Events

Deadline: July 1st, 2019 Payment: FICTION, SHORT STORIES: 500-6,000 words — $10 The Literary Hatchet is a journal devoted to provocative fiction, poetry and prose. We are interested in well-written but digestible works in any genre (except erotica). We will consider previously published material but prefer original works. We accept short fiction, flash fiction, first-person narratives, speculative fiction, short stories, poetry, photography, art, cartoons, and illustrations. We’re interested in new angles on old ideas, or topics that don’t get covered frequently. We like to showcase articles that don’t just sum up some issue but make us think and make us want to read further. The above is not exhaustive. If you don’t have an immediate idea for a piece, but you’d really like to write for us, let us know and be prepared to show us work you’ve done. We can always think of subjects! WHAT WE DON’T WANT We do not accept erotica, either as articles or images We do not accept articles or images with excessive crude language or outlandish sexual humor We cannot consider partial or incomplete stories or essays We do not accept Haiku poetry, unless as a part of a collection of five or more GUIDELINES BY TYPE OF SUBMISSIONSHORT STORIES: We accept short stories from 500-6,000 words in length. Feel free to contact us with inquiries about the type of stories we might be interested in if you are in doubt. We appreciate the well-written work, and acceptance is determined by whether the piece grabs the editor and holds their interest. We consider works of general fiction as well as horror, dark subjects, detective fiction, and stories about monsters, either real or imaginary. POETRY: We are looking for high-quality extraordinary poems (both serious and humorous) that explore the darkness that resides in each of...

Deadline: July 1st, 2019 Payment: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10; artwork, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Upcoming premises (target themes) and deadlines for submission : The Clumsy Gardener To download a PDF file of the guidelines, click here . ALL SHORT STORIES, ESSAYS, POEMS, PHOTOGRAPHS and ART MUST RELATE TO ONE OF THE PREMISES SPECIFIED ABOVE. NOTE: Previously published pieces are welcome, provided that the submission fits the theme and that the author owns the copyright. The premise (target theme) must be an integral part of the plot, not necessarily the central theme but not merely incidental. Fewer than 20 double-spaced typewritten pages preferred. Indicate premise (target theme) on title page. Be sure to Indicate target theme in cover letter or on first page of manuscript. Include self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with each submission. Rejected manuscripts unaccompanied by an SASE will not be returned. Response time: 3 months after premise deadline. NO READER'S FEE. Mail to: THEMA, Box 8747, Metairie, LA 70011-8747. Outside the US: email [email protected] On acceptance for publication, we will pay the following amount: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10; artwork, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Copyright reverts to author after publication. THEMA isn't for everyone. To find out why, click here. New to submitting manuscripts to journals? Click here to download a PDF file of a few basic guidelines. Unlike many publishers, we prefer works submitted by the authors themselves, without the involvement of an agent. Be sure to indicate premise and include SASE for each submission. BE SURE to include a separate SASE for each premise. No handwritten manuscripts will be considered. NOTE: We do not accept e-mailed submissions EXCEPT from authors who live outside the...

Deadline: July 1st, 2019 Payment: $100 Fiddler’s Green Peculiar Parish Magazine is excited to announce a call for submissions for our first all-fiction issue! This special issue will feature a dozen or so illustrated short stories of the magical and fantastic. Publication is anticipated some time in 2020, with a release date to be announced closer to the time. Our Editor Our guest editor for this issue is Susan Redington Bobby. Bobby is a writer, literary critic, and assistant professor of English at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, where she specializes in fairy tales, adolescent literature, goddess archetypes, and magical realism. She is the author of Beyond His Dark Materials: Innocence and Experience in the Fiction of Philip Pullman and the editor of Fairy Tales Reimagined: Essays on New Retellings. She publishes fiction under the name Miranda Rey. Guidelines There is no required theme for the stories, although anything to do with the themes usually explored in Fiddler’s Green—such as magic, individualism, or iconoclastic approaches to spirituality—will be most welcome. Stories with word counts between 1500 and 3000 will be considered. Narrative or thematic poetry of any length will also be considered, but we will only be publishing a few poems at most. Rights and Compensation Stories may be new or may have been previously published elsewhere, as long as the author has the rights to offer their work for reprint in Fiddler’s Green. For each story or poem published in the special issue, the creator will be offered compensation in the form of either $100 or a half-page advertising credit in this or a later issue of Fiddler’s Green Peculiar Parish Magazine. Fiddler’s Green will retain non-exclusive rights to publish the story or poem for the duration of this special issue’s print run. To Submit Your Story or Poem...

Deadline: July 1st, 2019 Payment: $20 We publish fiction, poetry, and reviews, and we accept submissions year-round. Please read our guidelines before submitting or pitching us. We are currently reading for Issue 8, which will be published at the end of July, 2019. The deadline for consideration for this issue is July 1, 2019. Fiction We publish fiction from 1 to 10,000 words long. We will consider stories longer than 10,000 words, but they need to earn their length. We pay $20 per story. If your story is longer than 1000 words, please submit only one story. If your pieces are less than 1000 words, feel free to submit several pieces at once. Please submit only once per reading period and wait for a response before submitting again. We are looking for innovative short fiction from diverse voices. Our preference is for the strange, the experimental and the boundary-pushing, but we are open to a wide range of styles and voices. Send submissions as attachments to thetemzreviewgmailcom with the subject line “fiction submission.” Please include your name, the title of the story (or stories), the word count and a brief bio in your email. All submissions should be PDF or Word files, and they should be double spaced, in a conventional font with numbered pages. Please include your name and contact information in the file. Note: We accept simultaneous submissions providing you notify us if/when the submission is accepted elsewhere. We do not accept anything (fiction, poetry or review) that has been published elsewhere. Via: The temz Review.

Deadline: July 1st, 2019 Payment: 1 cent per word The Cafe Irreal is a quarterly webzine that presents a kind of fantastic fiction infrequently published in English. This fiction, which we would describe as irreal, resembles the work of writers such as Franz Kafka, Kobo Abe, Clarice Lispector and Jorge Luis Borges. As a type of fiction it rejects the tendency to portray people and places realistically and the need for a full resolution to the story; instead, it shows us a reality constantly being undermined. Therefore, we're interested in stories by writers who write about what they don't know, take us places we couldn't possibly go, and don't try to make us care about the characters. We would also suggest you take a look at the current issue, archives, and theory (especially the essay, "What is irrealism?") pages on this web site. We accept unsolicited fiction up to 2,000 words in length. Translations are welcome. There is no minimum length. We accept only electronic submissions via e-mail at [email protected]. We cannot, due to the various computer viruses and worms, accept attachments anymore, so please paste your story into the body of the e-mail. Also include your name, address, e-mail address, and a short bio in the text of the submission; please put the word "submission" in the subject heading of the e-mail to ensure that your submission doesn't get lost among all the spam. We pay an honorarium of one cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum) to buy first-time internet rights (the story will then be archived). Payment is made upon publication. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DON'T ACCEPT SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS and are only interested in reprints in unusual cases (e.g., the story has appeared in print but not on the internet). Therefore, if the story or translation has been published before,...

Deadline: July 1st, 2019 Payment: Contributors copy In celebration of our 10th anniversary, the theme for our upcoming issue is “Marking Time.” All submissions should relate to the theme in some way. We aren’t just looking for literal representations of time—we plan to dig deep and go beyond calendars, watches, aging, and other literal understandings of marking time. While we are certainly open to this type of work, we also seek fresh perspectives and loose interpretations of the ways that we mark (or don’t mark) the passage of time. Please submit unpublished fiction up to 5000 words. When submitting, please include: 3-5 unpublished poems in a single document OR unpublished fiction/nonfiction up to 5,000 words OR 3-5 pieces of visual artwork (color or b&w) OR a b&w  photo essay with 5-10 photographs OR a b&w comic OR b&w graphic literature of up to 20 pages Cover letter Brief bio (3-4 sentences max; can be included in cover letter) The editorial staff might not make final decisions about which pieces to accept until after the reading period closes, so response time can be several months. Our process is to look at all of the submissions as a whole and give each piece the full consideration it deserves. We thank you in advance for your patience. Gratuity Submissions: We don't believe in charging reading fees, but our optional Gratuity Submission category allows writers and artists to support our operations with a small donation when they submit. No preferential treatment is given for gratuity submissions. This category, however, is open year round whereas we only accept free submissions during designated reading periods. Please identify the genre of your submission (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, b&w art, photo essay, graphic literature) in your cover letter. Please submit only once per reading period.  In addition,  we are unlikely to publish...

Deadline: July 1st, 2019 Payment: $25 Harbinger Press will be accepting submissions for fantasy, sci-fi and horror flash fiction between May 1st and July 1st of 2019. Please read the open call guidelines below, and submit your manuscript to:[email protected] with the subject line “Re: Fall 2019 Flash Fiction”. We will be selecting 20 stories to be released from August-November 2019 on Flash Fiction Fridays. Flash Fiction guidelines: Submissions should be no more than 1,000 words maximum. All themes are welcome but we do not accept purely erotic content for this call (romance themes are accepted). Any variety or combination of fantasy sci-fi or horror is welcome. Fiction taking place in established series worlds is acceptable, and can serve as an excellent marketing tool for your series, but submissions should be complete stories. Payment for accepted fiction is $25. If accepted, Harbinger Press will hold the exclusive rights to the story for one (1) year from acceptance, after which you may publish or submit your story elsewhere with the understanding that it will remain published on the Harbinger Press website and in Harbinger Press flash fiction anthologies published during the exclusivity period indefinitely. Harbinger Press will proofread all accepted manuscripts, but stories should be thoroughly developed prior to submission for the greatest chances of acceptance. All accepted fiction will be posted along with the author’s photo and short bio as well as requested links, which may include: Social Media links Amazon Author Page Your preferred published title with book cover thumbnail and short blurb/tagline, and buy link. Author Newsletter Author Website Accepted submissions and author links will be posted on the Harbinger Press blog, sent to the Harbinger Press newsletter of over 3,000 subscribers, shared on all Harbinger Press social media channels, and may be included in themed flash fiction anthologies. Selections will...

