Events

Deadline: Friday, January 30, 2015 Payment: $0.05US cents/per word up to 5,000 words, for each edited manuscript accepted into the anthology There are real-live monsters all around us. All you have to do to find them is open your eyes.   For our next anthology of horror, MONSTERS  (this is the working title and is likely to change), we’re looking for your best original horror fiction that investigates the evil that lives among us—the monster that is man. MONSTERS will include a selection of dark fiction focusing on ‘man as monster.’ We are looking for your most horrifying, most dreadful, most frightening tales that highlight the creatures that haunt your nightmares, or even those who may live down the block. For this anthology we want your dark, chilling, character-driven tales portraying the deadliest monsters of all—mankind. While we are not specifically looking for stories whose characters, setting or plot include classic horror monsters—werewolves or vampires and their ilk—we will not disqualify such tales as, on the most basic of levels, these classic monsters are still (or once were) human. Although, stories that include such famous fiends should, at minimum, put a new spin on the theme or have a brand new take on the chosen horror monster. What we most definitely do want to read are stories that encapsulate the dark and demented behavior of the monster that lives next door (or maybe even the one who lives in your own house…) Serial killers. Demented clowns. Vengeful mothers-in-law. The possibilities are, literally, endless. As with our current catalog of bestselling anthologies, we do not want to limit your creativity with a narrow theme. We expect MONSTERS  will include a wide range of stories of monsters from every category, with the common denominator being that they must have some connection with their humanity....

Deadline: January 31st 2014 Payment: 1 cent per word for original work, nothing for reprints. Also a free digital copy of the issue as well as a discount on the print copy. We are accepting fantasy, dark fantasy and magical realism submissions for the second volume of our annual anthology. The only hard requirement for this anthology is that it be one of the genres mentioned above. If nature plays a part in your piece, in setting or theme, then it gets extra points but it’s not required. Submissions open September 1st 2014 and close January 31st (tentative). We want to see the prompt inspire your writing. To bleed through every letter. If our quarterly is about Apollo, give us stories about the galaxies, about the sun, about archery. Give us stories that breathe Apollo. If the prompt is Artemis, give us forests, give us beasts, give us epic hunts. This does not mean we want stories ABOUT Apollo, or Artemis. VERY IMPORTANT: Please include a note as to how your story is inspired or relates to the theme/prompt you are submitting to. If you do not do this, we cannot guarantee your story will be read. A single sentence is sufficient. This is not necessary for our annual, genre specific anthologies (Gaia and Typhon). NOTE: Please read the entire page before emailing questions. Make sure your submissions are up to the submission guidelines listed on this page. If submissions do not follow these guidelines, it is not guaranteed that they will be read. Please make sure files follow these important guidelines: Double Spaced Font: Courier or Times New Roman Author Name & Email included Word Count DO NOT Paste into Cover Letter box Number Pages FICTION: Pantheon Magazine is interested in fresh, creative, and powerful fiction that grips us and doesn’t...

Deadline: January 31st 2015 Payment: 5c per word up to 5k, then 3c per word over 5k Note: Only Female Authors Are Accepted In This Anthology I will be editing an anthology of Lovecraftian fiction written by women, to be published by Dark Regions Press in 2015. We have already solicited a selection of established authors to contribute work to the collection. As of 1 October 2014, I am officially accepting unsolicited submissions for an open call period that ends 31 January 2015. The only set requirement for the anthology is that all submissions must be written by women. Submissions from international, multi-cultural and LGBT/GSD perspectives are encouraged, as this collection will aim to present the diversity of voices within the field of Lovecraftian fiction. All stories must be submitted in English. There is no restriction on setting, so don't feel like you have to remain within the 1920's/1930's - far future stories, contemporary, steampunk, psychological, horror, fantasy/sf and, of course, historical settings are all welcome. I am open to a wide interpretation of 'Lovecraftian', but I'm not looking for pastiche work. Nuanced weirdness welcome, as is the overtly strange. Word count for submissions is set between 2000 and 10 000 words. If you would like to submit something shorter or longer, please query. No simultaneous submissions or reprints.  Payment for accepted stories will be 5c per word up to 5k, then 3c per word over 5k. Email submissions in Word .doc or .rtf file, formatted to standard manuscript specifications to: witchesdreams AT gmail DOT com I look forward to reading your stories! For more details about the anthology, contributors and Dark Regions Press, click HERE. Via: Lynne Jamneck.

Deadline: January 31, 2015 Payment: $0.005 a word payable upon final acceptance, see below for Acceptance Policy Poetry: Up to 500 words (Prose poetry is acceptable) Flash Fiction: No Short Stories: 3000-5000 words. Reprints: Yes, but they will receive secondary consideration Multiple submissions: Yes Simultaneous submissions: Yes, but please notify me immediately if your story or poem is accepted elsewhere. Target Publication Date: June 15, 2015 I am looking for any genre stories and poetry about the psychological effects of war, both during active duty and upon the return home. I want a variety of wars, give me some I don't know much about. I also want wars set in a variety of time periods. La Vita Publishing is about getting the reader to think about something in a new way. Get me thinking about war and life through the eyes of someone I never have before. People see the world through their own eyes and based on their own life experiences. Show me war and its aftermath through the eyes of someone completely different from myself. Think about the character's nationality, sexual identity, sexual preference, religion, ethnicity, or any other quality make them different from me. Show me how the things that make someone else different from me affect their experience. Show me how that experience is different from mine, but also similar because we are all human beings.   Submit to: [email protected] as a doc attachment. Standard manuscript style. Georgia, 12, double spaced and no extra spaces between paragraphs. Use the following format for the subject line of your email: In the Trenches// In the body of your email please provide a bio. Submissions reviewed by Krista Clark Grabowski I will acknowledge receipt of your submission via email within two business days. Acceptance policy: Reading of submissions will begin immediately. Within 14 calendar days you...

