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13 events,
Taking Submissions: A Monster Told Me Bedtime Stories
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: horror stories about bedtime, dreams, sleep, and nighttime in general! Note: Reprints welcome We’re looking for horror stories about bedtime, dreams, sleep, and nighttime in general! The parameters for this project are intentionally broad, and the possibilities are endless – monsters under the bed, horrors hiding in closets, things that go bump in the night, beings that lurk on the shore between dream and reality, nightmares that come true, scary (and original) bedtime stories, and whatever else you’re inspired to write! (Please note: this anthology is not aimed at children, but we are open to stories appropriate for children.) Deadline: April 30th or until filled. 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. ANTHOLOGIES: At this time, we are primarily seeking short stories between 500 and 7500 words for themed anthologies. These submissions will be given priority. You will be notified whether your submission is accepted or rejected. For anthology pieces, you will be notified no later than four weeks after the submission deadline. For all other pieces, you will be notified within 10 weeks of the date of your submission. If you have not received a response by that time, please email us. Via: Soteira Press.
Taking Submissions: The Half That You See: Nightmares, Deliriums, and Illusions
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: .01 a word Theme: Literary horror stories that contain major plot elements of nightmares, illusions, hallucinations, delusions, or waking dreams Note: Slightly early listing on this one Dark Ink Books, the home of Tom Savini’s and Kane Hodder’s official biographies, is proud to announce an open call for submissions for its newest thematic horror fiction anthology. “Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.” -Edgar Allan Poe, The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether For this submission period, we are asking for literary horror stories that contain major plot elements of nightmares, illusions, hallucinations, delusions, or waking dreams. Quality of writing, adherence to call parameters, originality, and alignment with other stories selected for publication are the determining factors in selection or rejection for this anthology. Working Title: The Half That You See: Nightmares, Deliriums, and Illusions Submissions will be accepted April 1, 2020 through April 30, 2020 only. Response time: Decisions will be emailed before June 1. If a submission is held for more than three weeks, it is likely being considered for publication. Payment: .01 a word up to 7000 words (firm) Word count: 1500-6500 words (a little over is fine, but make it worth the space) Multiple submissions: No, thank you. Please send your one best story. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know right away if your work is accepted elsewhere, and if we select your tale, please remove the work from consideration elsewhere immediately. No reprints; work must not have been printed elsewhere in any language, including on a blog or personal webpage. If your previously unpublished piece is accepted for publication in this anthology, Dark Ink takes First Print, Electronic, and Audiobook Publishing Rights...
Taking Submissions: Pixies, Fae, and Sprites: A Mythical Rebellion
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: $25 and 2 contributors copies Theme: Rebellious pixies and fae Submission deadline has been extended to April 30th, 2020! We are seeking short stories of up to 10,000 words that deal with the theme of rebellious pixies and fae. Please limit your topic to the mythical beings commonly described as fae (do not submit stories of mermaids, trolls, werewolves, vampires, zombies, unicorns, dragons, or other legendary creatures). Accepted submissions will be notified via email. All accepted authors of the anthology will receive a one-time payment of $25 and two free copies of the published anthology in either ebook or print format. Please send your submission to [email protected] as an attachment with the word “submission” in the subject line of the email. Multiple and simultaneous submissions are accepted, and there is no reading fee. Estimated response time is up to eight weeks. Via: Corrugated Sky.
Taking Submissions: Historic Fantasy
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Stories that offer a riveting reimagining of a historic time period imbued with fantasy and magic. What we want Five original, previously unpublished, literary fantasy short stories between 1000 to 5000 words for our Historic Fantasy Anthology. We are seeking stories that offer a riveting reimagining of a historic time period imbued with fantasy and magic. As always, we prefer stories with a literary quality built upon strong characters, spellbinding language, and believable world-building. If your work is accepted, we will ask you to send us an author’s note (around few hundred words) related to the story that we can include in the anthology. * Deadline We will be accepting submissions until April 30, 2020, or whenever the anthology is filled. The anthology will be published within ninety (90) thereafter. * Response Time, Simultaneous, & Multiple Submissions We will do our best to respond to your submission within one month. Please feel free to check-in with us if you have not heard back after four weeks. We allow simultaneous submissions but ask that you notify us as soon as your story is accepted elsewhere We do not accept multiple submissions. You are welcome to submit again as soon once we have responded to a previous submission. * Editing, Rights, & Payment If we accept your work, we may request minor line-edits for grammar, punctuation and clarity. You will have the opportunity to review and discuss all edits with us before the final version of your work is published. * We ask for First World Serial Rights, First World Electronic Rights and Exclusive Rights for ninety (90) days from the date of first publication. We also ask for Non-exclusive Anthology Rights. Lastly, we ask for Non-exclusive Audio Rights to publish an audio podcast of the work if we so choose. Stories will be published on both our website and as part of...
Taking Submissions: Visions of Darkness: Volume 1
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: Dark fantasy and horror with a historically inspired setting Theme: Royalties VISIONS OF DARKNESS, VOLUME ONE Visions of Darkness, Volume One, is the first of a planned annual anthology of dark fantasy tales to be released each October. What we are looking for Genre: Dark Fantasy Word Count: 7,500 – 20,000 words Deadline: April 30, 2020 Submission Guidelines 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 place to remind us. The elevator pitch. In one to three sentences, what’s the selling point for the story? What’s it about? What makes it stand apart? What are the genre(s), main theme(s), and word count? The dreaded synopsis. Try to keep this around 500 words or less. We don’t need to know who everybody is or every detail of what happens in the story, just the broad strokes. Give us an idea of what to expect. Think of it like a movie trailer in text! The Manuscript Please attach your manuscript to the email in standard manuscript format as a Word document (.doc or .docx). This should be double-spaced in 12 point Times New Roman or Courier (we prefer Courier) with non-spaced, indented paragraphs. Ensure that your legal name, address, email address, and the word count appears at the top of the first page. If you are not familiar with standard manuscript formats, please review this article. Only original, unpublished submissions will be considered. What is dark fantasy? The definition of dark fantasy can be debated, but it is generally any story with fantastic or supernatural elements that incorporate horror themes and/or a gloomy atmosphere. In all, the genre is hard to pin down with any specific...
Taking Submissions: PUNK: An Anthology of Poetry
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: $10 and a contributors copy Theme: Punk! punk 1. a loud, fast-moving, and aggressive form of rock music 2. a worthless person (often used as a general term of abuse) 3. an inexperienced young person 4. a criminal 5. substance that smolders when ignited 6. in poor or bad condition 7. to trick or deceive 8. to utterly defeat How do you define “punk”? Give us your take on the nuances of this word! Edited by Christine Taylor, a collection of poetic voices ready to explode. Submissions are open February 1, 2020 through April 30, 2020. Please send ONE previously unpublished poem of any style, form, and length that speaks to the vision of the anthology to [email protected] with the subject line “ANTHOLOGY— .” Submissions are free and open to all, including current contributors to the journal. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. We ask for First World Rights upon acceptance, and rights revert to the author upon publication. Contributors will receive a $10 USD honorarium and one copy of the anthology Via: Kissing Dynamite Poetry.
Taking Submissions: Spirit Walker
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: Contributors Copy Theme: Short tales about Native-American healers. Let your imagination roam and put our readers in the middle of the action. We want complete stories from the POV of the spirit walker. We are looking for tales that delve into the rituals and history of being a healer. How does one become a spirit walker? Can a tribe have more than one? How are they chosen? What are they asked to do by the tribe? Do they live apart? Do they have assistants or apprentices that help them? Are they reincarnated? Do they live many lives? 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 17,500. This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms. Submission Deadline: April 30, 2020, with a targeted release date of mid-June 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 4,500 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...