Deadline: July 7th, 2019 Payment: CAD $0.01/word (i.e. CAD $50 for a 5000 word story), with a minimum payment of CAD $5 for accepted work. Submissions for Issue #3 are currently OPEN. The deadline for this submission period is Sunday, July 7th, 2019. Thinking of submitting to Trouble Among The Stars? Please read these guidelines first: We publish speculative short fiction and poetry, with an emphasis on science fiction and works related to science.  We do not publish novel excerpts, non-fiction or serialized anything. For fiction, we will review anything between 300-6000 words, and for poetry we will review anything under 600 words.  We do accept simultaneous submissions, but you must notify us immediately if your submitted work is accepted elsewhere. We do not accept previously published work. We do our best to be very welcoming towards new writers – if you have little or no previous publishing credentials, please feel comfortable submitting to us regardless. We are meant to be by the weirdos and for the weirdos, and we would love to read your newest and strangest work. We pay CAD $0.01/word (i.e. CAD $50 for a 5000 word story), with a minimum payment of CAD $5 for accepted work. Payments are made via paypal upon publication. We ask for one-time non-exclusive rights to publish your work. To submit, please send an email to [email protected] with your work as an attached document. Please include a brief cover letter in the body of the email. Please send a total of one (1) short story or up to two (2) poems (exceptions will sometimes be made for suites of poems). Size 12 Times New Roman font is preferred for submissions, with fiction submissions being double-spaced. Please submit only once per reading period. Please allow us up to three weeks to respond to your submission (though in most cases it should be quicker). If four weeks have gone by and you haven’t...

Deadline: July 8th, 2019 Payment: $15 Volume 36/63 Submission Period: May 8, 2019 - July 8, 2019 Publication Date: November 1, 2019 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) to [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) or Rich 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" submissions; that is, submissions...

Deadline: July 8th, 2019 Payment: $5 UPCOMING THEMES FOR CONSIDERATION: (Vol 43.) Cosmic Horror; deadline 8th July SUBMIT YOUR STORIES TO [email protected] Add subject line 'Story submission - The Other Stories' Write for The Other Stories! If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.   HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: Stories must be 2,000 (10% tolerance +/-) Save stories in a Word document - Times New Roman font, size 12 Please include a 1-2 sentence log line for your story. Ensure that your name and an email address are somewhere on the document Stories must fit an upcoming theme You must be the original creator of the story We will consider entrants whose work has been entered and published elsewhere, however please ensure you state where and when on the document You will be allowed to place one call-to-action for your own work at the end of the episode. Be sure to include this in your document. Payment per accepted story is 5USD to be paid on the 1st of the month following publication via Paypal. All rights remain with the author.   SUBMIT YOUR STORIES TO...

Deadline: July 13th, 2019 Payment: $15 and a contributor's copy The Texas Chainsaw Massacre famously asked viewers, “Who will survive, and what will be left of them?” The film itself focused much more on the first half of the question. With the anthology When the Sirens Have Faded, A Murder of Storytellers wants you to dig into the other: “What will be left of them?” When the sirens have faded, and the police are gone, where do the final girls go? What does the child do after they’ve been exorcised, when the demons have stopped bumping in the night? Is the past ever the past? Does horror and the trauma it brings with it ever actually die? We’re looking for short fiction (under 6,000 words) that dives into the lives of people who live through the horror movie. We want to see how it’s changed them. We want to see if the monsters are ever actually ever gone. We’re looking for the intergenerational effects it has. Think Halloween 2018, Scream 2. The horror should still be there, but we want to know if healing can take place alongside or beside it. All submissions should be in Shunn Manuscript formatting. All submissions should be previously unpublished. Submissions will be open until July 13th, 2019. Payment is $15 and a contributor copy upon publication. GO TO SUBMITTABLE Via: A Murder Of Storytellers.

Deadline: July 15th, 2019 Payment: Contributor's Copy Note: Reprints Allowed Deadline: July 15, 2019 Editor: Rayah James Word count: 2,500-8,000; a little above and a little below will be acceptable Unlike the other two regions of Dante’s famed Divine Comedy, the poem of Paradiso has received very little attention both culturally and critically. This anthology works to challenge that...even as it changes what heaven would be like for furry people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradiso_(Dante). This collection will be divided respectively into the ten parts. We expect stories to be framed to focus on people who will end up in a specific sphere. Most of a story should focus on what they did back on Earth in life. Showing how they died is not required but is pretty standard for this anthology series. We need to see their virtue that brought them there. However, here’s the challenge: we want to see anthro-animal characters who were strong and virtuous even in dark and trying circumstances, even if they ultimately failed. That’s right: like the previous two volumes, we are still wanting dark stories, be they horror, dark erotica, or similar. Easy ways to do this would be having a virtuous character be a victim to evil characters, or have a virtuous character be a witness, or perhaps most dastardly have a well-meaning character have to choose between the lesser of two evils...It is perfectly fine but not required if submissions are NSFW. All story submissions must be "furry" in nature. We will NOT accept: Racism, sexism, or discrimination presented in a positive light. If you are in doubt, ASK. Better to ask than to get a straight up rejection! If you are unsure, just shoot me an email at [email protected]. (restrictions borrowed from Voice: https://t.co/MWykJ6RY36) ​ You can submit up to three stories, but we will...

Deadline: July 15th, 2019 Payment: $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits and a paperback copy of the anthology Description:  For the first time ever, a collection of Sherlock Holmes adventures connected to the Master of the Macabre.  Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of Edgar Allan Poe will have Holmes working within the work of Edgar Allan Poe. Some possibilities include Holmes solving the mystery of The Tell-Tale Heart or working to save Victorian London from the Masque of the Red Death. We can see Holmes work alongside Poe's great detective Auguste Dupin. There are many possibilities.   Submission guidelines:  A 5,000 - 10,000 word Sherlock Holmes story connected to the work of Edgar Allan Poe. You can play around with the time periods (i.e. put Holmes in the past or connect Poe to Victorian England); however, Holmes must stay traditional (for example, he can’t be married or in love).   Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits and a paperback copy of the anthology.   Rights: Authors shall retain rights to their work. We only retain the rights to the story within the publication.   Submission Deadline: July 15, 2019   Kickstarter will run in October 2019 and publication of book will occur in November 2019. Via: Balanger Books.

etDeadline: July 15th, 2019 Payment: $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits and a contributor's copy Description: These adventures involve Holmes teaming up with another great detective such as Sexton Blake, Nick Carter, Monsieur Lecoq, or Lady Molly of Scotland Yard. There are plenty “public domain” detectives to choose from or you can create your own.   Submission guidelines:  A 5,000 - 10,000 word traditional story teaming Sherlock Holmes with another classic detective.  The other detective must be in the public domain or your own original character.   Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits and a paperback copy of the anthology.   Rights: Authors shall retain rights to their work. We only retain the rights to the story within the publication.   Submission Deadline: July 15, 2019   Kickstarter will run in November 2019 and publication of book will occur in December 2019. Via: Belanger Books.

Deadline: July 15th, 2019 Payment: Contributor's Copy Deadline: July 15, 2019 Word count: 2,500-8,000; a little above and a little below will be acceptable Unlike the other two regions of Dante’s famed Divine Comedy, the poem of Paradiso has received very little attention both culturally and critically. This anthology works to challenge that...even as it changes what heaven would be like for furry people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradiso_(Dante). This collection will be divided respectively into the ten parts. We expect stories to be framed to focus on people who will end up in a specific sphere. Most of a story should focus on what they did back on Earth in life. Showing how they died is not required but is pretty standard for this anthology series. We need to see their virtue that brought them there. However, here’s the challenge: we want to see anthro-animal characters who were strong and virtuous even in dark and trying circumstances, even if they ultimately failed. That’s right: like the previous two volumes, we are still wanting dark stories, be they horror, dark erotica, or similar. Easy ways to do this would be having a virtuous character be a victim to evil characters, or have a virtuous character be a witness, or perhaps most dastardly have a well-meaning character have to choose between the lesser of two evils...It is perfectly fine but not required if submissions are NSFW. All story submissions must be "furry" in nature. We will NOT accept: Racism, sexism, or discrimination presented in a positive light. Pedophilia or sex with characters under the age of 18 presented in a positive light. Rape, torture, dubious consent, forced seduction presented in a positive light. Snuff or Necrophilia presented in a positive light If you are in doubt, ASK. Better to ask than to get a straight...

