The Slab Press: Vivid Worlds — The Solar Punk Anthology
We’re seeking short science fiction and fantasy stories that envision a brighter, more sustainable future for our planet. This solar punk anthology is all about hope and innovation, showcasing ways we can work together to protect the Earth and thrive.
We want stories that burst with color, culture, and nature, highlighting the diversity and resilience of our world. What groundbreaking technologies, social movements, or community-led initiatives can help us build a better tomorrow?
Please submit original, unpublished works in English (or translations that have never been published in print before). We welcome stories that have been previously published in audio format or have been translated into English for the first time.
Deadline: 15 December 20
Length: 2,000-9,000 words; shorter or longer stories may be considered but will be a hard sell
Pay: £0.01/word up to £50
Detail here.
Eye to the Telescope: (Non)Binaries
Call for Speculative Poetry: Exploring the (Non)Binaries
We invite you to submit speculative poems that delve into the complexities of binary systems, challenging the rigid categorizations that shape our understanding of the world.
From astronomical bodies to sociological constructs like gender, binary systems often oversimplify the intricacies of existence. We’re looking for poems that probe the limitations of these systems, explore the spaces beyond binary oppositions, and imagine new forms of expression and being.
Possible themes and questions to explore:
- How do binary systems constrain us, and what lies beyond their boundaries?
- Can binary systems be reimagined or reenchanted to accommodate complexity and nuance?
- What cannot be reduced to binary oppositions, and how can we represent these complexities in our poetry?
- How can scientific and astronomical concepts inform our understanding of human experiences and existence?
We welcome submissions in English, including translations.
Deadline: 15 December 2024
Length: Up to 3 poems
Pay: $0.04/word (up to $25)
Details here.
Book Worms Zine: Space and Science Fiction Horror
We’re seeking short stories, essays, and poems that combine the thrill of space and science fiction with the chilling elements of horror. Think retro-futuristic terror, cosmic dread, and otherworldly frights.
We’re open to a range of styles, from classic 80s-inspired horror to fresh, innovative takes on the genre. If you’ve got a unique voice and a terrifying tale to tell, we want to read it.
Submissions should be mailed to us (no email submissions, please). We can’t wait to dive into your darkest, most terrifying visions of space and science fiction horror.
Deadline: 15 December 2024
Length: Up to 1,500 words for prose
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction and essays (up to 1,500 words), $25 for short poems (up to 10 lines), $50 for longer poems
Details here.
Flame Tree: Latin American Shared Stories
We are seeking speculative stories that showcase the diverse voices, mythologies, folklore, and storytelling traditions of Latin American countries and the Latin American diaspora. This anthology, part of our “Beyond & Within” series, aims to celebrate the richness and complexity of Latin American speculative fiction.
Deadline: 15 December 2024
Length: 2,000-4,000 words (see guidelines)
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
The Brothers Uber: Once Upon a Moonless Night – Tales of Betrayal, Revenge, and Redemption
We’re seeking stories that capture the essence of the unknown, the unseen terror that lurks in the darkness. “The fear—not of the dark—but rather what lurks in the dark.” It’s the whisper on the wind, heard but not understood, that beckons you to surrender to the darkness.
We want tales of good people pushed too far, stories of revenge and redemption for past wrongdoings. Stories that blur the lines between reality and the unknown, where “what seems to be true isn’t always the case.”
We’re open to submissions in all genres, as long as they evoke the dark, foreboding, and suspenseful atmosphere of a moonless night. Can you weave a story that explores the unknown terrors that lurk in the darkness?
Deadline: 15 December 2024
Length: 250-15,000 words
Pay: $0.05/word, capped at $400
Details here.
Neon Hemlock Press: Three calls
Neon Hemlock particularly interested in queer stories and authors and they are currently open to submissions for three projects:
— Baffling Magazine: Strange Forms, Baffling Magazine, a project of Neon Hemlock Press, is open to submissions from December 1st to 15th, 2024. We’re seeking speculative fiction with a queer focus, particularly stories that fit our “Strange Forms” theme. We also welcome unthemed speculative fiction submissions.
We accept stories up to 1,200 words and pay $0.08/word.
— We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction, We want stories published in 2024 that implicitly or explicitly explore queerness and/or transness. Eligible stories should be under 17,500 words. The project is open to all writers. Deadline for submissions is December 31, 2024.
— Shatter the Sun: Queer Tales of Untold Adventure, We want “Stories of queer heroes forged and tempered in the fire, fighting dark stars and bright suns, and overthrowing tyranny in all its forms. Sword and sorcery, sweat and sandals, souls and stars.”
We’re looking primarily for fantasy stories on the gritty, un-epic side of things, with a seam of the occult and cosmic horror. We’ll also consider sword and planet stories, but that won’t be the focus. We’re probably not looking for stories set on Earth or Indiana Jones-type stories, though a secondary-world decolonial approach might be of interest.
We’ll also accept translations. Pay is $0.08/word for stories up to 6,000 words. Deadline for submissions is January 15, 2025.
Deadlines: See above
Length: See above
Pay: Varies
Details here.
Roses & Wildflowers: Anarchy and Harmony
They publish mythopoeic fiction, poetry, and art. For their “Anarchy and Harmony” theme, they’re seeking works inspired by alternative societal structures. Drawing from ancient Celtic and Amazonian civilizations, as well as UK LeGuin’s explorations of non-hierarchical societies in “The Telling” and “The Dispossessed”, they challenge writers and poets to explore this theme.
To spark inspiration, they’ve curated a playlist on their website. They invite writers and poets to listen to the playlist and submit works inspired by a specific song, noting which song sparked their creation.
Deadline: 17 December 2024
Length: 1,000-7,500 words for fiction, up to 40 lines for poetry
Pay: $20 for fiction, $10 for poetry
Details here, here, and here.