Taking Submissions: DECODED: a SFFH story for every day of Pride month
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 (not in post, confirmed on Twitter from the publisher.) Payment: Flash short story (up to 250 words) – $25, Short story (up to 2500 words) – $100, Long form (up to 7500 words) – $200, Comics – $75 Theme: Queer science fiction, fantasy, and horror by queer authors Decoded is a story-a-day anthology of queer science fiction, fantasy, and horror by queer authors. We will feature writing and comics released to subscribers every day of Pride month. If you want to get an email when subscriptions become available, please sign up for our email list. We are both avid readers, and as such, we welcome a wide array of subject matter. Everything from experimental comics to thinly-veiled fanfiction to good old formulaic genre is right up our alley, so don’t disqualify yourself – submit! Our only rule for the month is that you’re a queer creator – and that you bring your A-game! The point is to create a space for queer folks to build community as fiction writers and comic creators. We seek to center the voices of those most marginalized within queer communities. We want to facilitate works with queer themes, writers, and audiences. If that sounds like you, read more below about logistics and how to submit your story. Fees paid to authors Flash short story (up to 250 words) – $25 Short story (up to 2500 words) – $100 Long form (up to 7500 words) – $200 Comics – $75 Fees will be paid via PayPal. Submitting stories Please email your submission to [email protected] with the title “DECODED SUBMISSION – ” by midnight on April 30th. Attach your submission in a word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced with one inch margins (or something similar). For comics, email us the best way...
Taking Submissions: The Overcast Podcast
Deadline: April 30th, 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...
Taking Submissions: Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: 2¢ per word for original stories ($15 flat rate for reprints) Theme: Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered will contain short stories that pay tribute in some way to Jules Verne’s novel. Note; Reprints Welcome Pole to Pole Publishing is seeking fictional short stories for its upcoming anthology, Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered, to be published in June 2020, on the sesquicentennial of Jules Verne’s work. Since June 20, 1870, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea has been hailed as a classic, translated and reprinted in numerous book versions, transcribed for stage, movies, and TV miniseries, made into video games and a theme park ride. The book has inspired countless submariners, undersea explorers, and ship designers, not to mention armchair adventurers. We can’t let this anniversary pass unnoticed, so will launch this anthology as our tribute to the Father of Science Fiction and his masterwork. Pole to Pole Publishing welcomes Steven R. Southard as a co-editor of this anthology. Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered will contain short stories that pay tribute in some way to Jules Verne’s novel. Set your story in any time or place; use characters from Verne’s novel or make up your own. You need not write in Verne’s style. The mood of your story need not be dark, as other Pole to Pole Publishing anthologies have been. Aim to capture, in your own way, the sense of wonder and adventure for which Jules Verne is famous. The connection between your story and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea must be obvious and significant, and your story must not disparage either the novel or its author. 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...
Taking Submissions: It’s a Matter of Time!
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: $20 or 2 paperback copies for US residents, $20 for everyone else around the globe Theme: Time Travel Get ready! Smoking Pen Press will be issuing a Call for Submissions for a short story anthology for our Read on the Run series. We do not yet have a title for this anthology, but the theme is Time Travel. Sci-Fi, Romance, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure … Yes! We welcome stories involving all types and aspects of time travel. Multiple submissions accepted. Simultaneous submissions permitted, but please let us know immediately if your submission is accepted elsewhere. Reprints are accepted as long as all rights have reverted to you; please identify your submission as a reprint when you send it in. Note: all selected stories (including reprints) will be edited before publication. The Call for Submissions will be open from April 1-April 30, 2020. Stories should be between 1,200 and 6,000 words. Submissions should be polished, (ie, not first draft) in Word (.doc or .docx) format, and written in English. Send to [email protected] as an attachment. Stories submitted before April 1 or after April 30 will not be considered. All stories submitted during the open Call will be acknowledged within three days of receipt, and authors of stories submitted during the open Call will be notified of a decision by June 1, 2020. There is no submission fee. As with all previous Read on the Run titles, this title will be published in both digital and paperback form. US and Canada authors of stories that are selected will receive their choice of a one-time payment of $20 USD, or 2 copies of the paperback; non-US/Canada authors will receive their choice of a one-time payment of $20 USD, or one copy of the paperback. For more information — email us at [email protected] Remember: Submissions accepted: April...
Taking Submissions: Rufo’s Dog Science Fiction
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: $25 AU Theme: Science Fiction 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...
Taking Submissions: Devouring Earth
Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: $5 We adore Godzilla, we watch in rapture whenever giant monsters storms across a story, crushing cities, dreams and of course any other monster that gets in its way. Sure, so many of those old movies are hokey as sin now, hardly watchable at times. But we have faith that you can make us tiny mortals tremble once more. We want your stories of massive monsters causing mayhem, from strange things rising from the ocean to dragons emerging from subway tunnels. We crave destruction on a scale that only the Kaiju can bring. We will not accept any stories about rape. Racism/Sexism/Bigotry of any form will never be accepted here. Stories over 1500 words preferred. Double check your grammar and spelling. Format your story correctly. Please submit all stories in DOC/RTF format. We prefer stories that have not been published before. We prefer to avoid multiple and simultaneous submissions. We retain exclusive publishing rights for 12 months. We pay $5.00 for stories We provide a digital contributor copy free and at cost+shipping physical copies Acceptance/Rejection letters will be sent out once submissions are closed. Submissions Will Close When Enough Stories Have Been Collected or on 4/30/20 Via: Madness Heart Press.
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Taking Submissions: Brewtality: Alcohol Infused Extreme Horror
Deadline: May 1st, 2020 Payment: 3 cents per word and a contributors copy Theme: Extreme horror which involved alcohol Some call it courage in a bottle while others perceive it as the devil’s cocktail. Alcohol comes in all shapes and sizes, bringing along with it the temptation of sin, the eagerness of confusion and the psychological bombardment on the mind and senses forcing us to play a game between life and death. BREWTALITY will dive deep in the subconscious where the demons swim, blinding our judgment and guiding us to make bad decisions without revealing the consequences. 3,000 word max Must have elements of Extreme Horror. NO REPRINTS No simultaneous submissions No violence/sex towards children Pay: 3c per word paid through Paypal + (1) print contributor copy 1-year exclusive rights Send as a .DOC or .DOCX attachment to [email protected] with the subject line: BREW SUBMISSION: Title by Author Name Do not copy/paste story in body of email. Include a very brief bio just to break the ice. Deadline May 1 Responses by June 1 Via: The Evil Cookie.
