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Deadline: February 1st, 2021 Payment: 1 cent per word for prose, and a flat fee of $10 for poetry Theme: The Apocalyps NonBinary Review is a quarterly digital literary journal that joins poetry, fiction, essays, and art around each issue's theme. We invite  authors to explore each theme in any way that speaks to them: re-write a  familiar story from a new point of view, mash genres together, give us a personal essay about some aspect of our theme that has haunted you all  your life. We also invite art that will accompany the literature. All submissions must have a clear and obvious relationship to our theme. Submissions with no clear relationship to the theme will be rejected. We are open to submissions which relate to the idea of APOCALYPSE.   What we don't want: mushroom clouds, zombies, dystopian futures, or anything else we've already seen in countless books, movies, and television shows. PROSE, WHICH INCLUDES FICTION, CREATIVE NON-FICTION, AND FLASH NonBinary Review accepts fiction and creative non-fiction of up to 3,000  words in length, although shorter is probably better. Fiction should be double spaced, 12-point type, in Times New Roman in a  Word document or text file. We do not accept .pdfs. Authors may submit up to 5 pieces of flash fiction, no more than 1000  words each, in this category. Please upload each piece as a separate document on this submission. Flash (fiction or CNF) is the ONLY category where multiple pieces related to the same theme may be selected for  publication. POETRY NonBinary Review accepts poetry of up to 3 pages in length. Poetry should be single spaced, 12-point type, in Times New Roman in a Word document or text file. We do not accept .pdfs. You may submit up to five files with this submission, but each poem must be...

Deadline: February 1st, 2021 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry Theme: Story must begin with: "Darryl slid three quarters into the vending machine and weighed his options." 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. And, just to be clear, we do not accept simultaneous submissions. 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...

Deadline: February 1st, 2021 Payment: $100 plus a one-year subscription to the magazine Theme: Stars Note: My apologies for the short notice, I was just informed this was open. Sexy Fantastic Magazine features the absolute highest quality of fiction, comics, book and movie reviews, articles, photos of sexy fantastic heroines, and other cultural delights by top professionals and award-winning authors and artists. We are currently accepting prose fiction submissions for issue 3. CURRENT ISSUE GUIDELINES The theme of Issue 3 (March) is Stars. We are currently looking for stories that loosely relate to that theme. 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 story with fantastic elements is acceptable, such as a metaphysical or surreal modern tale, magic realism, a dark fantasy thriller, science fiction satire, historical legend, an imaginary world fantasy adventure, etc. The fantastic element may be blatant or only perceived or hinted at. 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 and style, some examples would be stories by Jorge Luis Borges, Fritz Leiber, Catherine Lucille Moore, Gore Vidal, Lawrence Durrell, John Fowles, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Michael Moorcock, Jody Scott, Robert Heinlein, Carlos Fuentes, Anne Rice, Robert Aickman, Jack Vance, Conrad Aiken, Italo Calvino, Giovanni Boccaccio, Chaucer, Voltaire and Shirley Jackson. Comics would be work by creators such Moebius, Manara, or Esteban Maroto.  In TV or...

Deadline: February 7th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Original fantasy and dark fantasy stories. All types of fantasy and dark fantasy are welcome. Fantasy is a digital short fiction magazine edited by Christie Yant and Arley Sorg. Instructions for submitting to Fantasy Magazine follow. Please read everything on this page and read the magazine before submitting. SUBMISSION PROCEDURES 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...

Deadline: February 8th, 2021 Payment: $5 Theme: Newly Discovered Creatures If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. (Vol 66.) Newly Discovered Creatures; deadline 8th February !!!NEW SUBMISSION PROCESS!!! SUBMIT YOUR STORIES USING THIS FORM If, this form isn’t working, then please email your submission to [email protected] as a last resort. But please let us know why as we’re hoping to use the form going forward. Title your email with the following syntax: SUBMISSION | STORY TITLE | THEME | WORDCOUNT (e.g. SUBMISSION | THE MARTIAN | SPACE | 1,982) It is important that your story complies with our Submission Guidelines. Any stories found not to be in compliance will be immediately discarded. Click HERE for details If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: • Stories must be 2,000 (10% tolerance +/-) • Save stories in a Word document - Times New Roman font, size 12 • Include a 1-2 sentence log line for your story at the end of the document • Title your email with the following syntax: SUBMISSION | STORY TITLE | THEME | WORDCOUNT (e.g. SUBMISSION | THE MARTIAN | SPACE | 1,982). Failure to...

