The themes for these anthologies/websites/magazines include stories on LGBTQ lives, the invisible world, corporate shadows (inspired by the net neutrality rulings), anthropomorphic fiction, holiday crime and crime by bumbling sidekicks, work and play, deadly bargains, curiosity and the curious, addiction, and talking to strangers. Some of these also accept nonfiction and poetry. Many of them pay writers. Also see this list for some more deadlines coming up.
ImageOutWrite
ImageOut, the Rochester LGBT film festival, is calling LGBTQ authors and allies to submit original literary works for the seventh edition of their literary journal, which will be published during the year’s film festival. Submissions must capture some aspect of LGBTQ lives.
Deadline: 15 June 2018
Length: Up to 8,000 words for prose, up to 3 poems/500 words total
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.
Riddled with Arrows: The Invisible World
This journal publishes meta-fiction/writing about writing. For this issue, they want, “writing-related fiction and metafiction, ars poetica, essays, visual art and non-classifiable written objects that reveal the unseen. Think automatic writing, runes, prophets, magic scrolls, disappearing ink, smoke signals, treasure maps, messages on steamed mirrors. We are particularly interested in the interplay of light and shadow and the myriad ways that writing illuminates our world(s).”
Deadline: 17 June 2018
Length: Up to 1,500 words for prose (firm limit), up to 4 poems (8 pages)
Pay: $0.03/word, up to $25
Details here.
FurPlanet: The Rabbit Dies First
They want anthropomorphic fiction in any genre. The stories must be centred around two themes – the rabbit has to die, and someone else is next.
Deadline: 30 June 2018
Length: 2,000-12,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.
Nexxis Fantasy: Corporate Shadows
The Corporate Shadows theme for this science fiction magazine can be widely interpreted, and is inspired by the recent net neutrality rulings. Profits will be donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to fight for net neutrality and other civil liberties in the digital world.
Deadline: 1 July 2018
Length: Up to 15,000 words
Pay: $1/100 words
Details here.
CutBank: All Accounts and Mixture – A Celebration of LGBTQ Writers and Artists
Their summer issue will showcase poetry, prose, visual art, reviews, and interviews in a forum for LGBTQ writers whose voices might be mis- or underrepresented by the literary mainstream. This year, apart from publishing the work online, they will also do a print anthology, which will show new work, and that from the previous five years. They want work from people who self-identify as queer, though the work need not be LGBTQ-specific. Allies can contribute reviews of books by queer writers, and interviews.
Deadline: 1 July 2018
Length: Up to 7 poems, or up to 5,000 words of prose
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.
Coffin Hop Press: Baby, It’s Cold Outside – Holiday Crime Anthology
They are looking for winter holiday themed (Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, etc.) crime stories for this anthology. They want dark, deadly and noirish stories of holiday havoc and yuletide woes. No science fiction or fantasy.
Deadline: 1 July 2018
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: CAD150
Details here.
Coffin Hop Press: Knucklehead Noir – Crime Anthology
They want stories about dim-witted criminals and bumbling sidekicks – nimrods and rejects. They want darkly humorous crime stories. Think Elmore Leonard or Joe Lansdale. No science fiction or fantasy.
Deadline: 1 July 2018
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: CAD0.03/word
Details here (scroll down).
IOTA Magazine: Work and Play
This UK-based print magazine is looking for features and essays, stories and poems on the Work and Play theme, interpreted as obliquely as the writer likes.
Deadline: 1 July 2018
Length: 500-2,000 words for prose, up to 4 poems
Pay: None
Details here.
Spring Song Press: Oath and Iron
For the editors, oath and iron is a reference to fairies and the treacherous bargains they make. They are interested in both classic and new interpretation of fairies. They want stories with speculative elements and want fantasy rather than science fiction. The editors strongly prefer noblebright stories.
Deadline: 1 July 2018
Length: 1,000-10,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.
Colors in Darkness: A Deadly Bargain
This is a horror, paranormal and dark fantasy anthology revolving around items purchased from a shady dealer. Their guidelines say, “The man always has a bargain for his customers… a deadly bargain, as the salesman is not what he seems. And neither are your purchases!” The appearance of the dealer has to be specific (see guidelines) but his name can vary according to nationality or environment.
Deadline: 15 July 2018
Length: 3,000-7,500
Pay: $20
Details here.
Conjunctions: 71, A Cabinet of Curiosity
They want fiction, poetry and essays/narrative nonfiction that “investigate the wide spectrum of curiosity and the curious, and their consequences. From the exactingly inquisitive to the downright nosy. From the prying to the inquiring, the questing to the meddling. From explorers, archaeologists, and forensic investigators to hackers, stalkers, and obsessives, the issue will examine curiosity as a gift, a burden, a catalyst for discovery, a duty, a transgression.” They want mailed submissions from writers within the US; others can email their submissions.
Deadline: Approximately 15 July 2018
Length: Unspecified
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.
Third Flatiron: Terra! Tara! Terror!
They want science fiction, fantasy and horror stories for the theme. Their guidelines say, “Whether the setting is a cabin in the woods (Terra), Fae (Tara), or spaceship Nostromo (Terror), take us there and spin your adventure…. we’d like a mixture of dark and bright stories.”
Reading period: 15 June-15 July 2018
Length: 1,500-3,000 words; query for longer
Pay: $0.06/word
Details here (scroll down) and here.
Less Than Three Press: Life After All
This LGBTQ+ press wants stories for their apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic/pastoral apocalyptic anthology; stories about the life after an apocalypse being far from hopeless. Stories should have a happily ever after or happy for now ending.
Deadline: 31 July 2018
Length: 8,000-15,000
Pay: $150
Details here.
Litro Magazine: Addiction
They want to read fiction and nonfiction about addictions, whether it is to the small screens in the palm of our hands, or gambling, or something else.
Deadline: 1 August 2018
Length: Up to 4,000 words for prose; exceptions can be made
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.
MiFi Writers: Voices of Tomorrow
This is a speculative fiction anthology (science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, horror or weird). They will accept submissions from writers aged 13-18. They want to see stories with children and young adults as the main protagonists – where heroes and heroines are challenged and solve the problems themselves. Each submitted story will receive editorial feedback.
Deadline: 30 September 2018
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: $20
Details here.
Mothers Always Write: Talking to Strangers
This is both a literary and an ideas magazine for parents. They publish literary essays and poetry that honors parenting as one of life’s greatest callings. Their pieces fall in three categories: Early Years, Middle Years and Adult Children. For July/August, their theme is Talking to Strangers. They also accept book reviews, blog entries and a writing column.
Deadline: Unspecified
Length: Up to 2,000 words for essays or blogs, up to 3 poems
Pay: $25 for essays in their once-monthly big issue
Details here and here.
