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Deadline: August 31st 2013 Payment: 5 cents per word Who needs machines to lend that steampunky feel to Victorian stories? We sure don't. That's why we're really excited about this Gaslight Fantasy issue of Penumbra. We love the foggy streets of London, the creature inching ever closer to the oblivious heroine, and, hopefully, her blood spraying all over the passed out prostitutes on the corner. But then, everyone knows we're a little bit sick. So send us your best gaslight fantasy—blood on the prostitutes is optional—so we can read this issue by the fire on a crisp, late autumn night. CALL BEGINS ON JUNE 1, 2013 CALL ENDS ON AUGUST 31, 2013 Penumbra is looking for original, unpublished stories of 3500 words or less. We prefer that writers use Standard Manuscript Format for submissions. (You can read this article by Chuck Rothman on the SFWA site on preparing a manuscript for submission if you are unfamiliar with SMF.) Please send your stories as file attachments in .rtf or .doc formats only. Please include a cover letter in the body of your email, with the manuscript title, you pen name if applicable, the exact word count of the story not including title and byline, and a publication history if applicable. Penumbra is a professional rates paying publisher, paying 5 cents per word. We will evaluate poetry submissions for each issue. We will also consider previously published stories with rights reverted to the author. Penumbra has multiple issue calls open at the same time, therefore it is imperative that you include the issue theme in the subject line of your email. Submissions that do not include this information risk getting lost in our queue and not read before the deadline. Penumbra uses Musa Publishing's house style guide, which relies upon the Chicago...

Deadline: 31 August, 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Forgotten Tomb Press is proud to announce its first anthology, now open for submission. 100 Doors To Madness is a horror anthology of flash and micro fiction celebrating the diversity of the genre. 100 scares. 100 authors. 100 ways to creep into readers’ minds. We are looking for original stories that chill the soul and leave a lasting impression. All types of horror or dark fantasy are welcome, and we do not consider anything off-limits. Word Count: 250-1200 words. Closing Date: 31 August 2013. Reprints: Yes. Multiple Submissions: No. Simultaneous Submissions: Please do inform us if your story gets accepted elsewhere before the end of the reading period. Payment: This anthology is a for-the-love market. Rights: Forgotten Tomb Press request One Time Print and Electronic Publishing Rights for each story published. How To Submit: Submit it as a .doc or .rtf attachment to [email protected] with the subject line “100 Doors”. Include the word count and a brief biography in the body of the email.

Deadline: August 31st 2013 Payment: Writers will receive a pro rata share of royalties paid quarterly. Still Hungry for your Love! OK, as predicted, zombies never die. As we await season 4 of Walking Dead, and the opening of World War Z, it’s time for more zombie loving. So I am putting out the call for stories for Still Hungry for your Love, the second volume of my zombie romance anthology. Zombie love knows no boundaries. I’m looking for stories of love amongst the undead, between zombies and the living, and (we hope) many stories about the hot, alpha male and female zombie killers. These stories can take place in the zombie apocalypse, alternative reality, the future or on another planet. You can cross genres (zombie steampunk?) and even sexual proclivities (not sure I can even imagine zombie BDSM). But, hey, let's be creative. and rip that envelope! But seriously, folks. The zombie metaphor is rich. You know - we're all really zombies; our jobs make us zombies; zombies are a reflection of the mindless horde that is America, rotting on its own abundance. And the socio/political/scientific elements of the zombie mythos are still ripe for exploration. What's it like to be king of the Zombies? Would zombie TV be any different? What exactly would it be like to be a zombie in love? Or to love a zombie? So, hit me with your best shot. Short stories should run between 1500 and 5000 words, and novellas between 20,000 and 30,000 words. Deadline August 31. This will be an October title published by Riverdale Avenue Book in both ebook and print. Writers will receive a pro rata share of royalties paid quarterly. PLEASE NOTE: Because of the nature of this anthology, the emphasis in these stories should be on the...

Deadline: August 31st 2013 Payment: £10 token payment, a copy of the finished book and if it clears it’s costs profit share for the first two years sales. Ok foxy folk we have a new anthology call for Christmas Release. ‘Girl at the End of the World’. What we want: pre, during, post and not remotely related to apocalyptic stories, in the SF, Fantasy, Horror and Crime genres. Clearly female lead characters who pack a punch. Roughly speaking 5,000-10,000 words per story. It’ll be £10 token payment, a copy of the finished book and if it clears it’s costs profit share for the first two years sales. The closing date is 31st August 2013 so we can get it sorted in time for a Christmas release, because nothing says Merry Christmas like the end of the world. These details will be added to the submissions page, where you can already find details of house style etc for your story submission. When we do request submissions please read the guidelines below carefully as submissions not adhering to them will be rejected. Rights We ask for: First World English (for the print book), First World Electronic (for the eBook), and Anthology rights. We also require rights to special editions, omnibus editions or anthology editions where appropriate. For anthologies we require one year’s exclusivity from the submission deadline unless otherwise agreed. Submission Guidelines Email [email protected] Subject of your email must be ‘submission’ and the relevant call eg ‘novella open call’ or the title of an anthology. I may be receiving submissions for several projects at once and it needs to be clear what you are submitting for. The email must contain your real name, your writing name if different and the title and synopsis of your submission (no more than 100 words) In...

