Writing — 6717 words = 2 pts.
Editing — 12,995 words = 2 pts.
Submissions — 3 = 3 pts.
Betaed Novel for Friend — 1 = 1 pt.
TOTAL = 8 pts.

The writing total is pitiful, especially considering how I did October through December. In my own defense, I’ll say that I had TWO laptops in a row get borked out from under me. The first one’s still a doorstop and the second one was only fixed (sort of — it was fixed by turning off the TAP function on the touchpad completely) a few days before the end of the month. Still sucks.

The good news is that the time I spent not writing I spent (among other things) thinking about how the book was going, and I realized that approaching the ending action realistically wasn’t working for me. I’m usually all about doing things right, but there’s a volcano involved [cough] and the idea that the boys could just sort of magic an about-to-erupt volcano back into stable peace and quiet was pretty boggling. I’ve done some volcano research for this storyline, and I decided that they were able to prevent things from getting any further, but so far as it’d been stirred up already, it still was, and things were going to proceed apace, with tremors and news bulletins and alerts and some eventual lahars hitting a few small communities. Which is what would happen if Mt. Rainier had a significant but not catastrophic (that is, far short of Mount St. Helens) eruption event. Everyone around here has volcano insurance, and there are signs posted in dangerous areas pointing out volcano escape routes to take in case you have to evacuate; there’s plenty of info on what’d likely happen and what people would do.

The problem is that this doesn’t happen all at once, boom, like someone setting off a bomb. I had some other loose ends to clean up, and I did that, while the characters kept an eye and an ear on the volcano news on TV. But still, the wrap on the characters’ active participation in the eruption was the action climax of the book, and I had several chapters written after that, with at least one or two more to go. All of that was, literally, anti-climax from the POV of the built up action/danger thread of the story, and the longer it got, the more draggy it felt. I could just see readers getting bored and impatient.

So I ripped out almost 10K words and decided to handle it differently. They needed to really wrap up the volcano problem right there, and I came up with a way to get it done without giving the characters a ridiculously huge amount of power. Now I still need to wrap up those other threads ASAP, but at least the volcano thing isn’t draaaaaagging out like it was. Once I’ve written to the end, I need to go back and tweak a couple of things I’ve thought of as I’ve progressed, but that shouldn’t take incredibly long. Then it’s into submission and back to work on the next book, the one I did 50K of for NaNo.

Workshop

I also have to write a short story for my upcoming Anthology Workshop; the assignment for that is due any time now, and I’m looking forward to getting it. This should be fun.

I’m doing one of the workshops Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch put on each year, and I’m pretty excited about it. It runs in early March, and I’ll definitely be blogging about it when I get home. For the anthology workshop, we get a theme assignment in advance (like RSN) and we submit a story for it, as if we were submitting to an antho. When we get to the workshop, several professional anthology editors will tell us whether they’d have bought our story and exactly why or why not. We also have an option to write another story and submit it while at the workshop, and get feedback on that one as well.

This kind of info should be gold, seriously. I’ve been getting a lot of “Good story, well written, not buying it, enjoyed reading it, looking forward to seeing more from you” type rejections in the last year or two, and while they’re an order of magnitude better than the “Thank you for thinking of us but this doesn’t meet our needs” type, it’s still frustrating. I feel like I’m standing right on the threshold, and there’s some key thing I’m missing that’s preventing me from stepping over. I’m hoping to get the information I need to take that step when I do the workshop.

Anthology Listings

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions about “Until Filled” anthologies. Taking feedback from folks in the three places I posted that query, I’ve decided that what I’m going to do is include all the Until Filled anthos in the next posting, in just over a week, with notations showing how long each one has been open (or how long I’ve been aware of it — close enough) and which ones are being dropped. Anyone still interested can bookmark the page the antho call is on, but after this month I’m dropping anything that’s been hanging open with no progress posts from the editor in a year or more. That means no update posts, no update edits on the original post, no replies to comments on the original post, for a year. I think that’s more than reasonable, and feedback indicated that most folks who’d sub to an Until Filled antho at all were less likely to sub to one that’d been hanging for a long time. So one more month to let people bookmark what they want, and then I’m going to prune the listings.

If you’re an editor of an Until Filled anthology and I drop your listing because I missed an update post or something similar, feel free to e-mail me at angiebenedetti AT gmail DOT com with a link to your update. As always, final decisions about what to include on the listing are mine, but if I’ve missed something, I want to know about it. (And note that I always check the Until Filled posts when I’m prepping a new post — if there’s no link to your update on that original post, or if it’s buried somewhere hard to spot, maybe that’s a problem. If you want submissions, especially on older projects, make it easy for writers to find your updates.)

Angie

I have some Until Filled anthologies on the list that’ve been hanging for over a year. Past a certain point, it seems to me that sending them a story would be like tossing it into a black hole. The longer it stays open, the less likely they are to ever finally fill up and be published, or so it seems to me, particularly if it’s been a year or a year and a half or more. I’d think twice and maybe three times before sending a story to an Until Filled market that’d been hanging open for over a year, and the more writers who think the same way, the worse the situation is, so… is there any point to keeping them on the list? What do you all think?

I guess I’m trying to find out how many other writers do think the same way.

Does it make a difference if the editor has been posting updates or news about the antho more recently? How about if there’s nothing directly from the editor (on the anthology blog or web page or whatever) but if Duotrope shows that stories have been accepted more recently? How much more recently, in both cases? Less than a year? six months? three months? or…?

The listing is getting pretty long, and I’d like to be able to trim it, particularly if other writers consider these long-dormant anthologies deadwood, as I’m beginning to. If some significant number of people still find these listings useful, though, then I’ll keep them.

Opinions?

Angie

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, “Until Filled” markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Non-erotica/romance writers: check out Dark Faith Two, King David and the Spiders from Mars, the Professor Challenger Anthology, Triangulation, Bibliotheca Fantastica, Horror Library, Mortis Operandi, the Fantastic Stories Anthology, and the Wuxia Anthology.

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31 January 2012 — Dark Faith Two — Apex Book Company

Apex will be publishing a follow-up to the Nebula, Bram Stoker, and Black Quill-nominated anthology Dark Faith. The book will be 80,000 words and pay five cents a word (up to four thousand words). It will debut late-summer 2012. We buy First World anthology print rights and digital rights (for three years).

We’re looking for the story only you could write, something deeply personal and at the same time universal. Everyone believes in something and we want you to put those beliefs to the test. We’re looking for smart, literate stories that don’t proselytize or stereotype. Stories that make you think, that comment on the human condition and the social order. Stories that are rich in their use of language.

However, as much as we love social commentary, don’t forget to entertain us. The best way to get a feel for what we’re looking for is to read Dark Faith.

Submissions will be accepted from 1/1/2012 until 1/31/2012. Unsolicited stories received outside this timeframe will be deleted, unread.

Please include a cover letter with your submission–even if we know you. Please send no more than one submission at a time. No reprints. Simultaneous submissions will be accepted as long as you tell us up front (and immediately withdraw the story if you sell it).

All submissions must be emailed as an RTF file to Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon at darkfaithantho@gmail.com.

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31 January 2012 — King David and the Spiders from Mars — ed. Tim Lieder, Dybbuk Press

Due to the positive response to She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror, I will be editing another Bible-themed anthology. Tentatively titled King David & The Spiders from Mars: More Tales of Biblical Terror, this will be a Bible-themed horror anthology specifically based on The Book of Samuel. Some of my favorite stories from the first anthology were David centered including Elissa Malcohn’s “Judgement at Naioth” and Christi Krug’s “As If Favorites of Their God.”

What I’m Looking For: Short stories, ideally between 1000-12000 words. All stories must be based in some way on 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. Even though this is primarily a horror anthology, I’m willing to look at stories that fall into different categories including bizarro, science fiction, fantasy, 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). There are several stories within Samuel including the madness of Saul, the end of Eli’s family as the major priesthood, David & Goliath and the death of Absalom so feel free to use whatever inspires you. Also, even though the Book of Ruth is a completely different book, it serves as a prequel to the David saga so if you got a great Ruth story, I will read it.

Update: Since I am not getting many stories thus far, I will accept stories from the rest of the Bible so if you have this awesome Elijah or Jonah story, feel free to send it. I will still appreciate the stories from the Book of Samuel more and may give them greater consideration but I won’t reject a story because it’s from a different part of the Bible.