Deadline: February 13th, 2021. Payment: $6.00 CAD or a contributor's copy Theme: A WIDE range of speculative fiction What we do want: (from About page) – The range of story types sought is broad: classic, gothic, supernatural, quiet, and psychological horror, near-future dystopian tales, other speculative fiction, realistic terror (extreme weather, danger in nature, being lost – to name a few), dark folklore and fairytale, dark fantasy, dark literary fiction, and more. What we don’t want: Do not send material that is offensive, promotes or describes hate, torture, or abuse, is excessively gory or violent; no slasher. No religious, sexual, explicitly adult situations, or politics. No space opera. No fan fiction. No ‘formula’ stories. No media tie-ins. For more insight into what Frost Zone Zine is looking for, read this interview with the editor. Please read this page thoroughly. There are updates applicable to issue #3 submissions. 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: Submissions open Jan03 – Feb13, 2021 Fiction: Original, unpublished Short Stories: 600 – 3000 words preferred – longer work may be considered – as long as there is a reason for the length (no filler, extraneous words, tangents…etc). Keep in mind that only one or two longer pieces will be published per issue, and the maximum considered word count is 5000. Longer pieces, if accepted, will have a preview shown on the website, with the full story published in the eBook and print issues. Previews-only may be shown online of any fiction or poetry – with full versions published in eBook and Print issues. Please send one or two stories for consideration. Send in the plain text...

Deadline: February 14th, 2021 Payment: £50.00 plus a contributor's copy Theme: SF from residents living in the UK or British ex-pats Best of British Science Fiction 2020 is now open to submissions. Series editor Donna Scott is seeking the very best short stories written by British authors that were first published during 2020. For our purposes, 'British' means authors who are resident in the UK or British ex-pats who currently live elsewhere. Please bear in mind that this is a reprint market and we are not interested in original stories in this instance; nor do we wish to see self-published stories. Also, we are looking specifically for Science Fiction with this one; fantasy and other flavours of genre will not be considered. There is no specific limit on a story's length, though anything over 10,000 words will be a tough sell. This is a paying market, with successful authors receiving payment of 1p a word up to a maximum of £50.00 plus a contributor's copy of each edition of the book. Submissions will close on February 14th 2021. Submissions should be sent to: [email protected] Send us your very best. We look forward to seeing your work, and Good Luck! Via: Newcon Press.

Deadline: February 15th, 2021 Payment: $130, and 2 print copies Theme: Non-fiction, true crime accounts featuring lawbreaking couples who have joined forces to commit crime I’m seeking original true crime stories for the fourth volume in my true crime franchise. What I’m looking for: Non-fiction, true crime accounts featuring lawbreaking couples who have joined forces to commit crime. These couples can be married, domestic partners, or lovers. Stories can take place anywhere in the world and be from any time period. I’m interested in material covering a wide range of criminal activity. First-person accounts are especially welcome from writers with a connection to their cases. Add something new to the story, a different viewpoint or angle. What makes these people tick? Material must be meticulously fact-checked before submission, including dates, names, locations, etc. This is a non-fiction book, so it’s imperative that everything is 100% correct. To get an idea of the quality and variety of material I accept, please refer to the previous books in The Best New True Crime Stories series. Criminal subjects already covered in these volumes cannot be considered. New material only; no reprints or fiction. Important: Writers should contact me in the first instance with a brief pitch for their story idea. I select material on an on-going basis; those who submit work in advance of the deadline usually have better chance of acceptance. Word count: 4,000-7,000 words One-time payment per story: USD $130, and 2 print copies of the book. Contributor fees paid approximately one month following publication. (Preferred payment method: PayPal.) For: Non-exclusive rights, with one-year’s exclusivity from date of publication. Deadline for submissions: February 15, 2021 Email: TheBestNewTrueCrimeStories @ gmail.com (not case-sensitive) Submission requirements: Format: double-spaced Arial 12-point Word document (sent as attachment). Do not indent paragraphs; instead enter one space between them. No irregular spacing between words or sentences. Absolutely no footnotes or endnotes....

