Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, with "Always Open" and "Until Filled" markets (if any) at the bottom.
Markets open only to writers in a limited demographic are marked with a [NOTE:] from me, in italics, right after the main header.
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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30 September 19 -- AfroMyth 2: A Fantasy Collection -- Afrocentric Books
AfroMyth 2: A Fantasy Collection is open for submissions.
We want adult stories. No erotica, though some erotic or romance elements are acceptable. Magic, gods, mysticism, mythical creatures. Bring us old fairy tales with an Afrocentric twist. We are interested in new gods or ancient ones, old religions, houngans, potions, and spells. Your story can be adapted from African folklore or modern tales. You aren’t restricted in your chosen setting, but priority will be given to stories featuring human characters who live in this world or some version of it.
We want diverse characters in diverse settings, with a main character of indigenous African descent. Please read our general submission guidelines prior to submitting. 1,000-7,500 words, although we’ll consider pieces that fall outside those parameters on a case-by-case basis. Multiple and simultaneous submissions ok. No reprints.
If accepted, pay is $0.015 (1.5 cents) per word PLUS one print copy of the novel (you must provide an address to which the US Postal Service can deliver).
AfroMyth short stories MUST be submitted via Submittable.
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11 October 19 -- Return to San Cicaro -- Thunderbird Studios
Earlier this year we did an open call and produced Welcome to San Cicaro, the first of Thunderbird Studios’ original anthologies. We got some great stories and exciting new writers, and had a blast doing it. In fact, we enjoyed it so much… we’re doing it again!
Once more, we’re taking another plunge into the mysterious, paranormal jewel of the Golden State—San Cicaro. Want to play in our city? Here’s another chance.
As before, we’re looking for yarns of dark urban fantasy, the weird, the macabre and the hopeful. Tell us of unassuming teenagers stumbling upon witch meetups, who weave spells for good or ill. Of hell-born creatures leaving scenes of carnage that confound the police. Of trolls trying to fit into the society of the homeless. We want them all.
The best way of course to understand the vibe and atmosphere of the stories we are looking for is to pick up a copy of Welcome to San Cicaro, and give it a read. You can also check our prior call for more details.
Details:
Submitted short stories should have a minimum of around 5,000 words up to a soft limit of 8,000 words. We can go as high as 10,000 but will be looking to whittle that down. Formatting should follow William-Shunn guidelines.
Aside from editing and proofreading your work, the editors will also make very minor changes to fit your tale into San Cicaro itself. We may recommend street names, slightly modify passages to mention landmarks, or other such continuity tweaks. Most importantly, we may connect your story not only to the prior anthology, but to stories published in this release. Our ultimate goal is to add tiny details that join your story into a greater, connected narrative.
Authors will be recompensed with a one-time payment of $135 for five-year publication rights, with exclusive rights for the first year, non-exclusive after that. Note that this is an improvement over last year, and that we’re also retroactively increasing the pay for the prior anthology’s authors. If we do a third anthology, we will likely increase payment again to match.
Please submit to the open call at admin@tbirdstudios.com with the subject line "San Cicaro." In the body please include a cover letter about yourself, including links to your bibliography and any details about your story. The story itself should be an attachment of file type RTF, DOC or DOCX. No multiple submissions (just one story per person) and no simultaneous submissions (don’t submit the same story to other publishers) please. We also want original stories only; nothing that has been published before. This includes stories hosted on your blog or published for your Patreon followers.
Thematic Rules:
== Please invent. If your story calls for a landmark, business or ethnoburb (like a Koreatown), just create it. Please create your own characters and avoid reusing existing ones.
== Don’t explain the mystery. Hypothesize all you like, but keep the supernatural stuff fairly underground. We’re really not wild about a POV character who shows up with all the answers.
== Play with next generation technologies. Despite the times, San Cicaro’s hospitals and research firms are still cutting edge. What if fairy livers had powerful medicinal properties? Or if troll muscle fibers were the key to human regeneration? Just keep it under serious NDA.
== No world-destroying monsters. A werewolf or vampire who stalks the night is great. Zombies are fine. But the zombie apocalypse is not.
== Get cultural. We love diving into the origins of supernatural creatures. The etymology, how superstitions have changed, how Hollywood got it wrong. Although our focus is to entertain, discovery of true-to-life folklore is a bonus.