Deadline: January 31st, 2015 Payment: $25 (U.S. dollars) + Contributor’s Copy Bigfoot. Nessie. The Jersey Devil. Creatures moving in the twilight between fantasy and reality. Beasts that delight, mystify, and terrify. Cryptids are everywhere, in the water, running on the land, or even soaring overhead, challenging our faith in what science knows. From mermaids taunting our ships and Mexican goat suckers who feast on livestock (if we’re lucky) to the Jersey Devil soaring overhead, belief is only a blink away. Great Old Ones Publishing is looking for original stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. PLEASE NOTE: We will only be accepting one story involving each type of cryptid, so be creative. No Bigfoot/Yeti stories. That particular cryptid has already been filled for this anthology by invitation. CRYPTID LIST We are including cryptids list link. Please do your homework on the creature you select. CRYPTID LIST SUBMISSION GUIDELINES DEADLINE: January 31st, 2015 WORD COUNT: 3,000-8,000 words (query for shorter/longer) PAYMENT: $25 (U.S. dollars) + Contributor’s Copy REPRINTS: No MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Two with a maximum of one accepted (stories must involve different cryptids) POETRY: No Your story should follow the SHUNN format FORMAT: Attached DOC, DOCX, RTF, or ODT format. Do “not” put your story in the body of the e-mail. FONT: 12 point Times New Roman or Courier New fonts. PARAGRAPH INDENT: Auto-indent new paragraphs. Do “not” use spaces to indent your paragraphs. SPACING: Double Space SENTENCE SPACING: Single space between sentences. PAGE NUMBERING / HEADERS: No page numbers, headers, or footers CONTACT INFORMATION: Name, address, phone number, and e-mail address at the top-left of the first page SUBMISSIONS: Send to “[email protected].” Include name, title, cryptid, and word count (John Doe, Dancing With the Devil, Jersey Devil, 5,700 words). QUESTIONS: Send to “[email protected].” Via: Great Old Ones Publishing.

Deadline: January 31, 2015 Payment: $30 per story, plus one paperback contributor’s copy. This is an open call for "No Place for Us"; an anthology of short romantic fiction which takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. Any story containing copyrighted characters is not permitted, but fanfic which has been edited to be a stand-alone story with original characters is acceptable. All gender pairings, sub-genre, and content rating are accepted for this book, but the main theme has to be romance. The word limit is a 15,000 word maximum with no minimum word count. Dystopia is arguably the most socially critical genre of fiction and despite a resurgence of popularity we have seen very little depictions of marginalized people; that's why our latest project at GMP is a post-apocalyptic anthology. We're looking for stories about people that we see too little of: People of color, disabled people, and LGBTQIA+ peoples. Authors will retain the copyright to their work, receive $30.00USD for accepted works, and receive a free paperback copy of the book upon publication. Authors from all over the world and from any age group (under the age of 18 is accepted) are invited to submit their stories. The submission deadline is January 31, 2015. Please email all submissions in Word format to [email protected]. Feel free to email any questions to the same address. Via: Good Mourning Media.

Deadline: January 31st 2015 Payment: 1 cent a word Do you have an idea for a dystopian short story? Hydra Publications will be accepting submissions for a dystopian anthology collection. We will pay 1 cent a word, with a minimum word count of 1,000 words and a maximum of 7,500. The deadline for submissions is January 31st. What is your take on a dystopian world? Is it a police state? Do people live in fear of an outside source? Or is it an inner source they are scared of? The format will be 12 pt Times New Roman, double spaced and in Word.doc format. Email your submissions to [email protected] Source: Hydra Publications.

Deadline: January 31st, 2015 Payment: $0.03 a word Have you written a horror short story that’s too long for a +Horror Library+ collection, but too short to be a proper stand-alone novella? Well then Cutting Block Books’ Single Slices is for you! Cutting Block Books is looking for well-written short stories that run from 8k-15,000 words for our new digital-first singles line. We want strong horror stories with a supernatural element—no sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal romance or bizarro—just pure character-driven supernatural horror with a beginning, middle, and an end. Note: the absolute best way to see the kind of stories we like is to read previous volumes of our Bram Stoker Award® nominated Horror Library series, available in paperback and e-book from Amazon.  Similarly, our Stoker nominated Tattered Souls 2 is also available, and should be useful in rounding out your understanding of our varied horror preferences. Manuscripts should be in Microsoft Word, Times New Roman 12pt, double-spaced, with a header that includes all author info.  Email with cover letter to: cuttingblocksubs (AT) gmail.com Payment will be $0.03 a word, plus consideration for inclusion in a possible future paperback Single Slices collection, if we decide to do one. Each digital Single Slice will be professionally formatted, fronted with original cover art, and will sell for $0.99 in Amazon’s Kindle store. Our first submission window will only remain open until January 31, 2015.  Response time is expected to be two (2) months.  No reprints or simultaneous submissions, please. Query Letters Meanwhile, if you have a completed novel that is polished and ready to hit the market, you may send us a query letter.  Please follow the instructions on the “Contact Us” page. Via: Faro Light Publishing.

Deadline: January 31st, 2015 Payment: Contributor's Copy “The Dead Walk” Volume 2 – A collection of zombie tales to satisfy the hunger of any zombie (fan). DEADLINE: January 31st, 2015 Short Fiction submitted to be apart of our anthologies must be between 1,000 to 15,000 words. We pay in contributor copies. We only accept email submissions. Please ensure that they are in .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf formats. Submissions can be emailed to [email protected]. Please when emailing a submission, to please include a short cover email with synopsis, and a brief bio (including previous publication credits, if any). In the subject line of the email, please include the title of the anthology you would like to be included. If not included in the subject, submissions may be lost or confused with other anthologies. Via: Breaking Fate Publishing.

