Hi to all the writers out there. For those of you who do, thanks for supporting my Patreon. If you're just looking, that's cool -- luck with your submissions! This is the November anthology listing, including open anthologies with deadlines between 30 September and 1 December.
Occasionally a promising anthology will be missing some key info, or something will be confusing; I'll include the book in this list and e-mail my question to the editor. When/if the editor gets back to me, I'll update the book's entry and the new version will be included in the next month's post. There'll be [a note from me] in the entry, indicating that there's an outstanding query. (Or for any other notes I add.)
Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, while "Always Open" and "Until Filled" markets (if any) are 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 Sep 20 -- Funny Queer -- Qommunicate Publishing
[NOTE: this is an extended deadline. The original deadline for this book was 30 June 19.]
Seeking humorous original work by and/or about LGBTQ+ people and lives. This is a positive publication celebrating the LGBTQ+ community through the lens of humor. Only pieces supporting this mission will be considered. No homophobic, transphobic or hateful material will be considered.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Please read the following submission guidelines carefully before submitting your work to Funny Queer. If you have any questions not answered below, please write us at [email protected] and we will be happy to answer.
Theme
Humor by and/or about LGBTQ+ people. The only criteria is it makes us laugh!
Genres:
Anything meeting the theme, including:
== Fiction.
== Nonfiction.
== Jokes.
== Comics/graphic shorts (black and white only).
== Poems.
== Short scripts.
We will NOT consider:
== Erotica
== Work written for children
Length:
== Prose: up to 3,500 words
== Poetry: Up to 3 pages
== Comics & Scripts: up to 10 pages
These length recommendations are flexible.
Formats:
== All submissions must be typed. No handwritten submissions will be accepted.
== 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 [email protected] to withdraw it from consideration for Funny Queer.
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:
== Contributors will receive, as a humble token of our appreciation, $5 per printed page, and contributors of art 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.
Where to Submit:
Submissions may be emailed to us at: [email protected]nicatepublishing.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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1 Oct 20 -- Bludgeon Tools -- ed. K. Trap Jones; The Evil Cookie
Bludgeon Tools, inc. will be expanding their sales and distribution lines. The company will be accepting applications for employment and looking for creative employees with excellent customer service.
· 3,000 word max
· Must have elements of Splatterpunk.
· This is a “Tool” themed anthology.
· NO REPRINTS
· No simultaneous submissions
· No violence/sex towards children or religious plots.
· Pay: 3c per word paid through Paypal + (1) print contributor copy
· 1-year exclusive rights
· Send as a .DOC or .DOCX attachment to [email protected] with the subject line: TOOLS SUBMISSION: Title by Author Name
· Do not copy/paste story in body of email.
· Include a very brief bio just to break the ice.
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31 Oct 2020 -- Chiral Mad 5 -- ed. Michael Bailey; Written Backwards
The End Is the Beginning / The Beginning Is the End
That's the theme for the fifth and perhaps final volume in the Chiral Mad series by Written Backwards. This anthology will be edited by Michael Bailey, recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Award, Bram Stoker Award, and a Shirley Jackson Award nominee. Is this the beginning of the end for Written Backwards, or will this be the end to a new beginning? You get to help decide. And while we're at it, we are going to raise some serious funds for Black Lives Matter, and represent the underrepresented in the literary world. It's time to listen.
Previous Written Backwards anthologies have always included emerging talent alongside known names in the industry, spanning short fiction, long fiction, graphic adaptations, poetry, and artwork, and ranging from dark science-fiction and fantasy to horror; all things speculative. For more information on previous anthologies, visit nettirw.com (but keep scrolling for now).
For this latest chiral dance, the focus is diversity. Past anthologies have slowly improved over the years in this area, with effort always made to find new voices in the literary world, but that has not been enough. We need to hit the world harder. We need to better represent the underrepresented. We need to listen to those voices screaming out. For this fifth act in the series, we are reaching out to places like Botswana, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Africa, Japan; basically, as far out as we can reach, all over the world, with an emphasis on highlighting underrepresented demographics.
[NOTE: This is a charity anthology, with all profits going to Black Lives Matter. There's considerable discussion of the previous charitable efforts tied to this anthology series, how they're going to spend the money raised, what kinds of editions they'll be selling, what add-ons they'll activate if they hit stretch goals, etc. This is important to an Indigogo page, but not as important here. Click through if you're interested.]
My voice needs to be heard. How can I submit?
