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Deadline: October 31, 2013 Prize: a comprehensive round of edits and manuscript assessment. The two runners-up are each awarded a round of comprehensive edits and assessment of a short story or novella-length work. The winner, runners-up and finalists then have the option to be included in the short story anthology to be released mid-2014 by Dark Continents. Authors whose stories are included in the anthology will receive US$20 flat rate payment plus one paperback contributor copy. As the editor of the SA HorrorFest Bloody Parchment short story competition, I am pleased to announce that I’ve opened submissions for the 2013 short story competition. For those of you who’re curious to find out more about our previous finalists and winners, do consider picking up copies of our existing anthologies: Volume 1 (free download) Bloody Parchment: Hidden Things, Lost Things and Other Stories Bloody Parchment: The Root Cellar and Other Stories The aim of the Bloody Parchment short story competition is to help develop talented, fresh voices in the horror, dark fantasy and weird genres, by offering a platform and signal boost for finalists. Every year we assemble a kick-ass panel of judges who are all movers and shakers in the publishing industry, with such notables as Sarah Lotz, Joe Vaz, Cat Hellisen and others who have helped in the selection process in the past. While we’re yet to announce which publisher will be picking up where eKhaya left off, there is a fantastic first prize up for grabs for the winner: a comprehensive round of edits and manuscript assessment. The two runners-up are each awarded a round of comprehensive edits and assessment of a short story or novella-length work. The winner, runners-up and finalists then have the option to be included in the short story anthology to be released mid-2014 by...

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Prize: All kinds of stuff, read below! Note: This is for full lengths and novellas Want to make your dream come true while writing about everyone’s worst nightmare? Then read on. Assent Publishing’s Bad Day Books imprint is announcing the 2013 Assent Publishing “ROGUE WRITING” Contest. Horror, thrillers, suspense,, apocalypse, and mystery submissions welcome. The rules of the road are listed below for an opportunity to lead the 2013 Assent Publishing “ROGUE WRITING” pack. Got mayhem? CONTEST RULES “ROGUE WRITING” Contest submissions accepted from July 1, 2013 through midnight (U.S. Eastern Time), October 31, 2013 All subgenres of horror, thriller, suspense, and apocalyptic fiction accepted Manuscript must be complete Word counts accepted – full length (70,000 to 120,000 words) and novella (40,000 – 50,000 words) You must note “2013 ROGUE WRITING Contest” and book title in subject line of submission email One “ROGUE WRITING” contest submission per author Follow ALL Bad Day Books Imprint Submission Guidelines http://assentpublishing.com/BadDaySubmissions.aspx All submissions will be judged by Assent Publishing Imprint Editors and Acquisitions Editors “ROGUE WRITING” Grand Prize Winner will receive: DarkHallway Assent Publishing Contract including all benefits offered through Assent Publishing – professional editing, professional cover design, print and ebook formatting, distribution, intense marketing training through the AssentAcademy, and the unparalleled Assent Publishing commitment to author success A ROGUE WRITING GRAND PRIZE WINNER Promotional Announcement Blitz promoting the winner and their book ($2,000 value) 50 FREE print copies of their book 10 Months (ten, 2 hour sessions) of One-on-One Author Marketing Coaching with Author Success Coach and Dean of the Assent Academy, Deborah Riley-Magnus ($2,000 value) An Opportunity to Speak as the Rogue Expert in their own Assent Publishing ROGUE WRITING GRAND PRIZE WINNER blog for one full year $100 toward membership in a writers organization or guild of...

