Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Barking Rain Press is looking for subs, and publishes "complete novels or novellas of at least 20,000 words to sell through the BRP website and other partner sites in print and eBook formats. We will also consider the following: Short story collections (anthologies) with a strong central theme, written by a single author; Reprints of previously published works that are out-of-print, so long as the author owns BOTH the worldwide electronic rights and print rights. While we are open to a variety of literary genres, we are NOT open to submissions containing the following subject matter. These submissions will be automatically rejected: Poetry; A single short story, a single piece of short fiction,or a single work of flash fiction; Children’s books; Erotica; NC-17 / X-Rated / Pornographic fiction; Self-published works that are currently available for sale anywhere. If the work(s) are no longer for sale, and you own worldwide print and electronic rights, they may be submitted for consideration. Keep in mind that if a work can be found for sale or free download through a search engine search, the submission will be rejected outright. Make sure that the work is completely unavailable BEFORE you submit it." Payment: "Barking Rain Press pays authors 50% of net sales for both print and electronic sales (minus PayPal fees). Royalty payments are sent monthly. We pay only through PayPal, so authors must have a PayPal account." Submission periods: "January 1-31; May 1-31; and September 1-30." Query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Betwixt magazine "publishes speculative fiction of all sorts—fantasy, science fiction, horror, slipstream, weird fiction, npunk, you name it. We particularly like stories that smash genre boundaries to smithereens, but we also love fresh takes on established genres and in-depth explorations of ultraspecific niches. Experiments in form and style are welcomed enthusiastically—but a straightforward narrative with tight, crisp language is just as beautiful. When it comes down to it, we want stories that will amaze us, astound us, provoke our thoughts, and boggle our minds." Length: "Stories of 4,000 to 7,000 words are ideal, but we will consider a range from 1,000 to 30,000 words." Payment: "We pay $0.02 per word up to $150, payable upon receipt of completed contract and author questionnaire." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Class Act Books is looking for subs, and "is currently accepting fiction and non-fiction manuscripts in all genres. Only COMPLETE manuscripts that portray a story with a beginning, middle and end will be accepted." Length: "The submission word count for ebook publication ONLY is 5,000-150,000 words. Word count for books intended to include POD Print publication is 20,000-125,000 words." Payment: "e-book=30% net; print=7.5% net." Reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Dark Continents Publishing has an open call for their upcoming The Sea antho: "HP Lovecraft once wrote, 'The sea can bind us to her many moods, whispering to us by the subtle token of a shadow or a gleam upon the waves, and hinting in these ways of her mournfulness or rejoicing. Always she is remembering old things, and these memories, though we may not grasp them, are imparted to us, so that we share her gaiety or remorse.' The oceans of this world can swallow us, and sink us into the watery depths where monsters lurk and mermaids frolic. Or we can voyage far and discover new worlds. Selkies sing beneath the moonlight. The Flying Dutchman sails forever damned. Many-tentacled monstrosities drown unwary swimmers. Sunken treasures rest in wrecks shrouded in kelp and guarded by sea serpents. Be your tales wonder- or terror-filled, Dark Continents Publishing invites you to submit your previously unpublished short fiction" Length: "between 3,000 to 9,000 words that falls within the fantasy, horror, weird and science fiction genres." Payment: "a flat rate of $20 per story." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: [Note from PBW: I'm not really sure what it is; the publisher guidelines say "Closing date for submissions is June 21, 2013" but Ralan.com has the reading period listed as "1 June to 31 July 2013" -- so if you want to get a confirm on the open/close of the reading period, you might e-mail the publisher.]

The Dreadful Cafe has an open call for query letters for Membrane, their first antho: "We are now soliciting query letters for Membrane, our first anthology. All genres are eligible, but preference is given to stories that cross more than one and which reflect the flavor and theme described above." [Note from PBW: this flavor and theme thing is described as "Unreal. Imaginative. Intense. An escape from the safe. These stories will propel the reader—by wormhole or peephole—through the fantastic, the criminal, and the insane. Sometimes strange, always original, the stories we publish are of the highest production standards, from thrilling premise all the way to professional editing."] Length: "Manuscripts must be between 2,000 and 30,000 words and not previously published by anyone but the author. Self-published works are accepted and encouraged!" Payment: "Upon acceptance of your completed manuscript, Dreadful Cafe pays for non-exclusive, unlimited, 5-year publishing rights on the following schedule: Short Stories (2,000-7,000 words) — $125; Novelettes (7,001-15,000 words) — $250; Novellas (15,001-30,000 words) — $500/Negotiable." Query on reprints, electronic submission query first only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: October 1st, 2013 or when filled.

