Anthology Markets

If you've just wandered in off the internet, hi and welcome. :) I do these posts every month, so if this post isn't dated in the same month you're in, click here to make sure you're seeing the most recent one.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, "Until Filled" markets (if any) are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

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28 February 2017 -- Triangulation: Appetites -- Parsec Ink

Triangulation is open for submissions This year’s theme: "Appetites." We are Parsec Ink’s Speculative fiction annual, now in our thirteenth year. We’re looking for outstanding speculative fiction from new and established writers. Take the theme and run with it. Tell us a story we won’t forget.

Theme: Appetites

Word Count: We will consider fiction up to 6,000 words. (Our sweet spot is 3,000) There is no minimum word count.

Genre: We accept science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and intelligent blends of the three. Do not send stories without a speculative element.

Compensation: Pay is semi-pro, 2 cents a word. Authors will receive an e-book and print version of the anthology and wholesale pricing for additional print copies (typically 50% of cover price).

Rights: We purchase North American Serial Rights, and Electronic Rights for downloadable version(s). All subsidiary rights released upon publication.

Submissions: We are a meritocracy. New authors are as welcome as those with a laundry list of accomplishments. It’s the story that will win us over. Pull us in with the first line and keep us entertained until that last paragraph ends things perfectly.

Yes, "Appetites" is our theme but try to go beyond the dinner table. Give us your longing for wonder. Lust for power. Thirst for vengeance. What do your protagonists hunger for? What hungers for them? One more thing: We all know that Soylent Green is people (spoiler!). So if your story hinges on cannibalism it better be the best-damned cannibal story we’ve ever read.

We do not accept reprints, multiple submissions, or simultaneous submissions. If we reject a story before the end of the reading period, feel free to send another.

We love creative interpretations of our themes, but we do require that stories fit the current theme.

We will run mature content if we like the story and find the mature content integral to it.

We will not accept fanfic, even if it’s based in a fictional universe that has passed into public domain.

How To Submit: Electronic submissions make our lives easier. Please upload your story via Submittable. If this is your first time using Submittable, you will need to create an account with them. Don’t worry It’s free.

Manuscript Format: Please useindustry standard manuscript format. We’re not testing you to see if you can adhere to every niggling requirement, but we do want a manuscript that is easy for us to read.

We accept manuscripts in the following formats:
== .doc or .docx (MS Word)
== .rtf (Rich Text Format — generic document format that most word processors can create)

Editorial Process: We will aim to read submissions as they are received. If a story doesn’t work for us, we’ll reject it. If we think the story has great potential but isn’t quite there yet, we request a rewrite. The ones we love the most we’ll hold onto for further consideration (you’ll get an email). These stories will fight it out amongst themselves until we have our final lineup. At which time the final acceptances will be sent out. Sort of like Enter the Dragon, but for short stories. After a story is accepted, the only changes that we will make will typically be very minor and or cosmetic.

Response: Final decisions will be made by March 31st.

Eligibility: All writers, including those who are known or even related to the editorial staff, are permitted to submit to the Triangulation anthology. That doesn’t mean they’ll automatically get published, but we will consider their work.

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28 February 2017 -- Lost Worlds -- Flame Tree Publishing

Lost Worlds will be packed with dark valleys, high mountain passes, dinosaurs, dark creations and hidden tribes, complementing works by the likes of Jules Verne, H. Rider Haggard and Arthur Conan Doyle.

We are looking for new and recent short stories. We do not require exclusivity. You hold copyright, licensing us just for this publication. We don’t mind if your story has been previously published online or in print (we do need to know publication and date). Simultaneous submissions are fine, but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology.

Word length is most likely to be successful at 2000-4000.

Submit by email to 2017@flametreepublishing.com

Fees, Copyright and Other Terms:

== We pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 6 cents per word.

== We would prefer to pay via PAYPAL because bank charges to the US and Canada in particular can be crippling for all concerned.

== Payment will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website, flametreepublishing.com for details), although we might choose to pay some early.

== Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel.

== Please submit in .doc or .rtf formats, double spaced, with your name and email address in the footer or header of each page.

== We will read each story and confirm its status within 30 working days of the submission deadline.

== The anthologies will be published worldwide, available online and to bookstores worldwide, in print and ebook formats.

== You can submit more than one story, and to each collection.

== Final submission date is 28 February 2017.

Submit by email only to: 2017@flametreepublishing.com.

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28 February 2017 -- Supernatural Horror -- Flame Tree Publishing

For Supernatural Horror, your work will join the chilling classic stories of M.R. James, Edgar Allan Poe and more.