Deadline: October 31, 2013 Payment: Royalties will be paid every six months via Paypal or check. 70% of all revenue will be paid out to the 100 contributors in even denominations. We are seeking horror tales no longer than 1,000 words (flash is acceptable). Royalties will be paid every six months via Paypal or check. 70% of all revenue will be paid out to the 100 contributors in even denominations. There are no limitations on subject matter so long as there is a strong horror/suspenseful element. Once tales are accepted we will contact you for royalty payment information. Cover art will be commissioned by illustrator Steve Wenta. Please send submissions to: [email protected] with the subject "Delicious Malicious: 100 Tales of Horror". The submission deadline for the first book is October 31, 2013. Delicious Malicious is intended to be a series. All 100 authors accepted will automatically be invited to submit additional stories for "Delicious Malicious 2: Another 100 Tales of Horror", "Delicious Malicious 3: 100 Tales of Horror", etc. Each author will then receive their royalty share every six months for each book in the series, cumulatively perpetually. The goal will be to have each book in the series feature each of the same authors in exactly the same order. The goal is to initiate an ongoing series which will gain a very large following and extend over many years. Reprints are acceptable.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy We’ve all heard the stories of the ancient Gods, the Titans, the cryptozoological oddities. We know their names by heart, Jersey Devil, Nessie, Mothman. Really… well, we’ve heard all we need to hear about them, right? How about some new legends? ThunderDome Press is preparing a short story collection of NEW myths and urban legends. We don’t just want spooky tales, we want you to make local history. Pick a city (preferably one that hasn’t been written to death) and tell us an original tale so fantastic that all of the locals already know it’s true. It can be hyper-realistic or paranormal. It can be the focus of the story, or just the dread that influences what happens in the tale. Make our skin crawl, make us question reality, but most of all, make us believe. Legend: True Stories From a Friend of a Friend Edited by Chris Deal & Michael Paul Gonzalez Word Limit: 5,000. Deadline: October 31st (spooky!) Pay: $25 + 1 Contributor's Copy [via: Thunderdome Magazine.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Prizes: $25-$100 usd   The Story Quest Short Story Contest at a glimpse One contest a year - Open for Submissions 1 August, closes 31 October. Winners and finalists announced mid November. The contest is restricted to Speculative Fiction, for general adult readership.  Note contest rules regarding content. Not for children. Periodically contests will have a broad theme - in these cases stories must adhere accordingly. Submissions must be strictly between 1000 to 3000 words - automatic rejection applies otherwise. This is the count of the body of the fiction, not the title, credits or other material included in the submission document. The Winner receives $100US cash prize and WILL be published in SQ Mag ezine. Second place receives $50US cash prize and WILL be published in SQ Mag ezine. Third place receives $25US cash prize and WILL be published in SQ Mag ezine. Judges will also identify a short list of non-winning finalists who WILL ALSO be published in SQ Mag ezine. Winners and finalists MAY ALSO be published in SQ Mag ezine's yearly 'best of' anthology. All material published in SQ Mag ezine and potentially its anthology, will be paid a token amount (other than the prize money stated above). All profits reaped by SQ Mag ezine is regenerated into running costs for the site.   Terms and Conditions Stories must be 1000 – 3000 words in length, no exception. Any English idiom is accepted. Stories must be written with an emphasis on the speculative fiction genres (horror, science fiction and fantasy). Note that the judges will be looking for fresh, character-centric stories with depth of skill in theme and plot construction. Zombies, vampires, elves, hobbits, orcs, are unlikely to get past round one. Fan fiction, or the like, will be automatically rejected. Stories must be oriented toward...

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: Pro rata share of 15% of list price and one copy of the anthology. Kraken Press will be publishing a 50’s themed horror and dark fantasy anthology called ”American Nightmare” in eBook and paperback editions with a tentative release date of January 2014 . We’re looking for original, unpublished horror and dark fantasy (sci-fi with a dark bend is okay) short stories between 2500 and 7000 words. We are not interested in flash fiction or poetry. The theme is 50s (and early 60s) Americana. We’d like to see modern genre fiction with a literary bend, set in those decades. We want to see classic cars, drive ins and white picket fences. Suburbia and small towns are a good choice for setting. Think Pleasantville, Mars Attacks, Fido, American Graffiti, October Sky, Ed Wood and Stand By Me. Deadline: October 31st Tentative publication date: January 2014 Payment: Pro rata share of 15% of list price and one copy of the anthology. Word count: 2500 to 7000 words. Simultaneous submissions: No. Multiple Submissions: No. Via: Kraken Press.