Check out this Amazon List for reading suggestions. Please at least read the book of Samuel once to get the flavor of the stories. If you only know the story of David & Goliath, you will be at a disadvantage since that’s the most popular story in the bunch and you will have a lot of competition.

Also, if you are going to do a David & Goliath story read the original. This is a much more interesting story than the children’s books would have you believe and all that “come from behind victory” blather is inaccurate (not to mention boring as hell).

Other Suggestions:
Retellings of Biblical Stories from the perspective of another character.
Kiastic Storytelling
Deconstructionist Commentary akin to Rashi
Biblical stories retold in different literary styles (high adventure, Victorian, Romance, Mystery, etc.)
Modern stories told in the Biblical style (Best use Robert Alter’s Art of Biblical Poetry and Art of Biblical Narrative if you want a crash course)
Parodies of Prophets
“Queen Esther vs. The Brain Eating Penis Monster from Outer Space” (note that just sticking this title on a lame story is not going to endear you to me. Write a story that would justify this kind of title and I’m interested)
Biblical Movie Parodies

I am also impressed by the following: original takes on classic stories, strong female characters, stories that actually understand the original tales, style.

Formatting Guidelines: Please use Standard Manuscript format. I am going to be a little more hard on people not using this format since the last time I had stories where I couldn’t get back to the writers because they neglected to put their emails on the stories so I had no way of knowing how to tell them that they were rejected. One even made it to the Maybe pile. Please submit in .rtf or .doc.

What I am not Looking For: 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. I am not interested in other stories in the Bible. 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” but since this one is about King David, I figure there will be less of those in this slush pile. Still, don’t do that.

Also note that all snotty replies to rejections will be aired publicly on this blog and mocked mercilessly.

Pay: $50 advance against equal share of royalties – to be paid out no later than publication.

Reading Period: November 1, 2011 – January 31, 2012. All stories submitted before November 1 will be deleted unread. Although that’s the best case scenario. If I do read them I will mock them on this blog. I am using a three month window as well as waiting until November 1 because I don’t want trunk stories and I doubt anyone has been submitting their awesome King David Rips Off Foreskins story to markets until now. This gives you time to write an original story and send it by November 1 or to spend about 4 months perfecting it until it’s ready at the end of January.

Reprints. Yes. Same price. Make sure you tell me where it was originally published and that it is available for reprint right sales.

Send to: timlieder1 – at – gmail.com

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31 January 2012 — Professor Challenger Anthology — ed. J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing

Genres: SF, Fantasy, Horror, Steampunk, Adventure

Story Length: Approx. 7,500 words to a maximum of 10,000 words

What we’re after: A broad range of new and original stories built around Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s LOST WORLD character Professor George Edward Challenger. Stories derived from the aftermath of events in the Lost World are welcome, however simply revisiting or rehashing the Lost World without good cause is not. Challenger is a man of science first and foremost, not an explorer. Mash-ups or crossovers with public domain literary characters are welcome.

For inspiration think X-files, Quatermass, Dr. Who, cryptozoology – Yeti, Nessie, etc…, aliens among us, supernatural occurrences, science gone awry in a Dr. Moreau, Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll vein, nature run amuck, monsters large and small, world threatening cataclysm, Lovecraft mythos, think H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, E. R. Burroughs, John Wyndham, Nigel Kneale, alternate history, new lost places, steampunk, whatever…. Be creative.

Mine the potential for all it’s worth! Push it out there, get weird, play, have fun!

Notes: This is a professional market. Full rate to 7,500 words, half rate for balance to 10,000 words. One time publication rights. The anthology is part invitation and part open submission. Priority will be given to invited authors, but an invitation to submit is not a guarantee of acceptance. A minimum of two slots will be held for open submissions. Acceptance is based entirely on suitability of story and quality of writing. No reprints.

Submission Format: Email submission in Rich Text Format (.rtf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) attachments only. Use standard manuscript format. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuscript_format#Basic_manuscript_formatting)

Send submissions to charles@bakerstreetdozen.com and/or themightyjrc@shaw.ca

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29 February 2012 — In Plain Sight — Storm Moon Press

Expected Release: July 13, 2012
Genres: Any [Romance -- any subgenre which conforms to the requirements below]
Pairings: Bisexual
HEA or HFN Ending Required? Yes

For the men and women of In Plain Sight, mistaken identity is the story of their lives. They are the assassins, theives, spies, and double agents of the world, and nothing is as it seems around them. They might lead one completely mundane life, but the other side of their life that they keep hidden would shock anyone who catches a glimpse from the outside.

In this anthology, we’re looking for short stories featuring bisexual characters (male or female) who lead two lives, one in plain sight, and the other in the shadows. High action isn’t required, but we’re want to see something exciting with a bit of shock value if it is suddenly revealed to another character. After all, discovering your lover is an assassin or double agent has a different effect than discovering they’re secretly a part-time florist.

The level of their deception to their loved ones is up to you, but you can play with them having different families, a lover they try to keep safely tucked away, or a couple they date who is just as bad-ass as they are if trouble comes calling. They can have old flames they never quite allow to extinguish or business contacts they have flings with on the side. One way or another, their bisexuality must be shown, rather than just hinted at, so make sure they have erotic involvements on both sides of the coin.

Authors will receive royalties as well as an initial payment of $50 for their story. This payment is not an advance and does not have to be earned out before royalties are paid. Royalties on individual e-book releases will be 50% of cover price on direct sales through Storm Moon Press’ e-store, and 40% of cover price minus distribution costs for sales through third party vendors. In addition, authors will receive the same percentage royalty on sales of the anthology e-book divided equally among the authors, as well as 25% of cover price on direct sales of the print anthology through Storm Moon Press’ e-store, and 20% of cover price minus distribution costs for sales through third party vendors, also divided equally among all authors. All royalties will be paid quarterly.

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15 March 2012 — Triangulation: Morning After — ed. Steve Ramey, Parsec Ink.

Triangulation is an annual 125-150+ page short fiction anthology that publishes science fiction, fantasy, horror, and any other speculative fiction that caught the editors’ fancy. Every year we have a theme: 2012’s theme is “Morning After”. We pay for the work we select and are available online at places like Amazon.com. We’re a small outfit but we work hard to produce a quality product.

We define “short fiction” as “up to about 5,000 words or so.” We have no reason to impose hard arbitrary word limits, but we are interested in publishing a wide variety of entertaining and literate stories, so the more space a story would take, the more it will need to impress us. If you have an awesome story that exceeds 5K then by all means send it; but be warned that we have yet to accept anything for publication much longer than 5000 words.

We dig flash; there is no minimum word count.

We have no interest in getting more specific about the term “speculative fiction.” Science fiction, horror, fantasy, magic realism, alternate history, whatever — if there’s a speculative element vital to your story, we’ll gladly give it a read.

We love creative interpretations of our theme, “Morning After”. Don’t ask us what it means — tell us what it means with a story that convinces us you’re right.

We publish both new and established writers; the level of experience for the authors gracing our pages has ranged from “first time in print” to “Hugo winner” and “Nebula winner”. The majority of our stories usually wind up being from American authors, but we’ve had a number of international contributions; we’re happy to consider work from anywhere in the world, just as long as it’s written in English.

We will run mature content if we like the story. So make sure there’s an actual story in that mature content.

We will consider reprints, but our focus is on original stories. We are unlikely to accept a reprint that is less than astounding, or one that has appeared in a major market, or is currently widely available online.

We do not publish poetry. Sorry.

No fanfic, even if it’s fanfic of a fictional universe that has passed into public domain.
No thinly-disguised transcripts of roleplaying sessions, no settings obviously based on D&D or other such games. Don’t get us wrong, we love to game ourselves — which means our imaginations are probably too cluttered with elves and dwarves and orcs and the like as it is.

The submission period is January 1, 2012 through March 15, 2012. All electronic submits must be sent within that period, all snail mail submits must be postmarked by the deadline.

Compensation:
We pay a flat $15 (USA funds) on publication against royalties and provide one contributor’s copy. The anthology will be published in late July of 2012. We purchase North American Serial Rights, and Electronic Rights for the downloadable version(s). All subsidiary rights released upon publication. Contributors will also have the option of purchasing additional copies of the anthology at reduced price.