We are looking for new and recent short stories. We do not require exclusivity. You hold copyright, licensing us just for this publication. We don’t mind if your story has been previously published online or in print (we do need to know publication and date). Simultaneous submissions are fine, but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology.

Word length is most likely to be successful at 2000-4000.

Submit by email to 2017@flametreepublishing.com

Fees, Copyright and Other Terms:

== We pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 6 cents per word.

== We would prefer to pay via PAYPAL because bank charges to the US and Canada in particular can be crippling for all concerned.

== Payment will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website, flametreepublishing.com for details), although we might choose to pay some early.

== Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel.

== Please submit in .doc or .rtf formats, double spaced, with your name and email address in the footer or header of each page.

== We will read each story and confirm its status within 30 working days of the submission deadline.

== The anthologies will be published worldwide, available online and to bookstores worldwide, in print and ebook formats.

== You can submit more than one story, and to each collection.

== Final submission date is 28 February 2017.

Submit by email only to: 2017@flametreepublishing.com.

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28 February 2017 -- Time Travel -- Flame Tree Publishing

Time Travel: from H.G. Wells to Edward Page Mitchell, tales of travelling back and forth in time have brought us ancient and future civilisations, terrifying visions and cautionary tales. Now we’re looking for some brand new stories too.

We are looking for new and recent short stories. We do not require exclusivity. You hold copyright, licensing us just for this publication. We don’t mind if your story has been previously published online or in print (we do need to know publication and date). Simultaneous submissions are fine, but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology.

Word length is most likely to be successful at 2000-4000.

Submit by email to 2017@flametreepublishing.com

Fees, Copyright and Other Terms:

== We pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 6 cents per word.

== We would prefer to pay via PAYPAL because bank charges to the US and Canada in particular can be crippling for all concerned.

== Payment will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website, flametreepublishing.com for details), although we might choose to pay some early.

== Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel.

== Please submit in .doc or .rtf formats, double spaced, with your name and email address in the footer or header of each page.

== We will read each story and confirm its status within 30 working days of the submission deadline.

== The anthologies will be published worldwide, available online and to bookstores worldwide, in print and ebook formats.

== You can submit more than one story, and to each collection.

== Final submission date is 28 February 2017.

Submit by email only to: 2017@flametreepublishing.com.

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28 February 2017 -- Heroic Fantasy -- Flame Tree Publishing

Heroic Fantasy: Somewhere between epic historical fantasy, sword and sorcery and Tolkien-esque fantasy exists a thick vein of storytelling that would make Robert E. Howard proud. We’re looking for savage swordplay, high magic, daring deeds and gaudy battles.
Formal Call for Submissions (2017)

We are looking for new and recent short stories. We do not require exclusivity. You hold copyright, licensing us just for this publication. We don’t mind if your story has been previously published online or in print (we do need to know publication and date). Simultaneous submissions are fine, but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology.

Word length is most likely to be successful at 2000-4000.

Submit by email to 2017@flametreepublishing.com

Fees, Copyright and Other Terms:

== We pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 6 cents per word.

== We would prefer to pay via PAYPAL because bank charges to the US and Canada in particular can be crippling for all concerned.

== Payment will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website, flametreepublishing.com for details), although we might choose to pay some early.

== Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel.

== Please submit in .doc or .rtf formats, double spaced, with your name and email address in the footer or header of each page.

== We will read each story and confirm its status within 30 working days of the submission deadline.

== The anthologies will be published worldwide, available online and to bookstores worldwide, in print and ebook formats.

== You can submit more than one story, and to each collection.

== Final submission date is 28 February 2017.

Submit by email only to: 2017@flametreepublishing.com.

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31 March 2017 -- This Side of the Divide -- Baobab Press

Baobab Press and the University of Nevada, Reno MFA Program in Creative Writing are partnering to publish This Side of the Divide, an anthology of short fiction by emerging and established authors exploring the United States West.

This exciting project will speak to the West’s newness, vastness, sense of territoriality and transience, spanning from untouched wilderness to hyper-urban settings. We’re seeking fresh, original views of the western U.S. Our aim is to capture this region’s unique essence in all of its cultural and geographic diversity.

All submissions will be reviewed, and accepted works will be edited by a committee of readers from Baobab Press and the UNR MFA Program in Creative Writing. Selected writers will receive a complimentary copy of the book and a payment of $100. Submitted stories should be around 3,000 to 5,000 words, and will need to be submitted for review no later than March 31st, 2017. Please send your story and a brief cover letter to divide@baobabpress.com.