Deadline: October 31st, 2013 Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication Flytrap, the little zine with teeth, will open to submissions for issue #11 on September 3, 2013. Fiction: I will consider work up to 5,000 words (query for longer, but don't let it hurt your feelings if I say no). Any form, any style, any genre welcome; cross-genre and experimental work especially appreciated. I consider vignettes, fantasias, and hallucinagenia in addition to more traditional narrative approaches. Surprise me, or delight me, or both. I like stories with sex and feminism and apocalypses and snarky humor in them, but don't let that limit you. Straightforward adult content and conventional horror are unlikely to find a home here, but otherwise, I'm happy to consider pretty much anything. Send stories to Heather Shaw at [email protected]. Send in the body of an e-mail, or as Word or RTF attachments. Non-Fiction: Due to enthusiastic pre-soliciting, we are full on non-fiction for this issue. Poetry: We are not open to poetry submissions for issue #11. We're having a featured poet instead. But you might be able to slip a prose poem past the fiction editor. Multiple submissions are okay, within reason (that is, sending two pieces won't annoy us too much, but sending three probably will). No simultaneous submissions (but we'll try to answer every submission by mid-November, so it shouldn't cramp your submitting style too much). Deadline: We open September 3, 2013, and close October 31, 2013. Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication. Via: Kickstarter.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: $25, plus one paperback contributor’s copy. We are now open to submissions for Tales of the Black Arts, a swords & sorcery anthology, for POD paperback and eBook publication. We are looking for dark fantastic tales in the tradition of Moorcock’s Elric stories, Wagner’s Kane tales, or the Morlock Ambrosius stories by James Enge. As you might expect from the title, magic must play a central role in the story, not just be in the background. Cover art by Luke Spooner, www.carrionhouse.com. Word Count: 2,000 to 15,000 words. Payment: $25, plus one paperback contributor’s copy. Rights: we purchase First Electronic and First Print Rights, with a 6 month exclusivity period. Please remember that you can only sell your various “First” rights once, and that you will only be able to market your accepted story later as a reprint, once we have published it, which may limit where you can submit it to in the future, and how much you may be paid for it. Only you can make this business decision for yourself. Deadline: October 31st, 2013. Expected publication in January 2014. Submit the full story to us as a doc or rtf file to [email protected], with “Tales of the Black Arts” in the subject line. Include a little information about yourself as well. Multiple submissions: Ok Simultaneous submissions: Ok, just let us know. Reprints: No reprints, please. Via: Hazardous Press.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: Contributor copy: 1 copy of paperback, eBook in ePub and/or mobi format; permanent 25% discount on paperback (resale permitted); 1 free eBook from our catalogue A memory, a spectre, a feeling of regret, a sense of déjà vu, ghosts, machines, something you can’t quite put your finger on, a dark double, the long shadow of illness, your past, a nation’s past, your doppelgänger, a place, a song, a half-remembered rhyme, guilt, trauma, doubt, a shape at the corner of your eye, the future, the dead, the undead, the living, a grey cat, a black dog, a ticking clock, someone you used to know, someone you used to be. We are all haunted. Submissions wanted for a new anthology of short stories based on the theme of haunting. What we want: Edgy, dark and weird fiction. Any interpretation of the theme is welcome – and we have no preconceptions about what ‘haunting’ might mean. Any genre considered: dark fantasy, urban fantasy, Gothic, horror, sci fi, steampunk, cyberpunk, biopunk, dystopian, slipstream. We’re looking for original and fresh voices that challenge and unsettle. (And, please remember, we do not publish misogyny, misandry, homophobia, transphobia or racism.) Editor: Hannah Kate Publisher: Hic Dragones Word Count: 3000-7000 Submission Guidelines: Electronic submissions as .doc, .docx or .rtf attachments only. 12pt font, 1.5 or double spaced. Please ensure name, story title and email address are included on the attachment. Email submissions [email protected]. Submissions are welcome from anywhere, but must be in English. Submission Deadline: Thursday 31st October 2013 Payment: Contributor copy: 1 copy of paperback, eBook in ePub and/or mobi format; permanent 25% discount on paperback (resale permitted); 1 free eBook from our catalogue. Via: HIC Dragones.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: Grand Prize of $25 and second through forth will recieve $10 each   This year’s edition of The Rogues Gallery will feature images from one of the tabloids of the late 1800s: The Illustrated Police News A newspaper vendor in the nineteenth century could always ensure sales with the gruesome cry “Murder! ‘Orrible Murder!” Published around 1870, the Victorian tabloid The Illustrated Police News took this business angle to heart. It had the largest circulation of any periodical of that time and fed the public on a weekly diet of real-life horrors calculated to chill the strongest stomach and boost the next issue’s sales. Sharpen your pencils for a gruesome Halloween contest! Firbolg Publishing is giving away Amazon gift cards just in time for the Christmas shopping season. GRAND PRIZE one $25 Amazon gift card First, Second, Third prize one $10 Amazon gift card   There will be four winners, and just in time for the holiday season! Here are the rules: 1) You may send in as many stories as you like, but your name is only entered once. 2) Submissions must be in by 31 October. Winners will be announced 1 November. 3) Gift cards will send via email. 4) All authors already accepted are automatically entered in the drawing. Every author who submits a story will be entered into the drawing. 5) The top twenty-five stories selected by our editors will be published in The Rogues Gallery anthology due in January. 6) All authors selected will receive an e-copy of the anthology. 7) Your story must use one of the image prompts, and you must indicate which prompt you’ve chosen. (They are numbered) 8) 500-1000 words (this is strict) 9) Avoid excessive gore/ violence. We are most interested in gothic dark fiction rather than splatter style horror. Atmosphere and...

