Events

Deadline: October 26, 2020 Payment: $10 for every 1,000 words Theme: the creepy, the weird and the unsettling Note: This is an ongoing anthology series with 3 volumes already out Note: Out of print reprints accepted Scare Street is accepting submissions for short horror stories with a focus on ghosts, the supernatural, paranormal, monsters, and dark tales. Short stories must be 3,000-7,000 words and will be included in our Night Terrors anthologies consisting of ~65,000 words each. These stories will be published in e-book, print, and audio formats in English within 6 months after the submissions close date. Based on reader reception, we may also publish them in e-book, print, and audio formats in German and Spanish. WHO ARE WE? Scare Street is a horror publishing company dedicated to helping fellow horror lovers experience sleepless nights. We’ve been around since September 2015 and have published 190+ e-book and paperback titles along with 140+ audiobooks (and counting!). WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU? Get visibility from thousands of horror readers. We will promote your work on our email list (13,000+ subscribers), Facebook Page (19,000+ followers), Facebook Group (9,500+ members), Pinterest (500k+ monthly views) and the rest of our social media channels. Afterwards, thousands of readers on Amazon and other retailers will organically find your stories. Our first few volumes clenched the top 3 new release spots in horror anthologies category and continue to be found on the first page of various horror categories. Work with an experienced publisher. We’ve been publishing high-quality manuscripts, non-stop for 5 years. We’ve ironed out the kinks and know what it takes to bring stories to the masses, operationally. And we know a few things about getting your stories read, too! Distribution in e-book, print, and audio formats, in various languages. You’ll also receive a complimentary digital e-book and audio formats...

Deadline: October 30th, 2020 Payment: $5 Theme: Mezo-American/Latinx Authors and Stories Note: Reprints welcome In ‘Corners of the World’ collections we showcase writers and authors from all around the world, each collection focuses on a different subset of people from different cultures. Giving their unique voices and stories a chance to shine. For these collections, we want to bring the folk stories and societies to life in stark horror through the eyes of those who inhabit them. Theme – Mezo-American/Latinx Authors and Stories This year we are looking for Latinx and Mezo-American authors to submit stories that pertain to the legends, folklore, culture, and fears that exist within and surround the cultures of Central and South America, as well as those that have emigrated to North America bringing their stories with them. We HIGHLY recommend you pick up a copy of “Of The Book” our last volume. We are more interested in the authenticity of voice than the fear factor. Please note in your cover letter if you have your story in English & Spanish, only in Spanish or only in English. Currently Open – Will Close When We Have Enough Stories Violence, sex, and gore must be pertinent and interesting to the story. Rape is never acceptable. Anything too gratuitous will be rejected. Racism/Sexism/Bigotry of any form will never be accepted here. Double-check your grammar and spelling. Format your story correctly. Please submit all stories in DOC/RTF format. Reprints are ok. Please include a small bio that includes your own connection to the Latin-American people or culture. We retain exclusive publishing rights for 12 months. We pay $5.00 for stories Deadline is 10.30.20 –  We give this a long submission time due to the narrow nature of our search. Once we have all the stories we need we close submissions. Via: Madness Heart Press.

Deadline: October 30th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Weird fiction Note: Most paying open calls from Black Hare Press first require authors do have been previously printed with them, this one does not. Submission Deadline : 30th October 2020 Anthology : WEIRD FICTION SERIES Title : WEIRD FICTION Theme : Weird fiction Word count : Around 5,000 Author eligibility : Open to all Reprints : Not allowed Simultaneous Submissions : Not allowed Multiple Submissions : Maximum of two Publication : Expected to release 2021 in Print and Digital formats Author compensation : Royalty split, plus one digital copy How to submit : See our submission guidelines for formatting. Send your story and bio as an attachment in Word format to  [email protected]. Please include wordcount in email body. Your email subject and document name should be Anthology Name – Your Story Name – Author Name. For example; “WEIRD– 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: October 31st, 2020 Payment: $10 Theme: Gothic Romances GOTHIC ROMANCES of old featured a female protagonist dealing with a terrifying ordeal while struggling to be with her true love. Set against dark backgrounds of medieval ruins or haunted castles, the love interest was either a brooding handsome gentleman or a supernatural monster disguised as a gentleman. Following the example of such works as Northanger Abbey, Phantom of the Opera, The Grey Woman, Dracula, The Woman in White, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Witch House and the like, we want your darkest, creepiest horror love story. Although we crave gothic romance style, don’t feel the need to paint a damsel in distress. The woman may certainly be the one who saves the day. We are also open to LBGTQ love stories. The main plot should be horror and romance. We don’t like stories written specifically with social or political agendas. Sensual or passionate stories are acceptable but we don’t want erotica or sexually-based stories. No rape. The editor likes horror. Be careful of sci-fi creatures or anything that sways sci-fi or fantasy. Stories MUST contain: An overwhelming sense of menace and dread. Horror must be just as much a part of the story as romance. Inclement weather.  ie…fog, rain, snow, hurricane.  A supernatural horror being or entity. ie…ghost, monster, vampire, werewolf. Being can be the hero, anti-hero, or the being they are battling against. Just remember the editor likes horror. Be careful of sci-fi creatures or anything that sways sci-fi or fantasy. Set in a spooky location. ie…ghostly gatehouse, haunted lighthouse, dilapidated abbey, crumbling cathedral, terrifying tower, cursed castle, decaying plantation. Time period 1700-1940. We are looking for the classic gothic romance feeling in whatever time period you choose. Also, if writing a diverse character, please set to time period standards. Know your world, what the political/social rules were...

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: Contributor's copy Theme: The afterlife's bodyguard A Sinister Collection of Short Stories Zimbell House is holding open submissions for short stories from the point of view of the afterlife’s bounty hunter. Your story must include: which side the debt collector works for, what the debt to be collected is, the consequences at stake, how the afterlife system works, and most importantly, be from the point of view of the debt collector. Does he/she love or hate his/her job? Is he/she up for a promotion, due for a vacation? What’s in it for the collector-is it just a job or something more sinister? 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 4,500 and the maximum word count is 19,500. This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms. Submission Deadline: October 31, 2020, with a targeted release date of early January 2021. 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...

Deadline: October 31 2020 Payment: $0.01 CAD per word to an upper limit of 4000 words. Theme: Stories of mythology inspired by any and all cultures, from the classic stories of Greek gods, to Celtic and African-inspired myths, to adaptations of modern mythology-inspired works like HP Lovecraft! Note: Canadian authors only Over the last five years, the From the Rock series has become one of the preeminent anthology series’ in Atlantic Canada. We have been home to some amazing established talent and helped some new authors break through that have gone on to dominate their fields, becoming genre bestsellers in their own right. From the Rock is a title readers consistently ask for, review well, and is a great way for avid readers to get introduced to indie talent they might find interesting. In 2018 the series’ third entry, Chillers from the Rock, went Bestseller on pre-orders alone! We are currently accepting submissions for the seventh entry in this series: Mythology from the Rock, to be available in Winter of 2021. Editors Ellen Curtis and Erin Vance are scheduled to return to helm the project. Many authors have expressed interest, but anyone can submit to be a part of this collection! Deadline is October 31 2020, but get your stories in as quick as you can, as it gives our wonderful editors more time to work with you and make sure it is as good as it can possibly be! We’re looking for stories of mythology inspired by any and all cultures, from the classic stories of Greek gods, to Celtic and African-inspired myths, to adaptations of modern mythology-inspired works like HP Lovecraft! What is the target audience? For this specific collection, we’re going for an equivalent of PG to PG-13. Rather than limit our authors creatively, we encourage them to write from the heart and allow us...

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: Poetry – $10, Flash – $15, Short Fiction – $20, Novelette – $35 Theme: Wasatch Witches. Note: Must be connected to Utah somehow to submit Calling all horror writers! Submissions are now OPEN for the Utah Horror Writers 7th annual anthology! Utah Horror Writers is proud to announce its seventh annual horror anthology and call for submissions! Following the success of our previous six anthologies, we’re pleased to announce this year’s theme: Wasatch Witches. Submissions will be accepted from now until 11:59 PM (Mountain) on October 31, 2020. We’re looking for well-written stories and poems involving witches or witchcraft, and which are set firmly within the horror genre. A connection to Utah is required, either on the part of the author or the work itself. If you’re not sure whether you or your work would qualify, please contact us at [email protected]. Entries will be judged on compliance with submission requirements, the quality of writing, originality, creativity, and the inclusion of thematic elements, specifically Horror and the overarching theme of witches/witchcraft. Gratuitous erotica, gore, profanity, as well as manuscripts promoting drug abuse, child abuse, illegal activities, or self-harm will only be considered if the gratuities are critical to the story itself; otherwise, please do not try to cover up bad writing with shock. Remember: the genre for your story, poems, and/or visual art should be Horror. Elements of other genres – Western, Paranormal, Speculative, Dystopian, Magic Realism, Gothic, etc. – are acceptable as long as they are only elements that contribute to the overall genre of Horror. If you are unclear on what horror and other genres are, see Writer’s Digest’s Definition of Fiction Categories and Genres: http://resources.writersonlineworkshops.com/resources/definitions-of-fiction-categories-and-genres/ Writers must also be willing to work with editorial staff to revise their work to meet publication standards. WASATCH WITCHES: A...

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: Contributors Copy and an unknown amount Theme: Queer memoirs deepened, amplified, illuminated, and (re)considered through the lens of a various horror movies Horror movies hold a complicated space in the hearts of the queer community: historically misogynist, and more than occasionally homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to queer readings, thanks to tropes such as: the circumspect and resilient “final girl,” body possession, costumed villains, secret identities, things that go bump in the closet. Horror films have also been, for many of us, a safe space where our closeted selves could hide in plain sight among our cis, heteronormative peers and, for two hours in the dark, share in the camaraderie of fear and vulnerability without giving ourselves away… It Came from the Closet will be, at its core, a strong and eclectic collection of queer memoirs deepened, amplified, illuminated, and (re)considered through the lens of a various horror movies (international, obscure, classic, mainstream – open to all!). Submissions should be personal essay/memoir/creative nonfiction ranging from 2500-7500 words, though length and format/structure are flexible if the writing calls for it. We are committed to inclusivity along the LGBTQIA spectrum, particularly QTBIPOC voices. Previously unpublished work preferred. Final Submission Deadline: October 31, 2020. Contributor Payment: All contributors will receive a copy of It Came from the Closet upon publication and a modest honorarium (amount TBD). Send queries, pitches, questions, and submissions to: [email protected] Via: Lambda Literary.

