Events

Submission Window: July 1st, 2022 to August 30th, 2022 Payment: $30 and a contributor's copy Theme: Reclaiming Joy This year marks the third year of the WriteHive annual conference! Each year we’ve grown in the number of panels and workshops offered, all thanks to the generous time and money donated by our community. A very special part of our conference has also been our anthology. In collaboration with Inked in Gray, we seek to publish powerful, authentic stories from members of our community. And this year is no exception. In deciding on the theme, we wanted to highlight and empower the positive. The last few years have been difficult in a multitude of ways, and we wanted to bring attention to how communities and people have found ways to reclaim some kind of joy or happiness amidst struggles, tragedies, and oppression, for it is those moments that fuel the light in the darkness.   This upcoming anthology will officially open July 1, 2022, and we will be collecting submissions until August 30, 2022. We will be looking for stories that explore characters or groups reclaiming joy after difficulties, whether it be for themselves or others. Submissions will not be accepted prior to July 1, 2022. Theme: Reclaiming Joy There is no limitation to how you incorporate this theme into your work as long as the story falls within the Sci-Fi, Horror, or Fantasy genre. We encourage you to take the theme and show its manifestation beyond the physical, showing us something unique and engaging. Submission Period: July 1, 2022 to August 30, 2022 Submission Cost: Free Word Limit: 8K words per piece, not including addition information below Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi Submission Details: Previously unpublished works You may submit up to 2 pieces, but each work must be a separate submission Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please let...

Submission Window: July 1st - August 30th, 2022 Payment: 0.06 USD per word and a contributor's copy Theme: Erotic Horror Inspired by Fairy Tales, Mythology & Folklore SUBMISSIONS OPEN JULY 1ST for this major new anthology edited by Evelyn Freeling. This will be our first pro-paying anthology, to be funded by a Kickstarter campaign in June 2022. We anticipate around a 50/50 split between invited authors and those chosen via our submission call. We’re looking for erotic horror stories inspired by fairy tales, mythologies, and folklore from around the world. Retellings about sexuality, desire, and fantasies that take dark turns. We love a good spin on the classics, but want to see fairy tales, mythologies, and folklore from outside the Western Euro catalog as well. We want all of the hallmarks of a great horror story: rich characters, dynamic settings, tension, pacing, with well written erotic scenes that make our hearts race, then rip the rug out and terrify and disturb us (though we ask you to please refrain from submitting rape fantasies). The erotic elements don’t need to be the source of horror and there may be elements of adjacent genres, but the story should be firmly grounded in horror. We want the unexpected. This is an inclusive anthology: M-F, F-F, M-M, threesomes, orgies, etc. Bring your kinks. A word on consent: As mentioned above, please do not submit rape fantasies. We all know rape is horrifying. Erotic scenes should feature consenting adults only. Absolutely no children. Consent in the stories does not need to be enthusiastic, but there needs to be at the very least implied consent. Length: 1k-5k words (hard limit, ideal is anything from 2k-4k). Payment: 0.06 USD per word (via PayPal) and a paperback contributor’s copy. Publication: E-book and print. Deadline: 30th August 2022. Rights: We request first worldwide and electronic...

Deadline: August 30th, 2022 Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints Theme: stories from a diverse range of writers who have direct or familial experience of immigration and migration and its complex issues. Note: Reprints Welcome We are seeking stories from a diverse range of writers who have direct or familial experience of immigration and migration and its complex issues. Writers with origins from all over the world, including but not limited to Latinx, Caribbean, Asian, African, Arabic, North American and East European, are invited to challenge the reader with stories that spill out into space, parallel realms or just hidden in plain sight. The stories will explore the world from the gaze of the incoming, whether forced through slavery, economic choice, necessitated through war or oppression, or hope for a better future, examining the perspectives of displacement in a future or fantastical setting. The new stories will be set alongside older narratives – real and speculative – by Frederick Douglass, Sutton Elbert Griggs, Harriet E. Wilson, Sui Sin Far and more. An intriguing view of the conflict and anxiety between the settled and the unsettled. As with Black Sci-Fi Short Stories, Asian Ghost Short Stories and our upcoming First Peoples Shared Stories, we are enlisting and engaging with a diverse team of people to collaborate on the book: there will be an Associate Editor, a Foreword, a thoughtful Introduction, and a plethora of readers, who will work with us to ensure this book is both entertaining and true to immigrant experiences and visions. Sarah Rafael García (Associate Editor) is an author, community educator and performance ethnographer. As a child of immigrants and first-generation graduate, she has over 15 years of experience as an Arts Leader in Orange County, California. She is the author of Las Niñas and SanTana’s Fairy Tales, which is now...

Submission Window: June 1st, 2022 to August 31st, 2022 Payment: Between $0.05 and $0.08 per word Theme: Bold, imaginative fantasy, horror, and sci-fi sculpted to thrill and entertain readers with the bizarre or delve into the shadows. Arise – appear, emerge, come to light, surface, befall, ensue, stand up, transpire, etc. Inkd Pub is excited to announce a submission call for Hidden Villains: Arise opening June 1, 2022. We hope to have this project completed and published in spring 2023. Theme: Hidden Villains Arise – Bold, imaginative fantasy, horror, and sci-fi sculpted to thrill and entertain readers with the bizarre or delve into the shadows. Arise – appear, emerge, come to light, surface, befall, ensue, stand up, transpire, etc. Express yourself as the theme moves you. There is no restriction as to how you incorporate the theme into your story as long as the genre falls within Sci-Fi, Horror, or Fantasy. We encourage you to weave the theme into an engaging story with well-developed characters and deep emotion. Stories that contain infanticide, rape, or gratuitous gore will not be accepted. Submission Period: June 1, 2022 to August 31, 2022 Submissions: 1 per author; no simultaneous submissions; Submission Cost: Free Word Limit: 7,000 words Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi Anticipated Pay: Between $0.05 and $0.08 per word for accepted stories Upon acceptance, the author is expected to work with the editor on at least one round of revisions in MSWord. Our publication goal will be the spring of 2023; however, the extensive time needed to review and edit submissions may vary depending upon the submitted works. Authors must provide assurance that their story submission is an original, previously unpublished work, is not currently under consideration elsewhere, and that it will not be submitted for publication elsewhere prior to receiving notification that it has not...

Deadline: August 31st, 2022 Payment: A small advance plus 50% of net royalties thereafter on both e-books and physical books. Also, 5 contributors copies. Theme: Horror, Gothic, and dark fantasy. OPEN JULY 1ST – AUGUST 31ST We are open from July 1st – August 31st 2022 to general submissions for novellas (roughly 20,000 – 40,000 words) and novels (roughly 40,000 – 100,000) aimed at an adult audience. What We’re Looking For: We’re looking primarily for horror, Gothic, and dark fantasy. We love genre mixing, works that stray from the well-trodden path, or that offer a fresh perspective on existing tropes. We’re particularly keen to see work from BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and non-Western authors, and stories with elements of the following genres: Horror-romance / erotic horror Historical and Gothic horror Folk horror Hauntings, supernatural, and the occult Sorry, but we’re NOT currently interested in: Science Fiction or high fantasy YA or childrens’ fiction Short story collections Series’ Rights and Compensation: We ask for exclusive first publishing and electronic rights for a set period of 2 years following publication. Thereafter, all rights revert to the author, although the contract can be extended if both parties are happy to do so. All copyright remains with the author. We offer a small advance plus 50% of net royalties thereafter on both e-books and physical books. Authors will also receive 5 free paperback copies of their book and the option to purchase further copies at cost price. Exact details of the contract will be negotiated with individual authors, but we are happy to send you a copy of our sample contract on request. What We Offer: We provide full developmental and copy-editing, formatting, cover design, and a marketing plan for your book using social media, newsletters, advance-release copies, and industry contacts. Our 2022 releases have appeared...

Submission Window: July 1st through August 31, 2022 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy Theme: A charity horror anthology of stories inspired by the music of Alice Cooper, both the group and solo. "Dismember the Coop" is a charity horror anthology of stories inspired by the music of Alice Cooper, both the group and solo. The proceeds from sales go to support the Solid Rock Foundation, an organization setup by Alice and Sheryl Cooper that benefits the disadvantaged youth in the Phoenix area. To learn more about it, go here: https://www.alicecoopersolidrock.com/ Note that although this is a charity anthology, authors and artists will be paid. I don't like giving my work away for free, and I suspect most other professionals don't either. Submission guidelines: Stories should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words with payment being at $25 USD, plus an e-book or paperback copy, your choice. Payment will be upon acceptance, with distribution of books following publication. I don't really care about the format, font, etc., since I'm a geek and a lot of that will be sorted out in the editing process, but just be consistent, eh? No explicit sexual content just for the sake of having it. No racism, hatred toward marginalized groups, animal cruelty, or violence just for violence’s sake. No reprints. Some notes about the stories: You can base your stories on song titles. You can base it on characters referenced during a song. *** You CANNOT quote lyrics in your story. *** Doing so creates so many copyright headaches it's not even funny, and this will cause your story to be rejected outright, regardless of quality. Alice has a huge catalog of songs to choose from, going back over 40 years. Try to be creative and go deep catalog. If you submit a story based...

Submission Window: August 1st - 31st, 2022 Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue Theme: Any genre of short story Note: Reprints accepted Changing the world, one story at a time Mission = Revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful. Payout = Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Wait, you mean if this substack gets thousands of subscribers, the winner would get thousands of dollars? Yes! The New Yorker pays roughly $7,500 per story and I sincerely hope to go way past that. What does the timeline look like? Submit stories by the end of the month, winner to be announced on the 15th. There is ONE story that wins and receives the full payout. Where do I send submissions? [email protected] What are the rules for submitting? 1. No Fees 2. Send in Microsoft Word or Google Doc form 3. Any genre 4. 6- 10,000 words. Yes, just 6 words, like Hemingway's famous 6-word story "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn." 5. Reprints are ok so long as you still have the rights to distribute. 6. Acknowledge Distribution Rights on this Substack - You can still sell your story elsewhere but we need to be able to save and publish it here. The goal is to create a library for subscribers. 7. Only the winner will be published and rights will only transfer for the winning story. What do I get for subscribing? One beautiful story every month. The complete library. The joy of supporting artists and doing something interesting. Anything Else? Yes! Analytics will be published monthly in terms of subscribers, the number of submissions, and anything else that might be relevant. There is also...