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31 March 2017 -- A Fool for You -- Less Than Three Press

A Fool for You — LGBTQIA — Clowns. Pick pockets. Magicians. Jesters. Witches. Demons. Even gods. Tales of Tricksters abound in every culture, sometimes as fools, sometimes as sly schemers too smart for anyone’s good. They are often known as shape shifters and gender fluid—and they are always up to something. Sometimes for good, sometimes for evil, sometimes simply to see what happens…

Less Than Three Press invites you to submit stories of tricksters and all the mischief they can manage—and what happens when they meet their match.

THE DETAILS:
== Put SUBMISSIONS: A FOOL FOR YOU in the subject line.
== Stories should be at least 10,000 words and should not exceed approx 20,000 words in length.
== Stories must revolve around the theme of tricksters.
== Stories must have a happily ever after (HEA) or happy for now (HFN) end.
== Any sub-genre is gladly accepted: sci-fi, mystery, contemporary, steampunk, etc.
== All usual LT3 submission guidelines apply.

A Fool For You is a general release anthology, which means authors will receive a flat payment of $200.00 once LT3 has a signed contract. Authors will receive one copy each of the ebook formats LT3 produces and two copies of the paperback compilation.
Stories should be complete before submitting, and as edited as possible — do not submit a first draft. They can be submitted in any format (doc, docx, rtf, odt, etc) preferably single spaced in an easy to read font (Times, Calibri, Arial) with no special formatting (no elaborate section separation, special fonts, etc). Additional formatting guidelines can be found here.

Questions should be directed to the Editor in Chief, Samantha M. Derr, at derrs@lessthanthreepress.com (or you can ping her on twitter @rykaine). Submissions should be sent to submissions@lessthanthreepress.com.

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31 March 2017 -- Problem Daughters -- ed. Nicolette Barischoff, Rivqa Rafael & Djibril al-Ayad; Futurefire.net Publishing

Problem Daughters will amplify the voices of women who are sometimes excluded from mainstream feminism. It will be an anthology of beautiful, thoughtful, unconventional speculative fiction and poetry around the theme of intersectional feminism, focusing on the lives and experiences of marginalized women, such as those who are of color, QUILTBAG, disabled, sex workers, and all intersections of these.

Call for Submissions

Problem Daughters is an anthology of engaging tales that reflect the true complicated, colorful, intersectional nature of feminism, and of feminists.

Not every woman in every community faces the same challenges, or shares the same vision of the world. Even the most well-intentioned model of feminism can leave out many people for the sake of presenting a palatable, unified front. Are there some communities that feel underserved or ignored by the prevailing norms and priorities in feminism (women of color, disabled women)? Do some women feel openly persecuted or attacked by mainstream feminist narratives (trans, non-binary, polyamorous, asexual/aromantic, sex workers)? What experiences are unique to these women, and what problems are created when we attempt to address women as a homogeneous group with a single set of concerns?

Broadly speaking, feminist movements seek to empower women to agency, but what happens when a woman’s free and voluntary expression of agency clashes with her society’s popular notion of empowerment? What happens when her society’s model of feminism fails to address her needs, or the realities of her situation?

We’re seeking works of speculative fiction and poetry (science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternate history, slipstream, or just plain weird) that reflect and celebrate the full range of feminist experience and agency, across the globe and across time.

Who can submit?

We’re looking for narratives that don’t fit cleanly into the mainstream label of feminism: stories of women of colour, disabled and/or neuroatypical women, religious feminists, sex workers, anyone identifying as QUILTBAG, poly, or non-binary, and anyone who has struggled with their gender identity or society’s reception to it. We especially welcome work by writers who identify as belonging to any of these categories, including new or unpublished writers.

What we want:

== Humane, thoughtful, character-driven stories that invite us deep into the experience of someone who may be underserved or left out of mainstream feminism. We’re looking for compassion, empathy, insight, and nuance—not a catalogue of injustices.
== Stories that celebrate a woman’s agency in all its forms, not just the ones presently deemed acceptable by the mainstream.
== Heroines who are active, empowered participants in their own lives—whether seeking glory, fighting for survival, putting themselves in harm’s way to protect those they love, or working quietly behind the scenes, holding their communities together with both hands. Den mothers, market queens, medicine women, hunters, gatherers, warriors, monarchs, councilors, sisters and wives, lovers and fighters, whose decisions shape their world.
== Stories that expand feminism’s boundaries, rather than constraining them. Thinly-veiled rebukes of mainstream feminism are not enough; we want to move beyond “Feminism 101.”
== If a story includes a villain or villains, they should likewise be thoughtfully developed, rather than relying on tired tropes or stereotypes.