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: $10 for short stories (3000-8000 words, not for shorter work.) Theme: The monsters that come after the apocalypse Working Title: Apocalyptic Monsters ​Deadline: Oct 31st or When Full Premise: The human world has ended, done in by a pandemic, global warming, or maybe a nuclear bomb—spin the wheel of destruction and see what pops up! Out of the ashes, creatures of shadow and myth claim new dominion. Whether it is vampires fighting over the last remains of human cattle to survive, werewolves trying to rebuild a more Earth friendly society, or cthulian nightmares commiserating over a game of poker how they missed their window to enjoy human suffering, we want to see how the dead world fares under new management! The theme is horror/monster fiction, but some elements of romance or humor are welcome. Length Accepted: Drabble, Flash, and Shorts. Author eligibility: Open to all Reprints Allowed: No Simultaneous Submissions Allowed: No Multiple Submissions: See guidelines and story lengths for the number of submissions per pen name. Publication: TBA Submission Guidelines ​ Unless otherwise stated, all submissions should be sent to [email protected] Please fill the subject line as follows:  “SUBMISSION CALL – Author Name – Story Title” ​ Address the email to WTP for a general submission, or a specific editor if you choose (some calls will be run by different individuals). Length ​ Drabble = EXACTLY 100 words. Excludes title and author. Hyphenated words count as 1. Scene break markers and em-dashes are also excluded. No more than 5 drabbles per Pen Name per submission project. These may be submitted at the same time if connected to one another, but all must stand alone as they are likely to be separated from one another in a given anthology.   Flash = 500 -1000 words. Excludes title and author. Hyphenated...

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: $60 USD for fiction and $30 USD for poetry Theme: Speculative fiction of all types Fiction and Poetry Guidelines Arsenika is looking for previously unpublished original fiction and poetry up to 1,000 words long. Submissions may be in English, Spanish, and/or Chinese. Any submissions not in English will be translated by S. Qiouyi Lu. Se puede enviarnos obras en español. Si publicamos su obra, S. Qiouyi Lu la traducirá al inglés. 我們歡迎繁體和簡體中文的作品。如果我們出版您的作品，陸秋逸會替您翻譯成英文版。 我们欢迎繁体和简体中文的作品。如果我们出版您的作品，陆秋逸会替您翻译成英文版。 Payment is $60 USD for fiction and $30 USD for poetry for first world electronic rights and non-exclusive audio rights. We hope to raise the poetry rate to $60 as well in the future. Submit no more than two flash fiction pieces and five poems at a time, and please make sure you fill out the form again for each piece you send, unless the pieces are meant to be read together (e.g. a triptych of poems). Format poetry exactly as you would like to see it online—use italics for italics, underlines for underlines, boldface for boldface, etc. Send only TXT, RTF, DOC, and DOCX files. Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Multiple submissions are allowed, but please have no more than two flash fiction pieces and five poems in the submissions queue at a time. We try to respond to all submissions within 30 days. If you haven’t heard from us in 90 days, please send us a query at [email protected]. Our secondary email address is [email protected]. Remember: Don’t self-reject. We use Moksha to manage submissions. If you are ready to submit, please use the button below to reach our Moksha page. Do not email submissions. Submit to Arsenika Reprints Arsenika does not accept unsolicited reprints. Payment is $30 upon acceptance. Art Arsenika pays $100 for reprint art. Please feel free to query us at [email protected] with a link to your portfolio. Questions Q. Can I submit multiple times per submissions period? A....

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: $0.08/word Theme: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. General Information khōréō is a quarterly publication of stories, essays, and art: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. We’re especially interested in writing and art that explores the impact of human or cultural migration, whether voluntary or forced, peaceful or forceful. Examples include themes of immigration, diaspora, and anti-colonialism, as well as more metaphorical interpretations of the term. Most importantly, we’re a new magazine and we’re still finding our identity: therefore, please don’t self-reject because you’re not sure if your work is a good fit. We won’t know until we see it, so please give us a chance to look! Who can submit? khōréō is dedicated to diversity and amplifying the voices of immigrant and diaspora authors and artists. We welcome, but do not require, a brief description of the author’s/artist’s identity in their cover letter. We invite you to submit if you identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms. This includes, but is not limited to, first- and second-generation immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, persons who identify with one or more diaspora communities, persons who have been displaced or whose heritage has been erased due to colonialism/imperialism, and anyone whose heritage and history includes ‘here and elsewhere’. We especially encourage BIPOC creators who identify as the above to submit their work. When reading submissions, we take in good faith that you identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora as described above. If you still aren’t sure if you should submit, please email [email protected]. We kindly request individuals who do not identify as such to support the magazine...

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: $25.00 Theme: Short horror stories Note: Sorry for the short deadline! Just saw this one There’s nothing better than a short, sharp slice of flash fiction to get the mind working. 99 Tiny Terrors is an anthology that the reader can dip into for something deliciously dangerous in a short amount of time or spend an afternoon trolling through blood soaked stories from all over. There’s nothing better than a short, sharp slice of flash fiction to get the mind working. 99 Tiny Terrors is an anthology that the reader can dip into for something deliciously dangerous in a short amount of time or spend an afternoon trolling through blood soaked stories from all over. Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: We do not accept simultaneous submissions. We will allow up to two (2) submissions per author. Note: only one can be accepted. Instructions: All fiction must be submitted through our Moksha online submission system. Please do not email your submissions. Manuscript must be in either .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX format. Submit your manuscript in double-spaced Times New Roman or Courier font. Please include your byline as you’d like it to appear in publication. Keep your cover letter short and sweet. The Editor wants your story to do the talking. Crunchy bits: • Limited time open call: October 1-31. • Flash fiction wordcount: 500-1000 (firm) • Genre: Any flavor of horror. • Payment: $25.00 • Rights: Non-exclusive (story will only be published as part of the anthology as a whole) print, ebook, and audio rights in all languages throughout the world. What the Editor is looking for: • Neat twists or unexpected turns. • Atmospheric or unusual settings. • Stories that stick with the reader. • The Editor favors supernatural elements but you’re not restricted to that....

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: $100 Theme: Time Travelers and Secret Agents FICTION SUBMISSION AND AUTHOR GUIDELINES The theme of Issue 1 is Time Travelers and Secret Agents. We are currently looking for stories that at least loosely fit into those categories, or concern alternate dimensions. What We Want The absolute best literature possible in the field of fantastic stories. The greatest emphasis of this magazine is the quality of writing. Whether an orthodox narrative tale, a dreamlike vignette, or a poetical prose scene, a story should be comprehensible on some level, stay truthful to the literary world that the author has created, and be pleasing or satisfying. Any type of science fiction or fantasy story is acceptable, such as a subtle metaphysical or surreal modern tale, a dark fantasy thriller, a science fiction mystery, or an imaginary world fantasy adventure. We hope for stories that are either fantastic with at least a hint of eroticism or erotic stories that have at least a hint of the fantastic. In terms of quality, some examples would be stories by Jorge Luis Borges, Fritz Leiber, Catherine Lucille Moore, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Michael Moorcock, Jody Scott, Anne Rice, Robert Aickman, Jack Vance, Conrad Aiken, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Shirley Jackson. Comics would be work by creators such Moebius, Manara, or Esteban Maroto.  In TV or film, examples are harder to come by, as the mainstream has little true erotic content, and such non-mainstream work tends toward adult content or horror. A few examples of work that is erotic or contains erotic elements would be TV shows like Aeon Flux: The Animated Series or Lexx, and movies like Lair of the White Worm, Barbarella, The 10th Victim, Logan’s Run, or Danger Diabolik. Erotic Content Sexy Fantastic is looking for stories that deal frankly with...

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: $8 Theme: Love gone wrong Note: The author submitting MUST BE FEMALE (or identify as female). Deadline: Oct. 31, 2020 Payment: $8 flat fee per story (author must have a valid PayPal address as that will be used for payment) Publisher: Twisted Wing Productions Theme: Love Gone Wrong The theme can explore ANY type of love: romantic or platonic, obsessive, mother/daughter/son relationship, father/daughter/son, bestfriends, siblings, unrequited love, loss of love, falling in love with the wrong person, addiction, love/attachment for a specific place, location or building, student/teacher relationship, etc. The genre is HORROR. Stories MUST have elements of horror in them. The author submitting MUST BE FEMALE (or identify as female). The author must retain full rights to the work intended for our consideration and that the work itself is complete and not published anywhere else (including personal websites or social media). Having been previously published isn’t a requirement, if you have a compelling story, send it to us! Format: Word doc, 12 font, double space Times New Roman. Not a reprint. We are asking for exclusive first worldwide electronic and print rights for 18 months and the right to keep the story in print, and nonexclusive right to continue to publish for the life of the anthology. We do not place any limits on what the author does with the story after the exclusivity period. We are not looking for poetry or screenplays. Bonus: Characters in stories are own voices, POC, or LGBTQ Submission method: Please send story as an attachment (.doc or docx. Only) to azzurranoxyahoo.com Please include the following with your submission: Author (Legal Name) Pen name (if applicable) Email Story Title Word Count Third person biography The anthology will be published both in e-book and print formats with an estimated publication date of February 2021. Via: Azurra Nox.

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: 8 cents a word Theme: Interesting takes on how science will change our lives, see below for examples! Science fiction often thinks about the technology and science without considering the ways social structures will change as tech changes — or not. What will relationships look like in the future when we have complications like clones, uploaded intelligences, artificial brains, or body augmentation? What happens when emotions like love and friendship span vast distances — in space, in time, and in the heart? And as we acknowledge differences in gender in a way we never have before, what stories are finally given the space in which to emerge? Among the stories I hope to see: Stories that focus on the relationship between an individual and a community or communities, or even on relationships between communities or social groups. Stories that complicate sex and gender by showing how shifting technology may affect social attitudes and practices. Stories with romances that reinvent traditional tropes and recast them for the 21st century. Stories that experiment, astonish, and entertain.   This anthology is open to female and nonbinary writers. Writers of color, QUILTBAG writers, writers with disabilities, and neuro-diverse writers are actively encouraged to apply, as are writers from outside the United States. Open for submissions Oct 1-October 31. Submission portal. Guidelines: Please remove identifying information from the manuscript, but otherwise use standard manuscript format. Length: 500-5000 words (5k is going to be a tough sell) Buying: Original fiction; exclusive rights for 18 months with standard “best of” anthology exceptions. Paying: 8 cents a word (SFWA pro rates) No multiple or simultaneous submissions Timeline: Submissions open Oct 1 and close October 31. The first round of reading will run November 1 through the end of the month. All submissions will be informed...

