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Deadline: January 1st, 2020 Payment: $10 and a contributors copy This is the sequel to the first anthology Fantasia Diviniy ever released. Like the first book, we are looking for steamy stories, perferably with a fantasy or paranormal twist. For erotica and erotic romance. No necrofilia please (vampires and werewolves in human form are fine). No poetry. SPECIAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT: For this anthology, there is a requirement to submit. In order to submit you must have either had a story accepted and published by us in 2019, or have featured in volume 1.  If we receive a submission that doesn't meet the requirement, it will be returned. You will be allowed to resubmit your story once the requirement has been met. ​​Word Count: 5,000-15,000 (Please ask us before submitting a story that is over this.) Submission Deadline: January 1st, 2020 Response Time:  30 days from close of submission deadline. Compensation: $10, 1 Print Copy, 1 ebook Copy, Discounted Hardcover Reprints: No Multiple: If your story is rejected you may submit another one before the deadline. Simultaneous Submissions: Yes, but you must inform us as soon as it is accepted elsewhere. Estimated Release: November 2020 THIS ANTHOLOGY HAS VERY LIMITED SPOTS! ONLY 10 WILL BE SELECTED FOR PUBLICATION. Submission Guidelines Submissions and questions about submissions are to be sent to: [email protected]​ The subject line of your email must read: EVER DREAM SUBMISSION: In the body of your email, please include: your name, pen name (if applicable), author bio (written in third person), and word count. You will receive an automated message when your email is received. We respond to every submission, even rejections, so if you don't receive a response by the end of the deadline, please email us again. Via: Fantasia Divinity Magazine.

Deadline: January 1st, 2020 Payment: $75 paid upon publication + 2 paperback copies + 25 electronic copies for distribution to readers/giveaways Word count: 7K-15K Submission Window: June 1, 2019 – January 1, 2020 Payment: $75 paid upon publication + 2 paperback copies + 25 electronic copies for distribution to readers/giveaways Anthology Release Date: 10.27.2020.  Prompt and Theme: The end of October marks the final shift into darkness, also known as the liminal time of Samhain. During this period of time, the veil between our physical world and the spiritual world comes down, allowing more communication with the citizens of the Otherworld than at any other time of the year. Originally, Samhain marked the beginning of Winter in Gaelic Ireland. It was believed that the Lord of the Underworld walked the earth during Samhain, along with all his cohorts: ghosts, spirits, fairies, and many other creatures. How can you use this pagan holiday in your character’s lives? How can you bring a phantom into your story? Will the phantom be the lover come back from the dead? A new lover? Will your hero and heroine battle wraiths in the night? Will your characters face a seance? There’s a wide berth here. Have fun. Again, setting and tone are highly important. Samhain or one of its variants must be involved. For more information on Samhain and its respective variations, check out this article. Things to note: We love diversity in all its forms.  We love strong women with agency. We enjoy historical, contemporary, and even futuristic tales.  We appreciate lyrical prose and elevated storytelling, along with high-concept themes. We most definitely want a good romance, which means a Happily Ever After or a Happy for Now ending. We are NOT looking for erotica or horror.  Editors may request revisions. If you’re wondering what kinds of stories we’re looking...

Deadline: June 1st, 2020 Payment: $0.02/word or $25/story, whichever is greater. Genre: Horror Deadline: January 1, 2020 Release Date: October 21, 2020 Word Count: * Flash Fiction (500-1,500 words) * Short Stories (3,000-8,000 words) * Novella (12,000-25,000 words) Pay: $0.02/word or $25/story, whichever is greater. Wanted: Send me your chilling horror, your stories that are set firmly in the genre, tagging the tropes and atmospherics of things that will cause you to have nightmares and not be able to escape the dark, even when you pull the covers over your head and sleep with the light on. Submission Guidelines Send all submissions to: [email protected], addressed to the Editor, Rachel A. Brune. Follow submission guidelines and use the Crone Girls Press Style Guide to format your manuscript before submitting. Please. If you have any questions, a good place to get a feel for who we are is the Crone Girls Press Facebook Group. Come on in. We won’t bite. Most of us won’t, anyway. Each anthology will be anchored by one novella, with a mix of short stories and flash fiction. I am primarily looking for short stories to make up the bulk of each anthology, but don’t let that discourage you from submitting. Reprints and simultaneous submissions are absolutely welcome! If it is a reprint, please be prepared to let us know where it was previously published so we can include that correctly in the anthology. If it is accepted elsewhere, congrats! (But please, let us know.) One note about diverse protagonists (and characters in general): I find as a writer, sometimes it helps for the anthology call to explicitly indicate their inclusive status. That is what I am doing here. The determining factors in acceptance or rejection will always be quality of writing, adherence to genre, and general fit with the other...

Deadline: January 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: January 1st, 2020 Payment: $.05/word advance + royalties. Vernacular Books is pleased to announce we are currently accepting submissions for our anthology The Way of the Laser: Future Crime stories. What we’re looking for:  Crime stories that take place in the future. Preferably these stories will go beyond simple murders or capers to reveal something about how technology and the powers that wield it have changed our world. Is poisoning the nanobots responsible for programming the ads in your neural feed a crime? Is organized crime society’s only hope or responsible for its downfall? Consider what will constitute a crime and what unique problems it poses for your characters. Keep in mind what is criminal behavior one day may be legal the next and vice versa. We want to see people caught up in the pitfalls of society ruled by corporations, ideologies, and demagogues and what lengths people will go to when there simply is no other choice. Wow us with your original idea and blow us away with your writing. Length: 4,000-8,000 words Payment: $.05/word advance + royalties. Rights: World English in print, digital, and audio, exclusive for five years. Deadline: January 1, 2020/TBD Send submissions to vernacularbookssubmissions at gmail dot com. Via: Vernacular Books.

Deadline: January 1st, 2020 Payment: $50 CAD and a contributors copy Submissions Guidelines for Resiliency Limited Demographic The Resiliency project is open only to Canadian residents, citizens, or landed immigrants and asylum seekers. Canadian citizens living abroad are also eligible to submit. We will accept submissions in French as well as Indigenous or First Nations languages if an English translation can be provided. The project is funded by Calgary Arts Development and was awarded to The Selkie Collective. The Selkie is committed to working with marginalised and/or underrepresented voices and will only consider work by/concerned with: individuals identifying as women or non-binary; people of colour; minorities in predominantly white nations; refugees and first-generation immigrants; LGBTQIA+ and two-spirit communities; those living with mental illness, or physical or other disabilities; those persecuted for their political or religious beliefs; victims of violence, or domestic or sexual abuse; and those without access to higher education degrees, living below the poverty line, or who are/have been homeless or incarcerated. Theme The theme for the anthology is resiliency. The theme evokes recovery, what happens after profound change and upheaval, and how we carry on. The theme can be interpreted in any way you choose and artistic work does not have to be specifically set in Canada or feature Canadian symbols or themes. We accept all genres that fall under fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and submissions are open to writers of all ages. Compensation and Rights Successful contributors will be paid $50 CAD and will receive one physical copy of the anthology ($15 value). Simultaneous submissions are accepted but previously published material is not considered. For each selected story, we ask for exclusive first world English anthology rights in all print and electronic forms, and in all editions of the book. This means that the The Selkie Publications CIC...

