Events

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $100 Theme: Horror shorts that revolve around technology Pay: $100 for accepted story.Rabid Otter, the horror imprint of Riverfolk Books, is putting together a collection of short stories.Hey everyone, my name is Zaq and I work as the creative director of Riverfolk Books, a progression fantasy indie publication. As much as I enjoy working for Riverfolk, my true love will always lie in horror, and after talking with my boss, he gave me the go ahead to put together a short story collection to get our foot in the door of horror publishing. Tentatively titled Error Code, I'm looking for horror shorts that revolve around technology. Whether that is something as simple as a killer app or something deeper like someone slowly replacing their body parts with cyborg parts, as long as it leans toward technology in any form, I'm interested. Think Black Mirror, but more horror.We're looking for shorts between 6,000 and 10,000 words with the payout being $100 if accepted. Also only asking for SIX months exclusivity after publication.Interested? Send your manuscripts to [email protected] Via: Riverfolk Books' Facebook.

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $10 and a contributors copy Theme: Uplifting Science Fiction Oddity Prodigy Productions is proud to announce we are open for submissions on our latest anthology: Bright Mirror!! This will be the first science fiction anthology from Oddity Prodigy Productions, following our horror and urban fantasy offerings. There is a planned Kickstarter to cover publishing costs. Publishing date and distribution is as yet undecided. The deadline for Submissions is September 30, 2024 WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR Have you ever looked up at the stars in the night sky and imagined what it would be like to visit them? Have you ever felt awe and wonder when you look forward to the future? We are looking for stories that capture that feeling of hope and excitement? So much of our science fiction is rooted in cynicism about what’s next, and we are looking for stories that deal in the opposite. We want to read stories of discovery and promise! Stories set in worlds filled with marvels and imagination. In short, we would love to read your best utopian science fiction story. Star Trek is the best example, but movies like the Fifth Element, Arrival, or Contact would also be examples of the kind of stories we’re going to collect for this anthology. WHAT WE WERE NOT LOOKING FOR We aren’t looking for dystopias, bleak futures, cyberpunk, nihilism, or darkness. Some sexual content is ok, but nothing too graphic or excessive. We will NOT consider stories that feature abuse or assault of a sexual nature. THE EDITORS Oddity Prodigy Productions is a creative team that shares duties on all projects. This anthology will be co-edited by the entire team. Submission Process: We are looking for stories between 2000 and 5000 words. Exceptions can be made but anything...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: 10 cents a word and a contributor's copy Theme: What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to be real? What does it mean to exist? What does it mean to be human? Once again, Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics will be re-evaluated and revised to help define humanity Written Backwards is not open to submissions at this time, but due to high interest and numerous inquiries about You, Human, Vol. 2 (to be released in 2025), we are announcing an early open call for submissions for the month of September, 2024. Do not send submissions yet (unless invited). The open call for submissions will begin September 1st and end September 30th later this year. YOU, HUMAN The first volume of You, Human (2016) won the Benjamin Franklin Award for science fiction and is the most successful and widely-read anthology published by Written Backwards. Josh Malerman’s story “The Jupiter Drop” was also nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction and is currently in development as a major motion picture. If you need to catch up, it is highly recommended to read the first volume of You, Human before submitting work for consideration. The second volume will again not only feature legends of the craft but showcase today’s emerging talent, and will be coedited by Michael Bailey and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki. The anthology is currently invite-only (with more announcements to be revealed soon), but submissions will open to the public in September. What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to be real? What does it mean to exist? What does it mean to be human? Once again, Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics will be re-evaluated and revised to help define humanity, this time by novelettes (7,500 – 15,000 words max). Three Laws of Humanity: A...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: 1 cent USD per word for previously published flash fiction and short stories with a $10 USD minimum Theme: Reprints of fantasy stories IMAGITOPIA is a new fantasy fiction podcast and digital magazine produced by Android Press and featuring narrated fantasy fiction plus other fun stuff like author and editor interviews, news and events, and nerd-outs on fantasy tropes and other related topics.  We currently accept submissions of previous published fantasy short stories for REPRINT ONLY to be narrated for the podcast. We'll also publish in print here on the webzine.  ​​ Our first submission window opens on September 1, 2023. For more information on when we're open and closed to submissions throughout the year, please see our Schedule. Submissions are only accepted through IMAGITOPIA's Moksha submission portal. Any submissions received via email or any other method will be deleted without review or response. Email accounts inevitable get tons of spam. So this policy helps make sure we don't lose your submission in the email shuffle. But if for some reason you're unable to submit via our Moksha portal, for example due to accessibility issues, please message us using the form at the bottom of this page, and we'll be happy to make alternative arrangements for your submission. *We're a womxn and trans run publication. We hope authors of all types and stripes will submit work, but we especially encourage BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, womxn, people living with disabilities, those living in the Global South, and authors from other marginalized populations. ​ WORD COUNT flash fiction: up to 1,500 words short stories: up to 5,000 words ​ PAY RATE We currently pay 1 cent USD per word for previously published flash fiction and short stories with a $10 USD minimum. ​ GENRES We accept submissions of fantasy and all its...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: 1¢ per word Theme: Speculative fiction that explores connection, family, relationships, comfort, and the natural world. Reading periods/When to send Submissions will be open as follows: March 1st–31st (closing at 10pm PST on the 31st), for a June release September 1st–30th (closing at 10pm PST on the 30th), for a December release What to send Hearth Stories publishes speculative fiction (fnatasy & science-fiction in our case) slice-of-life stories with a focus on connection, family, relationships, comfort, and the natural world (we love stories prominently featuring nature, as opposed to tech). We accept works from 1,000 words up to 10,000. However, the ideal length may be something in the 1,500-3,500 word range. We do not currently accept poetry, non-fiction, or non-speculative work (there needs to be a fantasy or science fiction element present in the work). Some things we like: Cozy, sweet, cute, kind, hopeful stories Caregiving, parenting, friendship, romance, and partnership stories Rural/pastoral life and less technologically advanced settings Works that take place in nature Stories involving food and cooking. However, we are vegan; stories that feature animal products may result in a pass on the story or a request for removal of the animal products Stories involving hermits, issolated places, or wandering in the woods Bonus points for stories backed by vegan, anarchist, eco-conscious, and anti-capitalist themes (while still fitting the above) You may notice that none of those things have anything to do with science fiction or fantasy. We would like speculative stories with the above themes and settings. We are very into slice of life stories, the ruralism of Richard Jefferies (ruralism in general, extending to so-called “cottagecore”), and stories in general that take place in wooded places. We like witches and magic, new world stories (usually terraformed planets), alien worlds, and the small...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 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...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: $0.03 per word Theme: Horror stories (and all sub-genres of horror) that include werewolves French Press Publishing is delighted to announce an open call for submissions to the STRANGE NEW MOONS anthology. If your short story is accepted, it will appear alongside the work of our invited authors, including such heavyweight timber alphas as Simon Clark, Mary SanGiovanni, Tim Lebbon, and Rebecca Rowland. We hope to hear from every writer ever born, so please share this announcement widely! Awoo! "No zombies, no vampires, and no werewolves."   If you haven’t seen a call for short stories ending with that sentence lately, then you probably haven't been looking very hard.  Trust us, it’s ubiquitous. Well, we here at French Press Publishing, ever the contrarians, say: fuck that. We want your werewolf stories.  Desperately.  Werewolves all day and all night.  Werewolves forever and ever, a million years, nothing but werewolves, super fuzzy bang bang. With one small caveat: Make ‘em different. Yeah.  It’s not that werewolfism is inherently a bad theme, it’s that it’s been done to death.  That’s the little torn cuticle driving most editors to decline anything having to do with our favorite loathsome lycanthropes.  So, give us something wild, strange, and new! The Strange New Rules: - Dates.  Please submit your manuscript between 12:01 am EST on September 1, 2024 and 11:59 pm EST on September 30, 2024. - Length.  Stories should be between roughly 2,000 and 5,000 words.  This rule will not be strictly enforced, but expect to be rejected if you ignore common sense. - Payment.  Accepted authors will receive $0.03 tasty, tasty dollar bills per word. - Formatting.  Please submit your manuscript as a .DOCX, .DOC, or .RTF file.  Please format all manuscripts in 12 pt Times New Roman font, double spaced, with standard industry headers, etc. When in doubt, follow William Shunn’s Modern Manuscript...