Deadline: August 31st, 2013 Payment: five cents per word "No good moves," Bina says. "They call that Zugzwang," Landsman says. "'Forced to move.' It means Black would be better off if he could just pass." "But you aren't allowed to pass, are you? You have to do something, don't you?" "Yes, you do," Landsman says. "Even when you know it's only going to lead to you getting checkmated." - Michael Chabon, from The Yiddish Policeman's Union "Zugzwang is like getting trapped on a safety island in the middle of a highway when a thunderstorm starts. You don't want to move but you have to." - Arthur Bisquier, American chess Grandmaster Mutually Assured Destruction. The Mexican Standoff. The babysitter hiding in the bedroom closet as the maniac mounts the steps. For our inaugural issue, "Zugzwang", (tsoog-tsvung) we want work that drops protagonists into apparently impossible dilemmas and then shows us how their choices play out, for good or ill, and we're paying pro rates (five cents per word) for your work. We want short and flash fiction and poetry. We want horror, SF, fantasy, slipstream, adventure tales, noir exercises, bizarro experiments, boxing stories, and sea-yarns. We want well-written pulp fiction. Genre boundaries are unimportant. If your work attempts to astound, unsettle, thrill, baffle or completely terrify the reader, it probably qualifies. We want huge twists, epic journeys, two-fisted adventures, maximum drama, and we want it accomplished in under 3,000 words. We want writers unafraid to read their work before an audience, to record their stories for mass download, to be part of the process from typesetting to cover art to publication and beyond. This part is crucial; it takes more than a good story to be part of this, which is why we are strongly biased towards submissions from local writers....

Deadline: September 1st 2013 Payment: Contributor's Copy Note: YA Market The Repository of Imagination invite submissions for the anthology WEIRD LEGENDS Any work not adhering to the following guidelines will be rejected. Open for submissions from May 1st 2013 Closing date September 1st 2013 With the publication of ‘Alien Legends’ the Repository of Imagination, the YA imprint of Greyhart Press, set up a website to encourage young writers. At http://www.ataleforatale.com 11 to 15 year olds can send in their own myths and legends, have them published on the site and receive an unpublished story in return. To further encourage the fantasy and science fiction writers of the future the Repository is putting together an anthology of short stories and poems entitled ‘Weird Legends’. These can be in any speculative genre as long as they are suitable for ages 11 and up… no sex, violence or anything truly horrific as these will be rejected. We have no objection to previously published work as long as the author holds the rights. All submissions must be all your own work. Word Count: Max 10,000 words for shorts stories or 3 pages of double spaced for poetry. The stories in the previous book varied from a few lines up to stories divided up into sections due to length. I would like to do the same with this book so word count is just a guideline but we reserve the right to break up longer stories into ‘sections’ and distribute them throughout the book so that younger readers can read small sections at a time. Your submission should be a word doc. or rtf and in a clear 12pt font (Times New Roman or Ariel preferred), double spaced and with margins on both sides of the page. Your name and title should be at the...

Deadline: September 1, 2013 Payment: Creators of accepted items will receive a copy of the anthology, invitations to any events pertinent to the Anthology, and samples of promotional or marketing materials created for the Anthology. Anthology Theme: There are individuals known as survivalists, or now known by the recently coined term: preppers. These people are making preparations to ensure their safety and continued existence in the occurrence of a catastrophic disaster or event. But what happens when the SHTF? Really? You will have a population of have and have nots. Those who were ready and prepared and those who are caught unaware and panicked. The struggle for available resources will be another catastrophic event in and of itself as humans fight to either defend and retain what they have established or to take what others had the foresight to store and prepare. This is the end as we know it. For some, life and death hinges on acquiring basic human needs, while for others life is good, if not better in accordance with their due diligence. The Zombie Apocalypse has arrived. Will it be feast or famine? We are accepting short stories, poems, recipes, and artwork for this anthology. Written items should be edited to the best of your ability but they will be reviewed for any missed grammatical or sentence structure errors. In the case of glaring errors or obvious oversight, content change may be encouraged. Artwork should be submitted in a quality resolution jpg file no larger than 500×750 pixels. Written submission requirements: Must be a member of ZombieFans.com http://zombiefans.com/ All entries must be in a .doc or .rtf file. 12 pt., Times New Roman font Single spaced Indent paragraphs Approximately 5,000-10,000 words Author’s name and email, story title, and word count must be on first page. Only...

Deadline: September 10th, 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Flash fiction & Short Stories (1,000 – 6,000 words) Poetry accepted – Reprints too Ladies of the night step forth to be counted, those who write, and those who choose to tell tales about them. The scope of such a topic brings forth boundless notions for the budding author. Maybe your protagonist is a female reaper, or an undead harlot? Let’s get to know the sisters of obscenity. Give me deals with the devil, illegal experiments, and mysterious miracles. Zombies, Vampires, and Spirits are welcome. Make them dark, make them decadent, but above all make them sexy – these should be the kind of stories that wouldn’t usually see daylight. No taboos, just let your imagination run wild. Dark fairytales, bizarre, horror, surrealism, dark science-fiction are all cool here. Submission guidelines: Deadline for submissions – September 10th, 2013. Word Count: 1,000 – 6,000 words. Please submit your manuscript as a *.doc or *.docx file (all other formats will automatically be rejected. Contact me prior to submitting if this presents an issue for you.) Font and formatting: Please submit in Times New Roman, 12 point font; single line spacing. Please format the document to 1st line indentation of 1″. The page margin should be set to .2″ Please check grammar. Only stories previously unpublished may be submitted. Upon acceptance into the anthology, you agree that Horrified Press holds exclusive publishing rights for six months from the date of publication; after that date has passed, all intellectual property rights revert to the author with the proviso that Horrified Press retains distribution rights in the format of the contracted anthology. This title will be available as an E-book, and as a quality trade paperback Nathan J.D.L. Rowark will be presiding over this anthology. Email your submission...