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: 3 (Euro) cents per word for original fiction and 1 (Euro) cent per word for translations of fiction into English Theme: Campbellian hard SF There are plenty of amazing print and online journals out there for ‘character-driven’ fiction, and we encourage you to read them. SPJ is not one of them, though. Hence, we are not interested in stories predominantly about the sentiments and subjective experiences of fictional people. We want hard SF that zooms out of the personal and lifts off into the structural, the systemic, the epic. We yearn for carefully crafted philosophical speculation that puzzles over the questions of the future and alternate pasts. And we have a soft spot for stories created as ‘artefacts’ (fictional, ‘in-universe’ non-fiction). So here are SPJ‘s quests: – Campbellian hard SF. Reaching back to the roots of classic sci-fi, these rigorous tales take themselves seriously and push the boundaries of our scientific imagination, scaling from the nano to the meta. The cast, if any, is functional and disposable. It’s the sociological, technological and indeed cosmic developments that sweep the reader up in an expanding sense of wonder. (For a contemporary long-form example that received mainstream attention, see the latter two books of Cixin Liu’s Three-Body Problem trilogy.) – Fictional non-fiction. The purest, most intimate form of world-building. A transcript of the last UN Security Council meeting before an extinction-level event. The dental bills of a cybernetic vampire. Interviews with eyewitnesses of a battle between Martians and archangels. Think ‘World War Z’, not ‘Walking Dead’. – Speculative philosophy. Extrapolating abstract ideas to examine the implications if they were to manifest. (See for instance The End of History, the Beginning of Hers in Vol. V. Issue 1. for a theological example of just what we mean.) (The first author to have a story published in each of the three categories...

Deadline: October 31st, 2020 Payment: $0.10/word up to 3,000 words for fiction. $300 flat rate above that. $5/poem flat rate for poetry. Theme: Speculative fiction that astute readers should be able to see how your story addresses the world we live in right now. What we Publish: Original fiction and poetry, all of which must be broadly “speculative fiction” (science fiction, fantasy, alt-history, magical realism, slipstream, or in some other way altered reality). Length: 12,000 words or less preferred, but you may submit stories up to 20,000 words. 30 lines or fewer for poetry. Rights Purchased: First worldwide English-language rights. Payment: $0.10/word up to 3,000 words for fiction. $300 flat rate above that. $5/poem flat rate for poetry. Simultaneous Submissions: Accepted. Please let us know immediately if your work sells elsewhere. Multiple Submissions: Accepted on a trial basis. Please do not dump your entire trunk on us or this will change. For fiction, we recommend not sending us multiple submissions unless there is a compelling reason to do so (in case we send feedback). Please submit each story separately. For poetry, please submit up to 10 poems in a single file. Reprints: By solicitation only. Query if your work was previously published but obscurely enough that you think it should not count. Translations: Accepted for first worldwide English publication. Response Time: We strive to respond to all submissions in less than 90 days. Query address: departuremirror gmail Departure Mirror Quarterly stories are: Current. Astute readers should be able to see how your story addresses the world we live in right now. Well written. Accessible to a mainstream American audience. Diverse. We mean this not only in terms of the types of stories we publish, but also in terms of the types of authors we publish. Writers from historically underrepresented and oppressed groups are especially encouraged to submit. Anti-violence. We do not publish anything that promotes...

Deadline: November 1st, 2020 Payment: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10 Theme: The Other Virginia The Other Virginia (November 1, 2020) To download a PDF file of the guidelines, click here . ALL SHORT STORIES, ESSAYS, POEMS, PHOTOGRAPHS and ART MUST RELATE TO ONE OF THE PREMISES SPECIFIED ABOVE. NOTE: Previously published pieces are welcome, provided that the submission fits the theme and that the author owns the copyright. The premise (target theme) must be an integral part of the plot, not necessarily the central theme but not merely incidental. Fewer than 20 double-spaced typewritten pages preferred. Indicate premise (target theme) on title page. Be sure to Indicate target theme in cover letter or on first page of manuscript. Include self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with each submission. Rejected manuscripts unaccompanied by an SASE will not be returned. Response time: 3 months after premise deadline.  NO READER'S FEE. Mail to: THEMA, Box 8747, Metairie, LA 70011-8747. Outside the US: email [email protected] On acceptance for publication, we will pay the following amount: short story, $25; short-short piece (up to 1000 words), $10; poem, $10; artwork, $25 for cover, $10 for interior page display. Copyright reverts to author after publication. THEMA isn't for everyone. To find out why, click here. New to submitting manuscripts to journals? Click here to download a PDF file of a few basic guidelines. Unlike many publishers, we prefer works submitted by the authors themselves, without the involvement of an agent. Be sure to indicate premise and include SASE for each submission.  BE SURE to include a separate SASE for each premise. No handwritten manuscripts will be considered. NOTE: We do not accept e-mailed submissions EXCEPT from authors who live outside the U.S. For those living outside the U.S., submit manuscript as an email attachment (readable by MSWord ― either as a DOC file or an RTF file), and include...

Deadline: November 1st, 2020 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry Theme: Story must begin with: Winter: Loud music filled the room, making it hard to hear anything else. Due date: November 1, 2020 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...

Deadline: November 1st, 2020 Payment: $0.01/word + a print copy of the anthology Theme: Adventure horror Off Limits Press is now accepting short fiction submissions for Far From Home, an anthology of adventure horror. Please carefully read the submission guidelines below before submitting. Submission Guidelines: Far From Home is an anthology of adventure horror. We are seeking original, unpublished short horror stories which strongly incorporate adventure. Adventure is intended to be interpreted broadly and may include, but is certainly not limited to, tales involving mountaineering, cave diving, the open sea, parkour, rafting, treasure hunting, arctic expedition, and caving. We are interested in and welcome most horror sub-genres, so long as the theme is strongly incorporated. Stories may include horror steeped in realism and/or the supernatural. Word Count: 2,000 - 8,000 words Deadline: The submission deadline is November 1st, 2020. Notification Deadline: All submissions will receive a decision by December 1st, 2020. Payment: $0.01/word + a print copy of the anthology Formatting: Please send submissions in standard manuscript format as a MS Word or PDF attachment. Please include a brief cover letter in the body of the email, including title, author name, and word count. Please put the title of the submission and the author name in the subject line. Please send submissions to: [email protected]. Please note: Cover art is subject to change. Submissions will not be accepted outside of the posted deadline. Via: Off Limits Press.

Deadline: November 1st, 2020 Payment: $75 Theme: Second chances We are pleased to announce there will be a short story anthology for Bouchercon 2021. Our goal is to raise money for the New Orleans public library, which is desperately in need of funding. All of the proceeds after publishing costs will be deducted and the rest will go to the library, along with the proceeds from our live and silent auctions. In addition to stories published by some of our guests of honor and invited authors, we are asking for blind submissions from our Bouchercon friends. We hope most of the stories in the anthology will come from these blind submissions, and will include emerging voices, new voices, and authors who are in the early years of publication. We are eager to hear from everyone, but if you have never been in a Bouchercon anthology before, we urge you to please submit! Submission guidelines: Short stories must be less than 4000 words. Stories must not have been published anywhere else previously. The theme of this anthology is second chances, redemption, second try, play it again. Since this is the second Bouchercon in New Orleans, we may call it Second Time Around— but that is still in the works.  Any ideas, love to hear them. The story DOES NOT have to be set in New Orleans. Your story should be submitted only to me at the email below. I will blind it and send it on to our staff of reviewers and readers. You will be paid $75.00 for each story we publish so you meet the guidelines for certain awards in our industry.  But you could donate that money back to New Orleans Public Library and get a tax write off and help them in their time of need. If...

Deadline: November 1st, 2020 Payment: $15 fee Theme: Haunted holidays Submissions are currently open for one issue of The Periodical, Forlorn: Volume I, Issue II ​ Theme: Haunted holidays. ​ For this issue, we don't want tales of peace on earth and good will to men. We don't want to hear about the warmth of family gatherings or how the Christmas spirit inspires a new outlook on life for those once thought irredeemable We want to know how misfits and outcasts approach the holiday season. We want to know how ghouls and goblins and all manner of pagan creatures mark the season. ​ Deadline: November 1st, 2020 Guidelines for All Submissions: Word Limit: 6,000 words ​ Compensation: flat $15 fee upon publication, plus a digital copy of the magazine (which you're free to share). ​ Format: We will accept short-form fiction any way you want to write it. This can include poetry, flash fiction or short stories. We're particularly interested in the subversion of form. We don't care about hard and fast rules, so don't worry too much about formatting. If you feel its good, chances are that shines through in the writing. And we want to read it. ​ Genre: Anything that's dark, creepy, weird and just a little off-kilter. We're open to genre fiction, particularly anything related to horror, science-fiction, speculative fiction or weird fiction. But we're also interested in anything that twists or subverts these genres in some unexpected way. ​ Simultaneous submissions: We will accept simultaneous submissions, but please inform us if this applies to you. If a story may be pulled away from us at the last minute, we want to know as this may affect our decision on acceptance. ​ Multiple Submissions: Please only send us one submission at a time. If your submission is rejected, we will then accept another...

Deadline: November 1st, 2020 Payment: 4 cents per word Theme: The Bonds That Unite Us / Los lazos que nos unen The Themes for Year 1 are: #1: The Bonds That Unite Us / Los lazos que nos unen #2. Myths and Monsters / Mitos y monstruos #3: Beyond the Stars / Más allá de las estrellas #4: Love Needs No Translation / El amor no necesita traducción The Bonds that Unite Us Constellations are the product of human imagination, giving meaning to the patterns we see in the sky. From these scintillating dots lighting up the night, we’ve created stories about heroes, legends, and mythological creatures. We created those bonds, and we give them meaning. Each culture that has looked up at the sky with wonder has its own interpretation of these connections, and now we want to hear yours. What are the bonds that unite our cultures and languages around the world? How are these bonds formed, and what upholds them? How can they be broken and forged again? What unites an alien civilization to humankind? What ties the dragon to the unicorn and prevents it from making a meal out of her? Sometimes these bonds are ones of blood. (Vampire tastes may vary.) Sometimes they’re shaped by shows of courage and strength, and the common struggles we face. These bonds can topple walls and bring down civilizations, and sometimes they’re the foundation for something new. The theme is open to interpretation, as long as the stories fit under the speculative fiction umbrella. Myths and Monsters Since the dawn of time, humans have stared into the abyss and wondered what hid in the darkness. Tell us about the myths and monsters that have shaped your perception of the unknown. Do your monsters hide in broad daylight or lurk in the shadows? Are they under the bed or...

