Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Ralan has an open call listing here for an "Apocalypse Story Contest ~ ALL THINGS DOOM ~ Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Apocalypse" [Gotta love the title]: "On Spec has a special story contest for the Apocalypse! We are looking for a variety of engaging "end of the world" theme stories (3,000 to 6,000 words please). The best story will receive $300 and be the lead story in our Fall 2012 issue (said issue to be published, come hell or high water!). Submissions must have "Apocalypse:" in the e-mail title plus the story title (e.g. "Apocalypse: Story Name")." This one is open only to Canadian writers with electronic submission only, entry window is 15 February to 31 March 2012. See Ralan's page and On Spec's sub guidelines link there for more details.

Horror writer Glynn Barrass has an open call for an antho working-titled Steampunk Cthulhu (scroll down to January 14th entry). Since the site doesn't allow right-click copying you'll have to visit it to read the details on what to submit. Ralan has this info: "Pay: 3¢/word +3 copies & discounts. Words: 2k-8k. RT: after DL. Reprints: no. E-subs: ONLY." Deadline: July 31st, 2012 or until filled.

Heathen Oracle has an open call for its Azieran Adventures anthology Artifacts and Relics: Extreme Sorcery and is looking for "heroic fantasy submissions (in the vein of sword and sorcery, sword and planet, dark fantasy, and high fantasy) of up to 10,000 words (query if over 10,000 but I'm very open to the idea of anything up to 20,000 words). The work should prominently feature a powerful artifact or relic, and include strong characterization, a well developed plot, interesting setting, and a satisfying conclusion. Writers who hit upon all of these points will have a greater chance of acceptance. The story should be set on a secondary fantasy world and include original characters/settings and not infringe upon the copyrights of others (therefore fan fiction is not accepted). Content should be no worse than an R rated movie. It may be worth noting that the editor is a fan of the following authors' works from the old (and not so old) guard: Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner, David C. Smith. This should give some indication of the styles and types of stories that would be a good fit for this anthology." Payment: "$50 per story, $25 per reprint." Electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: June 30th, 2012.

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly webzine has opened submission windows in March, June, September and December; they want heroic fantasy fiction and poetry. Length: up to 10K on fiction, up to 30 pages on poetry. Payment: $100.00 for fiction, $25 for poetry, $100 for epic poetry) No reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

Editor Tim Lieder has an open call for his King David and the Spider of Mars antho, and is looking for "Short stories, ideally between 1000-12000 words. All stories must be based in some way on the Bible stories. I would prefer stories from the book of Samuel (usually edited to be 1 & 2) which is the story about how Israel transitioned from a Judge based society to a kingdom under King David. However any story based on a Bible tale will suffice. Seeking stories in all genres including horror, bizarro, science fiction, fantasy, humor, literary and romance (although if you write a romance between Tamar and Amnon, I'm going to be worried about you and not in a good way)." What he does NOT want: "I have a blog post for the first Bible anthology where I go off on the "do not want" list. It basically comes down to "no preachiness" which is the major pitfall for people tackling these kind of stories. I don't want a story with an agenda - whether it's atheist, Christian or Jewish. Do not set a Sodom & Gomorrah story in San Francisco. Do not send poetry. Do not retell a Bible story from a character's perspective that adds absolutely nothing to the narrative. In the last anthology, I got a bunch of stories that had to stop to tell me that "Jesus is love" just as the fundamentalist Christian axe murder was about to strike. Please don't do that. Also, there are themes covered in the first book (Samson, Witch of Endor, Daniel) that I thought were amazing. If you read the first book and see a story with your theme, your take better be radically different for me to consider it." Payment: $100.00 advance against shared royalties, reprints okay, electronic submissions only. See LJ post for more details. Deadline: March 31st, 2012.

Nameless Magazine accepts submissions year-round and wants dark or straight genre (horror, SF, fantasy, spec fic, etc.) stories and poetry. No fanfic, romance or sword & sorcery. Length: 1.5-9.5K on stories, no length specified on poetry; Payment: fiction - 5¢/word; poetry - .15¢/line. Query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Q&W Publishing has an open call for their The Old Weird South antho: "The American South is a haunted place — full of ghost stories, native legends, persistent devils & angels, souls sold at the crossroads, and moon-eyed maidens living in the Okefenokee. The South’s best writers — Faulkner, O’Connor, McCullers — all keep this sense of the otherworldly in their fiction. In this spirit, Q & W Publishers is looking for submissions for an anthology of short fiction and non-fiction that explores the fantastic, eerie, and bizarre side of the American South. Submit fiction and non-fiction pieces between 1,000 and 4,000 words. Pieces should be grounded in the American South (any time period, pre-historic to modern; rural or urban) and should include elements of the fantastic / supernatural that come from Southern history, tradition, or folklore. Generic vampire and werewolf stories aren’t appropriate. While violence, gore, and eroticism may be part of your submission, they should not be the primary focus — let’s keep it more PG-13 than R-rated. Submissions must be previously unpublished. Payment: "$50 per accepted piece. Authors with accepted pieces will also receive one free copy of the published anthology. The anthology may appear in electronic and printed form." Query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: March 1st, 2012.

Third Flatiron Publishing is "open for business and looking for submissions. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We’re looking for tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something instructive to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We miss the days of the great anthologies like Orbit, Universe, and Clarion, so we are going to begin by showcasing some of the best new shorts available today. For each issue, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred." Publishing schedule: "Short story collection on the theme of 'environmental disaster', deadline for submissions – March 31, 2012; Short story collection on the theme of ‘war’, deadline for submissions – June 30, 2012; Short story collection on the theme of ‘origins’, deadline for submissions – September 30, 2012." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Tumblehome Learning is open to submissions for "children’s and YA adventure books, mystery books, and biographies that center around science themes. Submissions should be based around real science and be appropriate for somewhere between ages 7 and 17. We accept manuscripts 25,000 to 70,000 words in length, but no simultaneous submissions. Our readers are looking for exciting stories with a little bit of learning along the way. THL readers are fans of “fun facts” they can share with their friends and family. The science fiction in THL books center around real science. The only aliens found in THL books are microorganism fossils found in meteorites." Payment: advance and royalties, query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Wily Writers publishes two short stories online per month in podcast and text formats, and looks for "short fiction that falls under the genre umbrella of speculative fiction: horror, fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal romance/mystery/adventure" with specific themes each month. Length: 1-4K, Payment: 5¢/word, reprints okay, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline for next issue: February 28, 2012.

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