Deadline: February 1st, 2015 Payment: $25.00 and electronic copy of the book upon publication. Monster hunting is a life no one asks for. The endless nights of stalking, the endless days of darkened motel rooms and forever eating out of bags is grim by any standard. But there is worse. Much worse. Sometimes the hunter underestimates the monster. Sometimes the monster turns the tables. Sometimes the hunter becomes the hunted. Nights are then spent running, food is just an afterthought and motel rooms become deathtraps. Behold MONSTER HUNTER: REVOLVER. These are the stories where monsters hunt the hunters. How many times will the tables be turned? There are only two things for certain: anything bad enough to hunt a monster hunter is worthy of awe and that it’s coming for you right now. In the time it took you to read this, it could already be behind you… Edited by: Miles Boothe Submission Period: 8/1/14 through 2/1/15 Reading Period: 2/2/15 through 3/7/15 Acceptances will be announced 3/8/15 Tentative Publication Date: Summer 2015 Payment: $25.00 and electronic copy of the book upon publication. Word Limits: 2000 to 8000 words. Please query if longer. Format: Submissions should be .doc (.docx is fine) or .rtf formats. The entire text will be reformatted, so no need to worry about margins, spacing, etc. Please use a standard font. Genres Accepted: Dark Fiction, Horror, sci-fi. Reprints Accepted: Yes. Please include a history of publication with your submission. Simultaneous Subs: (submitting to Emby and another press at the same time) can be avoided by requesting an early response. Multiple Subs: Each author may submit up to 2 stories. Only one story per author will be accepted. Exclusive Rights: The contract will stipulate 1 year exclusive worldwide print and electronic rights. However, the contract does also state that...

Deadline: February 1st, 2015 Payment: 4% royalties after cost. We all wear masks at some point in our lives, whether metaphorical or real. Masks is an anthology where you can play with the idea of what’s behind the mask. From Venetian, to clowns, to Halloween or Saw, masks play an integral pat in hiding who or what you are and can be bloody scary. Stories should contain elements of the fantastical or supernatural. Let your fears run rampant with this! Works around 5,000 words are most likely to meet with the editor’s approval, although slightly longer/shorter pieces will also be considered. Aim for 3,000 – 6,000. Please follow standard manuscript format and under no circumstances use the Tab key or the Space Bar to indent your paragraphs. Either do not indent at all or use MS Word’s built in features to do so. Submissions must be .doc, .docx, or .rtf format Include your full name, address, email address and telephone number at the beginning of the manuscript. PAYMENT: 4% royalties after cost. (http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html). Be typed in Courier or Times New Roman 12 Include your full details (name/address/telephone number/email address) Be sent to [email protected] as .doc or .rtf documents with the email subject header “SURNAME/MASKS/WORDCOUNT”. Authors will retain copyright. Multiple submissions up to a maximum of two stories per author can be submitted. We will write to you within approximately four to eight weeks of the submission deadline to let you know if you have been successful. Via: Knight Watch Press.

Deadline: February 1st, 2015 Payment: Royalty Split and contributor copy The heart wants what the heart wants… even if what it wants is not human. Every relationship can be tough, now imagine the challenges when one of the parties is not human. Somehow the mundane milestones like meeting the parents, changing your Facebook status, leaving your toothbrush, or making room in the closet, seem less important when faced with a partner who might just have you for dinner. I mean seriously, dating someone of a different religion or race can be challenging enough, but another species? How do you explain your lover’s pointy teeth, a little extra hair, horns, cat-like eyes, or scales? Even if they look human, how do you date someone who doesn’t eat, walks through walls, turns to ash in the sun? How do you even go about meeting someone who is not quite human? Is there a new category for ‘species’ on Match.com? Submission Guidelines Charon Coin Press is pleased to announce a new anthology in the realm of urban fantasy/paranormal romance – Carpe Noctem – Truly, Madly, Deeply. We are looking for stories where a supernatural creature finds themselves romantically involved with a plain old human. We are looking for stories that delve into the unique challenges that come from being in a relationship with ghosts, vampires, succubus, werewolves, swamp monsters, demons, Big Foot, gods or demi-gods, angels, or those things that come from your darkest desires that have yet to be named. We are looking for imaginative tales, not just the normal ‘girl falls for bad boy, bad boy turns out to be a monster’. While those are fine, we have seen these stories before, so yours will need to be spectacular to be included. And sorry no human beasts, we know there are...

Deadline: February 1st, 2015 Payment: two complimentary copies Edited by Alex Davis and Brian Marshall Boo Books is looking for submission for a new anthology on the theme of augmentation, to be released in summer 2015 and launched at Edge-Lit 4. The theme is open to interpretation, and all genres are welcome as long as they feature an element of augmentation – stories do not have to be science-fiction. Stories must be 1000-5000 words in English. No poetry or non-fiction. Stories will be accepted from all corners of the globe. Stories must respond to the theme of ‘augmentation’ in some way. Stories that are not related to the theme in any way will be rejected out of hand. Stories may be in any genre, provided they meet the theme. Sexual content, violence and swearing is acceptable provided it fits the context of the story. Use of these for gratuity or shock value will lead to rejection. Stories must be submitted by Friday 1st Feb 2015. Any work submitted after this date will not be considered. Reprints will be considered, provided author states where the work has been previously published. No simultaneous or multiple submissions – send us your best work! Boo Books acquires First English Publication Rights on new stories. In all cases copyright remains with author. Author may reprint or reuse the story as they see fit. Authors accepted into the anthology will receive two complimentary copies. No fees or royalties will be paid. Submissions should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line ‘AUGMENTATION SUBMISSION’. Please attach stories to your email as a .doc file. While there are no guidelines as per layout, please ensure stories are neat and readable. Please address any queries to Brian or Alex at [email protected] Via: Boo Books.