Deadline: August 31st, 2022 Payment: Trembling With Fear was designed as a way to give back to Horror Tree. Since it’s inception we now offer an optional $5 payment on short stories to be paid by the time our yearly anthology which contains the story will be released. At this time, drabble are still considered donations to the site. Moving forward, as our Patreon levels grow, this will change for the better in both areas. Theme: Summer-themed horror Who wants summer to last longer? We do at the Horror Tree! This year, we've extended our Summer Specials submission period by an extra month so that we can collect even more hellishly hot and campfire creepy stories. Send us your tales of horror about backpacking, road trips, glamping, beach adventures, summer camp... anything summer-related goes! You may even want to write a drabble as a summer vacation postcard as a "wish you were here" . The submission window is open until August 31st to submit drabbles of 100 words and short stories up to 2500 words. Themed Calls Please note in your submission if it is for a specific theme and not a standard Trembling With Fear call. As a side note, going forward these will likely be collected in a secondary collection each year. Summer Holiday Special (to be published in August). Submit from February to end of July. Horror on the beach, at a B&B, on a cruise, backpacking, road trips, glamping, end of the pier. Why not even write a drabble as a holiday postcard: Wish you weren’t here? For special editions, we also do take longer work and Unholy Trinities. ‘Trembling With Fear’ is a new ongoing outlet for creatives that we’re trying out on Horror Tree. We’re going to be opening for submissions on drabbles and short...

Deadline: August 31st, 2022 Payment: $5 Theme: Let’s Get Weird A Literary Journal with Some Art and Analysis Thrown in for Good Measure As Quarter Press continues to grow, we’re adding another coin to our pocketful of change. We want to offer a space for shorter works to mingle with art and other bits of nonsense, so we bring you The Quarter(ly): It just makes cents. Each issue will be themed; however, we will consider any interpretation of said themes. 2022’s Themes and Deadlines: Other Voices (NOW AVAILABLE!) Myths, Fables, and Folklore (June 30) Let’s Get Weird (Aug. 31) Ends (Nov. 30) What’ve you got to show us? Stories and / or Poems For Stories: We’re open to micro works all the way up to 10,000 words. Just keep two things in mind: We want to be engaged and the submission must be completed (no pitches, please!) For Poems: We’d love to see up to five poems from you, but you can always just send one, too. Art As long as it has some tie to the current issue’s theme, we’re open to see any art created in any medium at any time. Just know that it will need to “work in print” and—might—be presented in black and white. Graphic Stories Show us your comic strips or complete short works; we’d love to see them all! Please try to keep submissions to 20 pages or less. Feel free to also send a collection of comic strips / one shot comics, as well. (Please note that our publication size / dimensions might change between issues. Our “Norm” is 6x9”). These must be COMPLETE works. Analysis / Interviews / Reviews As long as it is tied to the theme in some way, we’d love to see any and all media analysis (film,...

Submission Window: August 15th - 31st, 2022 Payment: .01 per word and .005 per word for reprints Theme: Flash fiction featuring military and law enforcement science fiction Note: Reprints Welcome Troopers is a magazine of flash fiction featuring military and law enforcement science fiction. All stories in Troopers must feature a fictional military, paramilitary, or law enforcement entity in some meaningful way. Your main character doesn’t need to be a soldier, pilot, or future cop necessarily, but there must be elements of military or law enforcement present in the story. Your character doesn’t need to be human either, sentient space ships, robots, aliens, and the like are more than welcome. Paramilitary characters or groups are also welcome, such as mercenaries, space pirates, cartels, organized corporations with private militaries and/or guards, and other similar entities. We like stories with cool tech and that pack an emotional punch. We have a preference for stories that have a dark and gritty atmosphere and tone as well. We’re looking to push the boundaries of military sci-fi in the flash category and we can’t wait to see what you come up with! Submissions will be open August 15th-31st. See below guidelines for details. Submission Guidelines Troopers publishes flash fiction stories of 1,000 words or less. We publish science fiction. Every subgenre of science fiction is acceptable but the science fiction element must be present. We will have set reading periods each year. Submissions will only be read in those reading periods. Stories sent outside of the reading periods will not be read unless they were specifically solicited by the editor. We pay .01 per word for original fiction, paid on publication of the selected work. Reprints are accepted and paid at .005 per word, half that of original fiction. We accept simultaneous submissions. Just please let us...

Deadline: August 31st, 2022 Payment: Original Stories: $25.00, Reprint Stories: $15.00, Flash Fiction: 1 cent/word to $10.00 maximum, Poems: $5.00 (for minimalist poetry such as scifaiku, etc., the rates for Scifaikuest apply), Illustrations: $7.00 Theme: “Bed” is not limited to an actual bed. It can be a futon, a sofa, a chaise lounge, a recline, or anything you can reasonably sleep on. Note: Reprints Welcome IT CAME FROM UNDER THE BED is a paperback anthology of stories, poems, and art, and will be published by Hiraeth Publishing. Editors for IT CAME FROM UNDER THE BED are Terrie Leigh Relf and Marcia Borell. IT CAME FROM UNDER THE BED is open to submissions as of 1 April 2022. We expect to close on 31 August 2022. We expect to publish on 1 January 2023. IT CAME FROM UNDER THE BED wants original stories with plot, tension, suspense, conflict, and character development. Remember, if readers do not care what happens to your main character(s), they won’t read the story. The narrative should maintain a sense of wondering what’s going to happen next; of what’s lurking just around the corner. Showing is better than telling. Frex, instead of telling the reader that it’s cold, show your character shivering, stomping feet, or having ice form on beard or hair. The inner thoughts and emotions of your character(s) are just as important. IMPORTANT NOTE: “Bed” is not limited to an actual bed. It can be a futon, a sofa, a chaise lounge, a recline, or anything you can reasonably sleep on. If you’re looking for inspiration, think Roger Corman and what he might have done with this. Stories submitted to IT CAME FROM UNDER THE BED should be between 3K and 8K words long. Longer or shorter stories will be considered; however, anything less than 3K will be a difficult sell. Anything 2K...

Deadline: August 31st, 2022 Payment: 10 cents per word, $200 for artwork Theme: Killer Instinct Note: There is ALSO a contest with the same theme that pays $3,000 though that one is a pay-to-play scenario. Do you feel safe? Do you believe doors and locks will protect you? They won’t, but lies are necessary to distract us from the terrifying truth – killers are everywhere. Life is full of danger. The wilds are home to fearsome predators. Sharks smell blood, and other territorial animals will rend you with tooth and claw for the misfortune of crossing their path. But urban spaces might just kill you quicker. Humans have the propensity to kill one another six times higher than the average mammal. Born killers and those brought to it by chance and fate, the true predators of the world wear familiar faces. Sharp teeth lurk behind kind smiles and watchful eyes. History is full of atrocities and bloodshed, and stories of our future suggest more to come. Even good people suffer intrusive thoughts, visualizing horrendous acts for a split second before recoiling. Beware strangers, but keep a closer eye on friends. All new writers can submit work to the magazine. It’s free. We don’t believe publications should charge authors to be published. However, we have a specific submission process you must adhere to in order to have your work considered. Our submissions window opens on the first and closes at midnight on the final day of each month. Each issue of the magazine is themed according to our monthly prompt. The prompts are designed to inspire ideas but leave room for you to tell the story you want to tell. You can always write in any genre. This month’s prompt can be viewed here.  We do host a monthly contest using the...

  Deadline: August 31st, 2022 (reported on Facebook) Prizes: 1st place: $100 via Paypal Author Print Copy, Author Interview published on all WTP socials and website. , 2nd Place $50 via Paypal, Author Print copy, 3rd Place $20 via Paypal Author Print copy Theme: A story about a nemesis There is no fee to enter. All entries whether they place or not will be considered for publication. ​What is Nemesis? The inescapable agent of someone's or something's downfall. A long-standing rival; an archenemy. A person’s undoing. Theme Trope: Enemies to Lovers, Enemies to Allies, Enemies as Lovers/Friends 1st place: $100 via Paypal Author Print Copy Author Interview published on all WTP socials and website.  ​ 2nd Place $50 via Paypal Author Print copy ​ 3rd Place $20 via Paypal Author Print copy ​ Working Title: Nemesis ​ Premise: Sometimes great loves begin with great fury. These are such tales of passion and partnership that ignite somewhere closer to hate.  Warriors on opposite ends of a battlefield align to oppose a greater evil. Sworn enemies become bound brothers for the greater good. Whatever it is that puts them at odds, it's no match to the power of what binds them together.​ ​ Genres: Keep it speculative. Romance on some level is preferred, but not required—passion, emotion, fierce bonds are what we are looking for. We’re also hoping to see a lot more #OwnVoices pieces, female authors, LGBTQA+ stories, but all are welcome to submit!​ ​ Encouraged Tropes:  Enemies to Lovers Foe Romance Subtext (But skip the sub and make it TEXT!) Belligerent Sexual Tension The Only One Allowed to Defeat You ​ Pairing Examples:  Beauty and the Beast Buffy/Spike Rey/Kylo Negan/Maggie (Enemies to allies) Nina and Matthias (Six of Crows) Batman/Joker (In fanfiction) Grindelwald/Albus Dumbledore (In fanfiction) The Doctor/ The Master...

Deadline: August 31st, 2022 Payment: $30USD Theme: Terrors on Distant Planets Title: Strange Sunsets: Terrors on Distant Planets Theme: Science fiction stories that take place on another planet. There must be an element of horror. Gore and splatterpunk is welcome, but may not be a first choice. Word Count: Preferred 2500-7500. Hard cap on 10,000 words for exceptional stories. Payment: $30USD Rights: First time publishing rights for one year after publication. The author is free to publish the story elsewhere afterwards. Reprints: No. Original stories only. Multiple Submissions: Welcome. Simultaneous Submissions: No. If you do not hear back within eight weeks, you may submit the story elsewhere. How to submit: Email manuscript to [email protected] attached as a Word (.docx) document. In the subject line, please write Sunsets_Your_Name. In the body, please include a few sentences summarizing the story. Via: War and Whiskey Publishing.

Submission Window: August 1st to 31st, 2022 Payment: ¢1 per word CAD Theme: Horror stories involving water Water: Elements Book 3. Open August 1 - 31. Stories of horror with the theme of 'water' - Rated R welcomed Water deities - Drowinings - Sea Accidents - Storms - Flooding - Draughts - Welcome to our four-book series, dedicated to horror from the elements.   Each quarter has been assigned an 'element'. Please review the elements and open submission windows below. Each quarter submission window is only one month, so please make sure to submit during that specific time period Patreon members will be allowed to submit one week early, and be given a one-week extension to each quarter call. Although there can be some fantasy elements tossed in there, the overall feel of the stories must remain in the horror genre. Aim to scare. ​ Each part will be approximately 70,000 words and have its own ebook and paperback. Once all four sections are complete we will release a 'collection' containing all four books in ebook, paperback and hardcover form.  ​​Word count: 1500 - 7000 firm. Payment: Flat rate payment ¢1 per word CAD after approved edits. Reprints? No ​ Multiple Submission? No 💀 Only one submission per author per theme/quarter. (Fire, Earth, Air, Water) ​ Formatting:  Please use 12 pt Times New Roman, 1.5 line spacing, set auto-indent new paragraphs. Add the story title to the top of the manuscript. Do not include your name or email in the manuscript. These stories will be read "blind" by our reading team. Title your manuscript "Title of Story - Theme"  example "The Ruin - Earth" Please make sure the title of the story and the title on the manuscript match. ​ How to submit? Submit via the FORM - Which will open on the start of each quarter. (A button will...

