Events

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $5 Theme: Horror taking place in the suburbs Owning your own home is a dream come true for so many people. But.. What if your HOA just happens to be comprised of Satan's minions? What if your next door neighbor is batshit, tits-out loony tunes? What if the amazing house in that idyllic, leafy subdivision you just bought was actually built on an ancient Indian burial ground? All hell breaks loose. Literally. HellBound Books wants your most horrific stories of HOAs from Hell, horrific neighbors, terrifying properties, and everything else that goes along with the wonderfully human experience of owning your own home. 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 'SUBURBAN' 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to help you: DOWNLOAD YOUR HBB GUIDE TO GRAMMAR HERE (PDF) Deadline: 30 September 2024 NO REPRINTS - ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY Payment - $5.00 for first rights. Capped at 100K words in total. Via: Hellbound Books Publishing.

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $5 Theme: Tales of blood, gore, and sloppy bits - the bloodier and more viscera-strewn the better! It seems that HellBound readers just can't get enough of Splatterpunk! So, without further ado, here's our second outing in this fabulously grotesque sub-genre! Gross our editors out with tales of blood, gore, and sloppy bits - the bloodier and more viscera-strewn the better! PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines...  * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * Double spaced * 0.3" hard paragraph indents (NOT spacebar hits, please!) * Absolutely NO extra lines between paragraphs! * 2.5K-8K word count (although we are incredibly flexible for awesome stories!) * Write 'SPLATTERPUNK2' 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: 30 September 2024 Payment - $5.00 for first rights. Capped at 100K words in total. Via: Hellbound Books.

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $25 Theme: Very dark Christmas horror stories Inspired by a suggestion from legendary book reviewer, author and multi-term Short Mystery Fiction Society President Kevin R. Tipple, here’s the holiday anthology that’s definitely NOT going to fill you with Christmas cheer. It will, however, be sure to entertain the darker side of your imagination. Christmas time is a season full of stress. Cooking, decorations, trying to find the perfect gift for people you barely know. It’s enough to make anyone snap. Now, imagine you’re Santa Claus and you’ve got the entire world to take care of. Yeah, cookies and milk isn’t going to make that kind of pressure go down any easier. Add in reindeer, elves who slack and Mrs. Claus nagging that you never spend enough time with her during the holidays and it’s enough to make your Kris wanna Kringle, if you know what we mean. Welcome to Santa Rage: 12 Tales of Murder and Mayhem in which Santa Claus finally snaps and gets his just desserts…and we’re not talking gingerbread. This anthology is based on the idea that one night, while out making deliveries, Santa snaps thanks to the holiday stress and goes on a killing spree. Bonus points awarded for story elements involving meth or drug dealing, strippers, and the best dose of karma Santa ever dealt that did not involve coal. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 1. In case it isn’t readily obvious, we’re looking for dark, dark, dark fiction here. Violence welcome. Cursing welcome. This is NOT an anthology for kids. If you think you’ve gone over the top, you may not have gone far enough for our tastes. Look at the stuff Chuck Tingle gets away with and everyone loves him. 2. With the above being said, there are still some limits here. Absolutely no misogyny or violence against...

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $125 - $200 Theme: Weird tales set in the Victorian period that explore the human (and inhuman) experience through the lens of horror. LEVIATHAN: Submission Brief Sentinel Creatives has opened up for submissions for “LEVIATHAN: An Anthology of Industrial Horror.” Deadline for Submissions: 30 September 2024 Wordcount: 3,000 - 6,000 Remuneration: $125 - $200 Simultaneous Submissions: Yes WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR We’re looking for original weird tales set in the Victorian period that explore the human (and inhuman) experience through the lens of horror. Some clarifications: Victorian: There is a tendency to view the Victorian Age as beginning and ending with the reign of British monarch Queen Victoria (1837-1901), but this is so strict as to be crude. Rather, the period will be what is referred to as The Long Nineteenth Century (1789-1914), which begins with the French Revolution and ends just short of World War I. This expanded timeframe serves to foreground the transformations that took place within British society and brings those changes into stark relief. This period usually takes England as its geographical norm, and often a particular city: London. But for the purposes of this anthology, the region will also include Scotland, Ireland, Wales, as well as India and the furthest reaches of the British Empire. There is considerable scope here, and the period is rich in conflict and upheaval, which any excellent story cannot do without. Show us primitive science, at once enlightened and profane, the obscure craft of learned mutilators who frighten all, even the dead. Or the Resurrection men, who do their bidding by midnight, and fear more moonlight than the noose. Give us tales of strife and privation, loss and alienation; rural homesteads replaced by hypnotic topographies of stone and glass, cloaked in smog; of choking workhouses and tumbledown tenements. Show us who built this world, mixing mortar with bone,...

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: 40% royalties for both eBook and paperback. If a hardcover book is produced, authors will receive 35% royalties due to the higher cost of production Theme: Queer horror novels and novellas We love the fresh smell of dead things, so our submission window is currently open for 2025/206! Please carefully read below for specific guidelines, including what we‘re currently looking for. The submissions are so easy a brainless zombie could do it (between meals). What we need in the email The subject line: SURNAME—TITLE—SUBMISSION TYPE (e.g., novel, novella)—WORD COUNT In the body of your email: please let us know if this is an original submission or a resubmission. If you are resubmitting an updated manuscript, please indicate the revised sections to help us assess your manuscript ​​ What we need attached A synopsis approx. 300 words, detailing the key themes, plot, characters, and twists Your brief author bio, including any previous publications The first 30 pages of your manuscript ​ Submission email: [email protected]. ​ Formatting Manuscripts should be presented in TNR, size 12, justified, 1.5 line spacing, as a Microsoft Word document (.doc or.docx. Any other file type won’t be read). Please, for the love of all that is unholy, do not use tabs for new paragraphs. Any variant of English will be accepted. What we want We are a horror press. Any horror sub-genre is welcome, but the manuscript must have clear elements of horror. Preferred length: approx. 30K—100K. Manuscripts outside this are more than welcome, but we are more likely to consider manuscripts in the suggested length Preferred horror sub-genres: slashers, psychological, creature feature/monster (vampires, werewolves, demons etc.), YA, extreme, body, supernatural, cosmic, horrormance, gothic, grief. We don’t shy away from gore Forms: novels, novellas ​​ What we don’t want Fantasy* Poetry Screenplays Erotica Series Short story collections...

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $100 Theme: Horror shorts that revolve around technology Pay: $100 for accepted story.Rabid Otter, the horror imprint of Riverfolk Books, is putting together a collection of short stories.Hey everyone, my name is Zaq and I work as the creative director of Riverfolk Books, a progression fantasy indie publication. As much as I enjoy working for Riverfolk, my true love will always lie in horror, and after talking with my boss, he gave me the go ahead to put together a short story collection to get our foot in the door of horror publishing. Tentatively titled Error Code, I'm looking for horror shorts that revolve around technology. Whether that is something as simple as a killer app or something deeper like someone slowly replacing their body parts with cyborg parts, as long as it leans toward technology in any form, I'm interested. Think Black Mirror, but more horror.We're looking for shorts between 6,000 and 10,000 words with the payout being $100 if accepted. Also only asking for SIX months exclusivity after publication.Interested? Send your manuscripts to [email protected] Via: Riverfolk Books' Facebook.

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $10 and a contributors copy Theme: Uplifting Science Fiction Oddity Prodigy Productions is proud to announce we are open for submissions on our latest anthology: Bright Mirror!! This will be the first science fiction anthology from Oddity Prodigy Productions, following our horror and urban fantasy offerings. There is a planned Kickstarter to cover publishing costs. Publishing date and distribution is as yet undecided. The deadline for Submissions is September 30, 2024 WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR Have you ever looked up at the stars in the night sky and imagined what it would be like to visit them? Have you ever felt awe and wonder when you look forward to the future? We are looking for stories that capture that feeling of hope and excitement? So much of our science fiction is rooted in cynicism about what’s next, and we are looking for stories that deal in the opposite. We want to read stories of discovery and promise! Stories set in worlds filled with marvels and imagination. In short, we would love to read your best utopian science fiction story. Star Trek is the best example, but movies like the Fifth Element, Arrival, or Contact would also be examples of the kind of stories we’re going to collect for this anthology. WHAT WE WERE NOT LOOKING FOR We aren’t looking for dystopias, bleak futures, cyberpunk, nihilism, or darkness. Some sexual content is ok, but nothing too graphic or excessive. We will NOT consider stories that feature abuse or assault of a sexual nature. THE EDITORS Oddity Prodigy Productions is a creative team that shares duties on all projects. This anthology will be co-edited by the entire team. Submission Process: We are looking for stories between 2000 and 5000 words. Exceptions can be made but anything...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: 10 cents a word and a contributor's copy Theme: What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to be real? What does it mean to exist? What does it mean to be human? Once again, Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics will be re-evaluated and revised to help define humanity Written Backwards is not open to submissions at this time, but due to high interest and numerous inquiries about You, Human, Vol. 2 (to be released in 2025), we are announcing an early open call for submissions for the month of September, 2024. Do not send submissions yet (unless invited). The open call for submissions will begin September 1st and end September 30th later this year. YOU, HUMAN The first volume of You, Human (2016) won the Benjamin Franklin Award for science fiction and is the most successful and widely-read anthology published by Written Backwards. Josh Malerman’s story “The Jupiter Drop” was also nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction and is currently in development as a major motion picture. If you need to catch up, it is highly recommended to read the first volume of You, Human before submitting work for consideration. The second volume will again not only feature legends of the craft but showcase today’s emerging talent, and will be coedited by Michael Bailey and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki. The anthology is currently invite-only (with more announcements to be revealed soon), but submissions will open to the public in September. What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to be real? What does it mean to exist? What does it mean to be human? Once again, Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics will be re-evaluated and revised to help define humanity, this time by novelettes (7,500 – 15,000 words max). Three Laws of Humanity: A...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: 1 cent USD per word for previously published flash fiction and short stories with a $10 USD minimum Theme: Reprints of fantasy stories IMAGITOPIA is a new fantasy fiction podcast and digital magazine produced by Android Press and featuring narrated fantasy fiction plus other fun stuff like author and editor interviews, news and events, and nerd-outs on fantasy tropes and other related topics.  We currently accept submissions of previous published fantasy short stories for REPRINT ONLY to be narrated for the podcast. We'll also publish in print here on the webzine.  ​​ Our first submission window opens on September 1, 2023. For more information on when we're open and closed to submissions throughout the year, please see our Schedule. Submissions are only accepted through IMAGITOPIA's Moksha submission portal. Any submissions received via email or any other method will be deleted without review or response. Email accounts inevitable get tons of spam. So this policy helps make sure we don't lose your submission in the email shuffle. But if for some reason you're unable to submit via our Moksha portal, for example due to accessibility issues, please message us using the form at the bottom of this page, and we'll be happy to make alternative arrangements for your submission. *We're a womxn and trans run publication. We hope authors of all types and stripes will submit work, but we especially encourage BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, womxn, people living with disabilities, those living in the Global South, and authors from other marginalized populations. ​ WORD COUNT flash fiction: up to 1,500 words short stories: up to 5,000 words ​ PAY RATE We currently pay 1 cent USD per word for previously published flash fiction and short stories with a $10 USD minimum. ​ GENRES We accept submissions of fantasy and all its...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: 1¢ per word Theme: Speculative fiction that explores connection, family, relationships, comfort, and the natural world. Reading periods/When to send Submissions will be open as follows: March 1st–31st (closing at 10pm PST on the 31st), for a June release September 1st–30th (closing at 10pm PST on the 30th), for a December release What to send Hearth Stories publishes speculative fiction (fnatasy & science-fiction in our case) slice-of-life stories with a focus on connection, family, relationships, comfort, and the natural world (we love stories prominently featuring nature, as opposed to tech). We accept works from 1,000 words up to 10,000. However, the ideal length may be something in the 1,500-3,500 word range. We do not currently accept poetry, non-fiction, or non-speculative work (there needs to be a fantasy or science fiction element present in the work). Some things we like: Cozy, sweet, cute, kind, hopeful stories Caregiving, parenting, friendship, romance, and partnership stories Rural/pastoral life and less technologically advanced settings Works that take place in nature Stories involving food and cooking. However, we are vegan; stories that feature animal products may result in a pass on the story or a request for removal of the animal products Stories involving hermits, issolated places, or wandering in the woods Bonus points for stories backed by vegan, anarchist, eco-conscious, and anti-capitalist themes (while still fitting the above) You may notice that none of those things have anything to do with science fiction or fantasy. We would like speculative stories with the above themes and settings. We are very into slice of life stories, the ruralism of Richard Jefferies (ruralism in general, extending to so-called “cottagecore”), and stories in general that take place in wooded places. We like witches and magic, new world stories (usually terraformed planets), alien worlds, and the small...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue Theme: Any genre, short story 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. What if I can’t pay right now? That’s ok! If you publish a blurb about this site on your website, blog, or social media, I will send you one full story of your choosing. Best of all, it is...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: $0.03 per word Theme: Horror stories (and all sub-genres of horror) that include werewolves French Press Publishing is delighted to announce an open call for submissions to the STRANGE NEW MOONS anthology. If your short story is accepted, it will appear alongside the work of our invited authors, including such heavyweight timber alphas as Simon Clark, Mary SanGiovanni, Tim Lebbon, and Rebecca Rowland. We hope to hear from every writer ever born, so please share this announcement widely! Awoo! "No zombies, no vampires, and no werewolves."   If you haven’t seen a call for short stories ending with that sentence lately, then you probably haven't been looking very hard.  Trust us, it’s ubiquitous. Well, we here at French Press Publishing, ever the contrarians, say: fuck that. We want your werewolf stories.  Desperately.  Werewolves all day and all night.  Werewolves forever and ever, a million years, nothing but werewolves, super fuzzy bang bang. With one small caveat: Make ‘em different. Yeah.  It’s not that werewolfism is inherently a bad theme, it’s that it’s been done to death.  That’s the little torn cuticle driving most editors to decline anything having to do with our favorite loathsome lycanthropes.  So, give us something wild, strange, and new! The Strange New Rules: - Dates.  Please submit your manuscript between 12:01 am EST on September 1, 2024 and 11:59 pm EST on September 30, 2024. - Length.  Stories should be between roughly 2,000 and 5,000 words.  This rule will not be strictly enforced, but expect to be rejected if you ignore common sense. - Payment.  Accepted authors will receive $0.03 tasty, tasty dollar bills per word. - Formatting.  Please submit your manuscript as a .DOCX, .DOC, or .RTF file.  Please format all manuscripts in 12 pt Times New Roman font, double spaced, with standard industry headers, etc. When in doubt, follow William Shunn’s Modern Manuscript...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: £12 per story or the equivalent in copies of the book Theme: Halloween must be a central point of the story The Halloween anthology will go ahead, opening for submissions on September 1st and closing on September 30th. The Halloween Anthology Submissions open mid-August and close mid-September. Watch the blog section of this site for specific dates as these will vary. Stories must have a Halloween theme. It does not have to be scary, but Halloween must be a central point of the story. Payment. Currently we pay £12 per story or the equivalent in copies of the book. If you are outside the UK we recommend you take the money (PayPal preferred) because postage to countries outside the UK will eat into your pay. Seriously. Normally it’s two or three copies per story depending on the final size of the book but postage can cost you a book. You’d be better off getting the cash and buying copies from your local Amazon. Copyright, contracts and rights. Leg Iron Books pays you for the right to use your story in the Anthology and (from 2019) also include it in the omnibus edition at the end of the year. We do not buy out copyright. We do not, at any time, ‘own’ your story. We only buy the right to publish it. Copyright remains with the author at all times. Once the story is published in the relevant anthology you can resell and re-use it all you want. You do not have to wait for publication of the end-of-year omnibus edition. It would be nice if you mentioned, upon re-use of the story, that it was published in a Leg Iron Books Underdog Anthology but this is not a condition of publication, it...