Deadline: February 1, 2015 Payment: We pay on publication: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry, and $25.00 for nonfiction (all U.S. dollars). We also send you a copy of the issue in which your piece appears. You'll receive your money and issue at the same time. We love the fact that writers around the world are inspired by our first lines, and we know that not every story will be sent to us. However, we ask that you do not submit stories starting with our first lines to other journals (or post them online on public sites) until we've notified you as to our decision (usually two to three weeks after the deadline). When the entire premise of the publication revolves around one sentence, we don't want it to look as if we stole that sentence from another writer. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line. One more thing while I've got you here: Writers compete against one another for magazine space, so, technically, every literary magazine is running a contest. There are, however, literary magazines that run traditional contests, where they charge entry fees and rank the winners. We do not - nor will we ever - charge a submission fee, nor do we rank our stories in order of importance. Occasionally, we run contests to help come up with new first lines, or we run fun, gimmicky competitions for free stuff, but the actual journal is not a contest in the traditional sense. Fiction: All stories must be written with the first line provided. The line cannot be altered in any way, unless otherwise noted by the editors. The story should be between 300 and 5,000 words (this is more like a guideline and not a hard-and-fast rule; going over...

Deadline: February 1st, 2015 Payment: Under 3k - $10, over 3k - $20. Miscellaneous pieces (artwork, recipes, poetry of at least a page) - $5. Haiku - $1 each. We want your tomatoes. Well, not literally. We want your tomato stories. Yes, you read that right. Stories about tomatoes. And poetry. And recipes. And artwork. Ink Monkey and Amoeba Ink are joining together to create an anthology dedicated to the fruit/vegetable. And we need you. Guidelines: Tomatoes MUST play a large part in your piece. No, it doesn’t have to be an ode to your love (or hate) of the tomato, but you have to include them somehow in your story. If we can’t find the tomato reference, we won’t take your story, no matter how good it is. Stories must be under 7500 words. If you have a piece that is longer, query first. Any genre will be considered. Remember the tomato. We will also accept poetry of any length, original recipes, and artwork. The artwork must be reproducible in black and white. We have a cover artist, so don’t even ask. Stories must be PG-13 or milder. We will consider some language and slight violence, so long as it is important to the story. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Fried Green Tomatoes, Veggie Tales, and Ratatouille have been done before. Be original. Payment and release: We plan to release this anthology at the Tomato Arts Festival in East Nashville, TN, in summer of 2015. A Kickstarter campaign will launch before that. Story authors will be paid as follows: Under 3k - $10, over 3k - $20. Miscellaneous pieces (artwork, recipes, poetry of at least a page) - $5. Haiku - $1 each. In the event of a successful Kickstarter campaign, we will increase these payment amounts. Contributors will...

Deadline: February 6th, 2015 Payment: $0.02 per word and Contributor's Copy Featured Author: Randy Ingermanson (SD – 2/6/2015) Sub-genres – All of them! Combine two or more genres to create a unique speculative story. Two different genres. One story. We want a marriage that works. From steampunk spaceships to elves with tasers, from time traveling monks to superheroes in the Renaissance, pick any two genres, and craft an innovative speculative story that makes us believe it’s possible. Splickety fills gaps in the modern reader’s day with concise, poignant fiction under 1,000 words. We want stories that hit fast and strike hard––stories that, no matter the genre, can cut through the day’s troubles and grip readers with short attention spans. We primarily accept original, unpublished work by freelance writers, but we will also entertain submissions from artists, graphic designers, and photographers. Splickety retains the rights to your story for six months from publication date and reserve the right to reprint the same issue in which your story appears in perpetuity, but after that six month period ends you have full rights to your story again. Other terms are delineated in our contract, which we will send to you upon acquisition of your story. We pay our authors $0.02 per word, and you will receive one complimentary print copy of the magazine. Additional copies may be purchased at-cost. Submission Guidelines Your well-edited story should be between 300 and 1,000 words long and it should coincide with one of our 2015 Themes. **What’s more, as of January 2015 each of our magazines will feature one Nano-fiction story of 100 words or less in our Nano Corner. If you can write a complete story in 100 or fewer words that fits with one of our magazine’s themes, send it to us.** HINT: Due to design and...

Deadline: February 14th, 2015 Payment: equally fifty percent of royalties received Darkhouse Books is seeking stories for an anthology of science fiction stories that take place in the future envisioned by the World’s Fair of 1939, known also as “The World of Tomorrow”. The submission period is now open and will remain open through 11:59pm (PST), February 14th, 2015. We are seeking stories in the 2500 to 7500 word range, though if it’s knockout material, we’ll consider any length. The anthology will contain between twelve and twenty stories, depending on the overall length. Authors will share equally fifty percent of royalties received. We accept MS Word .doc and .docx files. Submissions must be in standard manuscript format. Links to formatting guides are available here. Previously published work will be considered, provided the author has the power to grant us the right to publish in ebook, audio, and print versions, and that it has not been published elsewhere more recently than April 1st, 2014. Submissions may be sent to [email protected]. Please leave “Submission-“ in the subject line and add the name of your story. Via: Dark House Books.

