Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities

Dark Oak Media has an open call for their upcoming Big Bad 2 – An Anthology of Evil Volume 2: "The immediate success of The Big Bad has been mind-blowing, and Dark Oak has signed us on to do it all over again! Emily Lavin Leverett and I are back to create another anthology of the greatest bad guy stories we can find. This is a mixed anthology, which means that there have been some folks invited to participate, and we will accept some stories through open calls. The invitations have gone out, and we have ten open slots, so we expect the competition to be fierce. Send us your best short story (3,000 – 9,000 words, if it has to be longer contact me first) that features a bad guy or evil character as the protagonist. It can be fantasy, urban fantasy, superhero, sci-fi, horror, whatever. Just send us your best bad guy story. We’re taking ten. That’s right, there are only ten slots available in this anthology." Payment: "This is a royalty-based anthology, with exclusive rights for one year. This is not a “for the love” antho – Dark Oak is a real publisher that sends out real royalty checks. I should know, I’ve already received one for Big Bad 1. After the first year we retain rights to publish electronically in the anthology only, and in print in this anthology only, but you can take it and sell it somewhere else, or sell it yourself as a standalone." See open call post here for more details. Deadline: November 1st, 2013.

DreamSpinner Press has an open call for their upcoming Feelgood antho: "Dreamspinner Press is seeking romantic short stories with medicine/physical health themes. Examples: A Band-Aid, a kiss, and a lollipop make kids’ boo-boos all better, so Mason decides to try that when his boyfriend bangs his knee on the coffee table; Two doctors in separate departments of the same hospital keep running into each other in unlikely places; A physical therapist struggles against falling in love with his patient; Don’t forget dentists, optometrists, and the dermatologists who do laser tattoo removals; Two researchers collaborating on a medical advance start talking about more personal matters. Editor’s Note: Because of the packaged nature of the anthology, all stories need to stand alone." Length: 3.5 - 12K; also noted: "Manuscripts shorter or longer will be considered but will have to be extraordinary." Payment: Unspecified, but I found this note: "Short stories and novellas for single-book anthologies are purchased for a flat amount based on the length of the work." Also no mention on reprints I could find so you might query on them; electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: October 1st, 2013

Good Mourning Publishing has an open call for their upcoming super hero-themed romance antho: "This is an open call for an anthology of short romantic fiction which takes place in a super hero universe; at least one of the love interests has to be a superhero or villain. Any story containing copyrighted characters is not permitted (Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Psylocke, etc.) but fanfiction which has been edited to be a stand-alone story with original characters is acceptable [PBW notes: this bit concerns me for a number of reasons, so I recommend sending in only your original fiction for your submission]. All gender pairings, sub-genre, and content rating are accepted for this book, but the main theme has to be romance." Length: up to 15K; Payment: "$30.00 USD for accepted works" + "a free paperback copy of the book upon publication." Editor notes that authors will retain all rights. Electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: December 31st, 2013.

Hazardous Press has an open call for their upcoming antho: "We are now open to submissions for Tales of the Black Arts, a swords & sorcery anthology, for POD paperback and eBook publication. We are looking for dark fantastic tales in the tradition of Moorcock’s Elric stories, Wagner’s Kane tales, or the Morlock Ambrosius stories by James Enge. As you might expect from the title, magic must play a central role in the story, not just be in the background. Length: "Word Count: 2,000 to 15,000 words." Payment: "$25, plus one paperback contributor’s copy." No reprints, electronic submission only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: October 31st, 2013.

Inaccurate Realities has an open call for submissions for their January time travel-themed issue: "Prompt: Play with the wibbly wobbly structure that is time and space. Finally all those hours watching Doctor Who will come in handy. Is there a time or place you’ve always wanted to visit? Ever wondered how a certain historical event really happened? Does your character need to deliver a warning to the future? Example: Doctor Who, Tempest by Julie Cross, Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier, Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston, Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone." Length: 2-5K; Payment: Pay: $15-$25 based on length; query on reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: November 15th, 2013.

The Pedestal is open to poetry submissions for their December 2013 issue: "For Issue 73, we will be accepting submissions of poetry (only) from September 1-November 30. There is no need to query prior to submitting poetry. There are no restrictions on length, theme, style, or genre. Submit up to six (6) poems via the provided link. Please submit all poems in one (1) file." Payment: "$40 per accepted poem"; no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Reading period: September 1st - November 30th, 2013.

Supernatural Tales is open for submissions: "I must insist that a story submitted to Supernatural Tales might - however tenuously - be described as a tale of the supernatural. Awfully restrictive, I know, but there it is. That said, a conventional and predictable ghost story of the kind we've all seen, heard and read a thousand times should not be submitted to ST. Come to think of it, such stories should not be written in the first place. Horror is all very well, but there are plenty of horror magazines out there. Try them first if you're into writing about people's viscera exploding all over the tea things. You will impress me by showing subtlety and wit, as opposed to gore-porn and OTT prose." [PBW notes: I think I'm in love with this guy now.] On length: "It's hard to spell out what I'm looking for in a short story, but I think the word 'short' is awfully useful. The shorter a story - and I mean this in a blindingly obvious sense - the easier it is to fit into a little magazine. So while I set a quite arbitrary upper limit of 8,000 words on a submission, in practice anything that long had better be superb. I have a soft spot for very short stories in the 1,500 word range. But, as with the long 'uns, the short-shorts have to be pretty damn good to stand out." Payment: Story that receives the most reader votes earns £25; other contributors receive two free copies of the magazine. Electronic submission only; see guidelines on reprints and for more details.

Third Flatiron has an open call for their upcoming Mars-themed antho, and want to see "short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome" (some other details on the sort of stories they like to see can be found in this interview.) Length: 1.5-3K; Payment: "3 cents per word (U.S.), in return for the digital rights to the story. All other rights will remain with the author. We no longer offer royalties, as we're now into our second year. If your story is selected as the lead story, we will pay a flat rate of 5 cents per word, in return for the permission to podcast or give the story away as a free sample portion of the anthology." No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: September 30th, 2013.

Timeless Tales has an open call for short stories for their upcoming Puss and Boots-themed issue. I can't copy any of the guidelines for reposting here, but basically the fiction they're looking for should be a retelling of the theme fairy tale, so you'll want to send in any spin on Puss and Boots. Length: up to 2K (1.5K preferred); Payment: $15.00; reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: Midnight PST November 1st, 2013.

World Weaver Press has an open call for Fae, their upcoming fairy-themed antho: "Have you ever noticed that, despite the name, there is often a conspicuous absence of fairies in fairy tales? Historically speaking fairies have been mischievous or malignant. They’ve dwelt in forests, collected teeth or crafted shoes. In Fae, we want stories that honor that rich history but explore new and interesting takes on fairies as well. We want urban fairies and arctic fairies, steampunk fairies, time-traveling and digital fairies. We want stories that bridge traditional and modern styles and while we’re at it, we want stories about fairy-like creatures too. Bring us your sprites, your pixies, your seelies and unseelies, silkies, goblins or gnomes, brownies and imps. We want them all. We’re looking for lush settings, beautiful prose and complex characters." Length: under 7.5K; Payment: $10 and paperback copy of the anthology; no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: November 30th, 2013

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