Submission Window: September 1st - 30th, 2024 Payment: $0.08 CAD per word for fiction and $60 CAD flat per poem Theme: Speculative stories that feature long-term relationships Note: Looking for writers who live or used to live in Canada We're looking for short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. We don't want the blaze of new love or the obsession of a new friend. We want pieces that show that comfort that develops when people know each other for years. Give us deep space, dusty frontiers, or dreamy fantasy. We want stories and poetry with strong, confident relationships amid all the sci-fi/fantasy. While we are primarily looking for stories with happy endings (yeah, yeah), we also want endings that are earned. If things get a little teary or gory, that's ok. We are especially interested in stories featuring queer platonic relationships, ace/aro love stories, and polycules. Payment Payment is $0.08 CAD per word for short fiction (1,000-3,500 words) and $60 CAD flat per poem. We are purchasing first publication rights, to revert back to the author after one year. Canadian Writers Since Heartlines Spec is primarily a Canadian magazine, we're looking to feature writers identifying as being from Canada/Turtle Island. This includes expats, refugees and displaced people living in Canada, new immigrants, and people who refuse/resist Canadian Identity. Heartlines welcomes submissions from writers of all identities. If you are comfortable, we encourage writers to indicate their intersections in their cover letter. Disclosure is not a requirement to submit, and we recognize that not all people are safe to disclose their identities. We are committed to addressing barriers and systemic discrimination faced by equity-deserving groups, which includes (but is not limited to): Racialized people People with disabilities LGBTQIA+ people Indigenous people Women Neurodivergent people Our goal for each...

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: .01 to .02 per word + Royalty share Theme: Speculative fiction anthology with a bass beat of a hidden villain and a tale involving the criminal. Submission Period: July 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024 Theme: Hidden Villains: Criminals – A speculative fiction anthology with a bass beat of a hidden villain and a tale involving the criminal. You could be chasing them down, victimized by them, or be the criminal; however you want to include them. Criminals – lawbreaker, offender, delinquent, malefactor, culprit, wrongdoer, transgressor, felon, thief, robber, burglar, fraudster, swindler, racketeer, gunman, gangster, outlaw, bandit, crook, con, jailbird, malfeasant, miscreant There is no restriction as to how you incorporate the theme into your story as long as the genre falls within Speculative Fiction, including Sci-Fi or Fantasy. We encourage you to weave the theme into an engaging story with well-developed characters and deep emotion. Suspense and thrillers are encouraged over horror for this anthology, but a great horror story will rise to the top. Stories that contain infanticide, rape, or gratuitous gore will not be accepted. Submission Period: July 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024 Submissions: No AI, 1 per author; no reprints, no simultaneous submissions; Submission Cost: Free Word Limit: 2,000 to 7,000 words Submission Guidelines: Anonymous submission with no author name in document; 12 pt Times or Arial; .Doc or .Docx; double-space; first line indent; no tabs used. Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi Anticipated Pay: .01 to .02 per word + Royalty share Each story will receive a share, as will the publisher, from the sales on the D2D platform. This does not include: Kickstarter funds unless detailed in the Stretch goals; wholesales to authors; or retail sales through non-D2D retail outlets. Links to D2D outlets will be available for you to provide...

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $5 Theme: Horror, Dark fantasy, and related genres Note: Writers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or British Columbia. HamLit recognizes a level of deep dark that calls to certain readers and writers. To honor that fertile space, we’re jazzed to spotlight a dialed in realm of twisty, grim, fleshy grit for our versatile and challenge-ready PNW community! Enter After Dark, our first annual special issue featuring: Dark Fantasy Dark Lit/Poetry Weird/Bizarro All Smut/Erotica (yep, pOrn) All Horror Plus, whatever other creepy crawly bits you can concoct! Never walked on the dark side? Stay tuned for forthcoming dank and dangerous prompts to break your writing mold This bi-annual local publication signals the changing seasons. Each themed issue will be available exclusively on our website. We plan to publish ten pieces per issue, though this may vary based on submission quality and quantity. Who We Seek Artists 18 years or older and a current resident of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or British Columbia. Any and all identities. Every human-experience is welcome at HamLit. We are LGBTQIA+ inclusive. With HamLit you retain the right to feel safe and be seen. What We Seek High-caliber, unpublished short fiction and poetry Evocative exploration of issue theme Original genre fiction (fantasy, spec, mystery, horror, etc.) is welcome; fan fiction and novel excerpts are (unfortunately) not 5000 word maximum, per fiction submission; 2 page maximum, per poem If your submission(s) include(s) descriptions of rape, incest, self-mutilation, and/or ideations of suicide or other-harm please include a content warning. Graphic descriptions of child- and/or animal-harm will not be published. Two submission limit. Preferred formats: .doc or .docx. The Fine Print HamLit requires no general submission fee, though we do welcome donations. For published works, we offer honorariums of $5. Upon publication, you grant us First North American Serial Rights, Archival...

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Prizes: First prize is 3 cents per word, second prize is 3 cent per word, and third place is 1 cent per word. Theme: Horrific Folklore Since author Derek Thomas won last month’s contest, he’s hosting this month’s theme: “I have long been fascinated with stories of spooky legends that have been passed through generations. Tales like Baba Lenka, La Llorona, The Headless Horseman and the Kraken send shivers up my spine. So September's theme is folklore. Give us your best stories featuring witches, curses, and creatures from the past.” Before we get to the submission guidelines, please know that only the top 15 to 20 stories will be posted on our Patreon page for our patrons to vote on. The winner will receive $0.03 per word, publication in an upcoming Hotel Macabre anthology, and an Author Spotlight on our newsletter and Patreon page. The second-place winner will receive $0.02 a word, and the third place winner $0.01 per word. The winner will also have the option of hosting the following month’s contest for an additional $50.   Submission guidelines: -Max 1,500 words -Submit your entry in the body of an email to [email protected] (no attachments) -The email subject line should be the story’s title and your author name / pseudonym -The deadline is midnight at the end of September, wherever in the world you may reside. -No multiple submissions (only your best story) -Reprints are allowed if they naturally fit the theme. -Put your bio below your story (max 500 words).   Please take note… You do not need to be a Crystal Lake Patreon patron to enter. This is a contest and only the top three placing stories receive payment. If you’re chosen as a finalist, our $5-a-month and higher tier patrons will read all the entries,...

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Prizes: $100 for the winner, $25 for the three runner-ups Theme: Horror Drabbles It’s coming…and there’s nowhere to hide. Not that you’d want to, with a $100 prize on the line. Story Street Writers is proud to announce our first annual Hundred Word Horror fiction contest. The winner will be announced on October 31, naturally, and will pick up a $100 prize and publication in the Story Street Review online. The three runners-up will also be published, each receiving a $25 prize. The contest is open for entries from September 15 through September 30, 2024 (EST). So, you should still have plenty of time for NaNoWriMo prep while we read through all your wonderful story entries. You can add your entry on the Submissions Page. (See the complete list of contest details below.) Make sure to sign up for our Newsletter to keep tabs on contest updates and notifications of future contests! If you have any questions, please feel free to email [email protected] Submission Dates: September 15 – 30, 2024 (EST time zone) Winner Announced: Midnight, October 31, 2024 (EST) 1st Prize: $100 and publication Runners up (3): $25 and publication Word Count: 100 words maximum (no exceptions) (Title does not count) Limit 1 submission per person Contest open to first 1000 submissions only Must be 18 or over No purchase necessary We do not sell your information Only previously unpublished work will be considered Stories must be original NO A.I. generated stories, nor any story where A.I. was used in its making. Will result in automatic ban and you will forever bear the shame. Stories remain property of the writer In the case of winner or runners up, the only rights you grant are first publication for the results of the contest Family members of Story Street writers are not eligible Simultaneous submissions ok, but please...