Deadline: February 15th, 2015 Payment: £130 This is an anthology of brand new material I have been asked to edit for Constable Robinson. I am seeking original stories to feature Professor Moriarty (preferably not always involving Sherlock Holmes, but can feature other characters who’ve appeared in the Sherlockian canon, such as Lestrade, Irene Adler, Mycroft, etc…). Ideal length between 4,000 and 7,500 words. Rights required are non-exclusive World English language anthology rights, with an option for foreign language translation within the anthology should offers be made for overseas editions. Delivery 15th February 2015. I will accept email submissions (in Word doc). Payment £130 (or, at current exchange rate $215) on publication. Moriarty, the Napoleon of crime, is a familiar character, although he only actually appeared in two Sherlock stories (and countless later pastiches by other pens…). I am seeking a broad mix of stories in which he can alternately appear in his guise as a master criminal, or even as a fallible human being (I am retaining the option to write the ‘Moriarty In Love’ story myself), but more importantly I am hoping the stories I am sent will be entertaining, ingenious and witty as well as gripping. If the project tickles your fancy, do let me know well in advance that you are hoping to do a story so I can plan the project and keep a slot open for you. This call for submissions is not just going out to crime and mystery writers, but also authors in other fields in order to have sufficient diversity and ‘voices’. If you have any queries beforehand do get in touch with me at [email protected] Via: Maxim Jakubowski

Deadline: February 28th, 2015 Payment: 2 cents per word. Authors will also receive an e-book and print version of the anthology Theme:  Lost Voices Submissions Open: December 1st 2014 Submissions Close: February 28th, 2015 Word Count: We will consider fiction up to 6,000 words. There is no minimum word count. Genre: We are a speculative fiction market.  We accept science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories.  Please do not send stories without any speculative element. Compensation: We pay 2 cents per word.  Authors will also receive an e-book and print version of the anthology and wholesale pricing for additional printed copies (typically 50% of cover price). Rights: We purchase North American Serial Rights, and Electronic Rights for downloadable version(s). All subsidiary rights released upon publication. Submissions: We do not accept reprints, multiple submissions, or simultaneous submissions.  If we reject a story before the end of the reading period, feel free to send another. We love creative interpretations of our themes, but we do require that stories fit the current theme. We will run mature content if we like the story and if the mature content is integral to the story. We will not accept fanfic, even if it’s of a fictional universe that has passed into public domain. How To Submit: Electronic submissions make our lives easier. Please upload your story via Submittable. If this is your first time submitting to a publication that utilizes Submittable, you will need to create an account with them. It’s free. When submissions open, we will provide a link here. Manuscript Format: Please use industry standard manuscript format. We’re not testing you to see if you can follow each and every niggling detail, we just want a manuscript that is easy for us to read. We accept manuscripts in the following formats: .doc or .docx (MS Word) .rtf (Rich Text Format —...

Deadline: February 28th, 2015 Payment: Exposure and Royalties Short Stories – 3,000 – 5,000 words H. P. Lovecraft never stuck to any serious continuity with his Mythos. It has always been simply accepted that the return of Cthulhu and the other Elder Gods was an inevitability. So a while back I was rereading Lovecraft’s “The Shadow out of Time” and came across the following passage…. “I shivered at the mysteries the past may conceal, and trembled at the menaces the future may bring forth. What was hinted in the speech of post-human entities of the fate of mankind produced such an effect on me that I will not set it down here. After man there would be the mighty beetle civilisation, the bodies of whose members the cream of the Great Race would seize when the monstrous doom overtook the elder world. Later, as the earth’s span closed, the transferred minds would again migrate through time and space—to another stopping-place in the bodies of the bulbous vegetable entities of Mercury. But there would be races after them, clinging pathetically to the cold planet and burrowing to its horror-filled core, before the utter end.” Now this can easily be interpreted as stating that Cthulhu and the Others do not return during Humanity’s time on Earth! Why don’t they return? What happens that stops them? This is a focused idea that leaves lots of room to the imagination. Did we stop them? Did some one else stop them? Were the stars never right? They decided not come? Did Cthulhu over sleep? It’s all up to you! So get your writing caps on and let those eldritch juices flow! We’re open to all styles of writing. Be it Pulp, Noir, Literary, SF, Gothic or what ever you feel appropriate. Just make it entertaining!...

Deadline: February 28th, 2015 Payment: $15 per story FORMATTING GUIDELINES This is proving to be a recurring problem, so we're putting it up front. Please, for all our sakes, read this next part carefully. All submissions should be sent by e-mail (no letters or telephone calls please) [email protected]. Below are some formatting rules to help us process your submission more quickly. Email and Cover Letters Email is accepted in both text and HTML formats. When submitting, please put this in the subject line: Submission: (Title) - (First and Last name) Include the following in the body of the email and in the attached submission: Your name Name to use on the story (byline), if different Your preferred email address Your mailing address The story's title The story's word count You may also include a cover letter in the body of the email. We get a lot of strange stuff in cover letters, so if you're unsure of what goes in them (and especially what doesn't) please refer to these cover letter tips: How to write a cover letter | What not to put in a cover letter by Jed Hartman Submission Formatting We ONLY accept submissions as attachments! All stories submitted as an attachment must follow standard manuscript formatting. We will no longer read any story not properly formatted. (And we much prefer Courier New to Times New Roman) For explanations and tips on what SMF is and how to do it with word processing programs, please see this article. Please send your submission as an attachment in Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX) orRich Test Format (RTF) only. Other formats, such as Works, WordPerfect, Open Office, etc., have proven difficult to open. Please note that we no longer accept "inline" submssions - that is: submissions with the stories pasted directly into...