Deadline: November 2nd, 2020 Payment: 6 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints Theme: Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world. Note: Reprints welcome     Submissions Schedule We have a new submissions schedule as of June 1, 2020: The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T. Only one submission per person. For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers. We pay 6¢ per word for new fiction, 2¢ per word for fiction reprints, 2 – 6¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles. For new poetry, we pay $1 a line, reprints would be 50¢ a line, up to 40 lines. We’ll look at longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 6¢ per word. We began The Kepler Award to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways. You can learn about The Kepler Award here. You can read a copy of our standard contract here.   It can be varied as needed to include the rights of translators, voice actors, etc. Writers Guidelines We accept new work as well as reprints, prose and poetry, anywhere from 1000 word flash fiction on up, but all else being equal, shorter pieces will be favored.   We have tough standards but only care about the quality of the writing, storytelling ability, characters, plot, and ideas, not whether you’re new or established.  Submit only work you are proud of —...

Deadline: November 2nd, 2020 Payment: 8 cents per word for original work, $100 flat rate for short story reprints, and $20 flat rate for flash fiction reprints Theme: Horror: dark, weird fiction. We run the spectrum from grim realism or crime drama, to magic-realism, to blatantly supernatural dark fantasy. Note: Reprints welcome PseudoPod is always looking for quality fiction to feed our listeners. If you’re a writer with a short horror story that you’d like to hear narrated by one of our talented performers, we’d like to see it. Probably. When we’re open, you can send it to us through our Moksha portal. Check to see if we’re open by reviewing our schedule. Multiple and Simultaneous Submissions For the submission period in 2020, we will consider one original and one reprint per author. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable WITH DISCLOSURE. Let us know that you are submitting this to multiple markets simultaneously. We’ll be transparent with you, and expect the same level of professionalism in return. The only exception to this is simultaneous submission of a particular story to multiple Escape Artists podcasts (Escape Pod, PodCastle, Cast of Wonders, and PseudoPod), which we ask that you avoid. When submitting to one Escape Artists podcast, please wait to hear back about it before submitting the same story to another. What We Want PseudoPod is a genre magazine in audio form. We’re looking for horror: dark, weird fiction. We run the spectrum from grim realism or crime drama, to magic-realism, to blatantly supernatural dark fantasy. We publish highly literary stories reminiscent of Poe or Lovecraft as well as vulgar shock-value pulp fiction. We don’t split hairs about genre definitions, and we do not observe any taboos about what kind of content can appear in our stories. Originality demands that you’re better off avoiding vampires, zombies, and other recognizable horror...

Deadline: November 5th, 2020 Payment: $15 canadian Theme: science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, humour, western, mystery, literary…and any variation or combination thereof. YES, PLEASE: Flash fiction stories only.  Word count: 1,000 or less. English language only. Original work only. Genre: science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, humour, western, mystery, literary…and any variation or combination thereof.  If in doubt, send it along – you never know. Multiple submissions:  feel free to send as many submissions as you wish to during the reading period.  Please send each submission in separate emails. Simultaneous submissions: all good. If your story is selected for publication elsewhere, please contact me right away to withdraw it from my consideration. NO, THANK YOU: Word count over the limit. Poetry, non-fiction, essays, children’s stories, anything other than flash fiction. Erotica, excessive gore, abuse, or ‘isms such as racism, sexism, etc.. Overly saucy language.  I don’t mind swear words, I just would prefer to keep the content on the site closer to the PG side of things. Reprints. Stories sent outside of the reading period. Artwork. Queries. They’re not necessary.  Send me your work if you think there’s a chance I might like it.  Please don’t ask me about your submission after you’ve sent it. I will get back to you by December 15, 2020. FORMATTING: I’m not picky about fonts or font sizes or margins or paragraph indentations or anything of the sort.  I will format your work to fit the site if it is accepted for publication.  If your story has an experimental form and I accept it, we’ll work together to ensure it is posted properly. Cover letters are not required. Your contact information (name, email address) MUST be included somewhere in your submission. Please watch your spelling and grammar – if your story is littered with errors,...

Deadline: November 7th, 2020 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Original fantasy and dark fantasy stories. All types of fantasy and dark fantasy are welcome. Submission Periods: Fantasy is open to submissions the first week of every month (1st-7th). Please do not query about submitting outside our open submission periods. Anonymous Submissions: Fantasy only accepts anonymous submissions. Do not include your name, address, phone number, or other similar identifiers on the manuscript. All original short fiction, flash fiction, and poetry submissions will be read anonymously on first read: moving out of slush depends on the merits of the story alone. Please make sure the title is on the manuscript. Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: We do not accept simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions. Please do not submit more than one set of poems at a time, more than one piece of flash fiction at a time, or more than one story at a time. You may, however, submit a single entry in each category at the same time: you can submit one batch of poems, one flash fiction piece, and one short story all at the same (or overlapping) time, and each category will be considered a separate submission. If we are already considering work in any given category, please wait until you have received an acceptance or rejection before submitting again in that same category. Instructions: All fiction must be submitted through our Moksha online submission system. Please do not email your submissions. If one of the Submission Type options is grayed out, that means we are currently closed to that Submission Type. Questions/Problems: Email [email protected] for all submission-related inquiries, or if you have any trouble using our online submission system. Please do not email your submissions to this address. All submissions must be submitted via our Moksha online submission system. Rejections/Response Times: Be aware that we expect to receive several hundred submissions during our submissions...

Deadline: November 8th, 2020 Payment: £60 plus royalties Theme: Poetry anthology with the theme of who we were Tell Me Who We Were Before Life Made Us We’re currently seeking submissions for a poetry anthology entitled Tell Me Who We Were Before Life Made Us edited by Maz Hedgehog. This anthology will be published in June 2021. This is an anthology about imagined histories. We want to read your takes on fairy tales, folklore and urban legends. Send us your creation myths, founding myths, Greek/Haitian/Indian/Mancunian myths. We want to see your counterfactuals, your apocryphals, your ‘What If’s? We want to know, who do you think we are/were/could be? Requirements:  Submit up to 3 poems, of any length The file name must be the title of the first poem in your submission and the number of poems in your submission (e.g. The_Wasteland_3) submit in PDF/doc/plain text format. Use a standard, easy to read font (such as calibri, times new roman or arial) unless your poem requires otherwise In your email include your name and a short bio (no more than 75 words) If your poetry is commissioned, you will be paid a fee of £60 plus royalties. Please email Maz at [email protected] with your submissions by 8 November 2020. Via: 3 of Cups.

Deadline: November 13th, 2020 Payment: Canada: 5.00CAD OR one contributor copy (print or pdf), USA, UK: one contributor copy Theme: Short genre fiction Submissions for Issue #2 are now open. Please read this page thoroughly. There are changes to terms since the first issue. Near the bottom of this page is a link to more helpful information which should be read before submitting your work. PLEASE ONLY SEND SUBMISSIONS DURING OPEN SUBMISSION WINDOWS. Any submissions sent at other times will be deleted, unread. Submission Guidelines: OPEN Oct 03 – Nov 13, 2020 Fiction: Original, unpublished Short Stories: 600 – 3000 words. Please send one or two stories for consideration. Send in the plain text field, not as an attached file. If your work is accepted, the acceptance may be for one or both pieces (one flash fiction, and one longer story for instance). Poetry: We will feature a limited number of poets per issue. Original, unpublished poetry. Submit one to four poems, each separately in the plain text field of our submissions manager – NO files or attachments. Poems do not necessarily need to be horror or speculative in nature, but they should fit in with the material we publish – horror, dark literary, speculative fiction. If sending two stories, or when submitting poetry, please send them in separate submissions, preferably at the same time, one directly after the other. Mention the title of the other piece(s) in each submission. This makes it clear whether one or more pieces are accepted or declined. If your submission is declined DO NOT submit again unless we invite you to do so. Submit your own, original writing only. While a publication history is not a prerequisite, we expect proper grammar, word usage, syntax, genuine style and voice, and properly researched and accurate references. What we don’t...

Deadline: November 14th, 2020 Payment: $500 and 25 contributors copies Theme: literary fiction One Story Submission Guidelines: 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...

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: $.03 per word, capped at $150 usd, and 2 free contributor copies. Theme: Truly terrifying stories that deal with futuristic themes, set in the near future or far. Corpus Press is now accepting submissions to Volume 3 of the successful In Darkness, Delight anthology series (publication target 2021) to be edited by Evans Light and Andrew Lennon. Submissions should be story-driven and appeal to a wide adult audience. We seek truly terrifying stories that deal with futuristic themes, set in the near future or far. Tales can be Earth-based or extraterrestrial, perhaps featuring technological or social upheavals that have frightful implications for individuals or society at large; as examples, the ongoing erosion of privacy and enduring nature of online activity, artificial human enhancement via DNA manipulation or implants, impact of emerging technologies on developing children, and so on. (Think bigger than stories about an interesting app, even though that might be where thoughts go first. The few slots allocated for app stories will be filled very quickly.) Post-apocalyptic stories will not be accepted. Rather, we desire fiction that occurs during periods preceding any total collapse, be they stable or unstable times. The horrors that await us in utopian futures may be far more chilling and fascinating than those endemic to dystopias, and therein lies our primary interest. We're more interested in "fiction" than "science"; this is a horror anthology first and foremost, not a science fiction anthology. To that end, your math doesn't have to work out to five decimal points for every forward-thinking concept you present. Merely plausible is good enough. If you're looking for popular culture references to give you a general feel, here are a few: Annihilation, Alien, Pandorum, Under the Skin, Cube, Slither, The Thing, They Live, Mimic, Black Mirror, Outer Limits, The...

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: Contributors Copy Theme: monsters during their middle school years. A Collection of Monsterous Tales Chipper Press is looking for short stories about what life is like for monsters during their middle school years. Do humans know about the monsters? Do they attend school with them? What type of monsters are there? Do they have special classes per species? Do werewolf children get certain days off that trolls don’t? Our readers want a cross between Vampire Academy, Harry Potter, and the School of Night. Our readers want to know what classes are like-when are they held, what subjects do they study, what is the social scene, the sports played, the cliques like? Entertain our readers with complete stories that show more of the action than simply telling and keep the tales PG for the 9-13 year-old-readers, please. Submissions of both short stories and novellas to this anthology are welcome, please keep in mind the minimum word count is 5,500 and the maximum word count is 19,000. 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. (Your submission will be declined if there is head-hopping.) Please show more of the action than just telling the reader what happens. Characters need to be fully developed and the stories need to be complete-not just a scene. This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms. Submission Deadline: November 15, 2020, with a targeted release date of late January 2021. 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...