  Deadline: August 31st, 2022 Payment: Contributor's Copy (US Authors) Theme: Story must include a character named Jessica and mention both Flint, Michigan as well as a non-human character named Winona Submission deadline is July 1, 2022. JESSICA’S RECURRING NIGHTMARES GUIDELINES Thank you for choosing to submit to the seventh annual Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers (GLAHW) mini-anthology. We are looking for horror fiction, between 2,000 and 5,000 words, along with the following requirements. 1. A character named Jessica. The character can be the protagonist, antagonist, monster, victim, friend, etc. As long as he, she, it, or they play a significant, if not pivotal, role in the story. 2. The story must make a reference to Flint, Michigan, AND a non-human character named Winona. Whether it is the setting of the story, part of the backstory for a character, or a passing reference, the city of Flint and Winona should have some importance to the story. We will be editing the stories, but we will not make any changes without first discussing them with you, the writer. We’re writers, too, and we know what it’s like to have our stories altered without our consent. We won’t do that to you. Having said that, however, we will try our best to make each of the stories in this anthology the best they can be. So, if we give you notes, we’d appreciate it if you’d consider them carefully. We’re not saying you have to agree with us (We’ve had plenty of writers argue with us, and sometimes, we see their point and concede the edit). Just that you listen. The cover art for Jessica’s Recurring Nightmares will be handled by the talented Steve Bejma SUBMISSION Please submit all stories to [email protected]  The subject line should read Submission: Jessica’s Recurring Nightmares. Stories should be submitted as an attachment...

Deadline: August 31st, 2022 Payment: Poetry - $10 USD, Flash - $15 USD, Short Fiction - $35 USD and a contributor's copy. Theme: horror set in the Old West Timber Ghost Press is proud to present Along Harrowed Trails, an anthology of horror set in the Old West. We are seeking well-crafted stories and poems that are creepy, disturbing, and weird that embrace the Old West aesthetic from around 1800-1900. For inspiration, you can look to Bone Tomahawk, Ravenous, Hostiles, The Wind, Appaloosa, Tombstone, Blood Meridian, Deadlands, Quick and the Dead, etc.  We anticipate an early 2023 release. Accepted authors will receive payment according to the pay scale below, plus a contributor's copy of the anthology in both print and electronic format. Deadline: August 31st, 2022 The Following Categories are Open for Submission: Poetry Flash Fiction: 1000 words or less Short Fiction: 1001-6000 words Payment: Poetry - $10 USD Flash - $15 USD Short Fiction - $35 USD What We Do Not Want: Timber Ghost Press may outright reject stories that contain the following: ​​Pedophilia\Rape\Child Abuse Animal Abuse Extreme Violence or Gore Just for the Sake of It ​ Multiple/Simultaneous Submissions/Reprints: You may submit up to three poems and/or once in each category. For example, you may submit three poems, a piece of flash fiction, and a short story if you like. Regarding simultaneous submissions, we don't mind as long as you let us know if your story gets accepted elsewhere. No reprints please. Submission Format: Please submit your manuscript in either .docx, .doc, or .rtf following Shunn format. You can find the form to submit your story in the link below: Via: Timber Ghost Press.

Submission Window: August 1 – Aug 31, 2022 Payment: $0.01/word Theme: Horror of all types One new short, published on Mondays, for at least 45 weeks of the next year. We are hoping to begin posting these short stories on February 6th, 2023. “Two-thousand Word Terrors” will be the name of the featured column hosting these stories. Because this call is not specific to Strangehouse Books, all writers are welcome to submit. The theme should be, simply, Horror. What kind of Horror is up to you. Go nuts. One submission per author. Payment: $0.01/word. NO multiple submissions NO simultaneous submissions NO reprints. Submission Length: approx. 2,000 words (a little under is OK but do not exceed 2000) The submission window will be open from August 1 – Aug 31, 2022. Submissions sent outside of this time frame will be deleted. Responses should take no longer than 3 months. Due to the anticipated volume of submissions, there will not be individualized feedback on declined stories. Send submissions to: [email protected] with name and story title in the subject line. Don’t stress about the cover letter! Just get those stories attached and sent. Please do not send PDFs. Emails with PDFs attached will be deleted immediately. Manuscript formatting should follow the Shunn style, which can be found HERE (or you can copy/paste this link: https://www.shunn.net/format/story.html) We will try to notify everyone of acceptances and rejections by December 1st, 2022. Accepted stories/authors will be announced in January 2023. A QUICK WORD REGARDING REJECTIONS: Rejections are not personal. Under no circumstance will we be opening/reading responses to rejection notices. Responses to rejection notices will be deleted, unread. Thanks in advance for your understanding. Best of luck to everyone who submits a story! We look forward to reading. Via: Rooster Republic Press.

  Submission Window: July 15th, 2022 – August 31st, 2022 Payment: $25 Theme: Nocturnal Animals The Quiet Ones is a tri-annual e-zine that centers LGBTQIAP+ and women’s voices in the subgenres of quiet horror and intimate dystopian fiction, both for YA and Adult audiences. New installments of The Quiet Ones are released on the last Thursdays of October, February, and June, and are available for download on our website. We are exploring other avenues for distribution and will update accordingly as The Quiet Ones becomes available by other means.   “Quiet Horror” applies to atmospheric, unsettling stories that rely more on mood and rhythm than on shock and gore. Examples of quiet horror include: classic ghost stories and shorts like The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, modern moody masterworks like The Walls Around Us by: Nova Ren Suma, and films such as The Exorcist III or Pontypool where so much of the horror is left to the viewer to imagine as opposed to horror films that bombard their audience with scenes of excessive gore and jump scares. “Intimate Dystopia” is all about scale. We’re looking to zoom that lens in – show us the personal, everyday impact of living under totalitarian regimes, or heavily restricted environments – anything from haunted houses to run-down clubs or playgrounds – anywhere upon which the larger trappings of dystopian visions apply. For post-apocalyptic stories, give us small, contained spaces which explore life in the ruined world. Examples of intimate dystopia include: Speech Sounds by Octavia Butler, Wool by Hugh Howey, and films such as Quarantine (or ), or Tale of A Vampire. Accepting: Short Stories up to 3000 Words Flash and Micro Fiction up to 1000 Words Poetry Author Compensation: $25.00 (USD) per piece Rights: We request first worldwide and digital rights for four months...

Deadline: September 1st, 2022 Payment: Contributors Copy and royalties Theme: Speculative fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, or any other works with a speculative element Note: Authors must be LGBTQIA+ writers We are so proud of our anthologies Strongly Worded Women, Shout, Denial Kills, and our forthcoming Stories (Within) (available on August 5th of 2022). We want to do it again! When we look at our country and our industry, we’re very concerned about attacks on LGBTQIA+ folks in the USA and around the world. We worry about how those attacks are silencing the voices of LGBTQIA+ authors, poets, and artists. We want to do what we can, so, just as Strongly Worded Women included only female-identifying writers, our next anthology will only feature the work of LGBTQIA+ authors, poets and artists. Our panel of editors evaluating and selecting submissions is entirely LGBTQIA+ and includes incredible writers like Christine Sandquist, Lydia Valentine, and Claudine Griggs, and our co-publisher Viveca Shearin. We will accept submissions under pen names to protect our authors/poets/artists. We're primarily seeking speculative fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, or any other works with a speculative element. These genres are places of catharsis and solace where people of all identities can imagine new worlds where they are represented, but they're also spaces where marginalized voices have often been pushed aside within the mainstream publishing industry. Give us your sentient spaceships, murderous fae, and weirdest ecology! We're interested in both prose and poetry, and we're willing to consider work in experimental or unconventional styles. The stories do need to be fictional, though. We're not knocking journalism, long form essays, memoirs, or online rants, but there are other places for those. We want to create a space for fiction and poetry exclusively by LGBTQIA+ authors and poets. Can you submit...

Deadline: September 1st, 2022 Payment: (CAD) 1c per word, and $15 per poem Theme: General Horror What are we looking for? We’re looking for predominantly horror short stories, flash fiction, and poetry, but they can run the gamut of everything from absurdism to bizarre (and terrifying) science-fiction to unsettling dark fantasy. We love the uncanny; what we look for is the telling drop in your stomach when you absently look up at the skies and there are far more constellations than you’d remembered, brighter and closer and in configurations you don’t quite recall. We want stories about the bleed error of the universe printing outside the margins of reality. We are interested in stories with LGBTQ2S+ and diverse leads, especially with narratives that are not confined to tragedy tropes. • What do we not want? Please don’t send us anything bigoted or hateful, we’d all be wasting our time. At this point we’re not seeking photography or art. We do not take reprints, including translations. Previously published works on personal websites (including sites such as Wattpad, Medium, etc) count as reprints. Please note that you must be eighteen years of age or above to submit your work. • How much do we pay? We pay 1c per word, and $15 per poem, regardless of length. All listed currency is in CAD. • What about word limits? We have a firm limit on stories not exceeding 7000 words. The ideal word count would be in the 2000-4000 range for short stories. We prefer poetry to not exceed 1500 words. • How do you submit? You can submit via e-mail to [email protected]. Please send us works in .doc, .docx, or .rtf formats. We recommend including your name and contact information in the file. Please note that our submissions e-mail address has been recently changed in order to...

Deadline: September 1st, 2022 Payment: $5 and physical contributor's copy for those in the United States Theme: Domestic Horror poetry from those who identify as women Black Spot Books will publish its second Women in Horror Poetry Collection in November 2023 in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This collection is open to all poets who identify as women (cis and trans) and non-binary femmes. Submissions open July 2022 and will close August 31, 2022, with decisions made on a rolling basis. All submissions will receive a response. The theme of the second collection is domestic horror. This is a broad spectrum and poets are welcome to interpret the prompt in their own vision, so long as poems support the theme of domestic horror -- the fear that we might not be safe in our own homes. We have partnered with The Pixel Project, a global, volunteer-run non-profit for this showcase, and will be donating a portion of proceeds to support ending violence against women. More information on The Pixel Project can be found at: https://www.thepixelproject.net/ The showcase will feature a cover with hand-drawn illustration by respected horror artist Lynne Hansen and will be traditionally and globally distributed in both trade print and ebook. Featured poets include Bram Stoker Award®-winning poet Stephanie M. Wytovich and nominee Jessica McHugh, as well as Science Fiction & Fantasy (SF&F) Poetry Association Grand Master and recipient of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) Lifetime Achievement Award winner Marge Simon. Poems must be previously unpublished, though published poets are, of course, welcome. We accept submissions of poems up to fifty lines. Free verse preferred (please, no forced rhyme or clichés). Please, no simultaneous submissions. We accept one poem per poet, but up to three poems are allowed for submission. Submissions should be submitted along with a brief bio....