Contest: Remastered Words Audio Anthology
Deadline: May 1st: 2020 Prizes: £75 (1st), £50 (2nd) and £25 (3rd) Themes: One Last Chance It’s 2020 and believe it or not, our fifth year of producing audio anthologies! Keeping this show on the road entails a lot of work and money, but I’m sure you’ll agree the outcome has been very entertaining. What makes all of this possible though are your stories that you submit and the precious time our judges give up to read the shortlisted work. So with it being our fifth anniversary we wanted to do something a little different and run a theme for this year’s anthology. The title will be ‘One Last Chance’. There’s no specific names or worlds, it’s simply going to be an image. All of the other rules around submissions still apply which you can check here, only the tale must include the scene from the picture below… CLICK HERE TO SEE IMAGE Stay tuned as we release further updates on this year’s judging lineup and the additional authors that will share a spot with our winners on Remastered Words 2020 Audio Anthology. Also why not take a look at some of our Write Advice articles on short story writing to get you started. We can’t wait to see what you’re going to come up with and the tales you’re going to tell! Prizes Authors of the top three selected stories will receive a one time payment of £75 (1st), £50 (2nd) and £25 (3rd), as well as having their stories produced as an audio work by Remastered Words. Samples of these stories will be made available to listen to on our website and will also be created into an audio anthology. Authors will receive a 30% share of the royalties that will be split between the winners. Schedule We are open...
Taking Submissions: The Gray Sisters
Deadline: May 1st, 2020 Payment: $30 Theme: Modern faerie tales to explain the 20th and 21st centuries Myths and faerie tales have been historically used to explain the world or enforce societal behaviors. The Gray Sisters are looking for tales that explain the events or enforce the behaviors of the 20th and 21st centuries in fanciful ways. The stories don't strictly need to take place in this world, but they do need to relate back to its existence or behavior. Examples: - A new explanation for a phenomena or occurrence that has happened or conceivably will happen within your lifetime. - Using old characters or creatures in new stories. - Telling an old story in a modern way, (it should be nearly or completely unrecognizable from its old form.) Submissions may have adult themes and language and they may be violent or graphic. However, these things should be used for the quality of the story and not shock value or shortcuts. Submissions should be between 1000 and 3000 words, in English, fully edited and on theme. If you have any further content questions, please see the FAQ section or the Contact Us sections of this site. Submissions for our Summer 2020 Issue are open from December 22nd 2019 to May 1, 2020. Selections will be emailed out from mid to late May, and critiques (for those who chose them) will be emailed out before the next issue is published. Submissions should be between 1000 and 3000 words, in English, fully edited and on theme. If you submit a piece you are attesting that - it is your own work, ...
Taking Submissions: Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers Volume 5
Deadline: May 1st, 2020 Payment: 1c per word Theme: Note: Texas authors only TEXAS’S 1ST AND ONLY HORROR ANTHOLOGY—Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers—is currently accepting submissions for Volume 5 (RK5). THE GUIDELINES REMAIN THE SAME: Texas tales by Texas writers. Stories must take place in Texas and be written by native or naturalized Texans. Be original. Be scary. Be weird, wild, wacky and/or insane. But be scary. SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE BETWEEN 2,500 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. Contributors will be free to publish the story as a reprint elsewhere after two years. RK5 will be compiled and edited by award-winning author and Road Kill co-creator, E. R. Bills, and published by HELLBOUND BOOKS PUBLISHING. Send your best, finely polished yarns to erbillsthinks at gmail.com. Include ‘RK5 Submission’ in the subject line. Include your current address and phone number. Submission deadline is May 1, 2020 But submitting sooner rather later, earns you brownie points. PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines. * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * single-spaced * 2.5K-10K word count * Write ‘RK5 Submission’ along with your name and story title in the header of your submission *The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. Attach your story to email. *Make sure that you check your manuscript for grammar and punctuation. NO REPRINTS—ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY. Payment—1c per word for first rights
Taking Submissions: Thinking Horror Vol. 3: Folk Horror
Deadline: May 1st, 2020 Payment: $20 Open for submissions from the first of May, 2019 until the first of May, 2020. After much back and forth about what the third volume would focus on, we have realized that all roads were leading back to the Rome (as it were) of Folk Horror, and we are immensely excited to explore the fields and hollows, tenements and seashores, where the notions of folk tradition abut and subsume the contemporary. Where the past and the now collide. We do hope you’ll join us. GENERAL GUIDELINES THINKING HORROR is a journal dedicated to exploring horror in literature exclusively. We do not publish articles or essays concerning any other medium (such as films, television, or games). The unofficial theme of the literature journal is “Why Horror?” We are looking for non-fiction articles about the genre written by the people who generally think most about it. Interested contributors must submit a short proposal to the editors outlining the proposed topic. It needn’t be long, just so long as it communicates the topic and the goals of the essay. This will help prevent repetition, or work on something that ultimately does not fit the journal’s intentions. We are not accepting interview proposals at this time. When imagining ideas for the literature journal, please keep in mind the idea of ‘timelessness’. In other words, material that would date the journal isn’t encouraged, unless a strong case can be made for it. The hope/goal of the journal is to have its issues remain releveant in perpetuity. We do not publish articles or essays concerning any other medium (such as films, television, or games). The sorts of articles we envision/encourage: • analysis of specific authors and how their work illuminates the genre as a whole • discussions of movements like Splatterpunk and New Weird • essays on the different facets of written horror (i.e. Nightmare Horror, Folk...
Taking Submissions: The First Line – Summer 2020
Deadline: May 1st, 2020 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry Theme: Story must begin with: The door was locked. 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...
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Taking Submissions: Weird Tales
Deadline: May 2nd, 2020 Payment: .10/word Theme: Horror and dark fantasy, cosmic horror, swords and sorcery, dark science-fiction, and downright weird. Stuff that doesn’t really fit elsewhere. Cross-genre stories welcome. Stories that define ‘weird’. Our next issue will be out this summer and we’re starting work on the issue after that. Although we have a solid roster of amazing talent, I’m holding ONE slot for open submissions. Here are the submission guidelines. THEME: Horror and dark fantasy, cosmic horror, swords and sorcery, dark science-fiction, and downright weird. Stuff that doesn’t really fit elsewhere. Cross-genre stories welcome. Stories that define ‘weird’. EXCEPTIONS: No gratuitous sex (story appropriate sexuality is okay). Harsh languages is not a problem. LENGTH: 5-8k words. No exceptions. PAYMENT: .10/word on acceptance FORMAT: Word document only (no RTF or PDF) Times New Roman, 12 point, double-spaced. Standard 5-7 character indent on paragraphs; no extra spaces between paragraphs except to indicate specific breaks in the story. No exceptions. MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Yes, but as separate emails. SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: No. REPRINTS: No. We are only considering original works. FIRST PAGE: Include your name, address, email address, and word count on the first page of the story. No additional title page. SUBMISSION DATES: The window for submissions will be open for ONE WEEK, from Sunday, April 26, 9m Eastern time to Saturday, May 2nd, midnight Pacific Time. SEND TO: [email protected] Put WEIRD TALES OPEN CALL in the header (without that the story will not be read). IMPORTANT NOTE: Please follow the submission guidelines. -Jonathan Maberry Editor, WEIRD TALES MAGAZINE -Dana Fredsti Submissions Editor Via: Weird Tales.