Deadline: February 15th, 2021 Payment: $5 USD Theme: "Most" Speculative fiction, read below for specifics. Note: Open only for women-identified authors. Note: Reprints considered if at least 3 years old 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...

Deadline: February 20th, 2021 Payment: £40 Theme: Stories featuring queerness in a broad sense. This includes perspectives from LGBTQIA+ characters, but also queering of gender and sexuality in a more abstract sense. Current call for submissions: queer Gothic short stories (open until February 20th, 2021) What we’re looking for Nyx Publishing is seeking queer Gothic short stories for a sequel to our Unspeakable anthology. We are seeking short stories between 100 and 8,000 words. (We won’t delete your submission if your story is 8,010 words, but do please try to keep to the target length.) We welcome submissions featuring queerness in a broad sense. This includes perspectives from LGBTQIA+ characters, but also queering of gender and sexuality in a more abstract sense. Our anthologies are explicitly trans-inclusive. We do not require our authors to out themselves or disclose their gender or sexuality to us or anyone else. Pen names or anonymous credits are fine (although we do need your information to sign the contract – which we will not share with anyone). We love tried-and-true Gothic tropes such as crumbling castles, sketchy families, superstition, confusion over what is real or not, occultism, blurring between life and death. We also love fresh interpretations of the Gothic. Send us your gloomy retellings, genre-mash-ups, or experimental writing. Vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural beasties are welcome. We highly recommend looking through Unspeakable to see what kind of stories we publish. If you are interested in submitting a story, please do get in touch, and we will send you a PDF of Unspeakable free of cost (no further evidence is needed). Erotic content is fine, but we don’t seek erotica for this call. The fine print Nyx Publishing is pursuing world-wide publishing rights of your short story in English for a limited time, for print, digital, and audiobook. We offer a flat rate of £40 for a...

Deadline: February 25th, 2021 Payment: $0.08 per word and 3 contributors copies Theme: 1986 OVERVIEW The Dread Machine seeks submissions for our first annual anthology. Our theme this year is 1986. Submissions close on February 25th. THEME Do you remember a time before the internet? Before we each carried a lifeline in our pockets? Before security cameras documented everything? Back when parents didn’t worry about their kids until after the street lights popped on? Do you remember how it felt to step into the neon-lit arcade on a Friday night, your pockets heavy with quarters? For our very first anthology, we’re seeking dread-inspiring stories that take place in 1986—either the 1986 of our reality or an alternate version. Bring us back to a simpler, scarier time. Let’s make something radical together. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES + All submissions must inspire dread. Genre definitions tend to be subjective, so we encourage you to become familiar with the stories we’ve published here to get an idea of what sort of content we’re seeking. + All submissions must be original, unpublished, and between 3,000 and 10,000 words. + Authors are permitted to submit multiple stories, but none may be simultaneously submitted anywhere else. PAYMENT Authors whose stories are accepted for publication will receive payment ($0.08 per word), a free copy of the premium hardcover, and two free copies of the paperback. SUBMISSION FORM Via: The Dread Machine.