Deadline: September 30th, 2024 Payment: $20 and a contributors copy Theme: Horror and weird fiction, as well as sci-fi and dark fantasy. Ideally hybrid works Broken Antler is a literary magazine and publisher of work that is dark, speculative, experimental, unsettling, and absurd. BAM Quarterly, Broken Antler’s online journal, publishes creative work four times a year (during the months of October, January, April, and July). Submissions for Issue Three open February 29 and close March 31. The Marrow, Broken Antler’s blog and home of our LGBTQIA+ creator series, is currently accepting pitches for interviews, reviews, and essays, as well as creative submissions of micro fiction, poetry, and art. And Broken Antler Magazine is our annual print publication, featuring creative and critical work from emerging and established writers, artists, creators, and individuals working within the horror space. What We Publish Broken Antler publishes horror and weird fiction, as well as sci-fi and dark fantasy. The editors are partial to a wide range of subgenres—body, cosmic, folk, gore, etc. (and our EIC likes any writing that screws with her sleep schedule). If your work fits into the horror genre, or is some version of fucked-up, send it our way. For poetry, creative nonfiction, and hybrid submissions, we’re looking for work that is haunting and monstrous, strange and bizarre. Extra points if your work is experimental or doing something unusual with form. Do NOT send us work featuring gratuitous sexual assault, violence against women and/or marginalized groups, or hate speech. Broken Antler is 100% run by women, several members of our editorial staff identify as LGBTQIA+, and we are committed to uplifting these and other previously silenced voices. NOTE: Submitted work should be previously unpublished, and we do NOT accept AI-generated content. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please let us know if your...

Deadline: October 1st, 2024 Payment: $50 and royalties Theme: Original, previously unpublished, science fiction stories that are, first and foremost, drag Science Fiction Is a Drag! is a drag anthology. We’re looking for original, previously unpublished, science fiction stories that are, first and foremost, drag.  This is an anthology where those of us in the drag community can gather and tell the stories that we’d never be able to publish anywhere else.  Stories up to 10,000 words will be considered. Publication date is sometime in 2025. Submission Deadline: October 1, 2024 What we don’t want: • Stories by straight people who think drag performers are cute, funny, scary, etc. and have no real connection to the drag community or drag rhetoric. (We, of course, are cute, funny, scary, etc., but there’s an ineffable deeper element that those of us who are drag get and others don’t.) • Stories by LGBT+ people who think drag performers are cute, funny, scary, etc. and have no real connection to the drag community or drag rhetoric. (Or, if you think of people who do drag as “them” and not “us,” I’d prefer if you let “us” have a room of our own.) • Stories by members of the drag community that were written for the straights and have nothing drag about them at all.  You may certainly send us your drag stories that were written for the straights or your stories that are written for us in the drag community.  But they must be drag stories not just by someone who does drag. • Look, I don’t have the money to take on Disney, Paramount, Warner, the Frank Herbert estate. If it’s set in someone else’s intellectual property, I can’t use it.  The day I have the money to get the proper permissions to do Star Wars Episode 69:...

Deadline: October 1st, 2024 Payment: $750 and 5 contributors copies Theme: Novellas to be released as a collection about lesbian-themed folk magic stories A collection of lesbian-themed folk magic and witchcraft tentatively titled Witchcraft in Your Lips. For this book we're seeking 3-4 novellas. Submissions should be between 20-30 thousand words in length. We are not interested in erotica or young adult stories for this book. Same-sex relationships should be presented as positive, as usage of folk magic. By this, we mean no self-loathing lesbians or witches (they can face external prejudices, of course). Submissions should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line WIYL Submission. Because we are a small press, our response time is quite slow; please do not query us about your submission until October, when we  will close for submission. Payment for each story will be 750 dollars and five copies of the print edition. Via: Lethe Press.

Deadline: October 1st, 2024 Payment: Contributor's Copy Theme: The author must do a tarot reading and the results of that must affect the writing, in any genre, in some way The Light from Albemuth is a print and electronic anthology that utilizes a tool of divination in a unique way: before sitting down to write a submission, be it story, poem or essay, the author is to do a tarot reading, with the intention that it affects the writing in some way, and then write. Any genre is acceptable, but nothing NC-17, please. Tarot and/or divination do not need to factor into the work itself when it comes to content. Accompanying the piece should be a short ‘about the author’ blurb, and an explanation of the reading that was done before the author wrote the piece – and how they interpret it. This will be included in the anthology as well, so that as a whole, the book will be two things. First, a collection of short stories, poetry and essays. Second, a peek into how and whether Tarot can guide creativity. Length: Prose of 1,000 – 7,000 words Poetry not more than 25 lines Compensation: One contributor’s copy. Copyright will be retained by author of work, and once a year from publication has passed, they can have it reprinted anywhere they desire. Publisher only gets first print and first digital publication rights in English, and can only include it in this specific anthology. Send submissions in .docx format to: [email protected] Submissions are open now (July 7, 2024) and will close October 1, 2024, with an expected live date of December 31, 2024. Via: The Light from Albemuth Substack.

Submission Window: October 1st - 2nd, 2024 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 The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T. 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 – 8¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles. For new poetry, we pay $1 per line, and for reprints we pay 50¢ a line  We’re looking for poems up to 40 lines. We’ll consider longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 8¢ per word. We sponsor 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 aboutThe 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, from a minimum of 1000 words on up.   All else being equal, shorter pieces will be favored, and we have yet to find a story over about 9-10,000 words we...

Deadline: October 4th, 2024 Payment: Contributors Copy Theme: Circus-themed horror So you thought you might like to go to the show... ​ The Dionysian Public Library is now OPEN for submissions for our second annual horror anthology, Spectacular, Spectacular!: An Anthology of Circensian Horror, a collection of circus-themed tales of terror.  Contortionists and clowns, ringmasters and roaring beasts, fortune tellers and flying trapezes... Let your imagination run wild and your nightmares take to the stage. The theme may be interpreted however you wish, and if you're not quite sure if it fits, give it a try anyway; we love to be surprised. There is no limit on content or hard word limit, but somewhere around 8,000 words is a good ballpark for the maximum—that said, if you have something a bit longer, feel free to shoot it our way and we'll be happy to take a look. We are also open to poetry, black and white visual art, and nonfiction writing on the theme. ​​ This anthology will be edited by  v.f. thompson. At this point, we are only able to offer contributor's copies as compensation, but hope to be able to change that with ancillary fundraising as the project progresses. Submissions are open now through October 4th, for release on October 31st, 2024. General Submission Guidelines Prose, poetry, and other written work should be submitted as either a .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. Prose should be formatted in something approaching Shunn Manuscript Format, though deviations from this format will not disqualify you. After all, who are we to tell you what to do with your work. We have no guidelines or restrictions on content, and in fact hope to see your most challenging work, should you trust us with it. Other than that, we're pretty loosey-goosey with what we're hoping to see. ​ Please...

Deadline: October 5th, 2024 Payment: Royalties Theme: Cowboys... In Space! Space Cowboys 6 This anthology series hit a nerve with the reading public. Something about the rugged individualism of the cowboy strikes a chord in us all. A certain romanticism exists in the feeling that cowboys inhabit a simpler world; one that’s clearer, brighter and makes more sense than our day to day existence. Cowboys have a certain reckless reputation and that doesn’t fade away when you move them into space and onto alien worlds. Men and women who face hardships and rope a living out of an unforgiving landscape without waiting for orders from a distant authority. They do what needs to be done and take care of their animals, their people, and themselves. Opens: 8/4/24 Closes: 10/5/24 Contracts: 10/26/24 Publication: 11/22/24 5,000 to 8,000 words. Length and genre are negotiable, as long as the story fits the concept, and is entertaining. Any submission must be in Times New Roman (preferred, but you can use Georgian or other readable font), 12PT, double spaced, with your name, title of the story, and your email on it. Name the file as -—. Send it in a .docx format as an attachment—no links. Refer to the submission guideline graphic below for how to format your story—It has all the information you need! Feel free to download it for reference. Raconteur Press will hold the rights for one year after publication, after one year the rights will revert to the author, but we continue to pay you as long as the anthology is selling. Authors receive an equal percentage share of the proceeds from the anthology, along with the Press, our editors, and administration. Yes, you read that right. We don’t take 80% off the top and split the 20% left over between all...

Deadline: October 7th, 2024 Payment: 6 cents per word Theme: Speculative fiction stories where Love Goes Awry Love is in the air…or is it? Sometimes Cupid’s arrow finds the wrong target, or the right target at the wrong time. Those stupid Cupids can sure make a mess of things! Freefall into a world where love, magic, and wonder can devolve into chaos and confusion. Confounding Cupids: When Love Goes Awry is your chance to take aim at your favorite romance tropes and have a fantastical time. Look past Cupid’s bow, and show us the beautiful chaos of love. Confound your Cupids with unexpected results, hilarious mistakes, and terrifying consequences. This is the sixth anthology put together by the Publishing masters degree students at Western Colorado University, taught by bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson and award-winning editor Allyson Longueira, funded by Draft2Digital. Previous anthologies include Monsters, Movies, and Mayhem; Unmasked; Gilded Glass; Merciless Mermaids: Tails from the Deep; and the just-released Feisty Felines and Other Fantastical Familiars. See the examples at https://wordfirepress.com/collections/western-colorado-university-grad-program-in-creative-writing-anthologies Submission Guidelines for Confounding Cupids: When Love Goes Awry   CONFOUNDING CUPIDS When Love Goes Awry Submissions Open August 31–October 7   Love is in the air…or is it? Sometimes Cupid’s arrow finds the wrong target, or the right target at the wrong time. Those stupid Cupids can sure make a mess of things! Freefall into a world where love, magic, and wonder can devolve into chaos and confusion. Confounding Cupids: When Love Goes Awry is your chance to take aim at your favorite romance tropes and have a fantastical time. Romance can blossom in an ancient castle, at a local café, or on an interstellar generation ship. What happens when a love story suffers from hexes, alien technology, or missed connections? How do you file a complaint with Cupid? Who do you call when you're ghosted by a ghost? What if your spouse turns...

Deadline: October 13th, 2024 Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word Theme: Dark stories featuring monstrous manifestations of trauma and guilt, paranoia and persecution, anxiety, addiction, and crippling terror In the tradition of Poe’s ‘A Tell-tale Heart’ and Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, This Way Lies Madness (publishing September 2025) will bring together a twisted tangle of dark stories featuring monstrous manifestations of trauma and guilt, paranoia and persecution, anxiety, addiction, and crippling terror. In these pages, readers should expect to find madness in all its forms, without the tired stigmatising tropes. Instead, these tales of deep-rooted terror will draw on metaphor, symbolism, imagery, structural innovation, and close introspection to challenge stigma and promote understanding around mental illness, reflecting broader cultural, generational, and societal impacts with authenticity and insight. Think of horrific scenarios as metaphors for mental illness: trauma is the creature that drags its prey into its deep, dark lair; the hopelessness of depression is the person lost in a labyrinthine underworld, suicidal ideation is a person living in the belly of a great beast, addiction is the two-sided mirror, or the persecuted werewolf is the representation of a person’s struggle against the duality of bi-polar disorder. Writers are asked to be bold and inventive, to challenge convention, while being sensitive to the stigmatising constructs of mental illness in current society. Up to 10 stories will be selected from this submissions route, and we welcome fresh interpretations and perspectives from diverse voices. Each selected story will be accompanied by a c. 300-word introduction by the author on their reflections / personal experience that inspired the story. Once selected, authors will be contacted to supply this additional text. This Way Lies Madness will be curated by Lee Murray and Dave Jeffery, award-winning author-editors with lived experience of mental illness and advocacy.   Lee Murray is from Aotearoa-New Zealand and is a Shirley...

