Events

Deadline: May 1st, 2018 Payment: $.01 a word Folk Horror has emerged from the shadows of the late 1960s and early 1970s into a haunting subgenre of horror, fusing atmospheric and horrifying elements of cults, pagan sex, and human sacrifice. In the world of Folk Horror, the laws of God and Man are stripped away by secretive, provincial, surreal, and occult ritualism that subverts the established order in favor of a monstrous, all-consuming, elemental force of ancient evil. Nosetouch Press is proud to bring forth FIENDS IN THE FURROWS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF FOLK HORROR, a call for submissions that summon Folk Horror from around the world—from its deep roots in Britain and Ireland, to continental Europe, as well as North and South America, Africa, and Asia. We encourage writers to capture the essence of Folk Horror in new and terrifying ways above and beyond the cinematic "Unholy Trinity" of its origins, exploring the darkest of Folk traditions and weaving them into terrifying tales of Folk Horror. Send your best original Folk Horror stories of 5,000 to 10,000 words. Submissions that are chosen will be paid $.01 a word. No poems or reprints, please. Email entries to [email protected] .doc or .rtf  format • Please state “FIENDS” in the subject line.

Deadline: May 1st, 2018 Payment: Original fiction $.06/word; Solicited Reprint fiction: $.01/word; Podcast $.01/word This summer, award-winning author and editor Sheree Renée Thomas (“Aunt Dissy’s Policy Dream Book,” Apex Magazine, Volume 95 April 2017 and Volume 101 October 2017, Sleeping Under the Tree of Life, Shotgun Lullabies, and the Dark Matter anthologies) will guest edit a special Zodiac-themed issue. Sheree seeks short stories that explore the heavenly cosmos and unveil mysteries, tales that reimagine Zodiacal archetypes and/or throw them on their heads. As the stars align themselves above, write bold, fun, weird, scary, sensual stories that heal, frighten, intrigue, amuse. Length: 1500-5000 words Genres: Science fiction, fantasy, horror, interstitial, etc. Deadline: May 1, 2018 Email submissions to: [email protected] Payment:  Original fiction $.06/word; Solicited Reprint fiction: $.01/word; Podcast $.01/word (SFWA-certified professional market) No simultaneous submissions. No multi-submissions for short fiction. Publication: August 2018, www.apex-magazine.com

Deadline: May 1st, 2018 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry Summer: "I wanted you to be the first to know," Rowan tentatively confided in me. Due date: May 1, 2018 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. (Also, we understand that writers may add our first line to a story they are currently working on or have already completed, and that's cool. But please do not add our first line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our first lines.) 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...

Deadline: May 1st, 2018 Payment: 2 cents per word up to 8K words Note: Reprints Accepted General Details: We are always looking for dark fiction so please feel free to submit to our projects!  Below are all the projects that are in open submission periods.  We are taking multiple submissions for each project.  Please double check the guidelines before sending us your work.  If you are looking for payment compensation, then make sure you are submitting to a project that offers payment.   Each project is different and offers different compensation, so again please make sure you know what you're submitting to.   Below is an outline of our general guidelines. What we like: Supernatural horror (monsters, ghosts, witchcraft, ect.) Neo-noire (murder, conspiracy, mystery) Urban settings (not a must, but it catches our attention) Speculative Fiction (dark dystopian themes) Cyberpunk themes What we aren't looking for:  If your story utilizes any of these tropes then we can't publish it no matter how good it is!  It's not that we hate these themes, it's just not what we're looking to publish! No vampires No Werewolves No Zombies No Cthulhu Mythos Midnight Hour Volume 1 & 2 Strange things happen when the clock strikes twelve... Our flagship anthology is now open for submissions.  These books will be available on kindle, hardcover, paperback, and audiobook format.  The title page of each story will be illustrated.  We are looking for horror, dark sci-fi, dark speculative fiction, neo-noire, and cyberpunk themes.  Please read the general submissions for more details. Below is a little more about the project. Word Count :  1500-8000 words.  This is not a hard word count.  If you think you have a story that fits what we're looking for, but is a little long or a little short, send it our way. Payment:  We are offering 2 cents per...

Deadline: May 1st, 2018 Payment: 2 cents per word up to 10K words. Longer stories are welcome but the pay cap is $200. Note: Reprints Welcome There's no doubt that the Holidays are the most magical time of year, but that doesn't mean dark happenings aren't lurking beneath your Christmas tree as well. These books will be available on kindle, hardcover, paperback, and audiobook format.  The title page of each story will be illustrated.  We are looking for holiday related horror, dark sci-fi, dark speculative fiction, neo-noire, and cyberpunk stories.  We like stories with Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza themes.   Alternatively, they can simply take place during the holidays (like how Die Hard isn't really about Christmas) or even just involve wintery or snowy settings.  Please read the general submissions for more details. A word of advice:  If you plan on sending us a Krampus story, please make sure it's a great one!  We'll only have room for one in our collection and we're anticipating a lot of submissions so send something original! Below is a little more about the project. Word Count :  1000-10,000 words.  This is not a hard word count.  If you think you have a story that fits what we're looking for, but is a little long or a little short, send it our way. Payment:  We are offering 2 cents per word up to 10K words.  You are free to send us longer stories, but we cap payments at $200 per story for this project. Rights:  We are not asking for ownership of your story.  Just the right to print it. Reprints:  Yes, we accept reprints.  Beggars can't be choosers and we understand we're a fledgling brand.  If your work appears elsewhere, please make sure you double check with the other publication to make sure your story is eligible to print. Multiple Submissions :   Yes. Deadline :   May 1st Send...