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Taking Submissions: Kanstellation Volume 4: Community Through Tech
Deadline: May 4th, 2020 Payment: $30 for each accepted submission Theme: Digital Fingers, Digital Roots, Digital Families SUBMISSIONS FOR OUR FOURTH ISSUE, COMMUNITY THROUGH TECH, WILL OPEN APRIL 20TH AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MAY 4TH. Digital Fingers, Digital Roots, Digital Families In times of crisis, certain parts of us are put on hold, and other pieces may begin to come into play. Families crop up where they need to, communities fill new space. One thousand pairs of hands clap in unison and you step onto the narrow flap of a sun-starved balcony for one of only a handful of times. Turns out there are stars in this city, odors of plant-life rising from the tiles. Roads become rivers you cannot ford, the light from the window opposite feels further away than the world’s first telephone call. But we can still synchronize; we are still mass movements, one hopeful world of applause in the night. Our digital selves are never met with solitude; our digital selves are held by others’ digital arms, nets that buoy us when, otherwise, we might feel most alone. Many of us live online. We are the internet, an uprising of webpages tugging and turning us into new formations. What are we making with it, with each other? How many interiors can we unite within these collective spaces? Issue 4 of Kanstellation asks for reflections around the theme of what digital families and communities mean to you. How do you express and define your selves within and through the digital roots you’ve found or inherited? General Submission Guidelines Rights By submitting to Kanstellation Magazine, you are agreeing to grant us First Electronic Rights and Non-exclusive Archival Rights if your work is accepted. All other rights remain with the author. After that, republishing with attribution is welcome. All submissions...
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Taking Submissions: Going Viral
Deadline: May 5th, 2020 Payment: 2 cents per word Theme: Black market businesses during a pandemic The COVID-19 quarantine has us all shut up in our homes. Businesses have ground to a halt, the economy is slowed to a snail’s pace, and nobody is entirely certain how long it is going to last. In the middle of all of this, black market businesses have begun to operate: underground hair salons, photography studios, businesses once completely legitimate and now illegal simply for operating. If I’d written this call a year ago, it would stop there–but that’s no longer speculative fiction. That’s happening. So instead, Impulsive Walrus is asking for stories about the long haul. What does our world look like if the quarantine just…stays? We’re looking for near-future science fiction stories exploring the comedy, horror, and human drama of a life spent six feet away from each other, and a world where our interaction is done digitally, lest we be ravaged by disease. Impulsive Walrus Books will be paying a semi-pro rate of two cents per word. Reading period will begin on May 5, 2020, and will end when the anthology has hit its goal of 80,000 words. Looking for stories of between 2,000 and 8,000 words. Please submit by e-mailing a .doc or .rtf file to [email protected] with the subject line GOING VIRAL SUBMISSION. Via: Impulsive Walrus Books.
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Taking Submissions: Breaking Rules Publishing The Hollow Anthology
Deadline: May 10th, 2020 Payment: 50% of the sales will be split between each author of each particular book after printing costs Theme: Horror To submit your short story to the Bi-Monthly Breaking Rules Publishing Horror Anthology, starting in January 2020 - released by the end of the month - please send an email to [email protected] by the 10th of the book release month. In your email - please include your contact information, including location in the body of your email, as well as a "Word Doc" attachment of your work. We will confirm your submission within 24 hours, as well as get back to you within one week on the possibility for publishing options. All submissions must - Be sent in a "Word Doc" - 8.5 x 11 format - a clean, edited story with the authors name and title at the top of the page - please, no special margins - your story should be indented properly - single spaced - in a 12 font - no double spaces between paragraphs - and no headers or footers. Page limit is 30 max - 15 min - all submissions but be sent in by the 10th of the book release month. Publishing starts January 2020. Work that is sent incorrectly will be sent back. We sincerely appreciate your interest in Breaking Rules Publishing but also don't want to add additional work for our formatting team. Editing: By submitting you agree to allow Breaking Rules Publishing to provide a light edit, spell check, formatting, appropriate grammar, to all stories published. Copyrights: The author retains all copyrights to the submitted work. With your consent, BRP may publish of your work in future journals and publicity pieces, and other formats or contexts determined by, and at the discretion of, Breaking Rules Publishing. Please note that other publications may not accept...
Taking Submissions: UnSung Literary Magazine Volume 2
Deadline: May 10th, 2020 Payment: $20 per piece of fiction / creative non-fiction between 1000-3000 words and $30 per piece between 3001-6000 words. We offer $20 per poem. Theme: Pieces related to all things love, sex, and eroticism. **Submissions for UnSung Volume II Close May 10th** Submissions should be sent through the submission page, but any inquiries or concerns can be sent to: [email protected]. Share Your Sauciest UnSung Literary Magazine is accepting pieces of poetry, micro or flash fiction, and short creative non-fiction. We would also like to feature visual artists, and are accepting illustrations and photography. UnSung Literary Magazine is choosing to focus on marginalized voices; priority will be given to artists and authors who are Black/POC, LGBTQ, or identify as womxn. We are looking for pieces related to all things love, sex, and eroticism. But, we want to see your sensual expressions living within intersections. Have a piece about a Black, Queer AFAB (assigned female at birth) late- night tryst? Maybe prose detailing your attraction to another lesbian with masculinity similar to yours? Show us the tender poem of how his hand grazing yours first time made your heart flutter. We want to know how the moonlight looked reflecting off of their dark skin that night at the lake. Formatting and Correspondence If submitting poetry, multiple pieces are allowed, but please no more than 5 at a time; if poems are each longer than 2 pages, submit no more than 3. Not all submitted may be accepted. For prose, we're looking for flash (included micro) fiction, so please limit submissions to 3000 words. Please put SUBMISSION: – – – in the header to help us weed out spam. Example: SUBMISSION: – – – We invite you to add a cover letter detailing your publication history (if any, non-mandatory) and any relevant details. These...
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Taking Submissions: Cossmass Infinities
Deadline: May 14th 2020 Payment: 0.08/word for original fiction, $0.03/word for reprint fiction. Theme: Science Fiction and Fantasy Note: Reprints Welcome Cossmass Infinities is OPEN for submissions. Submissions are open until May 14th 2020. Cossmass Infinities is a Science Fiction and Fantasy short story magazine edited by Paul Campbell. Please read and follow the instructions below before submitting to Cossmass Infinities. Submissions must be made using this form. Incomplete forms will be automatically rejected. We are looking for original science fiction and fantasy short stories. We are also interested in previously published stories. We are looking for short stories between 2000–10,000 words. We pay $0.08/word for original fiction. We pay $0.03/word for reprint fiction. The rights we wish to obtain are listed in the sample contracts for original fiction and reprint fiction. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Multiple submissions are not accepted and will be rejected automatically. However, once you have received a rejection, you may immediately submit another story. Your manuscript should be a plain document, containing ONLY the story title, author by-line, and the complete text of the story. Do not use underlining in your manuscript for emphasis. Italics and bold are sufficient. File formats must be either Word (.docx) or OpenDocument Text (.odt) file formats. Files in other formats will be rejected. Payment is through Paypal. Submit only complete stories. An email confirming receipt of your submission will be sent within 20 minutes of us receiving it. Note that your submission is sent via a email from the form processor service (formspree.io) which may occasionally take longer than 20 minutes. If you haven’t received a notification after a day then either resubmit your story or contact us. Please allow 3 months for a decision, then feel free to reply to your notification email to enquire as to the status of your story. Cossmass Infinities will be published...