Deadline: July 15th, 2019 Payment: $20 per story Please don't query us about your story submission. We don't have the manpower to answer such queries. An editor will email you back as soon as possible with the decision about your story. This can take a few days, or, up to three months. We make every effort to get back to authors in a timely manner but we get a lot of submissions so sometimes it's not possible. A note on our editorial policy: before publication we may edit the story for length or readability. However, we always remain true to the spirit of the story. Issues are published at the end of February, May, August, and November. We reserve the right to shift publication date slightly, as necessary. We have reading periods for each issue, though we never close to submissions. February closes January 15 May closes April 15 August closes July 15 November closes October 15 Please do not submit the same story more than once, and please submit only one story at a time. We consider any story between 250 and 7000 words with speculative fiction elements. We prefer science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. We do not consider poetry, stories with over-the-top sex or violence, serials, novels, fan fiction, or non-fiction. We don't accept multiple submissions; in other words, only submit one story at a time and wait for a response before submitting another. We accept simultaneous submissions as long as you let us know up front and tell us as soon as it's accepted elsewhere. We do not publish reprints, including anything that has appeared on a website. We pay $20 for each story we publish. We buy first-printing world exclusive rights for four months....

Deadline: July 15th, 2019 Payment: Contributor's copy Secrets in the Water Zimbell House is holding open submissions for short stories about secrets involving water. Is your tale about mermaids? A drowning? Magic? Superstition? Or is it about the healing powers found in water? Perhaps it involves a secret society or lost traditions. Let your imagination roam, and show our readers how you can capture their ripples of interest and give them waves of reading delight. Please keep foul language to a minimum-it loses its punch if over-used. Dialogue needs to be believable, and please keep dialects/slang to a bare minimum if you must use them. No head-hopping or POV changes. Pick one point of view and stick with it. Please show more of the action than just telling the reader what happens. Submissions of both short stories and novellas to this anthology are welcome, please keep in mind the minimum word count is 3,500 and the maximum word count is 15,000. This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms. Submission Deadline: July 15, 2019, with a targeted release date of mid September 2019. Submit your best work. Poorly formatted and unedited work will be turned down. Please use Americanized English spellings. We will be doing light editing as necessary to fit the standards we strive to maintain. Submission Guidelines: Any work under 3,500 words will be automatically disqualified for this anthology. The work must not have appeared in print or online anywhere before. All submissions must be in English. Each author may submit up to three (3) unique works—please submit them separately. Work must be in Microsoft Word or RTF, double-spaced, 12-point font-no headers/footers. All contributing authors will receive a free copy of the book in softcover.  Authors that are chosen for the anthology will not...

Deadline: July 15th, 2019 Payment: $25 Forty-Two Books is pleased to announce the first call for submission for the upcoming fall poetry collection Putrescent Poems. Send us the scary, the fearful, the hardcore, and the most disturbing horrific works of fine poetry from your crypts. We are seeking to publish high quality yet terrifying words that will be remembered not just for their craft, but also their blood-curling affects. Expected publication date is October 2019. Works Accepted the horrific, the terrifying, the grind-house, the body gore, the scary, the psychological, the black comedic, the rotten, the exhibition, the mad science, the forbidden, the devilish, the blasphemous, and of course, the PUTRESCENT. Works Not Accepted ​We do not publish hate. Though we love the transgressive, we respect people and their ways of being. Those who are of the extreme/anti (Muslim, immigrant, black, LGBTQ, etc.) mindset will need to seek elsewhere to publish their works. Previously published works are not considered (unless you're Stephen King perhaps or a dead author in public domain). Works on blogs/author websites that are freely open to the internet without a password, subscription, or login credential are considered "published" in the industry, so sadly (as much as it stinks cause it's your own website right!?) we cannot publish. Guidelines Submit up to 5 original, unpublished poems of any form, format, style, type, and meter. Include all poems in one document. Editorial Policy If your submission requires revision before publishing, the editors will contact you and provide suggestions for revision. Forty-Two Books reserves the right to edit your work for publication, which may include clarity, grammatical correctness, typography, or cohesion. We will try to provide feedback and work with you rather than a flat reject if time permits and we aren't drowning in submissions. Copyright Policy The PUBLISHER, Forty-Two Books, will...

Deadline: July 15th, 2019. Payment: 50 – 75 dollars per story (CND, based on word count) We are seeking provocative works of speculative fiction and poetry for the inaugural edition of: The House of Zolo’s Journal of Speculative Literature. The HOZ Journal of Speculative Literature is a new literary magazine featuring quality works of speculative fiction and poetry. We are calling for new work in short story and poetry. We have two deadlines per year and produce two editions of the HOZ journal annually. Our first Deadline: July 15, 2019. Fiction HOZ are looking for literature that explores possibilities for the future. We want challenging short stories that are character driven, that reimagine the world and our place in it. We are looking for radical authors, feminist authors, LGBTQ2S authors, authors who experiment. Themes that thrill us: transhumanism, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, new systems, resistance, activism, queer perspectives, feminist perspectives, nature. We are not interested in stories that concern the reinvention of empire, rehashing of old narratives, or excessive violence. We entertain all genre based stories so long as they concern the future and especially if related to our favourite themes. That said, we are looking for the best speculative fiction stories, so if you think you have something we might want, please consider sending it. We accept stories from 1,000 to 7,500 words with a preferred word count of between 3,500 – 5,000 words. We pay 50 – 75 dollars per story (CND, based on word count). Please send only one story at a time. Simultaneous submissions are fine with us, just let us know if you are accepted for publication elsewhere. To submit: Please send your short story attached as a word or rtf document to: [email protected] with the subject line HOZ Journal – Fiction. If possible, please include a short bio in...

Deadline: July 15th, 2019 Payment: 6 cents per word, 1 cent per word for reprints Note: Reprints accepted Frozen Wavelets is an e-zine of speculative flash fiction and poetry, offspring of The Earthian Hivemind. This means that some of the accepted pieces will appear on a dedicated section of this blog, before being included in one of the e-zine issues (published quarterly). Issue #1 is set for publication in November 2019. When: the first submission period will run between 1 – 15 July 2019. Anything sent before or after will be deleted unread. I’ll communicate future dates as soon as I can. Where: submissions have to be sent to: submissions AT frozenwavelets DOT com. Please submit your piece indicating the typology in the subject line. For instance: SUBMISSION: . What: Original flash fiction of 750 words or less. No minimum. If you can write a (convincing) story in six words (and Hemingway showed it’s possible), go for it. Twitterfiction, Drabbles, 50 words, all welcome. I love haiku, tanka, senryu, and short poetry in general, but no more than 10 lines anyway. Rights asked: First Worldwide exclusive electronic/print rights for 6 months from the first appearance, be it on the blog or in the ezine; non-exclusive electronic rights afterwards (archival and for possible inclusion in thematic / Best of anthologies). All other rights remain with you. Payment: I pay pro-rate (0.06 $ as for SFWA rates until September 2019, 0.08 $ afterwards) with fix amounts for microfiction & poetry (I don’t want headaches. Just to be clear, the amount is equal or higher than pro-rate in word count terms). I pay on acceptance. Reprints: While I prefer original fiction, I do accept reprints for fiction pieces between 500-1500 words, paid at semi-pro rate (0.01 $), provided you own the rights and...

Deadline: September 15th, 2019 Payment: $20 Ian Randal Strock’s Fantastic Books has contracted with James D. Macdonald, Judith K. Dial, and Tom Easton for an anthology of 40 Horror stories under 2,000 words (minimum: 500 words) to be called: HORROR FOR THE THRONE ONE-SITTING READS We will open for submissions on August 8, 2019. Submissions will close September 15, 2019. The stories should be reprints--because the budget permits us to pay only $20 per story.  The stories should NOT involve bathroom horror. Send submissions (and questions) to Tom at [email protected]. We also need blurbs.  Anyone dare to call the book “A moving experience!”? The book will join SCIENCE FICTION FOR THE THRONE and FANTASY FOR THE THRONE on Ian’s dealer table at numerous conventions (as well as on his website at fantasticbooks.biz and on Amazon etc.). With luck, everyone will decide they just have to have the whole set.

Deadline: July 20th, 2019 Payment: $10.USD NO THEME - Anything Goes Enchanted Conversation is looking for stories and sequential art (aka comics) - no theme this time around - Your work can be anything you can dream up as long as it's a fairy tale, folktale, or myth. Work can either be re-tellings of established stories or use original characters as long as they are set within the fairy tale, folktale, or mythic templates. Be bold, traditional, lyrical, or experimental in your storytelling, and enchant us with your original stories set in a variety of locations around the world and time periods from ancient to modern.   WE'RE LOOKING FOR   STORIES between 700-2000 words with our sweet spot being around 1,200 words. PAYMENT FOR STORIES: $10.00 U.S. dollars only The upper limit 2,000 word count is FIRM. Stories over 2,000 words will not be considered. SEQUENTIAL ART/COMICS: 1 to 5 pages in length. PAYMENT FLAT RATE $10.00 U.S. dollars only. CHECK OUT THE FIRST ISSUE HERE PAYMENT WILL BE MADE THROUGH PAYPAL ONLY. At the time of contract, authors will have the option of donating the token payment back to the magazine to help keep us running. Absolutely none of the following: Sci-fi, dystopian, erotica, high fantasy, excessive world building, time-travel, futuristic or space travel. We are NOT ACCEPTING POETRY for this issue. We're accepting only previously unpublished work. Only one work per writer per submission period. Simultaneous submissions are fine. AUTHORS who were published in previous issues are asked to wait 4 months (from the date of their issue) before they submit again. COMIC ARTISTS are asked to wait 2 months (from the date of their issue) before submitting again. BEFORE SUBMITTING READ THE TERMS BELOW Enchanted Conversation is buying first electronic rights with the possibility of using the work...