Deadline: September 1st, 2022 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: September 1st, 2022 Payment: $5 Theme: Anything Sci-Fi! HellBound Books Publishing is excited to announce its very first foray into the science-fiction genre. We are looking for your very best tales of aliens, strange new worlds, fantastic beings from distant planets, space travel, terrifying glimpses of the future, and whatever else your sci-fi mind may conjure up to horrify our readers. PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines...  * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * Double spaced * Absolutely NO extra lines between paragraphs! * 4K - 10K word count * Write 'SC-FI' along with your name and story title in the header of your email *The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. * The submission documents are to be separated and Word (.doc or .docx) documents are to be attached to your submission email. To submit, email your polished story to [email protected] - Make sure that you check your mss for grammar and punctuation, use our guidelines to help you: DOWNLOAD YOUR HBB GUIDE TO GRAMMAR HERE (PDF) NO REPRINTS - ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY Deadline: September 1st, 2022 Payment: $5.00 for First Rights Capped at 120K words in total. Via: Hellbound Books Publishing.

Deadline: September 1st, 2022 Payment: Royalties Theme: Military Science Fiction Note: Reprints Welcome An anthology of Future Combat and Mechanized Warfare Call for entries Three Ravens Publishing is accepting entries for a military science fiction-themed anthology to be published in 2022. Focus will be stories in the genre that featured future combat centered around mechanized warfare, ie, tanks, APC’s, cavalry, mounted infantry etc. Stories can be set in existing author owned universes but must be new material. Author bio and link to existing works will be provided at the end of each story. Focus should be on hard military science fiction, with a setting from the near future to thousands of years from now. Ground combat in a combined arms atmosphere. In other words, Close Air Support and air to air combat can be part of the story but not the focus. Dropship troopers and airborne insertion are merely a way to get to the fighting. Mechas are allowed but it has to be a really good story that focuses more on the meatsickle element than the gee whiz fighting suit. Please, no Mary Sue’s. Genre: Military Science Fiction Word Count: 7,000 – 10,000 Edited by: J.F. Holmes & William Joseph Roberts Opening by: David Drake Due Date: Sept 1, 2022 Payment: Stories selected for publication in the upcoming Anthology(ies), will receive a percentage of sales divided equally between the contributing authors. Email submissions to: threeravenspublishing @ gmail dot com with “Blood, Sweat, and Steel” in the subject line Please follow the Three Ravens submission guidelines that can be found here MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES We are looking for amazing stories from any genre that are fun to read and will take us on an adventure of epic proportions. Please download our standards template by clicking here Hard and fast rules of what not...

Deadline: September 1st, 2022 Payment: $5 Theme: Stories that pay homage to Edgar Allan Poe fan Lifelong Edgar Allan Poe fan, Madame Gray, is in search of horror tales that pay homage to one of the greats of the genre. Whether you gravitate toward The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, Murders in the Rue Morgue, or the Masque of the Red Death, she wants to read your story... Compiled and edited by Gerri R. Gray (Madame Gray's Creep Show, Blood & Blasphemy, Vault of Gore) and published by Hellbound Books, this anthology is open to undiscovered writers and established voices alike. Contributors are invited to send a bio (up to 250 words) with their submission. Multiple and simultaneous submissions are okay. PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines...  * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * Double spaced * Absolutely NO extra lines between paragraphs! * 3K - 8K word count * Write 'MADAME GRAY POE' along with your name and story title in the header of your email *The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. * The submission documents are to be separated and Word (.doc or .docx) documents are to be attached to your submission email. To submit, email your polished story to [email protected] - Make sure that you check your mss for grammar and punctuation, use our guidelines to help you: DOWNLOAD YOUR HBB GUIDE TO GRAMMAR HERE (PDF) Deadline: September 1st, 2022 NO REPRINTS - ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY Payment: $5.00 for First Rights Capped at 120K words in total. Via: Hell Bound Books Publishing.

Deadline: September 1st, 2022 Payment: €40 and a contributor's copy Theme: Getting lost to find the most intricate and vivid settings, see below for a better explanation Jacques Yonnet once stated that "an age-old city is like a pond. With its colours and reflections. Its chills and murk. Its ferment, its sorcery, its hidden life." And the same could be said for the most intoxicating of video games. Getting truly lost in one means encountering places more vivid than our physical reality. Wind Guide You will be a pixelstruck anthology of enchanted texts devoted to exploring these territories and digital ramblings. We want pieces that talk about the most otherwordly and intense settings of virtual universes. We want your beautiful dérives. We want your utter escapism, your childlike stray in the woods. But we aim to go beyond mere description. These short incursions must absorb the reader, envelop the way the most lucid video game environments do, with a poetic, complex, evocative prose. The pieces will be accompanied by a pixel art illustration, especially commissioned for each of the selected texts. Send us your submissions in English or Spanish in a text document (with a limit of 1,500 words) before the 1st of September to submissionssadwrnpresscom. Do not include absolutely any personal or professional info along with your submission. Payment consists of €40/text and a complimentary copy of the zine. Via: Sadwrn Press.

Submission Window: September 1st-2nd, 2022 Payment: 8 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints, For artwork: $10 for the non-exclusive right to use each image, for as long as the site is online.  If we publish a print collection we will pay a pro-rata share for each image used. 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 8¢ 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...

Submission Window: June 1st - September 6th, 2022 Payment: $50 Theme: Literary/creative essays, short stories, fiction/prose, poems, comics, art, one act plays, fever dreams, multimedia, stupid status updates, criticisms, manifestos, recipes and anything else that explore any and all elements of Taco Bell. Is this a joke? No! This a real literary magazine for you to submit your literary Taco Bell writing. Like The Paris Review. Granta. Ploughshares. Taco Bell Quarterly. It still sounds like you’re joking, but okay. What are the guidelines? Taco Bell Quarterly seeks literary/creative essays, short stories, fiction/prose, poems, comics, art, one act plays, fever dreams, multimedia, stupid status updates, criticisms, manifestos, recipes and anything else that explore any and all elements of Taco Bell. Or not. Shoehorn a chalupa in your short story. Maybe we’ll love it. An elegy for the discontinued menu items? Fine. An experimental essay about marine biology and the XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito? Awesome. Review the new Beefy Fritos Burrito and how it reminds you of the time your grandma died? We want it.  Something that  introduces us to inventive form, dynamic language, and strong voice. Or perhaps it does none of the above. We’re not judgey and pretentious. We’re the Taco Bell Quarterly. We lean towards pieces that are queer and center their pain/joy in a Taco Bell. Are you affiliated, sponsored by, connected to, or BFF with Taco Bell? No. But like all corporations, they are very aware of things that steal their intellectual branding. One time I asked them for a million dollars for literature in a zoom. They laughed politely and continue not to sue me. Is this going to be quarterly? It comes out when we feel like it. What’s the word count guideline? Write what it takes to tell your story. But seriously, people’s attention spans...

Deadline: September 6th, 2022 Payment: €150 Theme: Characters "stepping into chaos" From Aug 2nd to Sept 6th, we are open for short story submissions for our new collection, INTO CHAOS! We are looking for stories of all genres that respond to our title and/or cover art, and selected writers will receive a flat rate of €150 for accepted submissions. What calling would be strong enough for one to step into darkness? When heading into the unknown, the path is always lined by warnings – and yet, time and time again, characters barrel down that road, daring and unafraid. What is it that drives them on, despite all odds? Is it fear or is it desire? The need to escape or the siren song of adventure? And, perhaps more importantly, what will they find when they lift the veil and peer beyond? Be it unhinged mayhem or sublime beauty, we want stories of what happens when characters step INTO CHAOS. For our latest anthology, we want stories inspired by our title – INTO CHAOS – and the cover artwork below, created by artist Dominique Ramsey. All genres of writing are welcome, as long as they explore a story of embracing the unknown (which can be as real or as magic as your heart desires)! More than any specific story or style, we want the emotional response the title and artwork evokes in you. In the words of William Ernest Henley, we want tales where no matter how strait the gate, the menace of the years finds me, and shall find me, unafraid. INTO CHAOS What lies in wait for those that embrace the unknown? What will be lost – and what can be found –past the gates of chaos? What is beyond the portals of our reality – and what would...

Deadline: September 7th, 2022 Payment: $0.05/word (USD) Theme: All genres open though prefer stories with fantastic elements Tiny Tales is looking for fantastic, bizarre, and enthralling fiction stories to turn into podcast episodes. Submission Guidelines: Deadline: Submissions will be closing at 11:59 PM (CST) on September 7th, 2022. Please do not submit after that time.  Word Count: 500-1200 words (stories longer than 1200 words will not be considered) Format: Word Document, size 12 font Genre: Tiny Tales does not require a specific genre. However, the stories we include are always fiction and typically include some kind of fantastic element. Please keep this in mind when considering whether your story would be a good fit for this submission. - Include your name and email on the submission document. - Please submit one story at a time. After you have received a response, you are welcome to submit again. - The story should be your original work and free of any publishing rights restrictions. Previously published works are acceptable UNLESS they were published on podcasts or another form of audio. - Upon acceptance of a story, Tiny Tales will request a short bio to be released with the episode and published on the Tiny Tales website. Compensation: Payment for accepted stories is $0.05/word (USD) paid via PayPal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Click here to submit Or email us: [email protected] Via: Tiny Tales.

  Deadline: September 8th, 2022 Payment: $10 USD and a contributors copy Theme: Flash furry stories with a holiday theme Deadline: September 8th, 2022 Word count: Up to 1,000 words; a little above and a little below will be acceptable, but remember we are looking for flash fiction. If your story is excessively longer than 1,000 words it is likely to be rejected. You may send up to three stories, but we will only be accepting one per author. Payment: Authors will receive $10 USD and a free contributors copy of the final book. Tentative release date: late November, 2022 Advent calendars. From the beginning of December to the night before Christmas, each door on the advent calendar brings a new treat for you, whether chocolates or some cute trinkets. For this flash-fiction anthology, we are looking for authors who can surprise us with bite-sized treats; one for every day, from the beginning of that special season, till the night before Christmas. Just like you can find different kinds of treats in advent calendars, this anthology is open to any genre and any holiday during the winter season. The stories all need to be furry in nature. We are looking for stories that really capture the spirit of the holidays in 1,000 words or less. We encourage you to think outside the box and show us different takes on these holidays. Sweet, scary, sexy, or serious; we want to see them all and more. Not everyone celebrates the same holidays in December, so not all of our submissions need to be about one certain holiday. Eligible holidays include, but are not limited to: Hannukah Christmas (Day or Eve) Boxing Day Kwanzaa Winter Solstice ​ Things we will NOT accept: Racism, sexism, or discrimination presented in a positive light. Pedophilia or sex with characters under the age...