Deadline: May 11th, 2018 Payment: Royalties Castrum Press is excited to announce that submissions are open for the Future Days Anthology The first of the Days Anthologies The Future Days Anthology is a short story collection that imagines where humanity finds itself in the future. Your story could be set tomorrow, next year, next century or in the next millennium. We are accepting stories in the Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror genres, all we ask is you take our readers on a journey into the future of the human race they will never forget. Your story must be between 7,000 and 10,000 words. Submission closes on Friday 11 May 2018. Your story must comply with our Submission Guidelines. The Small(ish) Print Successful submissions will receive a percentage of net profits following publication with the caveat that the stories will not be reproduced without the publisher’s consent for 12 months following publication of the relevant anthology. We can only accept one submission per anthology per author. We automatically reject submissions made after the closing date. All submissions must be original material, owned by the author, and must not have been published via any form of media before submission either free or paid. All submissions must comply with our submission guidelines. Featured image is (C) Copyright Duncan Halleck http://duncanhalleck.com/ Via: Castrum Press.

Deadline: May 13th, 2018 Payment: 6 cents per word as an advance against a pro rata share of royalties and foreign or other sales. The reading period for Sword & Sorceress 33 will begin on MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018. It will end on SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2018. If you wish to submit a story to the anthology, please follow the Guidelines below. Guidelines Stories should be the type generally referred to as "sword and sorcery" and must have a strong female protagonist whom the reader will care about. See Sword & Sorceress 22, Sword & Sorceress 23, Sword & Sorceress 24, Sword & Sorceress 25, Sword & Sorceress 26, Sword & Sorceress 27, Sword & Sorceress 28, Sword & Sorceress 29, Sword & Sorceress 30, Sword & Sorceress 31, and Sword & Sorceress 32 (or S&S 1-20) for examples. We do not want stories with explicit sex, gratuitous violence, or profanity. We are NOT a market for poetry, horror, or dark fantasy. We are willing to consider stories set in modern times (urban fantasy), but we don't buy more than one or two of those for the anthology. We always want something short and funny for the last story. No reprints. No simultaneous submissions. With regard to multiple submissions, do not submit more than one story at a time. If we've rejected your first one, you may send one more, as long as it's before the deadline. We have occasionally bought someone's second submission. We have never bought a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth submission. If you send us two stories, and we don't hold either of them, wait until next year to try again. Please do not re-submit stories we have already rejected (including stories rejected in previous years). If you have not previously sold to Sword...

Deadline: May 14th, 2018 Payment: 5 cents up to 3k word (story cap is 5k), or $25 flat for reprints Note: This one is for the ladies Note: Reprints Allowed This fall, Word Horde will be releasing Fright Into Flight, an anthology of horror stories by women themed around the idea of flight, edited by Amber Fallon. Whether you’re flying the unfriendly skies or safe on the ground, we think you’re going to enjoy this turbulent ride. Here’s a peek at the cover… — From the earliest depictions of winged goddesses to the delicate, paper-winged fairies of the Victorians, from valiant Valkyries to cliff-dwelling harpies, from record-setting pilots to fearless astronauts, women have long since claimed their place in the skies, among the clouds and beyond. Word Horde presents Fright Into Flight, the debut anthology from Amber Fallon (The Terminal, The Warblers), in which women take wing. In these stories connected by the unifying thread of flight, authors including Damien Angelica Walters, Christine Morgan, and Nadia Bulkin have spread their wings and created terrifying visions of real life angels, mystical journeys, and the demons that lurk inside us all. Whether you like your horror quiet and chilling or more in-your-face and terrifying, there’s something here for every horror fan to enjoy. You’re in for a bumpy ride..So fasten your seatbelt, take note of the emergency exits, hold on to your airsick bag, and remember that this book may be used as a flotation device in the event of a crash landing. — Amber Fallon has picked a great lineup of stories for Fright Into Flight so far, and we’ll be opening up preorders soon, but for now, we’re looking for a few more stories to fill in the gaps. As Amber says, “I want stories with wings and teeth, I...

Deadline: May 15th, 2018 Payment: Contributor's Copy (Charity Anthology) This is the call for submissions to the third anthology to benefit the Whittier Birthplace. Deadline for submissions is May 2018. This year's book will be nonspecific as to genre - mystery, horror, SF - as long meets criteria below. Criteria: Story must have connection to Whittier, be it through his life, his works, or a landmark. Previous stories have included tales set on the Whittier Glacier in Alaska, Whittier, California, and Mount Whittier, New Hampshire (all actual locations named after him) as well as his homes in Amesbury, Haverhill, and Hampton. Other stories have been inspired by his poetry. Your story does not to be set in Whittier's lifetime (unless he's a character, obviously). All stories are preceded by a related photo (provided by the Birthplace) with a caption that emphasizes the connection to Whittier - in other words, the connection to Whittier can be fairly subtle, the caption will cement the reason why it's in the book.  The story must also contain some degree of humor. We already have a whimsical ghost story in which Whittier deals with a blasphemous gardener, and a dreadful shaggy dog story set in Whittier, CA that leads up to a groan-worthy pun. In other words, the concept of "humorous story" is flexible. Aim for PG-13. Language, sex, and violence aren't really associated with Whittier - R rated is okay, but it's likely to affect final decisions. Word count is flexible. I prefer 2k to 7k range, but it's not a deal breaker to be under or over. Standard formatting rules apply. Submit stories to [email protected] with "Wittier" in the subject line. This is a charitable anthology with all proceeds benefiting the Whittier Birthplace Museum. Previous anthologies have attracted contributions from award-winning authors. Payment is a copy of the...