== Don’t go too big. We’re not here for dragons, giants or anything too noticeable. We’ve done so once and we’d rather not repeat it. San Cicaro works best when the magic is at least a little ambiguous.
== Reference the first anthology. We encourage links to past stories, as it creates a sense of continuity and history. However, be conscious of what outsider POVs would actually know about. A good rule of thumb; if an event would be big enough to make it into the local newspaper, it’ll probably be referenced elsewhere. We don’t want characters who are omniscient about all San Cicaro’s mysteries.
== No aliens. No UFOs, no invasions.
== Use extreme subject matter with care. Vivid gore doesn’t wow us. Consensual gratuitous sex scenes are a tough sell. The non-consensual variety are a hard no. We want stories, not shock.
Closing Notes:
If you have further questions or want to ask about an idea or landmark (akin to the San Diego Zoo or the Golden Gate Bridge), feel free to inquire with us. Just send an email to admin@tbirdstudios.com with the subject line “San Cicaro Question.” Likewise if you want to make a dedication to someone, let us know with your submission and we’ll name a street after them. We’d like to give a huge thanks to Cerqueira over on Unsplash for the great picture we used for the banner. And be sure to check out the San Cicaro Pulse for more open call tips. Good luck to everyone submitting, we can’t wait to read your work and re-immerse ourselves in the strange and exotic world of San Cicaro!
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31 October 19 -- Monsters, Movies & Mayhem -- ed. Kevin J. Anderson; WordFire Press
Lights! Camera! Monsters?
We’ve all experienced a night out at the movies. Are you old enough to remember the drive in? Do you dare build a movie theater in your basement and invite monsters and mayhem to your home? Monsters, Movies, & Mayhem is a collection of tales involving monsters and the chaos they create in the movie world.
Your monster may be that unidentifiable substance growing at the back of the popcorn popper at your local theater concession stand; the zombie who wants to be a movie star but is tired of being typecast; the scriptwriter’s muse who turns out to be an alien with an agenda; the diva director who comes in to "save" your latest film. The monster does not have to be the main character, but does have to be vital to the story. (No copyrighted characters or REAL movies, please!) Movies can be interpreted as a story set within a fully conscious cinematic world, or involving the act of watching a film, or having a character who thoroughly enjoys movies. And mayhem should speak for itself.
Unleash your inner beast and keep the rest of us awake at night with your stories of humor, horror, or plain ol' weirdness. Funny or grim, unsettling or cozy, we are open to anything. Make us laugh! Make us sigh! Make us scream!
Genre: Original short stories that feature a monster in a movie setting, to include a mix of science fiction, fantasy, horror, alien, magical, witchcraft, AI, and romance elements. Must be appropriate for a "PG-13" audience. Please, no copyrighted characters and no real movies.
Length: up to 6000 words
Rate: 6¢/word on acceptance
Rights: First Anthology Rights; rights revert to author one month after publication; publisher retains non-exclusive right to include in anthology as a whole
Submit stories in a Microsoft Word or RTF file in standard manuscript format to submissions@western.edu
One submission per person, please.
Edited by Kevin J. Anderson with an editorial team provided by Western Colorado University Graduate Program in Creative Writing, Publishing MA students.
Anthology made possible by a generous contribution from Draft2Digital.
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31 October 19 -- Pulp Horror Phobias Vol. 2 -- Lycan Valley Press
If you're interested in submitting to Volume 2, we suggest taking a look at the stories in Volume 1 for a general idea on theme and style. Also, check out our Resources page on our website regarding pulp and the types of stories we are looking for in this series.
All stories must be considered pulp/noir and fit the theme.
Theme: Anything you might find, or come into contact with, inside or around a house or home. Please note, this is a very broad theme so get creative and come up with something new and unusual. Common phobias such as arachnophobia, claustrophobia and agoraphobia, although relevant to the theme, must bring something new. Likewise, hauntings and possessions must bring more than your average ghost story.
Stories deliberately set inside a house or in a yard/farm/etc near a house if it's fitting for the story as well.(stretching the theme is fine but simply mentioning there is a house nearby isn't enough to fit the theme).
ABSOLUTELY NO PIZZA STORIES. Sorry, bring us something new.
Details: Phobias are defined as an irrational and extreme fear to something. Some of the most widely known phobias include arachnophobia, claustrophobia, agoraphobia, acrophobia, etc. Anything can be a phobia if it irrationally causes an intense and debilitating fear.