Deadline: July 22nd, 2019 Payment: $5 UPCOMING THEMES FOR CONSIDERATION: (Vol 44.) Cults; deadline 22nd July SUBMIT YOUR STORIES TO [email protected] Add subject line 'Story submission - The Other Stories' Write for The Other Stories! If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.   HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: Stories must be 2,000 (10% tolerance +/-) Save stories in a Word document - Times New Roman font, size 12 Please include a 1-2 sentence log line for your story. Ensure that your name and an email address are somewhere on the document Stories must fit an upcoming theme You must be the original creator of the story We will consider entrants whose work has been entered and published elsewhere, however please ensure you state where and when on the document You will be allowed to place one call-to-action for your own work at the end of the episode. Be sure to include this in your document. Payment per accepted story is 5USD to be paid on the 1st of the month following publication via Paypal. All rights remain with the author.   SUBMIT YOUR STORIES TO [email protected]...

Deadline: July 24th, 2019 Payment: AU$5.00 huggish Itch is our horror and sci-fi anthology collection. This is the place to submit your horror, sci-fi and speculative fiction stories.  Current theme: Hospitality We love to travel. We always have. Part of that attraction is about getting out of the house and doing something new or different and, for us at least, travel often involves airplane, hotels and trips to all manner of restaurants. For this collection, we would like you to send us your stories that feature some aspect of the hospitality industry. Just so we're clear, that would include stories that feature the following aspects of the industry and those that work within them: accommodation - hotels, motels and inns transportation - planes, trains, taxi and ships food and beverage - restaurants, cafes and coffee shops tourism - travel agents, tour guides and hosts Thuggish Itch is our horror, sci-fi and speculative fiction collection. Please make sure that your story falls within one of these genres. Be original. We also encourage new and unpublished writers to take the leap and get in touch. Please ensure that you read through the general guidelines below and format your submission accordingly. If you have any specific questions please contact us using the form on the home page or via the listed social media accounts. To help make sure that your submission gets to the correct place, please include the following in the subject line of your email: Thuggish Itch - Hospitality - Story Title. Word count: 1000 - 2000 words Deadline: July 24 2019 Payment: AU$5.00 General guidelines: Please no extremeerotica or stories that feature excessive violence or vulgarity (unless otherwise specified). All stories should be formatted appropriately. Please see here for more details. Ensure that your name, address, and email contact and word count are at the top of your manuscript. Double check...

Deadline: July 24th, 2019 Payment: 1 cent per word for fiction and nonfiction, and a flat fee of $10 per poem NonBinary Review is a quarterly digital literary journal that joins poetry, fiction, essays, and art around each issue's theme. We invite  authors to explore each theme in any way that speaks to them: re-write a  familiar story from a new point of view, mash genres together, give us a  personal essay about some aspect of our theme that has haunted you all  your life. We also invite art that will accompany the literature. All submissions must have a clear and obvious relationship to some specific aspect of the source text (a character, episode, or setting). Submissions only related by a vague, general, thematic similarity are unlikely to be accepted. We are open to submissions which relate to Homer's The Odyssey.  While there are many excellent translations of this epic, we particularly like the 2017 translation by Emily Wilson. Please bear in mind that we're looking for pieces that relate to the BOOKS ONLY. References to movies or television shows will not be accepted. Submissions which do not tie into the plots or make use of characters/settings from the books WILL NOT be considered—there needs to be a clear connection to the source material.  We want language that makes us reach for a dictionary or a tissue or both. Words in combinations and patterns that leave the faint of heart a little dizzy. FICTION, CREATIVE NON-FICTION, FLASH & HYBRID/EXPERIMENTAL NonBinary Review accepts fiction and creative non-fiction of up to 5,000  words in length, although shorter is probably better. Fiction should be double spaced, 12-point type, in Times New Roman or similar font in a  Word document or text file. We do not accept .pdfs. Authors may submit up to 5 pieces of flash fiction, no more...

Deadline: July 24th, 2018 Payment: Short Fiction (<150CH) $3AUD per story, Long Fiction (>150CH/<200CH) $2AUD per story What is the Story Seed Vault? The Vault is an online periodical that adheres to the limitation of Twitter publishing. We consider all types of fiction with one condition – your story must be based on science. We’re looking for stories that act as story seeds – prompts for spin off plots and weird tangents. We want to think in new ways about how our world works and the possibilities for future worlds, expanding tangentially from what we know now. Who can submit to the Vault? The Vault will takes submissions from all sorts of writers, from established writers to new, science communicator, or people who have a personal passion for science. As long as you adhere to our guidelines, we will publish your work! In accordance with the ethics and values of our editorial team, the Vault is also a diversity-oriented publication. As such, we welcome and encourage submissions from a multiplicity of voices and perspectives, particularly those from marginalized and under-represented groups. Science communication is done by all sorts of people – and we want writers who reflect that diversity. Where can I find science to be inspired by? We suggest taking a look at science news websites and science magazines, such as the below: Ars Technica Technology news, provides breakdowns on the latest scientific advancements. Main focus is IT and ‘gadgets’. Science Daily Scientific research news. Does not report on general science news. Science Mag Reports on research and general science news. Almost always evidence-based reporting. Science Alert and Live Science Pop science news. An easily accessible form of science news that doesn’t use academic language. Prone to clickbait titles. If you’re still stuck on what to write, take a...

Deadline: July 30th, 2019 Payment: 2¢ per word (Working Cover. Fonts/colors subject to change.) Pole to Pole Publishing is seeking short, original fiction for its upcoming anthology, Not Far from Roswell,  to be published October 2019. Not Far From Roswell will contain dark stories of aliens, alien abduction, alien experimentation, cows, paranormal investigation and more -- let your imagination be your guide.  We may also include one or two humorous pieces as long as the material is dark. Stories should be 3,000-5,000 words (firm). Hard Sells: Profane and vulgar language. Because we market to both adult and YA  readers, if you use an F-Bomb, and we accept your story, we’ll probably ask you to change it. First person and Present Tense. We’ve published both: when the  stories were very, very good. We want to let you know up front that we’re going to reject this most of the time. It’s just not our preference. Excessive Gore and/or violence. Blood and guts are fine—as long as they’re part of the story and not the story itself. Sex. See above about marketing to a wider audience. Edition and Rights: Not Far From Roswell will be published in electronic and trade paperback in English. We are asking for exclusive, worldwide rights to your work for both electronic and print for six months only, and a  non-exclusive right to keep your story in the anthology after that. The anthology may be included with other "Dark Stories Anthologies" in bundles. Payment:  Payment is 2¢ per word, paid at publication, via PayPal only. If you do not have a PayPal account, please do not submit your work. Authors will also receive one copy of both the electronic and  paperback versions of the anthology. (Authors can buy additional books  at a discount.) What We Don’t Want: No rape, torture, etc. of children. No...

Deadline: July 30th, 2019 Payment: $10 Note: Reprints Only Pole to Pole Publishing is seeking short, re-print fiction for the Re-Haunt anthology to be published in late 2019.  Re-Haunt will join our previous submission calls (now closed) for Re-Launch, Re-Enchant, Re-Quest and Re-Terrify in the Re-Imagined Series of anthologies. Re-Haunt requires dark stories about ghosts and hauntings. Payment: Payment is $10 per story, paid on acceptance  (contract must be signed), via PayPal only; plus, one electronic and one print copy of the antho.  (If you do not have a PayPal account, please do not submit your work.) Right Purchased: – The non-exclusive right to collect the stories into an anthology, published in 2019 and sold thereafter. Re-Haunt may be included in book bundles with the other books in the series. – The non-exclusive right to publish the story to the new Pole to  Pole Publishing Patreon blog (for patron’s eyes only). General: Stories should be 3,000-5,000 words and meet  the central theme of the anthology. Reprints currently available on line  are not eligible. Preference is for stories that haven’t been published in at least a year.  Older reprints will carry more weight than new  ones.  Author must possess the right to offer the story for submission. Hard Sells: Profane and vulgar language — because we market to both adult and YA  readers. If we are interested in your story, we may ask you to edit  profane and vulgar language as a condition of publication. First Person and Present Tense. We’ve published both: when the  stories were very, very good. We want to let you know up front that  we’re going to reject this most of the time. It’s just not our  preference. Excessive Gore and/or violence. Blood and guts are fine—as long as they’re part of the story and not the story itself. Sex. See above about...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: Guidelines: Blasphemous Rumors edited by Regina Garza Mitchell and David G. Barnett Blasphemous Rumors Call for Submissions Blasphemous Rumors is a themed anthology of religious horror stories edited by David Barnett and Regina Garza Mitchell. We are seeking dark short stories that focus on religion or spirituality, stories that may be considered blasphemous by the standards of your religion of choice. We are looking for quality dark fiction, not hate-filled rants against religion. Technical Details: Stories should be formatted in standard manuscript submission format. Stories should be no longer than 5000 words and should be original. Reprints are not accepted. We will not accept simultaneous or multiple submissions. PAYMENT: $.03 per word up to 5000 words plus two copies of the trade paperback. SUBMISSION DEADLINE: July 31st, 2019. Stories should be submitted as an attachment to: [email protected] Examples of Blasphemy The term blasphemy refers to saying something about God that is disrespectful. It can also refer to degrading religious concepts or literature. Blasphemy can be included in speech, an act, writing, music, or art. Blasphemy in Everyday Life Some consider rapper Kanye West's album name "Yeezus" and his consideration of himself as equal to Jesus to be blasphemous. Burning a religious document such as the Bible or the Qu'ran is considered blasphemy. Vandalizing a church is a form of blasphemy. Worshipping Satan is blasphemous. Committing suicide is a form of blasphemy. To state that God is unkind, unjust or cruel is a blasphemous. Artist Andres Serrano created what he called artwork by submerging a plastic replica of the crucified Jesus Christ in a container of his own urine and photographing it as a means, he stated, of exposing the ills of religion. However, this 1987 piece of work was considered highly blasphemous and was destroyed...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: Royalties Coffins & Dragons (C&D) (Rated R) Deadline – July 31st, 2019 Publication – October 2019 Word Count – 5k-15k Theme – Darkness. Despair. Death. The repertoire of vampires and dragons precede them. Terror and turmoil follow in their wake, whether they purposely wreak havoc or not. After receiving edits back, the author has two weeks to return the submission for formatting. View our blog post on the topic of how to submit to a publisher.   Rating – Check each anthologies‘ rating. Word count – Check each anthologies‘ word count requirements. E-mail address to submit to – [email protected]   NOTICE –  Failure to submit correctly will result in refusal of submission. Via: Dragon Soul Press.