How To Submit:
Electronic submissions make our lives easier. Please upload your story via Submishmash (see SUBMIT link below). If this is your first time submitting to a publication that utilizes Submishmash, you will have to create an account with them. It’s free.

We’ll consider stories in the following formats:
== .doc or .docx (MS Word)
== .rtf (Rich Text Format — generic document format that most word processors can create)
== .odt (OpenDocument Text — format used by the OpenOffice.org suite)

Please use industry standard manuscript format. There’s disagreement on some of the exact details of the “standard”. We’re not testing you to see if you can follow each and every niggling detail, we just want a manuscript that is easy for us to read.

If you absolutely positively cannot submit electronically, please send the manuscript (with either a SASE or a return email address) to:

Triangulation 2012
312 N Beaver St.
New Castle PA 16101

No hand-written manuscripts. We gotta draw the line somewhere.

No multiple submissions; only send us one story at a time. No simultaneous submissions, don’t send it to us if someone else is already considering it.

Response:
Expect to hear back from us within a month. Feel free to start sending us nagging emails if you haven’t heard from us after two months.

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31 March 2012 — Picking Up the Pieces — Storm Moon Press

Expected Release: August 3, 2012
Genres: Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Urban Fantasy
Pairings: Bisexual
HEA or HFN Ending Required? No

The world has ended. No, it wasn’t the zombies. It wasn’t even by supernatural forces (aliens, vampires, religious/The Rapture, etc). What happened is up to you, but for this anthology, we’re looking for natural causes such as meteors, viruses, technology going haywire, or even nuclear winter. Whether you send the survivors into the wild or up into space, Picking Up the Pieces is the perfect opportunity to explore the major shifts of society and sexuality while putting a focus on bisexuality in particular.

We’re looking for short stories that show characters dealing with the fall-out after the apocalypse. This can include a restructuring of gender roles, bisexuality becoming a necessity due to one sex being nearly wiped out, etc. Be creative and show us your best bisexual characters struggling to survive and find a bit of romance at the same time.

Authors will receive royalties as well as an initial payment of $50 for their story. This payment is not an advance and does not have to be earned out before royalties are paid. Royalties on individual e-book releases will be 50% of cover price on direct sales through Storm Moon Press’ e-store, and 40% of cover price minus distribution costs for sales through third party vendors. In addition, authors will receive the same percentage royalty on sales of the anthology e-book divided equally among the authors, as well as 25% of cover price on direct sales of the print anthology through Storm Moon Press’ e-store, and 20% of cover price minus distribution costs for sales through third party vendors, also divided equally among all authors. All royalties will be paid quarterly.

***

31 March 2012 — Bibliotheca Fantastica — ed. Claude Lalumière and Don Pizarro, Dagan Books

What we want: Stories having to do with lost, rare, weird, or imaginary books, or any aspect of book history or book culture, past, present, future, or uchronic. Any genre. Although the fantastical is not essential per se, stories should evoke a sense of the fantastic, the unknown, the weird, wonder, terror, mystery, pulp, and/or adventure, etc.

Originals only, no reprints. No simultaneous submissions. Accepting stories of up to 10,000 words in length. We will accept two submissions per author.

We will accept submissions from December 15, 2011, at noon EST, to midnight EST on March 31, 2012. We are taking submissions through an automated system that will not allow you to submit before December 15, but the link to do so will appear here: http://daganbooks.submishmash.com/submit

Dagan Books is paying 2 cents per word for each accepted story, plus contributor copies. Bibliotheca Fantastica will be available in both print and ebook, and is scheduled to be published Fall 2012.

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1 April 2012 — Masks Off! — Torquere Press

Everyone loves a masquerade, right? The masks, the mystery, the seduction of the reveal! Now imagine a masquerade with an extra layer: some of the men wear a mask beneath their mask. They’re shapeshifters. Be they cats or canines, dragons or foxes, all shifters are welcome, as long they don’t forget to wear a mask.

We’re looking for sexy, romantic male/male tales for Masks Off! In which at least one partner is a shifter. Light BDSM is welcome, but is not mandatory. Stories should be between 5000 and 12000 words long, and should be submitted in full and include a synopsis and author biography in the cover letter. Please put your name or pseudonym in the manuscript as well as in your submission email.

Send submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with Masks Off! in the subject line. Payment is a $50.00 flat fee for first time electronic and print rights for three years, and a print copy of the book. No reprints, please. Deadline for submissions is April 1, 2012 for an August 2012 publication.

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UNTIL FILLED — Horror Library, Vol. 5 — Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We’re looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what’s already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won’t cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They’re just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we’ll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission – title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

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UNTIL FILLED — Mortis Operandi — ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By “supernatural” we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 — Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

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UNTIL FILLED — Fantastic Stories Anthology — ed. Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination is a yearly anthology. Edited by Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications Box 10641, Blacksburg, VA 24063

I’m looking for stories that cover the entire science fiction, fantasy, and horror spectrum. I love magic realism (think Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman) and hard sf. I want a story to surprise me and to take me to unexpected places. I love word play, and would like to see stories with a literary bent, though decidedly not a pretentious bent. I could spend some time telling you what I don’t want, but I’ve found that good stories can make me buy them regardless of how many of my rules they violate. Let your imagination run wild, push and blur the limits of genre, or send me something traditional. I want it to see it all. My experience as an editor tells me that over time I’ll develop preferences and that the anthology will take on its own personality. When that happens I’ll change the guidelines to be more specific, but for now I’m going to explore what’s out there before I decide what direction to go in.

Payment: 10 cents per word on acceptance for original stories (maximum of $250.00) or 2 cents per word for reprints (maximum of $100.00). A check will accompany the contract so no simultaneous submissions please. I am purchasing First English Language Book Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights.

Story length, I have no limit on story length but the longer the story is the better it will have to be.

Sorry no e-mail submissions. Why is this? Don’t you know that e-mail submissions is the future? Yes I do know that, but it’s not the way I want to do this. For me the best part of being an editor is having people over to have slush parties and interacting with them during the reading process. Editing on a screen is a thing devoid of fun or joy, I edit for the fun and joy of it.

[Note: definitely click through on this one; there's some very useful info in the comments.]

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UNTIL FILLED — All Access Pass — ed. Amelia G, Blue Blood Books

Short version of what I’m looking for is: well-crafted fiction or memoir, cool erotica with music and/or music culture as a central theme, $50 first run + reprint rights, $25 reprints. More formal version below.

Call for Submissions: All Access Pass

Backstage Passes editor Amelia G is reading for a sequel to her anthology of rock and roll erotica, called All Access Pass. Below are general fiction guidelines for Blue Blood fiction projects. For this book in specific, music must play a central role in the story. Events could take place at a punk club or an outdoor festival, characters may be musicians, music may just really speak to a particular character, but it needs to be important. Stories ranging from balls-out memoir or entirely fantastical vampire sex are all fine, within the appropriate theme and quality standards.

When submitting electronically, please make the subject of your email ALL ACCESS PASS SUBMISSION.

Before sending anything over, please ask yourself if your work passes the Blue Blood litmus test: Is it intelligent? Is it sexy? Is it edgy/counterculture? Is it cool? Email electronic submissions to submit@blueblood.net For submissions of fiction or nonfiction text, please have your writing in a Word document with a .doc suffix (not .docx), RTF, TXT, InDesign, or Open Office format. It is preferred if you include an author bio or link to your website or online profiles.

The All Access Pass anthology is seeking erotic stories with a counterculture feel — Gothic, industrial, techno, rave, punk, metal, dyke, mystery, gangster, hard-boiled, science fiction, cyberpunk, steampunk, vampire, werewolf, medieval etc. At the moment, our needs are for stories primarily from a male or female heterosexual viewpoint, lesbian viewpoint, or female bisexual viewpoint. Often, we can also place male homosexual and gender bender stories in anthologies. We look for work between 2,000 and 7,500 words. Most accepted fiction is shorter than 4,000 words. Death and horror elements are acceptable so long as they do not prevent the piece from being sex-positive. Characters may die but not as part of the sexuality. Kinky is great — leathersex, bondage, vampirism etc. are all fine. Negative attitudes about sexuality are not fine. All sex must be consensual and arousing. PLEASE DO NOT SEND US STORIES PROMOTING NAZIS, RAPE, INCEST, OR THE SEXUALIZATION OF MURDER. NO SNUFF, RACISM, OR HOMOPHOBIA. If you can write genuinely arousing fiction which still works as a story, do contact us. Payment is net 60 on on-sale date and we generally purchase first worldwide rights (exclusive from acceptance to one year after publication) along with nonexclusive reprint rights.