Deadline: January 1st, 2020 Payment: $20 Ultrablack will be publishing a collection of short stories based on the prompt below. We will publish in Ebook and Paperback format. Writers will be compensated with a copy and given a bonus of $20 for accepted submissions (PayPal, Cashapp, Venmo) More details will follow if we chose your story. TITLE: “ULTRABLACK: the beasts” PROMPT: Short stories about original creatures. OUR SOFT SPOTS: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Realism, Gothic, Horror NOT ALLOWED: Furry, Fan Fic, Boring, Plagiarized Work, Unoriginal Creatures (Dragons, Werewolves, Big Foot) FORMAT: 12 Point Font New Times Roman Double Spaced 2,500 - 5,000 Words HOW TO SEND SUBMISSIONS: (( EMAIL, SUBMITTABLE, or DUOTROPE)) All Emails must have this format. SUBJECT Author Name and Title BODY Story Name Word Count Age Social Media or Website Author Bio or Notes/Comments Doc/ Docx or PDF Attachment ((NO LINKS)) Email to [email protected] DEADLINE - JAN 1 2020 RIGHTS - Non-exclusive SUBMIT Email Via: Ultrablack.

Deadline: January 5th, 2020 Payment: $10 Current theme: Misfortuneget Deadline: January 5th, 2020 We welcome submissions from both emerging and established writers. All work should be submitted via email to [email protected]. Submissions should be in standard manuscript format and include word count. Haphazardly formatted manuscripts will not be considered. Fiction submissions Please read our full guidelines here. ​ Language: English ​ Genres: Horror, any variant ​ Compensation: We are a privately funded, small-press magazine. For now, flat rate upon acceptance is $10.00 US dollars ​ Rights: Novel Noctule is granted exclusive, first rights to the submitted work upon acceptance for a period of six months. Exceptions require written permission from the publisher. Rights include worldwide audio and printing. After the six month period, the author is free to distribute the work as they see fit. Archival and re-publishing rights are maintained  indefinitely by the magazine on a non-exclusive basis. ​ No unsolicited reprints. ​ Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please notify us upon acceptance elsewhere. Poetry & Art submissions Poetry and art submissions relating to the current theme are accepted on a rolling basis. Please be advised that these are compensated at the standard flat rate. Via: Novel Noctule

Deadline: January 6th, 2019 Payment: $0.02/word or $25/story, whichever is greater. Genre: Dark Fantasy, Supernatural, Eerie Horror Deadline: January 6, 2020 Release Date: March 19, 2020 Word Count: * Flash Fiction (500-1,500 words) * Short Stories (3,000-8,000 words) * Novella (12,000-25,000 words) Pay: $0.02/word or $25/story, whichever is greater. Wanted: Seeking stories that explore the darker side of speculative fiction. We want stories that are scary or disturbing or upsetting, or that wouldn’t be out of place in a collection of Gothic prose or Grimm folktales or dark contemporary fantasy or a dark forest as night comes on … While horror is the name of the game, this anthology is for those stories that might not hit all of the tropes, but still leave us unsettled when the night settles in. Submission Guidelines Send all submissions to: [email protected], addressed to the Editor, Rachel A. Brune. Follow submission guidelines and use the Crone Girls Press Style Guide to format your manuscript before submitting. Please. If you have any questions, a good place to get a feel for who we are is the Crone Girls Press Facebook Group. Come on in. We won’t bite. Most of us won’t, anyway. Each anthology will be anchored by one novella, with a mix of short stories and flash fiction. I am primarily looking for short stories to make up the bulk of each anthology, but don’t let that discourage you from submitting. Reprints and simultaneous submissions are absolutely welcome! If it is a reprint, please be prepared to let us know where it was previously published so we can include that correctly in the anthology. If it is accepted elsewhere, congrats! (But please, let us know.) One note about diverse protagonists (and characters in general): I find as a writer, sometimes it helps for the anthology call to...

Deadline: January 7th, 2020 Payment: .04 per word Folk Horror continues to stalk sunlit fields and shadowed groves with its grafting of the mundane and the sublime. The pervasive themes of isolation, paranoia, depravity, loss of individuality, and rustic madness captivate and terrify audiences. Nosetouch Press is pleased to conjure up FIENDS IN THE FURROWS II: More Tales of Folk Horror, a call for submissions for Folk Horror from around the world—from Britain and Ireland, to continental Europe, to North and South America, Africa, and Asia. We encourage writers to continue to explore the wilderness of Folk Horror, while honoring the elemental essence of this subgenre’s tangled, grasping roots. SEND YOUR BEST ORIGINAL FOLK HORROR STORIES OF 4,000 TO 8,000 WORDS. SUBMISSIONS THAT ARE CHOSEN WILL BE PAID $.04 A WORD. NO POEMS OR REPRINTS, PLEASE. Email entries to [email protected] .doc or .rtf format • Please state “FIENDS 2” in the subject line. SUBMISSION PERIOD: NOVEMBER 1, 2019–JANUARY 7, 2020 Via: Nose Touch Press.

Deadline: January 10th, 2020 Payment: Contributor's Copy Thurston Howl Publications is now accepting submissions for its furry anthology, BENEATH THE SUIT. Deadline: Jan 10, 2020 Editor: Cedric G! Bacon Word count: 2,500-8,000; a little above and a little below will be acceptable What makes characters like Michael Myers, Jason, and Jigsaw terrifying? They all wear these uncanny masks. We rarely see the face beneath the mask. When they stand still, and their face follows you, it's creepy in ways that Freddy or the Werewolf can't pull off. Imagine ways that fursuiters and pup-players can do the same thing. This is a horror collection all about fursuits and pup hoods. It is perfectly fine but not required if submissions are NSFW. We are honestly expecting horror here, gritty, gory, and maybe even a little sexy. However, again, adult stories are by no means required for acceptance. Stories do not have to be set in a world that is "furry," but it's fine if they are! 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 then 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 only accept one per author (if any). Reprints are fine, but you have to own full permission of the work in order for us to consider it. We will not accept simultaneous submissions. Payment: Authors will receive a free copy of the print book. Send submissions in .doc or .docx...

Deadline: January 10th, 2020 Payment: 2 cents per word Horror Magazine Breaking Rules Publishing's Online And Hard Copy Magazine Comes Out Monthly. The submission level has been high - the next submission deadline date for the Horror Magazine is January 10, 2020. Send your submissions to [email protected]. The Scribe, Triangle Writers and Horror - are 100 - 125 page magazines that feature articles and tools to assist in the success of the writers and readers that subscribe. It also offers writers, published authors and young writers the opportunity to share their work, promote their novels, short stories or poetry. To submit your short story or poems to The Scribe - please email us at [email protected]. The submission deadline for ALL Magazines will always be the 10th of the prior month. Send all of your submissions to [email protected]. Submission Guidelines can be found under the "Guidelines" tab. *If your short story is accepted for publication in any issue of any of our magazines, you may be asked for an Author Byline and a piece of artwork such as a picture that compliments your story. Authors Submitting Articles -  Articles submitted by writers for our magazines will be unpaid. Writers submitting articles will however be given a full page authors promo package for their compensation. Please see the packages below. Via: Breaking Rules Publishing.