Submission Window: October 1st - 14th, 2024 Payment: Fiction: 1500-7500 words ($.08 per word, $100 minimum), Poetry: One poem of up to three pages ($40 per poem), Nonfiction: 1000-2000 words ($75 per essay or article), Cover Art: $100 for reprints, $200 for original unpublished, Interior Art: $50 for reprints, $100 for original unpublished Theme: Works that stir readers with themes of defiance, change, and achievement Submissions are currently closed. Our next and final submission windows for 2024 will be open from October 1-14, 2024. Our 2025 submission schedule will be released by the end of summer 2024. (Note: At the moment, our nonfiction department is always open for submissions. If the fiction, poetry, and art portals are closed and you submit those through the open nonfiction portal, your submission will be automatically rejected without being considered.) All submissions to Solarpunk Magazine are done via Moksha. Any submissions received via email will be deleted without a response. Please don’t email us to describe your story and ask if it’s something we’d be interested in before submitting. We appreciate the consideration, but its easier if you just submit the story through Moksha. In 2024, we are particularly looking for stories between 1,500 and 3,000 words. While our word limit remains 7,500, stories that fall between 1,500 and 3,000 will have a better chance of being selected for at least the first few submission periods in 2024. Please read the full submission guidelines on down below or on our Moksha page before submitting your work. All submission periods end at 11:59 pm PST on the 14th of their given month. 2024 Submission Window Schedule: January 1-14 April 1-14 July 1-14 October 1-14 2024 Issue Release Schedule: Issue #13 – January 10 Issue #14 – March 12 Issue #15 – May 14 (delayed to May 21) Issue #16 –...

Submission Window: October 1st-14th, 2024 Payment: Fiction: 1500-7500 words ($.08 per word, $100 minimum), Poetry: One poem of up to three pages ($40 per poem), Nonfiction: 1000-2000 words ($75 per essay or article), Cover Art: $100 for reprints, $200 for original unpublished, Interior Art: $50 for reprints, $100 for original unpublished Theme: Speculative fiction works that stir readers with themes of defiance, change, and achievement Submissions are currently closed. Our next and final submission windows for 2024 will be open from October 1-14, 2024. Our 2025 submission schedule will be released by the end of summer 2024. (Note: At the moment, our nonfiction department is always open for submissions. If the fiction, poetry, and art portals are closed and you submit those through the open nonfiction portal, your submission will be automatically rejected without being considered.) All submissions to Solarpunk Magazine are done via Moksha. Any submissions received via email will be deleted without a response. Please don’t email us to describe your story and ask if it’s something we’d be interested in before submitting. We appreciate the consideration, but its easier if you just submit the story through Moksha. In 2024, we are particularly looking for stories between 1,500 and 3,000 words. While our word limit remains 7,500, stories that fall between 1,500 and 3,000 will have a better chance of being selected for at least the first few submission periods in 2024. Please read the full submission guidelines on down below or on our Moksha page before submitting your work. All submission periods end at 11:59 pm PST on the 14th of their given month. 2024 Submission Window Schedule: January 1-14 April 1-14 July 1-14 October 1-14 2024 Issue Release Schedule: Issue #13 – January 10 Issue #14 – March 12 Issue #15 – May 14 (delayed to May 21) Issue #16 –...

Deadline: October 15th, 2024 Payment: $20 per story or artwork Theme: Electric Spec prefers science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. Fiction Submission Guidelinessubmissions at electricspec (dot) com Issues are published at the end of February, May, August, and November. We reserve the right to shift publication date slightly, as necessary. We have reading periods for each issue, though we never close to submissions. February closes January 15 May closes April 15 August closes July 15 November closes October 15 We do not consider stories or art created, or partially created, by A.I. We consider stories between 250 and 7000 words with speculative fiction elements. We prefer science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we're willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. We do not consider poetry, stories with over-the-top sex or violence, serials, novels, fan fiction, or non-fiction. We don't accept multiple submissions; in other words, only submit one story at a time and wait for a response before submitting another. We accept simultaneous submissions as long as you let us know up front and tell us as soon as it's accepted elsewhere. We do not publish reprints, including anything that has appeared on a website. We pay $20 for each story we publish. We buy first-printing world exclusive rights for four months. Payment will be made shortly after publication using PayPal. We encourage our authors to establish a PayPal account if they don't already have one. We prefer to read submissions in traditional manuscript format. This means indented paragraphs instead of left justification, and Courier or Times New Roman font in 12 pt, double-spaced. Also, please include the title, your name, address, and word length on the first page of your story. To submit your...

Submission Window: September 15th through October 15th, 2024 (Sept 15-21 is reserved for writers of color) Payment: 3 cents per word Theme: Speculative Fiction in the science fiction or fantasy variety We are open annually for submissions from March 15th through April 15th for our August issue, and from September 15th through October 15th for our February issue. The first week of submissions (March 15-21 and Sept 15-21) is reserved for writers of color. The remainder of the window will be for general submissions. If you’re a writer of color who submits during that first week and you hear back from us before the general window closes, you’re welcome to send a second submission during that time. We are not interested in machine-generated (AI/LLM) characters, plots, or text of any kind. Spellcheckers and grammar checkers that run off machine learning are absolutely fine by us (though we also don’t want you to let a machine strip out your natural writing voice in the name of someone else’s idealized grammar!) HOW TO SUBMIT SUBMIT YOUR STORIES HERE WHAT TO SUBMIT The short version: We pay $0.03 per word with a minimum of $20 in exchange for first world electronic rights in English. We ask for an exclusivity period of 3 months from date of publication. Maximum 5,000 words. Your story must contain speculative elements: that means science fiction or fantasy. We do not accept nonfiction. No simultaneous submissions. Only one submission per writer per open period. We aim to make our final decisions within a month and a half of the close of submissions (i.e. by May 31st for the spring period, and by November 30th for the fall period). You will often receive a response much sooner. If you haven’t heard from us by that time, please query at the above address. The long...

Deadline: October 15th, 2024 Payment: $25 Theme: Theme: Winter Horrorland Word Count: 1,500-3,000 Call Open: September 1-October 15, 2024 Publication: December 2024 Call: We’re looking for horror stories of all subgenres that take place in winter. Please note that we are not looking for holiday-themed horror stories.   Theme: Stories to Take To Your Grave: High Seas Edition Word Count: 2,000-5,000 Call Open: November 1-30, 2024 Publication: July 2025 Call: We’re looking for horror stories of all subgenres that take place on the high seas. Ports, ships, deserted islands–all are fair game! Undertaker Books is a royalty-paying, full-service publisher. This means we do not charge fees to the author at any time. We pay a royalty rate of 50% of distribution payouts. This can mean you will earn different rates for books sold through different outlets. Our contracts are for digital and print worldwide English rights. At this stage, we do not provide advance payments unless specified for anthology calls. SUBMISSIONS ARE TO BE SENT TO: [email protected] Modern Shunn Format is preferred. Please review this website if you are unsure how to proceed. Submit the first 20 pages of your manuscript as a single .doc(x) file attachment. If submitting for general consideration, please include a one page synopsis of the plot (including the ending) with working title, category or subgenre, and word count. In the body of your email, please include a cover letter containing: a short author bio,your legal name, pen name (if applicable), social media links, and website. WHAT WE WILL NOT ACCEPT No AI-generated content. If an author’s work is discovered to be generated by AI, the work will be rejected (or unpublished). View our AI Use Policy. No depictions of sexual assault against children. No animal abuse. No reprints or previously published works. No unfinished stories or rough drafts. Via: Undertaker Books.

Submission Window: September 22nd to October 22nd 2024 Payment: $50 upon publication Theme: Stories about how we seek out, discover, and grasp onto connection in all genres with a particular fondness for anything that moves beyond realism in form or content or spirit At Astrolabe, we’re looking for work about how we seek out, discover, and grasp onto connection. Into the woods. Across a line. Beneath the ocean. Along a seam. Into the branches of an alternate present or the crevasse of an alternate future. Across the rifts between one another. And then, once we find one other, the myths we make. We’re excited to see as many interpretations of this broad theme as there are stars in the night sky. We’re open to work of all genres, with a particular fondness for anything that moves beyond realism in form or content or spirit. Read about Astrolabe for details on our mission and what we’re doing with the Universe. The details We pay a $50 honorarium upon publication of one or more pieces from your submission. To help fund those payments, we alternate between free and paid submission periods throughout the year. Our free periods begin the day we publish new work—on the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox, and winter solstice—and stay open for a month. Here are the next free periods: September 22nd to October 22nd December 21st to Jan 21, 2025 Some additional details: We currently accept three types of work: fiction, creative nonfiction, and photography & art. See below for genre-specific instructions. We’re not a market for lineated poetry at the moment. We do accept simultaneous submissions, but please let us know if your work was accepted for publication elsewhere—we’ll be thrilled for your good news! No multiple submissions—and if we don’t accept your work, please wait until our next submission period before...

Deadline: October 27th, 2024 Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Theme: Afrofuturism Note: Reprints Welcome In 2025 and 2026 Flame Tree will publish two new books in the Gothic Fantasy series, following the groundwork of our successful Black Sci-Fi Short Stories, African Ghost Short Stories and First Peoples Shared Stories. First is Afrofuturism Short Stories, followed a year later by Africanfuturism. The National Museum of African American History and Culture characterises Afrofuturism as expressing "notions of Black identity, agency and freedom through art, creative works and activism that envision liberated futures for Black life." This is Africa, based in Kenya, defines Africanfuturism as located in "the African point of view, experience, culture, themes, and history with technology based in Africa, not the diaspora". The publication of these two books offers a dialogue that explores tradition and influence, and fresh insights both about our past, and visions of our future. So, our first call, is for Afrofuturism. Please bear in mind the specific definition above for this title, as distinct from that for Africanfuturism. Authors must be writing from an authentic perspective of the Black experience, whether based in the diaspora or in Africa. Submit to: [email protected]   Terms: Multiple submissions are fine but must be in separate emails. Simultaneous submissions are fine but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology. For accepted stories we pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline. Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website flametreepublishing.com for details), although some may be paid earlier than that. Submission does not imply the right to publication....

Deadline: October 27th, 2024 Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Theme: Were Wolves Note: Reprints Welcome We are seeking stories about werewolves, shapeshifting humans, rivalries and alliances between vampyr and werewolves. The word werewolf goes back more than a thousand years, coming directly from the Old English wer, meaning Man, and wolf. Also of interest is folklore and mythology which plays on such legends as Fenrir (born of Loki) defeating Odin at Ragnarök, and early Slavic myths and rituals in which were wolf skins are removed and stolen. Stories can explore wolves which might have been human, changing by choice at the howl of the moon, or people cursed and damned to be wolves for all time. Is that why the lone wolf is alone? The wolfish grin is a little shy? Is that why we wolf down our food? Is there a wolf inside us all? In the forests around us? Hunting us, haunting us, protecting itself and its kind. Submit to: [email protected]   Terms: Multiple submissions are fine but must be in separate emails. Simultaneous submissions are fine but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology. For accepted stories we pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline. Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website flametreepublishing.com for details), although some may be paid earlier than that. Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel. Let us know in your submission email whether...

Deadline: October 30th, 2024 Payment: $25 Theme: Australian and New Zealand authors who identify as neurodivergent telling tales of characters accepting and embracing their neurodiversity Last year a press in Australia made a call for neurodivergent voices and their short stories, but only if they had a medical diagnosis. In this country it can take two years to find the truth about ourselves – and at great cost – so Deadset Press wanted to provide an alternative for the neurodivergent writers of Australia. We made a call for those voices, and E. J. Dawson joined in, helping us create a neurodiverse apocalyptic anthology, EMBRACE THE SILENCE, open to anyone self-identifying as neurodivergent. But like many ND folk we had other commitments. We are now re-opening our submissions call on a wider scale for apocalyptic, dystopian and scifi short stories which focus on neurodiverse characters. There are not enough of these in fiction and we are hoping by broadening our submission call we can hear more of these voices. We welcome submissions from all Australian and New Zealand authors who identify as neurodivergent, and will also encourage submissions from neurodivergent Indigenous and LGBTIQ authors. EMBRACE THE SILENCE will be assembled – from the cover to the footnotes – by a team of neurodiverse individuals, including the wonderful E. J. Dawson and the sleep deprived Austin P. Sheehan. The idea behind the title EMBRACE THE SILENCE refers to characters accepting and embracing their neurodiversity, as well as adapting to a changing and challenging new world. We encourage you to be as creative as you like in your approach to the theme. Our preferred length for short stories is between 4,000 and 6,000 words, however this is just a guideline, we won’t auto-reject stories based on word count alone. Submissions are currently open until October 30th, and we...