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UNTIL FILLED — Unnamed Wuxia Anthology — ed. John Dishon, Genreverse Books

What are you looking for?

You’ve probably guessed it: wuxia. I want wuxia stories. If your story isn’t wuxia, then submitting it here won’t do you any good. Even if your story is really good, the focus of this anthology is the wuxia genre. The anthology is intended for those who have never heard of or read wuxia before, and for those who have. So for the noobs I want to introduce the genre to them properly, and the veterans will know if I haven’t done that. And since the whole point of this project is to promote the wuxia, then I’m going to have to insist that your story be an example of said genre. If it is, then please submit it below. If not, you’re better off submitting it elsewhere.

If you’re not sure what wuxia is, you can read about it here.

Yeah, it’s wuxia. But is it your kind of wuxia?

Yes, it is. Because I don’t have any specific kind of wuxia I’m going for. It can be old school or new school, it can be proto-wuxia, such as some of the chuanqi of the Tang era (an example of that would be “The Kunlun Slave” or “The Curly Bearded Stranger”), or anything else. Maybe you have your own unique style you’d like to try out. Let me have it. I don’t want a book full of Jin Yong rip-offs. Some stories in that vein are fine, and I would like to see some, but I want some variety as well. With the English language we have the opportunity to take the genre in new and unexpected territories, and to use different techniques to tell our stories. We needn’t try to copy Chinese writers. What exactly I mean by that will be left up to the writers. If a standard Jin Yong or Gu Long kind of story is your thing, then send it in. But if you’re trying something new or different, then I want to see that too. The most important consideration is that it is a good story, which means it should have compelling characters put in interesting situations. Your story should have that regardless of the genre.

So I am open to stories set in modern settings as well. The essence of wuxia lies in the values expressed by the two characters that make up the word, 武 and 俠, not the time period the story takes place in. Again, feel free to experiment.

I think it’s wuxia.

Great. Send it in. If your story is a borderline case, or you’re not quite sure if it’s wuxia, then send it in anyway. The worst that can happen is it gets rejected. You don’t need to query first. Make sure you look at the “What is Wuxia?” page linked to above before making your final decision, though. There is some leeway. “Martial arts fiction” is how wuxia is often translated into English, and while that is an over-simplified translation, it’s a good guide. However, the xia part of wuxia deserves attention to. I believe it is possible to have a wuxia story that does not have any fighting in it at all, but there must be a lot of xia in that case. I’ll stop there before I complicate the issue too much. It is a tough genre to define.

How do you want it?

As stated above, all submissions must be made through Hey Publisher. The form is below. The form will accept .doc, .rtf, and .txt files. It will not accept the new .docx format for some reason, so if you are using a newer version of Word, make sure to save it as .doc instead of .docx. Sign up is easy on the form. You can go through one of various social network services, or just create an account with Hey Publisher. Either way, it only takes a few seconds. Do not email me your submission. All email submissions will be deleted without being read, no exceptions.

For proper manuscript formatting, see William Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format. If you’ve ever submitted a story to a magazine before, then you’re probably already familiar with these formatting guidelines. You don’t need to include your mailing address, if you don’t want to. Make sure you have a valid email address on there, though. One that you regularly check.

How long should it be?

2,000-30,000 words. Anywhere in between there is fine. That means no flash fiction, and no novels. Also, no novel excerpts will be considered. No excerpts of any kind will be considered, actually. I want a complete, self-contained story.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted. I anticipate the submission process to be a long one, so I don’t mind if you submit to more than one place at once. Just make sure the other place(s) you submit your story to feel the same way.

Multiple submissions are accepted. If you only have one story to send, that’s fine. If you have three stories you would like to be considered, that’s fine too. I’m looking for the best wuxia stories I can find, so let me see all of them (well, all the good ones. Don’t submit the bad ones). You can have more than one story published in the anthology.

Previously published stories are accepted. The best stories might not be the newest stories. If your story has been published before, such as in a magazine or on a blog, then you can still send it to me. If it’s a great wuxia story then I want to showcase it to the English-reading world in this anthology. It would be silly to say no just because another magazine had published it already.

What will the submission process be like?

First, write a great story. Edit/rewrite/revise that great story. Make sure someone besides you reads it, so you can be sure it’s good. Then submit it to me, via the form below. Your story will then be sent to me. When I open your submission to read your story you will receive an email saying so. At this point, wait for a bit. How long the wait will be is unknown. If I immediately am not interested in the story, then you will receive a rejection notice pretty soon, probably no more than a week after I start reading it.

If I like your story, then prepare to wait longer. If your story is a “maybe” then I will put it under consideration and you will receive an email saying so. This will likely be the longest wait period, and I can’t begin to say how long that could be. I want to find the best stories, but that could take a while. I’m sure some of the best stories haven’t been written yet as I type this. So hang tight. That’s why simultaneous submissions are allowed. I will update this website frequently to let everyone know how the selection process is going, so you can keep up with my progress that way.

Eventually, I will either accept your story or reject it. If your story is rejected, you will get an email saying so. If it is accepted, you will get an email saying your story has been accepted.

How much does this thing pay?

1-5 cents per word, depending on how much money I raise for the project. I would like to be able to pay everyone 5 cents a word, but that means I would have to raise $5,550 USD. Here’s hoping. But for the purposes of deciding if you want to submit a story to me, plan on 1 cent per word. That’s probably the most realistic guess. Tell everyone you know about this project and ask them to donate so there will be more money to pay the writers.

What rights are you seeking?

Anthology rights. That means I’m buying your story for the purpose of publishing it in an anthology. The anthology will be printed, and it will also be available in electronic format. This anthology will be published globally, so I will be seeking permission to publish it everywhere. However, aside from the print and online versions of the anthology, I don’t want anything else from you. You are and will remain free to publish your story anywhere else you want. You retain the rights to your story; you’re just giving me permission to publish it in my anthology and sell it globally in print and in electronic formats.

I’m not seeking First-anything rights. Even if this anthology is the first place your story will be published.

Wait, there is one more thing I want. I want the exclusive right to publish your story. Meaning that your story can’t be published at the same time as my anthology is published. Obviously, if it’s already been published then that’s fine, but you can publish it anywhere else new while I’m publishing it in my anthology. I am seeking exclusive rights to publish your story for three months after the publication of the anthology. So once the anthology has been out for three months, you can publish your story anywhere you please.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, “Until Filled” markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Non-erotica/romance writers: check out Inferno, Shanghai Steam, Dark Faith Two, King David and the Spiders from Mars, the Professor Challenger Anthology, Horror Library, Mortis Operandi, the Fantastic Stories Anthology, and the Wuxia Anthology.

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4 January 2012 — Private Dicks — Less Than three Press

The life of a private investigator is boring more often than it is exciting—tracking debtors, tailing cheating spouses, and long hours of surveillance do not add up to a sizzling life of mystery and romance.

But every now and then there comes a case that takes all a good PI has to offer and demands still more. A case that requires not just time and effort, but sliding in to another skin to find that clue or witness that will break the case. How far will a PI go to do his job; how high will he climb, how low will he sink?

Give us your stories of private investigators willing to don any guise to break the case.

THE DETAILS:

Stories should be approx 10,000-20,000 words in length (a little longer or shorter is fine).

Stories must have a happily ever after end.

Any genre is acceptable; stories may be contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. There must be a strong element of a private investigator going undercover, but be as creative as you like in executing that theme. We are looking for fun, unique spins on this popular genre.

All usual LT3 submission guidelines apply.

Payment is $200.00, electronic copies, and two copies of the print book.

[NOTE: The call doesn't say so explicitly, but LT3 is a romance press, and so far as I can tell by poking around their site, an m/m romance press. Stories for this antho should probably be m/m romance genre, detective subgenre, rather than genre detective.]

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17 January 2012 — Inferno — Cool Well Press

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

In the 14th century, the author Dante Alighieri wrote an epic poem called Divine Comedy. It is the story of two travelers taking the journey through Hell. Dante depicted Hell as nine circles of suffering located within the Earth, each one a contrapasso, representing a symbolic instance of poetic justice.