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: 7cents per word An original science fiction anthology of cyborg stories edited by a cyborg. Pay rate: Seven cents per word Story Length: 1000-8000 words Simultaneous Submissions: NO Reprints: NO Formatting: .doc or .rtf files in Standard Manuscript Format Paper Submissions: NO Electronic Submissions: clarkesworldmagazine.com/cyborg Rights Purchased: First Print and Electronic Rights. Book will be published in print, ebook and (possibly) audio editions. Deadline: Tentatively set for 9/15/2013. Will revise after first week of submissions. October 31, 2013 Obvious Requirement: Cyborgs or cyborg-related issues must play a role in the story. Feel free to explore this theme as widely as you like. Have fun with it and keep in mind that not all cyborgs need to be human. Don’t Send: Zombie stories. Seriously. NO. Stories previously rejected by Clarkesworld. (I’ve seen it already.) Stories involving horrible things happening to children. Cyborgs that just escaped from Doctor Who, Star Trek, etc. Authors already scheduled to appear in this anthology: Elizabeth Bear, Helena Bell, Tobias S. Buckell, Pat Cadigan, Greg Egan, Xia Jia, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Chen Qiufan, Robert Reed, E. Catherine Tobler, Genevieve Valentine, Peter Watts, E. Lily Yu. Via: Neil Clarke.

Dealdine: October 31, 2013. Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication.   We just wanted you to be the first to know that Flytrap will be opening to fiction submissions starting next Tuesday, September 4th! Below are the guidelines. Go forth, submit, and conquer! Flytrap, the little zine with teeth, will open to submissions for issue #11 on September 3, 2013. Fiction: I will consider work up to 5,000 words (query for longer, but don't let it hurt your feelings if I say no). Any form, any style, any genre welcome; cross-genre and experimental work especially appreciated. I consider vignettes, fantasias, and hallucinagenia in addition to more traditional narrative approaches. Surprise me, or delight me, or both. I like stories with sex and feminism and apocalypses and snarky humor in them, but don't let that limit you. Straightforward adult content and conventional horror are unlikely to find a home here, but otherwise, I'm happy to consider pretty much anything. Send stories to Heather Shaw at [email protected]. Send in the body of an e-mail, or as Word or RTF attachments. Non-Fiction: Due to enthusiastic pre-soliciting, we are full on non-fiction for this issue. Poetry: We are not open to poetry submissions for issue #11. We're having a featured poet instead. But you might be able to slip a prose poem past the fiction editor. Multiple submissions are okay, within reason (that is, sending two pieces won't annoy us too much, but sending three probably will). No simultaneous submissions (but we'll try to answer every submission by mid-November, so it shouldn't cramp your submitting style too much). Deadline: We open September 3, 2013, and close October 31, 2013. Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication. Thank you to...

Deadline: November 1st 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Quick Snippets: Genre -- Horror Word Count -- 2k to 4k Payment -- None Story Status -- Unpublished Submission Period -- August 1st through November 1st (not before) Illustrations -- Please Reading Period -- November 1st through January 1st Response Time -- 30 days after end of submission period Publication Target -- First quarter 2014 STORYLINE Angels versus Zombies - one would assume what we are looking for and you would be right. Give us angels and give us zombies, pitted against one another in any format you want. Horror, fantasy, Weird, erotic, romance ... go ahead, use your imagination. 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 us, so don’t feel that you need to drastically shred your story or add unnecessary material to fit the qualifications. ILLUSTRATIONS Love to see what you have - please do so in JPG/JPEG format and follow the storyline! SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS Sorry, are not...

Deadline: November 1st 2013 Payment: 1p (2¢) per word. Accepted authors will receive three hardcover copies of the anthology, and will also be able to purchase further copies at cost (not including shipping). Payment will be made within 30 days of publication. Of Devils & Deviants: An Anthology of Erotic Horror We are pleased to announce that a new anthology, Of Devils & Deviants, is now open for submissions. Please make sure you read all of the information provided. Submission Guidelines What We Are Looking For Of Devils & Deviants will be a literary anthology, released as a hardcover book and a digital book, of around 90000 words with the theme of erotic horror. Your submission must contain elements of both to be considered. We want stories that will make us think, we want tales of the flesh, of the lengths people will go to for gratification. Think Cronenberg and Lars Von Trier; Clive Barker and HR Geiger. We want beautiful prose and originality. Most importantly, we want the darkest, creepiest story you’ve ever conceived. What We Don’t Want We don’t want slasher horror; a naked woman getting hacked to death will not be considered for this collection. We will reject any stories that contain rape, and the abuse of minors. We will be looking for originality, so stories featuring well-worn tropes (vampires, zombies, werewolves) will almost certainly be rejected. We don’t want gore for the sake of it, and we don’t want something that could be used as an adult-film script. Submissions Submit your work in Standard Manuscript Format to [email protected] with Fiction Submission: Your Story Title in the subject line. Attach your story as a DOC, DOCX, or RTF file. Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email stating your name, story title with word...