If you are not part of an underrepresented demographic (POC, LGBTQIA+, female), please do not submit at this time, but feel free to send recommendations; otherwise, if you feel your voice needs to be heard, send your submission to [email protected] (or just click the email link, but read the next part before doing so). There are no formatting guidelines other than file type: .doc, .dotx, .rtx, or plain text. The words are what matter.
What can I submit?
· Fiction (5,000 words or fewer recommended, payment capped at 5K), only one submission at a time. If you receive a rejection, feel free to submit again, immediately. No reprints.
· Poetry (50 lines or fewer, payment capped at 50 lines), up to 5 poems at a time. If you receive a rejection, feel free to submit up to 5 more, immediately. No reprints.
· Artwork (9.25 height x 6.25 width, 300 DPI, black-and-white), .jpg preferred for initial consideration.
Payment
· Fiction - $0.06 per word, US, capped at 5,000 words
· Poetry - $1 per line, US, capped at 50 lines
· Artwork - exposure only, unless contracted individually
· Contributor copies of all editions
Contract
A publishing contract will be made available for all accepted work, to be signed by both parties prior to publication. Here's what you can expect:
· Written Backwards requests first worldwide print rights
· Rights revert back to the creator immediately upon publication
· You're allowing your work to be published in this anthology for as long as there is a need for the anthology, but you get your rights back the moment it goes to print
· Simultaneous publication in deluxe hardback (exclusive to this campaign), trade hardback, trade paperback, and eBook
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31 Oct 20 -- Unmasked -- ed. Kevin J. Anderson; WordFire Press
UnMasked: Stories of Risk and Revelation
When the mask comes off, can you handle what’s underneath?
When your secret identity is revealed ...
When the hero comes out to play ...
When the monster is unleashed ...
Masks have existed throughout history, from the tribal masks of gods, to the iconic masks of tragedy and comedy, to the iron masks of prisoners. Villains wear masks to commit crimes, heroes wear masks to protect those they love, others wear masks to block disease. Some masks confer power; others rein it in.
Does the true face hide beneath the mask, or is it the mask itself? What happens when the mask comes off? We want you to tell us.
Perhaps your character is a mask collector who buys a mask that is more than he bargained for, or a coroner wearing a protective mask to perform an alien autopsy. The plague mask she inherited from her great-uncle seduces her to evil whenever she puts it on.
We seek stories that explore the masks we wear, the mysteries they conceal, and the price we pay when they’re stripped away. Unmasking, whether literal or figurative, must be integral to the story. Funny or grim, unsettling or cozy, we expect the unexpected. Pull back the mask and reveal your insights, your character-driven tales, and stories that will make us think.
Genre: Original short stories of unmasking, 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.
Length: up to 5000 words
Rate: 6¢/word on acceptance.
Rights: First Anthology Rights and audio rights; exclusive publication rights revert to author one month after publication; publisher retains non-exclusive right to include in the anthology as a whole.
Submit:A Microsoft Word or RTF file in standard manuscript format to [email protected] One submission per person, please. To review standard manuscript format, please see https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/
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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1 Nov 20 (or until filled) -- Slashertorte -- ed. Ben Walker; Sliced Up Press
[NOTE: This book pays only a penny per word, but their theme made me laugh, so I'm including it. If it gives you a smirk, it'll have done its job. :) I made a similar exception some years ago for a pizza-horror antho, and for the same reason. :) ]
Sliced Up Press is looking for short stories involving cake for its debut horror fiction anthology, Slashertorte: An Anthology of Cake Horror, edited by Ben Walker.
Delicious as cake might be, we want you to bring out the darker side of baked goods and give us something scary, disturbing or just plain wrong.
What we’re looking for:
· All submissions must be in the horror genre. While bizarro, splatterpunk and extreme horror are welcomed, we will not consider stories involving rape or bestiality.
· We are especially interested in stories from under-represented groups in horror i.e. women, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ authors.
· All submissions must be original. We will not accept reprints, or stories published elsewhere including on blogs, social media etc.
· No reworked pizza stories please.
· Submit your best work in standard manuscript format, as an MS Word .doc or .docx attachment.
· Authors may submit one story maximum for consideration. Do not re-send rejected stories.
· No simultaneous submissions.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES & TERMS:
Please email submissions to [email protected] using the following format in the email subject line:
Submission: [author’s name] – [story title] – [word count]. (so your email should look like this: Submission: Joe Bloggs – Cake or Death – 1,500 words)
In the body of the email, please include an author bio of 3-4 sentences maximum.
Payment: $0.01/word
Length: 2,000 words maximum – longer pieces will not be considered.
Authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection by 30th November 2020 at the latest.
If you have not heard back by the closing date of 30th November 2020, your story has been rejected. If you do receive a rejection, it will be a form letter – we will not critique your story.