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Taking Submissions: LampLight Magazine
Deadline: May 15th, 2020 Payment: 3¢ per word, $150.00 max, 1¢ per word for reprints Theme: Not locked to a genre and love “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits” Note: Reprints accepted We are a literary magazine of dark fiction, both short stories and flash fiction. We want your best. But then, doesn’t everyone? No specific sub-genres or themes, just good stories. For inspiration, we suggest “The Twilight Zone”, “The Outer Limits”, and LampLight, Vol1 Issue 1 which is free. We go for stories that are dark, literary; we are looking for the creepy, the weird and the unsettling. We do not accept stories with the following: vampires, zombies, werewolves, serial killers, hitmen, excessive gore or sex, excessive abuse against women, revenge fantasies, cannibals, high fantasy. Writers We have published writers of all backgrounds from all over the world in LampLight, but not everywhere, nor all shapes and sizes of writers. Help us to shine a light on greater diverse writing and keep LampLight a showcase of the best dark fiction out there by submitting and encouraging others to as well. Edition and Rights The quarterly is published as print and ebook, and at the end of the year all the quarterlies are bound together in an annual collection. We are asking for non-exclusive, worldwide, serial rights to your work for both electronic and print. We want to publish it, we don’t want to own it. We will take reprints, provided you have the rights we are asking for. We will not consider reprints that are currently available for free online. If you have already been in LampLight, we ask you wait until the next volume to submit again. Payment We accept originals and reprints up to 7,000 words (firm). Payment in USD. Unpublished Fiction: 3¢ per word, $150.00 max Reprints: 1¢ per word...
Taking Submissions: Luna Station Quarterly – Fall 2020
Deadline: May 15th, 2020 Payment: $5 USD Theme: "Most" Speculative fiction, read below for specifics. Note: Open only for women-identified authors. Simply follow the schedule below to be notified when we close and open for submissions. Criteria Luna Station Quarterly publishes speculative fiction written by women-identified authors. We think women write awesome characters and really cool stories and we want to show it to the world. We will consider stories submitted by any woman writer, regardless of experience or writing resume. If you consider yourself on the woman end of the gender spectrum in any significant capacity, you’re welcome here! Stuff we want: Fantasy Science Fiction Space Opera New Fairy Tales (not retellings) Some creepiness Stories that explore the nooks and crannies of an original world Big events from the everyman perspective Unique settings and storytelling forms Well written stories with strong characters Stuff we don’t want: Anything biased toward any religion, race or moral preference Extreme gore or sexual content, in particular no explicit rape or sexual assault. (everything in moderation) Bizarro fiction Poetry Fan Fiction (original stories only, please) Bad grammar/punctuation (please proofread and watch your sentence structure!) Plagiarism A further note about sex and violence in submissions. Science fiction has a long-standing tradition of pushing boundaries and asking difficult questions. It is meant to challenge us and ask us to look at ourselves and how we treat each other and the world around us. That said, LSQ is centered on uplift and so any story that contains explicit sexual situations or violence especially toward women will be considered more carefully than other stories and the content must be justified within the story’s arch. Format and Details Stories should be 500 to 7000 words in length. We may publish longer or shorter works, but the greater your story is...
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Taking Submissions: We Who Are About To Die
Deadline: May 16th, 2020 Payment: $30 Theme: The theme of ultimate sacrifice as key to heroism. A Heroic Anthology of Sacrifice Not every hero survives. All heroes pay a cost, some the ultimate sacrifice. We're examining that theme of ultimate sacrifice as key to heroism. Not only the willingness to sacrifice all, but the act of sacrifice for the greater 'cause,' whatever that may be. These are tales of loss. Death can be a cost of heroism--but it might not be the greater loss come story's end. Heroes die. And they lose things greater than life: Family. Freedom. Innocence. Faith. Ideals. Drastic change must happen to your hero by story's end. But this is not just a book of dead heroes. Death does not have to mean defeat. Loss does not always equal failure. We want stories across the spectrum, stories of apotheosis and of nihilism and of what lies between. Heroes die and legends are born. Or nothing changes and it is all moot. A battle is won, while a war lost . . . or a battle lost to win a war. This is character-driven storytelling, and we want to read it in all the 'Sword-and-' genres: Sword & Sorcery, Sword & Planet, Sword & Sandal, Sword & Soul, Sword & Six-gun. 11 week submission period. We will be accepting 13-15 stories, and stories should be 2k-9k words in length. Nothing shorter will be read, and our sweet spot is in the 5k-7k range. Publication is intended for Christmas 2020. Payment of $30 flat per story shall be rendered after publication, and authors will receive electronic copies and permanent discount on print purchases from RBE. Cover photography from Peter Gnas. As inspired by and foreword to be written by David Pitchford. Click the cover to enter the RB Submittable platform....
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Taking Submissions: Tales From Omnipark
Taking Submissions: Tales From Omnipark
Deadline: June 30th, 2020 Payment: $100 Theme: Must take place in Omnipark (details linked below.) House Blackwood is putting together a brand-new anthology of original fiction, set in the world of OmniPark. This anthology will feature stories from Brian Evenson, Gemma Files, Orrin Grey, Jesse Bullington, and other leading lights of the weird fiction community. The deadline is June 30, 2020. You’ll find much more background information on the OmniPark Wiki, which documents all the park’s original Realms and attractions, as well as many of the personalities who shaped its development. We are paying $100 for short stories of 2,000 to 5,000 words, set in and around OmniPark. Send submissions as Word (.doc) files, formatted according to Shunn manuscript format, to: tales from omnipark @gmail.com (remove spaces) Only manuscripts submitted as Word docs, following Shunn format, will be considered. Via: House Blackwood.
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Taking Submissions: Scary Snippets Family Edition
Deadline: May 19th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Family Horror In these trying times the only thing we can rely on is family. Right? But what happens when the ones we love the most turn on us? In this open call, the amazing publishers at Nocturnal Sirens want horror writers to explore the themes of family. What secrets do they hide? What evil can they commit? Submission guidelines: Stories cannot be over 1000 words minimum is 300 words, send only 3 submissions at a time, wait for our editorial team to get back in touch with you. Evil aunt's, stepsons, vigilante families, any family member is allowed but we want to get alot of mother, father and child stories since this comes out between mother and father's day Disclaimer:. Unfortunately, sexual abuse is an all too common issue among families. While this is heartbreaking and one of the best motives for murdering a family member, we would like to steer away from sexual, incestuous situations. Pay is after taxes going to be 70% of royalties given to authors (divided evenly to all contributors) Send all stories to [email protected] Do NOT send any erotic or abusive stories. We don’t want pedophilia or incest in this collection. And join our fb page for full details and questions there: https://www.facebook.com/groups/372178610142234/
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Taking Submissions: Dead Lucky
Deadline: May 20th, 2020 Payment: $25 or $40 depending on the length and 3 contributors copies. Theme: Stories that take place in the world of Adrian's Undead Diary The world of Adrian Ring welcomes you again. Dead Lucky is the third anthology of short stories set in the zombie-ridden Adrian Ring universe and this is the call for submission. I am looking for stories that feature strong main characters that are put into situations where luck rears its head. Call it the Jinx Fairy, call it good fortune, but all stories should feature moments where the storyline hinges on moments of good or bad luck. Maybe your hero runs to the pickup parked outside the farmhouse with a horde on their heels, and when they drop the visor, the keys descend into the lap. Maybe those keys are for the mower. Perhaps your character gets bitten, and when they get into their safe house, they realize they have one bullet left, so they can take care of themselves, and protect their friends and family. Maybe your story features a pilot who has just enough fuel to put their plane down before they have to ditch in a zombie-infested city. It’s your story. Tell it to me so I can help tell it to the world. Dead Lucky will be divided into three sections that are AUD-universe timeline-based. The first section of stories will cover incidents on “That Day.” The second will cover the period of story between that day, and the conclusion of Book Eight. The final portion of the book will cover events after book eight. I will be writing at least three stories, one set in each of the anthology’s time periods. Dead Lucky will be released in eBook format on the Kindle, in print, and in audio...