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: 3 cents per word and a contributor's copy. 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest horror movies of all time: Alien. Yes, it is a horror movie, but set in space. There are also plans for a new branch of the military -- in space. We’ve explored loneliness, isolation, and solitude in our first anthology. We Put the Love Back in Lovecraft in our second anthology. We explored the creatures of cryptozoology in our recent pair of anthologies. Now we will go where all good series eventually go... ...to space. What We Want: Finely crafted works of Dark Speculative fiction which feature one (or more) classic monsters. Vampires, mummies, creatures built from dead body parts, lycanthropes, mad scientists, and zombies -- yes, even zombies -- but we want to see them in space. We want to see these creatures floating around in zero g, attacking astronauts and colonists, and generally menacing those brave enough to go beyond the confines of our pale blue dot. Each story must take place somewhere other than the Earth. It can happen on a spaceship, on a colony, on a new terraformed planet. There should be humans involved, but they do not have to be the protagonists. Each story must also feature (at least) one classic monster. We are looking for new takes on the old classics. Feel free to explore, but they should still be recognizable to the average reader. What We Don’t Want: Actual characters from other books or films. As much as we love the idea of Dracula in Space, we are pretty sure that Universal owns the rights to that particular vampire. The vampire doesn’t have to be Dracula in particular (for example: Bubba Ho-Tep has a great mummy, but not THE mummy). We don’t like...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: $10 an 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 seeking submissions! We are seeking submissions for Issue 9, which is themed possession. Defined as: the state of having, owning, or controlling something. Think demons, magic, technology…all different ways of controlling someone. Or go with something more subtle.Surprise us. 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 If you are under 18, we require parental permission and have made a permission form. The form can be found HERE Reading periods are May to July and November to January. All submissions must be in by 11:59pm CST on the last day of the reading period (July or January). Be advised that if we get enough stories before the end of a submission period, we may close submissions early. 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 of the reading period closing 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...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: Royalties, 4 contributor copies if story is over 40k Creature Feature — LGBTQIA Collection Call — MONSTERS OUT OF MYTH AND LEGEND WITH INTENTIONS MOST FOUL! THEY CRAWL OUT OF YOUR NIGHTMARES WITH UNSPEAKABLE DESIRES! Some call them monsters; some call them imaginary; and some call them misunderstood. But what is the truth behind the creatures we find ourselves so fascinated by? LESS THAN THREE PRESS invites you to send your most scintillating, subversive, and scary monster stories for consideration as part of our CREATURE FEATURE collection. Editor’s note: This collection is an homage to movie monsters of yore and the popularity of paranormal fiction. We’re happy to see stories queered and subverted about classic monsters or those of your own creation—and we suggest authors using classic movie or pulp monsters make sure their creature is in the public domain. Here’s a list to start with. Also, authors should note works accepted for publication from this call will have covers designed to fit the collection’s theme of B-movie nostalgia. THE DETAILS: Deadline is July 31, 2019 Stories should be at least 20,000 words and should not exceed approx 60,000 words in length. Please put “Submission – Creature Feature” in the subject line Stories must feature at least one monster/creature as part of a relationship (romantic, sexual, platonic, etc.). Stories must have a happily ever after (HEA) or happy for now (HFN) end. The primary genre is by nature speculative, but can contain any sub-genre or genre mashup: mystery, historical, contemporary, space opera, cyberpunk, etc. All usual LT3 submission guidelines apply. Creature Feature is a collection, meaning stories will be sold individually and authors paid royalties. Examples: For the Hoard, Peacock, Intertwined. Authors will receive one copy each of the ebook formats LT3 produces. Authors with works 40k or longer will receive...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: Royalties “The Monsters We Forgot” is an anthology based on urban legends, folktales, and fairy tales that nobody knows. In essence: we want you to make up an urban legend, folktale, fairy tale, cryptid, or piece of town lore and either write it, or write a story about people who have to deal with it one way or the other. For example: people who encounter the subject of the legend; how the legend came to be; how the legend affects people; people who lived through (or with?) it, and so on. The submission deadline is 31 July 2019. Our target is 30 stories. Authors may submit as many stories as they wish, but each author will be limited to three accepted stories. As payment, authors will receive royalties divided by word count. These are general guidelines for ALL anthology submissions. We’re looking for stories between 500 – 7500 words. A few words under or over won’t necessarily disqualify a story, but please keep as close to the guidelines as possible. Stories MUST fit within the horror genre. First and foremast, all submissions must be horror. However, we recognize that horror is a very broad and often nuanced genre. To that end, we’ll read stories that fit into other genres (thriller, family drama, coming of age, science fiction, fantasy, comedy, romance, et cetera) as long as the story contains horror, and as long as horror is integral to the narrative. ALL submissions must be within the horror genre, and MUST meet the following requirements: Submit all documents as an attachment in .docx or .pages format 12 point Arial, Calibri, or Courier font Double-spaced Submit via email to [email protected] In the body of the email, include your name and contact information. PLEASE NOTE: If your piece is accepted for...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: $50 CAD and a contributors copy If you think cats and water don’t mix, think again. I’m putting together an anthology full of feisty felines on the high seas! I want pirate cats, and Viking cats. Submariner cats and explorer cats. This book is going to be filled with adventure-loving cats, puns and fun. I want it to be a wild, rollicking ride complete with sword fights, sea monsters, treasure hunting, discovering new worlds and lots and lots of kittehs. Be careful not to get too caught up in the fun and forget to include a strong plot and detailed characters for your story, though. I’m a sucker for a great setting, three-dimensional characters and high stakes. And if your story elicits real emotion from me–laughter, tears, anger or anything in between–you will have increased your chances of success significantly. Rights and compensation: Payment: $50 CAD flat fee and a paperback copy of the anthology. In exchange we are seeking first world rights in English and exclusive right to publish in print and electronic format for six months after publication date, after which publisher retains nonexclusive right to continue to publish for the life of the anthology. Open submission period: June 1, 2019 – July 31, 2019 Length: Under 9,000 words Publisher: Tyche Books No simultaneous or multiple submissions. No reprints. Canadian spelling, please. Via: Rhonda Parrish.

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 We will be OPEN to submissions from June 1-July 31, 2019.  Note: Manuscripts received outside the official  submission window will be deleted unread. Guidelines for all submissions: We want horror in all its forms—from literary to weird, Gothic to psychological, and (almost) everything in between. We’re looking for amazing stories from amazing authors, regardless of race, gender, religion—if you’ve got something good, we want it. Need a firm idea of what we’re looking for? Check out the JournalStone website. Please do not submit romance, erotica, or religious fiction. The title of your email subject line and file name should read: “Submission – – ”. For example: Submission Novel – Carrie – King. This should also be the title of your manuscript document. In the body of your email, please give us the word count, genre, and a brief synopsis (300-500 words) of the plot. Submissions without this information will be automatically deleted. Do not include your synopsis as an attachment. Submissions should be sent to [email protected]. Attach the full manuscript as a .doc, .docx or .rtf file (no PDFs). Do not paste your manuscript in the body of the email. For proper formatting of your manuscript, please follow the Shunn way. Minimum word count for novels and fiction collections: 50,000. We consider the quality of the editing in our review process. Please fully proofread and edit manuscripts prior to submission. Do not submit sample chapters or a work in progress. We accept only completed works. Allow up to eight months for a response to your submission. We may respond more quickly, but we cannot guarantee timing. Please do not send follow up e-mails. We will notify you when we place your work in the queue, and will contact you when we have completed our review. Submissions are free. We do not charge any...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: Royalties The first entry in an anthology series showcasing horror in every state, “50 States of Fear: California” is all about the terrors, horrors, creeps, and shrieks found in the Golden State. Stories must be horror, they must be original (no urban legends, creepypasta, or retellings of true crime), and must take place in California. The submission deadline is 31 July 2019. Our target is 30 stories. There is no limit on the number of submissions per author, but we reserve the right to limit the number of accepted stories per author. As payment, authors will receive royalties divided by word count. Guidelines First and foremast, all submissions must be horror. However, we recognize that horror is a very broad and often nuanced genre. To that end, we’ll read stories that fit into other genres (thriller, family drama, coming of age, science fiction, fantasy, comedy, romance, et cetera) as long as the story contains horror, and as long as horror is integral to the narrative. ALL submissions must be within the horror genre, and MUST meet the following requirements: Submit all documents as an attachment in .docx or .pages format 12 point Arial, Calibri, or Courier font Double-spaced Submit via email to [email protected] In the body of the email, include your name and contact information. PLEASE NOTE: If your piece is accepted for publication, we take First Print and Electronic Publishing Rights. A copy of our publishing contract is available upon request. Open Submissions: Anthologies These are general guidelines for ALL anthology submissions. We’re looking for stories between 500 – 7500 words. A few words under or over won’t necessarily disqualify a story, but please keep as close to the guidelines as possible. Stories MUST fit within the horror genre. Via: Soteira Press.