Please do not email to enquire after your submission, unless you want to withdraw your story.
No exclusivity will be sought. Authors retain all rights to their works after publication.
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15 Nov 20 -- In Darkness, Delight: Fear the Future -- ed. Evans Light and Andrew Lennon; Corpus Press
Corpus Press is now accepting submissions to Volume 3 of the successful In Darkness, Delight anthology series (publication target 2021) to be edited by Evans Light and Andrew Lennon. Submissions should be story-driven and appeal to a wide adult audience.
We seek truly terrifying stories that deal with futuristic themes, set in the near future or far. Tales can be Earth-based or extraterrestrial, perhaps featuring technological or social upheavals that have frightful implications for individuals or society at large; as examples, the ongoing erosion of privacy and enduring nature of online activity, artificial human enhancement via DNA manipulation or implants, impact of emerging technologies on developing children, and so on. (Think bigger than stories about an interesting app, even though that might be where thoughts go first.)
Post-apocalyptic stories will not be accepted. Rather, we desire fiction that occurs during periods preceding any total collapse, be they stable or unstable times. The horrors that await us in utopian futures may be far more chilling and fascinating than those endemic to dystopias, and therein lies our primary interest.
We're more interested in "fiction" than "science"; this is a horror anthology first and foremost, not a science fiction anthology. To that end, your math doesn't have to work out to five decimal points for every forward-thinking concept you present. Merely plausible is good enough.
If you're looking for popular culture references to give you a general feel, here are a few: Annihilation, Alien, Pandorum, Under the Skin, Cube, Slither, The Thing, They Live, Mimic, Black Mirror, Outer Limits, The Fly, Event Horizon, and other horror/sci-fi hybrids. Again, we're not seeking stories with a main focus on apps (hint, hint).
What we ARE looking for:
== Short stories of 2,500-4,500 words that can be characterized as being within the broad category of “horror” fiction and having a futuristic theme as described above. No reprints.
== Successful submissions will be highly original, well written and cleanly edited.
== Stories must hook the reader in opening paragraphs and remain engaging throughout.
== Stories that imagine fresh new horrific futures different from anything we've seen or read about before.
What we ARE NOT looking for:
== No reprints, no multiple or simultaneous submissions.
== We are not seeking "extreme horror" or "splatterpunk" material. We discourage submissions that have a singular purpose of shocking readers with explicit language, sexuality and/or violence. Explicit language, sexuality and violence is acceptable, however, if handled in a tasteful manner and in service to a well-plotted, engaging story.
== We are not seeking abstract mood pieces, vignettes, or highly experimental approaches to literature. We are not accepting poems. Epistolary fiction will not be accepted (stories primarily told through journals, letters, etc). We are not seeking stories featuring exaggerated dialects, colloquialisms. Excessive references to pop culture and current fads are discouraged.
== We are not seeking: stories with an overly humorous tone; retro sci-fi/steampunk; trunk stories; stories hastily retrofitted with superficial futuristic references. Stories must not include actual individuals or living public figures.
== We are not seeking post-apocalyptic or zombie stories, or stories that primarily deal with the emotions of sadness and loss rather than horror and terror. We are not seeing stories featuring mobile app(s) as the primary focus.
Submissions must be in an editable format sent via the publisher's submission portal. No PDFs or scanned documents sent as image files will be accepted. Preference is for title, author name, email address and word count information to be placed at the beginning of the document.
Please Note: Do not utilize underlining in place of italics. Do not insert extra lines between paragraphs. Utilize a single space only between sentences. Do not insert tab indents at the beginning of paragraphs.
Submission window: January 4, 2020 until midnight EST November 15, 2020.
Notifications of acceptance / rejection will be sent no later than November 30, 2020, with publication target of 2021. We will do our best to send out acceptances / rejections as promptly as possible so that you may have the chance to submit the work elsewhere if it does not meet our needs.
PLEASE NOTE THAT SUBMISSION DOES NOT GUARANTEE ACCEPTANCE.
Pay Rate: $.03 per word.
Payment will be capped at $150 USD for accepted submissions (we prefer stories between 2,500-4,500 words; longer stories may be submitted, but will only be paid at the cap rate. 7,500 is a firm maximum word count. You are welcome to submit stories with a word count of less than 2,500 words, but they are not likely to be accepted).
Two (2) free contributor copies (paperback) will be provided upon publication, with contributors having the option to buy additional quantities at cost post-publication. Payment on publication.
Anthology target length: Approximately 300-350 pages.