What we don’t want:

== Stories about how feminism is destructive to society or marginalizes and persecutes men, or "thoughtful" pieces about how women are better off without feminism.
== Stories about how trans women, religious women, or sex workers undermine the legitimacy of feminism.
== Body-shaming or slut-shaming.
== Stories of relentless, sadistic cruelty toward women (or anyone); explicit violence will be a very hard sell.

Length:

Fiction: Up to 7,500 words.
Poetry: Up to 60 lines.

Payment and rights:

$0.06 (6 US cents) per word for fiction, $100 flat rate for poetry, for global English first publication rights in print and digital format. Author retains copyright.

To submit:

Send your story or poems as a .docx, .doc, .rtf or .odt attachment to problemdaughters@gmail.com by March 31, 2017. Please do not submit more than one story or more than 3 poems at a time. Please do not send work that is under consideration elsewhere (no simultaneous submission) or that has been previously published (no reprints).

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1 April 2017 -- Would But Time Await -- ed. S.J. Bagley; Orford Parish Books

[NOTE: The guidelines say "until April," without giving an actual date. I'm listing this as 1 April, but be aware this is a guess on my part. Also, note that these folks want a query first and won't read manuscripts unless they get a query ahead of time. So query first, and while you're asking, find out when they actually want the story by.]

In 2017, Orford Parish Books will be releasing WOULD BUT TIME AWAIT: AN ANTHOLOGY OF NEW ENGLAND FOLK HORROR (edited by s.j. bagley, editor [and interrogator] of THINKING HORROR: A JOURNAL OF HORROR PHILOSOPHY.)

Please read and the guidelines before submitting a query and direct all queries to heksenhaus@gmail.com with the subject header ‘FOLK HORROR QUERY.’

(All stories sent without a prior query will be deleted, unread.) [Bolding mine.]

WHAT WE DEFINE AS FOLK HORROR AND WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR.

For the purposes of this project, we are defining folk horror as horror literature in which the present (which can be a year/decade of the author’s choosing) collides with the history, folklore, traditions, and psychogeography of a region and where that collision has a significant impact on the present (as defined in the work.)

We are looking for work that uses the physical, historical, and social landscapes of New England as a focal point (rather than a story that could be set anywhere else but just happens to be set in New England.)

There is a long and rich history of horrific and strange folklore in New England but that doesn’t mean a writer needs to restrict themselves to it and writers are perfectly welcome to invent their own folklore, traditions, and fictional New England locations.
We should also stress that, while Folk Horror has largely been a rural construct, we by no means consider a rural location to be necessary to any working definition of the term.
A few examples of what we consider Folk Horror in literature:

[Click through for an extensive list of examples.]

WHO CAN SUBMIT.

We are open to submissions from writers from every global region and every walk of life and, while each story needs to focus (in some manner) on the geographic region of New England (which consists of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont) we certainly don’t require that every author needs to be from that region.

We expect and encourage diversity in regard to the voices involved in this project.

DEADLINES AND SCHEDULE.

Submissions will be open until April 2017, at which point we will no longer be accepting submissions or queries.

Publication date is summer 2017 (with a more firm date to come.)

PAYMENT.

We will be paying a flat rate of $75USD upon acceptance for first rights in print and digital.

STORY CRITERIA.

Length: 2,000-10,000 words.

Each story MUST either be set in New England or contain elements of New England folklore and history.

Each story MUST be folk horror (which we fully and happily acknowledge as being a broad and diverse term but we are defining as stated above.)

No reprints.

No simultaneous submissions.

SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND BEFORE SUBMITTING:

New England is an ethnically diverse region of the United States with a long (and often sordid) history so please keep the contemporary effects of that history in mind when submitting and avoid work that portrays the indigenous people and tribes of New England in a racist, bigoted, or stereotypical sense and please avoid stereotypes of the poor, and economically disenfranchised, all races, genders, sexes, sexualities, (dis)abilities, faiths, and anything that targets marginalized people.

In general, we are looking to avoid depictions of sexual violence (unless written with extreme care, an actual point beyond the simple violence of it, and, above all, empathy toward victims of sexual violence.)

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15 April 2017 -- Cat's Breakfast -- Third Flatiron

Science fiction/satire. Now at the 10th anniversary of his death, Wikipedia says Kurt Vonnegut was famous for his "gallows humor." E.E. King put it another way, citing his "sideways, humorous, skeptical view." We want this anthology to pay tribute to the imagination and inspiration of the ineffable Mr. Vonnegut.