Deadline: September 10th, 2013 Payment: Exposures and Royalties TALES OF THE UNDEAD HELL WH*RE – Volume III Deadline: September 10th, 2013 Payment: Exposure and Royalties Flash fiction & Short Stories (1,000 – 6,000 words) Poetry accepted – Reprints too Ladies of the night step forth to be counted, those who write, and those who choose to tell tales about them. The scope of such a topic brings forth boundless notions for the budding author. Maybe your protagonist is a female reaper, or an undead harlot? Let’s get to know the sisters of obscenity. Give me deals with the devil, illegal experiments, and mysterious miracles. Zombies, Vampires, and Spirits are welcome. Make them dark, make them decadent, but above all make them sexy – these should be the kind of stories that wouldn’t usually see daylight. No taboos, just let your imagination run wild. Dark fairytales, bizarre, horror, surrealism, dark science-fiction are all cool here. Submission guidelines: Deadline for submissions – September 10th, 2013. Word Count: 1,000 – 6,000 words. Please submit your manuscript as a *.doc or *.docx file (all other formats will automatically be rejected. Contact me prior to submitting if this presents an issue for you.) Font and formatting: Please submit in Times New Roman, 12 point font; single line spacing. Please format the document to 1st line indentation of 1″. The page margin should be set to .2″ Please check grammar. Upon acceptance into the anthology, you agree that Horrified Press holds exclusive publishing rights for six months from the date of publication; after that date has passed, all intellectual property rights revert to the author with the proviso that Horrified Press retains distribution rights in the format of the contracted anthology. This title will be available as an E-book, and as a quality trade paperback Nathan...

Deadline: September 12th, 2013 Payment: $10 per story   Mocha Memoirs Press is pleased to announce that a new horror and dark fantasy anthology is now open for submissions. Please read all of the information provided. Submission Deadline and Publication Schedule:We will remain open for submissions from August 12-September 12, with an expectation that the anthology will be published by October 2. What We Want In the Bloodstream will be an open themed dark fantasy and horror anthology of 31 short stories, released as a digital book and as a paperback book. Your submission must contain elements of dark fantasy or horror to be considered. The subject matter is up to you. We want beautiful prose and originality wrapped up in the darkest, creepiest story you’ve ever conceived. What We Don’t Want We don’t want slasher horror or splatterpunk for this collection. We will reject any stories that contain rape, and the abuse of minors. Stories featuring well-worn tropes (vampires, zombies, werewolves) will be an extremely hard sell. Violence is fine, but gratuitous gore isn’t. We don’t mind sex if its integral to the plot, but we don’t want an adult-film script. Other than that, use your imagination to make us cringe and tremble. Submissions ▪Submit your work to mmphorror(at)gmail(dot)com with Submission: your story title_your last name in the subject line. Attach your story as a DOC, DOCX, or RTF file. Submissions sent in the body of the email will not be read. ▪ We prefer to see submissions using something approaching Standard Manuscript Format, which can be found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html The only exception is that italics MUST appear as they will be used; no underlining.  Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email stating your name, pen name (if using one), story title with word count, address, website or blog, and...

Deadline: September 15th 2013 Payment: $25 MONSTER HUNTER – DOOMSDAY Submit to Emby Press Reading Period: 3/15/13 through 9/15/13 Tentative Publication Date: November 2013 Payment: $25.00, payable upon publication for First Worldwide Print and Electronic rights. Word Limits: 2000 to 6000 words. Submissions will only be accepted as DOC (Word) or RTF formats, submitted through our submissions link. Genres Accepted: Dark Fiction, Horror and Sci-Fi. No Fantasy or poetry accepted at this time. Original, unpublished work only. No reprints, please! No simultaneous subs (submitting to emby and another press at the same time). No multiple subs, please (keeping in mind that I will notify all authors as soon as possible if a story is declined so that they may submit that story to another market and hopefully submit another story to our book). Please read and follow our submission guidelines. “The outbreak spread faster than anyone could have imagined. By the time we realized the true extent of the threat, the only choice left was to hit back with everything we had – to go for broke…” Be it a zombie apocalypse. a vampire uprising or an alien invasion, there does come a time when no option is “off the table”. This anthology is about those stories. Give us a giant un-stoppable monster, or a demonic cult that has been building secretly for decades; a lycanthropic epidemic or a xeno-morph infestation. And answer it with a full military response. As BLOOD TRAILS will document the intense emotional connection between characters, DOOMSDAY is your chance to cut loose and fill a story full of miniguns, drones and if necessary, nukes (it is the only way to be sure). Let action be your inspiration – picture this as if it were a script for an 80′s blockbuster. As with BLOOD TRAILS, DOOMSDAY...