Deadline: May 15, 2018 Payment: Short poetry is $20.00. Payment for short stories is prorated as follows: $50 for stories up to 1,500 words, rising to a maximum of $150 for stories up to 5,000 words Alchemy and Artifacts (Tesseracts Twenty-Two) is an anthology of short fiction which examines the magic behind the history, the myths arising from the artifacts, the mysteries missed (or dismissed), but which lie at the root of world events. The editors want tales that explore laws magical as well as physical, the manipulation of reality in the past, resulting in the present. History, sorcery, alchemy, mystery. All with the sense of 'what if?' For example: What if a curse unleased by Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales? What if Egyptian hieroglyphics were incantations that moved pharaohs into the future instead of an afterlife? What if the terracotta army from the Qin Shi Huang dynasty were golem soldiers, waiting to be animated through magic What if Picasso's Guernica was a magical attempt to fight Franco during the Spanish Civil War? What if Paul Revere's silversmithing was a spell enacted to fight England during the American Revolution? What if Elizabeth I was a witch, employing Drake to find a forgotten, powerful artifact to grant her godhead? What if Haida totems animated and walked the coast? These are only a sampling of the sorts of story ideas the editors are looking for. Alternate histories will be considered, but we are inclined to choose work that considers actual world events and characters, and how some form of magic has manipulated history in a subtle way. SUBMISSION Guidelines (See details below):   Alchemy and Artifacts will reflect as broad a spectrum of stories as possible, highlighting unique styles and manners. The greater the magic or magical event and the subtler (yet dramatic) effect it has on history,...

Deadline: May 15th, 2018 Payment: $100 for new fiction, $50 for reprints. Note: Reprints Allowed Edited by Catherine Lundoff Who doesn’t love a good pirate story? We’re looking for stories about pirates who sailed the Caribbean under the Jolly Roger, Barbary Corsairs, pirates in the China Sea, pirates in the Irish Sea, pirates in the ancient Mediterranean, pirates in outer space, pirates in fantastical settings, you name it. We’d like to have a diverse range of stories in terms of locale, time period and protagonists. We’re big fans of women pirates, queer pirates and pirates from diverse and interesting backgrounds, but if you’ve got an original spin on Sir Henry Morgan, Blackbeard or a equivalent historical figure, send them our way. We’re not looking for erotica for this anthology and would prefer adventure to romance but romantic subplots are fine. Protagonists of all sexual orientations and/or gender identities welcome. The Details: We’re looking primarily for stories in the 5000-6000 word range; no stories over 7500 words or less than 4000 words, please. Reprints will be considered as long as their most recent publication date is a year or more in the past before submission date and you have full rights to them. Payment: $100 for new fiction, $50 for reprints. We’re asking for first North American print/ebook rights for the new fiction. This book is scheduled for a December 2018 release. Timeline: Submissions are due May 15th, 2018. Stories should be submitted in standard manuscript format as .doc or .docx email attachments to [email protected]. Please include “Pirate Anthology” and the title of your submission in the subject line. Want to query about ideas or just ask questions? Please do! You can reach us at this email address for those too. Thanks and we look forward to reading your work! Via: Queen...

Deadline: May 15th, 2018 Payment: Royalties Submission Details: Submissions must be in English and written to the highest quality you are capable. Maximum Word Count is 10,000. This is a paid market anthology, with a royalty cut for each author. Each author retains all rights to their story after a 6-month run in Kindle Unlimited All submissions will be edited and sent to the author for final approval before publication. Open internationally, but submission must be in American English. There is no fee to submit. Please, no reprints or simultaneous submissions. Limit of two submissions per author. Any genre is fine. However, we are not looking for nonfiction at this time. Adult language and sexual situations are permitted. Formatting your Submission: Standard submission format is accepted. Alternately please send in a doc, docx, or rtf file formatted with; 12pt Times New Roman with 1.5-line spacing; left justified indents on the first line of each paragraph (Do NOT use TAB); no extra spacing between paragraphs; and no headers/footers/page numbers; one space at the end of a sentence, not two. To submit, please use the form below. Incomplete submissions will not be considered. If you have any questions, please submit your question through the contact page. Submit Your Story Here Via: Fighting Monkey Press.

Deadline: May 15th, 2018 Payment: $30 for stories under 3,000 words, $55 for those over 3,000 words Please read the submissions guidelines below. HINNOM MAGAZINE pays $55 for accepted stories over 3,000 words and $30 for stories under 3,000 words.   Greetings from the Valley of Hinnom, With the amazing success of Hinnom Magazine during the year of 2017, we have decided to move onward with this publication and to make several big changes that will not only widen our reach to the darker side of literature, but will also benefit the authors. The issues will release bi-monthly, on the last day of every other month, starting in February 2018. We seek authors who have a unique voice, interesting writing styles, and unparalleled storytelling talents. We also encourage prospective authors to read one of our previous publications to get a feel of the atmosphere and themes we favor. We know a lot of publishers say this, but there is good reason for it. FICTION SUBMISSION DETAILS: Whereas last year’s issues of Hinnom Magazine were a bit more lenient, the 2018 volume is going to be much more specific in our themes since we have found our voice as a publication. Below, you will find the genres and subgenres that we adore. Again, if you read our previous releases, you will likely develop a solid understanding of what Hinnom Magazine represents in dark fiction. We are looking for stories that fit the themes of Weird Fiction and Cosmic Horror. Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy are all welcomed, as long as they fit in the realms of Weird and Cosmic. All stories must also be speculative in some way. What we mean by this is that we don’t want stories based in realism. While many great horror stories are plausible in modern...