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: $0.01 per word (up to $75.00) + contributor copy Theme: Tales that illuminate, investigate or turn the fairy godmother trope on its head New Tales of Fairy Godmothers Anthologist: Kate Wolford Open for Submissions: September 15 - November 15, 2020 Expected Publication: 2021 Story Length: 4,000 to 7,500 words Payment: $0.01 per word (up to $75.00) + contributor copy Wands, wishes, and wonders. That’s the fairy godmother toolkit, and it’s been catching the imaginations of fairy tale lovers for centuries. But it’s time for some new fairy godmother tales, and that’s where you come in. Use your magic to come up with tales that illuminate, investigate or turn the fairy godmother trope on its head. Origin stories are welcome, but so are stories about fairy godfathers, fairy godparents, mundane godparents who find themselves in magical situations, the beneficiaries (or victims) of fairy godmothering—you get the idea. You can use existing fairy tales for inspiration or create a brand new story. What if Cinderella hates everything the fairy godmother does for her? Or, think about retelling “The Goose Girl” from the horse Falada’s point of view. Can the Giant’s wife in “Jack and the Beanstalk” be seen as a fairy godmother? I’m not just looking for old tales with a bit of retread. There’s a lot of that out there. Subvert the tales. Or just create a completely new tale of wonder and transformation. Stories set outside of dominant, Western culture are very welcome, as are new fairy godmother tales about and by people who aren’t usually represented in “classic” fairy tales. Please understand that we have a strong preference for "own voices" when it comes to tales about non-white people, queer or disabled people, and other marginalized groups. Absolutely none of the following: Sci-fi, dystopian, descriptions of people’s bodies through the...

Deadline: November 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...

Deadline: November 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...

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: .01 cents per word and a contributors copy Theme: New takes on fairy godmothers New Tales of Fairy Godmothers Anthologist: Kate Wolford Open for Submissions: September 15 - November 15, 2020 Expected Publication: 2021 Story Length: 4,000 to 7,500 words Payment: $0.01 per word (up to $75.00) + contributor copy Wands, wishes, and wonders. That’s the fairy godmother toolkit, and it’s been catching the imaginations of fairy tale lovers for centuries. But it’s time for some new fairy godmother tales, and that’s where you come in. Use your magic to come up with tales that illuminate, investigate or turn the fairy godmother trope on its head. Origin stories are welcome, but so are stories about fairy godfathers, fairy godparents, mundane godparents who find themselves in magical situations, the beneficiaries (or victims) of fairy godmothering—you get the idea. You can use existing fairy tales for inspiration or create a brand new story. What if Cinderella hates everything the fairy godmother does for her? Or, think about retelling “The Goose Girl” from the horse Falada’s point of view. Can the Giant’s wife in “Jack and the Beanstalk” be seen as a fairy godmother? I’m not just looking for old tales with a bit of retread. There’s a lot of that out there. Subvert the tales. Or just create a completely new tale of wonder and transformation. Stories set outside of dominant, Western culture are very welcome, as are new fairy godmother tales about and by people who aren’t usually represented in “classic” fairy tales. Please understand that we have a strong preference for "own voices" when it comes to tales about non-white people, queer or disabled people, and other marginalized groups. Absolutely none of the following: Sci-fi, dystopian, descriptions of people’s bodies through the objectifying eyes of the protagonist, erotica, high fantasy, excessive...

Deadline: November 15th 2020 Payment: AU$5.00 for stories under 2500 words / AU$10.00 for anything above 2500 words Theme: Birds Have Teeth Some people are scared of birds; ornithophobia the professionals call it. We've always enjoyed spotting the local birdlife, that is until a late night discussion that involved the hypothetical question "what if birds had teeth?" The conversation went back and forth, but one thing that we all could agree on was that the addition of razor-sharp fangs would make them truly monstrous. Something worthy of being afraid of... For this collection, we would like you to send us stories that feature birds with teeth. Any birds you like as long as they possess a large set of extra sharp teeth. Thuggish Itch is our horror, sci-fi and speculative fiction collection. Please make sure that your story falls within one of these genres. Be original. We also encourage new and unpublished writers to take the leap and get in touch. Please ensure that you read through the general guidelines and format your submission accordingly. If you have any specific questions please contact us using the form on the home page or via the listed social media accounts. To help make sure that your submission gets to the correct place, please include the following in the subject line of your email: Thuggish Itch - BHT - Story Title. Word count: 1000 - 5000 words Deadline: November 15 2020 Payment: AU$5.00 for stories under 2500 words / AU$10.00 for anything above 2500 words Via: Gypsum Sound Tales.

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: $150 Theme: Poetry in or about variety Englishes (see below for an explanation.) Submit poetry written in or regarding variety Englishes, to be published in Spring 2021 Issue (41.1). Poems in Singlish, Konglish, Spanglish, AAVE, and other English-associated linguistic forms will be considered for publication. Poets may be asked to contribute supplementary linguistic information to facilitate publication. *A maximum of three poems may be submitted. *No submission fee. Accepted pieces will be awarded $150 for publication. *Deadline November 15th. For inquiries, email [email protected]. Via: The Pinch's Submittable.

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: £10 Theme: Hell H is for Hell – Submissions open October 1st. Deadline November 15th.  For this one we’re thinking about experiences of Hell, whether that be a literal interpretation of fire and brimstone or a hellish situation. We are currently calling for submissions for a series of horror anthologies – The A-Z of Horror. The series will be based on a variety of themes and will consist of twenty-six books in total. We are looking for short horror stories, between 4000 and 8000 words, on each of the themes listed below. You may submit to more than one book, but we will only include a maximum of one story from each author, in each book. Being accepted into one book does not guarantee acceptance into one of the others. The story must be your own work, to which you hold the rights. The story must not be available elsewhere and, if accepted, we will hold the rights to it for three months from the date of publication. After that time, you may use the story however you wish. Any sub-genre of horror is suitable, even extreme, so long as the story fits the theme of that book and does not include anything which may unnecessarily cause offence ( ). Payment for the story will be £10, to be paid by PayPal, as well as a contributor’s e-book of the finished book. Please send submissions in a Word document (ideally Times New Roman 12pt, single spaced) to [email protected] with the title of the book you are submitting to in the subject line. Please ensure you have included your name on the Word document. If you have any queries, feel free to get in touch using the Contact page. We aim to respond to submissions within 2 weeks of...

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: 8 cents/6 pence for each word Theme: An unthemed horror anthology Note: Competition will be tough on this one, there are only 4 open slots. Beyond the Veil A New Collection of Horror Stories We are very excited to open submissions for this new anthology, edited by Mark Morris ("...one of the finest horror writers at work today" – Clive Barker)! Beyond the Veil is the second book in the Flame Tree Book of Horror series, and follows After Sundown, which published October 2020. Mark has once again approached an impressive range of authors but we've reserved space for four new stories from the online submissions. This is a prestigious anthology and will be published worldwide in hardcover and paperback. Fees, Copyright and Other Terms: We pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence for each word for new stories. We will not accept reprints for consideration to this anthology. We would prefer to pay for the selected stories via PAYPAL because bank charges to the US and Canada in particular can be crippling for all concerned. Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website flametreepublishing.com for details), although some may be paid earlier than that. Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel. Please submit in .doc, .docx or .rtf formats, double spaced, with your name and email address in the footer or header of each page. We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline. The anthology will be published worldwide, available online and to bookstores worldwide, in print and ebook formats. Guidelines: Please only submit unpublished/original/new stories for consideration....

Deadline: November 15th, 2020 Payment: $10 Theme: Nuclear Winter Nuclear winter. The frozen plains of the wild west. The ice-capped mountains of a dark wizard. Modern cities drowning in dunes of snow. Wherever or whenever the story takes place, winter is the worst enemy and is the deadliest monster chasing the hero. Survival is almost impossible as the sun hides behind billowing, gray clouds. The wind chaps their flesh. Whether the world has been covered in a 100-year winter or the snow has just started to fall, inciting an anticipated panic, Winter’s Vindication is at hand. ​ Stories of fantasy, sci-fi, literature, and/or survival are acceptable genres. Stories between 5,000 and 9,000 words will be selected for this anthology. Submissions close November 15th, 2020. Tentative release date: January 15th, 2021. ​ Please see the submission guidelines on how to submit to this anthology before you send your story. Pay: $10 per accepted story. Via: Summer Storm Press.

Deadline: November 20th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Previous works are primarily fantasy We are opening a submission window for novel manuscripts (over 60k). The limited reading period will run from 20 September through 20 November 2020. We are looking for books to release for our 2021-2022 calendar. Anything submitted before 20 September or after 20 November will be deleted unread. BEFORE you submit, please read ALL of our guidelines. Submissions that plainly ignore the guidelines will be deleted unread. Kindly send your English language manuscript to [email protected] as follows: Query letter, with novel synopsis and first three chapters pasted into the email, in standard manuscript format. No attachments, please. (For a good example of standard manuscript format, both classic and modern, kindly go here.) Kindly place in the subject line: Title: Author Name, Genre Full manuscripts ONLY UPON REQUEST BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and international authors are particularly welcome to submit. PLEASE BE AWARE: We are a very small press and, as such, cannot pay advances at this time. Royalties are paid on a quarterly basis for books sold. Before you submit, bear in mind our mission statement: Forest Path Books has been formed as a specialty publisher of divergent speculative fiction, with an especial focus upon literary, diverse, and expressive prose. We publish the books we want to read; ones that aren’t merely ‘consumed’ then forgotten, but ones that give a lingering, provocative, and extraordinary reading experience. The work published by Forest Path Books is written, not to ever-narrowing specifications controlled by a status quo of marketers, but to readers like ourselves, who often find themselves dissatisfied with the boundaries that genre fiction can set. FPB welcomes authors from varied walks of life, many of whom have voices and viewpoints sorely underserved in much of the mainstream publishing industry. Our especial focus includes not only well-written...