Current theme: BLACK & GREY All of us here at GST like tattoos; we have many. There is something about the process, the pain, the permanency that appeals to us (and many others I'm sure). For this collection, we would like your stories to do with tattoos or tattooing. Does your main character have them? Are they a tattooist? Is there something about a particular tattoo that is so unusual, special or strange that it just must be written about? Colp is for everyone and therefore we are willing to read stories that fall into any genre. So, no matter whether your story is a horror, adventure, romance, sci-fi or historical fiction piece, please send it on through. 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: Colp - B&G - Story Title. Word count: 1000 - 2500 words Deadline: January 11 2020 Payment: AU$5.00

Deadline: January 12th, 2020 Payment: CAD $0.01/word (i.e. CAD $50 for a 5000 word story), with a minimum payment of CAD $5 for accepted work. Theme: Fiction and poetry, with an emphasis on science fiction and works related to science Submissions are currently OPEN. The deadline for this submission period is January 12th, 2020. 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 1000 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...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: Contributor's Copy A Collection of Horrors Zimbell House is holding open submissions for short suspense-thriller horror stories about deadly games. Let your imagination roam and put our readers in the middle of the action. We want complete stories from the POV of the person that ends up dead. Start at the death, and work your way backward. What was the game? Why did the person agree to play? Who instigated the game? Was death really the stakes or just a terrible accident? Our readers want horror, but not gruesome details. The horror should come from the suspense, not the deeds. 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 4,000 and the maximum word count is 20,000. This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms. Submission Deadline: January 15, 2020, with a targeted release date of mid-April 2020. 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 4,000 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...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $10 Hello fellow travelers, We are now officially open for submissions for the fifth issue of Underbelly Magazine! If you're a writer looking for a place for your strange and disturbing fiction, check out our Submission Guidelines page and get in contact with us. If you're interested in seeing the kinds of things we're looking to publish, our first four issues are available for free here. The deadline for submissions is January 15th, 2020, so get writing and/or submitting! We look forward to exploring the Underbelly with you once more... What We Want: We are a semi-annual zine interested in Extreme Horror, Splatterpunk, Bizarro, LGBTIQ+, Adult Content freaky fantasy worlds and futures, ridiculous mash-ups, or anything just plain weird. Dark, twisted, and disturbing stories that push the envelope and explore the far reaching limits of the unnerving side of humanity. The things that people won’t talk about in polite company. The things that we all think about but refuse to acknowledge. Bring it to the light, let us look at it directly in the eye, and if we like what we see, we want it. What We Don’t Want: Don’t mistake permissiveness for blithe acceptance. We don’t want your gross-out rape fantasies, sick fantasies, unless there’s a good reason for it. We want art! Length/Payment/Legal Stuff: We’re interested in a wide range of lengths, from 1,000 word flash pieces up to 7,500 words. We would also be willing to accept longer stories on a case-by-case basis. A token payment of $10 will be issued upon publication. Be aware if you publish with us that any future submission of your story to another publication will be as a reprint, which can hurt its future value. We retain worldwide first publishing rights on your story for both electronic...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: Contributor's Copy All manuscripts should be in 12-point type, preferably Times Roman. All poems should be submitted in a single document. Fiction must be double-spaced, poetry single-spaced. Please send us your work as a .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf file via the Submittable portal below. We do not accept submissions by post. After submission, please do not resubmit until after we have responded with a decision. Our reporting time is three months; if you have not heard from us by then, feel free to query us at [email protected]. The author's name, address, telephone number, email address, and approximate word count should be typed at the top of the first page; all other pages should include the page number and the author's last name in the header. Please include a third-person bio of seventy-five words or less for all fiction, poetry, and art and photography submissions. FictionWe are looking for excellently written fiction between 100 and 5,000 words in length. It should be surprising, relentlessly engaging, fun, and humming with vibrancy. Include compelling characters, lively but minimal dialogue, and plots charting the unexpected. Poetry The poetry that we prefer is alive and idiosyncratic and that opens new vistas to the reader. We stay away from rhyming poetry, conventional forms, and love poetry unless brilliantly revisited. Three poems may be submitted (as a single document) at a time, with a total maximum of twenty pages. Art and Photography Good visuals show what is little seen or never imagined. Re-vision the mundane. Surrealism, wit, or a combination thereof is especially appreciated. General Guidelines- We are interested only in work that has not appeared previously in either electronic or print format. - Submit only one story or three poems at one time. If you have material under consideration with THAT,...