CWP’s INFERNO is an anthology based upon these nine circles. These stories are centered in each circle and involve the many creatures of imagination that could reside there.

FIRST CIRCLE (Limbo)—The first circle represents purgatory. It’s a deficient form of Heaven, but instead of a world of beauty and creativity, it’s a place of preciseness and strict adherence to the rules. Even the landscape has an angular, straight feel to it. The condemned are virtuous, but have lacked the hope for something greater than rational minds can conceive. Speculation does not exist here. Imagination is feared.

SECOND CIRCLE (Lust)—The second circle is where those who are overcome by unbridled appetites are condemned. There are many types of things one can lust for such as power, money and yes, love. A strong wind blows through the second circle, symbolizing the power of lust to blow one about aimlessly. Here, desire is never satiated, even though there is abundance of food, money, and companionship. Please, no overtly sexual stories.

THIRD CIRCLE (Gluttony)—Those who are self-indulgent are forced to live in a place where the ground is filled with sewage slush and where an icy rain continually falls. A large dump comprises the landscape. Nothing grows here and the condemned must constantly try to find food, comfort and companionship, all of which eludes them. It’s a place of scarcity and deep desire.

FOURTH CIRCLE (Greed)—The fourth circle of condemned are those who are avaricious or miserly, who hoarded or squandered possessions and wealth. These people did not show compassion for their fellow man or animals and therefore must constantly spar with the reality of unrelenting poverty and lack of empathy. Here, gravity is heavy, a symbol of the great weight of greed.

FIFTH CIRCLE (Anger)—The Stygian Marsh surrounds the river Styx, where the wrathful continually argue, curse, and victimize. The city of Dis is found in the Fifth Circle, the walls of which encompass the lower levels of Hell. These walls are guarded by Fallen Angels and their evil compatriots, the Furies. These creatures constantly attack the citizens of Dis. Guilt and anger rule the people.

SIXTH CIRCLE (Heresy)—Those whose souls die with the body are trapped in a world of heat and oppression. The people remember their lives on Earth and they know what will come in its future, but can do nothing to change the events. They are disbelievers and take nothing as the truth. This circle is full of shadows and things that might be, where the eternal challenge is to figure out what is real and what is not.

SEVENTH CIRCLE (Violence)—In this circle, we find the people who are condemned to a place of blood and fire, where war is continually waged. Murderers share the space with rampaging soldiers and mad men are driven into a frenzy of violence. The landscape is torn and pitted and bodies litter the streets. The continual battle cry is to justify the reasons why they have killed others.

EIGHTH CIRCLE (Fraud)—The fraudulent, those guilty of exploitation in all its forms, find themselves in a crowded world of filth and disease, where they are continually driven to do the bidding of the creatures who incite the passions of the condemned. You will find among them all manner of frauds, including panderers, sorcerers, false prophets, thieves, hypocrites and corrupt politicians. Men look for cures to their ills but find only deceit.

NINTH CIRCLE (Treachery)—This place is choked with ice, barren land and frigid winds, symbolizing the icy hell of betrayal. Those who have committed treason in all forms lurk here, forced to share their souls with dark creatures who are full of pride and self-serving righteousness. In the very center of the circle, you’ll find Lumiel, the creature that committed the ultimate act of treachery and who rules the Nine Circles of Hell.

COOL WELL PRESS has opened a call for submissions for their new young adult anthology, INFERNO. Stories should be set within the worlds of the Nine Circles and targeted for 16 to 18 year old readers. These should have paranormal flare and be 5,000 to 8,000 words. Deadline is January 17th, 2012. We will select one story for each Circle.

Please follow the submission guidelines when preparing your manuscript. Send completed submission to denise@coolwellpress.com and mark the subject of the email as INFERNO.

Authors whose stories are accepted will be sent a contract. Compensation will be a one-time payment at .10 per word and a copy of each format of the final anthology.

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23 January 2012 — Shanghai Steam — ed. Calvin Jim, Renee Bennett, Ann Cooney and Anna Maria Bortolotto; Absolute X-Press, imprint of Hades Publishing

Shanghai Steam aims to celebrate a crossover of wuxia literature and the steampunk genre. We invite authors from every culture, continent and genre to explore and create new worlds melded from history, culture, and imagination.

We want exciting, unique stories that explore the possibilities of Asian style steampunk. Political issues addressed in complex and nuanced ways are acceptable but we don’t want simplistic, heavy-handed, or preachy approaches.

All stories must have both a steampunk element and a wuxia element.

We want short fiction only: no poetry, plays, novel excerpts, essays, etc. Flash fiction is okay, but we will not be accepting many stories of this length.

We are looking for new stories. Stories which have been previously published (including on the Internet) in English will not be considered. We are not interested in reprints. No simultaneous submissions, please. Multiple submissions (in separate emails) are acceptable.

All stories must be written in English.

OFFICIAL GUIDELINES

Genre: Steampunk Wuxia (Fantasy)

Length: 3,000 words or less, but with special circumstance, we will accept stories up to 5,000 words long.

Manuscripts: must be submitted to the email address: steampunkwuxia@gmail.com

In the subject line of your email please type in your LAST NAME followed by the story title. For example: WILSON White Crane’s Shadow

We cannot be responsible for submissions lost in transit.

Manuscript Style: must be submitted in .rtf (rich text) format only. Formatting must follow William Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format.

Please, no query letters. When asking for more information or for clarification, send an email to the above address with the subject line INFORMATION REQUEST.

Payment: $.03 cent a word up to 3,000 words and $.02 cents a word over 3,000 up to a maximum of 5,000 words. Free contributor’s copy upon publication.

Rights: Absolute Xpress Publishing buys exclusive world rights for paper and electronic publishing for a period of one year after the date of publication. Contributors retain the right to market their individual entries outside the anthology after this period.

Expected response time is under three months after closing date. We regret that we are unable to give personal critiques.

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31 January 2012 — Dark Faith Two — Apex Book Company

Apex will be publishing a follow-up to the Nebula, Bram Stoker, and Black Quill-nominated anthology Dark Faith. The book will be 80,000 words and pay five cents a word (up to four thousand words). It will debut late-summer 2012. We buy First World anthology print rights and digital rights (for three years).

We’re looking for the story only you could write, something deeply personal and at the same time universal. Everyone believes in something and we want you to put those beliefs to the test. We’re looking for smart, literate stories that don’t proselytize or stereotype. Stories that make you think, that comment on the human condition and the social order. Stories that are rich in their use of language.

However, as much as we love social commentary, don’t forget to entertain us. The best way to get a feel for what we’re looking for is to read Dark Faith.

Submissions will be accepted from 1/1/2012 until 1/31/2012. Unsolicited stories received outside this timeframe will be deleted, unread.

Please include a cover letter with your submission–even if we know you. Please send no more than one submission at a time. No reprints. Simultaneous submissions will be accepted as long as you tell us up front (and immediately withdraw the story if you sell it).

All submissions must be emailed as an RTF file to Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon at darkfaithantho@gmail.com.

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31 January 2012 — King David and the Spiders from Mars — ed. Tim Lieder, Dybbuk Press

Due to the positive response to She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror, I will be editing another Bible-themed anthology. Tentatively titled King David & The Spiders from Mars: More Tales of Biblical Terror, this will be a Bible-themed horror anthology specifically based on The Book of Samuel. Some of my favorite stories from the first anthology were David centered including Elissa Malcohn’s “Judgement at Naioth” and Christi Krug’s “As If Favorites of Their God.”

What I’m Looking For: Short stories, ideally between 1000-12000 words. All stories must be based in some way on 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. Even though this is primarily a horror anthology, I’m willing to look at stories that fall into different categories including bizarro, science fiction, fantasy, 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). There are several stories within Samuel including the madness of Saul, the end of Eli’s family as the major priesthood, David & Goliath and the death of Absalom so feel free to use whatever inspires you. Also, even though the Book of Ruth is a completely different book, it serves as a prequel to the David saga so if you got a great Ruth story, I will read it.

Update: Since I am not getting many stories thus far, I will accept stories from the rest of the Bible so if you have this awesome Elijah or Jonah story, feel free to send it. I will still appreciate the stories from the Book of Samuel more and may give them greater consideration but I won’t reject a story because it’s from a different part of the Bible.