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: Contributor’s copy with chances at a $25, $50, or $100 prize! Do you have a scary story to share?  Fiction, fact, or otherwise, share your prose with us and you, too, can win up to $100* and get your story printed.  Enter your submission today!  Contest will be judged by a panel of impartial judges, all of whom have a vested interest in the unknown.  Scare us, terrify us, and thrill us!   Contest Rules: Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please only send us one story at a time and if your story is accepted elsewhere please email us and let us know ASAP. We are seeking original fiction only.  In other words, NO REPRINTS. Many will enter, few will win. Entrants cannot be related, legally or otherwise, to OPQ staff Entries must be submitted via our Green Submissions Manager (located here ) by July 31st, 2019 to qualify. Entries must match one of the following themes: ‘True Tales of Terror,’  or ‘Fantastic Frights’ No entry fee necessary! Note: entries will be judged based on quality, thematic appropriateness, and writing chops. Though we want to be scared, there are some things that are off-limits.  As with our normal morality policy, OPQ will automatically reject stories that involve pedophilia, excessive gore, violence for violence’s sake, and non-consensual sex.  As always, we would prefer stories that use religion and/or spirituality as an uplifting theme or a bridge towards a larger, thematic discussion, rather than being derogatory towards one specific religion.  That being said, we enjoy looking forward to what your twisted imaginations come up with!   Themes: Entries must follow one of the following themes: ‘True Tales of Terror’ are reserved for true experiences you’ve witnessed.  Ritual gone wrong?  Cryptid got a little up close and personal?  Alien attacks at night? ...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: $25 for original work, $12 for reprints Note: Reprints welcome Amara looked up to the sky; the moon showered her with pale light. The sign was clear. She lowered her gaze to the field before her, to the bodies laying there, contorted in death. With a heavy sigh, Amara walked forward to her fate . . . ​ ​ What We Want Catacombs: Martyrs on Earth and Elsewhere is an anthology of stories about fictional martyrs past, present, and future, on Earth or some fictional world. The title is tentative so keep in mind that the final product could have a different title.   This anthology has some specific rules. Please read carefully.   Stories must be historical or speculative fiction; a combination of the two would also be fantastic. ​ We are looking for stories about individuals who give up their lives for their faith or for some cause greater than themselves. Judeo-Christian history is replete with stories of individuals who died for their faith, who sacrificed their lives rather than renounce God. Many of these martyrs, such as Sts. Stephen, Sebastian, Agatha, and Lucy, for example, are well known, recognized by one Christian sect or another, and are listed as Saints. For this issue, please send us plausible stories of unknown martyrs from any historic period or some future period or alternate reality, so long as the martyrs are martyred for the faith as understood by traditional Judeo-Christianity.   Please be sure to invent your own martyr and not use an actual historical or legendary figure.   We are also open to stories of individuals who died for other causes dear to the heart of Western civilization. If your hero died for a freedom enshrined in the Bill of Rights for instance, go...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: $3 (.15 cents per word!) Haunted Waters Press seeks exceptionally small works of flash fiction to be showcased in Penny Fiction, a regular feature of the literary journal, From the Depths. Stories will also appear in the Penny Fiction Poster Collection. Tell us a story in exactly 19 words—no more, no less. Extra points will be awarded for those writers who adhere to the guidelines. Not really. There are no points. Just read the guidelines below and impress Penny with your ability to follow instructions. WORKS CONSIDERED We seek flash fiction stories told in exactly 19 words—no more, no less. Original fiction only. No poetry, taglines, or jokes. Please include a title for each story submitted. One active Penny Fiction submission per author, per reading period. Multiple stories per submission encouraged. One is fine. Four is cool. Twenty is borderline obnoxious...we like obnoxious! No previously published works. Need inspiration? Follow Penny Fiction on Facebook for tips and prompts. THE DREADED COVER LETTER Include one interesting fact about yourself in 13 words or less. Undertakers and cat herders earn extra points. If we do not find you interesting, we reserve the right to make you appear more interesting. No long lists of previously published works. No cut ‘n paste author bios. Confused? Check out The Lovely Penny bios from any past issue. COMPENSATION $3.00 per published piece. (That’s a professional rate of .15 cents per word— enough for a hot cup of coffee to sip on while you pen your next brilliant work of incredibly short fiction!) THE DETAILS Free to submit. Accepting submissions in the months of December/January, March/April, June/July Limited to 200 submissions per month. Submit early! Notifications to be sent as decisions are made or within 60 days of closing. Please review full guidelines prior to submitting,...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: 1.5 cents per word Submission Guidelines: New Myths will no longer consider submissions of fiction, nonfiction and poetry outside of specific reading periods. These periods run from June 1-July 31 and from January 1-February 28. Artwork, requests for book reviews, and other correspondence can still be submitted at any time. No Multiple Fiction Submissions Please do not send more than one fiction submission at a time. Wait until you receive an answer before sending a second story. No more than three fiction submissions total from any one author will be considered during a given reading period. Poetry is different. See below. Contact information: Please send fiction, nonfiction and poetry to [email protected]. Please send queries for book reviews to [email protected] All other correspondence, including art submissions, to [email protected] NewMyths.com publishes speculative fiction of every stripe except graphic horror. We like each issue to have an eclectic variety of stories:  funny, frightening, hard and soft sci-fi, adventure, thoughtful, etc. Every issue includes at least one nonfiction piece dealing with some aspect of science, myth, folklore, or literature as it relates to speculative fiction, usually of the well-researched essay variety rather than opinion or editorial. Speculative poetry is welcome. We tend to receive a lot of free verse and not enough "form" poetry. We also buy one piece of artwork per issue, and occasionally commission one. We publish book reviews of recent releases about every two weeks. If you have written a review, or have a book coming out soon, please contact us. Reading an issue is the best way to know if your submission is a fit for NewMyths.com or not. Responses take 60-90 days on average. Feel free to send a follow-up query after that point. Submissions made outside the submission windows may be deleted, unread. We save email...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Prizes: The coveted Bloody Axe Award, as well as a $100 cash prize Every year we seek 10-minute audio drama scripts that are genuinely scary, imaginative, chilling, intelligent, suspenseful, horrific or downright grotesque. Writers may submit up to two audio drama scripts to Deathscribe in any given year. Five scripts will be selected from all submissions. These five pieces will be performed on stage in front of a live audience. The writer of the winning piece, chosen by a celebrity panel of judges, will receive the coveted Bloody Axe Award, as well as a $100 cash prize.The submission window for Deathscribe 2019 is now open. Scripts will be accepted through July 31st. Guidelines: PDF format is strongly preferred. If PDF is not possible, then only MS Word please. All scripts must have a title page with all contact information, but NO identifying information should appear anywhere else in the document. Scripts must be no more than TEN MINUTES in length, and should follow audio drama format. An example of proper audio drama format can be found here: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/bbcradioscene.pdf The Deathscribe experience includes performing the pieces on stage with Foley artists and a band creating the sound effects and music live. Therefore, scripts must be ready to produce, including direction for sound and music cues. Sorry, but submissions cannot include usage of copyrighted music. Writers may submit up to two (2) scripts for Deathscribe consideration in any year. NO SCREENPLAYS. SCREENPLAYS WILL BE DISCARDED. WE KNOW THEM WHEN WE SEE THEM. (Nothing against screenplays. But this is a radio play festival.) DO NOT submit full-length plays for consideration in Deathscribe. They will be discarded. If you wish to submit a full-length horror play to WildClaw, see our general submission guidelines. Previous winners include: 2018: “Whisper Trigger” by Dan Finnen and Sarah Gise 2017: “Cavities” by Bill Daniel...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: 0.04 USD per word via Paypal JULY 2019 SUBMISSIONS THEME : Any genre, dark humour. Theme is ONLY WHEN I LAUGH This theme will be open for submissions from 1st July 2019 and will close midnight 31st July 2019 (last place on Earth).  Submissions received outside of this timeframe will not be read. You must include the theme in your email subject (as shown above). Reading will start once the submission period has closed. The BEST 13 drabbles will be chosen for publication in OCTOBER 2019. Word count : EXACTLY 100 words, excluding title Author eligibility : Open only to authors who have already been successfully accepted into one of our anthologies Reprints : Not allowed Simultaneous Submissions : Not allowed Multiple Submissions : One per month Publication : Online in Dark Moments.  May be included in a single anthology in print and digital formats at a later date (but within one year of initial publication) Author compensation : 0.04 USD per word via Paypal How to submit : See our submission guidelines for formatting. Send your story as either a Word format attachment to [email protected]. Your email title should be “ – – ” Please include a 50 word bio and ONE link Via: Black Hare Press.