Deadline: November 20th, 2020 Payment: $100 (Canadian) per page of their story and a contributors copy Theme: Scary stories appropriate for From the publisher of Bones of the Coast and The Witching Hours comes a fantastically spooky new comics anthology! The Cloudscape Comics Society is proud to announce that FANTASTIC FRIGHTS, the all-ages fantasy/horror comics anthology, is now open for submissions! Fantastic Frights is a modern day love letter to the retro-pulpy horror of the 90s and early 2000s but with a fantasy twist. Think fantasy Goosebumps, but in comic book form. CLICK HERE TO APPLY Why Fantastic Frights? Despite the rising demand for more kid friendly graphic novels, we’ve observed a great deficiency in content, ESPECIALLY in the horror genre. Fantastic Frights seeks to fill that gap, providing kids with a safe and engaging way to jump into the genre by literally transitioning them into it! Stories will be ordered by least to most spooky (as judged by the editors), culminating in the most horrific (but still safe) stories we have to offer. The book will challenge readers by posing the question of how far into the book are they willing to get, and warning them that it only gets scarier from here! What we’re looking for The main theme of the anthology is the Fantasy/Horror cross. While stories can lean more heavily towards one genre, they must contain elements of both. Stories that can come up with unique and creative ways to weave the genres together are more likely to catch our attention. Some examples of what we’re looking for are Are You Afraid of the Dark, Goosebumps, and Tales from the Cryptkeeper (the cartoon), but leaning slightly more heavily on the fantasy element. By “Fantasy” we mean it in the broad sense of the world. You’re welcome to create a high fantasy setting with extra terrestrial creatures and locations, but a low/urban fantasy story...

Deadline: November 27th, 2020 Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words Theme: Solarpunk, cyberpunk with a hopeful outlook, futuristic fantasy Note: Reprints welcome Note: Sorry for the short window, I was just notified of this market. Solarpunk, cyberpunk with a hopeful outlook, futuristic fantasy, we're looking for your spec-fic stories of all kinds that leave us with the idea that despite the doom and gloom in the universe, things can possibly work out if we strive to make life better, even if in a small way. Send us your stories! Submissions deadline November 27th. NOTE: We are currently only accepting short stories for the anthologies and cannot accept full-length novel manuscripts at this time. ** Please put the anthology you're submitting to in the subject line of the email!** Payment for stories will be $5 USD per 1000 words for all current anthologies (excepting contests). We're looking for speculative fiction across all anthologies (unless otherwise specified). That includes everything from high fantasy to hard scifi and anything in between. We do accept reprints, simultaneous submissions, and multiple submissions, though these will slow down our response time. Story lengths should be anywhere from flash-length to about 15k words, but we have at times made exceptions. We know a story is complete when it's complete, and arbitrary word count requirements are not always helpful. If you have an amazing story that exceeds 15k words, let us know. We may be able to make special accommodations. :) With regard to copyright, we request the non-exclusive right to publish your story in the anthology to which it was accepted. You retain the rights to your individual story to do with as you wish. Please let us know if you have any questions. Note: We do have long lead times with our anthologies, because we want to ensure...

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Wolf shifters Wolf Night (Rated R) Deadline – November 30th, 2020 Publication – March 2021 Word Count – 5,000-15,000 Theme – Wolf shifters galore! We are looking for romantic tales of wolf shifters in any setting or genre. The spicier, the better. Publisher INFORMATION Company name:        Dragon Soul Press Anthology Submission Email: [email protected] Website:                    http://dragonsoulpress.com/ Facebook:                  http://www.facebook.com/dragonsoulpress/ Duotrope:                   https://duotrope.com/listing/26543/dragon-soul-press The Grinder:              https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market/Index?id=9529   CHECKLIST Introduction of author                                                        This is not where the biography goes. Author Contact Information / Pen name MUST be included with real name. If real name is same as pen name, state so in email. Author Biography in Third Person in 100-200 words        Mandatory minimum of 100. Submission Word Count                                                   Also applies to poetry. Word count. Not line count.   Submission Formatted in Times New Roman 12 PT Font. One-inch margins. No indentations. No double-spacing. No extra spacing between paragraphs. No chapters. Only DOC and DOCX accepted.   Summary/Query Letter                                                      Summarized outline of all major events within the story. All emails should be addressed as “Dear Editor” Email subject and file name must be as follows – “Story Title by Author Name for (Name of) Anthology” All of the author’s social media links, including website if applicable Author must have an active social media account.   Important information Maximum of two submissions per anthology per author. Authors can submit to all anthologies simultaneously. Reprints from third party sources accepted IF author currently holds full rights. We will not publish duplicate stories within DSP. Authors get 30% Royalties for first year from date of publication. Afterwards, 30% of all proceeds go to a charity chosen by the Publisher. Story rights - The Publisher permanently reserves the right to publish the Work within the Anthology while the Author keeps ownership rights to the Work. Do not submit...

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Steampunk Deadline – November 30th, 2020 Publication – March 2021 Word Count – 500-15,000 Theme – Steampunk! We’re looking for steampunk stories. Additional subgenres are accepted (ex. Dieselpunk, Valvepunk). * Introduction of yourself should be a short biography in 3rd Person between 100-200 words. Upon acceptance, this will be used within the anthology. Send a bio with every single anthology submission. We work with hundreds of authors and will not take time to retrieve yours from a previous anthology. * Poetry submissions: All poetry needs to be contained within a single e-mail. Each poem should be in a separate document. Haikus may be grouped together. * All e-mails should be addressed to “Dear Editor.” After receiving edits back, the author has two weeks to return the submission for formatting. All submissions will be reviewed within thirty (30) days of the anthology’s submission deadline. This ensures submission calls do not close early and gives everyone a chance to submit. You will know your submission has been received for consideration by receiving a generic response. Whether accepted or rejected, you will always receive a response. View our blog articles on how to submit to a publisher and how to write a proposal.   Failure to submit following all of the guidelines will result in an immediate refusal. You are able to submit again before the submission call deadline.   Rating – Check each anthologies‘ rating. Word count – Check each anthologies‘ word count requirements. E-mail address to submit to – [email protected]   NOTICE –  Failure to submit correctly will result in refusal of submission. Via: Dragon Soul Press.

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: Flash (700-1500 words, no more and no less*): $10 per piece Drabbles (up to 100 words for drabbles; 200 words for double drabbles*): $1-3 per piece up to triple drabbles (300 words). Poetry (up to 30 lines-no fancy formatting*): $5 per poem Theme: Retro Science Fiction Note: Female authors only Note: Reprints Accepted Women authors only (Transwomen authors accepted because transwomen are women). Retro Science Fiction. What is retro sci fi? It's also known as retro-futurism, and described as "the future that never was." Something like the science fiction stories of the 40s and 50s. John DeNardo wrote a nice article about it in Kirkus Review. Link: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/why-i-love-retro-science-fiction/ I want you to imagine me a future of women characters that shine and live in a world (that they created or helped to create) filled with impossible wonders. Flash and short stories only. Flash are (750 to 1500 words) Short stories are (1501 to 2500 words (no more) Reprints will be accepted on this one, just let me know where it was previously published. Deadline is November 30th at 11:59 pm. Further submission guidelines can be found here. Via: The Were Traveler.

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: 5 cents per word and a contributor's copy Theme: Silence Note: This anthology is open to those from any oppressed group: examples include Women, People of Color, LGTBQ+, Persons with a Disability. Guidelines: This anthology is open to those from any oppressed group: examples include Women, People of Color, LGTBQ+, Persons with a Disability. If you do not fall into this category, please refrain from submitting. There are plenty of other opportunities for you out there. The theme of this anthology is Silence. How you interpret that is up to you, so long as it’s clearly a significant part of the story. Do not send a story with Silence tacked on as an afterthought. You will waste my time and yours. Stories should be horror. We are open to most types of horror though prefer, for this anthology, to shy away from the more extreme: no splatter. Sex and gore are acceptable, provided they are not gratuitous. It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, just so we’re absolutely clear: no stories that glorify the oppression of any of the Silenced groups listed above (or any we may have left out). This is an automatic rejection and we will probably never speak to you again either. Standard Manuscript Formatting, please: Times New Roman (or something equivalent) preferred, 12-point font, double spaced. First page, upper left, should contain your contact information and approximate word count (round to the nearest hundred). Word count is between 3,000 and 5.000. There is some wiggle room at both ends but please try to keep it close to that. Your subject line should read Submission: (story title), (your name). Failure to follow this may result in your story getting lost in the shuffle. We are only looking for original...

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: Royalties Deadline – November 30th, 2020 Publication – February 2021 Word Count – 5,000-15,000 Theme – It is rare for soul mates to be discovered early on in life. These characters have begun creating their own fairytale happily ever afters. Whether it be the boy next door, a loyal princess, or a supernatural being, all of these stories have two things in common: everlasting love and * Introduction of yourself should be a short biography in 3rd Person between 100-200 words. Upon acceptance, this will be used within the anthology. Send a bio with every single anthology submission. We work with hundreds of authors and will not take time to retrieve yours from a previous anthology. * Poetry submissions: All poetry needs to be contained within a single e-mail. Each poem should be in a separate document. Haikus may be grouped together. * All e-mails should be addressed to “Dear Editor.” After receiving edits back, the author has two weeks to return the submission for formatting. All submissions will be reviewed within thirty (30) days of the anthology’s submission deadline. This ensures submission calls do not close early and gives everyone a chance to submit. You will know your submission has been received for consideration by receiving a generic response. Whether accepted or rejected, you will always receive a response. View our blog articles on how to submit to a publisher and how to write a proposal.   Failure to submit following all of the guidelines will result in an immediate refusal. You are able to submit again before the submission call deadline.   Rating – Check each anthologies‘ rating. Word count – Check each anthologies‘ word count requirements. E-mail address to submit to – [email protected]   NOTICE –  Failure to submit correctly will result in refusal of submission. Via: Dragon Soul Press.

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: $0.005 per word. Theme: Blending spells/rituals/magic with sex Note: This anthology is seeking authors who identify as LGBTQ+. Dancing with Devils is an anthology looking to blend spells/rituals/magic with sex. Published under Red Ferret Press Payment: $0.005 per word. Word Count: up to 8000 words. It's rare that I look at anything over. If we're talking 100 words over that's ok, but not much more than that. And I typically don't include your title in your word counts. Deadline:   November 30, 2020. This anthology will be released Summer or Fall 2021 This anthology is seeking authors who identify as LGBTQ+. Please note that this is not a space for allies. We are seeking queer authors. Additionally, we would love to see queer authors of color, authors with disabilities submit to this anthology.   This submission call is for stories containing anthropomorphic characters otherwise known as Furry. I'm not really looking for human characters here, and if they do exist I would prefer they remain in the background of the story.   Here's what I don't want Straight Narratives. This is something you can find anywhere and has been boring to sit through. Most media you see incorporates a heternormative take on things like relationships, family, societal structure, and honestly I'm tired of it. I'm tired of straight people being the focus. Send me works that go against this; that say "f*ck all straight people." Fiction that contains racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, non-consensual/rape. Just because a character is queer, does not mean you have to stereotype them. Oh and white people who think it's ok to incorporate AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) into their white coded characters? F*ck off, I ain't here for that either. Cultural appropriation has no place in this anthology. If you need...