Deadline: September 20th 2013 Payment: $10 per story Each monthly flash fiction call has a theme. We ask you to write an SFF story (SciFi, Fantasy, Horror, or related sub-genres) that fits the theme in some way. You’ll find a list of upcoming themes below. Please only submit a story for a particular theme during that theme’s submission period. Stories submitted during the wrong submission period will be deleted unread. Though this is a flash fiction contest, we’re still looking for stories with a strong narrative arc. We want stories that introduce us to character, world, and conflict in the opening 1-2 graphs. (Conflict isn’t just a fight, by the way.) We want a middle free of too much backstory; we want forward momentum. Last, we want an ending the resolves the plot, directly or subtly. We only want stories between 500 and 1,000 words, inclusive. We pay a flat rate of $10 per story, regardless of length. Theme: Outsiders   Send your submission in an email to kazkapressgmail.com. Attach your file to the email. Don’t forget to include your cover letter in the body of the email. Subject Line: Flash Fiction Contest (e.g. “Flash Fiction Contest ” for the ‘Sax & Violins’ prompt). Imprecise subject lines may result in lost submissions. Here are the rules and details. Word Count: We’re looking for a piece of flash fiction that is between 500 and 1000 words long. Thus: 499 < YOUR STORY < 1,001 We won’t publish stories north or south of this mark. Deadline: At midnight, as the 20th rolls into the 21st in California, we’ll stop accepting submissions for the current month’s contest. All dates and times relate to California time (Pacific PST/PDT). Manuscript & Cover Letter: Please get close to standard manuscript formatting. However, we’ll be formatting your story for the web, so...

Deadline: September 25th 2013 Payment: There will be two Editor’s Choice Awards for $25 each. Each Editor’s Choice Award winner will receive a free contributor paperback copy and $25. Cash award is payable via PayPal only and will be made approximately 65 days from publication of the anthology. "Editor’s Choice Award Winner" will be posted under the author's name where the piece is placed inside the anthology. All contributors will earn a free Kindle edition of the anthology. There’s nothing quite like the birth of a child. Children are born in our likenesses... we treasure their beauty, their innocence, and marvel as they take their first breaths outside of their mother’s womb. In a perfect world, babies are miracles. But as we know, the world is not always perfect. “... then something like a stick insect, enormous bulging eyes among stiff fragilities that were limbs... a small girl all blurred, her flesh guttering and melting... a doll with chalky swollen eyes, its eyes wide and blank, like blue ponds, and its mouth open, showing a swollen little tongue. A lanky boy was skewed, one half of his body sliding from the other. A child seemed at first glance normal, but then Harriet saw there was no back to its head; it was all face, which seemed to scream at her.” -- from Doris Lessing’s Fifth Child What happens when we allow ourselves to conceptualize the horrible possibilities -- the terrifying consequences of childbirth gone wrong -- the unimaginable monstrosity that might be born into this world, or perhaps another -- the worst case scenario of what could but shouldn’t be? UGLY BABIES -- the anthology. Bring us your ruminations on the abnormal, the abominations, the grotesque, the downright appallingly hideous children your dark minds can conceive... from the time of...

Deadline: September 25th 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Fascination With Fear is a blog by a dedicated horror fan for horror fans. Sarcasm abounds, ranting ensues, and opinions are readily available. Movie reviews, random lists, and general discussions about the horror genre is what it's all about. Hey kids! Naturally we Halloween here at FWF and we go all out on our blog with a Festival of Lists. This year we want to try a few new things, one of which is hearing from our readers. Do any of you have a ghost story? If you have had a weird, creepy, unexplainable experience, we want to hear it! Christine and I are hoping to gather your ghost stories and post them on the blog in October, including a few of our own. It could be a "friend of a friend" tale, or a local urban legend, as long as it is bone chilling. Please send your yarns to my (Marie) email with the subject "FWF Ghost Story". Please let me know if you would like to remain anonymous. [email protected] Halloween is coming, and we are excited. Are you? Via: Fascination With Fear's Facebook.

Deadline: September 29th 2013 Payment $30-$50 if one of the top winners ANNOUNCING THE FIRST ANNUAL FICTION VORTEX HORROR CONTEST Greetings to everyone navigating the Fiction Vortex. Mike here. I come with great news, and a little bit of backstory. During one of our many staff conference calls, which usually consist of me proposing ideas and Dan saying it will never work, the old Voice of Reason himself surprised me by expressing a desire to spice up our process, to try something new and exciting. Here’s about how it went: Dan: We need to do something to spice up our process, something new and exciting. Mike: Yeah? I thought we had a lot of exciting stuff. Move it, you idiot! Dan: Excuse me? Mike: Oh, sorry, not you. I’m driving. The person camped on a green light in front of me. Dan: No problem. Glad to see you’re getting control of that road rage issue. Mike: Yeah, making leaps and strides. So what exciting things did you have in mind? Dan: I don’t know. Mike: Let’s do a contest. Dan: We already do a contest each month. Mike: Let’s do a special contest. Halloween’s coming up. Let’s do a contest in October. Horror. Dan: It’ll never work. Mike: C’mon, it’s Halloween. Plus Jon knows a lot about horror. Let him judge and what not. Dan: Are you sure? You know what happens when Jon reads too much horror. Mike: Uh, yeah… Bwuh. Who else could be the judge? Dan: I don’t know many horror writers. I’ve deliberately distanced myself from them. Might be closeted serial killers. Mike: That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s just as likely that the sad looking kid bagging your groceries at Walmart is a serial killer. Dan: Which is why I get my groceries...

