnesses and/or neurodiverse characters etc. We will consider stories with characters experiencing all kinds of disability and hope that submitting authors will be creative with the possibilities. We feel strongly that disability or chronic illness (etc) should have an impact on the character’s life and during the post-apocalyptic event. For example, a character with a deadly peanut allergy in a world where peanuts have been wiped out by a plague isn’t going to quite cut it. However, we are not looking for issue stories or stories where disability is the sole focus of the narrative. Some sort of cataclysmic event must have occurred or be in the process of occurring. We are open to a variety of events, including apocalypses, alien invasions, devastating war, natural disasters etc. Be creative! We are most interested in stories set in the near future, however, we will also consider stories set in the far future or an alternate timeline version of the recent past.We are not interested in fantasy (that means no magic). Stories can be young adult or adult stories. Graphic themes and content are okay, but we’re not looking for erotica or gratuitous violence. Stories should be between 3000 and 7000 words in length and submitted in standard manuscript format. Email submissions to: [email protected] We want a varied anthology with stories that are fun, sad, adventurous or horrific etc. We are...

Deadline: July 1st, 2015 Payment: Contributor's Copy Break out the bottle and grab your notebooks, Double Life Press is proud to announce two charity anthologies co-edited by Craig T. McNeely and Robert Dean benefitting Music for Hope, the first of which, we’re announcing today: As of this posting, we’re accepting submissions for Bad Luck: Stories Inspired By Social Distortion. Think of the torment, the toil, addiction, redemption and the hard lives of Mike Ness and co. In Bad Luck, we’re looking to exorcise personal demons, and tell the tales from the underground. For over 30 years, Social Distortion has played a role in our lives, through their music, we’ve risen and fallen - now it’s time to put it all on the page. In true DLP fashion, stories can be of any genre. The word limit is from 2-5,000 words. The deadline is July 1. Take a song title and create a world around it, it’s up to you to discover the meaning. Check out the amazing cover art courtesy of Ralph Stollenwerk, so dust off the vinyl, it’s time to set the page on fire and cut loose the ball and chain. Via: Double Life Press's Facebook.

Deadline: July 1st, 2015 Payment: $25.00 and electronic copy An Emby Bestiary This will be Emby Kids first anthology as well as Emby’s first cover contest! Did you have a favorite story about monsters when you were a kid? One of mine was a hillbilly yarn about a monster that stalked the woods on a mountain near our home. This monster didn’t even have a name, but the description of it was so intense (glowing red eyes, yellow fangs and leathery wings) that I never forgot it and I’ve remembered it every time I go near any mountain. An Emby Bestiary is looking for stories like that: yarns about monsters that will make a big impression on young imaginations. They can be good monsters that help upon a tale of discovery or evil monsters that lurk in a cautionary tale. The two requirements are that the creatures be original and that the tale be suitable for children (think middle-grade fiction up to pg-13) Take us back to the campfires of our youth as you spin a tale that you can tell your own kids. Then, when I announce the stories that are chosen to be in the book, I’ll also announce the monster from one story to be on the cover of the book! That monster will be professionally rendered by a graphic artist and brought to life for all to see! Edited by: Miles Boothe Submission Period: 2/1/15 through 7/1/15 Reading Period: 7/2/15 through 9/2/15 Acceptances will be announced 9/2/15 Tentative Publication Date: Holidays 2015 Payment: $25.00 and electronic copy of the book upon publication. Word Limits: 2000 to 8000 words. Please query if longer. Format: Submissions should be .doc (.docx is fine) or .rtf formats. The entire text will be reformatted, so no need to worry about margins,...

Deadline: July 1, 2015 Payment: 5 cents/word Short Stories Each quarter, we'll share new prompts here on the blog and in that quarter's issue of IMAGINATE for the different genres we seek. Writers should use the prompt to create their entry for the next quarter. Check out the upcoming themes on our Submissions page. For the September 2015 edition, use the photo below as your inspiration to write a short story. Chosen entries will be published in that issue and winning authors will receive a byline and bio. IMAGINATE purchases first serial rights and pays $0.05 (5 cents) per word upon acceptance. We do not accept reprints. Short Story entries should be 2500 words or less. All entries should be submitted as an attachment to an e-mail. The e-mail should include a brief bio (100 words or less) and up to two links for your website/blog/social media. Deadline for submission is July 1, 2015. Submit your entry to: [email protected]. Flash Fiction Each quarter, we'll share new prompts here on the blog and in that quarter's issue for the different genres we seek. Writers should use the prompt to create their entry for the next quarter. You'll find a list of upcoming themes on our Submissions page. For our September 2015 edition, use the photo below as your inspiration to write a flash fiction story. Chosen entries will be published in that issue and winning authors will receive a byline and bio. IMAGINATE purchases first serial rights and pays $0.05 (5 cents) per word upon acceptance. We do not accept reprints. Flash Fiction entries should be 100 words or less. All entries should be submitted as an attachment to an e-mail. The e-mail should include a brief bio (100 words or less) and up to two links for your website/blog/social media. Deadline...