Deadline: November-ish, 2013 Payment: $0.05 US per word, $0.025 US per word, by invitation only, or if queried first and accepted. VIRAL INVITATION Written Backwards is accepting submissions for Chiral Mad 2, an anthology of psychological horror. While the first two anthologies by Written Backwards were open to submissions following initial invites, Chiral Mad 2 is by viral invitation only. What does that mean? Well, if you can read this, you are invited. It’s that simple. You know someone or heard about this incredible opportunity by someone, or read a thread on Facebook, or twatted a tweet on Twitter, or found out somehow on one of the other social media outlets, or you possibly know a highly-respected acquaintance of yours truly, and here you are. Personal email invitations were sent to a select few prior to this page going live, like before, but you are now reading this, and this will soon go viral, so, well, you are invited to submit a story. Who’s the editor? This anthology will be edited by Michael Bailey, creator of the Chiral Mad and Pellucid Lunacy anthologies, and author of Palindrome Hannah, Phoenix Rose, and the upcoming Psychotropic Dragon. He has a few collections as well (Scales and Petals and the upcoming Inkblots and Blood Spots), and has appeared in some other books and magazines. You may have heard of him, maybe not. What really matters is this next book. Why should you submit? To date, Chiral Mad and Pellucid Lunacy have raised over $6,500 for Downs syndrome charities, with a majority of that donated to the Down Syndrome Information Alliance (DSIA). That’s why. Well, that’s the main reason. There are other reasons: both have received nothing but positive reviews, critical praise, and some awards. Pellucid Lunacy, during its run, won the International Book...

Deadline: October 5th 2013 to November 5th 2013 Payment: $50.00 flat rate   Call for Submissions Have you been thinking of adding more monster sex into your life? Of course you are. Who isn’t looking for furrier and fangier sex these days? If you haven’t thought about it, we are betting you are now. Boy meets vamp, girl meets werewolf or even monster on monster, there are no holds (holes) barred in this anthology. We are looking for the best horrotica stories out there. Add a dash of romance or maybe some comedy, whether it’s dramatic or “climactic”, we want new and original stories that will make us blush… Never mind making us blush, if we have to read your story with two hands, it probably won’t make it into the anthology. All participants in your story must be 18 or older, we only want monsters of legal age. READING PERIOD: October 5th 2013 to November 5th 2013 PAYMENT: $50.00 flat rate RIGHTS: non-exclusive print and electronic rights LENGHT: 2000 words to 4000 words FORMAT: please use standard manuscript formatting, for more information see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html All submissions will be done through Submittable (Link coming soon) Please include your full name, contact info, and word count in the document and cover letter (the cover letter is part of the Submissions Manager, not a separate file). REPRINTS: Unpublished work will get first consideration. Any submitted reprint must not have been published within the last 12 months, and the author must retain all applicable rights. All previous publication information (for the submitted story only) must be disclosed. RESPONSE TIME: 60 days or less. Source: Apokrupha.

Deadline: November 5th 2013 Payment: $20.00 his is how the world ends. This is how the world ends. This is how the world ends. Not in a bang, but in a book. … with a dinosaur … a comment … a storm … an arguing man … an unhelpful computer Show us your moment from the end of the world. Show us the tragedy, the beauty, and, of course, the horror. Whether cold war style button pushing. or sailing off the edge of the world, this anthology is open to all dark tales of the final days. We won't say "NO ZOMBIES", but we will say that we've read a lot of those, and yours needs to be great to get in This is QuickLLI anthology, as such will have 52 (give or take, apparently) stories. Maximum of 500 words. You may submit up to three (3) stories; however the plan will be to only accept one story per author. For queries, please email [email protected] READING PERIOD: October 5th 2013 to November 5th 2013 PAYMENT: $20.00 flat rate RIGHTS: non-exclusive print and electronic rights FORMAT: please use standard manuscript formatting, for more information see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html Submissions will be done through Submittable (Link coming soon) REPRINTS: Unpublished work will get first consideration. Any submitted reprint must not have been published within the last 12 months, and the author must retain all applicable rights. All previous publication information (for the submitted story only) must be disclosed. RESPONSE TIME: 60 days or less.   Source: Apokrupha.

Deadline: November 10th 2013 Payment: The winners will be in a limited holiday booklet, and will receive 5 copies each. Locals get a spot on the open mic at the event. This is a challenge for visual and flash fiction. We all know the carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. …what happens at night? What happens on those dark, cold nights of December? Seeking submissions, due November 10, for visual art and written pieces of 500 words or less, exploring the dark side of Christmas. Your launch point is one of the Twelve Days. We will pick the single best entry for each of the Twelve days. Please post your entry in the comments below, if you’d like others to see it or email it to [email protected]. The booklets will be available at Belsnickle Faire and afterwards. The winners will be in a limited holiday booklet, and will receive 5 copies each. Locals get a spot on the open mic at the event. This is a lighthearted look at the darker side of the season. Have fun!! Source: Poshrat Productions.