Deadline: January 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: January 15th, 2020 Payment: Contributor's Copy Submissions for our 2020 Brave New Girls anthology are now open! We're looking for volunteer authors willing to contribute their stories pro bono to this charity venture (proceeds from sales of all our anthologies are donated to the Society of Women Engineers scholarship fund). We understand if this isn't for everyone! We're working on a shoestring budget (still stretching dollars from our initial crowdfunding campaign in 2014), with our editors donating their time and resources to keep this series going. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2020. The criteria are that stories must be: About a teen girl (14-18) with an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math) Geared toward a tween/teen audience (10-18) PG in content, as many of our readers are very young, and we want parents/guardians/family friends to be comfortable giving these books to the children in their lives. No graphic sex ("sweet" romance with kissing and hand holding and such is fine), no graphic violence (bloodless comic-book-movie-style violence is fine), no swearing (biblical curse words, i.e. "hell" or "damn", and made-up sci-fi cursing, e.g. "frak" or "gorram", are fine) In the sci-fi category. We're open to any and all sub-genres (space opera, contemporary with speculative tech, historical with speculative tech, dystopia, cyberpunk, steampunk, solarpunk, dieselpunk, biopunk, silkpunk... all the punks) Between 2,500 and 10,000 words in length Standalone (no cliffhangers -- our readers don't seem to like them) We strive to be as inclusive as possible and encourage authors and characters from the whole range of human backgrounds, across race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, religion, national origin, ability, socioeconomic status, and more. Stories can be related to an existing world that you have the rights to (e.g. a spinoff to your novel), but must work independently so a new reader can come in...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $10 and a contributor's copy unpredictable, fearless, glistening, innovative… GREAT great weather for MEDIA seeks poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction for our annual print anthology. Submissions are open from October 15th through January 15th every year. Need a reminder? Sign up to our monthly newsletter. Our focus is on the edgy, fearless, and experimental but we do not have a set theme for our anthologies. We highly recommend reading one of our previous collections to get a feel for the type of work we are interested in. Our latest anthology is Birds Fall Silent in the Mechanical Sea. We are based in New York City and welcome submissions from both national and international writers. 1-4 poems of any length. If you are submitting more than one poem, include them all in a single document. Do not submit multiple poems in separate files. Single-spaced please, or how it should appear on the printed page. Start each poem on a new page. 1 prose/creative nonfiction piece, 2 if under 500 words. Maximum word count: 2,500. Multiple submissions (in the same genre) are not accepted and will not be read. Please wait until you receive a response from us before submitting again. Simultaneous submissions are fine – just notify us with your good news immediately. If you wish to withdraw individual pieces from consideration, click on the title of your submission in Submittable, click on Active, and add a note listing the title(s) to be withdrawn. If you wish to withdraw your entire submission, please use the Withdraw button. Please don't send revisions. You can always add a note to your submissions if there is something you need to let us know about. Payment: One contributor copy, plus $10 for writers based in USA. To help towards shipping costs, international writers receive one copy. We...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $10 and a contributor's copy Note: Submissions are free in their open call Window, be sure to choose the prose that doesn't require a tip jar unpredictable, fearless, glistening, innovative… GREAT great weather for MEDIA seeks poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction for our annual print anthology. Submissions are open from October 15th through January 15th every year. Need a reminder? Sign up to our monthly newsletter. Our focus is on the edgy, fearless, and experimental but we do not have a set theme for our anthologies. We highly recommend reading one of our previous collections to get a feel for the type of work we are interested in. Our latest anthology is Birds Fall Silent in the Mechanical Sea. We are based in New York City and welcome submissions from both national and international writers. 1-4 poems of any length. If you are submitting more than one poem, include them all in a single document. Do not submit multiple poems in separate files. Single-spaced please, or how it should appear on the printed page. Start each poem on a new page. 1 prose/creative nonfiction piece, 2 if under 500 words. Maximum word count: 2,500. Multiple submissions (in the same genre) are not accepted and will not be read. Please wait until you receive a response from us before submitting again. Simultaneous submissions are fine – just notify us with your good news immediately. If you wish to withdraw individual pieces from consideration, click on the title of your submission in Submittable, click on Active, and add a note listing the title(s) to be withdrawn. If you wish to withdraw your entire submission, please use the Withdraw button. Please don't send revisions. You can always add a note to your submissions if there is something you need to let us know about. Payment:...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $15 The New Gothic Review aims to cultivate thought-provoking short fiction that embraces the tradition of gothic literature and reimagines the genre for the 21st century. Aspects of gothic literature are alive and well in various other genres (Horror, Thriller, and Speculative Fiction). However, we believe that modern gothic tales, with their intellectual exploration of the macabre, the unexplainable, and the psychological, deserve a platform of appreciation entirely of their own. We’re currently accepting submissions for our first issue Deadline: 1/15/20   What we’re looking for: Original short fiction that has not been published anywhere else online or in print. We’re looking for literary-standard writing of stories that deeply embrace the atmospheric, the unknown, and the “dark.” Genre stories with a strong literary bend. Eerie atmosphere is key. Stories with Horror and Weird elements are welcome. Light Science Fiction elements OK. Original, modern fairytales are welcome. What we’re not looking for: Stories that contain gruesome violence, gore, or explicit sexual content. Fantasy. True Crime. Perspectives from serial killers. Word count: 2,000 – 7,500 words (though we keep an open mind) Rights: We want authors to retain all the rights to their work. We ask for non-exclusive rights, meaning you are free to take your work elsewhere even after we publish it. Payment: While this project is a labor of love, we believe that writers should receive payment for their work. Upon publication, we currently pay $15 for short stories we publish. In this early stage, we acknowledge that this payment is merely a token; however, as we grow, increasing our compensation for writers is our highest priority. How to submit: Whether you’re widely published or have never shared your writing with anyone, we want to hear from you. Please submit your work to [email protected], using the subject line (Submission-). In the body of the email please...

Deadline:       January 15, 2020 Payment:        .01 a word up to 7000 words Bring us your blossoming sociopaths, your creepy ironies, your ruthlessly ambitious characters yearning to breathe free. We want to second guess that character’s mental stability. We want a closer glimpse at the dark corner of the brightly lit kitchen. We want an insider’s view of the method in the madness. We want the unreliable narrators, the psychological breakdowns, the dangerous fixations, but leave the fantasy elements at the door: vampires, ghosts, zombies, and magic are on hiatus for this one; we are looking for realistic dark fiction. Think Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado,” O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Jackson’s “The Lottery,” Oates’ “The Corn Maiden,” and King’s “Apt Pupil.” We want to hear your Session 9. We can’t wait to see your Audition. Word count:     2000-7000 words, a little under or over is fine (but payment is capped at 7000) Response time:  Decisions will be emailed before March 15 Don’t sit on your submission until the deadline. Submit early. Call may be closed early if the anthology reaches its maximum word count. Multiple submissions:           No, thank you. Please send your one best story. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere, and if we select your tale, we ask that you remove it from consideration elsewhere immediately. No reprints; work must not have been printing elsewhere, including a blog or personal webpage. Publication date:       Fall 2020 Submission guidelines: •       Please use traditional Shunn manuscript format •       Include a biography of 50-150 words on the same document as your story. Previous publication is not a requirement for acceptance; we just want to know...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $20usd for original work, $10 for reprints. Note: Reprints Welcome Genre: Mystery/suspense   Publisher: Superior Shores Press   Editor: Judy Penz Sheluk   Deadlines: January 15, 2020. Late submissions will not be considered. All submissions will be acknowledged. Acceptance/rejections will be emailed to all submitting authors on or before April 1, 2020. Please, no simultaneous submissions.   Publication Date: *June 18, 2020 (trade paperback/Kindle; Kobo, Nook, Apple to follow at publisher’s discretion)   *The Publisher reserves the right to postpone and/or cancel due to unforeseen circumstances or if an insufficient number of qualified stories are submitted/accepted.   Description: A multi-author anthology of 21 short stories of mystery and suspense, with an overarching theme of Heartbreaks and half-truths. Estimated length: 250-300 printed pages in trade paperback format. An introduction, acknowledgments, and author bios will be included.   Submission Guidelines: Both previously published and unpublished authors are welcome to submit. There is no entry fee.   Authors may submit 1 (one) reprint or 1 (one) previously unpublished short story, ideally ranging between 1,500 to 5,000 words (though great stories falling “slightly” outside this range will be considered). Preference will be given to new material; reprint material will not exceed 30% of the collection.   Note: Authors of new material will be expected to work with the Editor promptly on any requested revisions to ensure the timeline for release is met without delay. Failure to do so will result in exclusion from the anthology.   For Reprints: Author must own the print and digital copyright and provide complete details of any previous publication(s), including website/blogs. Stories must not currently be available online in any format. Any online availability will immediately disqualify the submission.   Sub Genres: Traditional, locked room, noir, historical and suspense will be considered; however, do...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse is looking for short stories about, well cats and their women – their badass women. It’s time to turn the “man and his dog wandering through a dystopian world” trope on its head, and tell the stories about cats and their women in appropriately dystopian settings. We’re looking for stories that feature a strong woman with at least one cat, in tales that bring hope in the darkest of times. The “cat lady” in your story can be anyone who identifies as female and loves cats – and we welcome stories featuring older, wiser protagonists. “Hope” can range from a single person reminded that their life can improve to changing the course of the dark, dystopian world. However you tell the tale, we want vivid descriptions, engaging characters, and unique takes on the kinds of missions cats and their women would take on in a broken world. To Submit: Title: Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse Length: 4000 – 8000 words NOTE: We WILL consider reprints previously published prior to Jan 1, 2019, for which you have reprint rights. Please include the original publication information with your submission. Deadline: January 15, 2020 Anticipated release: late March, 2020 Exclusivity/Reversion of rights: We distribute our anthologies in both paper and ebook formats across multiple retailers. We ask for 6 months exclusivity post-publication, after which we continue to market the anthology, but you have the right to submit the story elsewhere, publish it yourself, etc., as you wish. Pay: Royalty-Share, via PayPal NOTE: A royalty-share anthology is only successful if all of the participants help with the promotion. We will provide art and marketing copy, and promote the anthology as we are able; but if you submit, you should also be prepared to promote the anthology to your readers – and share...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $20 and a contributor paperback copy Note: Reprints welcome but original stories preferred Death’s Head Press will be accepting submissions for Dark Stars, an anthology of sci-fi horror, starting December 1, 2019 through January 15, 2020 What we’re looking for: Death’s Head Press is seeking short stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. The short stories MUST HAVE ELEMENTS OF SCIENCE FICTION AND HORROR. Think the Alien movies or Event Horizon or Pandorum. We will only accept one submission per author for this anthology. So, send us your best! Simultaneous submissions are fine, but let us know if another publisher picks up your story before us. We are not scared away by graphic content. We can handle all the blood, guts, and sex you can dish out. Just remember, this is not an erotica or splatterpunk anthology. While we won’t turn your story away based on those elements, they aren’t necessary for acceptance either. How to submit: Email your submission to [email protected] with the Subject line reading DARK STARS ANTHOLOGY. Consider the body of your email the cover letter and tell us whatever you like. Just remember what was mentioned above: we don’t care about you, we care about your story. Then give us a brief description of your work (2-5 sentences). Let me repeat that, GIVE US A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR WORK. Attach your entire manuscript to the email in .doc, .docx, or .rtf formats. Use 12 pt font in Times New Roman. Your author name, email address, book title, and word count should appear on the first page of your manuscript. All subsequent pages should have your name, title, and page number in the header. Get your work as clean of grammatical errors as possible. We don’t expect a perfect manuscript, but if it is riddled with one mistake after another,...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $0.10 CAD per word (with a minimum of $20 for very short tales) Submission Guidelines (fiction) It’s AE Micro time again. We give you a theme. You send us a very short story. We pick the best and publish a microzine. This year’s theme is “stars“. Become a galactic idol, journey to a white dwarf, or follow your horoscope. We will select a minimum of five entries for publication in the microzine: three Canadian stories and two international. As always, we publish science fiction, though our interpretation of the genre is broad and ‘speculative’ fiction without a science-y feel is welcome. The word limit for this one is a minuscule 200 words. Requirements and details: Submissions must be previously unpublished (in print or online) and should stand alone (i.e., no excerpts from a larger work). Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your piece is selected elsewhere. Please submit no more than two micro submissions at a time. We buy First Serial and First Electronic rights and non-exclusive Audio rights. AE is proud to offer all fiction authors reimbursement of $0.10 CAD per word (with a minimum of $20 for very short tales), paid within 60 days of acceptance. Licensing: All content in AE is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives license upon publication. We believe in the Creative Commons mission and feel that it benefits both authors and their readers by allowing creators to reach the widest possible audience. Note that the use of the Creative Commons license has no effect on the ability or right of the author to sell reprint rights, film rights or other secondary rights in the future. Copyright remains at all times with the author, and commercial reproduction is prohibited. Response Time: we aim to respond to all queries and submissions promptly....