Deadline: July 1st, 2015 Payment: 1 cent per word and 1 contributor's copy Announcing a new Lovecraftian anthology, open to submissions. “When a traveler in north central Massachusetts takes the wrong fork at the junction of Aylesbury pike just beyond Dean's Corners he comes upon a lonely and curious country." - HP Lovecraft, “The Dunwich Horror” Most forays into Lovecraft country start with taking the wrong fork, opening the wrong book, befriending the wrong person. Before you know it, everything is…strange, somehow. The vegetation is too lush, the angles are wrong, animals don’t behave as expected. We invite you to come with us and deliberately take that wrong fork. Find out what happens behind the shuttered windows. Listen to the piping of the whippoorwills. Most travelers don’t have time for worry or regrets. You’ll probably be fine, if, perhaps, not quite the same as before. We are looking for previously unpublished stories that relate to Lovecraft’s worlds or the Cthulhu mythos. That’s quite a broad subject! We are more interested in clever ideas and high quality prose than devotion to worn out tropes. We like well written stories. Want to do an Innsmouth riff? Sure. An unhappy outcome for a Miskatonic U graduate student? We're there. A PI in San Francisco in the 40s gets a troublesome case? OK. Have you invented a new tome or mythos entity, and want to retell The Haunter in the Dark? Did Lovecraft really know the AWFUL truth and disguised it as prose? Well, this isn’t the place for you. Previously submitted stories are OK, just not previously published. Submissions by new authors and those of diverse backgrounds are encouraged. We do not publish adult content or diatribes of any kind. Specifics: Stories may be a maximum 6,000 words. Payment is $.01 (one cent)...

Deadline: July 15th Payment: $20 for each story published We are currently accepting submissions. A note on our editorial policy: before publication we may edit the story for length or readability. However, we always remain true to the spirit of the story. Issues are published at the end of February, May, August, and November. We have reading periods for each issue, though we never close to submissions. February closes January 15 May closes April 15 August closes July 15 November closes October 15 Please do not submit the same story more than once, and please submit only one story at a time. We consider any story between 250 and 7000 words with speculative fiction elements. We prefer science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. We do not consider poetry, stories with over-the-top sex or violence, serials, novels, fan fiction, or non-fiction. Wedon't accept multiple submissions; in other words, only submit one story at a time and wait for a response before submitting another. We accept simultaneous submissions as long as you let us know up front and tell us as soon as it's accepted elsewhere. We do not publish reprints, including anything that has appeared on a website. We pay $20 for each story we publish. We buy first-printing world exclusive rights for four months. Payment will be made shortly after publication using PayPal. We encourage our authors to establish a PayPal account if they don't already have one. We prefer to read submissions in traditional manuscript format. This means indented paragraphs instead of left justification, and Courier or Times New Roman font in 12 pt, double-spaced. Also, please include the title, your name, address, and word length on the first page of your story. To submit your...

<strong>Deadline: July 15th Payment: five dollers "by check or money order", and a free copy of the anthology</strong> <div id="WRchTxt6" class="s1" data-reactid=".0.$SITE_ROOT.$SITE_STRUCTURE.$PAGES_CONTAINER.1.1.$SITE_PAGES.$c24vq.1.$WRchTxt6"> <p class="font_6">"Darkness Abound"</p> <p class="font_6"><strong> </strong>This is more or less an open theme as long as the storys are as the title states, "Dark". Whether it be fantacy, horror, science fiction, or otherwise, all genres can be submitted (unless they somehow clash with the guidelines listed below).</p> <p class="font_6"> Note: submissions must be sent in by June 15th, changes to this date will be added both to this and the announcments page.</p> </div> <div id="WRchTxt8-1eee" class="s1" data-reactid=".0.$SITE_ROOT.$SITE_STRUCTURE.$PAGES_CONTAINER.1.1.$SITE_PAGES.$c24vq.1.$WRchTxt8-1eee"> <p class="font_6"><strong>GUIDELINES:</strong></p> <ul class="font_6"> <li> <p class="font_6">Blood and violence are fine but no splatter fest, use your own judgment</p> </li> <li> <p class="font_6">Sex is permissible but only if its integral to the story, please do not send adult content</p> </li> <li> <p class="font_6">The idea is to make the story interesting, a good and engaging plot is necessary</p> </li> <li> <p class="font_6">Submissions must be from 2000-7000 words and edited properly</p> </li> <li> <p class="font_6">Do not contact me about the progress of your submission, my goal is to go through all work received and respond in turn</p> </li> <li> <p class="font_6">All submissions must be written/pasted into the text of the email along with your name, the title, and your email address in the top corner, no attachments will be accepted and will result in automatic deletion/rejection</p> </li> <li> <p class="font_6">Again, please review your work for spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. before submitting</p> </li> <li> <p class="font_6">All submissions should be sent to (MiglaP<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>) for consideration</p> </li> <li> <p class="font_6">Do not send multiple submissions</p> </li> <li> <p class="font_6">The word "submission" should be included in the subject line</p> </li> </ul> </div> <div id="i8jcr3sa" class="s1" data-reactid=".0.$SITE_ROOT.$SITE_STRUCTURE.$PAGES_CONTAINER.1.1.$SITE_PAGES.$c24vq.1.$i8jcr3sa"> <p class="font_8">Copyright: All those who submit their work are granting Migla Press non-exlusive rights primarily for editing and archiving purposes....