Deadline: September 30th 2013 Payment: 20% of the total profit will be paid for each accepted story (at quarterly intervals; if more than five stories are accepted, they will be placed in another anthology in this series. We’d dislike reducing your pay) The cashier who hands you your change as if bills are foreign and coins are a tiny mystery, cast in circle, is a fay; he’s still ginger with the silver coins, expecting iron. He gives pennies, mostly. Bridge trolls are misplaced in the city, shoving themselves between the homeless (there are no goats; they eat dogs now, mostly). A siren in fishnets pouts on her corner, her whispers drawing in more dinner than her cleavage. In the subway station three old women, six blind eyes among them, sell doilies to the tune of a jangling cup; the first spins the thread, the second allots them to your days, the third inexorably binds it to you. Avoid them. But there are others. So many others. The son of Zeus is among the WWF. The daughter of Fu Manchu rules much of the world. Not with bombs or blades or the ever-popular dacoits, but with the subtle weapons of her age: treaties and laws and, most frightening of all, accountants. Sherlock Holmes is dead, replaced by fellows with all of his name and none of his talent. Cell phones are better than talent, aren’t they? We seek stories that take something out of the past, be it mythological or fictive or horrific, and show us how it adapts to the present. Show us why the old myths are still relevant, show them stepping into our lives and disarraying every little thing we tell ourselves. We’re open to everything from urban fantasy to magical realism to golden age detection to noir...

Deadline: September 30th 2013 Payment: We pay five cents per word up to 5,000 words, with 30% paid on acceptance and the remainder to be paid after the complete manuscript has been accepted by the publisher. Stoker Award-winning anthologist Del Howison (Dark Delicacies 1-3, The Book of Lists: Horror) and internationally bestselling urban fantasy author Joseph Nassise (Eyes To See, By the Blood of Heroes) have joined forces with horror Grand Master Clive Barker to bring you back to the city of Midian and the creatures of the darkness known as the Nightbreed! Tor Books will be publishing MIDIAN UNMADE: TALES OF CLIVE BARKER’S NIGHTBREED in simultaneous hardcover and trade paperback editions in the fall of 2014 and we’re looking for original horror and dark fantasy stories that fit the guidelines below. MIDIAN UNMADE: TALES OF CLIVE BARKER’S NIGHTBREED We’ve all felt it at one time or another – that sense of unbelonging, of being isolated, possibly even shunned because of our differences; not for anything that we’ve done but for simply being who we are. We’ve all felt it – in childhood and adolescence, certainly, but even as adults as well, when the winds of change blow through our lives and we discover that those things we thought immutable are, in reality, anything but. When this happens we all become like changeling children, at odds with those around us as well as with ourselves, looking to distant horizons for fresh comprehension of our purpose, sometimes even of our very nature. The fiction of the fantastic literally overflows with metaphors for times like these, though none more so than the Nightbreed, those freaks and grotesques and shapeshifters extraordinaire that inhabit the hidden necropolis of Midian and make it their own in the pages of Clive Barker’s CABAL. The Nightbreed are...

Deadline: September 30th 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Miseria’s Chorale is a planned anthology of horror short stories comprising the best in the genre from both established and new voices. This will be the first volume in what is set to be an annual release. The topics of your stories can be far-ranging, however originality is key. We also encourage writers to push the envelope. Nothing is off-limits. We are particularly interested in dark, atmospheric literary fiction that shows a proficiency in language and tone. Terrify us. Challenge the boundaries of horror. Word Count: 2000-10,000 words. Closing Date: 31 September 2013. Reprints: No. Multiple Submissions: Yes. Simultaneous Submissions: Please do inform us if your story gets accepted elsewhere before the end of the reading period. Payment: This anthology is a for-the-love market. Payment will be exposure. Rights: Forgotten Tomb Press request One Time Print and Electronic Publishing Rights for each story published. How To Submit: Submit it as a .doc or .rtf attachment to [email protected] with the subject line “Miseria’s Chorale”. Include the word count and a brief biography in the body of the email.

Deadline: September 30th 2013 Payment: 5 cents per word December 2013: Family Traditions "Ah Christmas…warm and rosy time. The hot wine steams, the Yule log roars, and we're the fat that's in the fire." Geoffrey, The Lion in Winter—Act I Obviously, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine probably aren't the best example for family traditions—particularly when the biggest tradition they shared was warring with each other, but we couldn't resist giving our Christmas issue a bit of spice. While we realize that we'll be getting a plethora of stories about murdering in-laws over the holiday turkey—BUT we are still holding out hope that we won't get Norman Rockwell in space. Family traditions can happen anywhere—or anywhen—so take the turkey and run with it. CALL BEGINS ON JULY 1, 2013 CALL ENDS ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2013 Penumbra is looking for original, unpublished stories of 3500 words or less. We prefer that writers use Standard Manuscript Format for submissions. (You can read this article by Chuck Rothman on the SFWA site on preparing a manuscript for submission if you are unfamiliar with SMF.) Please send your stories as file attachments in .rtf or .doc formats only. Please include a cover letter in the body of your email, with the manuscript title, you pen name if applicable, the exact word count of the story not including title and byline, and a publication history if applicable. Penumbra is a professional rates paying publisher, paying 5 cents per word. We will evaluate poetry submissions for each issue. We will also consider previously published stories with rights reverted to the author. Penumbra has multiple issue calls open at the same time, therefore it is imperative that you include the issue theme in the subject line of your email. Submissions that do not include this information risk...