Deadline: May 15th, 2018 Payment: Minimum of .01 a word and royalties I’m collecting stories for Timeshift, a reprint anthology. The theme of the anthology is time and time travel. All stories must involve characters who are affected by time and time travel in some way. So far in the project process I have stories from several big names in science fiction such as Cat Rambo, Robert Silverberg, Kevin J. Anderson, Ken Liu, Alan Baxter and Alex Shvartsman, among others. The details to the project are as follows: The story must have sold at semi pro rates of .03 or higher. The rights must belong to the author (meaning the submission does not violate any exclusivity period the previous publisher asked for with buying first time rights). I’m asking for non-exclusive reprint rights. Rights sufficient to reprint your story in a digital anthology. There will be a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a professional cover, ebook formatting, and a cents per word advance for all contributors to the project. The minimum advance for all stories will be .01 a word or the project will not publish. Royalties from the anthology will be split between editor and authors, as outlined in the contract, with contributors receiving equal percentages with one another. All contributors will receive digital copies of the finished product. The stories must be of a length of 1,000 words or less. Submissions must be in standard manuscript format, per Shunn guidelines. Stories must have time or time travel as a chief element in the story. Submissions must be sent to [email protected] and must include the completed, edited manuscript, and in the body of the email should include a short bio of the author as well as the place of previous publication for the work. I intend to read...

Deadline: May 15th, 2018 at 9:00 AM EST (UTC-1:00) Payment: Advance against royalties (see below.) Tor.com Novella Submissions are currently open. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: Lee Harris, Carl Engle-Laird, and Ruoxi Chen are reading and evaluating original novellas from May 1 around 9:00 AM EST (UTC-1:00) to May 15 9:00 AM EST (UTC-1:00). This open period is intended for authors who have completed works ready or close to ready for submission. We will reopen slush a second time in July 2018 for authors who are actively working on (or beginning) something that would fit our list. In other words, don’t panic if you’re not ready to submit in May! We would rather see a polished novella in July than a rushed one in May. Until the end of this open period, Tor.com Publishing will be considering novellas of between 20,000 and 40,000 words in both the science fiction and fantasy genres. If it’s speculative and fits the bill, we want to take a look at it. Lee Harris, Carl Engle-Laird, and Ruoxi Chen all actively request submissions from writers from underrepresented populations. This includes, but is not limited to, writers of any race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, class and physical or mental ability. We believe that good science fiction and fantasy reflects the incredible diversity and potential of the human species, and hope our catalog will reflect that. In addition to reviewing the guidelines, we also encourage you to take a look at our existing list to get a sense of the work our current authors are producing and Tor.com Publishing’s vision and tastes. Good luck—we look forward to reading your work.   WHAT WE’RE NOT LOOKING FOR: Tor.com does not accept works that have been previously published elsewhere, in any venue. This includes all forms of digital self-publishing....

Deadline: May 25th, 2018 Payment: $15 Switchblade is a no-limit outlaw fiction print anthology featuring authors writing in the hardboiled/noir genre, and nothing else. So think Richard Stark, Ross MacDonald, Jim Thompson, Don Winslow, Ken Bruen, James Ellroy, Lawrence Block, Iceberg Slim, Max Allan Collins, Christa Faust. (just to name a few) We don’t do cozies. We don’t do procedurals. We’re not a literary magazine, and we don’t do other genres. That said, we will consider noir/crime fiction ranging from the early twentieth century up to present day. Aside from that, we are a no limit hardboiled fiction journal—we publish the kind of stories no one else will consider. Back in the day there was a Nynex yellow pages ad campaign that went like this: if it’s out there, it’s in here—that’s how we feel. The world is filled with deviance, and good hardboiled fiction reflects that. We like strong characters, and good story telling, and we will not reject anyone based on mainstream morality. Amoral protagonists are encouraged. We will not however, publish masturbation fodder for masochistic pedophiles. We’re not interested in torture erotica. But if you’ve got a deplorable protagonist, and there’s a good story—we’ll print it. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Our Next Reading Period will be May 10th to May 25th, 2018 Content. Rural noir is fine (very popular right now) but we love urban noir too. Urban being the setting.(not a reference to the racial demographic--any racial demographic is fine) We do mob stories. And not just Russian mob stories. Got a tight piece of fiction about the Sicilian mob in Jersey—we’ll look at it. Anyone who thinks the Italian Mafia (LCN) in America evaporated into thin air after the John Gotti trial, hasn’t spent any time in Philadelphia. That said—if it reads like a Sopranos script or...