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: 10 cents per word David Steffen is the editor, who you may also know from using the Submission Grinder writing tool or reading the Long List Anthology series.  Diabolical Plots is a SFWA-qualifying market, so if you have a personal goal to join SFWA, making a sale here would help you toward that goal. FICTION OVERVIEW Genres: science fiction, fantasy, horror (everything must have speculative element, even horror). Word count: 3500 words or less. This is a firm limit.  If you submit a longer story, it will be rejected unread and that will count as a submission. Do not query to ask permission to submit something longer–the answer will be no. Pay rate: 10 cents per word (more than the minimum professional rate as deemed by SFWA) Multiple submissions: A total of TWO submissions per author during this submission window.  You don’t have to wait for one response to send the second one–you can just send both whenever you want during the window. Simultaneous submissions: No.  We understand we are tying up your story while you wait, and so we strive to respond as quickly as possible.  While each year might be different, last year the maximum wait time to get a first response (a rejection or a hold notice) was 14 days.  The maximum overall wait time if someone submitted on the first day and was held, was about 6 weeks. Reprint submissions: No. That means you should not submit anything that has been published in any format, blog, e-zine, print, podcast, anything.  Sharing stories with other authors in login-protected critique sites like Baen’s Bar or Critters is fine. Resubmits: No.  Do not send a story you’ve submitted to us before, whether it’s been revised or not. Estimated Resolution Time: 30 days after end of submission window.  I will send initial responses to stories as...

Deadline: July 31st, 2019 Payment: 3 (Euro) cents per word There are plenty of amazing print and online journals out there for ‘character-driven’ fiction, and we encourage you to read them. SPJ is not one of them, though. Hence, we are not interested in stories predominantly about the sentiments and subjective experiences of fictional people. We want hard SF that zooms out of the personal and lifts off into the structural, the systemic, the epic. We yearn for carefully crafted philosophical speculation that puzzles over the questions of the future and alternate pasts. And we have a soft spot for stories created as ‘artefacts’ (fictional, ‘in-universe’ non-fiction). So here are SPJ‘s quests: – Campbellian hard SF. Reaching back to the roots of classic sci-fi, these rigorous tales take themselves seriously and push the boundaries of our scientific imagination, scaling from the nano to the meta. The cast, if any, is functional and disposable. It’s the sociological, technological and indeed cosmic developments that sweep the reader up in an expanding sense of wonder. (For a contemporary long-form example that received mainstream attention, see the latter two books of Cixin Liu’s Three-Body Problem trilogy.) – Fictional non-fiction. The purest, most intimate form of world-building. A transcript of the last UN Security Council meeting before an extinction-level event. The dental bills of a cybernetic vampire. Interviews with eyewitnesses of a battle between Martians and archangels. Think ‘World War Z’, not ‘Walking Dead’. – Speculative philosophy. Extrapolating abstract ideas to examine the implications if they were to manifest. (See for instance The End of History, the Beginning of Hers in Vol. V. Issue 1. for a theological example of just what we mean: what if prayers for supernatural intercession were answered in 1453, but the faithful got more than they had bargained for.) (The first author to have a story published in each of the three...

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 Payment: $30+ The theme of the eighth annual Bikes in Spaces, the galaxy’s only series of feminist bicycle science fiction anthologies, is in the works! This volume’s theme is… cats. House cats. Ship cats. Lions. Strays. Anthropomorphic talking cats. Feline deities. Familiars. Wherever your imagination takes you, we’d love to read your story. Please send us your short stories that feature both cats and bicycles or bicycling in a way that is essential to the story; be fundamentally feminist, even if they aren’t explicitly addressing feminism as a topic; and fall somewhere in the science fiction and fantasy spectrum (sorry, no fanfic, but all other fantastical and speculative genres are welcome). Black and white illustrations are also sought. We especially love to publish work by writers and artists who don’t see themselves well-represented in mainstream books. Word count: 500 – 6,000 words, but don’t sweat the exact count too much—make your story the length it needs to be. Format: Google doc or Word preferred; a PDF or text document are also fine. If submitting an illustration, please get in touch about format and dimensions before you start work on it. Payment: A portion of profits after expenses from the Kickstarter project used to fund the book is split between contributors; payments are not less than $30 each. Send submissions to elly at takingthelane dot com by August 1, 2019. Via: Taking The Lane.

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy NIGHTMARE PRESS IS NOW TAKING SUBMISSIONS for an upcoming anthology called Retro Horror and we are also taking submissions for horror novels, novellas, and short story collections. RETRO HORROR: The name says it all. We are looking for short stories reminiscent of the old low-budget horror films that used to come on late at night. Imagine someone like Vampira or Joe Bob Briggs introducing your tales. Think monster hybrids, experiments gone wrong, or reanimated corpses. That kind of stuff. $25 if accepted Contributor's copy if accepted Send story to [email protected] and put RETRO HORROR, Title, Your Name in the subject line Attach the story in a word doc. file only. No PDF or Google Docs or anything other than word doc or docx. DO NOT paste the story in the body of the email. Deadline August 1st 2000 words minimum, 10,000 words maximum Reprints acceptable as long as you own full publishing rights. We will try to respond to every submission but we may not be able to. We apologize in advance if we do not. Via: Nightmare Press's Facebook.

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 Payment: $0.01 per word. UNDERLAND PRESS is seeking mystery, crime, dark fantasy, horror, and other speculative types of fiction for a loosely-themed anthology to be released in the winter of 2020. This one is called "Eighteen," and is symbolic of the great river at night, where the wolves howl and all doors are open. All thresholds are possible, and every truth is elusive. The Eighteenth Tarot card is the Moon, and those who raise their arms to her know she offers Mercy and Severity in equal measure. These are stories of mischief and mayhem. These are stories of magic. Eighteen is in series with Thirteen: Stories of Transformation, which was published by Underland Press. You may find out more information about Thirteen . Submissions for Eighteen should be between 2k and 5k in length, and should be sent to [email protected]. Acceptable formats are .RTF and .DOC. Any other format may be deleted unread. Please include a brief cover letter. Payment for stories to be included in Eighteen will be $0.01 per word. The reading period for Eighteen is open now, and will remain so until August 1st, 2019. In extraordinary circumstances, longer stories may be considered. Please wait until August 15th to query if you have not heard back in regards to your story. Publication is scheduled for the spring equinox of 2020, when the wheel turns and the waters flow again. Via: Fire Bird Creative.

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 Payment: Royalty Split Submission Deadline : 1st August 2019 Anthology : What If? – Volume One Title : What If? Theme : Rewrite events in history…but with fantasy and magic! Word count : 5k – 10k Author eligibility : Open only to authors who have had stories accepted for a Black Hare Press drabble or short story anthology Reprints : Not allowed Simultaneous Submissions : Not allowed Multiple Submissions : No Publication : Expected to release on 5th November 2019 in Print and Digital formats Author compensation : Equal royalty split per word How to submit : See our submission guidelines for formatting. Send your story as an attachment in Word format to [email protected]. Your email title should be Anthology Name – Your Story Name – Author Name. For example; “What If Volume One – My Story – A N Author” Please include an author bio of up to 100 words and no more than two links. Please read the submission guidelines in full. Failure to comply could result in your submission being rejected. Whilst we are open to all genres and styles of writing, ultimately we reserve the right to reject topics that are not suitable for our publications. Please read the individual submission call information for guidance. Word count requirements, deadline dates and author compensation are detailed against each submission call. Hyphenated words will be counted as one word. Paragraph breaks are not included in word counts. All submissions must be in English. Submitting your work All submissions should be made by email to [email protected] unless the call directs you to a different address. Check the call first. In your email subject line, please include the anthology name, your story title, and your name – more information can be found in the individual call for submissions. Please remember to attach your manuscript to your email. In your email body, please include your pen name, author name (if different) and a short 100 word...

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 Payment: Contributor's copy, potentially pay as well depending on Kickstarter. Note: Sorry for the short turnaround, this just hit my inbox! You may remember a year or so back a girl found ‘Excalibur’ in Britain, in Dozmary Pool (where the Lady of the Lake lives), you may also remember a few months ago, another girl found a sword in Norway, which immediately made me think of Sigmund’s sword Gramr. This all got me wondering what other mythic weapons might be out there. Turns out there are a lot. So of course I had to wonder what happened if girls around the globe started finding these magical weapons. I tossed out the idea to a couple of forums and got a huge response. So of course those stories have to be written. This is where you come in. I’m looking for stories about those girls. Let me start off by saying, do not use Excalibur. If you want to mention Excalibur, it is found by a girl named Aggie Farrier, a school girl who lives in council estate outside of London. There are a huge number of other objects It doesn’t have to be a sword. Here’s a list to get you started: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mythological_objects Be creative. A knife or ring from Asia could find its way into a house in North America. Some research will turn up other possibilities. A word about cultural appropriation, be sensitive about things like whether your object is still important to a group of people, do your research, if in doubt, maybe use something different. I would love to see lots of multicultural stories. The story needs to be about what happens when a girl finds some mythical object. I’m more interested in the aftermath than the finding, so don’t’ spend most of your story...

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 NOVELS, NOVELLAS, COLLECTIONS We are looking for horror novels, novellas, and short story collections. No specific theme or subgenre. Please send submissions to [email protected], include SUBMISSION, book title, and your name in the subject line. Include the following: 1) A brief query in the body of the email. Make this the elevator pitch. 2) Attach a synopsis of the story in a word doc. file telling us the beginning, middle, and ending of the book. 3) Include a ONE page sample from anywhere in the book attached in a separate word doc. 4) Be sure the manuscript is completed. 5) If we like what we read, we'll ask for the first three chapters. If we like those, we will ask to read the entire manuscript. 6) Word counts: Novellas between 17k and 40k words; novels 40k to 120k words. 7) All stories in a short story collection must be written by the same author(s). Give us at least 50k words total for the entire collection. Deadline is August 1st.