Check out this Amazon List for reading suggestions. Please at least read the book of Samuel once to get the flavor of the stories. If you only know the story of David & Goliath, you will be at a disadvantage since that’s the most popular story in the bunch and you will have a lot of competition.

Also, if you are going to do a David & Goliath story read the original. This is a much more interesting story than the children’s books would have you believe and all that “come from behind victory” blather is inaccurate (not to mention boring as hell).

Other Suggestions:
Retellings of Biblical Stories from the perspective of another character.
Kiastic Storytelling
Deconstructionist Commentary akin to Rashi
Biblical stories retold in different literary styles (high adventure, Victorian, Romance, Mystery, etc.)
Modern stories told in the Biblical style (Best use Robert Alter’s Art of Biblical Poetry and Art of Biblical Narrative if you want a crash course)
Parodies of Prophets
“Queen Esther vs. The Brain Eating Penis Monster from Outer Space” (note that just sticking this title on a lame story is not going to endear you to me. Write a story that would justify this kind of title and I’m interested)
Biblical Movie Parodies

I am also impressed by the following: original takes on classic stories, strong female characters, stories that actually understand the original tales, style.

Formatting Guidelines: Please use Standard Manuscript format. I am going to be a little more hard on people not using this format since the last time I had stories where I couldn’t get back to the writers because they neglected to put their emails on the stories so I had no way of knowing how to tell them that they were rejected. One even made it to the Maybe pile. Please submit in .rtf or .doc.

What I am not Looking For: 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. I am not interested in other stories in the Bible. 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” but since this one is about King David, I figure there will be less of those in this slush pile. Still, don’t do that.

Also note that all snotty replies to rejections will be aired publicly on this blog and mocked mercilessly.

Pay: $50 advance against equal share of royalties – to be paid out no later than publication.

Reading Period: November 1, 2011 – January 31, 2012. All stories submitted before November 1 will be deleted unread. Although that’s the best case scenario. If I do read them I will mock them on this blog. I am using a three month window as well as waiting until November 1 because I don’t want trunk stories and I doubt anyone has been submitting their awesome King David Rips Off Foreskins story to markets until now. This gives you time to write an original story and send it by November 1 or to spend about 4 months perfecting it until it’s ready at the end of January.

Reprints. Yes. Same price. Make sure you tell me where it was originally published and that it is available for reprint right sales.

Send to: timlieder1 – at – gmail.com

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31 January 2012 — Professor Challenger Anthology — ed. J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing

Genres: SF, Fantasy, Horror, Steampunk, Adventure

Story Length: Approx. 7,500 words to a maximum of 10,000 words

What we’re after: A broad range of new and original stories built around Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s LOST WORLD character Professor George Edward Challenger. Stories derived from the aftermath of events in the Lost World are welcome, however simply revisiting or rehashing the Lost World without good cause is not. Challenger is a man of science first and foremost, not an explorer. Mash-ups or crossovers with public domain literary characters are welcome.

For inspiration think X-files, Quatermass, Dr. Who, cryptozoology – Yeti, Nessie, etc…, aliens among us, supernatural occurrences, science gone awry in a Dr. Moreau, Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll vein, nature run amuck, monsters large and small, world threatening cataclysm, Lovecraft mythos, think H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, E. R. Burroughs, John Wyndham, Nigel Kneale, alternate history, new lost places, steampunk, whatever…. Be creative.

Mine the potential for all it’s worth! Push it out there, get weird, play, have fun!

Notes: This is a professional market. Full rate to 7,500 words, half rate for balance to 10,000 words. One time publication rights. The anthology is part invitation and part open submission. Priority will be given to invited authors, but an invitation to submit is not a guarantee of acceptance. A minimum of two slots will be held for open submissions. Acceptance is based entirely on suitability of story and quality of writing. No reprints.

Submission Format: Email submission in Rich Text Format (.rtf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) attachments only. Use standard manuscript format. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuscript_format#Basic_manuscript_formatting)

Send submissions to charles@bakerstreetdozen.com and/or themightyjrc@shaw.ca

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29 February 2012 — In Plain Sight — Storm Moon Press

Expected Release: July 13, 2012
Genres: Any [Romance -- any subgenre which conforms to the requirements below]
Pairings: Bisexual
HEA or HFN Ending Required? Yes

For the men and women of In Plain Sight, mistaken identity is the story of their lives. They are the assassins, theives, spies, and double agents of the world, and nothing is as it seems around them. They might lead one completely mundane life, but the other side of their life that they keep hidden would shock anyone who catches a glimpse from the outside.

In this anthology, we’re looking for short stories featuring bisexual characters (male or female) who lead two lives, one in plain sight, and the other in the shadows. High action isn’t required, but we’re want to see something exciting with a bit of shock value if it is suddenly revealed to another character. After all, discovering your lover is an assassin or double agent has a different effect than discovering they’re secretly a part-time florist.

The level of their deception to their loved ones is up to you, but you can play with them having different families, a lover they try to keep safely tucked away, or a couple they date who is just as bad-ass as they are if trouble comes calling. They can have old flames they never quite allow to extinguish or business contacts they have flings with on the side. One way or another, their bisexuality must be shown, rather than just hinted at, so make sure they have erotic involvements on both sides of the coin.

Authors will receive royalties as well as an initial payment of $50 for their story. This payment is not an advance and does not have to be earned out before royalties are paid. Royalties on individual e-book releases will be 50% of cover price on direct sales through Storm Moon Press’ e-store, and 40% of cover price minus distribution costs for sales through third party vendors. In addition, authors will receive the same percentage royalty on sales of the anthology e-book divided equally among the authors, as well as 25% of cover price on direct sales of the print anthology through Storm Moon Press’ e-store, and 20% of cover price minus distribution costs for sales through third party vendors, also divided equally among all authors. All royalties will be paid quarterly.

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UNTIL FILLED — Horror Library, Vol. 5 — Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We’re looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what’s already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won’t cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They’re just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we’ll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission – title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

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UNTIL FILLED — Mortis Operandi — ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By “supernatural” we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 — Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

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UNTIL FILLED — Fantastic Stories Anthology — ed. Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination is a yearly anthology. Edited by Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications Box 10641, Blacksburg, VA 24063

I’m looking for stories that cover the entire science fiction, fantasy, and horror spectrum. I love magic realism (think Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman) and hard sf. I want a story to surprise me and to take me to unexpected places. I love word play, and would like to see stories with a literary bent, though decidedly not a pretentious bent. I could spend some time telling you what I don’t want, but I’ve found that good stories can make me buy them regardless of how many of my rules they violate. Let your imagination run wild, push and blur the limits of genre, or send me something traditional. I want it to see it all. My experience as an editor tells me that over time I’ll develop preferences and that the anthology will take on its own personality. When that happens I’ll change the guidelines to be more specific, but for now I’m going to explore what’s out there before I decide what direction to go in.

Payment: 10 cents per word on acceptance for original stories (maximum of $250.00) or 2 cents per word for reprints (maximum of $100.00). A check will accompany the contract so no simultaneous submissions please. I am purchasing First English Language Book Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights.

Story length, I have no limit on story length but the longer the story is the better it will have to be.

Sorry no e-mail submissions. Why is this? Don’t you know that e-mail submissions is the future? Yes I do know that, but it’s not the way I want to do this. For me the best part of being an editor is having people over to have slush parties and interacting with them during the reading process. Editing on a screen is a thing devoid of fun or joy, I edit for the fun and joy of it.

[Note: definitely click through on this one; there's some very useful info in the comments.]

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UNTIL FILLED — All Access Pass — ed. Amelia G, Blue Blood Books

Short version of what I’m looking for is: well-crafted fiction or memoir, cool erotica with music and/or music culture as a central theme, $50 first run + reprint rights, $25 reprints. More formal version below.

Call for Submissions: All Access Pass

Backstage Passes editor Amelia G is reading for a sequel to her anthology of rock and roll erotica, called All Access Pass. Below are general fiction guidelines for Blue Blood fiction projects. For this book in specific, music must play a central role in the story. Events could take place at a punk club or an outdoor festival, characters may be musicians, music may just really speak to a particular character, but it needs to be important. Stories ranging from balls-out memoir or entirely fantastical vampire sex are all fine, within the appropriate theme and quality standards.

