Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Abyss & Apex Magazine's next reading period is May 1st-31st 2011, and their mission is "to publish the finest in speculative and imaginative fiction and poetry, with special attention to character-driven stories that examine the depths and heights of emotion and motivation from a broad variety of cultural and social perspectives. A&A wants to publish powerful stories with emotions that resonate in our minds and hearts long after a first reading, stories that make us want to read them again and again. We look for the unique: stories that stand out in a genre that pushes the envelope of unusual. We take special delight in detailed world-building, and have no subgenre boundaries: we like slipstream, YA, hypertext fiction, dark fantasy, science fiction puzzle stories, magical realism, hard science fiction, soft science fiction, science fantasy, sword and sorcery, urban fantasy, military science fiction, ghost stories, space opera, cyberpunk, steampunk . . . there is very little we will not look at, although we have a severe allergy to elves, retold fairytales, and gratuitous sex and violence. We have no subject/topic preference, beyond a requirement that the work have a speculative element. We are happy to read stories that don’t quite seem to fit elsewhere. We will consider dark speculative fiction, but we do not publish horror. We won’t publish extremely graphic violent or sexual content or over-the-top gore, and we are turned off by gratuitous foul language. In other words, if the primary purpose of a story is to scare us or make us queasy, we won’t buy it." Length: 1.5-10K (fiction), < 1.5K (flash fiction), Payment: 5¢/word ($75 max), query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines page for more details.

Arcane ~ Penny Dreadfuls for the 21st Century magazine publishes "the best horror and weird fiction quarterly in print and for ereaders" and has this to say about what they'd like to see: "Imagine if all of the “cool kids” from the original Weird Tales — H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, etc. — has been writing continuously from that day until this; what would they be producing? We prefer story lengths from 1,000 words up to 6,000 words but will consider longer – just realize that a long story will have to be better than the two or three shorter stories it would replace.The biggest plus a story can have is voice. Let us know that you’re comfortable with the English language — in fact, that it’ll sit up and bark like a dog for you." Payment: 1¢/word, query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines page for more details. 1st Issue Debut: April 2011.

Buzzy Magazine is "looking for original science fiction, fantasy and horror short stories up to 10,000 words. Thriller, suspense and paranormal tales that cross into traditional speculative fiction are welcome. In addition, we are interested in pieces that may be able to be developed into full length novels for publication by Buzzy Multimedia at a future date." Payment: 5 cents USD per word, no reprints, hard copy/snail mail submissions only, see guidelines page for more details. First issue debuts January 2012.

Exalt Press is looking for "book-length manuscripts from 65,000 to 120,000 words in length. We’ll consider shorter works (novellas and singles) when they’re proposed as a series" and is interested in seeing "Nonfiction: military history, memoir/autobiography, business (sales/marketing), health (anti-aging/anti-cancer); Fiction: apocalyptic/dystopian survival, straight erotica, dark fantasy/horror." Payment: print=5-15%; eBook=25-50%; reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines page for more details.

Editor Warren Lapine has an open call for his Fantastic Stories of the Imagination anthology, and is looking for "stories that cover the entire science fiction, fantasy, and horror spectrum. I love magic realism (think Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman) and hard sf. I want a story to surprise me and to take me to unexpected places. I love word play, and would like to see stories with a literary bent, though decidedly not a pretentious bent. I could spend some time telling you what I don’t want, but I’ve found that good stories can make me buy them regardless of how many of my rules they violate. Let your imagination run wild, push and blur the limits of genre, or send me something traditional. I want it to see it all. My experience as an editor tells me that over time I’ll develop preferences and that the anthology will take on its own personality. When that happens I’ll change the guidelines to be more specific, but for now I’m going to explore what’s out there before I decide what direction to go in." Length: "I have no limit on story length but the longer the story is the better it will have to be." Payment: 10 cents/word (max $250.00) or 2 cents/word for reprints (max $100.00). No electronic submissions, see his LJ open call post for more details.

Grand Mal Press is "seeking quality novels in the 70,000 to 90,000 word range. Genres we are looking for include: Horror, Sci Fi, Detective/Mystery, Thriller, Genre Related Humor (I.E. Christopher Moore, Douglas Adams), Mashups. We are NOT interested in Erotica, Vampires, Fantasy, or Graphic Novels." Payment: "Authors will receive a token advance up front. Authors will earn quarterly royalties equaling 8 percent on print/15 percent on e-books." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines page for more details.

JournalStone is holding their first ever $2,000 in 2011 Publishing Contest, which offers the grand prize winner the opportunity to "Get your HORROR novel published and earn a $2,000 advance against future royalties. The #1 winner is also eligible for active membership to the HWA (Horror Writers Association)." [Nice to see them recruiting for HWA, too.] They also have this to say: "Second prize gets a $500 advance and a published novel. Yes, you have to sign a contract first. Third place gets a $200 advance and for the last time, also gets a published novel. Not one of the top three? No worries, you might still be good enough to get your novel published, you will just have to earn your money on the royalties. We only have so much to give out for free." Fair enough. Length: 75K or more, no reprints, electronic submissions only, see contest page for more details. Submission Deadline: "All submissions must be received no later than 11 p.m. Pacific time June 1, 2011. JournalStone highly recommends you submit your work early."

Kraken Press is open for submissions, and would like to see "novels, novellas and short story collection up to 120.000 words. We are interested in seeing manuscripts in the genres of horror, dark fiction and new weird. More importantly, we’re interested in fresh writing." Payment: unspecified royalty, query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines page for more details.

E-Chapbook publisher Twenty or Less Press accepts submissions "of short stories (10,000 words or less) in all fiction genres including romance, science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative fiction, poetry and women’s fiction for electronic publication only." Payment: 40% net royalty, reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines page for more details.

The Library of the Living Dead has an open call for their Zombiality 2 antho, and is looking for stories that "must be about zombies and include an emphasis on gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered plots, themes, and/or character(s) to them. This is horror with a queered twist with stories that can represent the horrific, gruesome, psychological, suspenseful, and satirical. If you need some guidance check out the first Zombiality." Length: 3-6K, Payment: 1¢/word + copy, no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines page for more details. Deadline: June 30, 2011.

All of the above sub ops were found among the marvelous market listings over at Ralan.com.