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.
Note that Disturbia has closed early.
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31 March 20 -- Midnight in the Pentagram -- Silver Shamrock Publishing
IT’S TIME TO MAKE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL…
With the success of our first Midnight anthology, Midnight in the Graveyard, it’s time to roll out the 2nd in the series, Midnight in the Pentagram.
Silver Shamrock Publishing is now accepting submissions for the Midnight in the Pentagram anthology.
We are looking for original Occult/Demons/Possession/Satanism horror stories with an Exorcist/The Omen/Rosemary’s Baby/Hereditary meets EC Comics/ Creepshow/Tales From the Crypt kind of vibe.
Specific submission guidelines:
Submit by email to: kmckinley@silvershamrockpublishing.com
Length: up to 6000 words
Format: Preferred format is Doc or Docx, double-spaced with author email at the top of the first page.
-- Please use the anthology title, MIDNIGHT IN THE PENTAGRAM, in the subject heading of your email.
-- A writer's CV with a summary of previous publications, awards, recognition, influences hometown and social media links.
-- The word count.
-- Acknowledgement of receipt of your manuscript will be emailed within 3 business days
-- Successful authors will receive a contract upon acceptance. Once we have a signed contract by the author and Silver Shamrock Publishing, payment will be made within 30 days via PayPal.
Payment: Professional rate of $0.06/word.
Note: This is an invitation AND open-submission anthology (approx. 75% invitation/25% open-submission). With the All-Star cast of horror writers we assemble, this will prove to be a very competitive open-submission, with us only taking the very best entries.
Good luck!
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31 March 20 -- Geek Out! III -- ed. Sage Kalmus; Qommunicate Publishing
[NOTE: Submissions open to GLBT+ writers only.]
Please read the following submission guidelines carefully before submitting your work to Geek Out! III If you have any questions not answered below, please write us at submissions@qommunicatepublishing.com and we will be happy to answer.
Theme
Where queer meets geek. Whatever you geek out about, we want to read it!
Genres
== Genre Fiction: Scifi, fantasy, western, noir, horror, romance, etc.
== Creative Nonfiction (non-memoir based): opinion essays, topical articles, reviews, interviews, profiles, humor, etc.
== Poetry: Experimental, slam and non-traditional formats
== Comics / Graphic short stories (black & white only)
== Scripts: short stage plays, teleplays, screenplays, video scripts, etc.
== Visual Art: LGBTQ+ themed (non-erotic).
Not Looking For
We are not looking for work in the following genres for this particular publication. (See our other Submission Guidelines homepage for other publications with upcoming deadlines seeking work in these genres.)
== Literary Fiction
== Memoir-based Nonfiction
== Traditional Poetry
Additionally, we rarely accept work in the following genres:
== Erotica
== Work written for children
Length (all word/page counts are loose)
== Prose: up to 7,500 words
== Poetry: up to 3 pages (per poem)
== Comics & Scripts: up to 10 pages
== Visual Art: Submit up to 5 images.
These maximums are recommended but flexible. Please number submissions of longer than 10 pages.
Formats
== All submissions of writing must be typed. No handwritten submissions will be accepted.
== Digital art files should be at least 300 dpi resolution.
== PLEASE EDIT YOUR WORK.
== If you send your submission in, please do NOT mail us your only copy of your work. We can not be responsible for returning submissions.
Multiple Submissions
== Multiple submissions (submissions of more than one work) are fine. Send us what you’ve got!
Simultaneous Submissions
== Simultaneous submissions (submitting work you’ve already submitted–or are planning on submitting–elsewhere) are fine too.
== Please just be sure that if your submission gets accepted elsewhere, you contact us at submissions@qommunicatepublishing.com to withdraw it from consideration for Geek Out! III
Reprints
== Reprints will NOT be considered.
Rights
== We are seeking First English Anthology Rights and First World Anthology Rights in print and ebook formats.
== NOTE: These rights only allow the material to be used in the anthology and its reprints, and the writer retains all rights to their work not specified here (i.e. in the contract), including copyright to their work.
== We are also seeking, for all material, Non-exclusive Excerpt Rights (for the purposes of promoting the Anthology on the website).
Compensation
== Writing contributors will receive $5 per printed page.
== Artwork contributors will receive $15 per piece.