Deadline: October 30th, 2024 Payment: $25 Theme: Australian and New Zealand authors who identify as LGBTIQA+, from any gender identity, and ally authors sharing stories that feature LGBTIQA+ characters of any gender identity across the wide universes of speculative fiction. Swashbuckling pirates, mischievous necromancers, charming elder gods, dashing bounty hunters, anything goes! We are excited to announce a new anthology, REVOLUTIONS & RAINBOWS: An Australasian Queer Speculative Anthology. The anthology is to celebrate Pride and will be open to all Australian and New Zealand authors who identify as LGBTIQA+, from any gender identity, and ally authors. We want stories that feature LGBTIQA+ characters of any gender identity across the wide universes of speculative fiction. Swashbuckling pirates, mischievous necromancers, charming elder gods, dashing bounty hunters, anything goes! As REBELS & RAINBOWS is a celebration of Pride and the incredible and incredibly diverse LGBTIQA+ community, we want stories that celebrate love, acceptance, strength and community, and also stories that reflect the challenges, danger, and reality of being one’s true self in a hostile world. The anthology will be edited by Leanbh Pearson, Alistair Ott and Austin P. Sheehan. Submissions will be open from 14th June to 30th October. We will not be accepting AI-written stories. All contributors will receive a payment of $25 per story. Our preferred length for short stories is between 4,000 and 6,000 words, however this is just a guideline, we won’t auto-reject stories based on word count alone. If you have any questions, or are interested in supporting this project, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] with ‘Rebels’ in the subject line. Via: Dead Set Press.

Submission Window: October 23rd-30th, 2024 Payment: €0.01 per word, with a €20 minimum. Theme: Diverse sci-fi and fantasy fiction. We are open to submissions within the following periods: January 23rd-30th April 23rd-30th July 23rd-30th October 23rd-30th Submissions received outside of these dates will unfortunately be lost and therefore not responded to. When open, we seek and offer the following: Length: 1,000-5,000 words. These are firm limits. Shorter or longer works will be considered, but the further a story goes outside these bounds the more it will need to impress. Compensation: €0.01 per word, with a €20 minimum. Please be aware that payment is via PayPal only. If you do not receive an acknowledgment within 24 hours of submission, please get in touch. We aim to accept or reject within 14 days of acknowledgment, but rl (real life) and rl (reading load) can get in the way. If you do not hear from us after 30 days, feel free to query. REQUIREMENTS Mythaxis seeks speculative fiction (sf/f/h) of all stripes for our first three issues each year. We are also interested in submissions of crime fiction for our end-of-year “all crime” issue. All these genres are equally welcome in each submission window. We acquire First Print, Digital, and Audio rights with a six month period of exclusivity from the date of publication. We also ask permission to potentially include accepted pieces in future anthologies; in event of agreement, an additional compensation will be offered. All other rights remain entirely with the author. See here for an overview of our editorial process. Simultaneous submissions are not only accepted, they are encouraged. Please tell us if you sim-sub, and we merely ask that you notify us of acceptance at another market as soon as possible. In the event that we accept first, we expect a positive and timely confirmation. Therefore we recommend sim-subbing...

Deadline: October 30th, 2024 Payment: $100 – $150 (depending on the length & story itself) Theme: Weird and strange horror Note: This will be distributed into a free ebook to start with and possibly released as a chapbook down the line which would include royalties at that point. WE WANT YOUR SUPER WEIRD HORROR SHORT STORY! Firstly, we want to take this opportunity to thank you for considering us to represent you and your work. Secondly, we are so excited to have you here checking out the requirements for this submission! Please follow us on social media to be up to date on any future submission calls. REQUIREMENTS Story has never been published before. 2,500 – 3,500 Total Words Make it WEIRD or STRANGE! It can be horror adjacent, comedic, gory, fantastical. Please don’t send me stories with any type of sexual assault, rape, child death, transphobia, homophobia, animal death/cruelty. Word doc or PDF. Double spaced with 12 font — any font style that is legible. At the top of the document — your name, email, social media handles, number count. Send to: [email protected] Email: In subject line put your story title and “SS Submission” WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH YOUR STORY? Truborn Press is putting together their first newsletter and would like to offer a free ebook copy of a short story when folks sign up for it. Depending on the story itself and how well it does, there is a possibility of turning it into a chapbook as well in the future. WHAT DO I GET FROM THIS OPPORTUNITY? At Truborn Press we fully believe in paying people for their work in every aspect (author, designer, editor, etc). We want to also continue to support the indie horror community and especially shine a light on authors that...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: $50 Theme: A novelette featuring detectives in a steampunk setting solving peculiar crimes. Deadline: October 31st, 2024 The genre of mystery is designed to get the cogs cranking, but let's not forget that steampunk is all about cogs too! Why not bring them together? Steampunk Sleuths will be an anthology of four novelettes (15 - 20,000 words) featuring detectives in a steampunk setting solving peculiar crimes. The only requirements for submission will be that the means of committing the crime (murder, theft, kidnapping...) must be clearly steampunk and the reader must be given the tools to crack the case before the solution is revealed. Think Agatha Christie and Jules Verne getting kinky together... um, actually, please don't. ;) * Previously unpublished only * Double the standard rate for this one: $50 USD Due to increasing numbers of submissions for our anthologies, we will no longer be sending rejection messages. We appreciate your understanding with regards to this decision. We will announce the table of contents via social media once it has been finalised. If you are not on social media, please consider your submission unsuccessful if you haven't received an email from us within two weeks of the end of the submissions period. We regularly post news on our Facebook page. You can also get a feel for what we like by buying our previously published titles. Publishing quality fiction is an expensive passion, so the more we sell, the more we can publish. It's that simple. Our cherished Patreon patrons also provide us with the means to keep producing quality books. # Rates: We use PayPal to pay our contributors. If your submission is successful, you'll need an account. Alternatively, we can pay with an electronic Amazon gift coupon. Payment is made upon publication. $25 USD  for original stories and $10 for reprints...

Deadline: October 31st 2024 Payment: AU$5.00 for stories under 2,500 words, AU$10.00 for anything above 2,500 words Theme: Horror or Science Fiction stories that involve school School School life is a dynamic blend of early morning routines, the hum of classrooms, shared experiences, peer pressure and forgotten homework. It's a period of growth, discovery, and a time for forging lasting friendships. If you have spine-chilling horror or mind-bending sci-fi stories to share—whether it's tales of eerie encounters in deserted hallways, unsettling experiments gone awry, or futuristic twists on school dynamics—we eagerly await your submissions. Please ensure that you read through the general guidelines and format your submission accordingly - poor formatting choices may result in your work not being read or considered. If you have any specific questions please contact us using the form on the home page or via the listed social media accounts. To help make sure that your submission gets to the correct place, please include the following in the subject line of your email: Thuggish Itch - School - Story Title. Word count: 1,000 - 10,000 words Deadline: October 31 2024 Payment: AU$5.00 for stories under 2,500 words AU$10.00 for anything above 2,500 words General Guidelines: Please no extreme erotica or stories that feature excessive violence or vulgarity (unless otherwise specified). We are all dog lovers here, so violence against animals is the quickest way to get your story rejected. All stories should be formatted appropriately. Please see here for more details. Ensure that your name, address, and email contact and word count are at the top of your manuscript. Double check your spelling and grammar before sending your work. Please submit all stories in .doc, .docx or .rtf formats. International submissions are accepted. No simultaneous submissions. Multiple submissions are encouraged. Where possible, we will provide feedback on request. No reprints. Please send all submissions...

Submission Window: September 1st - October 31st, 2024 Payment: $10 Theme: Stories of any genre by writers who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex. We welcome submissions by those who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex. This is a space for the words, works, and worlds of and by those whose bodyminds defy social expectations and invite new ways of thinking and knowing. We do not need to know the specifics of your identity/diagnosis/experience unless you want us to. We invite closeted and questioning people to share their work, as well as those whose experiences fall outside the confines of the language we used above. We welcome submissions from creators of all ages. We particularly encourage unpublished/emerging/young creators to submit. If you know an incarcerated/institutionalized creator who would like to submit, email us for information as to where to mail the submission, or clearly indicate in your message that you are submitting on their behalf. We publish on a quarterly schedule, with issues coming out on: February 15 May 15 August 15 November 15 We are open for all submissions EXCEPT during publication months. That is to say, we are open for submissions January, March, April, June, July, September, October, and December. Things to note This is a leftist magazine. We hate capitalism, “america,” cops, prisons, borders, neoliberalism, and all the rest. We don’t tolerate white supremacy, zionism, cisheterosexism, ableism, transmisogyny, xenophobia, fatphobia, intersexism, and anti-sex worker sentiment here. We reserve the right to reject and/or remove content from creators whose work does not align with our values. We do not tolerate AI-generated or -assisted submissions. Anyone found to be using AI will have their content immediately rejected/removed...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: 6 cents per word Theme: Workplace Horror Dread Mondays: A Whisper House Press Anthology of Workplace Horror Projected Pub Date: Oct. 31st 2025 Word count: Keep it under 4k words. Stories under 3k words will get preference over those approaching the higher boundary. Pay Rate: .06/wd Deadlines & Decisions: Submit by October 31st, 2024. Historically marginalized groups (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, etc.) may submit through Nov. 30th 2024. Decisions, unless they’re a clear pass, will not be sent out until January 1st 2025. Formatting & Dictionary: Use the Shunn modern manuscript format (link) and the American English dictionary. Cover Letter: No need for anything fancy! Say hello, give your story title and word count, and include an author bio (if you have one ready) below your note. If you’re submitting after the first deadline, please include an acknowledgment that you fit into one of those groups mentioned. (If you want help with an author bio, check out this post.) If you are affiliated with the HWA or another professional organization, please note it in your letter; if you’re not, don’t worry! We are excited to include new as well as established writers. No previously published (in any form, online / in print / audio format / etc.) work will be considered. Simultaneous submissions are a-okay, but do tell us immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere. No A.I.-produced or A.I.-assisted submissions. The legal contract you’ll sign upon acceptance will require that you agree to this stipulation, as well. Important notes: Submitters, please understand that Whisper House Press is a highly communicative, contributor-involved press. This means you’ll hear from me every step of the way and that I hope to have your buy-in for a full-court press on publicity. For our books to have any chance at success (defined here as “winning all of...