Deadline: September 8th, 2022 Payment: 3 cents a word. Theme: This is a look at the consequences of a SCOTUS who reserves rights for the Rich, the Corporation, the Badged and the Powerful. Roe V. Wade has happened.  The question is what is next?  What happens in our country?  What happens TO our country? what freedoms are next? Do we resist?  How? There will be consequences.  What are they?  Who stands up?  Who caves? This is a look at the consequences of a SCOTUS who reserves rights for the Rich, the Corporation, the Badged and the Powerful. THIS IS A SHORT OPEN CALL.  VERY SHORT.  Closes September 8. Planned Pub Date Nov 1. We accept Poetry, Essay, and Prose. 50 words to 4000 words.  Longer submissions by advance permission. We pay 3 cents a word. A goodly portion of the proceeds to to the ACLU. We are not accepting reprints without prior permission. Multiple submissions OK. Via: B Cubed Press's Moksha.  

Deadline: September 12th, 2022 Payment: $10 Theme: Pulp sword and sorcery CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS / WHETSTONE / Issue 6 (Winter 2022) WHETSTONE is an award-winning amateur magazine that seeks to discover, inspire, and publish emerging authors who are enthusiastic about the tradition of “pulp sword and sorcery.” Writers in this tradition include (but are not limited to) the following: Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner, David C. Smith, and many more. “Pulp sword and sorcery” emphasizes active protagonists, supernatural menaces, and preindustrial (mostly ancient and medieval) settings. Some “pulp sword and sorcery” straddles the line between historical and fantasy fiction; at Whetstone, however, we emphatically prefer “secondary world settings,” other worlds liberated from the necessity of historical accuracy. Published by Spiral Tower Press. Managing Editor: Dr. Jason Ray Carney is a lecturer in the Department of English of Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. He is the co-editor of the academic journal The Dark Man: Journal of Robert E. Howard and Pulp Studies and the area chair of the "Pulp Studies" section of the Popular Culture Association. He serves as the Academic Coordinator for the Robert E. Howard Foundation. He is the author of Rakefire and Other Stories (Pulp Hero Press). Associate Editor: Chuck E. Clark lives in Southern Wisconsin with his wife and four children. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Political Science degree, apprenticed as a jeweler, joined the navy, and now fixes laser microscopes. He has been published in Whetstone and The August Derleth Society's newsletter, Sage of Sac Prairie. He loves collecting rocks, books, and whiskey. Associate Editor: Luke E. Dodd is a scientist, devourer of music, and collector of hobbies. He is one of the three hosts of The Cromcast, a podcast dedicated to the works of Robert E. Howard and other weird fiction. He lives...

Deadline: September 12th, 2022 Payment: $15 Theme: Stories inspired by Stephen King Note: This anthology is for authors who identify as female Deadline: SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 Payment: $15 flat fee per story (author must have a valid PayPal address as that will be used for payment) Publisher: Twisted Wing Productions Novelist Stephen King says writing is like leaving the ordinary world for a world of his own making: “It’s a wonderful, exhilarating experience.” Theme: STEPHEN KING HOMAGE/STORY RETELLINGS Every (unless you live under a rock) knows Stephen King, the modern-day master of horror novelist. With a career spanning so many years and over eighty books published between novels and short story collections there’s a lot of material to be inspired by! We’re looking for Stephen King retellings/homage of his novels or short stories with a feminist edge. Focus on themes he explores in his own writing (but not limited to this is only to give an idea) such as: Ordinary people dealing with extraordinary/supernatural events/entities, loss of innocence, coming of age, good vs. evil, and much more. The genre is HORROR. Stories MUST have elements of horror in them. The author submitting MUST 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...

Deadline: September 13th, 2022 Payment: US: $40 + author copy/non-US: $45 + ebook author copy Theme: Gothic Winter Horror Quill & Crow Publishing House is opening submissions for our third anthology for 2022, Bleak Midwinter: An Anthology of Gothic Horror. For this collection, we are looking for short stories (5,000 - 8,000 words) of winter horror. We are looking for stories that encompass the darkness of the season and literary themes over Christmas/Krampus gore. Think of stories like The Shining or even Dickens's A Christmas Carol more than slasher-style Black Christmas. Things we are looking for: psychological horror slow-burn horror themes of death/darkness gothic horror historical horror literary horror gothic/macabre elements modern settings considered ONLY if they maintain a Gothic feel Things we are not looking for: young adult extreme horror/extreme erotica rape/child abuse heavy sci-fi overtly modern adaptations Christmas horror slasher horror ​ Submission Requirements Please note: Submissions that do not follow requirements will not be considered. 1. We are accepting original works only. You must own the copyright to your submission. 2. Submissions period is from Dec 20th - Sept 13th, 2022. Please submit all stories to [email protected] with the subject line: Bleak Midwinter / Your Title / Genre. Emails sent to other emails will not be considered. 2. All submissions must be in English and follow standard MLA formatting (double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font). Work must be polished and edited (to the best of your ability). Please submit as a .docx file and include your name, title, and word count on the front page. 3. Story length is 5,000 to 8,000 words. Submissions below 5,000 words and above 8,000 words will not be considered. 4. Accepted authors will receive compensation per contract agreement (US: $40 + author copy/non-US: $45 + ebook author copy). 5. We do accept multiple submissions and...

Deadline: September 15th, 2022 Payment: Royalties Theme: Female, or female identifying authors with stories that include strong elements of horror. Your story does not need a female protagonist, but must feature a female symbol of strength 'Dastardly Damsels' This anthology is open only to female, or female identifying authors. Diverse voices are strongly encouraged! Once upon a time, there was an expression that stated, 'Damsel in Distress'. Poor gal. And wicked men were 'dastardly'. That was long ago, and the reason I selected such an unusual title for this anthology... Women are no longer the poor helpless creatures that history has often portrayed. It is our time to rise, grab the reins, and gain control of our own destinies! For ‘Dastardly Damsels’, I am seeking stories that include strong elements of horror. Your story does not need a female protagonist, but must feature a female symbol of STRENGTH: a woman who overcomes abuse, a female serial killer, an alien who rules a planet, a story portraying Medusa... Think outside of the box. It can be told from any POV, and can take place in any time period. The horror can be blended with sci-fi, fantasy, or even romance! Fiction or fact, it must be in a storytelling format, which has a beginning, a middle, and a satisfying ending... That does not mean happy, necessarily! Please make it exciting and unique! Times New Roman, 12pt, to submit your twisted tale. Stories need to be properly formatted and well written. If there are more mistakes than story, it will be rejected. Please paste your story in the body of your email and submit to: [email protected] Multiple Submissions, yes...but I will select only ONE story per author. Simultaneous Submissions, yes...but email me immediately if you place your story elsewhere. The phenomenally talented Carson...

Deadline: September 15th, 2022 Payment: Short Stories pay $25, Flash fiction stories pay $5 plus five (5) contributor copies, Payment for artwork will be negotiated at the time of publication. Theme: Horror where mental Images having unusual vividness and detail Note: Reprints Welcome Welcome to the home page for Eidetic. What is Eidetic you may ask? Well, it's a quarterly digest featuring fresh new voices from the independent horror community. Each issue will feature original short stories and artwork. We are currently accepting submissions for our very first issue which we have scheduled for an October 2022 release.  Submission requirements are below.​ 1. Short Stories between 2000 and 10000 words. 2. Flash Fiction stories under 1000. 3. All stories should be free of any rights issues. It's okay if a story has been previously published as long as there are no issues that prevent the story being reprinted. 4. The authors retain all publishing rights to their original work. The only request we make is that if your story is chosen for publication, please don't publish it anywhere else until the next issue of Eidetic is released. The payment breakdown is as follows. 1. Short Stories pay $25. 2. Flash fiction stories pay $5 plus five (5) contributor copies. 3. Payment for artwork will be negotiated at the time of publication. ​ I know how hard it can be to get your foot in the door as a new writer and that is why I'm launching this magazine. I love a good story and hope to see the very best you have to offer. ​ Submissions can be made to [email protected] Submission period closes 9/15/2022 If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at the email above. Via: SPI Bizarre Bazaar.

Deadline: September 15th, 2022 Prizes: $1000 grand prize, $500 editor's award Theme: fiction and magic Competition details Tales By Moonlight is a novella writing competition. The theme of this contest is fiction and magic. Release your imagination and let your creative juices run free! Prizes The competition now offers two prizes: the Community Award and the Editor's Award. The Community Award is $1000. The winner of the Community Award will be determined by voting. The story with the most votes at the end of the contest will win the award. The Editor's award is $500. This prize will be given to the most outstanding story as determined by the Ankara Team. There are no set criteria for judging but we will consider writing style, character development, and stories provoking a strong emotional response. All stories are eligible to win both awards. Rules Submissions will be accepted until the end of the competition. The competition will end on September 15th. Submissions will be published for voting from August 15th.   We will only publish stories of adequate quality. All stories submitted for the competition must be in the genre of fantasy. Stories must be written in the theme of Magic. Submissions must have approximately 15,000 - 20,000 word length and be separated into chapters of reasonable length. Entries can be submitted through Ankara Editor, our writing platform. Plagiarized work will not be accepted. FAQ What is a novella? A novella is a work of prose whose length is shorter than most novels but longer than most short stories. How does voting work? The voting polls will open August 15th. Approved entries will be hosted on the competition site and available for public voting. We encourage contestants to promote their submissions and increase their chances of winning the cash prize. How many chapters should...

Deadline: September 15th, 2022 Payment: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25 Theme: poems inspired by works of art that exist only in your own imagination (or that of others), from any period in time or space. Eye to the Telescope 46, Quest, will be edited by Wendy Van Camp. The hero's journey is one of the oldest forms of storytelling.  It has many components that can go in a thousand directions with a thousand faces.  Your quest, should you care to accept, is to use one part of the hero's journey as the focus of your quest poem.  It could be a call to adventure or the refusal of that call.  Meeting of a new mentor and its consequences, or facing an ordeal that creates inner change.  Perhaps it is the moment of return when the hero brings new understanding to her people.  Let the twelve steps of the Hero's Journey be your inspiration.  Your poem could be fantasy, science fiction or horror based.  Let your imagination be your guide. We are eager to read what you send! Submission Guidelines SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Use the form at bit.ly/SFPAettt46 to submit. Please submit 1–3 unpublished poems in English (ideally, attached as .docx or .txt) and include a short bio. Translations from other languages are acceptable with the permission of the original poet (unless public domain). Inquiries only to [email protected] with “ETTT” in the subject line. Deadline: September 15. The issue will appear on October 15, 2022. Payment and rights Accepted poems will be paid for at the following rate: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25. Payment is on publication. The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association normally uses PayPal to pay poets, but can also send checks. Eye to the Telescope is an online publication. Therefore, First Electronic Rights (for...