Deadline: February 25th, 2021 Prizes: Grand prize: Anthology inclusion and ¢.5 per word CAD (half a cent), with a max of $15 plus a one-time royalty bonus payment, Runner up: One time $7.00 (CAD) payment Theme: Wendigos Note: Do not submit to this market until February 1st, 2021. This is being listed early due to the short submission window. Submissions Open: 1st - 25th of the Month Responses will be completed by the 15th of the next month. Example: January theme opens January 1 and closes end of day Jan 25. You will have a response back by February 15th. HORROR Theme: HORROR - Although the monthly theme will change, the running theme for this year’s monthly contest will be MONSTERS! ​ January: Faeries February: Wendigos  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo March: Djinn/Jinn/Genies  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinn ​​ Word count: 1500 - 3000 with some wiggle room above the limit. Not under. ​ Top Two Stories: Will be accepted into the "Best Of" Anthology released early 2022 Payment: Flat rate payment ¢.5 per word CAD (half a cent), with a max of $15 plus a one-time royalty bonus payment based on six months of sales. Runner Up: Will have their story and bio featured on our website and blog. Payment: One time $7.00 (CAD) payment ​ Who can submit? Open to the public ​ Reprints? No ​ Multiple Submission? No 💀 Only one submission per month per author ​ Formatting: Put your name, email, and title on the top of the manuscript. Please use 12 pt Times New Roman, 1.5 line spacing, set auto-indent new paragraphs. Title your manuscript "Title of Story - Theme and month" Example "The Ring of Death - Faeries January" ​ How to submit? Submit via the FORM - Which will open on January 1, 2021 IF you have issues with the form, please email your manuscript to [email protected] Title your email the same as the manuscript Via: Eerie River Publishing.

Deadline: January 25th 2021 to February 27th 2021 Payment: .07 AUD per word Theme: Dark stories that span SFF and the horror genre with elements from eac The horror and grimdark genres are like the two cousins who sneak away from parties to set fire to things. These genres often go hand in hand, such as in books like The Aching God by Mike Shel or The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. These books have fantasy and horror elements that mash together to create grim stories that cant be classified in either genre.  With that in mind, GdM is doing a horror / grimdark SFF crossover for our July 2021 issue. Already we have a commitment from horror master Paul Tremblay for an interview and will be adding in some great names in the next couple of months.  I am looking forward to bringing this mashup to readers.  WHAT WE ARE BUYING FOR ISSUE #27 For this submittal, we are looking for dark stories that span SFF and the horror genre with elements from each. Thus, this issue will be entirely horror grimdark content-focused. Anything not meeting expectations here will get an auto-rejection–please don’t send stories outside our ballpark. Our definition of “grimdark” is simply a grim story told in a dark world by a morally grey protagonist. Anti-heroes, antagonists turned protagonists, doing wrong for the right reasons or right for the wrong reasons, showing that evil is a matter of perspective—this is what I’ll be after to sell to our readers. As an SFF publication, we also prefer either medieval fantasy settings or near-to-far future SF settings. Urban fantasy is generally a hard sell. For the horror aspects of the stories, any horror genre will be looked at save for splatterpunk horror.  I encourage submissions from authors from the underrepresented parts...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: Royalties Theme: All poetry welcome in this edition, no set theme. Note: Reprints welcome Deadline – February 28th, 2021 Publication – June 2021 Word Count – 2,000 word count minimum (not line count) Theme – All poetry pieces are welcome. There is no theme.   * 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. 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...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word and a contributors copy Theme: Fairy Tales - choose two of your favorite fairy tales, and a genre of your choice, and mash them up to make something new. Upon a Once Time Theme: Fairy Tales - choose two of your favorite fairy tales, and a genre of your choice, and mash them up to make something new. Stories may be of any genre as long as they incorporate two fairy tales. We are open to Grimdark, New Weird, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dying Earth and genre bending/breaking. All stories are requested to be between 1000 and 3000 words in length. How to submit: Email your story to Air and Nothingness Press. Submissions open July 1, 2020 and close February 28, 2021. Remember, when submitting to the 'Upon a Once Time' open call be sure to tell us what two fairy tales you are working with and what genre you have chosen. Fairy tales can be from any of our world's diverse cultures, in fact we encourage that. A mash of a western and an asian or african faiy tale exploring the multicultural symbols unique to each story and then integrated into the genre choice but subverting it ... a tall order we know for our word count but authors are amazing and surprising in their talents. Explore, create, take a chance and show us your fireworks. Download a PDF of the full submission information. We are seeking stories for an anthology to be published in the Spring/Summer of 2021 by the Air and Nothingness Press. Theme: Fairy Tales - choose two of your favorite fairy tales, and a genre of your choice, and mash them up to make something new. Stories may be of any genre as long as they incorporate two fairy...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: Royalties and contributor's copy Theme: Dreamland Edited by Sophie Essex For publication mid-2021 Submissions close: 28th February 2021 Dreamland embodies the disconnect between reality and the subconscious, between the desire for meaning and the need for escape, between the too-blue sky and the abyss. Dreamland is chaotic gorgeousity. Seeking: Stories up to 8k words from female identifying writers. Stories that embrace the other: the weird, the transgressive, the uncanny & the strange, the oddness in this world and elsewhere, the surreal. Stories that displace, unsettle, and unnerve. Stories that are subtly subversive in their power. Whilst the other might be considered supernatural, this anthology will not be exclusively so. The other can come in many forms. Think Leonora Carrington, Meret Oppenheim, Anna Kavan, Clarice Lispector, Camilla Grudova, Shirley Jackson, Unica Zurn, Björk, Cocteau Twins, Claire Denis, Dorothea Tanning, Helen Marshall, Catherynne M. Valente, Claude Cahun Any genre. No theme. We are not seeking stories set in ‘dreamland’. No simultaneous submissions. No reprints. You will receive a contributor copy and a percentage of net royalties. Submissions should be sent with a covering email to [email protected] Via: Black Shuck Books.