Submission Window: October 1st - 31st, 2024 Theme: Haunting, atmospheric and unsettling stories full of subtle menace and pervasive dread Payment: £0.07 per word Dust & Dark is a new quarterly magazine showcasing the best in original horror fiction. We will shortly be inviting submissions for our debut issue, scheduled for release in Spring 2025 following a Kickstarter campaign early next year. What we’re looking for We’re in the market for short, scary stories between 2,000 and 7,000 words in length. The majority of stories we publish are expected to be between 3,000 and 5,000 words. We’re looking for stylish, atmospheric horror fiction, and we take a broad view of what that means. We’re interested in clearly defined characters, evocative settings, tight pacing and compelling plots. But most of all, we’re looking for stories that leave a lingering sense of unease after we’ve read them. We’re much more interested in expertly rendered dread than straightforward shocks. We also see horror very much as part of the speculative fiction spectrum, and if your story has something to say, it’s likely to stand out in our submissions pile. Don’t just scare us: surprise us, intrigue us, open us up to new perspectives. We are particularly keen to feature writing from a diverse range of voices, and we especially welcome submissions from writers of colour, disabled authors, LGBTQ+ authors, neurodivergent authors and anyone from a background or community underrepresented in publishing. If our submissions process presents any accessibility obstacles for you, please contact us to discuss any necessary accommodations. Our debut issue will be dated Spring 2025, and while it isn’t a themed issue, stories with a particularly autumnal or wintery feel may not be the best fit. Please also note that we will be publishing in British English. We will amend non-British spelling (color,...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: $5 Theme: Gore, extreme horror, splatterpunk, and horror with sexual elements to it. We want solid entertaining writing. That has to be clearly stated because we are open to gore, extreme horror, splatterpunk, and horror with sexual elements to it. Sounds great? Like anything too good to be true, there is a catch. We have some hard “Nos.” Before you go off about the freedom of expression, remember, this is a web ‘zine, not a government. We donate our time to it and if we’re not getting joy from reading your story we’re not going to publish it. This website runs on our love of horror. We offer a token payment of $5 USD to support your drug habit, paid upon publication. However, you keep your rights –we don't want them. The Stuff We Don’t Want to Read: NO sex with children, NO sexualization of children, and NO child rape. If you’re writing a story about a child predator who gets what’s coming to him –great. But we don’t want to read about that predator coming on his victims. We won’t publish anything supporting a racist, transphobic, or homophobic agenda, so don’t try it. Sex and sensuality are fine, but we publish horror. We won’t publish a story that’s 90 percent lesbian vampires having explicit sex and 10 percent them ripping their victims to pieces. Go 50/50 on that and you've got our attention. High-quality gory smut is fine. Like gore, sex has to serve a purpose. If you want to write a piece about a cowboy who discovers one of the prostitutes at the local brothel has a vagina that opens to another dimension filled with blood clot monsters and he can fit his entire body into it… Sure, that’s great. If you want to write a story...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: $10 USD (plus 1 paperback copy for stories over 4,000 words) per story accepted. Theme: Erotic Horror Dive into the chilling night and the forbidden allure in our open call for Erotic Horror tales. Explore human desire intertwined with the macabre, where fear and passion collide. Whether it’s vampires seducing prey or eerie encounters, we seek boundary-pushing stories that ignite the senses. Let your imagination soar, crafting narratives that leave readers spellbound and trembling. Submissions can be as spicy as you dare. Join us in exploring the darker side of desire. Wordcount : We are looking for stories of 500 to 5,000 words for publication in February 2025. Author eligibility : Open to all. Reprints : Allowed. Slots available : 25. We will read in batches until full. Simultaneous Submissions : Not allowed. Multiple Submissions : Five can be submitted, two acceptances allowed. Co-authored Submissions : Allowed. Publication : Paperback, hard cover, and digital, plus 3 will be chosen for our online magazine. Author compensation : $10 USD (plus 1 paperback copy for stories over 4,000 words) per story accepted. Submit to : [email protected] BLACK HARE PRESS is—and has always been—an inclusive publisher. LGBTQ+ characters always welcome. All our calls are for dark speculative fiction or weird/horror. No co-authored projects, please, unless the call specifically says they are allowed. Submission Guidelines: Whilst we are open to all genres and styles of writing, ultimately we reserve the right to reject topics that are not suitable for our publications. Please read the individual submission call information for guidance. Word count requirements, deadline dates and author compensation are detailed against each submission call. Hyphenated words will be counted as one word. Paragraph breaks are not included in word counts. All submissions must be in English. Our stance on; Bestiality – Unless your character is in the fantasy world (ie...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: $20 Theme: Dark fantasy and fantastical horror Speculative fiction is a powerful tool for exploring not only the darkest and most challenging aspects of our world, but of worlds beyond it—and in the psyche. It can take us on harrowing and haunting journeys and introduce us to fascinating and frightening characters. It can leave us shaken and sorrowful and scared. But it is within the darkest stories that hope burns brightest: acts of desperation, passion, and overcoming that showcase the power and resilience of the human—and perhaps non-human—spirit. And in the terrifying unknown, in the gaping maw of the blackest abyss, beauty and wonder await. After all, fear is a component of awe—and of courage. The unknown is filled with possibility for those willing to face it. For this anthology, we're looking for character-driven dark fantasy and fantastical horror stories that take on challenging themes, spark fear and wonder and so many other emotions, and immerse the reader in extremes of experience. Throw off the shackles of the safe and mundane and delve Into the Dark. What We're Seeking For this anthology, we're looking for 1500-4000 word stories in the below genres: Dark Fantasy We're especially hungry for high fantasy stories, but will also consider low fantasy stories. Fantastical Horror We're looking specifically for horror with fantasy-inspired elements, not speculative horror in general. A cosmic or creature horror story might be a fit, but a fully sci-fi horror story wouldn't be a fit for this anthology. Most ghost stories, for instance, also wouldn't be a fit, unless they feature more cosmic consequences. We're looking for stories that prioritize characters and themes, rather than extensive world-building, fast-paced plots, or shock value. We want stories that have something to say. We also appreciate striking voices and literary-leaning prose, but are...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: 0.005/word Theme: Science Fiction and fantasy *** SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN FROM OCTOBER 1st, 2024 - OCTOBER 31st, 2024 *** We ask for the following: 1) We are looking for great Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Don’t overthink it! Just write an incredible story and you will find yourself in this anthology. 2) Submit your work in the Shunn Standard Manuscript Format. We only accept documents in DOC, DOCX and RTF formats. 3) We accept work in the range of 1500-7500 words. Anything outside this range will be automatically rejected. 4) Payment for original fiction is currently $0.005/word up to 7500 words. Minimum of $15. Reprints paid at full rate. We retain no rights to your work. 5) Worldstone Publishing encourages submissions from writers of all races, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, etc. We want and value diverse voices. Saying that, we make editorial decisions strictly based on merit, and we do not collect any information that might clue our editors to any of these attributes other than your name, email, address, and cover letter before any decisions are made regarding your submission. Though this is not standard practice we have turned down stories from established bestsellers in favor of new authors, and will continue to do so if we feel a short story better fits our volume and will appeal to our growing readership. 6) Ready to submit? Then send an email directly to [email protected] In the subject line, please write “Anthology Submission: “STORY TITLE”. If this is not followed, your story will be automatically rejected. 7) No multi-submissions. We try to respond to all submissions within 30 days. In past years it has taken us longer for later submissions. We apologize for the inconvenience. 8) Again, reprints are more...

Submission Window: October 1 - 14 Members of marginalised groups only, October 15 - 31 General submissions. Payment: £0.02 per word for each piece accepted, with a minimum £20 payment. £50 for selected artwork Theme: Speculative stories about our inner lives; our thoughts, our emotions, our perceptions, our dreams. Inner Worlds is a quarterly digital zine of speculative stories about our inner lives; our thoughts, our emotions, our perceptions, our dreams. We aim to publish works which use elements from science fiction, fantasy, or horror to illuminate the different ways that we experience our selves and our world. That might mean finding a metaphor to express a feeling, or a setting which reflects how your brain works sometimes, or turning a trope on its head to explore a different perspective. We have a specific interest in sharing: stories of neurodiversity experiences of psychological struggle or distress, madness, and extreme states the voices and perspectives of marginalised groups. We'll walk with you in the dark places. But we want your humour, joy, and wonder too. "Can you promise me I'll be happy?" "No, man. Absolutely not. But I can promise that you won't be alone." -Russian Doll, Season One "Ariadne" Who we are At the moment it's just me, Sarah. As a writer, a champion daydreamer, and as someone with lived experience of complex trauma, I'm fascinated by our inner worlds. If you are too and you'd like to get involved in some way, please get in touch at ourinnerworldsprotonmail.com. Support Inner Worlds 1) Send us your words! We're not a pro rate paying market at this time, but we promise to treat all submitted stories with care. 2) Subscribe! There are a few different subscription levels available and it all helps cover the costs and make the magazine more sustainable. 3) Follow...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: Poetry - $15 USD, Flash - $20 USD, Short Fiction - $40 USD Theme: Road trip/travel horror Note: All entries must have a Utah connection, either on the part of the author or the story itself Timber Ghost Press is proud to present No Exit: A Collection of Utah Horror. With the help of the Utah Horror Writers*, Timber Ghost Press is excited to be publishing the 11th collection of Utah horror. We are seeking well-crafted stories and poems that fit the theme of road trip/travel horror. For this anthology, all entries must have a Utah connection, either on the part of the author or the story itself (it is called Utah horror for a reason). The stories will be evaluated in a blind read by three judges and must receive at least two ”yes” votes to be accepted. Therefore, when submitting, please ensure that there is no identifying information in the story itself. We anticipate an October 2025 release. Accepted authors will receive payment according to the pay scale below, plus a contributor's copy of the anthology. Deadline: October 31st, 2024 11:59 pm MDT  The Following Categories are Open for Submission: Poetry Flash Fiction: 1000 words or less Short Fiction: 1001-5000 words Payment: Poetry - $15 USD Flash - $20 USD Short Fiction - $40 USD What We Do Not Want: Timber Ghost Press may outright reject stories that contain the following: ​​Pedophilia\Rape\Child Molestation Animal Abuse Extreme Violence or Gore Just for the Sake of It ​ Multiple or Simultaneous Submissions: 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...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: $10 and $5 for reprints Theme: Poems inspired by games or game culture (Ideally video games, tabletop also accepted.) Note: Reprints Welcome Submissions are now open for “Dangerous to Go Alone! 2”, the sequel to Manawaker Studio’s anthology of gamer poetry, edited by CB Droege. The guidelines follow. POETRY ONLY Unlike many other Manawaker anthologies, DtGA is only for poetry. Sorry, fiction writers and visual artists. We’ll do another multi-media anthology next year. ;D We are looking for poems inspired by games or game culture. Most of the selected poems will be about video games and the culture surrounding them, but some will be about tabletop games. (We don’t want any poems about field sports or casino games). For legal reasons, poems about games with specific IP should be somewhat abstract. We feel that poetry is pretty well protected by fair use in this case, so specific characters and situations can be mentioned, but it’s still better if they are only alluded to. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Poems (no more than five, please) should be included in the body of an e-mail (see below). If your poem requires special formatting not available in an e-mail, attach an RTF file. Previously published work is okay, as long as you let us know where it was published previously, so we can credit them in the book. It’s the submitter’s responsibility to ensure they have the rights to their work before submitting. If the work is self-published online in a public setting (like in a personal blog, forum, facebook, deviant art, etc.) this counts as previously published If your work is accepted, you will grant Manawaker Studio the right to non-exclusively publish your work as part of this project in perpetuity. The work or parts of it may also be used for promotional purposes in print or online....

Submission Window: June 15th - October 31st, 2024 Payment: $15 and royalties Theme: Stories that feature the strange and bizarre from around the cosmos and other dimensions “Ladies and gentlemen,” the Ring Master waved her arm toward the crowd, “and, of course, all you ‘sweet’ children daring to see what, up until now, only existed in your dreams.” Her voice floated outward to the crowd. “Or perhaps your nightmares.” Her golden skin seemed to crack when she offered them a toothy grin. “Behind me, lurking in the blue-black darkness on the fringes of the unknown are the stars of the show. Creatures waiting to be seen, anxious to meet you...creatures from so many galaxies you never knew existed.” Again she offered a toothy grin as her red eyes took on a fiery glow. “And I, as the master of the show cannot wait for the entertainment to begin.” ~ * ~ ​ What we are looking for are stories that feature the strange and bizarre from around the cosmos and other dimensions. They can be the stuff of dreams or nightmares. Think along the fantastical lines of Something Wicked This Way Comes but with an intergalactic or other dimensional feel to the carnival or carnival sideshow. Magic and Science, Dreams and Nightmares, Joy and Terror, Love and Hate, combined with the alien and the familiar -- they all blend together at the Midnight Menagerie. The two paragraphs above will be the intro to the anthology - so imagine a ringmaster or guide in your story using those lines to draw your reader into what you are about to show them. WolfSinger does ask that stories maintain a PG-13 rating – so please be careful with any violence or sexual depictions. However, as this theme can lend itself to some dark stories –...

