April Submission Roundup

There are a wealth of open calls right now, which jives seasonally, but I'm also wondering if the pandemic ended up creating some  new publications. Either way, we should take advantage of it!

Bear in mind that I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Rough Cut Press is seeking experimental work in all genres. Theme is Dust. Up to 650 words. Pays $25. Deadline April 27.

Black Angel Press is seeking gothic ghost stories for an anthology. Doesn't have to be set during Victorian times. 3000 to 5000 words. Pays £5. Deadline April 30.

Off Topic Publishing is seeking poetry and flash fiction for "Home: What Is It and How Do I Get There?" Up to 1000 words for flash and 60 lines for poetry. Pays $15 CAD. Deadline April 30.

Brandon Applegate is seeking short horror and dark fiction for "It Was All a Dream: An Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes Done Right." 1500 to 4000 words. Pays $.03/word. Deadline April 30 (extended deadline for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ of May 7.

Kopfkino Media is seeking twisted horror fairy tales for "Midnight in the Dying Garden: Fairy Tales for the End of the World." 1000 to 7000 words. Pays $15 to $150 CAD. Deadline April 30.

Fiyah Lit Mag is seeking stories by black people of the African diaspora with the theme food and cuisine. 2000 to 7000 words. Pays $.08/word. Deadline April 30.

Strange Horizons is seeking stories by Southeast Asian and the SE Asian diaspora for a special issue. 2000 to 7000 words. Specific pay is not listed, so I'm assuming it's their usual $.10/word. Deadline April 30.

Jellyfish Review is seeking stories with memorable characters. Up to 1000 words. Pays $25. Deadline April 30.

Tourmaline & Quartz Publishing is seeking fantasy stories involving wintery elements for Kingdoms of Wrath & Ice. 5000 to 7500 words. Pays $25. Deadline April 30.

The First Line is seeking short pieces with the first line: "Thomas hadn't expected to be alive when the town's time capsule was opened." 300 to 5000 words. They also take poetry and nonfiction with varying requirements. Pays between $5 and $50, depending upon submission type and length. Deadline May 1.

Red Dog Fiction is seeking powerful crime short stories for the anthology Gone, which is also the theme. 3500 to 6000 words. Pays £30. Deadline May 1.

The Last Girls Club is seeking feminist fiction with the theme "Sex Work is REAL Work." Up to 2500 words. Pays $10 to $25. Deadline May 1.

The Other Stories podcast is seeking dark fiction and horror short stories with the following themes: Octopuses (deadline April 15), Ageing (deadline May 1), and Faeries (deadline May 15). Word count not specified. Pays £15. 

Kelp Journal is seeking stories set in a beach locale with a neo-noir feel for The Dark Waves of Winter. 3000 to 6000 words. Pays $35 + royalties. Deadline May 1.

Bennington Review is seeking innovative work that is both graceful and reckless. Word count not specified, but pay is by typeset page. Pays $20 to $200. Deadline May 8.

Alan Squire Publishing is seeking short stories or creative nonfiction addressing the need to escape, flee, or run. Speculative fiction. 500 to 3000 words. Pays $30. Deadline May 9.

Shooter Literary Magazine is seeking fiction, essays, poetry, and memoir with the theme Out West. 2000 to 6000 words. Pays £25. Deadline May 9.

Egglplant Emoji Lit is seeking comedy/humor short stories. 1000 to 5000 words. Pays $25. Deadline $25.

Stories Rule Press is seeking urban fantasy novelettes with the theme/title "The Wizard Must be Stopped." 7500 to 10,000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline May 15.

Weird Little Worlds is seeking speculative fiction about mothers for Mother: Tales of Love and Terror. 1000 to 3000 words. Pays $.05/word. Deadline May 15.

B Cubed Press is seeking short stories set in a fictional world (a short story is provided at the link) for Scott's Planet. 500 to 5000 words. Pays $.03/word. Deadline May 30.

Dragon Soul Press is seeking horror short stories for Haunt. 1000 to 15,000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline May 31.

Hellbound Books Publishing is seeking vampire horror stories for Vampires and Such. 4000 to 10,000 words. Pays $5. Deadline May 31.

Eerie River Publishing is seeking horror stories with a fire theme. 1500 to 7000 words. Pays $.01/word CAD. Deadline May 31.

Hellnotes is seeking dark stories that include the HP Lovecraft creature Azathoth and the theme of order out of chaos for Azathoth: Ordo ab Chao. 5000 to 7000 words. Pays $.05/word. Deadline May 31.

Alienhead Press is seeking horror stories about Halloween ghosts for Literally Dead. 2000 to 4000 words. Pays $.06/word. Deadline May 31.

Plenty to choose from!

Any of these of interest? Anything to add? 

May you find your Muse.

Guest on IWSG, Mystery Recommendations, & Links

I guest posted on the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog Monday about submission fears and tips.

And today I'm visiting C. Lee McKenzie.