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: 3¢ per word for fiction and 25 cents per line for poetry Theme: Habitats. Sustainable habitats, in tune with their surroundings. Triangulation will open for submissions on December 1, 2020. We are Parsec Ink’s speculative fiction anthology, since 2003. We’re looking for outstanding fantasy, science fiction, weird fiction, and speculative horror–from new and established writers. We are continuing to tackle environmental issues as we did with Triangulation: Dark Skies (about light pollution) and Triangulation: Extinction (about the loss of biodiversity). Tell us a story we won’t forget. Theme: Triangulation: Habitats. Sustainable habitats, in tune with their surroundings. Show us places we want to live that never existed or that we don’t know ever existed. Past, present, and future domiciles for humans, aliens, and fantasy creatures. Ideally, the story plot will hinge on the habitat design. Let us hear about a new way to live, thriving, not merely surviving. What does it mean to live sustainably in outer space, underground, in the sea, floating in the atmosphere? What does sustainability look like in a fantasy setting? Is the mana running out? Eye of newt getting scarce? Gnomes in the septic system? Consider an Earthship, a faerie mound, a hobbit house, a generation starship where everything is recycled, a living starship where humans live in symbiosis with their environment, a forest city, a treehouse on Yggdrasil. What will Biosphere 3 look like? A research station on Mars? The first or thirty-first lunar colony? Flying houses. Tiny houses. Ultrasmart houses. Longhouses. Cave dwellings, cliff dwellings, teepees, igloos, tents, yurts, polystyrene dome homes, sandbag homes, straw bale homes. Moated castles with crenelated battlements, slitted archery windows, double walls, drawbridges, spiral staircases curved to put a right-handed attacker at a disadvantage. Spires, minarets, secret passages, dungeons, wells, narrow twisty streets in a surrounding...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: $175 Theme: Fantasy and macabre tales set between 1930 all the way to the 1980s in San Cicaro, California The San Cicaro Series Returns This winter season, Thunderbird Studios is opening its doors to another round of stories for their “Decades of San Cicaro” project. This new anthology will continue the tradition of unusual fantasy and macabre tales in the “Jewel of California.” As before, we’re looking for tales of urban fantasy, magical realism, the weird, the dark and the hopeful. But unlike the prior anthologies, we’re unlocking the past. You’ll have to add a bit of historical fiction to the mix, with stories taking place between 1930 all the way to the 1980s. Get ready for the most challenging submission window yet. Details: Stories should take place in the city of San Cicaro between the years of 1930 to 1980. Submitted short stories should have a minimum of around 5,000 words up to a soft limit of 8,000 words. We can go as high as 10,000 but will be looking to whittle that down. Formatting should follow William-Shunn guidelines. Aside from editing and proofreading your work, the editors will also make very minor changes to fit your tale into San Cicaro itself. We may recommend street names, slightly modify passages to mention landmarks, or other such continuity tweaks. Researching and mentioning landmarks and places from prior anthologies goes a long way to impressing us. It takes work off our plates and helps connect the experiences.  Authors will be compensated with a one-time payment of $175, with retroactive bonuses. If we do a fourth San Cicaro anthology and increase the payrate, you will be given a bonus to match it. We’ve done this for the authors of Welcome to San Cicaro and The San Cicaro Experience.  The open call will be between December 7th, 2020...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: .01 cents per word Theme: The twisted side of love Heartbreak. Obsession. Grief. Jealousy. Love can turn tainted, even cruel. Picture the ghost who won’t stop haunting the man who jilted her. The husband who will go to gruesome lengths to keep his wife alive. The stalker who’d rather kill her victims than face their rejection. Dark Hearts will be an anthology of stories exploring the twisted side of love. We’re looking for stories that jump off the page. Stories that chill, shock or disturb us. Stories that move us or make us laugh… grimly. Length: Anything between 1,000 – 6,000 words. Payment: 0.01 USD per word via PayPal. Publication: E-book and print. Deadline: 28th February 2021 We accept simultaneous submissions but no reprints please. Multiple submissions not accepted. Email your submission as a Word document to [email protected] with “Dark Hearts ” in the subject line. Include an author bio of approx. 50 words plus 1-2 links. Please see our Submission Guidelines for more information on formatting. Via: Ghost Orchid Press.