Deadline: September 15th, 2022 Payment: $100 or $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits (whichever amount is greater) and a contributor's copy Theme: Traditional Sherlock Holmes stories that demonstrate Sherlock Holmes’s skills as the “consulting detective” Edited by Ray Riethmeier Description: A collection of traditional Sherlock Holmes stories that demonstrate Sherlock Holmes’s skills as the “consulting detective” that he set out to be, based on the way he first described his profession to Doctor Watson: “Here in London we have lots of Government detectives and lots of private ones. When these fellows are at fault, they come to me, and I manage to put them on the right scent. They lay all the evidence before me, and I am generally able, by the help of my knowledge of the history of crime, to set them straight.” Although we are used to seeing Sherlock Holmes as the brilliant detective who can solve cases from the minutest of clues, Watson tended to recount for his readers only those stories that took Holmes out into the field, where he personally discovered those “trifles” that others would overlook. We rarely have seen examples in which Holmes solves the case entirely from the arm-chair of his sitting-room. This anthology is intended to fill in that gap in Sherlock Holmes’s published career. These will be stories in which Holmes serves as the “last resort” for other detectives — both private investigators and those from the official police force — who are in need of Holmes’s unique perspective and aid. These adventures could be written from the viewpoint of the other detectives, in which Holmes may figure only toward the end, or the stories might start with the other detectives arriving at Baker Street in order to consult with Sherlock Holmes. The key to these...

Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: Contributor's Copy Theme: An article of Pontine Scholarship about Solar Pons, characters in the Solar Pons canon, or author August Derleth The Pontine Dossier: Millennium Edition 2022 Annual Edited by Derrick Belanger The next volume of Solar Pons Scholarship from Belanger Books! Belanger Books is proud to bring back The Pontine Dossier in an annual edition. The Pontine Dossier: Millennium Edition 2022 will feature Pontine articles and scholarships. We would love it if you'd consider contributing. Guidelines: An article of Pontine Scholarship about Solar Pons, characters in the Solar Pons canon, or author August Derleth. Length can vary from as few as 1,000 words to as many as 5,000 words. We are leaving this wide open to get as many and as varied submissions as possible. Please submit your manuscript as a word document to [email protected]. Title your email: ATTN: PONTINE DOSSIER SUBMISSION. If your article is accepted, you will receive a free print copy of the Dossier. Submission Deadline: Please submit your article by September 30, 2022. We hope to release the new edition of the Dossier in November, 2022. Via: Derrick Belanger's Facebook.

  Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: $50 CAD and a contributor's copy Theme: Women and the Sea Deep, mysterious, beautiful, dangerous… women and the sea have a lot in common and have been tied together in myth and story from the beginning of time. Stories of women being drawn to the sea or being left on the shore, waiting for their men’s return, have been passed down through the ages. This anthology of stories about women and the sea will be filled with beautiful, atmospheric stories. I’m not primarily looking for fantastical creatures but rather setting, mood. The mythic. The gothic. The tranquility of sunlight dancing upon placid waters and the deep moon energy of rising tides and waves slamming against rocks. I want lonely lighthouses on rocky outcroppings, wind-whipped hair and melancholia, transformation and exaltation. Salt and sorrow. Clarification: Because it has become a frequently asked question I want to clarify something. Speculative elements and fantastical creatures are welcome in these stories but I’m also open to non-spec stories which fit the theme. When I said ‘I’m not looking for fantastical creatures’ I meant in comparison to the other water anthologies I’ve done in the past like Sirens where the water creatures were the focus. In this case I just the primary focus to be on atmosphere and mood. Apologies for not making that clear. Rights and compensation: Payment: $50 CAD flat fee and a paperback copy of the anthology. In exchange we are seeking first world rights in English and exclusive right to publish in print and electronic format for six months after publication date, after which publisher retains nonexclusive right to continue to publish for the life of the anthology. Publisher: Tyche Books Submission window: August 1, 2022 – September 30, 2022 Release window: TBD in 2023 Stories up to 7,500 words long No Reprints No...

Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: Royalties on 4k+ stories Theme: Vikings We Were Warriors Series Title: Vikings Opens: 4 February 2022 Closes: 30 September 2022, 11:59 EST Theme: Adventurers, explorers, expert navigators and sailors--their legacy is known the world over. But we want to hear YOUR version of their stories. Tell us about their travels, their plunders, their battles, and their loves. Make it personal. Make it real, not just the stereotypes we see in media. We want the good, the bad, and everything in between. Word Limit: 100-word drabbles and/or 1k-8k Author Eligibility: Open to all Reprints: Allowed if rights belong to author, royalty paid at a lower percentage Simultaneous Submissions: Not allowed Multiple Submissions: Max of 2 drabbles and 2 short story acceptances Author Compensation: One digital copy and wordcount-based royalty split for stories 4k+ Send your story and up to a 100-word author bio with 2 (two) links as a Word doc attachment to: [email protected] Please include the Anthology Title, Story Title, and Author name in your email subject line, with your document file name as: Author Name - Story Title. Via: Black Ink Fiction.

Submission Window: September 1st-30th, 2022 Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue Theme: Any genre, short story Changing the world, one story at a time Mission = Revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful. Payout = Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Wait, you mean if this substack gets thousands of subscribers, the winner would get thousands of dollars? Yes! The New Yorker pays roughly $7,500 per story and I sincerely hope to go way past that. What does the timeline look like? Submit stories by the end of the month, winner to be announced on the 15th. There is ONE story that wins and receives the full payout. Where do I send submissions? [email protected] What are the rules for submitting? 1. No Fees 2. Send in Microsoft Word or Google Doc form 3. Any genre 4. 6- 10,000 words. Yes, just 6 words, like Hemingway's famous 6-word story "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn." 5. Reprints are ok so long as you still have the rights to distribute. 6. Acknowledge Distribution Rights on this Substack - You can still sell your story elsewhere but we need to be able to save and publish it here. The goal is to create a library for subscribers. 7. Only the winner will be published and rights will only transfer for the winning story. What do I get for subscribing? One beautiful story every month. The complete library. The joy of supporting artists and doing something interesting. Anything Else? Yes! Analytics will be published monthly in terms of subscribers, the number of submissions, and anything else that might be relevant. Via: Substack.

Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: Between A$20 and A$60 per 1000 words, but assume the lower rate for unsolicited submissions Theme: All types of science fiction, fantasy and horror that are of a “speculative” nature Note: This portion of Aurealis Magazine's open window is just for Australian and New Zealand writers Fiction guidelines Aurealis is looking for science fiction, fantasy or horror short stories between 2000 and 8000 words. All types of science fiction, fantasy and horror that are of a “speculative” nature will be considered, but we do not want stories that are derivative in nature, particularly those based on TV series. We do not publish horror without a supernatural element. Although we are an Australian-based publication, we are open to submissions in English from anywhere in the multiverse during specific reading periods. Stories containing an unacceptable number of spelling mistakes and typos, and those that do not conform to our guidelines in other ways, will be rejected automatically. This may seem harsh, but we are being honest about it. Please take the time to polish your work in every way before you send it to us. Aurealis pays between A$20 and A$60 per 1000 words, but assume the lower rate for unsolicited submissions.  Payment is made soon after the publication of the issue containing your story. Minimum payment is A$20. You will also receive a free electronic copy of the issue containing your story. We buy First Electronic Publication Rights and the non-exclusive rights to include the story in a print and digital anthology. All other rights remain with the contributor. The story must not be published elsewhere for a period of twelve months after it appears in electronic form in Aurealis.  Aurealis does not publish reprints. We don’t publish poetry or novel extracts. We don’t serialise longer works. Our response time for subscribers...

Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: $5 Theme: Stories for a podcast that must have some elements of sci-fi/fantasy/magical realism About Tales From The Radiator is an anthology style speculative fiction podcast that strives to feature new writers and actors. What to submit We’ll take stories up to 2000 words. They must have some elements of sci-fi/fantasy/magical realism, but other than that, we have no restriction for you. Go nuts! Simultaneous/multiple submissions are okay, but please notify us immediately if the story was accepted elsewhere. We’re not picky about format, but please use Times New Roman 12 pt. font double spaced, as it’s easiest to read. Keep in mind this is a podcast, so we’re looking for stories that lend themselves well to audio and will give the voice actor a lot to work with. We read submissions anonymously, so please avoid putting any identifying information on the manuscript. This is only to prevent potential bias in our readers; if your story is selected, it will be published under whatever name you choose. Who can submit Anyone! Though we give priority to previously unpublished authors. Where to submit Here! When to Submit We are open to submissions until September 30, or until we reach 100 submissions. Whichever comes first! We hope to get back to you within three months. If you don’t hear back from us by then, feel free to query. Payment As an indie company we can’t offer much, but we believe it’s better to get paid a little rather than nothing at all. So we offer a token payment of $5 per story. We hope to one day offer professional rates. Questions? Email [email protected]. Please so not submit stories to this address. What is Strong Branch Productions? Strong Branch Productions is a queer-led new media production company that practices anarchism in the arts. We make podcasts and games that champion...

Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: $0.08 a word Theme: Gothic romances that are equal parts horror and romance. Submissions Open: August 1st through September 30th  Title: TBD Gothic Romance  Type: Anthology of short stories Editors: Heather & S.D. Vassallo Theme: We're looking for gothic romances that are equal parts horror and romance. The short stories should be mysterious, atmospheric, and include a HEA (or happy for now). This is an open call with no slots reserved for invitation pieces. Women (including transgender and people otherwise marginalized because of their gender identity) and non-binary authors only. Must Haves:  - Horror and romance - Happily ever after or at least happy for now - Overwhelming sense of menace or dread - Atmosphere (weather) and/or place prominently add to the story - Traditionally spooky locations, such as old manor houses or decaying plantations aren't necessary, but the location should be spooky. - Actual supernatural horror, implied supernatural horror, or psychological horror - Haunted places/houses welcome - Sizzle: anywhere from closed door to super sizzle welcome (but the sizzle must drive the plot forward) - Time period: anytime in the past or present - Location: anywhere on Earth Won't Accept: - Racism - Anti-LGBTQIA+ - Rape - Incest - Extreme Horror (excessive gore, explicit sex just for gore/sex sake) - Reprints - Manuscripts that don't follow the guidelines Guidelines:  - Women (including transgender and people otherwise marginalized because of their gender identity) and non-binary authors only - Short Stories 2,000 to 6,000 words - First page should have your legal and author name, email address, word count, and title of story - Font 12 pt Garamond - Double Spaced - No headers, footers, or special formatting - DOC, DOCx, or RTF format - Up to 2 short stories per author (submit separately) - Simultaneous submissions acceptable, please let us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere Compensation: -...

