Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Birkensnake doesn't want poetry, but they are looking for "stories that sustain themselves over more than one or two pages. We hope for strong inhuman voices. We are weary of stories that present luminous dialogues between men and women. We hope for less luminous dialogue. More biology. More necrology. Holes that are really tunnels. Healthy mutants." Length: up to 20K. Payment: "at least 1¢/word" according to Ralan. Query on reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

Australian publisher Cohesion Press has an open call for Snafu, an anthology of military horror: "SNAFU will be an anthology of original military horror novellas and short stories. Bioweapons unleashed, mutations, ancient species unearthed in lost caverns deep within the earth… and the soldiers who fight them. You get the drift? There will be approximately 60,000 words taken up with novellas by the solicited authors, so we are looking for three or four original short stories via the submission process to fill the rest of the wordcount up to about 80,000." Length: 3-7K; Payment: 3¢/word, no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Submission period: September 1, 2013 until December 1, 2013.

Cohesion Press is also open to book-length submissions, and their current reading period is open until October 2nd, 2013; see regular submission guidelines here.

Clarkesworld magazine has an open call out for submissions for Upgraded, an "original science fiction anthology of cyborg stories edited by a cyborg." [I'd probably query on exactly what that means, folks.] What they want to see: "Obvious Requirement: Cyborgs or cyborg-related issues must play a role in the story. Feel free to explore this theme as widely as you like. Have fun with it and keep in mind that not all cyborgs need to be human." Length: 1-8K; Payment: "Seven cents per word", no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Tentative deadline: September 15th, 2013.

Garden State Speculative Fiction Writers is holding their annual short story contest; this one requires a $7.50 entry fee which doesn't make me happy but it's not as bad as some others. Their theme this year is "Storm of the Century", and their contest guidelines are available by .pdf here. Also, entry deadline is August 31st, so if you're interested, hop to it.

Hellfire Publishing is looking for "most well written fiction and non-fiction. At this time we are NOT accepting, Children’s books, no multi-author anthologies, collections or poetry. We are avidly looking for novels—in the following genres and all subgenres: Romance, Horror, Sci-fi, and Stories that are intended to be a part of a series." Length: "Between 20,000 to 100,000 words. Stories must be 60,000 words to be considered for print. No exceptions." Payment: "Ten percent (10%) for the first 10,000 print copies, (15%) fifteen percent from 10,001 to 20,000, print books sold the figure is bumped up to twenty percent (20%) after 20, 0001 print books sold and up. Multiple-Author books will split the above royalty percentages equally." No reprints, query first via electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details.

IFWG Publishing has a new fiction contest going: "Stories must be written with an emphasis on the speculative fiction genres (horror, science fiction and fantasy). Note that the judges will be looking for fresh, character-centric stories with depth of skill in theme and plot construction. Zombies, vampires, elves, hobbits, orcs, are unlikely to get past round one." Length: 1-3K; Prizes: "The winner of the Contest will receive $100US cash prize. Second place will get $50US and third place $25US." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see contest page for more details. Deadline: October 31st, 2013.

E-zine NewMyths.com publishes "speculative fiction of every stripe except graphic horror. We like each issue to have an eclectic variety of stories: funny, frightening, hard and soft sci-fi, adventure, thoughtful, etc. Every issue includes at least one nonfiction piece dealing with some aspect of science, myth, folklore, or literature as it relates to speculative fiction, usually of the well-researched essay variety rather than opinion or editorial. Speculative poetry is welcome. We tend to receive a lot of free verse and not enough "form" poetry. We also buy one piece of artwork per issue, and occasionally commission one." Length: up to 10K; Payment: $50.00 fiction or nonfiction, $20.00 flash or poetry. No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.

There's an open call for Strength from Within, a charity-drive anthology: "Recovery from addiction requires strength, and through strength can come recovery. But not all strengths are the same, nor are all addictions. Strength From Within aims to examine addiction and recovery through the lens of fantasy. With fifteen stories of bravery, strength and resilience in the face of addiction and recovery, this anthology showcases established authors as well as up and coming talent." As for the charity aspects: "All profits are to go to Asbury House. The support from this project will go to give Asbury House a home in Fort Collins, CO and give dozens of women the space to learn their strengths and build on them to recover." What they want to see: "Original material, no reprints will be accepted. Do not use non-original characters and/or copyrighted characters. Romance is fine, erotica is inappropriate for the anthology. No rape, no excessive violence." Length: "2-6K, query for longer"; Payment: "$25 per story", no reprints, electronic submissions only. Deadline: "October 31st, or until filled."

World Weaver Press has changed their annual reading periods for novel and story queries; see updates for their 2014 schedule here.

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