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: 1 cent per word for original fiction. 10k words = $100. 0.5 cents per word for reprints., 50 cents per line for poetry. Theme: Original horror and dark fantasy stories, poems, and images (paintings, drawings, etc). Most types of horror and dark fantasy are welcome but we do prefer the work have a science fiction or otherwise cosmic philosophical leaning. Note: Reprints Allowed Note: Opens January 1st, 2021 Cosmic Horror Monthly is a horror and dark fantasy magazine edited by Charles Tyra. Submission Period *SUBMISSIONS WILL OPEN SOON* – Submission period is yearly from January 1st – February 28th SUBMISSION PROCEDURES Instructions: All fiction must be submitted via email to [email protected]. When submitting, you may paste the entire story in the body of the email or attach a Microsoft Word file. For artwork, please put a link to the gallery/pieces in the body of the email along with any relevant background information. Attachments are acceptable only when submitting individual artwork for consideration. Acceptable file formats are JPG, PNG. Guidelines Please only submit ORIGINAL work. Cosmic-Horror is seeking original horror and dark fantasy stories, poems, and images (paintings, drawings, etc). Most types of horror and dark fantasy are welcome but we do prefer the work have a science fiction or otherwise cosmic philosophical leaning. If you aren’t sure if your work qualifies, submit it and we can decide. No subject is off-limits and we do encourage writers to try and push the status quo. A writer may submit as many stories as they like, but please only submit a single story once. Every email will be checked! Word Count: We are open to stories of 1000-7500 words. Stories of 5000 words or less are preferred. Payment 1 cent per word for original fiction. 10k words = $100 0.5...