Deadline: November 15th, 2013 Payment: Exposure Only The Day the Zombies Ruled the Earth. Micro (100-500 words), Flash (500-1K) and Short Stories (1k up to 2500 words). Drabbles considered. A general zombie themed issue. Send me any general zombie stories. Extra credit brownie points for genre-blenders, as usual. Zombies in unusual places and circumstances also win a special place in my editorial heart. Deadline: November 15th, 2013. Submissions should be sent to [email protected] Copy and paste your submission in the body of an email. Attachments will not be opened. No exceptions. 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 Submissions page. The basic format is: NAME OF ISSUE-TITLE OF YOUR STORY. In all caps. Easier to...

Deadline: November 15th, 2013 Contest Winner: ten dollars and have their story featured produced in audio form on the Human Echoes Podcast In 1845 Sir John Franklin left the ice-bound hulls his ships, the Terror and the Erebus, and led his men into the arctic wilderness carrying a sled-load of button polish, handkerchiefs, curtain rods and a writing desk. Why? One theory posits that the men of the expedition were poisoned by the lead solder used on their canned food, and became completely delusional. Imagine it. You're cut off from the world you know, pushing forward into a hostile and alien landscape, exploring territory never before mapped...and then you start seeing things. Without the grounding of familiarity how would you know what was real and was was illusion? That's the essence of this challenge. Write a story in less than a thousand words about someone losing their grip on reality in a place where they can't be sure what reality is. Send submissions to hepodcast @ gmail.com with "On the Frontiers of Madness" in the subject line with the story attached (we prefer .doc files if possible). We also prefer double spaced and with a clean font. Comic sans will get you an instant rejection. The contest winner will be awarded ten dollars and have their story featured produced in audio form on the Human Echoes Podcast. Check out some of our other audio stories to get a feel for what we like. The contest will end on November 15th, 2013. Via: Human Echoes Podcast.

Deadline: November 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. Now, without further ado, let’s showcase the themes, shall we?   Send your submission in an email to kazkasubsgmail.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...

Deadline: November 20th for synopsis, December 15th for first draft Payment: A portion of the book's royalties The Premise: Out in the universe, there is predicted to be millions of planets harbouring sentient life, thousands of civilisations of sapient races, going about their lives; struggling, fighting, maybe loving, having adventures, maybe suffering under dystopian tyrants, or in societies of harmony and peace and complacency. These worlds, due to the nature of the speed of light and relativity, will never meet each other in person across the vast stretches of space, and any messages or signals sent between them wouldn’t reach their destinations for millions of years, long after both civilisations are gone. The premise of our anthology is themed very specifically towards being an anthology which collects stories from these diverse worlds and settings. Each short story would be a snapshot of that location and time. The only motif linking the stories will be the mysterious Drift Engine; an outwardly-featureless cylinder exactly one kilometre long, and one hundred metres in diameter; a strange wandering machine from some forgotten corner of the universe, travelling the universe, searching out and documenting these settings. Writer Guidelines What we want from any writers looking to contribute to the anthology is both very broad and very specific (if such a thing is possible). We want people to submit any kind of short story. Any genre you can think of. Techno thrillers, horrors, political dramas, tragic romance stories, comedies, hard sci-fi, space operas, high fantasy stories, low-fantasy stories, utopias, dystopias, stories of exploration or discovery; literally any genre you like. In fact, the more diverse and different synopses we get, the better. However, there are three cast-iron stipulations; breaking any of them means your synopsis cannot be accepted. They are as follows: 1) Your story cannot...

Submission Period: September 1st 2013 - November 30, 2013 Payment: 5 cents (CAD) per word and two contributor copies Silvia Moreno-Garcia will be editing Fractured: Tales of the Canadian Post-Apocalypse, an anthology of Canadian post-apocalypse stories for Exile Editions. The editor is interested in stories from 2,000 to 10,000 words. Stories must be set in Canada and written by Canadian authors. Canadians living abroad must indicate their status in their cover letter. Please indicate if you consider yourself any of the following in the cover letter: Aboriginal writer, culturally diverse writer, Francophone writer, new generation writer (definitions below). What is the post-apocalypse? By post-apocalypse we refer to fiction set after a great disaster such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, ecological collapse, etc. Mary Shelley’s 1826 novel The Last Man is considered the first work of modern apocalyptic fiction, but many have followed in her footsteps in both print (The Hunger Games, I Am Legend, The Road, Oryx and Crake, etc.) and film (Mad Max, Waterworld, The Book of Eli, etc.). Fractured is interested in the Canadian post-apocalypse. Will the waters rise and swallow Vancouver? Will Nunavut become a jungle? Will Toronto be under the rule of our new robot overlords? Caveat: I won’t say no to zombie stories, but if you sent me a story for Dead North I don’t want to see it again. Sorry. Must the stories be bleak? No! The post-apocalypse could be very good for some people. If we had another ice age, for example, the Inuit might adapt and survive it better than people in the south. Remember that in The Day of the Triffids people went blind because they stared at the meteor shower? But if you were already blind, wouldn’t you have an advantage, then? What do you want to see? Stories that explore a diversity of scenarios and settings, from small rural communities to...