When submitting electronically, please make the subject of your email ALL ACCESS PASS SUBMISSION.

Before sending anything over, please ask yourself if your work passes the Blue Blood litmus test: Is it intelligent? Is it sexy? Is it edgy/counterculture? Is it cool? Email electronic submissions to submit@blueblood.net For submissions of fiction or nonfiction text, please have your writing in a Word document with a .doc suffix (not .docx), RTF, TXT, InDesign, or Open Office format. It is preferred if you include an author bio or link to your website or online profiles.

The All Access Pass anthology is seeking erotic stories with a counterculture feel — Gothic, industrial, techno, rave, punk, metal, dyke, mystery, gangster, hard-boiled, science fiction, cyberpunk, steampunk, vampire, werewolf, medieval etc. At the moment, our needs are for stories primarily from a male or female heterosexual viewpoint, lesbian viewpoint, or female bisexual viewpoint. Often, we can also place male homosexual and gender bender stories in anthologies. We look for work between 2,000 and 7,500 words. Most accepted fiction is shorter than 4,000 words. Death and horror elements are acceptable so long as they do not prevent the piece from being sex-positive. Characters may die but not as part of the sexuality. Kinky is great — leathersex, bondage, vampirism etc. are all fine. Negative attitudes about sexuality are not fine. All sex must be consensual and arousing. PLEASE DO NOT SEND US STORIES PROMOTING NAZIS, RAPE, INCEST, OR THE SEXUALIZATION OF MURDER. NO SNUFF, RACISM, OR HOMOPHOBIA. If you can write genuinely arousing fiction which still works as a story, do contact us. Payment is net 60 on on-sale date and we generally purchase first worldwide rights (exclusive from acceptance to one year after publication) along with nonexclusive reprint rights.

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UNTIL FILLED — Unnamed Wuxia Anthology — ed. John Dishon, Genreverse Books

What are you looking for?

You’ve probably guessed it: wuxia. I want wuxia stories. If your story isn’t wuxia, then submitting it here won’t do you any good. Even if your story is really good, the focus of this anthology is the wuxia genre. The anthology is intended for those who have never heard of or read wuxia before, and for those who have. So for the noobs I want to introduce the genre to them properly, and the veterans will know if I haven’t done that. And since the whole point of this project is to promote the wuxia, then I’m going to have to insist that your story be an example of said genre. If it is, then please submit it below. If not, you’re better off submitting it elsewhere.

If you’re not sure what wuxia is, you can read about it here.

Yeah, it’s wuxia. But is it your kind of wuxia?

Yes, it is. Because I don’t have any specific kind of wuxia I’m going for. It can be old school or new school, it can be proto-wuxia, such as some of the chuanqi of the Tang era (an example of that would be “The Kunlun Slave” or “The Curly Bearded Stranger”), or anything else. Maybe you have your own unique style you’d like to try out. Let me have it. I don’t want a book full of Jin Yong rip-offs. Some stories in that vein are fine, and I would like to see some, but I want some variety as well. With the English language we have the opportunity to take the genre in new and unexpected territories, and to use different techniques to tell our stories. We needn’t try to copy Chinese writers. What exactly I mean by that will be left up to the writers. If a standard Jin Yong or Gu Long kind of story is your thing, then send it in. But if you’re trying something new or different, then I want to see that too. The most important consideration is that it is a good story, which means it should have compelling characters put in interesting situations. Your story should have that regardless of the genre.

So I am open to stories set in modern settings as well. The essence of wuxia lies in the values expressed by the two characters that make up the word, 武 and 俠, not the time period the story takes place in. Again, feel free to experiment.

I think it’s wuxia.

Great. Send it in. If your story is a borderline case, or you’re not quite sure if it’s wuxia, then send it in anyway. The worst that can happen is it gets rejected. You don’t need to query first. Make sure you look at the “What is Wuxia?” page linked to above before making your final decision, though. There is some leeway. “Martial arts fiction” is how wuxia is often translated into English, and while that is an over-simplified translation, it’s a good guide. However, the xia part of wuxia deserves attention to. I believe it is possible to have a wuxia story that does not have any fighting in it at all, but there must be a lot of xia in that case. I’ll stop there before I complicate the issue too much. It is a tough genre to define.

How do you want it?

As stated above, all submissions must be made through Hey Publisher. The form is below. The form will accept .doc, .rtf, and .txt files. It will not accept the new .docx format for some reason, so if you are using a newer version of Word, make sure to save it as .doc instead of .docx. Sign up is easy on the form. You can go through one of various social network services, or just create an account with Hey Publisher. Either way, it only takes a few seconds. Do not email me your submission. All email submissions will be deleted without being read, no exceptions.

For proper manuscript formatting, see William Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format. If you’ve ever submitted a story to a magazine before, then you’re probably already familiar with these formatting guidelines. You don’t need to include your mailing address, if you don’t want to. Make sure you have a valid email address on there, though. One that you regularly check.

How long should it be?

2,000-30,000 words. Anywhere in between there is fine. That means no flash fiction, and no novels. Also, no novel excerpts will be considered. No excerpts of any kind will be considered, actually. I want a complete, self-contained story.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted. I anticipate the submission process to be a long one, so I don’t mind if you submit to more than one place at once. Just make sure the other place(s) you submit your story to feel the same way.

Multiple submissions are accepted. If you only have one story to send, that’s fine. If you have three stories you would like to be considered, that’s fine too. I’m looking for the best wuxia stories I can find, so let me see all of them (well, all the good ones. Don’t submit the bad ones). You can have more than one story published in the anthology.

Previously published stories are accepted. The best stories might not be the newest stories. If your story has been published before, such as in a magazine or on a blog, then you can still send it to me. If it’s a great wuxia story then I want to showcase it to the English-reading world in this anthology. It would be silly to say no just because another magazine had published it already.

What will the submission process be like?

First, write a great story. Edit/rewrite/revise that great story. Make sure someone besides you reads it, so you can be sure it’s good. Then submit it to me, via the form below. Your story will then be sent to me. When I open your submission to read your story you will receive an email saying so. At this point, wait for a bit. How long the wait will be is unknown. If I immediately am not interested in the story, then you will receive a rejection notice pretty soon, probably no more than a week after I start reading it.

If I like your story, then prepare to wait longer. If your story is a “maybe” then I will put it under consideration and you will receive an email saying so. This will likely be the longest wait period, and I can’t begin to say how long that could be. I want to find the best stories, but that could take a while. I’m sure some of the best stories haven’t been written yet as I type this. So hang tight. That’s why simultaneous submissions are allowed. I will update this website frequently to let everyone know how the selection process is going, so you can keep up with my progress that way.

Eventually, I will either accept your story or reject it. If your story is rejected, you will get an email saying so. If it is accepted, you will get an email saying your story has been accepted.

How much does this thing pay?

1-5 cents per word, depending on how much money I raise for the project. I would like to be able to pay everyone 5 cents a word, but that means I would have to raise $5,550 USD. Here’s hoping. But for the purposes of deciding if you want to submit a story to me, plan on 1 cent per word. That’s probably the most realistic guess. Tell everyone you know about this project and ask them to donate so there will be more money to pay the writers.

What rights are you seeking?

Anthology rights. That means I’m buying your story for the purpose of publishing it in an anthology. The anthology will be printed, and it will also be available in electronic format. This anthology will be published globally, so I will be seeking permission to publish it everywhere. However, aside from the print and online versions of the anthology, I don’t want anything else from you. You are and will remain free to publish your story anywhere else you want. You retain the rights to your story; you’re just giving me permission to publish it in my anthology and sell it globally in print and in electronic formats.

I’m not seeking First-anything rights. Even if this anthology is the first place your story will be published.

Wait, there is one more thing I want. I want the exclusive right to publish your story. Meaning that your story can’t be published at the same time as my anthology is published. Obviously, if it’s already been published then that’s fine, but you can publish it anywhere else new while I’m publishing it in my anthology. I am seeking exclusive rights to publish your story for three months after the publication of the anthology. So once the anthology has been out for three months, you can publish your story anywhere you please.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, “Until Filled” markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Non-erotica/romance writers: check out Inferno, Dark Faith Two, King David and the Spiders from Mars, the Professor Challenger Anthology, Horror Library, Mortis Operandi, the Fantastic Stories Anthology, and the Wuxia Anthology.