Deadline: May 26th, 2018 Payment: Contributor's Copy The Poet's Haven is seeking poetry and short stories that begin with the cliche line, "It was a dark and stormy night."  Pieces can be dramatic or humorous: we are seeking a variety for this anthology. (Despite publisher Vertigo's well-known cat obsession, there is one canine he adores: Snoopy. V's been on a kick watching "Peanuts" cartoons, and he's been reading the collections of Schulz's original strips when he has the time, so when it was time to pick the next Digest theme, this is the one he selected out of the dozens of ideas post-it noted all over his walls.) This call will close on May 26, 2018.  The anthology is targeted for printing in early or mid-summer. Publication in this series pays one copy per piece.  A maximum of two pieces will be selected from each contributor.  All contributors can purchase additional copies at a 50% discount. Poet’s Haven Digest titles are published as 4.25″ wide by 5.5″ tall pocket-sized books.  We are not seeking cover art for this anthology.  (The publisher has already decided what he wants on the cover and will either draw it himself or commission someone to do it after he decides his artwork is horrible.) Submit Work » Introduction (applies to all submissions): The Poet’s Haven is a place for artists across a wide and diverse spectrum to feel safe seeing their work published.  We are open to unsolicited submissions from both experienced, published creators and talent new to submitting work for publication.  We offer minimal restrictions on content and genre.  What little content that is disallowed is as follows: material that is obscene, excessively vulgar, adult content, racist, or in any way bigoted will not be published here.  The Poet’s Haven also does not accept religious...

Deadline: May 26th, 2018 Payment: $30 Submit to Us We’re now accepting submission for Issue 03! Submit on our submittable HERE. Submission period is open from now until May 26th. Submission Guidelines What kind of writing do we want to see? We’re particularly interested in themes of healing and reclaiming, family and found family, communities and support systems, and quite plainly, love. We invite you to invent, reinvent, experiment, and bend or break the rules. Give us your big and your small, your subtle poetry and your speculative fiction, your political and your personal, your faith, identity, love, loss, and humanity. Our previous issues have featured works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that grapple with harsh realities of everything from social media to systemic oppression and inspire us to fight against these barriers. All writers with pieces accepted will be rewarded $30 and will retain rights to their works. Wizards in Space seeks writers from all backgrounds, and all writers are encouraged to submit. Voices of color, nonbinary genders, the LGBTQ+ community–we are a safe place for your work. If it’s your original writing, submit it! Even if you’re not sure which category it fits into, or if it’s our style, or if it’s any good at all, submit your work! We promise to read every submission with kindness and an open mind The best way to get a sense of what we’re looking for is to read through Issues 01 and 02, which you can order HERE. The nitty gritty: Please do not include your name or any identifying information in your submission or in the file name to help us comply with our anonymous submission process. No cover letters, please. You’ll have the chance to write a couple sentences about yourself when you submit. Previously published work is...

Deadline: May 30th, 2018 Payment: $75, one print copy to US authors Note: Not straight up erotica as they want a solid plot as well so felt we could include it because... vampires. EDITOR: Cecilia Duvalle and Mary Trepanier PUBLISHER:  CWTCH Press DEADLINE: May 30, 2018 Release Date:  October 15, 2018 WORD COUNT: 2500 - 7000 PAYMENT: $75, one print copy to US authors, e-book to all SUBMIT TO: [email protected] We are seeking erotic vampire tales that go beyond the one-handed read. Your work needs to entertain us in multiple ways--we want to flip those pages while squirming in our seat. Make us cringe, make us hot, make us want to finish your story!   Ideally your story will contain some element of horror.  Go dark. Go scary. Go deep. Give us a new take on vampires. Got a science fiction or fantasy piece? Send it our way. How about something historical? Yes, please.  Make your story interesting and scorching hot--there must be explicit sex. Note: Do not start your tale with a thumping-loud bar or club scene. Actually, we never need to see another vampire in a club, ever again.  If you use this tired trope, you better do it in a way that blows our minds. If you are unfamiliar with the series, please familiarize yourself with what we are looking for. Here's a link to the Amazon store for ease. Rights: We would like new material only for this anthology. If your story is accepted, Cwtch gains nonexclusive right to publish your story in this anthology in print, ebook, and audiobook form. Authors will retain copyright to their stories, but we ask you to not republish until after January 2020. Guidelines  (please follow these closely): 1:  Submit only 2500-7000 word stories that are previously unpublished and not being considered elsewhere. 2:  Attach a Word .doc or .docx file ONLY...

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: $50 and a contributor's copy Anthologies are a great way to get your stories noticed. Caffeinated Press sponsors an annual house anthology titled “Brewed Awakenings,” with a new volume released every autumn. The first volume, released on March 2, 2015, contains the work of eight invited authors from West Michigan who penned stories under the loose theme of “all goes dark.” The second volume shipped in September 2016; subsequent volumes will follow each October. The anthology ships in print format (vol. 1); print and ebook (vol. 2); print, ebook and audio book (vol. 3 and subsequent). We are currently in the reading window for vol. 4. The window closes 5/31/18. We recommend that you read the Q&A that follows, then visit our Query page to read our formal house editorial guidelines. The submission form for proposed Brewed Awakenings content is at the bottom of the Query page. It will be to your advantage to read both of these documents in their entirety before you consider whether you should submit to us. Q&A When can I submit stories? What’s the deadline? We accept stories year-round. The cutoff for each autumn’s volume is May 31. Submit before then, you’re in consideration for that year’s copy; submit after that, and you’re in the pile for the following year. You obtain neither benefit nor disability from submitting well in advance of the cutoff, but technical errors in the submission are more likely to be redirected to you for correction (instead of resulting in your manuscript being summarily excluded) if we have time to spot-check it before May 31. How much does it cost to submit? Nothing, silly. Reading fees are The Devil. Never, ever accept the premise that you must fork over some greenbacks to get a fair review of your manuscript. Who can submit? Anyone who is authorized to work in...