Deadline September 30th 2013 Payment: 2¢ USD/word We like things Martian: the Red Planet, H.G. Wells, Bradbury, Robinson, Burroughs, Roman God of War, Yellowknife Bay, Marvin ... Reading Period: August 1 - September 30, 2013 Writer Deadline: September 30, 2013 Publication Date: December 1, 2013 If you’re interested in having your work read and getting paid a little something for it, then submit your story today. Third Flatiron Publishing are a specialist digital publisher and can help you distribute your work to a truly global audience. Third Flatiron Publishing is an e-publishing venture based in Boulder, Colorado. We are looking for submissions to our quarterly themed online anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We’re looking for tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today. See the "Submissions" tab for preferred formats, etc. For each anthology, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred.

Deadline: Contributor's Copy copy, and 25% of proceeds to be distributed among contributors Payment: September 30th, 2013 An anthology of the aberrant Edited by Christine Morgan To be published in 2014 by Daverana Enterprises What we’re looking for: Short fiction, poetry, or non-fiction written darkly! Send us the indescribable, the transgressive, the controversial, the surreal, the darkety-dark, the gothic-as-hell! Traditional horror, horror targets, and stuff that could have come right out of a horror writer’s nightmare, or a metal album! Send us your “nods” to the genre’s greats! Send us arachnid domiciles, apocalyptic weather systems, obfuscated oculars, ghostly periodicals, intentions of scandal-sheets, archives of nameless dreads! Are you a woman? LGBT? A fan-fiction hack? Conservative? Christian? Fine by us; we welcome authors of all kinds because, here, it’s the story that counts! We’re far less concerned with subject matter (even erotica, or extreme stuff like self-cannibalism!) than we are with good writing, a sense of humor, the ability to handle criticism and work with an editor, and just generally being personable and having fun. Basically, if you’re reading this, you probably already have an idea of what we’re looking for, and why. Bonus points for stories set in, mentioning, loosely tied to, or in some way involving a ‘Fossil Lake,’ however you choose to interpret it. Deadline: September 30, 2013 Word Limit: up to 5000 Compensation: comp copy, and 25% of proceeds to be distributed among contributors Standard manuscript format preferred; Times New Roman or Courier 12-point Send submissions attached as a .doc or .rtf to: [email protected]

Deadline: September 30th, 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Revenge! Have you ever wanted to get back at someone for something? Here's your chance. Immortalize them and their wrong doings with words... Remember that 7th grade teacher who failed you because she was having a bad-hair semester? Or how about that low-life grub who stole the promotion you worked so hard for because he was willing to brown-nose and you weren't?? Or worst of all, that reviewer who read your story and gave it a one star review because your MC was named Martha, and that's their mother-in-law's name??? Yeah, we understand how it went down. All those wrongs perpetrated against you were no fault of your own... And they deserve to be righted! Or written! Do it with class, style, and an air of arrogance that would make a peacock blush. Have at 'em folks! Accepting Submissions: September 1 - 30, 2013 Submission guidelines:Accepting Submissions - September 1 - 30, 2013Sirens Call Publications is currently accepting submissions for our bi-monthly e-zine, focusing on edgy & dark fiction including Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Suspense genres. We welcome short stories (1000 - 2500 words), flash fiction (300 - 500 words), and dark poetry. Artwork, photography and literary reviews are also accepted. Interviews with both up and coming or established authors will also be featured. Take advantage of this superb opportunity to gain exposure for your work and email [email protected] with your submissions, or contacting [email protected] with any queries. Ad space is available for books, web sites and organizations supporting the literary or artistic community. A full page ad is $25. Please contact [email protected] for information. We ask for one time publication rights only; stories that are previously published elsewhere are accepted provided that you hold the rights to them. Via: Sirens Call Publications.

Deadline: September 30th, 2013 Payment: Exposure Only The Little Magazine of Magnificent Monsters. Micro (100-500 words), Flash (500-1K) and Short Stories (1k up to 2500 words). Fantasy/Steampunk. Dragons, dinos (in unusual settings and circumstances), sea serpents, basilisks, etc. All with the added awesomeness of being man-made…clockwork monsters made of metal or other substances. For instance, a living dragon made of jade. UPDATE: Deadline: September 30th, 2013. Please do NOT format your stories in blog-format style. Format it as you would for a regular print submission. Formatting blog-style (no paragraph indents, spaces between paragraphs) causes me horrible headaches when I try to load the stories onto a post. Spaces between paragraphs adds more than one extra space on the post, due to the HTML horror known as a div tag. I truly hope the son of a bitch who came up with that rots in hell. WordPress automatically inserts a crapload of div tags whenever it encounters space, adding even more space. (I know, WTF? Right?) I am a college student and I don’t have time to take out extra space, which would really make your stories look horrible if left in. But please DO indent paragraphs. If you don’t, I won’t know where new paragraphs begin and will have to reject your story just because of that. Please include with your submission a 50-100 word author bio. You can include a brief publication history and any web/social media links you’d like readers to know. For the subject line, follow the directions listed for each issue on the Call for Submissionspage. The basic format is: NAME OF ISSUE-TITLE OF YOUR STORY. In all caps. Easier to sort out the junk mail that way. If you have a question for the editor (me), put QUESTION in all caps in the subject line. If...