Taking Submissions: Sick Cruising
Deadline: May 20th 2020 Payment: $20 and a contributors copy Theme: A global pandemic of "Red Lungs" is going on. This book tells stories about how the rich have gathered together to weather the storm. Only, one of them is infected As a new virus rages on land the richest man in the world has invited over five hundred rich and privileged friends, acquaintances, influences and hangers-on to weather the sickness on his private luxury yacht. But one of them has brought a guest along. You guessed it! The Red Lungs virus. It starts like a cold, becomes a raging fever, then floods the lungs with blood. What we want: Snappy short stories with a minimum of 2000 words using our provided writing prompts. Punch everyone’s virus anxieties, fears; anger at inequality in the nuts with your contribution to this anthology! Use wit, gore, action or inaction, (of course, we always love us some good epistolary fiction) you can even throw some sharks in the mix if you want to. What we DON’T want: Torture, adult content, racism, hate mongering, preachiness, bigotry of any kind, sexism, turgid writing. What can help you: Read Masque of the Red Death by Poe And this helpful Pixar information on io9.Gizmodo. Deadline: May 20 2020 Publication: June 20th 2020 at the latest Payment: $20.00 on acceptance, one paperback copy, one digital copy, one audiobook copy. Submission guidelines: Use our provided prompts Final submission must be edited Rights For this collection. Exclusive, one year; first worldwide electronic, audio and print rights for one year and nonexclusive rights afterward. For reprints, we will ask for nonexclusive reprinting rights. Formatting The first page should have: Your name and pen name if you use your pen name. Contact information: Email, phone Title of story: Title of your manuscript 8.5″ × 11″ layout Times New Roman font....
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Contest: On The Premises #45: Limerick for 2020
Deadline: May 23rd, 2020 Prizes: $40 each Theme: A Limerick set in 2020 Special Note for Mini-Contest #45: We're doing just one mini-contest between regular short story contests this time, but it's a doozy. Instead of the usual $25/$15/$10 for first/second/third, we're awarding ten prizes of $40 each. That's a total of $400 in prize money. Why? Because even though $40 isn't much money, it might make more of a difference in someone's life than it will to our relatively small annual OTP budget. Premise: Life isn't much fun right now, anywhere in the world. The pandemic has touched everybody to some degree. Wrap up how you feel about life today--the good, the bad, the ugly, the inspiring, the awful, the funny, the not funny--and because this is a contest challenge, send it to us in the form of a limerick. The limerick doesn't have to be funny, but it does have to evoke thoughts and feelings in us like everything else we ask of you. For those of you who want to take political themes, please remember our audience is literally world-wide, though it definitely leans Western. Still, jokes requiring a deep understanding of the Hong Kong anti-China protests or some of the subtler points of Brexit might not translate for all of our thousands of readers, so aim for a broad audience. If you're wondering what the exact definition of a limerick is, this source should be a big help: https://examples.yourdictionary.com/limerick-examples.html Deadline: Saturday, May 23, 2020, 11:59 PM Eastern US time. Publication: Winners will be published on or around Sunday, June 7, 2020, when the next contest launches. Length: It's a limerick, so limit it to five lines of text. The first, second, and fifth line should have 7 to 10 syllables, and the third and fourth lines should have 5 to 7. No...
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Taking Submissions: Fill The Void
Deadline: May 29th, 2020 Payment: $25 and a contributors copy Theme: An apocalyptic tale of epic proportions Open submissions being accepted for “Fill The Void”. 3/30/20- 5/29/20 D&T Publishing proudly presents Fill The Void. An apocalyptic tale of epic proportions. A journey where the beginning is given to you and it is up to you to write the next chapter. One book, one group of authors, one magnificent and horrifying tale. Specific information: - To submit, write a one paragraph story about an apocalypse. I want to be intrigued and scared in the shortest words possible. If it is more than one paragraph, it will not be read. Send it in the body of an email to [email protected] - A confirmation email will be sent to you within 24 hours of receipt. - Acceptance emails will be sent out no later than 6/1/20. - 10-15 authors will be chosen - For your email, please use Fill The Void as the title. - If you received an acceptance email, a link will be provided to you for a Facebook group and all other information will be provided to you at that time. - This will pay $25 plus one paperback contributor copy. We look forward to your submissions. Via: D&T Publishing's Facebook.
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Taking Submissions: Antithesis Journal 2020 Edition
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $50 and a contributors copy Theme: Mental Note: This magazine is only from people based in Australia Submit your work for our 2020 edition, 'Mental' What is ‘mental’? Does it solely refer to the inner workings of the mind? Is it an exclamation attached to an extraordinary occurrence, or inherently tied to mental health? How has the word affected humanity throughout history? How does the label ‘mental’ entwine, enrich or even damage one’s sense of self? Can the word be reclaimed from its loaded history? At Antithesis this year, we’re keen to know your thoughts on your thoughts. It is our mission to feature raw, diverse voices that uniquely illuminate the trials and wonders of the human condition. We want to learn of your quirks, of your ‘plights and gripes, as bad as Achilles’. Why do we say and do as we say and do, and how much control do we truly have over our minds? How can ‘madness’ be defined as we enter this new decade, denial and toilet rolls abound? Tell us. We want to know. What is mental in your mind? Important info: Nothing you submit can have been previously published in any form. While we’re happy to consider works that have been sent to other journals, we ask you to please let us know well in advance if any work you have submitted to Antithesis has been accepted elsewhere for publication. We accept submissions via Submittable only, and only from people based in Australia. Living overseas? Send us a pitch first to [email protected]. We also strongly recommend you pitch us your idea first. Pitching guidelines can be found on our website. We encourage submissions from writers and creatives who are queer and/or trans and/or of any colour, religion, age, ability or gender. You do not need to be...
Taking Submissions: Outback Horrors Down Under
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $50 Theme: Memorable, dark fiction/horror stories that could only happen (or be told) here in Australia or New Zealand. Note: Australian and New Zealand authors only What We’re After: We’re limiting this callout to current or former Australian or New Zealand residents and citizens. We want memorable, dark fiction/horror stories that could only happen (or be told) here in Australia or New Zealand. Be inspired by the people, country, history, geography, cultures, myths and legends, but please be culturally sensitive. I’m not accepting reprints for this anthology. Story Length: 4,000 – 8,000 words is the sweet spot, but it’s quality that will count. Avoid: We will not accept stories where bigotry or violence of any kind is portrayed in a positive light, or where there is a focus on violence and gore rather than story. We will not accept any form of ‘typing’ of people that could be portrayed as negative, alienating, or offensive to groups of people. No reprints for this one, sorry… Generally, I prefer supernatural and psychological (I’m a huge Ramsey Campbell fan), as well as creature features. Also stories within stories, stories with subtexts and several layers. I steer clear of body horror and gore, but if written well, I can stomach it. Remember, I’m a huge fan of Clive Barker. Submission Deadline: Our deadline for this general callout is end of May, 2020. We recommend you submit early to allow time for feedback and perhaps allow you to resubmit. We will have a number of ‘anchor’ authors already pre-selected, and we aim to have it all completed and published in time for Worldcon 20 in Wellington. Payment Rate: This will be a flat rate payment of $50. Can I Help? If you’d like to offer assistance in publicising and marketing the book, arranging interviews...
