The calls are for fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Themes include music and theatre, life lessons learned from school days (and from cats), a punk rock future, robot dinosaurs, medical romance, grandparents, the internet, serial killers, god’s love, work inspired by Stephen King, and a tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin. All of these pay writers, from token to pro rates. None charge a submission fee.
Robot Dinosaur Fiction
They want fiction that features a robot dinosaur of some kind. They prefer PG-13 stories.
Deadline: 15 August 2018
Length: 750-1,200 words
Pay: $60
Details here.
Heart and Humanity: Back to School – Lessons Learned
They want essays, fiction or poetry about lessons learned from school. Writers can write about actual school (memories, teachers, dealing with school-age children) and also about lessons learned outside of the classroom – about nature, travelling, grief, or love. Some of the work will be paid (see guidelines).
Deadline: 15 August 2018 (to be eligible for paid work)
Length: 1,200 words or more for longer stories/essays; less than 1,200 words for shorter work
Pay: $15-25
Details here.
Zsenon Publishing: A Punk Rock Future Anthology
They want speculative fiction for this anthology about a punk rock future. Their guidelines say, “We’d like to see dystopias, utopias, or something in-between; anything with a punk rock sensibility/ethos; alternative history; the promise of punk; the failure of punk; music-inspired stories; science fiction; fantasy; or horror.” They don’t want stories of steampunk, solarpunk, silkpunk or ecopunk. While they will not rule out stories that touch on those niches, the stories “should be the real deal, punkpunk.”
Deadline: 15 August 2018
Length: 350-6,000 words
Pay: $0.06/word
Details here.
Splickety Publishing Group: Lab Coats and Love Letters
They want stories about romance in a medical setting. “Doctors, nurses, EMTs, and surgeons are busy, but hopefully not too busy for love. Send us your stories featuring broken bones, mishaps, and long nightshifts. As long as there is a happily ever after, we want to see them.” The sub-genres they will accept are a twist of fate, medical suspense and medical mystery.
Deadline: 24 August 2018
Length: 300-1,000 words (and one story of up to 100 words per issue)
Pay: $0.02/word
Details here and here.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grandparents
They publish personal anecdotes and poetry based on their themed books. One of the upcoming themes is Grandparents, for which they want “heartwarming, insightful and humorous true stories celebrating that unique relationship of grandparent and grandchild”. Deadline: 31 August 2018
Length: 1,200 words or less
Pay: $200
Details here and here.
Unnerving Magazine: Inspired by Stephen King
They want stories inspired by a Stephen King story (or mashing multiple Stephen King-ish scenerios) without simply rewriting King’s stories. The magazine accepts works of horror, dark science fiction (light), dark fantasy, crime, thriller, and suspense, and generally leans toward horror.
Deadline: 31 August 2018
Length: 800-4,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.
Overland Literary Journal: Tribulations of the Digital Frontier
They want poems about the internet. Their guidelines say, “has the great emancipator promise of the internet been realised? Or have we collectively herded a veritable stampede of culture industry cattle….into the deep theatre of dark metaphysics where not even the critics, let alone the audience participationists commenting from their stalls, have had a chance to get a measure of the hall?” They will accept all poetic forms.
Deadline: 10 September 2018
Length: Three submissions per poet
Pay: AUD150/poem
Details here.
Cricket: Curtain Call
They want short stories, nonfiction and poetry about music, theater, and the performing arts. Their guidelines say, “Most Cricket readers play musical instruments, and many perform in plays or dance. They enjoy poetry and contemporary fiction that reflects their challenges and triumphs. Cricket regularly publishes nonfiction and historical fiction about the history of music or theater, the biographies of famous composers and artistic innovators, the making of instruments, and non-Western artistic traditions. Profiles of people, whether or not they are well known, who are working professionally in the performing arts are also welcome.” Cricket, a magazine for 9-14-year-olds, also publishes puzzles, crafts, recipes, and activities.
Deadline: 15 September 2018
Length: 1,200-1,800 words for fiction and nonfiction; can accept up to 6,000 words for fiction; up to 6 poems
Pay: Up to $0.25/word for prose, $3/line for poetry, $75 for activities and recipes
Details here (scroll down).
Corpus Press: Horror Anthology
The horror stories for this anthology may be frightening, thought-provoking, atmospheric, humorous and/or satirical or any combination thereof. They are not looking for extreme horror or splatterpunk, or stories featuring werewolves, zombies or vampires.
Deadline: 15 September 2018
Length: 2,500-4,500 words
Pay: $0.03/word, capped at $150
Details here.
Feral Cat Publishers: Bubble Off Plumb Anthology
“Bubble Off Plumb” is a colloquial expression for things being not quite right. They want short stories of such a nature; odd, unsettling, full of twists, etc. All genres are welcome.
Deadline: 30 September 2018
Length: 1,000-5,000 words
Pay: $0.03/word
Details here.
Red Room Press: American Psychos – A Serial Killer Anthology
They want dark crime/thriller/horror stories that must be about a serial killer. Stories can be based on a real killer or a fictional one and must be set primarily in the US, though the character may travel abroad. The killers should be human – no supernatural elements. The editors are looking for brutal, graphic and violent stories.
Deadline: 1 October 2018
Length: 3,500-5,500 words
Pay: $100
Details here.
Aqueduct Press: Ursula K. Le Guin tribute poetry anthology
This is a poetry anthology, tentatively titled ‘Climbing Lightly Though Forests’, pays tribute to the iconic science fiction and fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin. The editor says, “Unlike her big-idea SF, her poetry was often more personal in scope, engaging closely with land and landscape of the Pacific Northwest; much of her poetry is not speculative at all. … For this anthology, I am seeking poetry that engages with Ursula K. Le Guin’s life and work broadly construed – including her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. I will be looking for a variety of voices, themes, treatments, and approaches. Both critical and celebratory approaches are welcome, as is anything in-between.” Poets can engage with specific books and/or stories, or take it in other directions. The poetry does not necessarily have to be speculative, and there are no length or style limitations.
Deadline: 15 October 2018
Length: No length limitations; up to three poems
Pay: $20/poem
Details here.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat (and Dog)
An upcoming theme for personal anecdotes and poetry from this publisher is Life Lessons from the Cat, about “…what your cat taught you. How he made you smile. How she “rescued” you after you “rescued” her. How she brought your family closer together, helped you find love, inspired you to change something in your human life.” (Also see a similar call, Life Lessons from the Dog, which has a later deadline, and other calls on their website).
Deadline: 31 October 2018
Length: 1,200 words or less
Pay: $200
Details here and here.
Pink Triangle Rhapsody: Volume 1 – Mixed Genre
This is Lycan Valley Press’ newest anthology series in celebration of and dedicated to gay men and their cultural history, for which they accept submissions from gay male writers only. The series is intended to be a collection of stories written with “effusively rapturous or emotional expression.” Volume 1 is a mixed genre volume and will feature 5 stories in each of 5 genres for a total of 25 stories — Horror, Sci Fi, Dark Fantasy, Thriller, Pulp Mystery. Each story must include a supernatural, paranormal or occult element.
Deadline: 31 December 2018
Length: 2,500-8,000 words
Pay: $0.04/word
Details here.
Kids’ Ark: God’s Love
This children Christian magazine publishes fiction and nonfiction for readers aged 6-10 years. They want engaging, exciting and relevant stories applicable to each issue’s theme. The next theme is ‘God’s Love’.
Deadline: Unspecified
Length: Up to 650 words
Pay: $100
Details here.