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $60 for each poem, illustration, or photograph, $80 for each flash piece (fiction or nonfiction), and $100 for each essay accepted for publication Theme: Writing and art that explores the unintended side effects or consequences of scientific advancement, including but not limited to the areas of biology, physics, chemistry, and geology. Issue 2: The Dark Side of Science (to be published on February 1st) Submissions Deadline: January 15, 2020 We’re looking for writing and art that explores the unintended side effects or consequences of scientific advancement, including but not limited to the areas of biology, physics, chemistry, and geology. An example of a piece that fits this criteria, and which we will be publishing in February, is artwork on the topic of human-created lead pollution, its history and its implications. If you have questions about the Issue 2 prompt, please contact us at [email protected] Poetry For this issue, we are accepting the following forms of poetry: experimental/hybrid, traditional, prose poetry, found poetry and poetry written in a non-English language, with the requirement that an English translation accompany the original. We aren’t considering long form, haiku, micro poetry or erasure poetry for this submission call. Send up to 4 poems in one Word document (.doc/.docx). Flash fiction/flash nonfiction Min: 500 words. Max: 1,000 words. Send up to 2 flash pieces in one Word document (.doc/.docx). Essay Min: 1,000 words. Max: 2,500 words. Send up to 2 essays in one Word document (.doc/.docx). Original illustrations and photography We're accepting all styles of illustration (including visual poetry) and photography. By submitting art, you are agreeing to a resized version of the art being published, to suit the online layout and aesthetic of the magazine. Send up to 5 pieces of art for consideration. Rights By submitting to Kanstellation Magazine, you...

Deadline: January 15th, 2020 Payment: $0.08 per word Theme: — Stories must play in some fashion on the idea of magic pens. Not just about writing. About magic pens. Thank you for your interest in the Community of Magic Pens anthology. Bottom line: — Send your unpublished, original, beautifully authentic story of 1-3000 words to [email protected] between 15 December 2019 and 15 January 2020 with the subject “Magic Pens Submission”. Format: — Please submit your story in text or Word format. As long as I can read and edit it (for purposes of feedback only), it’s fine. Not trying to stress people out about submission format. — Sorry, I’m using email for submissions again. I wanted to use a submission program this time, but the fees have gone up and I want to concentrate all our resources toward paying professional rates. — Include your: name, writing as, country (please specify if your residence is different than the country that claims you for taxes), and pronouns. If you are not familiar with specifying pronouns, this is not about the story (e.g. first/third person) this is about you: how we should refer to you (e.g. she/her). — Include the story’s: title, number of words, and primary genre(s) (e.g. romance, fantasy, contemporary, mystery). The genre designation isn’t important; just gives me an idea how you view the story. — Optionally, tell us anything else we should know: your background, whether the story has special meaning to you, etc. Please stay brief. — We are not trying to stress out writers with the guidelines. Not looking to get people on technicalities. If you have any accessibility needs beyond what we are providing, please let me know. — We are interested in new content crafted specifically for this anthology. We are not interested in reprints...

Deadline: January 30th, 2020 Payment: 2 cents a word, up to 1500 words ($30 max) for prose stories For the first time, Murder Park is open to submissions from the world at large. While we started as a small zine showcasing the work of L.A.-area authors, we have decided to expand the scope to consider work from anywhere, so long as it’s spooky! Submissions will be open through January 30, 2020, or until we have enough acceptances to fill the volume. What we want: Original horror or dark fantasy stories of no more than 2000 words. Sci-fi is also welcome so long as it’s scary. We don’t have a strong preference for any particular style or subgenre, but we do prefer writing that is more literary than pulp, that achieves its scares from impacts to fully realized characters as opposed to splatter, gore, or shock value.  We would rather be unsettled than grossed out. We will happily consider formats outside of traditional prose. Comics, email chains, tweet threads, and other methods of spooky storytelling are welcome. Don’t be afraid to surprise us. But please, no poetry. We are open to authors of all backgrounds and publication histories. Preference will be given to authors based in Southern California (we are an L.A. zine, after all) and to authors of underrepresented backgrounds. However, the strength of the writing and impact of the story is by far the biggest consideration. Hard sells: Parody/horror-comedy. Zombies. Clowns. Serial killer protagonists. Stories featuring gratuitous violence and gore at the expense of plot or character arcs. Anything with an explicit or implicit message of racism, sexism, queerphobia, or other bigotries is a definite no. Compensation: 2 cents a word, up to 1500 words ($30 max) for prose stories, and $30 flat for comics or other visual stories. Payment...