[NOTE: There's no way to tell exactly how many cents/word they'll be paying; it depends on the size of the pages, the size of the typeface, and the density of the writing on any given page. (A page with many short lines of dialogue will have a lot fewer words than a page full of long paragraphs of description or narration.) A standard manuscript page is counted as approximately 250 words, which works out to about 2 cents per word. I'm assuming a "printed" page will be less than twice that, which means this market squeaks in just past my guidelines, to give them the benefit of the doubt. Keep this in mind, though, when you decide whether to sub here.]
What to Submit
== Your submission
== A brief bio telling us something about you and (if applicable) any publishing experience
== At least one form of contact information (phone number, email, or mailing address. Please do not give a social media account handle as your only form of contact information.
== IMPORTANT: Pen names are acceptable. However, for contractual purposes, all submissions must also include the author’s legal name.
== Please identify in the subject line or cover letter the publication to which you’re submitting, though keep in mind we may consider your work for other books we publish too if we find them appropriate. If you only want your work considered for this one book and no others, please indicate as such.
Where to Submit
Submissions may be emailed to us at: submissions@qommunicatepublishing.com or mailed to us at:
Qommunity
201 Lancelot Lane
Becket, MA 01223
AGAIN, MAILED SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE RETURNED
Response Time
We do our best to respond to all submissions within 3 months of receiving them. If you haven’t heard from us in that time, please feel free to reach out.
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31 March 20 -- SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire -- Mocha Memoirs Press
SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire will follow the steps of our previous published bestseller anthologies An Improbable Truth: The Paranormal Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters (A Bram Stoker nominee).
What we are looking for: Vampires have been around in the horror genre for centuries. We are looking to tell a different vampire story. Ones where they may sparkle, but it is a dark one. This call is seeking unpublished short stories that tell stories of the vampire noire, the black vampire. We want stories of vampire hunters, of anti-vampiric heroes/heroines, and more. If you can take the story out of westernized culture, we'd love to see those, too! We want stories that speak of inclusivity. So, if your vampire is disabled or suffers from an alignment, send those stories too. LGBTQ+ stories are also encouraged. To point, we want stories from the African diaspora.
If you do not follow the guidelines, your submission will be deleted unread. Seriously, read the guidelines. Follow them.
Upon results of a successful crowdfunding campaign, we will pay HWA pro-rate of .05 per word for publication for First World Rights.
Still interested? Here are the guidelines.
== Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 5,000 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology, meaning the protagonist must be from the African Diaspora. Remember, this entire anthology is dedicated to stories of the black vampire. They can be in space, superheroes, but they must be from the African Diaspora.
== Manuscripts should be in Shunn manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use Times New Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author's name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author's real name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.
== Attach the story in either .docx, .doc, and send it to mochamemoirspress AT gmail.com
== Subject: SLAY Submission: Title of Short story-Author Name
== Save your File as STORY TITLE-AUTHOR NAME
Here is our list of don’t:
== No revenge stories.
== No erotica.
== No Bestiality.
== No underage sex with minors, bestiality, or racist rants/racist storylines.
Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of July 2020.
***
30 April 2020 [OR UNTIL FILLED] -- Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered -- ed. Steven R. Southard; Pole to Pole Publishing
Opening January 1, 2020 [DO NOT SUBMIT until this date]
Pole to Pole Publishing is seeking fictional short stories for its upcoming anthology, Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered, to be published in June 2020, on the sesquicentennial of Jules Verne's work.
Since June 20, 1870, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea has been hailed as a classic, translated and reprinted in numerous book versions, transcribed for stage, movies, and TV miniseries, made into video games and a theme park ride. The book has inspired countless submariners, undersea explorers, and ship designers, not to mention armchair adventurers. We can't let this anniversary pass unnoticed, so will launch this anthology as our tribute to the Father of Science Fiction and his masterwork. Pole to Pole Publishing welcomes Steven R. Southard as a co-editor of this anthology.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered will contain short stories that pay tribute in some way to Jules Verne’s novel. Set your story in any time or place; use characters from Verne’s novel or make up your own. You need not write in Verne's style. The mood of your story need not be dark, as other Pole to Pole Publishing anthologies have been. Aim to capture, in your own way, the sense of wonder and adventure for which Jules Verne is famous. The connection between your story and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea must be obvious and significant, and your story must not disparage either the novel or its author.