Deadline: October 1st 2013 Payment: This anthology pays $100/story and 2-Copies of the Anthology CY Canis Majoris is the largest known star in the Universe. If this massive body were in the exact location as our own Sun, its outer edge would stretch to the area where Jupiter orbits. A star with this mass would have an inhabitable zone as large as our entire solar system, if not much larger. With this premise, imagine the worlds which could orbit such a body. Then imagine the beings who could inhabit those same bodies. The Worlds of CY Canis Majoris is not a science fiction anthology, but an anthology covering all speculative fiction and its sub genres. If there are beings on other worlds, they surely have all the issues we experience on Earth... More information about CY Canis Majoris can readily be found on the web. Word Count: 5000 to 10,000 All submissions should be thoroughly edited, before submitting. We are not English majors (Ok, one of us used to be, lol... but you get the point.) and will not spend a lot of time rewriting a submission which obviously hasn't been read for typo and grammatical errors. All manuscripts should be in Microsoft Word and should be double spaced with an extra space between each paragraph. This extra space should be done in Word, through your paragraph settings, not by you actually hitting enter twice. There should be no indention at the start of each paragraph. All emails should have "CY Canis Majoris" in the subject box. The submission period will remain open until October 2013. (This anthology pays $100/story and 2-Copies of the Anthology)

Deadline: Oct. 1st 2013 Payment: $10 Our payment for stories is $10. Our general rules are: (1) We hew to a PG standard and (2) nothing that makes our editors sick. (3)Please put in your "subject" line the title of the antho for which you intend your story. Please read our Style Book before you send us a story. The link to it is next to this Writers' Guidelines link at the top of the opening screen. NOTE FOR 2013 ANTHOLOGIES: Since so many people are at least a bit superstitious about the number "13," and we're going to be stuck with it for a whole year, let's have some fun with it. By adding the word "Lucky" to our 2013 titles, our writers can add an element of "luck" into their stories. Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows? Associate Editor, David Perlmutter Send stories to him at lucky [email protected] THEME: It's Christmas and it's lucky -- or unlucky? -- and sf/f/h. Maximum word length, 4000 words. Deadline Oct. 1, 2013 (or when book is filled, meaning 20 stories accepted.) Reading period Oct 1 - 31 Formatting period Nov 1 - Nov. 15 Publication date Nov 15, 2013 Before submitting make sure to read the Guidelines!

Deadline: August 1 - October 1, 2013 Payment: free trade paperback copy of the book, plus a $5 advance on royalties. Contributors will also be able to purchase more print copies at a 50% discount on the cover price Mummies, Zombies, Vampires, Ghosts... if it's dead and still getting around, we're interested in it. Stories should be set in the winter months. Holiday stories are welcome... Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa, etc... but they should be winter holidays. We're seeking stories that are 3000 - 8000 words in length (firm). Query about reprints. We will accept multiple submissions, but not simultaneous submissions. Open submission period: August 1 - October 1, 2013. All contributors will receive a free trade paperback copy of the book, plus a $5 advance on royalties. Contributors will also be able to purchase more print copies at a 50% discount on the cover price. We're seeking first world rights in English to publish in print and electronic format for 12 months, beginning on the date of publication. Please see our Guidelines and Payment page for further information on the rights we ask for and the compensation we offer. Publisher's note: Mystery and Horror is a market that welcomes LBGTQ, multiethnic,multinational, nontraditional, and unusual fiction. We are concerned with well-written stories involving well-developed characters.

Deadline: October 1st Payment: Exposure Only Quick Snippets: Genre -- Horror Word Count -- 2k to 4k Payment -- None Story Status -- Unpublished Submission Period -- July 1st through October 1st (not before) Illustrations -- Please Reading Period -- October 1st through December 1st Response Time -- 30 days after end of submission period Publication Target -- First Quarter 2014 (or earlier) STORYLINE For Mother of Gothic Angels, Razor Thin Studios is looking for tales of horror with a Gothic mood. Angels is of course the primary goal, but beyond that it is up to the writer. The only things we ask is that the tales are dark brooding and show the darkness that resides within the Gothic hearts of the angels being portrayed. Finally, make your angels unique, genuine – no need to bring up Constantine or Gabriel rich tales as they are, what they are … used. FORMATTING We prefer standard manuscript formatting (good example: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html). FIRST PRINTING RIGHTS Bear in mind that most publications will not publish pieces that have been published in print, eBook, or on the web, so for all intents and purposes after your work is published by us it can only be marketed as a reprint, which severely limits the number of markets that will accept it, and drastically reduces the pay rate it can receive. It is up to you, the author, to decide if publishing your work in print and/or eBook formats and/or on the web, giving up your First Publishing Right for no and/or a token payment, is really what you want to do. Format MS Word (.rtf .doc .docx) WORD COUNT Our target is ten to fifteen short stories composed of two- to four-thousand words each. We may accept slightly longer or shorter stories if they appeal to...