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: 1-cent-per-word Theme: Pulpy dark fiction in the weird fiction and horror genres Welcome to the new pulp! Weird Horror magazine is a new venue for fiction, articles, reviews, and commentary. The best way to determine what we want is to pick up our inaugural issue, in print or eBook. FICTION GUIDELINES OPENS: October 1 CLOSES: November 30 Weird Horror Magazine is open to submissions of fiction only from October 1 through November 30. The submission period covers 2 issues - March and October. Fiction must be original and previously unpublished anywhere, in any format, on any platform. Please do not query about reprints. As we'll be reading for 2 issues, it may take the full submission period to respond. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Please inform us if your story is accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions. Please send 1 story. We anticipate buying 12 - 18 stories only for our 2021 issues, but they will all come from the slush pile. We are actively seeking new and underrepresented voices. We accept submissions from anyone, regardless of race, gender, or sexuality. As our title suggests, we are seeking pulpy dark fiction in the weird fiction and horror genres of 500 to 5,000 words. Monsters, ghosts, creatures, fiends, demons, etc. Dark crime. Suspense. Mutants. Killers. Ghouls. Golems. Witches. Pulpy goodness! We are hoping to bring some fun (and terror) to our readers. Payment is 1-cent-per-word (paid via PayPal) for first worldwide English-language rights, for use in the print and eBook editions. We ask for a 6-month exclusivity. Copyright remains with the author, and a contract will be provided. Submit stories in Standard Manuscript Format as a Word document or PDF, and e-mail as an attachment to: WeirdHorrorMag gmail com Please format the subject line of your e-mail thusly:...

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: $75 Theme: The horrors of capitalism Note: This market does not open until November 1st and will not take submissions prior to that. ProleSCARYet: Tales of Horror and Class Warfare will be a print and e-book anthology about the horrors of capitalism. We want monstrous bosses, jobs from literal Hell, working class folks fighting back against great cosmic evils, and any other wild idea you can come up with. As long as it’s anti-capitalist and horror, it’s good. We also welcome dark weird fiction and horror-adjacent sci-fi. The anthology is open to all writers, but we would especially like submissions from anti-capitalist writers of marginalized groups. Stories should be between 1,000 and 4,500 words. Multiple submissions are not allowed. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but withdraw your submission immediately if it gets accepted elsewhere. No reprints. Open for submissions November 1st, 2020 – November 30th, 2020. We will announce accepted submissions by January 15th, 2020. Anthology will be published in spring 2021. OTHER SUBMISSION CONSIDERATIONS If you’re retreading old ground and well-established tropes, make it fresh. We’re fine with horror that has erotic elements, but emphasis should be on the horror. Yes, make it anti-capitalist, but don’t be moralizing. We want nuance. Stories that deal with bigotry are fine, but bigoted stories are not. Splatterpunk is fine, but gore and extreme elements should serve story, character, and theme. FORMAT Use standard manuscript format. Send a doc/docx attachment. Do not copy-paste your story into the body of the email or submit it in any other format — we won’t read it if you do. Please send submission to [email protected]. Include your name, story title, and word count in the subject heading (e.g., Karl Marx — “Capitalism Bad” — 3,500 Words”). Include an author bio of under 100 words and...

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: Flash: $25 plus 2 comp copies.. Short Fiction pays $.04/word plus 4 comp copies. Theme: Weird Horror, atmosphere, dread, and slimy things. Thanks for your interest in Green Inferno! What We Are: A quarterly 120-page trade paperback anthology of original short comics and fiction centered around Terrestrial Horror: stories that take place on or involving our planet, often (but not always) with an environmental or ecological bent. That is to say: not every story has to be Man v. Nature-- that would get old pretty quick!-- but Man v. Nature is a good germination point for what Green Inferno seeks to be, and it definitely falls under the umbrella. Here are some stories that, in our opinion, fall under the umbrella of Terrestrial Horror: The Fog - John Carpenter The Low Low Woods - Carmen Maria Machado & Dani Swamp Thing - Alan Moore & others Threshold - Caitlin R. Kiernan The Godzilla franchise The Southern Reach Trilogy - Jeff VanderMeer The Birds - Alfred Hitchcock *Even Cosmic Horror like The Color out of Space, though extraterrestrial in origin, explores the horror wrought on Earth. We’d say that falls well within our purview. So, yeah, it’s a big umbrella, but we do think the title sums it up quite nicely: Green Inferno. The World Celebrates Your Demise. What We’re Looking For: Short Stories (8000 words or less) and Flash Fiction (1000 words or less). How Do We Want to Scare You Today…? -We love Weird Horror, atmosphere, dread, and slimy things. -Splatterpunk or moody Gothic creepiness are both super keen. -Throwback-y and uber-contemporary are equally great. -Sci-Fi and Fantasy angles welcome, but please keep it Earthbound (terrestrial) for now. -We like Horror comedy… sometimes. Everyone’s “funny” is different, but give it a shot! For Fiction Submissions: We are seeking Short Stories (8000 words or less) and Flash Fiction (1000 words or less). Flash Fiction pays $25 plus 2 comp copies. Short Fiction pays $.04/word...

Deadline: November 30th, 2020 Payment: 5 cents per word Theme: movie/monsters ruin the holidays horror anthology Note: Sorry for the short window. The amazing Gabino Iglesias took this from rough idea to Cemetery Gates Media funding it yesterday afternoon. 2-5k words Deadline: November 30 (tight, I know, but it'll be out December 2020, so non-negotiable) Payment: $.05/word No reprints/poetry/romance/nonfiction I'm editing, so you know everyone is encouraged to submit. Looking at you, new writers, LGBTQ+ writers, writers of color, etc. This is a horror anthology, so make it dark, creepy, scary, gory, and horrific while using the smalltown/holidays/crappy movie aesthetic. No Hallmark tribute stories, please. Send submissions to [email protected] You're awesome Via: Gabino Inglesias's Twitter.

Deadline: December 1st, 2020 Payment: $100 for a short story, or $200 for a novella. Theme: “Politics as Story Conflict.” Lagrange Books is soliciting short stories and novellas by new and established authors in the fantasy genre, between 3,500 and 7,000 words in length for short stories and between 9,000 and 15,000 words for novellas. (Shorter or longer works will be considered in cases of exceptional merit.) The goal is to select at least ten entries for publication* in a short-story anthology. Theme: “Politics as Story Conflict.” Your story must include as a significant plot element a political conflict that makes up a key piece of the worldbuilding. (For guidance on how to do this, you can refer to Beyond Kings and Princesses: Governments for Worldbuilders, from Lagrange Books.) Accepted authors will receive $100 for a short story, or $200 for a novella. Submission Rules How to submit: Email your manuscript (acceptable document formats: Word, PDF, Pages, TXT, RTF) to the following address: editor at lagrangebooks dot com. Begin the subject line with “”, and make sure to list your contact information in the email itself. (Also, please mention how you heard of this anthology!) Submission deadline: December 1, 2020. Genre: Fantasy, broadly defined. This includes traditional high fantasy, urban fantasy, or any other flavor that includes a magical or fantastical element. (If you are interested in other genres, please suggest them for our next project!) Details Entries must be your own work, must be previously unpublished, and may not be plagiarized. You must own all copyright to work submitted. No exceptions! Read this post and then this post for discussions of my editorial preferences. Be warned especially that even though the focus of this anthology is on worldbuilding, that does not free you from the need to have a strong plot. Works must show adequate command of the English language, grammar, and punctuation. Rule-breaking for effect, as...

Deadline: December 1st, 2020 Payment: $20 Theme: We ask our fiction writers to imagine their readers navigating a story with one finger poised over a mouse button. Can your story stay that finger to the end? “Turning words into art is unnatural. It begins with a contrary attitude. It says, I am unhappy with the way things are and desire to make things different. Rather than represent the world, I will make something wildly and savagely new. I will defy logic. I will invest in new perceptions. I will combine and recombine and fabricate and juggle until something that I have never experienced is experienced. The process is alchemical. The process is violent. It goes to the heart of creativity. It disrupts and shatters. It is splendid with provocation. It is an aggression against banality. It is sharp and loud like a janitor scraping frost from a window. The hectic bounce of steam on a street after a truck roars by. The anarchy of waters, the comedy of the face, dangerous feelings vented from a cage of skin.” ~ John Olson Poetry — We believe poetry is contrary by nature, always defying, always tonguing the tang of novelty. We look especially for plurality of meaning, for dual reverberation of beauty and concern. Contrary’s poetry in particular often mimics the effects of fiction or commentary. We find ourselves enamored of prose poems because they are naturally contrary toward form – they tug on the forces of exposition or narrative – but prose poems remain the minority of all the poetic forms we publish. Please consider that Contrary receives vast amounts of poetry and that we can publish only a small percentage of that work. Please submit no more than three poems per issue. Our poetry editor is Shaindel Beers. Fiction — We ask our fiction writers to imagine...

Deadline: December 1st, 2020 Payment: AUD$100.00 Theme: Remind readers of the hope and beauty of the Arts, and the way our engagement with writing, music, film, theatre, artworks in all media, and craft of all kinds are at the core of our humanity. The world in 2020 has been tipped upside down and shaken in ways we could barely have imagined, except perhaps in the post-apocalyptic and dystopic worlds of story. Amidst pandemic illness and death, political machinations and despair, one of the casualties has been, at least in a financial sense, the Arts. Governments across the world have slashed funding, galleries, theatres and entertainment venues have closed amid lockdown restrictions, money is being carefully metered with jobs more uncertain than ever, meaning our creatives across all industries are suffering. And yet, more than ever, we are turning to art to stay sane in lockdown, to keep our spirits up in isolation, and to remind us that despite the hardship, there is beauty in this world.  To that end, FableCroft is coming out of hiatus in this year of social distancing and staying at home, to call for submissions on a brand new original anthology, The Art of Being Human. Co-edited by Tehani Croft and Stephanie Lai, this anthology seeks to remind readers of the hope and beauty of the Arts, and the way our engagement with writing, music, film, theatre, artworks in all media, and craft of all kinds are at the core of our humanity. Stories should be between 2,000 to 20,000 words long, and not previously published. Poetry of any length is also welcome. Works are invited from all over the world, but must be primarily in the English language. Stories must contain speculative elements – science fiction, fantasy and horror and their sub-genres are all welcome, but we...