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: 5¢ – 8¢ per word On Thanksgiving weekend 2009, we opened to our first anthology. Ten years later we plan to celebrate this long strange—and wonderful—trip, with our biggest anthology yet! Our “Best Of” will feature your favorite Blood Bound stories from the last decade upgraded in a limited edition, illustrated hardcover. The hardcover will also be loaded with brand new stories to lead us into the next decade of horror. That’s where you come in: What we’re looking for: Genres: All sub-genres of horror accepted—extreme, bizzaro, erotic, new weird, splatterpunk—if it’s dark, we want it! Stories must be previously unpublished in any form Email: [email protected] Length: 500 words up to 6K—query for longer works Deadline: May 31st 2018 Payment: 5¢ – 8¢ per word (We’re shooting for 8¢ if we get a few more Patreon supporters before contracts go out, but it will NEVER be lower than 5¢) Patreon rewards Via: Blood Bound Books.

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: $300-$400 (depending on length) signing bonus against royalties, which will be paid before publication., 35-40% (depending on length) net royalties, paid either monthly or bi-monthly. WHAT WE WANT We are seeking three novellas (15,000 to 40,000 Words FIRM). The genres we are looking for are in the realms of cosmic horror and weird fiction. We want novellas that surprise us, that haunt our dreams. Speculative fiction with elegant prose and original concepts. Stories that make us think, that catch our attention from the first page and keep us glued to the story all the way to the end. WHAT WE DON'T WANT Fiction that isn't speculative. We don't want any stories that could possibly be based in reality. All fiction must be otherworldly, supernatural, etc. Novellas that employ the second person narrative voice. Novellas that have been previously published. NO REPRINTS. Erotica, fan fiction, or stories with heavy sexual content. Fiction that is unoriginal or uses recycled themes. Surprise us! As always, the most taboo topics are fine, as long as they are used professionally and respectably. Anything with overuse of vulgarity or purposely gross language for the sake of being gross will not be considered. NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS. NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS UNLESS YOU QUERY FIRST. Stories with numerous errors. This should be a given. Always read through your work or have your editor or a friend read through it before sending it anywhere. Artwork submissions. We have already hired the artists for the covers. Anything that has been rejected previously for a separate submissions call. Submit fiction in proper manuscript format. If you need help regarding the formatting, follow this link. We cannot state how severely it will affect your chances if your story has poor formatting. We are expecting a massive volume of submissions for this call, and if...

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: 2 cents per word, minimum of $150 and maximum of $300, which will be paid before publication. Whereas the novellas will be standalone, we are seeking novelettes for our Hinnom Magazine spin-off publication, Tales From Gehenna. Each month Hinnom Magazineis not published, we will release a volume of Tales, which will include a single novelette with original illustrations throughout the story. Think Tales From the Crypt but much spookier! WHAT WE WANT We are seeking six novelettes (7,500 to 15,000 Words FIRM). The genres we are looking for are in the realms of cosmic horror and weird fiction. We want novelettes that surprise us, that haunt our dreams. Speculative fiction with elegant prose and original concepts. Stories that make us think, that catch our attention from the first page and keep us glued to the story all the way to the end. WHAT WE DON'T WANT Fiction that isn't speculative. We don't want any stories that could possibly be based in reality. All fiction must be otherworldly, supernatural, etc. Novelettes that employ the second person narrative voice. Novelettes that have been previously published. NO REPRINTS. Erotica, fan fiction, or stories with heavy sexual content. Fiction that is unoriginal or uses recycled themes. Surprise us! As always, the most taboo topics are fine, as long as they are used professionally and respectably. Anything with overuse of vulgarity or purposely gross language for the sake of being gross will not be considered. NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS. NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS UNLESS YOU QUERY FIRST. Stories with numerous errors. This should be a given. Always read through your work or have your editor or a friend read through it before sending it anywhere. Artwork submissions. We have already hired the artists for the covers. Anything that has been rejected previously for a separate submissions call. Submit fiction in proper manuscript format. If...

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: 2 cents per word, minimum of $30 and maximum of $100, which will be paid before publication. Each chapbook will have a specific theme, and we are seeking 3-4 short stories for each publication. THEMES: CHAPBOOK 1: NIGHTSCAPES -- Three to four tales of nightmares, night terrors, the unfathomable dreams. All stories for this chapbook must fit into the previously mentioned concepts. Think the fiction of Thomas Ligotti and Jon Padgett meeting the artwork of Zdzisław Beksiński. WHAT WE WANT We are seeking three to four short stories (1,500 to 5,000 Words FIRM). We want your most trippy, disturbing tales that question our notions of reality. Shock us with your imagination, show us how unique and weird your nightmares really are. CHAPBOOK 2: HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A PORTAL? -- Three to four tales of inter-dimensional horror. Portals, gateways, archaic and ancient worlds. All stories submitted must follow these themes. Think The Void meets Event Horizon with a little Lovecraft and Barker tossed into the mix. WHAT WE WANT We are seeking three to four short stories (1,500 to 5,000 Words FIRM). We want your most otherworldly tales. Show us dimensions made of nightmares, ancient god-like entities breaking into our world, mankind unlocking denizens of ethereal planes. Enthrall us with the horrors that lie beyond our universe. CHAPBOOK 3: VOID BECKONING -- Three to four tales of deep space horror. Terrifying monstrosities on ancient moons, malevolent spirits aboard spaceships, mining facilities on other worlds uncovering ancient evils, infectious body-morphing diseases plaguing orbital stations. Think Dead Space meets Alien and Prometheus. WHAT WE WANT We are seeking three to four short stories (1,500 to 5,000 Words FIRM). We want your cautionary tales of deep space travel, what could possibly lie ahead in the cosmos. Thrill us with the claustrophobia of space in the event of invading creatures, terrify us with tales of ancient evils found deep in...