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy Timeworn Literary Journal welcomes submissions of unpublished historical fiction stories in English under 5,000 words. They should be set before 1996, rooted in history but with a focus on narrative. Historical Fiction from the fringe means anything with a bend toward the surreal, the dream-like, the strange. The off-beat kind of story that settles into your heart long after reading. That said, we also value beauty and warmth and a generally well-written story with soul. Romance, Mystery, Crime and the Gothic are all acceptable. Speculative elements strongly encouraged. Think, The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neill. Think, The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt. Think, Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. Think, Longbourn by Jo Baker. While we love a tasteful sex scene, no erotica. No gratuitous violence or rape. History can vary a great deal based on the perspective it's written from. We aim to publish stories from all walks of life and encourage submissions from those in marginalized groups. Not sure if your story fits? Submit to [email protected] using Standard Manuscript Format in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced. Subject line should read: SUBMISSION: . Simultaneous submissions ok, but let us know as soon as the story is accepted elsewhere. Stories will be published in a limited quantity of hand-bound, saddle stitch publications twice a year, available for purchase in October and April for $10. Stories will also be available on our website for all to enjoy. Payment of $25 will be sent to authors upon acceptance + contributor copy upon publication. Via: Timeworn Literary Journal</a..

Deadline: August 1, 2019 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry, and $25.00 for nonfiction (all U.S. dollars). and a contributor's copy To celebrate twenty years of publication, we're going to revisit the past. There are no new first lines for 2019. Each issue will be comprised of original works based on past first lines. Were you inspired by the fall 2008 first line (Roy owned the only drive-thru funeral business in Maine.) but didn't see the sentence until 2015? Or maybe you started writing a story for the spring 2005 issue (Life would be so much easier if I were a cartoon character.) but you never got around to submitting it. Or maybe you sent us a story that just missed the cut and you reworked it and want to try us again. Well, now is your chance to make up for missed opportunities. The following is the schedule/list of first lines for the 2019 issues (click the season to see the entire list of first lines for each issue): Fall 2019 All submissions must begin with one first line from Volume 11, Issue 1 to Volume 15, Issue 4. Due date: August 1, 2019 A few notes: Don't just resubmit a story we've already rejected. We will know. We have every story submitted to us on file and why we rejected it. 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. However, if you used one of our past first lines for a story...

Deadline: August 1st 2019 Payment: 1 cent per word In 2016, horror fiction got a leg up in the Lone Star State with the publication of the uniquely Texan anthology, Road Kill. Now in its fourth year, and with the inimitable Bret McCormick at the helm, Road Kill seeks to give voice to both established and novice wordsmiths who walk on the weird side of the road. The guidelines are simple: Texas Tales by Texas Writers. Stories must take place in Texas and be written by native or naturalized Texans. If you were born in Texas and, for some insane reason, relocated elsewhere we'll still consider publishing your fiction provided it's brilliant. Familiar tropes like vampires, zombies and werewolves are not likely to make the cut. Be original. Terrify the reader! Is that asking so much? Submissions should be between 3,500 and 10,000 words in length. We'd like to pay more, but for this edition of Road Kill we'll be shelling out one cent per word. That means a 10,000 word story will receive a check for $100 USD. We are buying first publication rights. Stories must be original, never before published tales designed to haunt, shock and terrify readers in a big way. Writers will be free to publish the story as a reprint elsewhere after two years.  Road Kill Volume 4 will be compiled and edited by Bret McCormick. Send your best, finely polished stories to [email protected]. Include 'RK4 Submission' in the subject line. Submission deadline is August 1, 2019. But submitting tomorrow, instead of waiting until the last minute earns you brownie points. PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines...  * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * Double spaced * Absolutely NO extra lines between paragraphs! * 3.5K-10K word count * Write 'RK4 Submission' along with your name and story...

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 Payment: $25 Our first fiction anthology, Negative Space, will focus on the survival horror genre of video games, made popular by such legendary franchises as Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Amnesia. Although the term "survival horror" was first coined for Capcom's 1996 release of Resident Evil, it is now a widely used term in video game verbiage. Overall, the main goal of this anthology is to incorporate elements of the survival horror tradition into narrative fiction writing. So, in essence, what is survival horror? It is a sub-genre of horror video games in which the protagonist(s) must face dire situations in locations far off the beaten path by using the environment, or items found in the environment, to survive. While it's safe to assume that "survival" is a common element in most horror stories, there is an extra emphasis in a survival horror story. It could mean finding escape, or fortifying a position and awaiting rescue, or fighting the threat head on with the use of traps and/or under-powered weaponry. Think of Neil Marshall's film The Descent, or the last thirty minutes of Predator; that's what we're looking for. We are looking to publish around fifteen pieces of original fiction for this anthology. Please keep in mind that this will be an experimental collection that favors active horror stories over quieter, literary pieces. When writing your story, think of dangerous locales, overwhelming odds, makeshift weapons, cryptic journals, secret underground facilities, and deadly traps. For inspiration read Stephen King's "The Mist," or play the new Resident Evil 2 remake, or watch John Carpenter's The Thing, then try your hand at writing your own survival horror piece. We'd love to see what you come up with. Fiction Submission: Survival Horror. Word Count: 3,000 - 8,000 words. Payment: $25.00 + digital copy. Rights: We are seeking first time rights in print and...

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 Payment: $25 and a contributors copy Silent Motorist Media is currently open for submissions! We’re following our debut anthology, Mannequin: Tales of Wood Made Flesh (featuring Ramsey Campbell, Michael Wehunt, Richard Gavin, Matthew M. Bartlett, Jon Padgett, Christine Morgan, and many more excellent authors), closely with another themed collection of fiction, The Nightside Codex. Like Mannequin, we’re expecting a strong TOC, so be sure and send your best work! We’re looking for original weird horror fiction (think Thomas Ligotti, Nathan Ballingrud, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and the fiction published in Vastarien) within 2,000 to 6,000 words about haunted or cursed books, manuscripts, or online media. The texts dealt with should be products of your imagination–we aren’t looking for stories about Lovecraft’s Necronomicon or any other established pieces of unwritten fiction. Outside of these specifications, you are encouraged to take this theme as far as you can! Public submissions will close on August 1st, 2019. Please allow us at least a month following the closing of submissions to get back to everyone. A good portion of The Nightside Codex’s TOC will remain invite-only, so we’re only looking to obtain 5-7 stories from this submission call. Be sure to send only your best work to [email protected]. Please include your name and a short author’s bio with your submission. We are not looking for previously published pieces, and we strongly discourage simultaneous submissions. Fictional works accepted for The Nightside Codex will receive a flat rate of at least* $25.00 paid via PayPal, plus print and electronic contributor’s copies. *We are planning to attempt a Kickstarter for this anthology. If we’re successful, you can expect the $25.00 rate to raise substantially. When it begins, the Kickstarter will be announced on the SMM website, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. We’ll need your help to reach our goal, so please share our Kickstarter links as they become available.  Thank your for your interest in subbing to...

Deadline: August 1st, 2019 Payment: £20 per 1,000 words for prose, £20 per 15 lines for poetry, and £20 per image for visual art Where Blood Bath’s first two issues interrogated the corporeal, then the infernal, Blood Bath’s third issue looks to the metaphysical for explorations on terror, dread and the unknown. Submissions are now open for Blood Bath issue 3: HAUNTINGS Hauntings are some of the most versatile and interesting stories in the horror lexicon. Haunted houses, poltergeists, haunted objects, personal hauntings; all are welcomed, the only criteria for written submissions being that there must be a ghost (or a character’s belief in a ghost) that is linked to an object, place or person. We very much encourage you to get creative on the definitions and implications of these criteria. For visual art, the same criteria apply, but the restrictions are a little more flexible. Not every submission has to include the image of a ghost or haunted house, though we still want pieces that adhere to and complement the theme. If you’re not sure your art fits the brief, send it anyway. Ghosts and hauntings have traditionally been used to exorcise our cultural and societal fears, and the ones that have the most lasting impacts are ones that address and challenge those in a deliberate way. Social issues like race, class, gender and mental health all have a place in horror and we want to read stories about them. As always, we love a generous dose of weird with our horror, so if you can bring us to Hausu levels of madness, it will definitely be appreciated. We try to publish horror that pushes the margins of genre, so any genre defying/genre blending concoctions will also go down well. There are plenty of excellent traditional Gothic ghost stories, so if you’re...

Deadline: August 3rd, 2019 Payment: 8 cents per word Longevity -  Legends tell of people who lived a long time, like Methuselah. Some are just lucky (Lazarus Long), some have it thrust upon them (Lestat), some just naturally come by it (cats, bristlecone pines, megaliths), and some rightfully earn their immortality (Shakespeare, Sophocles). Is life extension possible via diets or genetic manipulation, and will there be side effects? Is ageism a real thing? Give us your speculative take (SF/F/H) on longevity and how it is achieved. Reading period: July 10 - August 3, 2019 (Note: shortened by a week so we can attend WorldCon) Writer deadline: August 3, 2019 Publication date: October 15, 2019 Third Flatiron Publishing is based in Boulder, Colorado, and Ayr, Scotland. We are looking for submissions to our (approximately) quarterly themed anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We want tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Light horror is acceptable, provided it fits the theme. Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Inquire if longer. Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today. For each anthology, we will also accept  a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do...