Submission Window: September 15th - October 31st, 2024 Payment: $0.02 per word Theme: Science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and everything in between Note: Reprints Welcome We are open to submissions: Jan. 15 – Mar. 31 May 15 – Jul. 3 Sep. 15 – Oct. 31 Nov. 1 – Nov. 30 (Drabbles only) Before submitting, please read the writer’s guidelines below. Story Guidelines Flash Point Science Fiction wants speculative fiction stories from 100 to 1,000 words in length. Send us your science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and everything in between, so long as it’s short. We here at FPSF are partial to flash fiction and want to see the flash market grow. So as much as it pains us, please take your 10,000 word tour de force elsewhere. We’re not looking for the next Brandon Sanderson. (Unless you are, in fact, Brandon Sanderson, in which case we’d be delighted!)   What we’re looking for: -Fantasy (all kinds—epic, adventure, contemporary, urban, grimdark, fairy tale, magical realism, myths and legends, etc.) -Science Fiction (all kinds—hard, space opera, military, near future, science fantasy, cyberpunk, dystopian, etc.) -Slipstream (make it as weird as you want, so long as it works) -Seasonal (we love stories with holiday and/or seasonal themes, but please submit AT LEAST 3 months in advance of the relevant occasion) -Anything that makes us laugh, cry, think, or smile. What we aren’t looking for: -Horror—it can be spooky or menacing, but we’re not a horror market, so the fright factor should not be the primary appeal. DARK fantasy and sci-fi, however, are welcome. -Literary fiction—this is a genre market, so there needs to be an SF&F element, however slight. -Gratuitous sex or violence—we’re big fans of Love Death + Robots, but don’t be that guy. -Fanfic—original concepts only, please. We know there was a lot going on in Hobbiton...

Submission Window: October 1st – 31st, 2024 Payment: 4 cents per word for original fiction and 1/2 cent per word for reprints Theme: Speculative fiction, speculative poetry, and related non-fiction Note: Reprints Welcome Trollbreath Magazine is a journal of speculative fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, publishing electronic issues on a quarterly schedule. Our interests are as varied as the endless amount of genres, from dark fantasy to hope punk to surrealism, and everything in between. We have a particular fondness for slipstream and fabulism in all their delightful forms, but what motivates us most are great stories by wonderful authors eager to share their visions of the past, the future, the in between, and everything that lies outside the margins. Coloring beyond the lines encouraged. Examples of stories we particularly love (but there are too many to include): Bears Discover Fire, by Terry Bisson (England Underway as well) Last of the Winnebagos, by Connie Willis (Even the Queen; all her work!) Rabbit Test, by Samantha Mills A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson Bride, Knife, Flaming Horse, by M.L. Krishnan Stories, poems and articles will be available at the beginning of the quarter for those with paid subscriptions to the magazine, either on the website or sent via email depending on membership level. Over the course of the quarter, a new story will be opened every Friday to the those without subscriptions, until all stories have been publicly released. We read for two issues at a time during our month-long submission periods. Submission periods for fiction/poetry are as follows: April 1st- 30th (for the September and December issues of the same year) October 1st – 31st (for the March and June issues of the following year) Note: we are open year-round for non-fiction pitches (see below poetry)....

Submission Window: October 1st - 31st, 2024 Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue Theme: Any genre, short story 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. What if I can’t pay right now? That’s ok! If you publish a blurb about this site on your website, blog, or social media, I will send you one full story of your choosing. Best of all, it is...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: Over 300 words: £0.015 per word, Under 300 words: £5 flat rate. Theme: Reverse Mermaid Note: This is only for audio rights Reverse Mermaid Under the moon's glow, I cast my line into dark, choppy waters, fishing for stories. Something stirs beneath—a ripple, a glint—something waits to be caught. Two eyes break the surface; its scales reflecting the moonlight. Is that a fish... or a man? It’s impossible to say. Reverse mermaids, strange and unsettling, haunt these depths. Unlike their traditional counterparts, they defy expectations, caught between two worlds in a form that exemplifies the absurd. They are symbols of transgression and transformation, urging us to embrace the parts of ourselves that don’t fit neatly into established categories. Stories are out there, waiting to be reeled in. With a bucket of maggot sandwiches and the patience to wait, we're ready for whatever surfaces —absurd scenarios, monstrous creatures in mundane lives, or vice versa, powerful transformations, quirky individuals, nightmares and hallucinations out in the daylight, worlds flipped upside down, and tales of two halves that proudly let our freak flag fly. The Catch of the Day includes stories, scripts, poems, flash fiction, and songs that champion the eccentric, unique, and unexpected, leaping from the surface level, and pulling us, kicking and screaming, down, down, down into the realm of the extraordinary. Current Deadline: October 30th, 2024 We seek writing that transports listeners beyond themselves, offering glimpses into uncharted emotions, compelling characters, and imaginative worlds. These stories should delight, disgust, or inspire awe. They should make our sides split with laughter, enthrall us with mystery, or evoke deep feelings that linger long after the episode ends – show us your unique universe; make us feel something! What are we looking for?​ Currently, we are working on our...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: $0.01 CAD per word Theme: tories should include an unlikely, but likeable, amateur sleuth pursuing a mystery in a cozy setting. Note: Will firstly feature authors from writers Newfoundland and Labrador, however, they are open to writers across Canada and international authors Engen Books is now accepting submissions to the latest From the Rock anthology, for release in 2025. Editors Ellen Curtis and Erin Vance are accepting submissions for short fiction under 10,000 words that fit into the cozy mystery genre. ​Appropriate stories should include an unlikely, but likeable, amateur sleuth pursuing a mystery in a cozy setting. Some settings popularized by the genre include bakeries, craft shops, cafés, bookstores, libraries, and small towns. Some cozy mysteries also include an element of the supernatural, with characters like witches, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts rounding out the cast of characters. Authors may also wish to include an element of romance in their story, however this is not necessary. Authors should note that any violence or sexual content should appear off-screen. As always, the From the Rock collections are intended to highlight the fantastic, varied writers Newfoundland and Labrador has fostered. When submitting, we request that authors indicate if they are current or former residents of the province, and if their story is linked to the province in any way (though it need not be). While we will accept submissions from across Canada and internationally, authors with a connection to the province are given preference for this series, and this information will be given to editors during the jurying process. As with all content at Engen Books, misogynistic, racist, ethnocentric, homophobic, or transphobic messaging will result in the submission being rejected and may result in the author being barred from future submissions. Authors should take care to avoid...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: $250 advance (USD) and 50/50 royalty split Theme: Horror/ Dark Fiction Note: Female or non binary author What Nefarious Bat Press wants: 1) This call is open to female and non-binary authors. We strongly encourage writers from the LGBTQIA+BIPOC communities to submit. (Whilst we are a queer press – you don’t have to be.) 2) We’re looking for a novella with a word count between 25- 40k. 3) The genre must be horror/dark fiction. We’re not specifying a theme – that’s your call. 4) No reprints. One submission per author. Simultaneous submissions are fine with us. What Nefarious Bat Press is offering you 1) $250 advance, paid via PayPal 2) Three-year contract 3) 50/50 royalty split What Nefarious Bat Press does not want: AI-generated text, of any kind. We hate it, and we actively oppose it; it’s plagiaristic, ethically untenable, ecologically destructive, and using it demonstrates a frankly embarrassing lack of imagination on the user’s part. Send an AI-generated monstrosity our way, and you can guarantee we’ll never read anything you write Formatting Guidelines: 1) Double spaced, 12pt, any legible font. 2)  Word format (.docx) 3) Please send as an attachment; don’t include your submission in the body of the email. Submission Window / Submission Guidance: 1) Window will be open September 16, 2024 to October 31, 2024. 2) Please send your submissions to [email protected] 3) Subject Line: Novella Sub – Author name – Novella Title 4) In the body of your email, please include a short author bio and a brief synopsis of your story.     *PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU’VE READ THE ABOVE BEFORE SUBMITTING* Via: Nefarious Bat Press.

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: 2 cents per word Theme: Cosmic Horror Calling all cosmic horror authors! Open for Submissions: October 1, 2024 through October 31, 2024 Expected Publication: June 2025 What is cosmic horror? “Cosmic horror, also known as Lovecraftian horror, is a subgenre of horror that emphasizes the terror of the unknowable and incomprehensible. It favors these psychological horrors more than gore or other elements of shock and awe. … The core of all cosmic horror is the protagonist being absolutely terrified of the unknown or the future and what’s going to happen to them. … There should also be a contemplation of the human experience and the humanness of the struggle. They usually don’t have a lot of blood and gore, and instead thrive on the ideas that are scary.” – nofilmschool.com Submissions Requirements Your story: should be approximately 2,000 – 6,000 words in length. should not contain erotica can be part of an ongoing series you might be writing We aim to have our final selections chosen no more than 30 days after the closing date of submissions. Compensation: .02c/word Estimated publication date for this anthology is June 2025. Graveside Press is a new imprint focused on horror, managed by members of the publishing teams that brings you Paper Angel Press, Water Dragon Publishing, Unruly Voices, and Cupid’s Arrow Publishing. We plan to bring you sleep-shattering tales of horror beginning October 2024. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES When submitting, we would greatly appreciate if you can follow the formatting guidelines below: file type: *.doc or *.docx Spelling: US and UK/AU-spelling and colloquialisms accepted Punctuation: US (modern, e.g. single space after periods) Font: Any legible serif, e.g., Times New Roman, Garamond Include author information at the top of page 1 (see sample below) Use formatted indents and not tabs to begin each paragraph Use hard returns to start new paragraphs Use page breaks to begin...

Deadline: October 31st, 2024 Payment: Over 300 words: £0.015 per word. Under 300 words: £5 flat rate. Theme: Tell Me When It's Over Note: Reprints Welcome Tell Me When It's Over This theme is all about endings—be they personal or global. Whether it’s the quiet end of a relationship or the loud bang of an apocalypse, we’re looking for pieces that deal with finality. What happens when it’s all falling apart? How do we face or avoid the end, or prepare for the aftermath? Current Deadline: October 31st, 2024 What are we looking for?​ Currently, we are working on our 1st Season based on planned episodes, but we also accept rolling submissions. ​          We prioritize: ​ Originality and depth Fresh & Unique perspectives Craftsmanship Meaningful interpretations of submission themes (tip: avoid being too literal) Suitable for audio ​​ ​We encourage submissions that allow us to explore new worlds—whether that’s through speculative landscapes, imaginative settings, or narratives that break free from the constraints of reality. Help us escape the everyday! What to Submit: Our main focus is on speculative fiction (fantasy, sci-fi, horror, mystery, weird, slipstream), but we embrace a variety of genres and formats, including non-fiction. ​ ​ Short Stories/Scripts: Up to 15 mins or 3000 words. Poetry/Flash Fiction: Up to 5 mins or 500 words. Songs/Music/Other: Approx 1.30 - 5 mins ​ ​ dystopian urban fantasy weird fiction slipstream speculative afro-futurism​ gothic ​ ​​​ Cosmic horror Lovecraftian horror folk tales retellings mythpunk magical realism surreal Our umbrella focus is the following: ​ fantasy sci-fi horror weird ​                          This includes all sub-genres, such as: ​ Compensation:  Over 300 words: £0.015 per word.  Under 300 words: £5 flat rate. Rights: If previously unpublished, we claim...

Deadline: November 1st, 2024 Payment: 1 cent per word for fiction, $10 per poem, $25 for artwork, $50 for cover art Theme: Rituals Note: Reprints Welcome NonBinary Review is currently open for submissions on the theme of RITUALS. Often, when we think of rituals, we think of robed, hooded figures standing around a large symbol of power etched into the floor, trying to summon a deity who will grant them their every desire. At least, that's what Hollywood would have us believe. But the truth is that much of our lives is dictated by rituals. The Brushing of the Teeth, The Making of the Coffee, The Feeding of the Pets, The After-Work Drinks, The Watching of the Baking Show - we all have aspects of our lives where we insist on things being done just so, turning something otherwise mundane into a ritual. Rituals can be comforting, or they can be confining. They can help us make sense of our habits, and they can look strange to outside observers. We want the best speculative takes on ritual - weird rituals, unexpected rituals, little-known rituals. We want to hear not just how rituals are enacted, but where they come from, how they get started, and what unintended consequences happen as a result. Fiction: All submissions must have a clear relationship to our theme, and be double-spaced in 12pt Times New Roman or they will be rejected. NonBinary Review  pays 1¢ per word for prose with a limit of 3000 words. Poetry: Submitters may include up to THREE poems per submission, but each must be a separate file. NonBinary Review pays a $10 flat fee for poetry. Artwork: All submissions must have a clear relationship to our theme and be submitted as a jpg., .png., .tiff., or .psd file of 300dpi or greater (accepted pieces must...