Deadline: January 30th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction Volume 2, Issue : Spring 2020 Coming in May 2020 Theme: Shattered Worlds Preferred Genres*: dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction Word Count: We are looking for short stories and novelettes ranging from 2,500 to 15,000 words, and poetry of up to 20 pages in length**. Submission Deadline: January 30, 2020 Some men just want to watch the world burn, and our Editor in Chief B.K. Bass is one of them! We’re looking for dystopian, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic science fiction for our Spring issue! Dystopian: Send us your visions for a grim future. What’s your version of a nightmare world? Is it a place of government oppression, constant war, or scarce resources? Is anybody fighting back, or is mankind trapped in a prison of his own making? Apocalyptic & post-apocalyptic: How does the world end? Whether it’s caused by climate change or nuclear war, we want to see what you think it would be like to experience the apocalypse or survive after it. *We hope to ensure that the majority of each issue fits a theme, but will consider other submissions for each issue. Stories in the Preferred Genres will receive primary preference, related genres and or themes will be considered next, and unrelated content will be given tertiary consideration. ** 20 pages in an 8.5″ x 11″ Word doc at 12 pt TNR or Courier, single-spaced with spaces between stanzas. Submission Guidelines Please read through this section thoroughly before sending your story! Submissions that do not follow these guidelines may not make it through our initial screening process. What to Include in the Email An introduction is always nice. Tell us who you are. Have we met, or did somebody refer you to us? Here is a good...

Deadline: January 31st, 2020 Payment: Royalties Reign of Queens (ROQ) (Rated R) Deadline – January 31st, 2020 Publication – May 2020 Word Count – 5,000-15,000 Theme – In these stories, women rule and worlds governed by men are a thing of the past. Whether righteous or downright sadistic, these authoritative female figures shape their worlds for better or worse despite the trials thrown their way. Note: No limitation on genre, setting, etc. 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 Souls Press.

Deadline: January 31st, 2019 Payment: 8 cents per word Rebuilding Tomorrow is a followup anthology to Defying Doomsday, which was an anthology of apocalypse-survival fiction with a focus on disabled characters. Rebuilding Tomorrow will again focus on disabled and/or chronically ill protagonists but, rather than focussing on survival in the immediate aftermath of an apocalypse, we want stories set a significant time after an apocalyptic disaster. We want stories that show society getting back on its feet and people who have moved past (or are in the process of moving past) subsistence-level existence into a new, sustainable world, even though it’s one that has been irrevocably changed by an apocalypse. We already have some fantastic stories lined up, but we want more! If you have an apocalypse story featuring a character with a disability, we would love to read it.   Submission Guidelines:   (One of) the protagonist(s) must be a character with a disability or physical impairment, chronic illness, mental illness or neurodiversity etc. We will consider stories with characters experiencing all kinds of disability and illness and hope that submitting authors will be creative with the possibilities. We feel strongly that disability or chronic illness (etc) should have a frequent (if not daily) impact on the character’s life. For example, a character with a deadly peanut allergy in a world where peanuts have been wiped out by a plague isn’t going to quite cut it. However, we are not looking for issue stories or stories where disability is the sole focus of the narrative. Some sort of cataclysmic event must have occurred well before the start of the story. We are open to a variety of past events, including apocalypses, alien invasions, devastating war, natural disasters etc. Be creative! The important thing is that these events should be in the past, although...

Deadline: January 31st, 2020 Payment: $130 and 2 contributor's copies I’m seeking all-new true crime stories for THE BEST NEW TRUE CRIME STORIES: SMALL TOWNS (to be published by Mango Publishing Group USA) Subject: True crime in small towns What I’m looking for: Well-developed thoughtful non-fiction content that offers readers more than dry reportage. Known, lesser known and obscure cases are welcome. Add something new to the discussion, a different viewpoint or angle. First-person accounts are especially welcome from writers with some connection to the crimes. Stories can take place anywhere in the world and during any time frame. Material must be meticulously fact-checked before submission, including dates, names, locations etc. No reprints accepted. Word count: 4,000-7,000 words One-time payment per story: USD $130, and 2 print copies of the book. Contributor fees paid approximately 1 month after publication. (Preferred payment method: PayPal.) For: Non-exclusive rights with one-year’s exclusivity from date of publication. Deadline for submissions: Jan 31, 2020 Note that I’ll be selecting material on an on-going basis. Writers are strongly encouraged to submit their stories in advance of the deadline date. Contact me with suggestions/queries at: TheBestNewTrueCrimeStories @ gmail.com Submission requirements: Format: double-spaced Arial 12-point Word document (sent as attachment). Do not indent paragraphs; instead enter one space between them. No irregular spacing between words or sentences. No footnotes or endnotes. If you wish to include a bibliography (optional), please use Chicago Manual of Style. American spelling and punctuation (i.e. double quote marks, etc.). Include your legal name, postal address, and an author bio of 50-100 words written in the third person. No simultaneous submissions please. In the subject line of your email: True Crime submission. If you don’t receive an acknowledgement within a week of submitting your material, definitely follow up! (For non-US-based writers, editor is not responsible for payment of VAT, if...

Deadline: January 31st, 2020 Payment: 1000-3000 words is $5 and longer is $10 Unfading Daydream is looking for unique and exceptional fiction to be showcased in our quarterly literary magazine. We strive to feature stories within the genres that have inspired us (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc) as well as stories that feature LGBTQ+ themes. We are currently not open for submissions. 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 sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc. We prefer stories that are between 1000-7000 words, but if you feel that your 8000 word story or your 700 word story is brilliant, we’d love...

Deadline: January 31st, 2020 Payment: $25 and a contributors copy Theme: Fiction set before 1996, rooted in history and voice-driven Timeworn Literary Journal welcomes unpublished historical fiction submissions in English under 5,000 words. They should be set before 1996, rooted in history and voice-driven. We're looking for "Historical Fiction from the fringe." Work with a bend toward the surreal, the dream-like, the strange. The offbeat 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, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ​ 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. ​ PLEASE NOTE we do not accept novel excerpts or poetry. For Book reviews and Essays please see Guidelines. ​ Guidelines (updated for 1/2020 call)   Story should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words. Send via e-mail to [email protected] Include a short cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Attach submission in .docx format. Use 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. One submission per person per cycle. ​ 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 + print...