Many Old Books, Martin Vorel, Wikimedia Commons

Also this week, I posted on my Facebook page asking for recommendations of books in the mystery genre, and I'm passing those along:

The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware

The Turn of the Key, Ruth Ware

The Death of Mrs. Westaway, Ruth Ware

Sweet Water, Cara Reinard

In Her Wake, Amanda Jennings

The Shadows, Alex North

Ancient Enemy (series), Mark Lukens

Verity, Colleen Hoover

The Sea of Lost Girls, Carol Goodman

The Next Wife, Kaira Rouda

Medicus (series), Ruth Downie

Finlay Donovan is Killing It, Elle Cosimano

The Drowning Kind, Jennifer McMahon

Three Pines (series), Louise Penny

Kate Shugak series, Dana Stabenow

Not a Happy Family, Shari Lapena

The Guest List, Lucy Foley

No Exit, Taylor Adams

Our Last Night, Taylor Adams

Anything by: Dorothy L. Sayers, Elizabeth George, PD James, and Fiona Davis

I didn't do my submission stats last week because it didn't feel appropriate with the tribute. So I'm doing it this week instead. These are my short story submission stats for January:

10 submissions

6 rejections

1 acceptance

17 stories currently on submission

Currently open for submissions. Bear in mind that I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Pyre Magazine is seeking "dark, genre-bending works." Up to 3500 words. Also takes flash fiction, nonfiction, photography, poetry, and art. Pays $10. Deadline February 28.

Knight Riding Press is seeking flash fiction and short stories about mermaids for Mermaidens. Up to 7000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline March 1.

Sans Press is seeking any genre of story that matches the theme/title: The Last Five Minutes of a Storm. Up to 5000 words. Pays 150 Euros. Deadline March 7.

Mascara Literary Review is looking for short fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction with the theme of Resilience. Up to 3000 words. Pays $200. Deadline March 20.

Chicken Soup for the Soul is seeking short pieces with the theme Preteens or Teenagers. Up to 1200 words. Pays $200. Deadline March 30.

Black Hart Entertainment is seeking offbeat horror stories for That is SO Wrong! Up to 7000 words. Pays $10. Deadline March 30.

Dragon Soul Press is seeking stories for the following anthology calls: Chance on Love, Valor (must feature East Asian warriors). 5000 to 15,000 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline March 31. 

Moonflowers & Nightshade is seeking sapphic horror. 2000 to 5000 words. Pays $04/word. Deadline April 1.

Cloaked Press is seeking speculative fiction from the POV of the villain for Summer of Speculation. 4000 to 10,000 words. Pays $15. Deadline April 15.

Any mysteries you've read recently that you'd recommend? Did you check out my post on IWSG? Have you been submitting? Any of these submission calls interest you?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG - Self-Doubt, Stats, & Links

It's the first Wednesday of September, which makes it time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by the one and only Alex J. Cavanaugh.

The purpose of the IWSG is for writers to share their doubts and fears, while offering support to their fellow writers. We post the first Wednesday of each month. Anyone is welcome to join by going HERE.

This month's co-hosts are C. Lee McKenzie, Rachel Pattison, Elizabeth Seckman,Stephanie Faris, Lori L MacLaughlin, and Elsie Amata! Stop by and visit them, and be sure to thank them for hosting.

Let's see...insecurities. I realized the other day that I was avoiding working on my novels. At this point, I've become somewhat comfortable in the short story world. I have my process down. I enjoy writing short stories. But I've got all these ideas for novels, too, plus one needing to be finished, one needing to be edited, and another needing some major rewrites. I haven't worked on them much over the last few months. It took me this long to see it was nerves for various reasons. Part of it is that I feel like if I sell a novel I won't have time for the short stories anymore. And then I'll be sucked into the constant marketing, working on the next novel, etc. The thing is, that's where I aim to be, but I fear I won't like it, and I hate to lose the short stories, because I have too much fun with them. I wonder if I can balance the two once I get past the writing stage.

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Before I jump into links, it's time for my August stats. 

Note: These are all short story submissions.

8 submissions

6 rejections

2 short listed

10 currently on submission

No acceptances or new publications this month. 

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Link time! Bear in mind that I'm not endorsing these links, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting. Note: I got behind on these, so some close pretty soon. I'll try to get caught back up this month so that they're a month out.

Accepting Submissions:

Apt is open for essays, poetry, comics, and longer short works of between 10,000 and 15,000 words. Pays $50 and contributor's copy. Reading window closes September 15.

Meerkat Press has an open call out for short fiction for their anthology Behind the Mask. Superhero themed. 3000 to 6000 words. Pays $.02-.08/word. Deadline September 15. 

Farolight Publishing is taking submissions for Horror Library. 2000 to 6000 words. Pays $.03/word. Deadline September 15. 

Splickety Publishing Group is accepting submissions for Splickety Prime with the theme Christmas in Crisis. 300 to 1000 words. Pays $.02/word. Deadline September 23.

The Letters Page is accepting essays, fiction, travelogues, poems, and tons more. It needs to be in the form of a letter. Must be mailed, not electronically submitted. Pays £100. Deadline September 25. 

Pentimento is open for submissions for their winter issue. Essays and fiction concerning disability. Up to 6000 words. Pays $25-250. Deadline September 30.

The Nashville Review is open for fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Up to 8000 words. Pays $25-100. Deadline September 30.

Recompose is open for short prose and poetry that combines speculative fiction with literary fiction. Up to 1000 words. Pays $.06/word. Deadline September 30.

Enchanted Conversation is accepting fairy tale inspired prose and poems. 700 to 3000 words. Pays $10-30. Deadline September 30.

Contests:

Brilliant Flash Fiction has a flash contest with the prompt "It came in the mail." There's also an image prompt. 500 word limit. 50 euro first prize. Deadline September 15.  

Concis is holding Pith of Prose & Poem Contest. Up to 200 words. Cash prizes, plus postcards with your work on them. No entry fee. Deadline September 15. 

What are your insecurities? Have you found a good way to balance novels with shorter works? Have you submitted anything this month? How did it go? Any publishing news? Any of these links of interest to you? Anything to share?

May you find your Muse.