Deadline: February 28th, 2015 Payment: $20 Note #1: This isn't a full on horror anthology. More of a kid's and young adult Halloween one. But.. Halloween! Note #2: I usually don't post anthologies that I had missed with deadlines this close but I know quite a few with Halloween stories that might want to take advantage of this if the story fits the theme. Halloween is over… But it doesn’t have to be! We are doing an open call for submissions for stories that involve trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Your story may be any genre, but the overall feel and mood of the anthology is macabre and spooky. Submissions can be middle grade or young adult age range. Please do not submit adult work or works best for picture books.   Stories Word count: Stories may be between 1,000 and 3,000 words. Deadline: February 28, 2015 for expected publication in October 2015. Pay: This is a paid anthology. If your story is selected and included you will receive payment. Payment for illustrations and stories are $20. Rights: We will not accept anything that has been published anywhere previously. Response: We will review work and respond within 6 to 8 weeks, possibly sooner. If you do not hear back after 6 to 8 weeks, please feel free to follow up.   Illustrations Medium: Any medium is welcome as long as you can provide a high resolution image of the work Theme: You may design any artwork that you like as long as it relates to the theme of trick-or-treating on Halloween night. You’re welcome to let your artwork tell a story of its own. Deadline: February 28, 2015 for expected publication in October 2015. Pay: This is a paid anthology. If your artwork is selected and included you will receive payment. Payment for illustrations...

Deadline: March 1st, 2015 Payment: $25.00 and electronic copy of the book upon publication. The wars are over. The monsters have won. There is nowhere monsters don’t stalk anymore; not the burnt out cities or desolate countryside. The monster’s endless search for the last of humanity grows intense as the number of people dwindle and the legions of hungry creatures swell. The battle between life and death is constant. No place is safe. But, the people who have survived are the fastest, the strongest and the most resourceful. Amongthem are the last monster hunters: individuals that have visited the depths of nightmare and survived. Individuals that have become the things that haunt those nightmares… They will never submit, no matter how large or small the gain. Their purpose is clear… Hunt the monsters. Reclaim the WASTELAND. Edited by: Miles Boothe Submission Period: 8/1/14 through 3/1/15 Reading Period: 3/2/15 through 4/4/15 Acceptances will be announced 4/5/14 Tentative Publication Date: Fall 2015 Payment: $25.00 and electronic copy of the book upon publication. Word Limits: 2000 to 8000 words. Please query if longer. Format: Submissions should be .doc (.docx is fine) or .rtf formats. The entire text will be reformatted, so no need to worry about margins, spacing, etc. Please use a standard font. Genres Accepted: Dark Fiction, Horror and sci-fi. Reprints Accepted: Yes. Please include a history of publication with your submission. Simultaneous Subs: (submitting to Emby and another press at the same time) can be avoided by requesting an early response. Multiple Subs: Each author may submit up to 2 stories. Only one story per author will be accepted. Exclusive Rights: The contract will stipulate 1 year exclusive worldwide print and electronic rights. However, the contract does also state that under certain circumstances, Emby Press will consider granting permission to the...

Deadline: March 1st, 2015. Payment: 5% of the gross profit will be paid for each accepted story. These payments will be issued to you at quarterly intervals. Stories under 1,500 words will only receive 4% of the gross profit Down deep in ancient tunnels carved by dwarven hands, past the piles of treasure, the ancient magical artifacts from races long dead, there is a library. Shelves and shelves of books, scrolls, even a few stone tablets, a vast collection worthy of a Dragon Lord. Who knows what timeless knowledge hides there for his slitted pupils only? Well, his secretary has an idea or two. She’s pulled a few off the shelves for you, at his request. We’re interested in fantasy, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, fairy tales, parodies, Just So Stories, and, if your imagination can handle it, a techno-action thriller which has disposed of James Bond and replaced him with someone far more stylish and far more lizardy. All we ask is that a dragon plays a major role. We do not care if there are a million dragons or one dragon, nor do we care if the dragons are heroes or villains (or simply too fabulous to take sides). We do not care if dragons are the protagonist or an influential side character. Your dragons may be adorable imps or horrible beasts. After all, what’s more terrifying than a dragon? Curated by Nicole Petit. Deadline is March 1st, 2015. Seeking stories from 1 to 10,000 words long. The full details can be found here Via: 18th Wall.

Deadline: March 1st 2015 Payment: 1 cent per word. Remember when GG Allin was kidnapped by aliens as a child and gang raped for twenty years before being returned to the exact point in time he had been stolen from? Or how about when he was playing a Boston dive bar with the Jabbers and he started growing penises out of his chest? Perhaps you’ve heard about when he took a dump on stage and the janitor of the club kept all of the excrement and now sells it online in vials for a hundred bucks each so scumfucs can buy it and inject it? Surely you know the story of how, just weeks after being released from prison, GG Allin fought off a pack of crazy weredogs with his bare hands? What do you mean you haven’t heard any of these classic GG Allin tales? Maybe you’ve heard weirder ones? Write them now! The Highest Power will be a collection of screwed up, fictional GG Allin stories edited by MP Johnson and Sam Richard, to be published in Summer of 2015. Publisher TBD. Your stories are needed! The weirder the better. Bizarro GG Allin. Splatterpunk GG Allin. Fill them with blood and rock and roll. All eras of GG Allin must be represented in this book. From young crossdressing GG Allin to post-prison shaved and goateed GG Allin – and beyond. Don’t forget about the full cast of characters, including Merle Allin and the Murder Junkies and GG’s mom. The stranger the story, the better the chance of acceptance. For example, a story in which early 80s GG goes out in drag and accepts an offer to give some guy a oral for $50, but instead bites the guy’s dick off, only to have the severed dick haunt him...