Fable Press is looking for sub ops: "seek all flavors of speculative fiction. This could be a thriller with a supernatural flair or a paranormal romance novel. A dark horror story or high fantasy. Utopian/dystopian. Alternate reality/history. Space Opera or steam punk – steam punk space opera? Why not! Speculative fiction covers a wide range of genre fiction and we love it all! Currently, we're only considering Young Adult (YA) and Adult fiction. We aren't publishing Children or Youth fiction at this time." Length: "All novel-length (60,000+ words) submissions are welcome, as well as any serialized novella proposals." Payment: "30% and 40% of the net sale." Reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

New Zealand digital-first publisher Paper Road Press wants to see subs "with a strong New Zealand or Pacific voice or work by New Zealand writers" and "specialises in science fiction and fantasy, but we are happy to consider detective and historical manuscripts. If these contain a dash of science fiction or fantasy themes or concepts, all the better. Please query first for other genres." Length: "We are currently seeking fiction of 20,000-50,000 words for our Novellas list, and 10,000-20,000 words for our Shortcuts list." Payment: "min. 35% royalty" Query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

Postscripts to Darkness has an open call for their fifth antho of dark fiction and illustrations: "We print volumes twice yearly, and while we include work from writers and artists all over the world, we give ample space to local creators, emerging or established. While we are open to a variety of approaches and styles, we are interested in original work that pushes and plays with(in) the boundaries of the fantastic, the marvelous, the uncanny, and the horrific. While we are open to a variety of approaches and styles, we are interested in original work that pushes and plays with(in) the boundaries of the fantastic, the marvelous, the uncanny, and the horrific. We are not interested in formulaic re-treads of genre conventions, but in work that revises and interrogates the relationship between genre writing and literary experimentation. We welcome challenging, edgy fiction that embraces not only elements of classic horror, but also dark fantasy, urban fantasy, slipstream, (new) weird fiction, and surrealism. While we are open to English-language fiction by writers of all nationalities, we also strive to support Canadian writers and artists, and maintain at least 50% Canadian content in any given issue. Bearing this in mind, please include with your submission information about your citizenship and/or current country of residence." Length: "We are looking for works of short fiction (up to 3500 words)." Payment: "We offer fiction contributors $25 CAN per story (payable through PayPal), regardless of length. We will also provide a complimentary electronic version of the book to each contributor. Contributors have the option of purchasing hard copies at a low contributor’s rate (30% off.)" No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: June 30th, 2013.

World Weaver Press has an open call for their upcoming Specter Spectacular II: 13 Deathly Tales antho: "The shift from Specter Spectacular I’s “ghostly tales” to Specter Spectacular II’s “deathly tales” is a slight one, but rather than repeat of the first anthology, we hope to expand on the content and story tropes while still holding onto the eerie and enthralling feeling associated with the classic ghost story. While the final anthology will include some ghost stories, we also hope to feature rifts between worlds, specters and jack-o’-lanters, ghosts that are not ghosts, psychopomps (characters who conduct spirits or souls to the other world, such as Charon, Valkyries, the Grim Reaper, etc.), psychic mediums, and tales of crossing over … and back … and perhaps over and back again. We’re quite intrigued by the possibilities (gothic, mythological, modern, humorous, etc.) and are looking forward to seeing what authors bring to the table. We recommend a familiarity with Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales. As we did in the first volume, we will seek a mix of scary, eerie, beautiful, and funny stories to round out the reading experience. The first volume made Tangent’s 2012 recommended reading list and was named a Night Owl Review Top Pick; we hope to see the same quality of fiction or higher in volume II." Length: "Under 10,000 words." Payment: "$10 + paperback copy of the anthology." Reprints okay but editor notes their "Preference for stories which have not been anthologized previously." Electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details; open submission period: May 1 – June 15, 2013.

For the final listing I want to mention something that recently came up: a couple of freelancers alerted me to an overseas Asian publisher with an open call that offers $.25/word for children's magazine articles. I don't know this publisher, and since their web site is not in English I can't do any research on them. For those reasons I'm not going to list the publisher by name, link to them, or try to comment on why they would offer so much money via an open call; I'll simply pass along a warning about publishers in other countries that I've always followed: if the money sounds too good to be true, it probably is.