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: £12 per story or the equivalent in copies of the book Theme: Halloween must be a central point of the story The Halloween anthology will go ahead, opening for submissions on September 1st and closing on September 30th. The Halloween Anthology Submissions open mid-August and close mid-September. Watch the blog section of this site for specific dates as these will vary. Stories must have a Halloween theme. It does not have to be scary, but Halloween must be a central point of the story. Payment. Currently we pay £12 per story or the equivalent in copies of the book. If you are outside the UK we recommend you take the money (PayPal preferred) because postage to countries outside the UK will eat into your pay. Seriously. Normally it’s two or three copies per story depending on the final size of the book but postage can cost you a book. You’d be better off getting the cash and buying copies from your local Amazon. Copyright, contracts and rights. Leg Iron Books pays you for the right to use your story in the Anthology and (from 2019) also include it in the omnibus edition at the end of the year. We do not buy out copyright. We do not, at any time, ‘own’ your story. We only buy the right to publish it. Copyright remains with the author at all times. Once the story is published in the relevant anthology you can resell and re-use it all you want. You do not have to wait for publication of the end-of-year omnibus edition. It would be nice if you mentioned, upon re-use of the story, that it was published in a Leg Iron Books Underdog Anthology but this is not a condition of publication, it...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: $0.08 CAD per word for fiction and $60 CAD flat per poem Theme: Speculative stories that feature long-term relationships Note: Looking for writers who live or used to live in Canada We're looking for short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. We don't want the blaze of new love or the obsession of a new friend. We want pieces that show that comfort that develops when people know each other for years. Give us deep space, dusty frontiers, or dreamy fantasy. We want stories and poetry with strong, confident relationships amid all the sci-fi/fantasy. While we are primarily looking for stories with happy endings (yeah, yeah), we also want endings that are earned. If things get a little teary or gory, that's ok. We are especially interested in stories featuring queer platonic relationships, ace/aro love stories, and polycules. Payment Payment is $0.08 CAD per word for short fiction (1,000-3,500 words) and $60 CAD flat per poem. We are purchasing first publication rights, to revert back to the author after one year. Canadian Writers Since Heartlines Spec is primarily a Canadian magazine, we're looking to feature writers identifying as being from Canada/Turtle Island. This includes expats, refugees and displaced people living in Canada, new immigrants, and people who refuse/resist Canadian Identity. Heartlines welcomes submissions from writers of all identities. If you are comfortable, we encourage writers to indicate their intersections in their cover letter. Disclosure is not a requirement to submit, and we recognize that not all people are safe to disclose their identities. We are committed to addressing barriers and systemic discrimination faced by equity-deserving groups, which includes (but is not limited to): Racialized people People with disabilities LGBTQIA+ people Indigenous people Women Neurodivergent people Our goal for each...

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: .01 to .02 per word + Royalty share Theme: Speculative fiction anthology with a bass beat of a hidden villain and a tale involving the criminal. Submission Period: July 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024 Theme: Hidden Villains: Criminals – A speculative fiction anthology with a bass beat of a hidden villain and a tale involving the criminal. You could be chasing them down, victimized by them, or be the criminal; however you want to include them. Criminals – lawbreaker, offender, delinquent, malefactor, culprit, wrongdoer, transgressor, felon, thief, robber, burglar, fraudster, swindler, racketeer, gunman, gangster, outlaw, bandit, crook, con, jailbird, malfeasant, miscreant There is no restriction as to how you incorporate the theme into your story as long as the genre falls within Speculative Fiction, including Sci-Fi or Fantasy. We encourage you to weave the theme into an engaging story with well-developed characters and deep emotion. Suspense and thrillers are encouraged over horror for this anthology, but a great horror story will rise to the top. Stories that contain infanticide, rape, or gratuitous gore will not be accepted. Submission Period: July 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024 Submissions: No AI, 1 per author; no reprints, no simultaneous submissions; Submission Cost: Free Word Limit: 2,000 to 7,000 words Submission Guidelines: Anonymous submission with no author name in document; 12 pt Times or Arial; .Doc or .Docx; double-space; first line indent; no tabs used. Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi Anticipated Pay: .01 to .02 per word + Royalty share Each story will receive a share, as will the publisher, from the sales on the D2D platform. This does not include: Kickstarter funds unless detailed in the Stretch goals; wholesales to authors; or retail sales through non-D2D retail outlets. Links to D2D outlets will be available for you to provide...