Taking Submissions: AGNI Online
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $10 per printed (or printed-out) page for accepted prose, and $20 per page for accepted poetry, up to a maximum of $150 and 2 contributor's copies We look for writing that catches experience before the crusts of habit form—poetry and prose that resist ideas about what a certain kind of writing “should do.” We seek out writers who tell their truths in their own words and convince us as we read that we’ve found something no one else could have written. When to submit AGNI welcomes manuscripts between September 1st and May 31st. Submissions mailed in June, July, or August will be returned unread, provided sufficient return postage is included. Things to know when submitting Nearly everything we publish is unsolicited. We encourage submissions from writers of all identities, living anywhere, published and unpublished. We will not consider writing that has already been published in English, whether in a book, magazine, newspaper, or on an app, a website, a social media feed, or a publicly accessible online community. We consider only work written in English or translated into English. We have no word limits, though space is at a premium and length sometimes affects our decisions. We do not publish genre romance, horror, mystery, or science fiction; however, we are open to writing that borrows elements from any of these. We will consider excerpts if they read as if they were meant to stand alone. We are interested in personal essays, think-pieces, memoir, prose poems, formal poems, blank verse, free verse, short stories, and short shorts; we do not publish academic essays or purely journalistic writing. Though we rely on student interns for many things, they are not involved in considering submissions. All manuscripts are read by masthead editors. Our blog features posts by writers...
Taking Submissions: Flashes of Hope
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $10 Theme: Stories must include a key worker and a hopeful ending Flashes of Hope is a Flash Fiction anthology being funded by Theresa Derwin to raise money for foodbanks to support victims of Covid 19. Francois Vaillancourt is donating the cover art. He is a Montreal-Canadian artist who has worked on Stephen King projects. I will be purchasing HWA Adverts and Newsletter space to help promote the book and also seeking advertising in other venues including Crystal Lake Publishing Newsletter and Twitter boost. What we ARE looking for:• Flash Fiction – stories of 500 – 1,000 words. Please see info on payment caps in pay rate section below) that can be characterized as being within the broad category of “horror” fiction and having met the following two criterion; as described above. A key worker hero of any gender, race, creed, ability, religion, etc. By key worker, we mean those currently working to keep the UK running * nurses, doctors, porters, ambulance drivers, paramedics, shop workers, refuse workers * this list is not exhaustive A hopeful ending to the story * right now we need to encourage hope in light of the challenges we are all facing. Together we are stronger. • Successful submissions will be highly original, well written and cleanly edited.• Stories must hook the reader in opening paragraphs and remain engaging throughout.• Stories that imagine fresh new horrific futures different from anything we’ve seen or read about before.REPRINTS are allowed. What we ARE NOT looking for:• No multiple or simultaneous submissions.• We are not seeking “extreme horror”Explicit language, sexuality and violence is acceptable, however, if handled in a tasteful manner and integral to the story.• We are not seeking abstract mood pieces, vignettes, or highly experimental approaches to literature. We are not accepting poems.• Stories must not include actual individuals or living public figures. No matter how tempting ….•...
Taking Submissions: Apparition Lit Magazine (Short Window!)
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $0.03 per word, minimum of $30.00 dollars for short stories. $30 per poem Theme: Redemption Note: This call doesn't officially open until the 15th but is going live early due to the short submission window Apparition Lit is open for poetry and short story submissions four times a year. February 15-28 May 15-31 August 15-31 November 15-30 Submissions received outside of posted open dates will be deleted unread. Our themes for 2020 will be: Experimentation (Submission period November 15-30, 2019 CLOSED, Published January 2020) Transfiguration (Submission period February 15-29, 2020, CLOSED Published April 2020) Redemption (Submission period May 15-31, 2020, CLOSED Publishing July 2020) Satisfaction (Submission period August 15-31, 2020, CLOSED Publishing October 2020) Our previous themes for 2019: Resistance (Published January 2019) – Ambition (Published April 2019) – Retribution (Published July 2019) – Euphoria (Published October 2019) for 2018: Apparition (Published January 2018) – Delusion (Published April 2018) – Vision (Published July 2018) – Diversion (Published October 2018) Apparition Lit also holds monthly flash fiction contests. These stories will follow selected themes and be published online. For more information on themes and submission guidelines, please see the flash fiction drop down below. PAYMENT: Apparition is a semi-pro rate magazine, paying $0.03 per word, minimum of $30.00 dollars for short stories (excluding flash contest. See details in the Flash Fiction dropdown for flash rates) and a flat fee of $30 per poem. If we accept your story, we are purchasing the right to publish the story online and in the quarterly edition. Rights will revert back to the artist after one year. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: (Click on the sections to see detailed guidelines for each classification.) SHORT FICTION SHORT FICTION: We will only accept stories between 1000-5000 words. If the story is complete with an extra hundred words, then it will still be considered. Any stories over 5,100 words, or incorrectly formatted, will automatically be rejected. PAYMENT: Apparition is a semi-pro magazine, paying $0.03 per word, minimum of 30.00 dollars (excluding...
Taking Submissions: Silver Blade August 2020 Issue
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $15 for novellas, $3 for flash fiction, $8 for short stories, half that for reprints. Theme: Cutting edge Science Fiction, Slipstream, Classic and Modern Fantasy Note: Reprints Welcome Note: My apologies for the short notice, that should be resolved for the next open window. Submissions Welcome to the Silver Pen Writers Association group of publications. From this web page, you will have an opportunity to submit your work to Silver Blade Magazine. General Guidelines (Updated February 2020) Give us something unexpected and well written. Technique, voice, characterization, and language will all play a part in our decision to publish. Amaze us with your writing, use of language, sense of story, and memorable characters. Give us a story readers will not be able to forget and will eagerly recommend to others. The following are “hard sells” here: Stories possessing several of the cliché elements listed here. Fan Fiction or erotica Anthropomorphism (talking cats, foxes, toasters or whatever) Sloppy work–significant typographical, spelling, or grammatical errors (please proofread before you submit) Publicly available items (seriously, why would we pay to publish something being given away on a blog, forum, social media, etc?) Our editorial policies respect the artistic license of our authors. However, there are occasions when changes are needed that go beyond basic spelling, grammar, and punctuation corrections. In any case, the author will be given the choice of final approval, prior to publication, over substantial edits made by our staff. We appreciate your willingness to work with us in this regard. Do not submit if you are not open to suggestions. Formatting All submissions should… Have 1 inch margins, 1 1/2 line spacing and double space between paragraphs. NO fancy headers or footers, text effects, background colors or images. Use a standard font (Arial, Calibri, Times Roman, Courier)...
Taking Submissions: Demonic Anthologies Volume IV
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: Contributors Copy Theme: Public Domain with a twist (see below.) Note: Reprints welcome Note: My apologies on the short window, just hit my inbox. Demonic Classics: Once Upon A Debacle The Pitch: Demonic Classics is quite the challenge this time around. We are looking for Authors and Writers who want to add a dark humor twist to a fanfiction angle installment. Whether you intend to retell the whole story in a shortened format or dive deep into a famous scene and unravel it from within, we want your story to be inspired by a Public Domain literary work. We expect irony, a laugh, an ‘Oh no’, and some satirical twists to unfold. This year we are looking for stories between 2,000 to 5,000 words. Do not limit yourself to the list below, but feel free to email us if you need a title checked. Gutenberg.org is a great resource for doing so! What stories fall into this category? Here’s a sampling: Pride and Prejudice The Raven Moby Dick Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Tale of Two Cities Great Expectations War of Worlds Christmas Carol Ulysses Picture of Dorian Grey Little Women Anne of Green Gables Count of Monte Cristo Wuthering Heights Treasure Island Legend of Sleepy Hollow Scarlet Letter Time Machine Find more here: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/scores/top CURRENTLY TAKEN Alice in Wonderland Dracula Nutcracker MacBeth Much to do about nothing - Shakespeare Odyssey Peter Pan Beowulf Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Deadline MAY 31st 2020 at Midnight EST Publications September 2020 Rights, Usage, Compensation? You retain rights to the work. I am simply approving it to be added with your permission to publish it in my collection for both eBook and Paperback. We are perfectly fine if its been published before,...