Submission Period: September 1 – November 30, 2013 Payment: $10 and paperback copy of the anthology   Anthologist: Rhonda Parrish Have you ever noticed that, despite the name, there is often a conspicuous absence of fairies in fairy tales? Historically speaking fairies have been mischievous or malignant. They’ve dwelt in forests, collected teeth or crafted shoes. In Fae, we want stories that honor that rich history but explore new and interesting takes on fairies as well. We want urban fairies and arctic fairies, steampunk fairies, time-traveling and digital fairies. We want stories that bridge traditional and modern styles and while we’re at it, we want stories about fairy-like creatures too. Bring us your sprites, your pixies, your seelies and unseelies, silkies, goblins or gnomes, brownies and imps. We want them all. We’re looking for lush settings, beautiful prose and complex characters. Rights and compensation: Payment: $10 and paperback copy of the anthology from World Weaver Press. We are looking for previously unpublished works in English. Seeking first world rights in English and exclusive right to publish in print and electronic format for six months after publication date, after which publisher retains nonexclusive right to continue to publish for life of the anthology. About the anthologist: Rhonda Parrish is a master procrastinator and nap connoisseur but despite that she somehow manages a full professional life. She has been the publisher and editor-in-chief ofNiteblade Magazine for over five years now (which is like 25 years in internet time) and is the editor of the forthcoming benefit anthology, Metastasis. In addition, Rhonda is a writer whose work has been included or is forthcoming in dozens of publications including Tesseracts 17: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast and Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing. Her website, updated weekly, is at http://www.rhondaparrish.com Open submission period: September 1 – November 30, 2013 Length: Under 7,500 words....

Deadline: November 30th 2013 Payment: We pay $0.02 per word up to $150   FICTION Genres and Content: Betwixt publishes speculative fiction of all sorts—fantasy, science fiction, speculative horror, slipstream, weird fiction, steam/diesel/cyber/etc.punk, you name it. We particularly like stories that smash genre boundaries to smithereens, but we also love fresh takes on established genres and in-depth explorations of ultraspecific niches. Experiments in form and style are welcomed enthusiastically—but a straightforward narrative with tight, crisp language is just as beautiful. When it comes down to it, we want stories that will amaze us, astound us, provoke our thoughts, and boggle our minds. Betwixt supports diversity in speculative fiction and welcomes stories by and about individuals of all ages, classes, disabilities, ethnicities, genders, nationalities, races, religions, and sexual orientations. Please don’t send multiple or simultaneous submissions, stories that have been published previously, or poetry. We are not seeking unsolicited nonfiction at this time. Length: Stories of 4,000 to 7,000 words are ideal, but we will consider a range from 1,000 to 30,000 words. Rights: Betwixt purchases first worldwide English-language serial, electronic, and print rights. Stories will be published on betwixtmagazine.com, in electronic and print-on-demand quarterly issues, and in electronic and print-on-demand yearly anthologies. We may also excerpt stories for promotional purposes. The author retains all other rights. We do not publish unsolicited reprints, and we ask that stories we publish not appear anywhere else for three months after publication. For example, if a story is published in the January issue, we ask that it not appear elsewhere until April—although we would be delighted to make exceptions for extraordinary circumstances! If you have questions about specific rights or contract terms, please feel free tocontact us at [email protected]. (Please don’t send submissions to this address.) Payment: We pay $0.02 per word up to $150, payable upon receipt of completed contract and...

Deadline: November 30th, 2013 Payment: Unlisted Note: Permuted Press RARELY opens anthology calls these days and you should jump on this one! An anthology of unexpected survivor stories from the apocalypse. The collection will include stories that tell the tale of the losers, the geeks, the freaks and the sad-sacks. It could also include stories of the differently abled, or anyone lacking skills, physical ability, education, resources so common in many zombie survival stories. These are the survivor stories of the people you never expected to survive the end of the world. Tell us an engaging story of how your protagonist is making it through the end of the world. What makes them special? What challenges are they facing now? We are looking for stories that will disturb, amuse and above all entertain. Make us cheer for your unlikely hero, or revel in their gleeful villainy. The specific requirements are: An apocalypse (including, but not limited to a wide-spread epidemic of the dead returning to life and wanting to kill the living). Fast zombies, slow zombies, space viruses, genetic engineering. Global Pandemic, asteroid impact, global warming, alien invasion - the details are up to you. But it must be recognisable as an apocalyptic event. The complete collapse of the modern world and the struggle to survive. Adult content and language are fine. However we’re not looking for adult content or stories that are primarily erotica. Stories should be between 3,000 and 10,000 words. Submission period is from 30th September – 30th November, 2013. Stories should be sent as an attachment to an email sent to: [email protected] Subject line: Fat Zombie Submission. Attachments can be in RTF, DOC or DOCX format. Include word count, contact details and title in the attachment. In the body of the email include a brief biography...