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: $50AUD A slight departure from the other anthologies, this one is calling out for dark Sci-Fi writers! Interpret that how you will, and read on… Submissions Deadline: End of May. Publication Date: July 2018 Website: www.ThingsInTheWell.webs.com/submissions Email: [email protected] when your story is complete, and as great as it can be! Theme: By all means draw inspiration from them, but I'm not looking Alien/Predator fan-fiction, or rehashes of old sci-fi classics. I want stories that areoutstanding, different, and memorable! I want something new and exciting! New psychological terrors involving time travel; new primal fears to threaten humanity, and new hopes that we may conquer them; new creatures that will make people want to go out and buy the Halloween mask; and new stories of the weird in the outer-reaches of time and space. If you need more ideas, take a look outside the typical Sci-Fi genre (perhaps read Clive Barker’s short story ‘The Skins of the Fathers’ or HPL’s ‘The Colour out of space,’ or go back further and look wider to William Hope Hodgson’s ‘The House on the Borderland’ or Brian Lumley’s ‘The House of Doors’ or ‘Necroscope’ series. So, something memorable, dark, and/or something that offers hope and/or despair for humanity… I envision the SciFi element as merely the stage for the story to unfold, cracking our world(s) open to reveal a truer story beyond the genre’s superfice. Gee, that sounds pompous, but you get my (space) drift. I anticipate a (star)fleet of top-notch submissions as usual, so I'm after memorable stories, a sense of dread, and some level of believability and internal consistency would be more important than a lengthy treatise or a quick shudder. Yes, space viruses and alien encounters can be believable if written well. Stop! Before putting fingers on keyboards (or pen to paper) you would do well to read...

Deadline: May 31st 2018 Payment: £10 per story and £5 per poem. Eibonvale Press will be open for submissions for a new anthology edited by Allen Ashley and Sarah Doyle. “Humanagerie” will showcase both poetry and short fiction on the theme of animals. The book will not be about animals as such, but will instead be inspired by the characteristics that animals possess, and the points at which these intersect with – and manifest in – humanity. It will also be based on the strange and beautiful adjectives used to describe such traits, such as: Aquiline – eagle Chelonian – tortoise or turtle Leporine – hare Ostracine – oyster Pieridine / Pierine – butterfly Vespine – wasp / hornet and many many more. You will find a much larger list in the guidelines. We are interested in shifting states, in scenarios that explore duality, hybridity, and liminality. We are asking writers to consider how animalistic attributes might manifest in the human psyche – or vice versa. We want hints of scales, tails, fur and fins… gills, claws, paws and spines… glimpses of horns, tusks, teeth and tongues… stalking, slinking, slithering and stomping… roars, whimpers, howls and song. We want breath, heat, musk. We want landscapes ranging from urban wastelands to frozen tundra, from bedsits to coastlines, from suburbia to savannah – and the imagined worlds between. We want water and we want fish out of water. We want the visceral and the vulnerable, the slippery and the synaesthetic, emergence and extinction. The submissions window will run from March 1st until May 31st 2018. The word limits are up to 60 lines for poetry and 4,000 words for fiction. Download the guidelines here. Via: Eibonvale Press.

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: $50 Black Coffee & Vinyl Presents is seeking the following addressing the theme of "Ice Culture": Nonfiction -- Not to exceed 2,000 words Poetry -- Not to exceed three poems Fiction -- Not to exceed 2,000 words Visual Art -- Up to 3 works Photography -- Up to 3 works Music -- Up to 3 songs Artists, writers, scientists, travelers, and musicians are invited to submit work that explores ice-related themes. We are seeking work that features the physical and spiritual beauty of our world's ice, explores the life of the people and cultures that are connected to the ice from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, and addresses important political issues related to ice. As climate change affects the weather and composition of our planet, our ice is melting. Black Coffee & Vinyl Presents wants to address the importance of ice; focus on its beauty; and learn from the people who study, live near, and love it. For literature, please submit only works in English. For other work (visual art or music), please submit an English translation. Artists with selected work will be provided with a $50 (U.S.) honorarium. All payments will be made by PayPal. Recipient must be able to receive payments via PayPal. Accepted works will be published online and in a print version of the publication. Artists will be asked to grant permission for publication with Black Coffee & Vinyl Presents (both online and in print), and will thereafter retain copyright of their work. Submission deadline: May 31, 2018. Submissions will be accepted using Submittable.  Via: Black Coffee & Vinyl.