Deadline: February 28, 2021 Payment: $25 and a contributors copy Theme: Stories about witches that take place in the Southern United States Good Southern Witches Curious Blue Press is a new independent publisher of fantasy and horror fiction and occult nonfiction. Curious Blue Press’s first open submission call is for its Good Southern Witches short story anthology. Your story should be a complete and satisfying tale of magic. Light, dark, humorous, serious, all okay, just nothing too experimental, sexy, or violent. The story should take place in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, or West Virginia, OR at least prominently feature a character or characters from one of these settings. Avoid the explained supernatural: If Velma pulls off the villain’s rubber mask, there should be a real witch beneath it. If your witch isn't good, make sure your witch is good at it. You and your characters may be of any race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender expression. To avoid cultural appropriation, you are encouraged to write from your own culture. 2K to 5K words. A little over, a little under is fine. Stories due February 28, 2021. New stories only, no reprints. Payment is $25/story (upon acceptance) plus a physical copy of the anthology. The author will, of course, retain the copyright, but Curious Blue Press will require exclusivity of six months after publication date. Author will be required to sign an agreement granting Curious Blue Press the right to include story in the Good Southern Witches anthology and guaranteeing the story has not been published previously. A word for anyone who hasn’t experienced the editing process: If your story is selected—unless you’re the reincarnation of Shirley Jackson—you will receive suggested edits via Word’s “Track Changes” function. You may reject the edits, but, if the edit...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Mashing up two fairy tales and a genre of the author's choice December 4, 2020: We are announcing an open call submission for Upon a Twice Time. This book is the follow-up anthology to Upon a Once Time (2020), and will follow the same theme of seeking 1000-3000 word stories mashing up two fairy tales and a genre of the author's choice. Stories previously submitted to Upon a Once Time and declined will not be accepted a second time. We have revised some of our policies to taken into consideration comments from previous authors who submitted. Dates are as follows: December 4, 2020 - January 1, 2021 - Announcement of the open call January 1 - February 28, 2021 - The submission period March 1 - 31, 2021 - Review period Download the complete OC submission PDF here. General Submission Information We like to seek out new authors and book ideas ourselves rather than be contacted directly because we are a small, self-funded press, and only publish 4 books a year. We usually offer open call submissions on anthologies we decide to do, or we contact authors directly if we have particular needs. Ideal story lengths are between 1000-3000 words. We pay upon $0.08/word for the stories we publish. All of our books are limited editions of between 100 and 125 copies and we prefer to print physical books over creating ebooks. If, however, you are familiar with the sort of books we publish and you have a smashingly provocative collection of stories, a unique novella or a spectacular novel you think we might be intersted in (mostly Science Fiction, Space Opera, Dying Earth, Fantasy, Mythology, Hard SF, New Weird, Air/Steam/Atom punk), please contact us with your idea, writing samples and a brief bio, and we will be...