Deadline: October 1st 2013 Payment: Electronic copy of the book and $10 OR One paperback contributor's copy Yup… it's a bizarro anthology… but what the heck is bizarro? To us, it's intellectual and poetic freedom. It's about exploring the limits of literature and creativity. It can be argued that many classics are bizarro: George Orwell's Animal Farm has talking animals that take over a farm, and Kafka's Metamorphosis features a suffering protagonist who has spontaneously become a cockroach. For more on this visit the bottom of our Submissions page. If you're still unsure what bizarro is, we suggest checking out this article about the topic. Please don't use Wikipedia for your definition. In addition, you can peruse the library of books already published by Bizarro Pulp Press. Here's the article by Mike Klein at Flavorwire. The artwork for this anthology was provided by Alan M. Clark. How to submit: Format/Content: Please send submissions to [email protected] Your query must include a brief synopsis of the story (200 words maximum). We are doing this to help narrow down the non-relevant submissions. Word count must be between 3500 and 7000 words. Please query for longer works, but use professional discretion in this matter. Georgia font, 12 pt, double space .Doc or .rtf files only Labeling: The first page of your document must have ONLY the title of the story. Your biographical information, including name and word count, are included AT THE BOTTOM of the document. (we explain this strange request further down in this post) Please refrain from using an Email Address that may give our editors a clue toward who you might be. We prefer receiving submissions blindly if we can help it. Deadline: August 1st-October 1st Acceptances/rejections will not be mailed out until after the anthology has closed. Payment: You will...

Deadline: October 1st 2013 Payment: 2 cents/word on publication Mythic Delirium is an online and e-book venue for fiction and poetry that ranges through science fiction, fantasy, horror, interstitial and cross-genre territory— we love blurred boundaries and tropes turned on their heads. We are interested in work that demonstrates ambition, that defies traditional approaches to genre, that introduces readers to the legends of other cultures, that re-evaluates the myths of old from a modern perspective, that twists reality in unexpected ways. We are committed to diversity, and are open to and encourage submissions from people of every race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, political affiliation and religious belief. We publish 12 short stories and 24 poems a year. Our quarterly ebooks in PDF, EPUB and MOBI format, published in July, October, January, and April, will each contain three stories and six poems. We will also publish one story and two poems on our website each month. Short stories: We are seeking short stories of up to 4,000 words. Electronic submissions only. Word limit firm. No unsolicited reprints. No simultaneous submissions. No multiple submissions. Please use the words “fiction submission” in the e-mail subject line. Stories should be sent in standard manuscript format as .rtf or .doc attachments. Payment is 2 cents/word on publication. Poems: You may submit up to 6 poems at a time of any length. Electronic submissions only. No unsolicited reprints. No simultaneous submissions. Please use the words “poetry submission” in the e-mail subject line. Poems may be included in the e-mail or sent as .rtf or .doc attachments. Payment is a $5 flat fee on publication. All submissions should be sent to mythicdeliriumgmailcom.

Deadline: October 2nd 2013 Payment:$10 per story accepted Mocha Memoirs Press is pleased to announce that a new horror and dark fantasy anthology is now open for submissions. Please read all of the information provided. Submission Deadline and Publication Schedule:We will remain open for submissions from August 12-September 12, with an expectation that the anthology will be published by October 2. What We Want In the Bloodstream will be an open themed dark fantasy and horror anthology of 31 short stories, released as a digital book and as a paperback book. Your submission must contain elements of dark fantasy or horror to be considered. The subject matter is up to you. We want beautiful prose and originality wrapped up in the darkest, creepiest story you’ve ever conceived. What We Don’t Want We don’t want slasher horror or splatterpunk for this collection. We will reject any stories that contain . Stories featuring well-worn tropes (vampires, zombies, werewolves) will be an extremely hard sell. Violence is fine, but gratuitous gore isn’t. We don’t mind sex if its integral to the plot, but we don’t want an adult-film script. Other than that, use your imagination to make us cringe and tremble. Submissions ▪Submit your work to mmphorror(at)gmail(dot)com with Submission: your story title_your last name in the subject line. Attach your story as a DOC, DOCX, or RTF file. Submissions sent in the body of the email will not be read. ▪ We prefer to see submissions using something approaching Standard Manuscript Format, which can be found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html The only exception is that italics MUST appear as they will be used; no underlining.  Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email stating your name, pen name (if using one), story title with word count, address, website or blog, and any professional publication credits you think...

Deadline: October 4th, 2013 Payment: $10 and audio format publishing for the winner geophagy : noun the practice of eating earthy matter, especially clay or chalk. Some people eat dirt. Yes, really. It is weird, it is widespread, and it is not well-understood. Which for our money makes it perfect fodder for this month's flash fiction contest. We're looking for a story of no more than 1,000 words that explores this strange custom. The story does not necessarily need to focus on real examples of geophagy, though it is worth remembering that the best lies stories contain some kernel of truth. The deadline for entry is October 4th of 2013. Send entries to [email protected] and include "Eaters of Earth" in the subject line. Word documents are very much preferred. The winner of the contest will receive ten dollars and the story will produced in audio form and published on the Human Echoes Podcast. Good luck, and happy writing! Via: Human Echoes Podcast.