Deadline: March 1st 2015 Payment: Royalties, author share divided equally among the authors How Beer Saved the World 2 edited by Phyllis Irene Radford And on the Eighth Day God Created Beer. Beer is what separates humans from animals… unless you have too much. Seriously, anthropologists, archeologists, and sociologists seem to think that when humans first emerged on earth as human, they possessed fire, language, a sense of spirituality, and beer. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: March 1, 2015. Reading period is December 1, 2014 - March 1, 2015 How to Submit or The Nitty-Gritty In the SUBJECT LINE of your email put How Beer Saved the World 2: and the name of your story. Send us a virus and we will never accept anything from you again. Double spaced manuscript in Times New Roman or some other pretty font (not Courier!). Use italics, not underlines. Have your contact information on the manuscript including your email address. Let us know if this is a reprint and from where. Again, be sure you have the rights to reprint – we won’t chase down permissions. Fiction, humor, science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, urban fantasy, etc. Stories MUST contain beer, preferably humorous. Beer must save the world. Can be science fiction, fantasy, humor, mystery, historical, etc. Email Submissions Only. RTF only. Simultaneous submissions? No. Standard manuscript format. (Double spaced, contact info including email at the top of manuscript) Stories should be between 2000 and 6500 words. Pay: Royalties, author share divided equally among the authors Email submissions to Anthologies AT skywarriorbooks DOT com Our group discussion is on Facebook at How Beer Saved the World 2 Via: Sky Warrior Books.

Deadline: March 1st, 2015 Payment: Base rate of $25.00 and two contributor’s copies Intrigue Publishing is delighted to announce that we’ll be publishing a new YA anthology, Young Adventurers: Heroes, Explorers & Swashbucklers. Publication is tentatively scheduled for November 2015. This will be aimed at the Young Adult audience. The subtitle , “Tales of teens saving the day in the past, the present, the future & on other worlds” should indicate the level of diversity we’re looking for. We plan 16 stories, with a deadline for submissions of March 1or until the anthology is full. What We’re Looking For: Young Adventurers seeks stories of action, adventure and, yes, intrigue, featuring a teenage protagonist. We would welcome spy thrillers, mysteries, science fiction, paranormal or fantasy stories (dragons and magic are fine.) Straight adventure stories are also welcome and they could be set in any time period (we’d love to see a good western or pirate story.) Stretch your imaginations and surprise us! The important requirements are that the protagonist be a courageous teenage boy or girl, that the story be gripping with a real sense of risk or danger, and that the protagonist survives or saves the day through his or her own intelligence, skill and ingenuity. What We’re NOT Looking For: Please no stories involving graphic violence, graphic sex, or profanity. That said, respect your audience: do not talk down to the reader. Twenty-first century young adult readers are pretty sophisticated. The Submission Process: Young Adventurers is looking for original, never-published short fiction only (no poetry), 5,000-10,000 words. But we will consider reprints from well-established writers. Manuscripts must be submitted by email attachment in Word. Submissions pasted into the body of an email message will not be read. The manuscript must be double-spaced, 12-point type, (Times New Roman or Arial.) Please...

Deadline: March 1, 2015 Payment: 6¢ per word For this issue, rather than limiting ourselves to one specialized field of study, we’re looking for stories about the act of studying and learning itself. This could be anything from stories set in unusual schools like Hogwarts, Brakebills, and the Unseen University, to stories focusing on the students and faculty of unorthodox majors like Decision Sciences, Theme Park Engineering, and Bowling Industry Management and Technology (these are all real majors offered by real universities), to tales of researchers digging deep into forbidden tomes, to fictionalized scholarly articles on the Ethics of Motorcycle Taming or the Alternate History of Space Flight in the Mongol Empire. (Yes, we realize this opens us up to stories with footnotes, and we’ll probably kick ourselves later, but we’re brave souls.) We would not be dismayed to see stories that delve into epistemology and hermeneutics, into the nature and limits of knowledge itself. As always, we want gorgeously-told tales, gripping characters, and unique worlds to explore. Genre doesn’t matter to us, along as your tale involves schools, studying, or academia in some integral way. For the sake of setting this issue apart from our recurring entomology and cryptography issues, we’d prefer not to receive stories involving the study of bugs/insects, or computing/code. Word limit: We’ll consider stories up to 8000 words, but strongly prefer stories of 5000 words or less. We’re open to flash fiction and fiction in non-traditional formats, but we do not publish poetry or non-fiction. Pay rate: We pay 6¢ per word for original fiction. Payment is made upon publication. Rights: We buy first-printing world exclusive English-language rights for six months after publication, and non-exclusive electronic rights for twelve months after publication. We hope (but do not require) that you’ll allow us to post the...

Deadline: March 1, 2015 Payment: $25 per story selected for inclusion. The elevator doors open, the lights are flickering, the gurney is wheeled into a dank, dimly-lit hallway well below ground. Does the Doctor have the patient's best interests at heart, or is something more nefarious going on? How does the staff figure out what treatments are most effective and which are not? In our other two Mental Ward collections, we asked you to tell us what happened above ground in the institute itself; what memories of the past were trapped in the abandoned hallways; now we're asking you to tell us what goes on behind closed doors. The secret experiments that are feared and whispered about among the patients. Tell us what unthinkable things greed, the corruption of power, and the desire to be remembered will drive a Doctor to do to the unfortunate patients left in their care. Tell your tale from whoever's perspective you'd like, just make sure the story you tell is a depraved one. Note: This is a reopened anthology. Your story must contain the following three elements to be considered: Your story must take place in a Mental Asylum or Institution. Your story must involve individuals from the Asylum: doctors, nurses, patients, maintenance staff, etc. Your story must contain what would be considered an inhumane experiment that is physically performed. Submission Deadline: March 1, 2015 Word Count: minimum 4,000 words; maximum: 8,000 words. Payment: $25 per story selected for inclusion. Copyright: First time worldwide copyright for a period of one year after publication. Reprints will NOT be considered. Anthology Submission guidelines: Submission Deadline - March 1, 2015 Word Count: 4,000 - 8,000 words. Payment: $25 per story selected for inclusion. Copyright: First time worldwide copyright for a period of one year after publication. Reprints...