What happens when these irrational fears/phobias become reality? Make the fears and the horrors associated with that fear real. Make them come alive. Take them from irrational to rational. Give us, the readers, a reason to be scared, not just the characters.
We don’t want characters sitting on a sofa in the psychiatrist’s office detailing their childhood or even characters with diagnosed (or undiagnosed) phobias necessarily. Your story should focus on the object of the phobia rather than the phobia itself. We want you to make these phobias come to life in ways that will make readers sleep with the lights on, double check the locks on their doors and question reality. We don't want therapy sessions.
There must be a strong pulp/noir element to the story as well. If you’re unfamiliar with the original pulp magazines and stories, please do some research before submitting. Check out Black Mask Magazine http://www.blackmaskmagazine.com/ and here’s a pulp archive to get you started (warning: reading on this website may be addictive).
http://www.pulpmags.org/ and also here https://archive.org/details/pulpmagazinearchive.
Although you are free to write in your own style and that which best suits the story, Lester Dent’s Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot is here for reference should you wish to use it. http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/dent.html
Word count: 4,000 to 6,000
Payment: $0.04 per word
Titles: Please do not use the name of the phobia itself in your story titles. Submission titles must follow the format as shown on the submission form.
Formatting: Blind submissions are not required. Please follow Shunn Short Story Manuscript formatting which can be found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html. Or use the downloadable template for Word found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/templates.html
Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: No simultaneous submissions. Multiple submissions from the same author for two different phobias will be considered but please note that only one story per author will be accepted to allow for greater variety and diversity. Previously unpublished stories only, no reprints unless requested by the editor.
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31 November 19 -- The Black Beacon Book of Mystery -- Black Beacon Books
Here are the details:
Response time: We'll aim for the end of January 2020 at the latest
Publication: Planned for late 2020
What we want: This anthology will combine the best new mysteries with classic reprints from yesteryear, so give us a masterful tale. You'll need an engaging and memorable protagonist who can hold his or her own against Sherlock Holmes and Auguste Dupin. Above all, we want a clever puzzle the reader can try to solve. Throw in clues and red herrings, make our readers work their "little grey cells", as Hercule Poirot puts it. The mystery could be a crime, but it could also be a historical or archaeological investigation, a treasure hunt, getting to the bottom of a local legend... it's up to you, but it must be a mystery the reader can delve into and try to solve before your protagonist. Think Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Inspector Morse, Jonathan Creek, even Nancy Drew or Scooby Doo, but be damned clever about it! Get moving! The game's afoot!
Length:
Short stories between 2,500 and 7,000 words
Novellas up to 25,000 words
Rates:
1 penny (GBP) per word for original short stories
100 pounds for original novellas / flat rate
10 pounds for reprints / flat rate
All contributors will receive one print copy
Please read the full guidelines below before submitting.
GENERAL GUIDELINES AND DETAILS
Please only submit one story per publication. No simultaneous submissions for original fiction.
Languages accepted:
English and French / anglais et français
Black Beacon Books is based in France but publishes in English. As such, we accept submissions in both English and French. Any French submissions accepted will be translated into English for publication. / Black Beacon Books est une maison d'édition de langue anglaise basée en France. Nous acceptons des nouvelles écrites en français mais elles seront traduites et publiées en anglais.
What we expect from authors:
1) We strongly recommend you purchase a copy of a previous anthology to be sure you want to be part of our team. We're choosing stories for our anthology, but you're also choosing a home for your work. We want you to feel you've made the right choice.
2) Please submit quality writing and be prepared to work with the team to make your story the very best it can be.
3) If your submission is successful, we need you to help promote the anthology through word-of-mouth and online networking.
Legal disclaimer:
1) Original Fiction: Inclusion in the anthology means that you give BBB First World English rights (this means your story will appear in this anthology for the first time in English, covering both electronic and print publications). After the official release of the anthology, all rights revert to the Author, and BBB will not publish it in any other publication without your permission.
2) Reprints: We purchase Non-Exclusive Reprint rights, which means your previously published story can be sold to other publications at the same time and at any time after our anthology. Of course, it is your duty as the Author to ensure you retain the relevant rights to reprints submitted to us. You should tell us where your story was first published so we can provide appropriate credit to the original publisher within our anthology.
Details on rights can be found at Writing-World.
How to submit:
Please note that we use British English conventions. Submissions are encouraged from all over the world but be aware that the editor may wish to make changes to those containing North American usages.