Deadline: Jauary 31st, 2020 Payment: $50 Theme: Stories that are "scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad" What We Publish At 34 Orchard, we like dark, intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad. We like things we can’t put down and things that make us go “wow” when we’ve finished. But our main goal here at 34 Orchard is to publish the stuff we like to read, and you’re not in our heads. So don’t over think it. Just submit. Word Counts Short fiction from 1000 to 7500 words Poetry any style or length When We Publish We publish two issues per year, one in the spring (April) and one in the fall (November). Issues are hosted on this site as PDFs. Reading Period Our reading period for the Spring Issue is January 1-January 31. Our reading period for the Fall Issue is July 1-July 31. We only accept submissions, therefore, during January and July. Anything submitted to us outside those months will be deleted unread. Simultaneous Submissions Yes, we welcome and encourage them! Just notify us at [email protected] if it’s been accepted elsewhere as soon as you know. Multiple Submissions No. We only consider one piece per writer at a time. Reprints No. We don’t accept anything from our open submissions call that has been previously published. Formatting The usual: Times New Roman 12 point font/Double spaced Send as a .doc only (no docx, rtf, pdf) attachment to [email protected] Cover Letter: Just the nuts and bolts. Your name and contact info, the story/poem title, word count, if it’s a simultaneous submission, third person 100 word or fewer bio. Email Subject Line should read: Submission: “Story Title,” Last Name or Submission: “Poem Title,” Last Name Response Time Writers will hear back from us no later than February 28 for the spring...

etDeadline: January 31st, 2020 Payment: $25 AU Theme: Horror shorts We're looking for fantastic fantasy, super-duper science fiction,  Wonderfulliy Weird, and Macabre. ​ Think classic outer-worldly.  Think swashbuckling adventure.  Think stuff that would give Lovecraft the shivers.  Mad professors, demons of the dark, heroes, monsters, giant robots...  We could could go all day.  You get the idea. ​ New, unpublished writers are welcome! ​ Think you've got the chops?  Here are the rules: Under 18? No problem. Just send a note from your teacher or guardian with your submission, telling us it's ok for you to write for us. No gratuitous sex or excessive profanity.  No nasty sex of any kind unless it's inherent to the story, and not glorified.  Gore is fine if it's written well.  Hate speech, or material we might find offensive is not. ​ We pay a flat rate of $25 AU per original piece of fiction.  That’s low right now, but Rufo’s Dog is still a pup.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to pay more soon.  The best way for that to happen is for you to you tell all your friends to buy a copy and or subscribe, then we’ll have more moolah to throw at the next issue. We pay a flat rate of $100AU for any original colour artwork that makes the cover, and $25AU for any other artwork.  For commissioned work, payment is subject to negotiation with the individual artists. ​ For contributors with an Australian bank account, payments made via bank transfer are possible.  For international contributors, we prefer to pay via PayPal.  We do not pay via Western Union or similar services which charge payment fees.  WU charges $15 AU per transaction, and we just can't afford that. ​ Rufo's Dog will also provide a password and login for the full zine, valid for 12 months, for each contributer we publish. ​ No...

Deadline: January 31st, 2020 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Speculative stories--science fiction, fantasy, horror--with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology We are looking for speculative stories--science fiction, fantasy, horror--with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology, and for artwork for this site. Fiction Guidelines Technical details Stories can be up to 9000 words (thanks, Patreon supporters!). This is a hard limit--our submission system will enforce it. We pay 8 cents/word for original stories (or original translations of stories that have not previously appeared in English), and 4 cents/word for reprints (thanks again, Patreon!). Authors are paid once we've agreed on edits and signed a contract, prior to earliest publication (generally on our Patreon page). We are seeking 6 months' exclusive worldwide publication rights for original works (with exceptions for established Best of the Year anthologies), and non-exclusive worldwide print and electronic rights thereafter for both original works and reprints. We want to publish your story online in our webzine and keep it there indefinitely. We're also acquiring the right to offer ebook versions of the stories we publish, as Patreon rewards or for purchase; and to publish a print and ebook anthology of all the stories that appeared in the webzine over a given 1- or 2-year period. For original fiction, we want to be the only place publishing it for the first 6 months; after that, you're welcome to publish it anywhere else in any format you like. No multiple or simultaneous submissions. If multiple writers co-write a story, we consider each distinct group of writers a different submitter. In other words, if two people co-write a story, and they submit the co-written story, and each of them also submits a story written on their own, that would not violate our no multiple submissions policy. Submitting two stories co-written by the same two people would violate...

"Deadline: January 31st, 2020 Payment: 1 cent per word, a flat rate of $20 if under 2,000 words. Theme: Speculative fiction, whatever that means to you, be it Science Fiction, Fantasy, Steampunk, Magical Realism, Slipstream, or an as-yet-unnamed genre. The Overcast is currently open to submissions three times a year, during the months of January, April, and October. (Note we are no longer reading during July.  Our summers have just gotten too hectic.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Thank you for understanding.)   What We Want We are interested in speculative fiction, whatever that means to you, be it Science Fiction, Fantasy, Steampunk, Magical Realism, Slipstream, or an as-yet-unnamed genre.  Anything that looks at the world and life from an unexpected angle.  We want the original vision of William Gibson.  The magic and beauty of Erin Morgenstern.  The uncompromising voice of Margaret Atwood.  The technical brilliance of Ted Chiang.  We want to read stories that transport us to places that we've never imagined.  We want to still be thinking about a story days after reading it.  Be original.  Be amazing. We are based in Portland, OR, and shine a spotlight on writers hailing from, living in, or connected in some way to the Pacific Northwest, as loosely defined by the bioregion of Cascadia.  We feel there is an exceptionally strong talent pool of speculative writers in Cascadia, and we want to celebrate and promote them to a larger audience.  Roughly half the stories we publish are by PNW writers.  That said, we are not exclusive, and the other half of our stories come from authors all over the globe.  So no matter where you live, send us your stories.  If they make us laugh, cry, or turn cartwheels of astonishment, preferably all at once, we will find a place for them on...

Deadline: January 31st, 2020 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Short stories in the lesbian historic fiction genre The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast will be open for submissions in January 2020 for short stories in the lesbian historic fiction genre, to be produced in audio format for the podcast, as well as published in text on the website. Technical Details We will accept short fiction of any length up to 5000 words, which is a hard limit. We will be buying a total of five  stories. (If we get some really great flash fiction, there’s the possibility of more.) We will be paying professional rates: $0.08/word. The contract will be for first publication rights in audio and print (i.e., the story must not have appeared in either format previously) with an exclusive one year license. (Exceptions can be arranged by mutual consent for “best of” collections within that term.) Instructions on how to submit are given below. NO SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED OUTSIDE THE SUBMISSION PERIOD OF JANUARY 2020. What We’re Looking For Stories must be set in an actual historic culture--i.e., a specific time and place in history--and the plot and characters should be firmly rooted in that time and place. (No time-travel or past memories, please.) NEW THIS YEAR: Stories may include fantastic elements that are appropriate to the historic setting. For example, they can include fantastic or supernatural events or beings that people of that era considered to be real. Or stories may be modeled on the fantastic literature of a specific historic era and culture. The limits to this will necessarily be subjective. Stories must be set before 1900. We’d love to see stories that reach beyond the popular settings of 19th century America and England unless you do something new and interesting in them. Romance is optional, and romance stories...

Submission Window: January 15 - 31, 2020 Payment: $50 Theme: A story similar to the "survival horror genre of video games" Note: I don't usually post calls before they open but as there is a limited window and I like the theme, here you go! Status: Will re-open for submissions January 15 - 31, 2020 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, our 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 twelve 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...