Stories should be 3,000-5,000 words (firm).
Hard Sells:
== Profane and vulgar language. Because we market to both adult and YA readers, if you use an F-Bomb, and we accept your story, we'll probably ask you to change it.
== First person and Present Tense. We've published both: when the stories were very, very good. We want to let you know up front that we're going to reject this most of the time. It's just not our preference.
== Excessive Gore and/or violence. Blood and guts are fine—as long as they're part of the story and not the story itself.
== Sex. See above about marketing to a wider audience.
Edition and Rights:
==Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered will be published in electronic and trade paperback in English. We are asking for exclusive, worldwide rights to your work for both electronic and print for six months only, and a non-exclusive right to keep your story in the anthology after that.
==Payment: Payment is 2¢ per word for original stories ($15 flat rate for reprints), paid at publication, via PayPal only.
==If you do not have a PayPal account, please do not submit your work.
==Authors will also receive one copy of both the electronic and paperback versions of the anthology. (Authors can buy additional books at a discount.)
What We Don't Want:
==No rape, torture, etc. of children. No animal abuse. No stories with characters from a copyrighted world that belongs to someone else. (Note: both Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island are in the public domain.) No Poetry. Only one story from each author will be considered.
Formatting:
==No tabs. Please format the document with a first line indent.
==Curly quotes, please—no straight quotes.
==Please, no headers or footers. Use italics, not underlines. No boldface. Use Times New Roman font.
If you’re not sure if your story is suitable, don't query; just go ahead and submit, and let our editors decide. (Word count is firm, however.) If your story is a reprint, please give us details of its publication history.
Opens: January 1, 2020
Deadline: April 30, 2020, or until filled. Be aware that all of our anthologies have filled before the deadline, so don't wait until the last minute to submit.
***
30 April 2020 [OR UNTIL FILLED] -- Historic Fantasy -- 87 Bedford
What we want
Five original, previously unpublished, literary fantasy short stories between 1000 to 5000 words for our Historic Fantasy Anthology. We are seeking stories that offer a riveting reimagining of a historic time period imbued with fantasy and magic. As always, we prefer stories with a literary quality built upon strong characters, spellbinding language, and believable world-building.
If your work is accepted, we will ask you to send us an author’s note (around few hundred words) related to the story that we can include in the anthology.
*
Deadline
We will be accepting submissions until April 30, 2020, or whenever the anthology is filled. The anthology will be published within ninety (90) thereafter.
*
Response Time, Simultaneous, & Multiple Submissions
We will do our best to respond to your submission within one month. Please feel free to check-in with us if you have not heard back after four weeks.
We allow simultaneous submissions but ask that you notify us as soon as your story is accepted elsewhere
We do not accept multiple submissions. You are welcome to submit again as soon once we have responded to a previous submission.
*
Editing, Rights, & Payment
If we accept your work, we may request minor line-edits for grammar, punctuation and clarity. You will have the opportunity to review and discuss all edits with us before the final version of your work is published.
*
We ask for First World Serial Rights, First World Electronic Rights and Exclusive Rights for ninety (90) days from the date of first publication. We also ask for Non-exclusive Anthology Rights. Lastly, we ask for Non-exclusive Audio Rights to publish an audio podcast of the work if we so choose. Stories will be published on both our website and as part of the anthology.
The author retains copyright and ownership of the work. All rights revert back to the author after ninety (90) days.
*
We pay $0.08 per word. Payment will be made through PayPal (preferred) or mailed by check, upon publication. We will also send you a digital copy of the final anthology.
All published works will be credited with a byline, and contributors will be featured on our Contributors Page.
*
Formatting and Submitting
All fiction manuscripts should be in standard manuscript format. Most important: double-spaced, 12 pt standard font (e.g. Times, Arial, Courier), and page numbers.
*
Please email all submissions to submit87bedford@gmail.com and include in the subject field the word "Anthology," the name of the piece, and approximate word count. Example: Anthology – "The Loyal Samurai" (6000). Please include your work as a separate attachment (.DOC, .DOCX., .RTF) to the email.
We look forward to receiving your work!
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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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If you've found this listing useful, and especially if you've sold a story to a market you found here (score!) I'd love to hear about it. You can e-mail me at angiepen at gmail dot com.
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