Taking Submissions: One Story
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $500 and 25 contributors copies Theme: literary fiction Submission Periods: January 15th - May 31st | September 8th - November 14th What kinds of stories is One Story looking for? One Story is seeking literary fiction. Because of our format, we can only accept stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. They can be any style and on any subject as long as they are good. We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone. Does One Story pay? Yes. One Story pays $500 and 25 contributors copies for First Serial North American rights. All rights will revert to the author following publication. Does One Story accept previously published material? No. One Story is looking for previously unpublished material. However, if a story has been published in print outside of North America, it will be considered. Stories previously published online—on blogs, personal websites, online literary magazines, or forums—will not be accepted. Does One Story accept simultaneous submissions? Yes, but please notify us immediately if your submission is accepted for publication elsewhere. What file types can I submit? We accept PDF, RTF, and TXT files that are less than 500KB. Please include the story title and all writer contact info on the first page of the submitted file. Will you send me comments on my story? No. One Story receives close to 100 submissions each week. Please understand that we do not have time to comment on individual stories. Can I change the story I submitted with an updated draft? No. Do you consider translations? Yes. Please include the name of the original author and language, as well as the name of the translator on the first page of your submission. How do I submit to One Story? We have an automated system for you to send us your work. It will securely send our editors your...
Taking Submissions: Horror USA: Nevada
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Horror that takes place in Nevada An anthology dedicated to the unique horrors of Nevada. We want readers to experience the darkest, scariest, weirdest, most terrifying elements Nevada has to offer! We’re seeking short horror stories between 500 – 7500 words. Stories must be horror, and they must be reliant on Nevada somehow. The “how” is entirely up to you! Originals preferred, but reprints will be considered. Submission Deadline: May 31st or until filled. ANTHOLOGIES: At this time, we are primarily seeking short stories between 500 and 7500 words for themed anthologies. These submissions will be given priority. You will be notified whether your submission is accepted or rejected. For anthology pieces, you will be notified no later than four weeks after the submission deadline. For all other pieces, you will be notified within 10 weeks of the date of your submission. If you have not received a response by that time, please email us. First and foremost, all submissions must be horror. However, we recognize that horror is a very broad and 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 meet the following requirements (documents that do not meet these guidelines will be returned to authors for correction): 1. 12-point Times New Roman font ONLY (no other fonts, please) 2. Use “SMART QUOTES” 3. Submit all documents as an attachment in .doc, .docx, or .pages format Submit via email to [email protected] In the body of the email, include your name and contact information. Unpublished stories are given preference, but we consider reprints on a case by case basis,...
Taking Submissions: Horror USA: Florida
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Horror stories which take place in Florida Note: Reprints accepted An anthology dedicated to the unique horrors of Florida. We want readers to experience the darkest, scariest, weirdest, most terrifying elements Florida has to offer! We’re seeking short horror stories between 500 – 7500 words. Stories must be horror, and they must be reliant on Florida somehow. The “how” is entirely up to you! Originals preferred, but reprints will be considered. Submission Deadline: May 31st or until filled. ANTHOLOGIES: At this time, we are primarily seeking short stories between 500 and 7500 words for themed anthologies. These submissions will be given priority. You will be notified whether your submission is accepted or rejected. For anthology pieces, you will be notified no later than four weeks after the submission deadline. For all other pieces, you will be notified within 10 weeks of the date of your submission. If you have not received a response by that time, please email us. Guidelines First and foremost, all submissions must be horror. However, we recognize that horror is a very broad and 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 meet the following requirements (documents that do not meet these guidelines will be returned to authors for correction): 1. 12-point Times New Roman font ONLY (no other fonts, please) 2. Use “SMART QUOTES” 3. Submit all documents as an attachment in .doc, .docx, or .pages format Submit via email to [email protected] In the body of the email, include your name and contact information. Unpublished stories are given preference, but we consider reprints on...
Taking Submissions: Night Frights
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: 3 cents per word Theme: introduce young minds to the fabulous world of horror fiction. Dark Moon Digest, the quarterly magazine published by Perpetual Motion Machine, is now open for submissions to a special annual young adult edition titled Night Frights. We want to introduce young minds to the fabulous world of horror fiction. Sounds great? Of course it does! Want to order it right this second? Of course you do! Good news: if you purchase an annual subscription of Dark Moon Digest, you will also receive issue one of Night Frights upon its Summer 2020 release, in addition to the four issues of DMD. SUBSCRIBE HERE. Or, if you’d rather subscribe electronically only, you can do so by pledging as low as $1 over on our Patreon. PLEDGE HERE. Interested in submitting to Night Frights? Read on… What we want: the same awesome stories that we use for our quarterly magazine. We want stories with complex characters and new ideas. Scare us. But also, inspire young readers into a lifelong obsession with the genre. Cool it on the profanities, no sexual situations, nothing too graphic. Consider the following scenario: we are selling books at a local county fair. A family approaches with their kids (9 and 11 years old, maybe). One of the parents asks, “Is this okay for my kid?” We want to be able to confidently answer, “Yes,” without going through a long interrogation of what they’re allowed to read and watch at home. Stories should not exceed 3,500 words. No reprints. No multiple submissions. Simultaneous submissions are fine. All submissions should be in a legible font (think TNR) with your contact information in the upper left-hand corner. We are not too strict on format, but some consistency to readability would be nice. Deadline is May 31st. Please do not...
Taking Submissions: Liminality Poetry Magazine
Deadline: May 31st, 2020 Payment: $10 Theme: We’re looking for speculative literary poems that touch the heart as much as the head; poems of the liminal, the fluid, and the fantastic. In anthropological terms, liminality is the midpoint of a ritual: the threshold where a person is no longer quite who they were, not yet who they might become. In between masks, what face might you have? What might you be in transit? Where will you go? Everything is possible in that moment; change is its own goal. Liminality is the space between. Liminality is an online quarterly magazine of speculative poetry edited by Shira Lipkin (co-founded and co-edited through our third year by Mattie Joiner). We are very pleased to meet you. We’re looking for speculative literary poems that touch the heart as much as the head; poems of the liminal, the fluid, and the fantastic. We’d love to see work that shifts shape, refuses to be to be easily pinned down or categorised. We actively welcome diversity; we want to hear new as well as established voices. Tell us tales we thought we knew, the way only you can tell them. Give us new myths. Liminality pays $10 per poem, for first worldwide publication rights and non-exclusive anthology rights. We will be open: January 1-February 28 April 1 – May 31 July 1 – August 31 To submit, send up to five poems to liminalitypoetry AT gmail.com with the subject line “SUBMISSION – ”. Please include your poems in the body of the e-mail; if you have formatting that makes that untenable, you may attach the poem as an .rtf. You may send up to five poems per reading period. We do not accept reprints or simultaneous submissions. (If the poem has been publicly viewable online, yes, it would be a reprint.) “Dear Editor”, “Dear Shira”, and “Dear Mx. Lipkin” are...