Deadline: March 1st, 2015 Payment: .02/word (up to 5k words) Fictionvale Magazine is designed to bring great short fiction to folks on a quarterly basis. But we can’t do that without you, the awesome writers out there! So please read the submission guidelines below to find out how to contribute to Fictionvale. Fiction We look for well-written genre fiction to fill our valley with story! Most episodes will pair two genres, sometimes similar ones, sometimes distinctly different ones, so we are open to all types of popular fiction. Because each episode features eight or so stories of two genres, we will put out a call for those genres first, but we will accept other genres as well, for future episodes. Please note that we are an editorial publisher. Check out our Editorial Musings blog post for what that means to us and to you if accepted. You can find any and all submission calls on our Submittable Page. Research Where You Submit It’s important that, as a writer, you know the market you’re submitting to. We really can’t stress this enough. Each publication has its own style and its  own ideas of what makes a great story. We strongly suggest purchasing at least one episode of Fictionvale so that you can familiarize yourself with the types of stories we find worthwhile to publish. It’s often not difficult to tell when an author isn’t familiar with our preferences. You can go for one of the genre free-for-alls, or, if you write in a particular genre, a genre-specific episode, as they’re published. Episode Eight – upcoming September 1, 2015 – Horror/Humor Guidelines Length & Format: Up to 5000 words, including flash (<1000 words) and micro-fiction (<100 words). Standard manuscript format: 1″ margins, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12pt. You really need to pay attention to...

Deadline: March 1st, 2015 Payment: 5 cents per word up to 5000 Stone Skin Press is proud to announce our newest anthology, Swords v. Cthulhu. As you might have guessed from the title, this project is a spiritual successor to our previous Shotguns v. Cthulhu, but while Shotguns featured mostly modern or futuristic settings for its action-heavy eldritch tales, this tome will collect stories of a historical or fantastical bent. Molly Tanzer and Jesse Bullington will be co-editing the project. If you’re simply an excited reader then there’s nothing more to report at present. But! If you’re interested in potentially submitting a story, there will be an open reading period for a few of the slots in Swords v. Cthulhu. Read on for the full guidelines… The brass tacks (or red nails, as the case may be): We are paying five (5) cents a word for original works of fiction of up to 5,000 words. No poetry. No reprints. No multiple submissions. No simultaneous submissions. The open reading period for story submissions will be from February 1st to March 1st, 2015. All submissions will be answered by the end of March. During the reading period, all submissions should be sent as a double-spaced word document in standard manuscript format to [email protected]. Please address the subject line SVC Submission: “Story Title.” Any stories submitted before or after the open reading period will be deleted unread. To fulfill the promise of the title, we want at least a few adventure romps in which sinewy muscle and cold steel are pitted against the minions of the Great Old Ones. That said, we’d also like some stories combining movement and violence with the existential despair at the heart of Lovecraft’s work. What we want to see is the cerebral cohabitating with rowdy action sequences....

Deadline: March 1st, 2015 Payment: Contributor's Copy SUBMISSIONS FOR ISSUE 3 ARE OPEN UNTIL MARCH 1, 2015. Dark Corners publishes pulp fiction quarterly. Hardboiled, noir, westerns, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror are all desired. If you have something that exists outside these genres or even combines them and you think we'd enjoy it, feel free to submit. Be forewarned, though, that we reserve the right to be picky. If you don't know what pulp fiction is, you might be better off submitting elsewhere. Absolutely no fan fiction. Our readers demand and deserve quality and there is a lot of quality out there so be competitive. Give us your best. Word limit is 2-5,000 words but err on the side of brevity. We want it fast and memorable. Please send only one story per quarter. This is a small operation here and while I appreciate the vote of confidence, we have our limits. Submit to craigtm85 (at) gmail (dot) com. (Please don't type "at" and "dot". I think you know how e-mails look. This is to protect myself from Nigerian princes and people trying to enlarge parts of my body or introduce me to Russian girls. I already live with the best woman possible.) Attach your submission in a Word Document file or Open Office file if you prefer. For the subject of your e-mail, write "Dark Corners Submission -- Your Last Name". If you actually write "Your Last Name", I will respond telling you how funny I think you are but I probably won't read your submission. In the body of your e-mail, send your cover letter. Look up how to do one if you don't know but don't fret about it. As long as you give your best attempt at professionalism, we won't ignore you. Make sure your letter contains...

Deadline: March 1st, 2015 Payment: Royalties from the sale of the individual anthologies will be split between the company and contributors, paid out on a quarterly basis.  Each contributor will also receive an author’s copy of the complete anthology, which will exist in electronic format only. Pagan Writers Press and Ishtar Press (the romance/erotica imprint) are currently seeking flash (short) fiction stories of 1,000 to 2,500 words for inclusion in five separate promotional eBooks for the press. The purpose of these books is to introduce new readers to PWP and display the vast talent of our authors to grow their individual followings. Themes for these eBooks include: Paranormal Romance: These stories focus on relationships, but have a supernatural twist. Characters can be shifters, witches, ghosts, vampires, or a host of other creatures (or be the humans that interact with them). They can be on the darker side, but the focus must be on the relationships. Erotica: While the romance has a relationship focus, here we are looking for stories centered on the physical acts of pleasure of one or more parties. All manner of couples and light BDSM welcome. Halloween / Samhain: Celebrate the magic and mystique of this solemn (and fun) holiday with stories that occur on this day or the days leading up to it. All non-erotic genres welcome. One submission per author per collection is allowed (i.e. you can submit two different stories to two of the anthologies, but not more than one story for each). Please review our standard guidelines before submitting your work. Failure to follow them will result in the rejection of your work. All settings/eras/time periods welcome unless designated in the comments above. All manner of relationships (straight, GBLT, or polyamorous) are welcome. Graphic lovemaking should be restricted to the Erotic submissions only. Royalties from the...