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: $50AUD and a contributor's copy This will be the 5th anthology in the Things in the Well series, to be published in July 2018. Submissions Deadline: end of May Email: [email protected] when your story is complete, and as good as it can be! ~ Note By all means draw inspiration from them, but I'm not looking Alien/Predator fan-fiction, or rehashes of old sci-fi classics (I'm looking at you, Asimov-fans...) I want stories that are outstanding, different, and memorable! I want something new and exciting! New psychological terrors involving time travel; primal fears triggered by something new that threatens humanity, and new hopes that we may conquer them; new creatures that will make people want to go out and buy the Halloween mask; and new stories of the weird in the outer-reaches of time and space. If you need more ideas, take a look outside the typical Sci-Fi genre... Read Clive Barker’s short story ‘The Skins of the Fathers’ or HPL’s ‘The Colour out of space,’ or go back further and look wider to William Hope Hodgson’s ‘The House on the Borderland,’ or Brian Lumley’s ‘The House of Doors’ and ‘Necroscope’ series. So, something memorable, dark, and/or something that offers hope and/or despair for humanity… I envision the SciFi element as merely the stage for the story to unfold, cracking our world(s) open to reveal a truer story beyond the genre’s superfice. Gee, that sounds pompous, but you get my (space) drift. I anticipate a (star)fleet of top-notch submissions as usual, so I'm after memorable stories, a sense of dread, and some level of believability and internal consistency would be more important than a lengthy treatise or a quick shudder. And yes, alien viruses, space pirates and cosmic encounters can be believable if written well.  -Steve Dillon Stop! Before putting fingers on keyboards (or...

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: $20-$75 according to the category and length of their submission. Submissions are open from April 2 – May 31. Speculative City publishes provocative works that are centered within a cityscape. Although all are welcome to submit, special consideration is given to creators and characters often underrepresented in speculative fiction, such as people of color, queer people, working-class people, and people with disabilities (this list is not exhaustive and acts as an example of the types of voices we wish to hear and show). We are looking for fiction, poetry, and essays within the theme of the magazine’s upcoming issue (game, see below). Writers published will be paid $20-$75 according to the category and length of their submission. We would be hard-pressed to include submissions with a length exceeding 5500 words. All submissions should be the original, unpublished work of the submitter. We will accept simultaneous submissions, but please inform us if the submission has been accepted by another publication. We do not accept multiple submissions for fiction or essays. Please submit word (.doc, .docx) or rich text format (.rtf) files and format your submission according to our format guide. Please send all inquiries to info @ speculativecity .com . We try to respond to all submissions within 60 days. All submissions should be sent through Green Submissions. Green Submissions requires users to create an account. Please see link to sign up and submit at https://greensubmissions.com/1024/speculative-city/index.php. Before submitting work, please also be familiar with our contract. THEME game noun, verb | \gām\ Definition of GAME noun a rule-based activity one engages in for amusement or competition determined by one’s skill, strength, or luck verb to exploit, connive At Speculative City, a game is not limited to the tabletop or screen. We conceptually play games everyday, whether...

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: 1000-3000 words will receive $5, $10 for longer stories. Also a contributor's copy. Unfading Daydream is looking for unique and exceptional fiction to be showcased in our quarterly literary magazine. We strive to feature stories within the genres that have inspired us (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc) as well as stories that feature LGBTQ+ themes. We are currently not seeking submissions – but our next reading period starts in May which is for Issue 5 (published in July 2018). Issue 5’s theme is ‘mecha.’ So stories will require some aspect of giant robots like Gundam, Pacific Rim, or Transformers. They don’t necessarily have to be hard sci-fi, we both think seeing a magic powered mech would be pretty awesome! Basic Details We are open to established and new, emerging authors. In terms of length, we’re looking for stories between 1000 and 7000 words. Shorter or longer stories will be evaluated on a case by case basis. No previously published works. Please no simultaneous submissions Reading periods are May, August, November, and February. All submissions must be in by 11:59pm CST on the last day of the reading period (May, August, November, or February) Please do not send submissions outside of our reading periods. Submissions received outside of reading periods will not be considered. Expect a decision within four weeks See full guidelines below Payment Stories that are between 1000-3000 words will receive $5. Stories that are longer than that will receive $10. All contributors receive a hard copy of the magazine. In time, we would like to pay contributors more! Submissions We accept submissions only by email. Free to submit! Please send your submission to submit unfadingdaydream com with the title of ‘Unfading Daydream Submission’. Full Guidelines We want to see your unique sci-fi, fantasy, horror,...

Deadline: May 31st, 2018 Payment: $0.01 per word, minimum of 10.00 Our themes for 2018 will be: Apparition (Published January 2018) Delusion (Published April 2018) Vision (opens for submissions May 15-31, 2018, publishing July 2018) Diversion (opens for submissions August 15-31, 2018, publishing October 2018) Payment: Apparition is a token rate magazine, paying $0.01 per word, minimum of 10.00 dollars (excluding flash contest, a flat rate of 5.00 dollars to the winning flash). If we accept your story, we are purchasing the right to publish the story online and in the quarterly edition. Rights will revert back to the artist after one year. What we’re looking for: Short Fiction: We will only accept stories between 1000-5000 words. If the story is complete with an extra hundred words, then it will still be considered. Any stories over 5,200 words will automatically be rejected. Payment: Apparition is a token-rate magazine, paying $0.01 per word, minimum of 10.00 dollars (excluding flash contest). If we accept your story, we are purchasing the right to publish the story online and in the quarterly edition. Rights will revert back to the artist after one year. How to Submit: Format the story using the Shunn manuscript Please retain all proper formatting marks. Keep font italicized and bolded. We’re not in the typewriter age anymore. Please only use Times New Roman or Arial font in your document Save as an RTF file and attach to an email In the text of the email, provide a brief cover letter that includes your name, the title of the short story, word count, and any relevant publications Edit the email’s subject line so it reads: SUBMISSION: Title of Your Story Email your formatted email and short story manuscript to [email protected] Add Apparition Lit to your Safe Senders list so you can...