Submission Window: September 1st-30th, 2022 Payment: 1.5¢ per word (one and one-half cent), with a $25 (U.S.) minimum and 2 contributor's copies Theme: horror and weird fiction Weird Horror has two reading periods each year - March and September. FICTION GUIDELINES OPENS: Sept. 1, 2022 CLOSES: Sept. 30, 2022 We are seeking first publication rights. Fiction must be in English, and previously unpublished in English anywhere, in any format, on any platform, including your blog, website, newsletter, Patreon, etc. Please do not query about reprints. We will consider works translated to English, as long as you are offering first English-language publication rights. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Please inform us if your story is accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions. Please send 1 story only per reading period. We are seeking horror and weird fiction from 500 to 6,000 words, firm. Stories over or under the word count will not be read. (Please respect our word counts.) We are not interested in extreme horror. We receive over 800 manuscripts each period, and accept less than 2% of submissions. Do not be discouraged by a form rejection. Payment is (U.S.) 1.5¢ per word (one and one-half cent), with a $25 (U.S.) minimum (paid via PayPal) for first worldwide English-language rights, for use in the print, eBook, and online edition. Contributors also receive 2 copies of the print edition. 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 NOTE - There is no need to provide a mailing address on your manuscript. Format the subject line of your e-mail thusly: Submission - Story Title - Author Name Do not respond to rejections, please, for any...

Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: AU$0.05c a word up to 5000 words Theme: Stories about a female-identifying Sherlock Holmes Note: Female-identifying writers An anthology about a female Sherlock Holmes, written by women What would the Great Detective be like if Sherlock was a woman? Clan Destine Press and commissioning editors Narrelle M Harris and Atlin Merrick, wonder just that, and seek stories about a female-identifying Sherlock Holmes – young or old, set in any time, place, or culture! Of course, wherever there is Holmes, Watson must follow – in this anthology Watson could be nonbinary, female- or male-identifying, queer or straight. Whatever suits your setting.  Who is Ms Sherlock Holmes in your story? Who is her Watson? Her clients? And what are the mysteries only she can solve? Submission Guidelines: Submissions requested from female-identifying writers. Sherlock must identify as a woman – all else is open to your interpretation. Her name must be Sherlock Holmes (or the local cultural equivalent). We encourage submissions from writers of diverse backgrounds. We'd love Holmesian-style adventure and mystery. No sexual or extreme violence. Payment and Deadline: Submission deadline: 30 September 2022. Payment is AU$0.05c a word for stories up to 5000 words; you may write a longer piece, but payment caps at 5000 words. Formatting: Send your story as a .doc or .docx attachment Use Times New Roman, 12 point, double-spaced Single quote marks on dialogue Paragraphs indented 0.5mm Left-aligned (not justified) Margins 2.5cm/one inch all around – left and right; top and bottom Questions: Email Clan Destine Press' commissioning editors, Narrelle M Harris and Atlin Merrick at: [email protected]. Via: Clan Destine Press.

Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: .08 per word Theme: Science fiction and fantasy stories where the androids, robots, and/or cyborgs have been naughty, going off programming, cracking their internal code, etc. Anthology: Crack in the Code: Cybernated Stories of Rebellion edited by Venessa Giunta and Nicole Givens Kurtz Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Publication Release Date: February 2023 Payment: .08 per word Since 2010, Mocha Memoirs Press’s mission is to amplify marginalized voices in the areas of speculative fiction (science fiction, horror, and fantasy). Crack in the Code will follow the steps of our previous published bestseller anthologies An Improbable Truth: The Paranormal Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire, and Avast, Ye Airships! What we are looking for: Science fiction and fantasy stories where the androids, robots, and/or cyborgs have been naughty, going off programming, cracking their internal code, etc. Give us dramatic stories, mischievous stories, stories that stun, but not offend us. This call is seeking unpublished short stories where the artificial lives become alive and share their stories. If you can take the story out of westernized culture, we’d love to see those, too! We want stories that speak of inclusivity. So, if your robot/cyborg/android is disabled or suffers from an ailment, send those stories too. LGBTQ+ stories are also encouraged. To point, we want stories from everyone. If you do not follow the guidelines, your submission will be deleted unread. Seriously, read the guidelines. Follow them. Upon results of a successful crowdfunding campaign, we will pay SFWA pro-rates of .08 per word for publication for First World Rights. Still interested? Here are the guidelines. • Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, we accept microfiction and flash, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology, meaning the protagonist...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2022 Payment: Drabbles and Flash - £5, Short Stories 1001 to 4000 words - £10, Short Stories 4001 to 8000 words - £15 Theme: Stories you’ve poured your soul into but haven’t been able to find the right home for. Note: Only publishes creators from under represented and/or marginalized communities. We’re looking for stories you’ve poured your soul into but haven’t been able to find the right home for. We’re looking for stories that make us feel something. Warmth, love, melancholy, rage. We want it all.  All genres, styles and themes will be considered and we especially love stories that are outside the box in their telling. Ambiguous endings? Non-linear storytelling? Antagonist’s point-of-view? A story told in just one scene? We love it all. WE ONLY PUBLISH CREATORS FROM UNDER REPRESENTED AND/OR MARGINALISED BACKGROUNDS AND/OR COMMUNITIES We don't ask for any proof, we take this on trust with the expectation that anyone not from a marginalised background or underrepresented community wouldn't take up the space of someone who is. We ask you to consider this before submitting. PLEASE NOTE: Due to our move to quarterly publication our next open submissions will be September for Issue 8 (Winter) and October for print anthology "Other & Different" Quarterly Online Anthology Submission Schedule: March 1st - 31st (Summer Issue) July 1st - 31st (Autumn Issue) September 1st - 30th (Winter Issue) December 1st - 31st (Spring Issue) ​ we do not have set issue themes but feel free to be inspired by the season, seasonal occasions and events ​ Print Anthology Submission Schedule: October 1st - 31st (April Publication) SUBMISSION GUIDELINES - ONLINE ONLY These are the guidelines for our Quarterly Online Anthology. For more information on print anthologies go to Print Anthologies How to submit: Please submit via the form at the bottom of this...

Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: 0.08CAD per word and a contributor's copy Theme: Storytellers who have experienced—or are experiencing—homelessness. IN SHORT What: A pro-rate anthology of short fiction pieces on the theme of “home” (500-3500 words) on the theme of HOME Who: Storytellers who have experienced—or are experiencing—homelessness. When: Submissions are open from July 1, 2022, to September 30, 2022. Publication is scheduled for fall of 2023. Where: While we will prioritize Canadian submissions, submissions are open to writers throughout the world. How: Scroll below to see our guidelines! ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY There’s No Place will be a collection where storytellers who are experiencing/have experienced homelessness can tell the tales that live inside them. The theme of the collection is, simply, HOME. This is not limited to physical spaces; home can be a person, an item, a memory, a sensation. The theme can be interpreted broadly, but home should be at the heart of your story. This collection will be limited to short stories—we are seeking fiction only. While lived experience will inform the stories told, our hope is to share tales of home imagined into being. ABOUT THE SUBMISSIONS WHO CAN SUBMIT Only people with lived experience of homelessness can submit. For this anthology, we are defining homelessness as: Unsheltered (you have lived in a place not designated for human habitation, outdoors, in public spaces, etc.) Emergency Sheltered (you have used an overnight shelter, a transitional shelter, a space for those impacted by violence, displacement, crisis, etc.) Provisionally Accommodated (you have couch-surfed, lived in temporary accommodations, lived in a foster or group home, etc.) This is not an exhaustive list. Homelessness takes different shapes. We also understand that people may have moved through multiple types of homelessness. If you are unsure if your experience meets the parameters of this call, please reach out...

Deadline: September 30th, 2022 Payment: $0.10 (ten cents) per word Theme: Original short stories up to 6,000 words that explore this idea of great terror growing from the LGBTQIA community’s great strides forward. Note: Stories must have a strong, central gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer focus/slant/theme Unspeakable Horror 3: Dark Rainbow Rising Edited by: Vince A. Liaguno When the pendulum of civil rights and social change initiatives swings toward progress, the LGBTQIA community often holds its collective breath in anticipation of the inevitable backlash when the pendulum swings back. Even with these gains, we are constantly looking over our shoulder—waiting for the next shoe to drop, for the next attack on our personhood. The community’s enemies see progress as a perceived danger to their own heteronormative bubbles—and any advancement threatens to burst those fragile bubbles. Even as we hoist the rainbow flag in celebration, a dark rainbow rises on the horizon… For this third volume of the award-winning Unspeakable Horror series, we are seeking original short stories up to 6,000 words that explore this idea of great terror growing from the LGBTQIA community’s great strides forward. We want your terrifying interpretations and extensions of this theme—not a literal reading. Questions to explore: Does the unspeakable horror manifest in a subtle, growing sense of unease that our enemies must surely be plotting to thwart our efforts—or does it present in outward paranoia? Do we settle into a false sense of security and not see the unspeakable terror that rises behind us? Do we turn on each other now that our external enemies are (seemingly) defeated? Do we leave part of our community behind in some misguided act of self-preservation? Stories can be set in any time period, as long as the narrative includes some historical LGBTQ+ civil rights/social movement/moment as a direct or indirect...

Deadline: October 1st, 2022 Payment: Royalties Theme: Reasons to count your lucky stars! Title: Lucky Stars Opens: July 1st, 2022 Submission Deadline: October 1st, 2022, 11:59 EST or Until Full Theme: Life can be full of ups and downs for the folks of Bones Hollow, but it’s always good to give thanks. When the spells go just right, when the blood is hot, when the night is clear and the moon is full, there’s a lot to be thankful for. And when you’re in love, even more so. Thanksgiving is a time for reflecting on the things that make you grateful, whether it’s a long-lasting relationship, an opportunity for new love, a harmonious house or the chaos of creation. Life, love and magic are all gifts. What do the denizens of Bones Hollow have to be thankful for this year? A Bones Hollow anthology celebrates love for all kinds, shapes, sizes, and orientations based in the fictional Vermont town where the supernatural and Hallmark collide. Heat Level: G; Sweet Word Count: 2,000-8,000 words, excluding title Author Eligibility: Open to all Reprints: Not allowed Simultaneous Submissions: Not allowed Multiple Submissions: Maximum of 2 (two) allowed Publication: Expected to release Thanksgiving 2022 Author Compensation: One digital copy; royalty split among authors How to Submit: See www.ParamourInk.com for further information Send your story and up to a 100-word author bio with 2 (two) links as a Word doc attachment to: [email protected] Please include the Anthology Title, Story Title, and Author name in your email subject line, with your document file name as: Author Name - Story Title. Via: Black Ink Fiction.