Deadline: January 31st, 2020 Payment: For 500-3000 words – $10 USD Theme: Horror/dark tales related to 1920s. Can be based anywhere – Wild West, 20’s socialites, UK ala Peaky Blinders, etc Note: Reprints Allowed Note: Sorry for the short notice, didn't realize this had opened to the public Submission Deadline : Midnight 31st January 2020 Anthology : GROUP SPECIAL EDITION #4 Title : TWENTY TWENTY Theme : Horror/dark tales related to 1920s. Can be based anywhere – Wild West, 20’s socialites, UK ala Peaky Blinders, etc Word count : Drabbles or 500-3000 words. Author eligibility : Open to all authors Reprints : Only if rights have reverted back to you Simultaneous Submissions : Not allowed Multiple Submissions : Maximum of two submissions, one acceptance. Publication : Expected to release February 2020 in Print and Digital formats Author compensation : For drabbles – One digital copy For 500-3000 words – $10 USD plus one digital copy 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; “TWENTY – My Story – A N Author” Please include an author bio of upto 100 words and no more than two links. Via: Black Hare Press.

Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: $10 RAYGUN RETRO: A Science Fiction Anthology is now open for submissions. We're seeking science fiction stories 2000-6000 words in the style of 50s and 60s classic science fiction. Send us your best stories reminicent of Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Dick, Bradbury, and Vonnegut. Tell today's stories through the lens of yesteryear. One submission per author. Submissions close 1st Feb, 2020. Pays accepted stories $10 and an ebook copy. Send your stories to [email protected] No simultaneous submissions or reprints. SUBMIT YOUR STORY Submitting to Zombie Pirate Publishing is easy. Simply email your manuscript to [email protected] following the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page. We DO NOT accept reprints or simultaneous submissions. Your email should have your name, the story title, the word count, and the anthology you are submitting towards in the header and the body of the email. The attached word document should be labeled with this information as well. For example: 'Daddy-Adam Bennett-Full Metal Horror 2-6500 words.doc' Your submission should have a Word document attached to your email. Do not paste the story into the body of your email. Most programs including Google Docs will allow you to save your finalised work as a word document before submission. If you are unsure exactly what to do to set up your file correctly, download this document before you start writing. It is set up to be ready to go ASAP. Simply highlight the title, or author name or body of the document to replace with your own text. Google Docs version is available here for those without Word. Simply copy the document and change the name, and then click the 'download as' option in the file menu, and select word doc. This will save as a word document which you can then attach to your email.      SUBMIT YOUR...

Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry We love that writers around the world are inspired by our first lines, and we know that not every story will be sent to us. However, we ask that you do not submit stories starting with our first lines to other journals (or post them online on public sites) until we've notified you as to our decision (usually three to four weeks after the deadline). When the entire premise of the publication revolves around one sentence, we don't want it to look as if we stole that sentence from another writer. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line. Also, we understand that writers may add our first line to a story they are currently working on or have already completed, and that's cool. But please do not add our first line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our first lines. One more thing while I've got you here: Writers compete against one another for magazine space, so, technically, every literary magazine is running a contest. There are, however, literary magazines that run traditional contests, where they charge entry fees and rank the winners. We do not - nor will we ever - charge a submission fee, nor do we rank our stories in order of importance. Occasionally, we run contests to help come up with new first lines, or we run fun, gimmicky competitions for free stuff, but the actual journal is not a contest in the traditional sense. Fiction: All stories must be written with the first line provided. The line cannot be altered in any way, unless otherwise noted by the editors. The...

Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: $0.03 per word (USD) + contributor copy Theme: Stories that acknowledge humans as part of a larger ecosystem, for characters who strive for balance with (rather than dominance over) the creatures surrounding them, for settings that depict an optimistic balance of nature and technology. MULTISPECIES CITIES A science fiction anthology in partnership with the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, Japan Open for Submissions: January 1 - February 1, 2020 Story Length: 500 to 5,000 words Payment: $0.03 per word (USD) + contributor copy In order to attain better futures, we first must imagine them. But at this crucial tipping point for our planet, it’s important to imagine futures that include the many other species we share our world with. Cities tend to be anthropocentric—designed for the comfort and convenience of humans, often with little regard for the plants, animals, and insects local to that area. Science fiction tends toward anthropocentric as well, concerned with either the great achievements or failures of humankind. For this anthology, we want to see more-than-human stories that investigate humanity’s relationship with the rest of the natural world. We’re looking for stories that acknowledge humans as part of a larger ecosystem, for characters who strive for balance with (rather than dominance over) the creatures surrounding them, for settings that depict an optimistic balance of nature and technology. Authors may wish to envision futuristic cities where people and wildlife can thrive together, or urban landscapes re-designed to heal past ecological destruction. Characters might need to make tough decisions to maintain the multispecies ecosystem of a city, struggle to negotiate coexistence between human and non-human residents, or fight back against a project that would threaten the balance of that ecosystem. Stories could focus on conservation efforts for currently living species, or explore...

Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: Contributor's Copy Theme: What happens when we transform the much beloved style and stories and characters of Dr. Seuss into something much more nefarious? Thurston Howl Publications is now accepting submissions for its horror parody anthology The Grinch Has Eyes. ​ Deadline: February 1, 2020 Word count: 100-8,000; a little above and a little below will be acceptable ​ Everyone knows Dr. Seuss. He is famous for works like Fox in Socks, Cat in the Hat, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and many, many more. But what happens when we transform the much beloved style and stories and characters of Dr. Seuss into something much more nefarious? This horror anthology seeks to celebrate horror in a tongue-in-cheek way that is all too...grinchly. ​ I am anticipating three possible ways to read this prompt (but I am open to others): Telling a unique horror story as if you were Dr. Seuss Turning a Dr. Seuss story into a prose horror story Throwing Dr. Seuss characters into a horrific world outside Dr. Seuss’ universe All of these are fine and valid! I encourage all kinds of horror: sci fi horror, slashers, erotic horror, creature horror, body horror, etc. ​ 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 then 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 only accept one per author (if any). Reprints are fine, but...

Deadline: February 1st, 2020 Payment: Potentially royalty split Theme: All "great" sci-fi themed ones are welcome but the general ideas they're looking for are Antarctica, climate change or AI Note: This is way off base from what we'd usually list but I came across it and it sounded interesting, so there you go! Science Fiction Theatre Festival: Antarctica 19th - 23rd May 2020 London,UK  7pm, 3:30pm Submissions for Horatio Productions' Science Fiction Theatre Festival 2020 are open! ​ This will be the third edition of the festival. The festival is headlined by Horatio Productions' latest show, which is on every day of the festival followed by short plays. This year's production is called Antarctica written and performed by Juan Echenique, directed by Fumi Gomez. The short plays are selected and curated carefully by the core members of the company: Juan and Fumi. Please keep in mind that the short plays DO NOT need to be inspired by Antarctica, climate change or AI. If they are great, if they aren't that's great too. We just want mind-blowing sci-fi short plays! ​ Submissions open: ​ We're looking for groundbreaking short science fiction plays, for writers coming from all walks of life, for daring and innovative creators, for new ideas, revolutionary dreams, crazy stories, for the bold, the daring, and the unique. These are the details: ​ Length: Up to 15 minutes per play. Cast: Up to 4 performers. Set restrictions: The stage will be shared with several other companies; time for setting up will be minimal, so don't submit anything that involves complicated set design, or too many props. Submission limit: Writers can submit as many plays as they want. We will do our best to read all the material sent, and to get back to every applicant in due time. We do not encourage re-submissions unless substantial edits have been made to the script....