Midnight & Indigo: Music
They publish works exclusively by Black women writers, focusing on speculative and literary fiction, as well as essays.
For their general submissions, they’re seeking “character-driven narratives that transport readers to worlds beyond their wildest imagination” in speculative fiction and horror, from Black women writers with a passion for these genres.
Additionally, they’re reading submissions for a special “Music” issue. They’re looking for original, previously unpublished short stories and essays that use music as a prompt. This can include works inspired by “a lyric from your favorite song to a song title, or even a personal memory.”
Deadline: 30 December 2024
Length: 1,200-7,000 words for fiction for the music issue
Pay: $0.07/word for fiction, $150 for essays
Details here (Music issue guidelines and submission), here (general guidelines and submission links)
Brigids Gate Press: Poisoned Soup for the Macabre, Depraved, and Insane – Nostalgic Terrors
They’re seeking horror fiction, nonfiction/essays, and poetry for the anthology “Poisoned Soup for the Macabre, Depraved, and Insane: Nostalgic Terrors”.
The anthology aims to capture the nostalgia of the horror genre, evoking memories of “vintage television hits like Tales from the Crypt and Elvira’s Movie Macabre, to famed comics such as Adventures into Terror and Weird Tales.” They invite writers to share their own nightmares, childhood frights, and sleepaway camp mysteries.
The editors ask: “Where does your mind go as you conjure unimaginable apparitions just beyond your reach? We want to know… when did Horror take root for you?”
Submissions will open around mid-month and may close earlier than the deadline if their submission cap is met.
Reading period: 14th – 31st December 2024/until filled
Length: Up to 32 lines for poetry, 100 words for drabbles, 500-1,000 words for flash fiction, up to 1,000 words for nonfiction
Pay: $0.08/word for prose, $50 for drabbles and poems
Details here.
Workers Write! Tales from the Cleaners
This fiction and poetry anthology is seeking stories and poems from the cleaner’s point of view. Specifically, they’re looking for “fiction and poetry about the people who clean up after everyone, such as maids, janitors, custodians, waste management workers, crime scene cleaners, and even laundromat owners.”
Deadline: 31 December 2024, or until filled
Length: 500-5,000 words
Pay: $5-50
Details here.
Written Backwards: Silent Nightmares — Haunting Stories to Be Told on the Longest Night of the Year
This horror fiction anthology, “Silent Nightmares”, will be published in hardback and other formats. It will be open for submissions throughout December 2024.
Co-edited by Chuck Palahniuk and Michael Bailey, the anthology seeks “Haunting Stories to Be Told on the Longest Night of the Year” – dark holiday horrors. For collaborative works, payment will be split equally between collaborators.
Deadline: 31 December 2024
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: $500
Details here.
Channel Magazine
This Ireland-based magazine publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They’re seeking work that explores the human relationship with nature, stating: “We love work that speaks directly of a writer’s bond with and fear for our planet, and work that takes a local landscape, or a local flower, as its subject; equally, though, we love work that draws on an aspect of nature as setting, image or metaphor.” They believe that “all writing relies to some extent on historical engagement with nature, in that all human language has been shaped by our embeddedness in our shared environments.”
They reopened for fiction and poetry submissions on November 15th, with a deadline of December 31, 2024. Nonfiction submissions [considered for both print and online] are accepted on an ongoing basis. They welcome submissions in both English and Irish.
Deadline: 31 December 2024 for fiction and poetry, ongoing for nonfiction
Length: Varies
Pay: €35 per printed page, up to €250 per piece and with a minimum fee of €50 for single-page works; €35 per 400 words, up to a maximum of €250 per piece and with a minimum fee of €50 for work published online
Details here.
The New York Times: Modern Love
Modern Love, a nonfiction column of the New York Times, seeks “honest personal essays about contemporary relationships.” They’re looking for true stories on “finding love, losing love and trying to keep love alive.”
Essays can explore various subjects, including “adoption, polyamory, technology, race and friendship — anything that could reasonably fit under the heading ‘Modern Love.'” Ideally, essays should stem from a central dilemma faced by the writer. While not essential, it’s helpful if the situation reflects current events.
As they note, “Love may be universal, but individual experiences can differ immensely and be informed by factors including race, socio-economic status, gender, disability status, nationality, sexuality, age, religion and culture.”
They accept essays of 1,500-1,700 words. Modern Love has two submission periods: March through June and September through December. Writers are paid for their work. They especially welcome submissions from historically underrepresented writers and those outside the US.
Deadline: 31 December 2024
Length: 1,500-1,700
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.
(Also see their Tiny Love Stories column; these are also personal essays similar in theme to Modern Love, but much shorter, of 100 words.)
Rosarium Publishing: Planet Black Joy
This speculative fiction anthology seeks work exclusively from women and non-binary folk who identify as Black, African, or of Afro-descendent heritage.
They’re looking for stories that explore and celebrate Black joy and pleasure, aiming to “showcase stories of Black joy in the fantastical and the mundane in the present, past, and the future.” They desire a variety of Black joy, encompassing “catharsis to irreverence to clawing resilience out of the darkness.” This includes joy inspired by moments like “Black Twitter after the Alabama Brawl” to the kind of joy constructed in defiance of “white supremacy and patriarchy.” Ultimately, they ask: “what does Black joy mean to you?”
The anthology also accepts translations and reprints.
Deadline: 1 January 2025
Length: 3,000-7,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word for originals, $0.02/word for reprints
Details here.
P.S – DON’T APPLY FOR THESE JOBS USING THE FORM BELOW RATHER MAKE USE OF THE LINKS FOUND IN EACH SUBMISSION. THANKS.