Deadline: November 1st, 2024 Payment: 2 contributors copies if released in print, 5 cents CAD per word, .25 CAD per word for poetry up to 200 words with .10 CAD per word after Theme: The conflicts related to the hopeful and optimistic nature of Solarpunk (see below.) Note: Stories will also be discussed academically as a part of the editor's PhD dissertation. Solarpunk is optimistic. Solarpunk is hopeful. Solarpunk is about change and unity. Solarpunks seem to agree on these points. But what are the points of conflict within solarpunk? When do solarpunks disagree, and why? Is solarpunk a monolith, is it fractured and disparate, or is it somewhere in between? What spaces of tension exist within both genre and community that can flare to sudden flame at the right (or wrong) provocation? And, what do these conflicts look like in a solarpunk world? This anthology is about these conflicts. Stories should explore a solarpunk conflict, either one manufactured entirely for the story, or one based in a real-world point of contention you feel currently divides solarpunks, or that has done so in the past. Conflicts can be as small or as grand as you would like, though the story as a whole should be legibly solarpunk and should not champion a non-solarpunk ethos. I also invite stories that speak to perceived gaps in the solarpunk canon - for example, there has been commentary before on how solarpunk is close to afrofuturism in aspect and some goals, but has very little overlap. While there are some stories that do address that missing overlap, there is, of course, room for more. Some example points of conflict are listed below, though please do not feel restricted to these possibilities! • Is techno-solutionism the way forwards, or do we need to eschew modern...

Deadline: November 1st, 2024 Payment: Royalties Theme: Forest Fae Genre: Fantasy Theme: Forest Fae Concept: Change comes for all. Come, dance through the Wyld places. Bear witness to a world that fights against the encroachment of civilization. Wyld Magick, the latest offering from Three Ravens Publishing, peels back the veil, giving you a taste of a world full of dryads, elementals, and strange beasts unseen by any who now walk the earth. Word Count: 5,000 – 10,000 (standard word count) Edited by: Philip K. Booker / William Joseph Roberts Opening Essay: TBD Anchor Author: Faith Hunter Due Date: November 1, 2024 Email Submissions to: [email protected] with “Wyld Magick” in the subject line Payment: Stories selected for publication in the upcoming Anthology(ies), will receive a percentage of sales divided equally between the contributing authors. 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 ***NOTE*** We publish genre fiction with aspects of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. If your work does not include one of these aspects, we are less likely to pick up the title unless it is of exceptional quality.   What we are NOT currently accepting: Poetry Single-author collections of short stories. Hard and fast rules of what not to send: Fan-fiction: Just simply don’t. It will be immediately deleted or tossed into the recycle bin. Gratuitous Sexuality: (i.e. smut, softcore porn) (Please, we know that there is a market out there for stories in this genre, but it’s not for us. Contact our affiliate, Tanglewood press for submissions in this genre at tanglewoodromance (at) gmail.com Gratuitous Abuse/Violence: While we at Three Ravens Publishing understand that graphic situations can alter or otherwise move the plot forward in ways that the reader may not expect when properly used, these elements...

Deadline: November 1st, 2024 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry Theme: Story must begin with: The parking lot was empty. Winter: The parking lot was empty. Due date: November 1, 2024 We love that writers around the world are inspired by our first lines, and we know that not every story will be sent to us. However, we ask that you do not submit stories starting with our first lines to other journals (or post them online on public sites) until we've notified you as to our decision (usually four weeks after the deadline). When the entire premise of the publication revolves around one sentence, we don't want it to look as if we stole that sentence from another writer. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line. Also, we understand that writers may add our first line to a story they are currently working on or have already completed, and that's cool. But please do not add our first line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our first lines. And, just to be clear, we do not accept simultaneous submissions. One more thing while I've got you here: Writers compete against one another for magazine space, so, technically, every literary magazine is running a contest. There are, however, literary magazines that run traditional contests, where they charge entry fees and rank the winners. We do not - nor will we ever - charge a submission fee, nor do we rank our stories in order of importance. Occasionally, we run contests to help come up with new first lines, or we run fun, gimmicky competitions for free stuff, but the actual journal is not a...

Deadline: November 1st, 2024 Payment: $0.01/word for short stories; $10.00/poem; $30.00/page for comics Theme: Outdoor Furry Erotica Deadline: November 1, 2024 Payment: $0.01/word for short stories; $10.00/poem; $30.00/page for comics Acquisitions Editor: Thurston Howl Expected Release: Fall 2025 Welcome to the second issue of Fenris Publishing’s furry erotic book series, PAW. Each volume features a combination of short stories, comics, illustrations, and poems. This annual book series celebrates the best of new furry erotica. Our second issue has a unique theme: the outdoors! So show us your midsummer nude hikes, your gay campgrounds, your werewolves romping in the woods, and your midnight skinny dipping. Just make sure it's furry, erotic, and well-written/drawn! We encourage any and all sexualities, including polyamorous, asexual, and aromantic representations. Kink and fetish are perfectly fine with submissions, and you are free to play around with genre here. Reprints are not accepted. Simultaneous submissions are fine! If your work is accepted elsewhere, it is your responsibility to let us know. Max of three subs per writer. Fenris Publishing asks for Non-Exclusive rights to your work in perpetuity. All are welcome to submit to us, and we would like to especially welcome BIPOC creators, LGBTQ+ creators, creators with disabilities, current and former sex workers, and as well as creators who have never been published before. Send all submissions via email to [email protected]. See below for submission specifics: Short stories: 2,000-6,000 words Attach as a .doc/.docx Format: Double spaced, TNR/Arial, use the Indent feature (not the Tab key) Tell us about yourself and your submission in the body of your email Title your email: “PAW 2 - - ” Poems: No more than 2,000 words Attach as a .doc/.docx Tell me about yourself and your submission in the body of your email Title your email: “PAW 2 - -...

Deadline: November 1st, 2024 Payment: 15GBP Theme: Bleeding Hearts Write for the Podcast! If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 150k+ monthly listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. (Vol 104) BLEEDING HEARTS, 1st November 2024 Profound love, romance, sacrifice, and the most cutting of heartbreaks. If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. *** WHEN WILL I HEAR IF MY STORY HAS BEEN ACCEPTED OR NOT? We carefully review every single submission that comes through our door. If you’ve submitted a story to us, please be patient. We WILL let you know if your submission has or hasn’t been successful. Having said that, if you haven’t heard anything up to twelve weeks after the deadline has passed, feel free to ping us an email to check in on it. Submission Guidelines • Stories must be 2,000 (10% tolerance +/-) • Save stories in a Word document - Times New Roman font, size 12 • Include a 1-2 sentence log line for your story at the end of the document • Ensure that your name and an email address are somewhere on the document • Stories must fit an upcoming theme • By submitting your story to us, you are confirming that you are...

Submission Window: October 1st - November 1st, 2024 Payment: Short Story-2,500 words or less. $0.015 USD per word/$37.50 USD max, Poems-less than 200 words $10, Flash Fiction-less than a 1,000 words $0.015 USD per word/$15 USD max Theme: Underground Winter Issue Opens on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 12:00 AM PDT Last Girls Club Winter Issue Theme is Underground. Whether you're hiding underground or what's underground is coming for you or both; scare the bejeezus out of us over it. Has humanity moved underground to survive nuclear winter or have the poor retreated to abandoned tunnels unable to afford housing topside anymore. Is there a revolution brewing to destroy the topsiders and emerge to claim the new unoccupied land? Or are the topsiders dropping poison smoke bombs down to kill the sub strata humans they consider to be vermin? You tell me. No more than two fiction or flash fiction stories per author per submission period. Fiction is limited to 2,500 words or less. Authors are paid $0.015 USD per word upon acceptance ($37.50 USD max). Flash fiction is limited to under 1,000 words. Authors are paid $0.015 USD per word upon acceptance ($15 USD max). No more than three poems per poet. Poems are limited to 200 words or less for each poem. Poets are paid $10 USD upon acceptance. I prefer to use PayPal to pay authors, but will work with authors where PayPal is not available. Nonfiction columns will must be pitched to editor in chief before submission. Email your idea to [email protected] The Last Girls Club Magazine is a quarterly feminist horror magazine that publishes international short stories and poems from the female gaze. It is an homage to the scary comics and zines of the late 20th century. Please check on the website for the theme in detail. Submissions will...

Deadline: November 1st, 2024 Payment: $25 and a contributors copy Theme: Weird works published between the 31st of October 2023 and the 31st of October 2024 Note: Reprints Only REMINDER: THIS IS FOR ELIGIBLE REPRINTS ONLY Tenebrous Press presents the Third Annual Brave New Weird Awards—to reward and promote this unique blend of genres—and its accompanying anthology, Brave New Weird: the Best New Weird Horror of the Year, Vol. 3. We define New Weird Horror as a subgenre focused on progress, creatively capturing themes and questions that bleed into fiction straight from the modern reader's life and future. It acts as a challenge to break new ground in terms of form and content and to engage with the unknown. Beyond that, New Weird Horror will be defined by the winning pieces themselves. Buzzwords: speculative; eclectic; horror-centric but genre-blended; progressive and innovative in terms of content, social themes, form, or voice; concept-driven. Does this sound like your writing? Submit your previously published work to the New Weird Horror Awards today! Eligibility Any previously published piece of short fiction under 7.499 words originally published in the English language within the eligibility period. You may submit NARRATIVE poems only; poems will be judged on their storytelling. Stories published in other languages are welcome if there is an English translation available, and the English translation falls under the eligibility period. Any work published through Tenebrous Press is not eligible INCLUDING THE SKULL & LAUREL MAGAZINE. We already think you're awesome, regardless. Tenebrous staff are also not eligible. Previous WINNERS are NOT eligible; please do not submit. NOMINEES from previous years ARE eligible. Eligibility period Works published between the 31st of October 2023 and the 31st of October 2024 will be considered for BNW Vol. 3. Simply: If it's published before Halloween this year, it...

Submission Window: November 1st-2nd, 2024 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 The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T. 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 – 8¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles. For new poetry, we pay $1 per line, and for reprints we pay 50¢ a line  We’re looking for poems up to 40 lines. We’ll consider longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 8¢ per word. We sponsor 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 aboutThe 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, from a minimum of 1000 words on up.   All else being equal, shorter pieces will be favored, and we have yet to find a story over about 9-10,000 words we have even...

Submission Window: November 1st - 3rd, 2024 Payment: $35 Themes: The Southern Gothic, Tales to Terrify, System Solis 2300 WHAT WE WANT: Stories, poems, and artwork for one of three collections for our Patreon subscribers. WHAT WE DON'T WANT: Hate speech, stories set in established IP's or fan fiction, previously published work, stories that haven't seen an editor or a revision, or anything generated by AI.  ​ ABOUT PATREON STORIES: After being featured on our Patreon, each selected piece will be published in our annual anthology, Tales of Sley House. COLLECTION 1- THE SOUTHERN GOTHIC:  Think William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Carson McCullers, Cormac McCarthy, Tennessee Williams, Barry Hannah, Ellen Gilchrist, or even Edgar Allan Poe.  COLLECTION 2 - TALES TO TERRIFY: This collection is our home for all things supernatural and horror. Bring us your scariest, dirtiest, bloodiest, and spookiest tales. COLLECTION 3 -  SYSTEM SOLIS 2300: The year is 2324. Humanity has spread throughout the solar system, but has yet to to reach further. From mining operations on asteroids and gas giants, terraforming Mars and small moons, and exploring the subterranean oceans of bodies like Europa, we are reaching new worlds even as we continue to battle our inner demons.  ​ COMPENSATION: Authors will be paid $35 for each selected piece. ROLLING SUBMISSIONS: Submissions are open the 1st-3rd of every month, unless otherwise indicated. To submit a piece, please click the button below. In your email, make sure to indicate under which of the three categories your work falls. DISCLAIMER: Stories can be funny, serious, or somewhere in-between; we just want well-written pieces. Genre bending or blending is okay! Fantasies, mysteries, and thrillers can all find a home on our Patreon, as long as they fit within one of the above categories. SUBMIT FOR PATREON...