Third Flatiron Publishing is based in Boulder, Colorado, and Ayr, Scotland. We are looking for submissions to our quarterly themed anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We want tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Light horror is acceptable, provided it fits the theme.

Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Inquire if longer.

Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today.

For each anthology, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred.

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30 April 2017 -- SNAFU Judgement Day -- ed. Amanda J Spedding and Geoff Brown; Cohesion Press

Post-apocalyptic military horror.

The end of the world as we know it.

What we want: Invading space aliens, demonic invasion as in Doom, DNA-grafted dinosaurs taking over the planet, manmade viral infections that nearly wipe out humanity, or artificial intelligence like in Terminator… anything you can think of that would bring about the end of the world. And SOLDIERS!

Tell us about what happens during the worst of the fall of humanity or afterwards.

No zombies. That’s already taken care of.

Full action. Nothing less.

Hoo-rah!

Payment: AUD4c/word and one contributor copy in each format released.

Wordcount range: 2,000 – 10,000 words (query for shorter or longer)

No selections will be made until after the period closes.

Projected publication date: Late 2017

We will have some solicited authors alongside the open call, with the first being Jonathan Maberry.

Please follow these guidelines when submitting to us:

== Please put your full contact details on the first page of the manuscript top left, with word count top right.
== Standard submission format, with minimal document formatting.
== Courier or Times New Roman set at 12pt. Italics as they will appear. No underlining.
== Double spaced.
== Please don’t use TAB or space bar to indent lines. Use ‘styles’ only. If unsure or using a program that has no styles, DO NOT indent at all. That’s still cool.
== NO SPACE between paragraphs unless a line-break is required. ONE SPACE after full stops.
== Please put full contact details on the first page of the manuscript (yes, I said this twice… it’s important).
== Send your submission to Geoff Brown at submissions@cohesionpress.com as an attachment (.doc/.rtf only)
== In the subject line of your email, please put JudgementDay: [STORY TITLE] (Replace [STORY TITLE] with your actual story title. Yes, unfortunately I do need to state this)

NO MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS

NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS

NO REPRINTS

Please include a brief ‘hello, this is who I am’ in your email body as a cover letter.

Blank emails with attachments will be deleted.

For a guide to standard submission format, see: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html

The only variations to this format are that italics MUST appear as they will be used – no underlining – and again, only one space after a full stop.
Anyone that fails to follow these guidelines will likely see their story shredded by zombie mutant creatures.

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30 April 2017 -- Unidentified Funny Objects 6 -- ed. Alex Shvartsman

Unidentified Funny Objects is an annual anthology of humorous SF/F. Past headliners include George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Esther Friesner, David Gerrold, Laura Resnick, Mike Resnick, Piers Anthony, Kevin J. Anderson, etc.

For UFO6 we’re seeking all style and sub-genres of speculative humor.

SUBMISSION WINDOW: April 1 – April 30, 2017

LENGTH: 500-5000 words.

PAYMENT: $0.10 per word + contributor copy. Payment will be made upon acceptance. Our preferred method of payment is via PayPal, but you may request a check.

FORMAT: RTF or DOC. Standard Manuscript Format or something close to. (We won’t take points off if you prefer Courier over Times New Roman or some such).

SEND TO: Upload your stories via this submissions link.

Limit of 1 submission per author — even if you receive a response before the submission window closes please do not send another story unless directly invited to do so.

Please do not respond to rejections. The email address associated with submissions is not monitored. If you wish to query for any reason, please use the contact form or e-mail us: ufopublishing at gmail dot com.

RIGHTS SOUGHT: First Worldwide print and electronic English Language rights. Exclusivity for 90 days from date of release. Non-exclusive print, e-book, and audio rights afterward. Preview sample contract.

POLICIES & RESPONSE TIME: No reprints, multiple or simultaneous submissions please. Do not send any stories we already considered for a previous UFO volume or any other anthology edited by Alex Shvartsman. You may query after 30 days. Please send only one submission per author unless directly invited to send more.

WHAT WE WANT:

We’re looking for speculative stories with a strong humor element. Think Resnick and Sheckley, Fredric Brown and Douglas Adams. We welcome quality flash fiction and non-traditional narratives. Take chances, try something new, just make sure that your story is funny.

Puns and stories that are little more than vehicles for delivering a punch line at the end aren’t likely to win us over. The best way to learn what we like in general is to read a previous volume.

WHAT WE DON’T WANT:

These are the tropes we see entirely too much of in the slush pile. You will improve your odds if you steer clear of these:

* Zombies
* Vampires
* Deals with the Devil / Djinn in a bottle variants
* Stereotypical aliens probing people, abducting cattle, and doing other stereotypical alien things.