Magician stand on rock with river and sci-fi city at night. Digital painting Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: $0.01 per word + contributor copy Theme: ​Trenchcoats, Towers, and Trolls: Cyberpunk Fairy Tales Trenchcoats, Towers, and Trolls: Cyberpunk Fairy Tales Anthologist: Rhonda Parrish Open for Submissions: February 1 - 28, 2021 Expected Publication: 2022 Story Length: up to 7,500 words Payment: $0.01 per word + contributor copy Simultaneous submissions = okay. Multiple submissions = no. For this, the third installment of Punked Up Fairy Tales, we are excited to mash the world of cyberpunk together with fairy tales and see what sort of magic results. Embracing the high-tech/low-life aspect of cyberpunk will give these stories both the sleek coolness of futuristic technology and the grittiness of traditional fairy tales. Give me a story of Rapunzel trapped in a tower of circuits rather than stones, of trolls who live under bridges as well as those who do their work behind a keyboard — or whatever passes for a keyboard in the future. What if Snow White was a computer and the apple a virus? What if Hansel and Gretel were hackers following digital breadcrumbs? Or Cinderella was a program who must stop running by midnight or else? Don't rely exclusively on imaginative technology to make your story stand out in a crowd — make sure you nail all the other important parts of a story as well. Plot. Character. Setting. You know the list. Original fairy tales are welcome, as are retellings. If you choose to retell a familiar favourite, make sure your story offers something new and interesting. I’d rather see stories that reflect the long history of fairy tales as social commentary than those which simply tell the same story with a different setting. I am excited to read stories set all...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: $25 dollars and a 33 ⅓ % royalty, split between the writers, and a contributors copy Theme: A story based on the theme of any Ramones song “WELL, I THINK WE'RE THE GREATEST ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND IN THE WORLD.." - JOEY RAMONE Formed in 1974, the Ramones were one of the quintessential punk bands. Fast, loud, and in your face, they captured the anger and ennui of a generation.  Teenagers for decades have identified with the themes in their quick, sparse lyrics and driving music. Ramones wrote anthems for the disaffected. We want fiction that reflects that. What we're looking for: Pick a song title (seriously, the Ramones have 13 studio albums of original material to pick from). Use the song as an outline or use it as the theme of the story. Make sure there is some kind of connection to the original song. Lots of people want to write "Somebody Put Something in My Drink". What can you do with "I Just Want to Have Something to Do" or "Rockaway Beach?" Keep it punk and keep it stripped down: 2k to 4k words only. Preference is for clean narratives. This is punk storytelling. Don't over intellectualize it. We're not looking for stories that specifically feature the Ramones and they don't have to be set in the '70s or '80s either. Submissions will open on January 1, 2021 and close on February 28, 2021. Send all submissions to [email protected] as either .doc, .docx, or .rtf. Don't worry about formatting, but make it easy to read. No weird fonts. What you get if we pick up your story: $25 dollars and a 33 ⅓ % royalty, split between the writers. A contributor's copy Why? 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the last Ramones concert, and we...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: $0.01/word (1 cent a word) USD for fiction and $5 per poem Theme: Speculative fiction and poetry—science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but also compelling work that blurs the lines between these and falls outside of neat genre categories. Kaleidotrope publishes predominantly speculative fiction and poetry—science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but also compelling work that blurs the lines between these and falls outside of neat genre categories. Man does not live on space ships, elves, and ghostly ax murderers alone, after all. We’d suggest looking through the archives to familiarize yourself with the zine, and/or checking out other work by our past contributors, to get a sense of what we’re looking for and what we like. We are also interested in publishing diverse writers. Kaleidotrope welcome writers of color and other groups, as well as work that represents the diversity of characters we want to see more of. Fiction We have no minimum or maximum word count but strongly prefer stories over 250 words and under 10,000. Poetry We consider all forms. However, individual haiku, or other very short poems, may be a tougher sell. Artwork We are looking for primarily full-color illustrations to serve as cover art. We currently do not commission new cover artwork or pieces to appear with individual stories and poems. The best way to submit artwork is to email a link to your online portfolio or gallery, though you may also send individual pieces for consideration. Reprints Kaleidotrope does not consider fiction or poetry reprints. This includes work that has appeared on your personal website or in public online forums. We do, however, consider artwork that has appeared in online galleries or elsewhere, provided you own the copyright to the piece and any characters depicted therein. (Sorry, no fan-art.) Rights For fiction and poetry, we buy...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word (USD), plus a pro-rata share of 50% of royalties. Theme: Completed speculative stories about positive queer possibility The basics Editors: Isabela Oliveira (she/her) and Jed Sabin (they/them) Deadline: Saturday, February 27th, at 9pm Pacific Length: We've set the upper limit at 15,000 words to allow for flexibility, but most acceptances are likely to be under 7,000 words. There is no minimum. Rate: We pay 8 cents per word (USD), plus a pro-rata share of 50% of royalties. Simultaneous submissions: No, please do not submit an original (non-reprint) story anywhere else while we are considering it. Multiple submissions: Yes, you may submit up to 3 stories to us at once. There is no limit on total number of submissions as long as there are not more than 3 under consideration at one time. Reprints: We will consider previously published stories, including those that have been self-published online. Reprints are paid at the same rate as originals. Audio rights must be available. Identity statements: We do not require or expect authors to disclose their identities to us, and if authors do choose to share their identities, we will not disclose that information to others without permission. We encourage submissions from authors who have never submitted their fiction to a paid market before, and we've tried to develop these guidelines to be clear to those who aren't familiar with industry norms. Please don't hesitate to submit for fear of doing it wrong, and feel free to contact us here with questions or accessibility requests. Content guidelines We are looking for completed speculative stories about positive queer possibility, written in English, which do not use intellectual property currently under copyright by someone other than the author. Stories may feature near-future social and political change, far-future imaginings of new societies, alternate universes with completely different systems of gender and...

Deadline: February 28th, 2021 Payment: $0.03 per word and inclusion in an anthology Theme: Clowns, Carnivals, and Sideshows! Note: Apologies for the quick deadline, I missed this being posted Your March theme is... Clowns, Carnivals and Sideshows! Authors, you have up to 1,000 words to write a Dark Fiction / Horror story based on this theme. The submission deadline is end of February at midnight. Please send your submission in the body of an email to [email protected], with the title of your story as the subject email. Payment includes $0.03 per word, publication in an upcoming Shallow Waters anthology, and an author spotlight on our Patreon page and newsletter. We'll post the best stories here on Patreon for our $5 and higher patrons to read, after which they'll vote for the winner. Authors are not allowed to vote for their own stories. Have fun! Via: Crystal Lake Publishing's Patreon.