Deadline: October 1st, 2022 Payment: $100 Theme: Literary fiction, personal essays, or Well-written genre-writing, especially mysteries, sci-fi and westerns. Submission Guidelines: We are happy to publish work that celebrates the joy of reading and writing across different reading preferences. The marketplace can divide us based on our reading tastes, but riddlebird can strive to make a space for more diversity (of interest, of authorship, of meaning).  Please carefully read what we are looking for below, and follow the submission guidelines. We are interested in three categories. Literary Fiction — Our favorite writers include authors like George Saunders, Souvankham Thammavongsa, and E.C. Osondu. Personal Essays — We like a memoirist’s essay that has achieved some distance and allows us to share a newfound insight. Think of Vivian Gornick’s idea of “the situation and the story.” Literary Genre Fiction — Our mission is to include a place for well-written genre-writing, especially mysteries, sci-fi and westerns. To take westerns as an example, think of Charles Portis. Riddlebird is not interested in publishing work that is demeaning. Racist, homophobic, or xenophobic prose will be promptly rejected. We will publish 6 pieces online twice a year (Jan and July) and compensate authors $100. We publish a hardcopy of all pieces once a year. We will select 6 pieces a year to submit on your behalf to the Pushcart Prize. We do accept simultaneous submissions; please inform us if (happily!) your work is accepted somewhere else. Information will be posted shortly to submit on Duotrope. Please include your name, including contact information, and your title. Include a very brief cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Include a short bio in third person, and do not send previously published work. Our goal is to celebrate your work. Please follow us on Twitter and Instagram @riddlebirdmag. We...

Deadline: October 1st, 2022 Payment: US: $40 + author copy/non-US: $45 Theme: Dark fiction that invoke the nefarious spirit of the dark wizard Quill & Crow Publishing House is pleased to open submissions for another surprise anthology for 2022, Rituals & Grimoires: Gothic Tales of Dark Magic & Wizardry. For this collection, we are looking for short stories (5,000 - 8,000 words) of dark fiction that invoke the nefarious spirit of the dark wizard. We'd love to see diverse characters, male witches, and stories that turn tired tropes right on their heads. Give us haunted corridors, wayward spellcasters, and secret societies. Give us tales that explore the mortal grays in witchcraft. ​ Also, we are well aware of a certain YA book series that this theme may bring to mind. As a proudly inclusive publishing house that fully supports the trans community, we understand if this anthology brings to mind the betrayal many of us experienced with a childhood favorite. Part of our mission is to preserve the quality of independent literature/storytelling, but it's also to take back things often ruined by bigotries and act as a voice for those who have been oppressed. We'd be honored if you'd help us take back these themes and make them into something better.  Notes: We will be open to explorations of dark academia, but this is an adult fiction anthology. If you do choose to write a dark fiction story with dark academia vibes, please keep the prose and themes mature.  ​ ​ Things we are looking for:  dark fiction dark magical fantasy magical horror historical horror dark themes Gothic elements literary horror fantasy/horror blends dark academia (see above) Things we ARE NOT looking for: ​​ young adult stories extreme horror/extreme erotica  rape/child abuse sci-fi  overtly modern stories ​​ Submission Requirements  Please note: Submissions that...

Deadline: October 1st, 2022 Payment: $5 Theme: Poetry: liminal; K-mart realism; post-apocalypse; anti-authoritarian Words are dangerous. So are blank spaces. This zine is arbitrary, without clear function, and prone to injury. Welcome to the secret lair of poets, anarchists, spelunkers, and scofflaws. You are welcome to leave at any time. General strategy: Poetry, anti-poetry, or sub-poetry. Very short stories; memories; surrealism. Also: photos of abandoned lots and/or junkyards. Organizing principle: Collectivist Decision-making protocol: Consensus and/or sporadic bursts of wild individualism Mascots: The badger, the marmot, the petrel ​ Editor: Justin Bendell. Justin is a writer, podcast host, musician & professor. He was a founder/editor of Manzano Mountain Review. (justinbendell.com) Submit poems (less than 20 lines) or prose (less than 300 words) to [email protected] ​ Initial Submission Deadline: October 1 Melt our faces off. Evocate. Seduce. Catch us off guard with your authenticity or compelling artifice. General strategy: Poetry, anti-poetry, or sub-poetry. Very short stories; memories; surrealism. Jargon: liminal; K-mart realism; post-apocalypse; anti-authoritarian I will pay you $5 on paypal if I publish your work.  It will be published online & also in a zine that I will poorly & hastily distribute in greater Albuquerque, NM   Via:

Deadline: October 1st, 2022 Payment: One cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum) Theme: Fantastic Fiction You really NEED to read the description below. The Cafe Irreal is a quarterly webzine that presents a kind of fantastic fiction infrequently published in English. This fiction, which we would describe as irreal, resembles the work of writers such as Franz Kafka, Kobo Abe, Clarice Lispector and Jorge Luis Borges. As a type of fiction it rejects the tendency to portray people and places realistically and the need for a full resolution to the story; instead, it shows us a reality constantly being undermined. Therefore, we're interested in stories by writers who write about what they don't know, take us places we couldn't possibly go, and don't try to make us care about the characters. We would also suggest you take a look at the current issue, archives, and theory (especially the essay, "What is irrealism?") pages on this web site. We accept unsolicited fiction up to 2,000 words in length. Translations are welcome. There is no minimum length. We accept only electronic submissions via e-mail at [email protected]. We cannot, due to the various computer viruses and worms, accept attachments anymore, so please paste your story into the body of the e-mail. Also include your name, address, e-mail address, and a short bio in the text of the submission; please put the word "submission" in the subject heading of the e-mail to ensure that your submission doesn't get lost among all the spam. We pay an honorarium of one cent U.S. per word ($2 minimum) to buy first-time internet rights (the story will then be archived). Payment is made upon publication. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DON'T ACCEPT SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS and are only interested in reprints in unusual cases (e.g., the story has appeared in print but...

Submission Window: August 1st, 2022 — October 1st, 2022 Payment: 3 cents per word + 1 paperback contributor copy Theme: Water, Extreme Horror, Splatterpunk, Dark Humor Title: DEAD & BLOATED - Extreme Horror Anthology Editor: K. Trap Jones Theme: Water, Extreme Horror, Splatterpunk, Dark Humor Formats: Paperback, ebook Short story MAX 3,000 WORD COUNT No reprints No simultaneous subs No multiple subs Nothing involving children and I’m not a fan of heavy religious or political plots. Manuscript: 12pt font, double-spaced and as .DOC or .DOCX Send as Attachment, not in body of email PAYMENT: 3 cents per word + 1 paperback contributor copy with ability to purchase more at wholesale cost + shipping RIGHTS: 1 year Exclusive English rights Send stories to [email protected] with subject line: BLOATED SUB: (story title) by (author name) SUBMISSION PERIOD: August 1, 2022 — October 1, 2022 Responses usually within a month, but could be longer depending on size of sub pile. Publish Date: Q1 2023 Anything sent before or after submission period will be ripped to shreds and flushed down the toilet. NOTE: BE CREATIVE! Don’t just write about someone drowning.  Via: The Evil Cookie.

Deadline: October 2nd, 2022 Payment: Non-fiction pays $0.08/word. Creative works earn $0.04/word, with short stories capped at $75. Comics pay $30/page, capped at $150.   Theme: Submit co-authored stories in any genre. Submit co-authored stories in any genre. Also looking for non-fiction commentary and experiences with co-created projects. Co-authoring is rising in popularity, both as a way to satiate the ravenous demand of readers more quickly, and to leverage team imaginative advantages. We're curious about the pros and cons of this strategy. Naturally, we also host a Devil's Advocate column to whoever provides the best cautionary advice regarding cooperative labor. Short stories: 500 - 2,800 words Non-fiction articles: 200 - 1,200 words Graphic-style stories and comics are especially welcome! (Limit = 8 pages. Please submit in color) Rough storyboard pitches welcome -- due April 7th. Terms & Process Mythulu eMagazine pays an average of $0.06/word or $15/page. Non-fiction pays 0.08/word. Creative works earn 0.04/word, with short stories capped at $75. Comics pay $30/page, capped at $150. We edit aggressively to create a dense, entertaining, high-quality publication. Non-fiction articles, especially, receive heavy edits. We may cut, rearrange, paraphrase, or even recommend additional content to maximize article quality, then send it back for your approval. We don't guarantee that an article we edit with you will be published. Author earnings listed above are based on final published word count, not your initial submission. Preview full terms here: www.mythulu.com/emag-terms Thank you for contributing! Laura Crenshaw Creator of Mythulu Terms of Publication Mythulu eMagazine pays an average of $0.06/word or $15/page. Non-fiction pays $0.08/word. Creative works earn $0.04/word, with short stories capped at $75. We strongly encourage contributors to boost their earnings through our contributor-exclusive affiliate program. We edit aggressively to create a dense, entertaining, high-quality publication. Non-fiction articles, especially, receive heavy edits. We may cut, rearrange,...

Deadline: October 2nd, 2022 Payment: 6 cents a word and one contributor copy Theme: Harc sci-fi and speculative fictoin SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN READING FOR ISSUE #16 UNTIL OCTOBER 2ND Planet Scumm accepts submissions from writers across the world. (Our HQ is a roving meteor-sized space station—Earth’s borders mean nothing to us. We want to hear from writers of every race, nationality, and gender identity. WHAT TO SUBMIT Hard sci-fi, soft sci-fi, sci-fi that melts in your mouth-brain not your hand-brain Speculative fiction, weird fiction, slipstream Basically anything that pleases Scummy, our megaphone-toting slime buddy, will be considered for entry to the interstellar archive aboard Scummy’s saucer HOW TO SUBMIT Include submissions as a .doc or .docx attachment to [email protected] along with a brief cover letter in the email body. Please attach only your story (no images, do not put your story in the body text of the email). Stories, or collections of flash fiction, should be no more than 5,000 words in length, and submitted in standard manuscript format. Submit only one previously unpublished short story or flash collection. We do not accept multiple submissions from the same author in one reading period. Simultaneous submissions are okay, as long as you promptly withdraw a story accepted elsewhere. SCHEDULE, RIGHTS, AND PAYMENT Accepted authors receive 6 cents a word and one contributor copy. Our publication operates in print, e-book, and audiobook. Some accepted stories will also be published on our website. We purchase exclusive English language print, audio, and electronic publishing rights for six months, with non-exclusive rights thereafter. Authors will receive payment within 3 months of signing their contract.   Via: Planet Scumm.

Submission Window: October 1st-2nd, 2022 Payment: 8 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints, For artwork: $10 for the non-exclusive right to use each image, for as long as the site is online.  If we publish a print collection we will pay a pro-rata share for each image used. 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 8¢ 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...