For submissions in English, the editor requires:
- All grammar and punctuation to be used appropriately. This is your best friend: https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/grammar-and-usage, and if you don't know how to use commas, visit these sites: https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/comma and https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp
In terms of comma usage, here are three simple examples of what we require:
Yesterday, I followed him home.
As soon as I hear from him, I'll let you know.
I bought an axe, rope, and a box of matches.
- Quotation marks to be single for general dialogue.
- Only one space at the end of sentences.
- Formatted indentation for paragraphs. Do not use the space bar or tab bar.
- The use of italics. Do NOT replace them with an underline.
Once you've finished your tale and edited it... and edited again, and asked your mum and dog to proof-read it, send it as a .doc (NO .docx) or .rtf file to blackbeaconbooks (at) gmail.com
Be sure to include your contact details in your email AND in the file. In the subject of your email, write: "BBB Submission".
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UNTIL FILLED -- Burly Tales -- ed. Steve Berman; Lethe Press [First posted in July '19]
This anthology, to be edited by Steve Berman, seeks short stories and novellettes that adapt classic fairy tales. But we want them populated with Bears! Strapping heroes are fine as long as they are stout. All the stories should have a measure of whimsy and/or wonder.
Before submitting your story, please consult this page - we would rather not double-up on any original fairy tale idea (we fear we'd end up with a book that was mostly about a gang of male Goldilocks roaming the woods and asking one another "Too hot? Too cold? More please!") - so I will be listing any fairy tale that we no longer are interested in reading. Yes, rather than wait a year to hear from us, the entire open period will have "rolling acceptances."
.........please no stories based on Little Red Riding Hood
All stories should be romantic (HEA or HFN). Erotic content is not a necessity but our burly men should be sex-positive about their lives.
Specs: Please submit Word docs only, standard formatting, 12 pt Times Roman to me at lethepress@aol.com, using the title of the anthology as the subject line. No stories below 5k and none greater than 15. Reading period begins August 1st, 2019. Payment is 5 cents a word for original fiction, considerably less for reprints.
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UNTIL FILLED -- Of Witches, Warriors, and Wyverns -- TANSTAAFL Press [First Posted in September '19]
We now have an OPEN call for the high fantasy anthology “Of Witches, Warriors, and Wyverns”.
Guidelines:
We will only accept those stories emailed as text in the email OR .txt, .doc, .docx formats.
== All attachments will be destroyed if not accepted.
== All attachments MUST contain the submission title, the author’s name, the author’s contact information (email as minimum)
==== Email address is submissions@tanstaaflpress.com
== We will not accept stories by mail or post. If we receive these they will be destroyed at once.
== All stories must be original and unpublished anywhere
==== If accepted TANSTAAFL Press will take first English publication rights.
====== Note that reprint rights are yours as are first publication in alternate languages, however the value of reprints is low as are the likelihood of getting anyone to reprint.
====== This publication is likely the only location where you will likely be paid for this piece.
== Stories must be less than 8000 words. Any story over 5000 words must be exceptional to be considered.
== Stories considered for “Of Witches, Warriors, and Wyverns” must be high fantasy.
==== We will not accept urban fantasy, or combinations of technology and fantasy.
====== To be clear, no technology beyond waterwheel or windmill.
==== Any work that starts with or has as a major component a dream sequence will be rejected without a response.
==== We also advise against any of the following:
====== Write-ups of your role playing sessions.
====== Any story that has something that makes someone invincible.
====== Avoid werewolves and vampires.
== TANSTAAFL Press will attempt to get to submissions as quickly as possible, but make no commitment to how quickly. Our target is to have this work available by GenCon 2020 thus we must be complete with story selection nlt November.
== TANSTAAFL Press will read submissions until we have our target word count, which at this time is circa 70K words.
Payments / Renumeration
Of Witches, Warriors and Wyverns will pay for each story used at $0.025 per word. Authors who’ve published with TANSTAAFL Press before will receive $0.03 per word.
TANSTAAFL Press will pay upon the finalization of three criteria:
== Acceptance of your edited work
==== This means if there are changes requested that they have been completed.
== Signed contract with TANSTAAFL Press for publication of this work
==== Come see our tentative contract. It hasn’t been fully vetted but it will be close.
== All works for publication have been accepted and signed.
==== That is, we will pay you when we have the full manuscript in hand.
==== You will not have to wait for TANSTAAFL Press to actually publish.
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