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1 Dec 20 -- "Worldbuilding" Fantasy Anthology -- Lagrange Books
Lagrange Books is soliciting short stories and novellas by new and established authors in the fantasy genre, between 3,500 and 7,000 words in length for short stories and between 9,000 and 15,000 words for novellas. (Shorter or longer works will be considered in cases of exceptional merit.) The goal is to select at least ten entries for publication* in a short-story anthology.
Theme: “Politics as Story Conflict.”
Your story must include as a significant plot element a political conflict that makes up a key piece of the worldbuilding. (For guidance on how to do this, you can refer to Beyond Kings and Princesses: Governments for Worldbuilders, from Lagrange Books.)
Accepted authors will receive $100 for a short story, or $200 for a novella.
Submission Rules
How to submit: Email your manuscript (acceptable document formats: Word, PDF, Pages, TXT, RTF) to the following address: editor at lagrangebooks dot com. Begin the subject line with “[Worldbuilding Submission]”, and make sure to list your contact information in the email itself. (Also, please mention how you heard of this anthology!)
Genre: Fantasy, broadly defined. This includes traditional high fantasy, urban fantasy, or any other flavor that includes a magical or fantastical element. (If you are interested in other genres, please suggest them for our next project!)
Details
Entries must be your own work, must be previously unpublished, and may not be plagiarized. You must own all copyright to work submitted. No exceptions!
Read this post and then this post for discussions of my editorial preferences. Be warned especially that even though the focus of this anthology is on worldbuilding, that does not free you from the need to have a strong plot.
Works must show adequate command of the English language, grammar, and punctuation. Rule-breaking for effect, as with stream-of-consciousness writing or the use of a Flowers-for-Algernon type of narrator, will have to show particular merit. Otherwise, do your editing in advance!
Works with strong thematic elements are encouraged. Characters must face significant obstacles to be overcome (whether they succeed or not). Nihilism can be part of the setup, but should not be the conclusion—the characters should push through nihilism to the other side, whatever that is.
Works that are overtly proselytizing, or overtly bigoted against a particular religion or against religion in general, will be rejected out of hand.
PG-13. Swearing should be mild, sex of the fade-to-black variety; gore can be present if justified by the plot and theme, but should not be luridly emphasized.
Good luck!
* Selected authors will be asked to sign a contract granting exclusive publication rights to their story in print and electronic media for a term of 12 months from publication; and further allowing us to keep this anthology in print even after other rights have reverted back.
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1 Dec 20 -- The Art of Being Human -- ed. Tehani Croft and Stephanie Lai; Fablecroft Publishing
The world in 2020 has been tipped upside down and shaken in ways we could barely have imagined, except perhaps in the post-apocalyptic and dystopic worlds of story. Amidst pandemic illness and death, political machinations and despair, one of the casualties has been, at least in a financial sense, the Arts. Governments across the world have slashed funding, galleries, theatres and entertainment venues have closed amid lockdown restrictions, money is being carefully metered with jobs more uncertain than ever, meaning our creatives across all industries are suffering. And yet, more than ever, we are turning to art to stay sane in lockdown, to keep our spirits up in isolation, and to remind us that despite the hardship, there is beauty in this world.
To that end, FableCroft is coming out of hiatus in this year of social distancing and staying at home, to call for submissions on a brand new original anthology, The Art of Being Human. Co-edited by Tehani Croft and Stephanie Lai, this anthology seeks to remind readers of the hope and beauty of the Arts, and the way our engagement with writing, music, film, theatre, artworks in all media, and craft of all kinds are at the core of our humanity.
Stories should be between 2,000 to 20,000 words long, and not previously published. Poetry of any length is also welcome. Works are invited from all over the world, but must be primarily in the English language.
Stories must contain speculative elements – science fiction, fantasy and horror and their sub-genres are all welcome, but we recommend researching FableCroft’s past projects for an idea of the sort of stories we publish. Generally, no erotica or splatterpunk is desirable. Please query the editor before sending stories outside those limits.
We are seeking original stories only – no reprint submissions please.
No simultaneous submissions please.
For multiple submissions, please query first.
Submission Guidelines:
E-mail to [email protected] as an attached RTF. We do not accept submissions via snail mail.
· Please use a regular font, size 12, with margins of at least 2cm.
· Indent the first line of each paragraphs by 0.5 (approx 1cm), 1.5 space lines, and indicate section breaks with a centered “#”.
· Include name, address, phone number, email etc at the top of the document.
Anticipated publication date: May 2021
Payment will be AUD$100.00 for stories of up to 10,000 words (payment for poetry and longer stories accepted will be negotiated with the author) and a contributor copy of the ebook.