Submission Period(note not yet open but plenty of time to get a head start): September 1, 2013 until December 1, 2013 Payment: 3 cents/word (semi-pro) and a contributor copy of every format that is released SNAFU An anthology of military sci-fi/horror. SNAFU will be an anthology of military sci-fi horror novellas and short stories. Bioweapons unleashed, mutations, ancient species unearthed in lost caverns deep within the earth… and the soldiers who fight them. You get the drift? We have solicited novellas from some of the biggest names in the business, and this is your chance to appear alongside them. There will be approximately 60,000 words taken up with novellas by the solicited authors, so we are looking for three or four short stories via the submission process to fill the rest of the wordcount up to about 80,000. SOLICITED AUTHORS: James A Moore - James A. Moore is the award winning author of over twenty novels, thrillers, dark fantasy and horror alike, including the critically acclaimed Fireworks, Under The Overtree, Blood Red, the Serenity Falls trilogy (featuring his recurring anti-hero, Jonathan Crowley) and his most recent novels, Cherry Hill and Smile No More. TBA - TBA - TBA - GUIDELINES: We are looking for stories that take the standard military thriller and inject some horror, whether it be bioweapons, creatures from another planet or dimension, or anything that you can imagine. We want action-filled, plot-driven tales that carry the reader along for the ride. Think Jonathan Maberry, Greig Beck, Warren Fahy, and Weston Ochse (SEAL Team 666 series). Think Dog Soldiers, Predator, or Alien. If you haven’t read Jonathan Maberry or Greig Beck, or SEAL Team 666 or Fragment, then what are you waiting for? Get reading. Submission period – September 1, 2013 until December 1, 2013 Payment – 3...

Deadline: December 1st 2013 Payment: £10 minimum, royalties. plus a copy of the book on publication. Editor Dean M Drinkel (Phobophobia - Dark Continents Press; The Demonologia Biblica - Western Legends Press; Cities of Death - Static Movement) and Alchemy Press present Kneeling In The Silver Light: Stories From The Great War - a horror / dark fantasy anthology commemorating the 100 year centenary of the outbreak of the Great War (World War One) - to be published: 28th July 2014. We are looking for the very best stories set in / during / around the Great War. Originality is key and we are not particularly looking for run-of-the-mill war stories, though tales can be set on European battlefields, trenches, war-rooms, etc, etc. As a “heads up”: whilst we will accept Zombie / Vampire / Ghost stories, these need to be original in style and must have the “wow” factor. Make them stand out! We are also very keen in reading stories from non-English writers (so looking for French, German, Italian writers) but stories must be written in English. Fully realised characters are a must and solid plots extremely desirable. We are seeking original fiction: reprints only accepted by agreement with the editor. No simultaneous or multiple submissions. Contributions between 3,000 and 6,000 words (firm). Submission period runs from 1 August to 1 December 2013. Do not submit outside of those dates. Give your story a head start by reading both these guidelines and the Alchemy Press style-guide. Electronic submissions only, sent as email attachments in standard manuscript format (rtf, doc or docx). Email subject line should take the form Title/ Author’s Name/ Word count (i.e. My Great Story/John Doe/5,000 words). Submissions included in the body of the email, or without the correct subject header, may be rejected unread. Full...

Deadline: December 1st 2013 Payment: $25 and 30% royalties We are currently looking for stories to publish as individual eBook shorts for our new "One-Night Stand" line. We will consider any genre, just as long as it is entertaining and creative. Hook us on the first line. Remember, our readers have all of literature at their sides; all it takes is one line that disinterests them to make them click away. Compensation will be $25 and 30% royalties. We ask for 6 months exclusive rights. All stories should be formatted 12 pt, any font. Also include a 50 word bio either in the email or attachment itself. Word count should be no less than 1000 words and no more than 15,000 words. We do not accept reprints; multiple submissions are fine. Submit at: PMM Publishing's Submittable.

Deadline: December 1st 2013 Payment: 5 cents per word February--Egyptian Mythology Egypt has been a source of fascination from the earliest days of civilization and that intrigue has not faded. So let's combat the winter chill with a trip down the Nile to Thebes, to witness the hand of Isis and Ra upon the great desert, or watch as Ankhaten honors Amun and then witness mankind's first monotheistic state religion crumble with the death--or murder?--of his son Tutankhamen. Between the Book of the Dead and the incredibly rich mythology of Egypt, finding a great speculative fiction avenue shouldn't be that difficult --even if Stargate is taken. CALL BEGINS OCTOBER 1, 2013 CALL ENDS DECEMBER 1, 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...