Deadline: December 1st, 2020 Payment: 0.06CAD per word Theme: Multi-genre allowed by Blind and visually impaired writers Note: Will consider reprints Artificial Divide is an own voices anthology by Blind and visually impaired writers. It’s a multi genre anthology with visually impaired protagonists. It will feature a diverse array of short stories with protagonists that are visually impaired. For this anthology, edited by Robert Kingett and Randy Lacey, we’re looking for short stories between 500 and 8,000 words. We are looking for own-voice stories featuring blind or visually impaired protagonists, written by authors who are blind or visually impaired. The story need not be about being visually impaired or blind, and can be any genre of fiction. Stories must be in English, though we invite diversity and dialects, including AAVE. We will reject any story with racist, ableist, or homophobic, or otherwise bigoted themes. We don’t want to see those kinds of stories. Period. One of the editors will be using a screen reader to review submissions, so make sure your document does not contain any tables or graphs or charts. Layout tables are acceptable but highly discouraged because your submission will be converted to Proper Manuscript Format. If you already have your story in Proper Manuscript format, send it along in that format. If you’re visually impaired and need a screen reader friendly template, this page is a bit dated, but it has templates that work in all versions of Microsoft Word <https://www.shunn.net/format/templates.html>. Submit your manuscript in either docx or doc format. We’re especially looking for writers of color, LGBT+ writers, and other marginalized identities. Please note that priority will be given to Canadian writers from diverse backgrounds, though we are open to authors from around the world. In your cover letter, provide your name, your primary email address,...

Deadline: December 1st, 2020 Payment: $0.06/word Theme: Parenthood in SFF Note: Only 2 stories available An anthology exploring the theme of parenthood from science fiction and fantasy authors who are parents themselves! Thank you SO MUCH for your support for this anthology. Now that we've reached our funding goals, behind the scenes we're organizing our timelines and getting started with writing. And thanks to your help in reaching our stretch goals, we'll be open to TWO SLUSH STORIES! The theme is, not surprisingly, parenting in SFF. You can interpret that any way you like, and take it in any direction you like. We'd love to see what you come up with! Stories should be no more than 5,000 words, and when they're all edited and ready to go, can be submitted in a .doc or .docx file to [email protected] no later than 11:15pm EST on December 1, 2020. Please remember to include your name, pen name if you use one, and contact info on your submission (not part of your word count). Thank you again, and stay tuned to our Kickstarter page for monthly updates and we move forward writing these fantastic stories of parents and kids in SFF! - Mike, Kai, and Keena Via: Don't Touch That's Kickstarter.

Deadline: For proposals is December 1st, 2020. Submission deadline for stories is January 31st, 2021. Payment: $100 OR $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits (whichever amount is GREATER) and a paperback copy of the anthology Theme: Sherlock Holmes "A year of Mysteries", Stranger than Truth, and Stranger than Fiction. Details below! Note: This isn't our standard form of listing so be sure to read ALL of the details! Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mysteries - 1881   Synopsis: What adventures did Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson solve during their first year living in 221B Baker Street? What happened in January after the day the two friends met? What mysteries did they solve in their first summer and winter together? Find out in Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mysteries – 1881. This collection contains a dozen cases, one for each month of the year, from January to December. Submission Guidelines: Stories must be canonical in nature and follow the Baring-Gould Timeline (i.e. A Study in Scarlet occurred from Fri, Mar 4 – Mon, Mar 7, 1881. No other canonical adventure takes place during this year). Holmes and Watson should be young and still getting to know each other. Authors interested in participating should first send a synopsis of their adventure and the month of the year they wish it to take place. If your story does not need a specific month (i.e. it takes place in autumn and could be in September, October, or November) please let us know that as well. Once your synopsis has been accepted, you should begin drafting the story. Submission length: 5,000 – 10,0000 words (it is okay to go over some). Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $100 OR $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits (whichever amount is...

Deadline: December 1st, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: The future Submissions are now open for the FUTURES anthology. The future is filled with many things: dreams, dread, hope, despair. The future is inevitable. It pushes forward the course of our lives, it dreams up our ideas of an afterlife, and it forces us to imagine the inevitable end of this world. It drives us towards changes. What kind of future do you imagine? What is a future you’d like to see? Is the idea of “futures” and linear time a freeing or restraining concept? Send us your best poetry, fiction, essays, or creative non-fiction on the the theme of FUTURES. We welcome writing of all genres and forms (you name it: sci-fi, prose poems, literary fiction, political essays, philosophy, abstract poetry, life stories, fantasy…) All writers are paid in royalties with the full payment for the initial print run being paid up-front. Royalties are shared equally among all contributors and are not based on page or word count.  Full payment details provided in a publication contract. If you would like more details on payment before submitting, please contact Angela at angela bellpressbooks.com. There are no word count guidelines, but keep in mind that pages are limited and longer pieces may be less likely to have a place because of this. Anthology editor: Angela Caravan To submit, please email angela bellpressbooks.com and include: a cover letter in the body of the email introducing your work a brief bio in the body of your email your writing attached as a single word document the subject line “FUTURES anthology ” Preferred formatting: Times New Roman 12pt double spaced word count at the top of the first page poems in one document, with each starting on a seperate page One submission per writer, though you may submit up to 3...

Deadline: December 1st, 2020 Payment: Royalties Theme: Memories lost, remade, and revisited. How do we make memories? How do memories make us? We’re interested in memories lost, remade, and revisited. We’re interested in how the past is treated in different times and cultures. We’re interested in how societies and individuals create and define themselves through engagement with their pasts. What we keep. What we discard. How we use or once used technology to do so. How we craft, curate, and rework history, mythology, meaning, and identity, both societal and personal. How we lose memories. Talk to us about souvenirs, journals, and memorials, manuscripts, mixtapes, or tattoos. Talk to us about scars, storytelling, photography, monuments, inheritance, family heirlooms, and traditions. Talk to us about things we’ve forgotten or never even thought of. We want to see your fiction and non-fiction submissions. We would particularly like to see  creative non-fiction, personal essays, historical fiction, essays on history, and speculative fiction. We are interested in both the stories of individuals and broader cultural contexts. This is not an academic journal, but any sources should be footnoted. All writers are paid in royalties with the full payment for the initial print run being paid up-front. Royalties are shared equally among all contributors and are not based on page or word count.  Full payment details provided in a publication contract. If you would like more details on payment before submitting, please contact Angela at angela bellpressbooks.com. There are no word count guidelines, but keep in mind that pages are limited and longer pieces may be less likely to have a place because of this. Anthology editor: Devon Field To submit, please email djamesfield gmail.com and include: a cover letter in the body of the email introducing your work a brief bio in the body of your email your...

Deadline: December 2nd, 2020 Payment: 6 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints Theme: Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world. Note: Reprints welcome     Submissions Schedule We have a new submissions schedule as of June 1, 2020: The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T. Only one submission per person. For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers. We pay 6¢ per word for new fiction, 2¢ per word for fiction reprints, 2 – 6¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles. For new poetry, we pay $1 a line, reprints would be 50¢ a line, up to 40 lines. We’ll look at longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 6¢ per word. We began The Kepler Award to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways. You can learn about The Kepler Award here. You can read a copy of our standard contract here.   It can be varied as needed to include the rights of translators, voice actors, etc. Writers Guidelines We accept new work as well as reprints, prose and poetry, anywhere from 1000 word flash fiction on up, but all else being equal, shorter pieces will be favored.   We have tough standards but only care about the quality of the writing, storytelling ability, characters, plot, and ideas, not whether you’re new or established.  Submit only work you are proud of —...

Submission Period: November 30, 2020 to December 4, 2020 Payment: 12.5 cents per word Theme: Fireside has two goals: to find and publish great stories regardless of genre, and to pay our writers and artists well. Fireside holds a submissions period for each upcoming issue of Fireside Quarterly. In 2020, Fireside will be open to submissions for short stories during the following period: November 30, 2020 to December 4, 2020 Submissions period for the Autumn 2021 Issue During open submissions periods, there will be a form on this page for uploading your submission. We have no further submissions dates to announce for the moment. Please subscribe to our newsletter if you’d like to be the first to find out about our future submissions dates. Guidelines We welcome previously unpublished work (‘published’ includes work posted on Patreon or on a blog) in English or Spanish from all writers anywhere in the world, and we are interested in seeing work from people of color, LGBTQIA people, disabled people, members of religious minorities, and people outside the United States. We strongly encourage submissions from people of those backgrounds, and all others whom traditional publishing has historically excluded. If you have any questions about how to submit, please email us at: [email protected]. (Any submissions sent via email will be deleted unread.) Accessibility We use an online form to gather submissions, but we understand that this may not be universally accessible to disabled people. If you have questions related to accessibility, please email us at [email protected] with the subject line: Accessibility Query. Accessibility Queries should only contain a request to submit by alternate means, and should not include a submission. Any submissions sent via email will be deleted unread. Short Stories We accept short stories up to 3,000 words. Our budget allows us to pay for up to 7,000 words per...

December 5th, 2020 Payment: $10 Theme: Stories that feature interesting characters finding ways into and out of dangerous situations at a rollicking pace. Submission deadline for CLIFFHANGER Issue 1: Saturday, December 5th, 2020, 11:59pm Editorial decisions: Saturday, April  3rd, 2021 Publication of issue: Saturday, June 5th, 2021 Length: We prefer short, fast paced fiction that tells complete and cohesive narratives. Word Count should fall between 5,000 and 7,000 words with the sweet spot being around 6,000. We do not accept Flash Fiction. Style: We prefer stories that feature interesting characters finding ways into and out of dangerous situations at a rollicking pace. Gratuitous sex and gore is frowned upon, though we recognize that horror and romance have their place in Adventure Fiction. Publication, payment, and rights: Issues will be published as .pdf files. If work is selected for publication in CLIFFHANGER, authors will (1) be paid an honorarium of $10 and (2) will be asked to provide, by contract, "First North American Serial Rights." In our opinion, this means that copyright is NOT transferred. All copyright stays with you, the writer; however, you will have sold/transferred a form of "exclusive use rights" called "First North American Serial Rights" (FNASR). This is the right to publish your unpublished work for the first time, and ONLY the first time, no more. The important thing to remember is that some professional publications may ask for FNASR upon acceptance of a specific work; you are not legally permitted to provide those for that specific work after publication in CLIFFHANGER, for you have already rendered their use to us. In other words, once you publish a work in CLIFFHANGER, that works' associated FNASR have been sold/transferred. You CAN publish your previously published work elsewhere as a reprint but only as long as that publication does not require FNASR....