Deadline: July 15th, 2015 Payment: 8 cents per word for original fiction, or 2 cents per word for reprints Note: Reprints Allowed Current Submission Period: Lightspeed will be open to submissions June 1 – July 15, 2015. Instructions for submitting to Lightspeed follow. Please read everything on this page and read the magazine before submitting. SUBMISSION PROCEDURES FOR SHORT FICTION Instructions: All fiction must be submitted through our Moksha online submission system, located at lightspeedmagazine.com/submissions. Please do not email your submissions. If one of the Submission Type options is grayed out, that means we are currently closed to that Submission Type. Guidelines: Lightspeed is seeking original science fiction and fantasy stories. All types of science fiction and fantasy are welcome. No subject should be considered off-limits, and we encourage writers to take chances with their fiction and push the envelope. We do not accept simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions. You may submit one science fiction story and one fantasy story once every seven days. Format: Submissions should generally follow standard manuscript format, though we prefer single-spaced instead of double-spaced. Your manuscript may be submitted in either .RTF or .DOC format. Word Count: We are open to stories of 1500-10,000 words. Stories of 5000 words or less are preferred. Pay Rate: Lightspeed pays 8 cents per word for original fiction, or 2 cents per word for reprints.  Rights: To see which rights we’re seeking, please view our contract template for original fiction or our contract template for reprinted fiction. Cover Letters: Your cover letter should contain the length of your story, your publishing history, and any other relevant information (e.g, if you send us a hard sf story about black hole clusters and your doctoral dissertation was on black hole clusters, mention that). If you’re not sure what should go in your cover letter, thisarticle...

Deadline: July 15th Payment: $35 If Goes To Print Our anthology calls are a great place to get your feet wet with a short story, or to explore a theme without committing to a full novella or novel. For all anthology calls, we’re looking for fully realized, romantic LGBT stories about the chosen monthly theme. Make us laugh, make us cry, or surprise us and make us glow with happy endings! Please send your submissions following the below specified word count to [email protected] with the title of the theme (ie: Torqued Tales) and your story title in the subject field. Please see our general submissions guidelines for formatting etc. Each theme has a title and due date listed on the individual call. If the completed anthology reaches a minimum word count of 60K, the book may go to print. In that case, payment is a $35 flat fee for first time electronic and print rights for three years, as well as an electronic and print copy of the book. Print rights are reserved for six months. If the print rights are not optioned, all print rights revert to the author. We'll also be releasing the story on its own in ebook format. Royalties for the single title electronic version will be 45% net on books sold through Torquere Books and 35% net on books sold through our distributors, again for a period of three years. What's better than a great ghost story just in time for Halloween? A great ghost LOVE story! From haunted houses to haunted underwear, from howling at the moon to mooning your werewolf lover, there's no shortage of paranormal creatures to tap for a blazing hot haunting! Please send your 3000 -10,000 word submissions to [email protected] with "Haunted Hotties" and your story title in the subject...

Deadline: July 25th, 2015 Payment: $0.06/word for original short stories and $30 flat rate for original flash fiction. Mothership Zeta is OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS from July 12 – July 25. Submissions received before or after this window will not be read. Submit using Standard Manuscript Format. We accept files in .doc, .docx, .rtf, and .odt format. Word count: up to 6000 words. We will publish one piece of flash fiction (stories up to 1000 words) per issue. No simultaneous or multiple submissions. If your submission is rejected before the submission window closes, you may send a new submission. Payment We pay $0.06/word for original short stories and $30 flat rate for original flash fiction. What We Want Mothership Zeta is looking for science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories that are fun. The robot who fights a dinosaur, not the robot who explores its lack of humanity and deactivates itself. The nagini who goes on an adventure, not the nagini who is tortured and drowns herself. The blonde woman who kills monsters, not the blonde woman who gets ripped apart by monsters. Fun doesn’t necessarily mean “funny,” and stories can have conflict and darker elements, but we want stories that leave the reader satisfied, usually in a positive way. Bittersweet is okay, tragic is not. (Unless you’re Cabin in the Woods. A killer unicorn buys you some credit.) We hope to publish fiction reflecting the full range of settings and tropes found in speculative fiction. We’d particularly like to see more stories set outside America, and stories that feature characters who represent a range of backgrounds and ethnicities. Reprints One of the goals of Mothership Zeta is showcasing our favorite stories from the Escape Artists podcast, so we will be reprinting our favorite stories from the shows, but we will be soliciting...