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1 December 2011 — Eternal Love — Cool Well Press

Valentine’s Day was first celebrated in 496 A.D., and was done in remembrance of the martyrs who opposed Ancient Rome. They were known as Martyr Valentinus, which in Latin means those who are worthy, powerful, and strong. Over the centuries, Valentine’s Day has come to represent a time when intimate companions show their love and affection. It also serves to remind us of love that has been lost.

As far back as the misty ages go, men have always believed that there are immortals roaming the Earth. These immortals come in many forms, such as Vampires, Werewolves, Shapeshifters, Angels, and Faery. Because these creatures are supernaturally strong and powerful, and cannot die, they might be referred to as the true Valentinus. They experience profound love and profound loss, and while many are not worthy, many more are. We want stories about these beings that have lived and eternally loved.

COOL WELL PRESS is opening a call for submissions for their new young adult anthology, ETERNAL LOVE to be published in February 2012. Stories should be set in all eras and locals, and is targeted for 15 to 18 year old readers. No sexually explicit stories. These should have a paranormal flare and be 5,000 to 8,000 words. Deadline is December 1, 2011. Please follow the submission guidelines when preparing your manuscript. Send completed submission to denise@coolwellpress.com and mark the subject of the email as ETERNAL LOVE.

Authors whose stories are accepted will be sent a contract. Compensation will be a one-time payment at .10 per word and a copy of each format of the final anthology.

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15 December 2011 — Kingdoms of Desire: Erotic Tales of Fantasy — ed. Mitzi Szereto, Cleis Press

To be published by Cleis Press in autumn 2012.

Kingdoms of Desire: Erotic Tales of Fantasy is a place where lust and legend abound, and adventure, passion and danger entwine. Think mystical lands and creatures, kings and queens, knights and renegades, heroes and villains, warlords, maidens and princesses. Think battles and danger, honor and dishonor, good and evil. Most of all think hearts filled with passion and secret desire. This is a place where romantic chivalry is alive and well, but so too is romantic wickedness. This is a place where the good do not always win, and the bad are often more captivating and desirable than their altruistic counterparts. In these lush and timeless landscapes, the battle for flesh can be as important as the battle for power. Intrigue, sorcery, revenge, lawlessness, dark secrets and mysterious elixirs; entanglements with supernatural beings – everything is possible in these magical mythical landscapes. Think Game of Thrones and you get the picture!

Word count: 3,000 to 6,000 words.

What I’m looking for: Well-developed story lines and well-crafted prose told in a unique voice and containing interesting characters and settings. Think atmosphere, passion, desire… imaginative steamy tales that transport the reader to fantastical realms. Stories from female and male writers are welcome, as are stories containing characters of any sexual orientation.

Note: Although sexually explicit content is acceptable as well as a more subtle approach, absolutely no stock sex scenes or formulaic writing/terminology. Please refer to my previous anthologies (especially Red Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance) to get an idea of the variety and style of content I look for. Even though the stories need to have a strong element of eroticism and sensuality to them, I do not want stories that are one-dimensional sex stories or smut. The erotic element is an important part of the story, but it should not be the sole basis for the story or a replacement for plot and character development. No reprints (be it print, digital, or online). Original fiction only.

Payment: One-time payment in the range of USD $50-70 (payable on publication) and 2 copies of the anthology.

Submission requirements:

Stories must be formatted as follows: double-spaced Arial 12-point black font Word or RTF document (sent as an attachment). Indent the first line of each paragraph by half an inch. Do not add extra lines between paragraphs or irregular spacing between words. American spelling and punctuation only (i.e. quote marks, etc). Include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), postal address, and a fifty-word maximum author bio written in the third person. Contract is for one-time, non-exclusive anthology rights with one year’s exclusivity from date of publication. (This may be waived if your story is selected for a “Best Of” collection). No simultaneous submissions please.

In the subject line of your email, please state: Kingdoms of Desire

Send to: submissions @ mitziszereto.com

Submission deadline: December 15, 2011. (Stories will be read on an on-going basis, so early submissions are highly encouraged.) [I can't swear to it, but phrasing it this way makes me think she's going to be buying stories as good ones come in, which means a good story subbed near the deadline might be rejected because it's too close to a similar story she bought a month earlier. Or maybe not, but that's what this is saying to me.]

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4 January 2012 — Private Dicks — Less Than three Press

The life of a private investigator is boring more often than it is exciting—tracking debtors, tailing cheating spouses, and long hours of surveillance do not add up to a sizzling life of mystery and romance.

But every now and then there comes a case that takes all a good PI has to offer and demands still more. A case that requires not just time and effort, but sliding in to another skin to find that clue or witness that will break the case. How far will a PI go to do his job; how high will he climb, how low will he sink?

Give us your stories of private investigators willing to don any guise to break the case.

THE DETAILS:

Stories should be approx 10,000-20,000 words in length (a little longer or shorter is fine).

Stories must have a happily ever after end.

Any genre is acceptable; stories may be contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. There must be a strong element of a private investigator going undercover, but be as creative as you like in executing that theme. We are looking for fun, unique spins on this popular genre.

All usual LT3 submission guidelines apply.

Payment is $200.00, electronic copies, and two copies of the print book.

[NOTE: The call doesn't say so explicitly, but LT3 is a romance press, and so far as I can tell by poking around their site, an m/m romance press. Stories for this antho should probably be m/m romance genre, detective subgenre, rather than genre detective.]

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17 January 2012 — Inferno — Cool Well Press

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

In the 14th century, the author Dante Alighieri wrote an epic poem called Divine Comedy. It is the story of two travelers taking the journey through Hell. Dante depicted Hell as nine circles of suffering located within the Earth, each one a contrapasso, representing a symbolic instance of poetic justice.

CWP’s INFERNO is an anthology based upon these nine circles. These stories are centered in each circle and involve the many creatures of imagination that could reside there.

FIRST CIRCLE (Limbo)—The first circle represents purgatory. It’s a deficient form of Heaven, but instead of a world of beauty and creativity, it’s a place of preciseness and strict adherence to the rules. Even the landscape has an angular, straight feel to it. The condemned are virtuous, but have lacked the hope for something greater than rational minds can conceive. Speculation does not exist here. Imagination is feared.

SECOND CIRCLE (Lust)—The second circle is where those who are overcome by unbridled appetites are condemned. There are many types of things one can lust for such as power, money and yes, love. A strong wind blows through the second circle, symbolizing the power of lust to blow one about aimlessly. Here, desire is never satiated, even though there is abundance of food, money, and companionship. Please, no overtly sexual stories.

THIRD CIRCLE (Gluttony)—Those who are self-indulgent are forced to live in a place where the ground is filled with sewage slush and where an icy rain continually falls. A large dump comprises the landscape. Nothing grows here and the condemned must constantly try to find food, comfort and companionship, all of which eludes them. It’s a place of scarcity and deep desire.

FOURTH CIRCLE (Greed)—The fourth circle of condemned are those who are avaricious or miserly, who hoarded or squandered possessions and wealth. These people did not show compassion for their fellow man or animals and therefore must constantly spar with the reality of unrelenting poverty and lack of empathy. Here, gravity is heavy, a symbol of the great weight of greed.

FIFTH CIRCLE (Anger)—The Stygian Marsh surrounds the river Styx, where the wrathful continually argue, curse, and victimize. The city of Dis is found in the Fifth Circle, the walls of which encompass the lower levels of Hell. These walls are guarded by Fallen Angels and their evil compatriots, the Furies. These creatures constantly attack the citizens of Dis. Guilt and anger rule the people.

SIXTH CIRCLE (Heresy)—Those whose souls die with the body are trapped in a world of heat and oppression. The people remember their lives on Earth and they know what will come in its future, but can do nothing to change the events. They are disbelievers and take nothing as the truth. This circle is full of shadows and things that might be, where the eternal challenge is to figure out what is real and what is not.

SEVENTH CIRCLE (Violence)—In this circle, we find the people who are condemned to a place of blood and fire, where war is continually waged. Murderers share the space with rampaging soldiers and mad men are driven into a frenzy of violence. The landscape is torn and pitted and bodies litter the streets. The continual battle cry is to justify the reasons why they have killed others.

EIGHTH CIRCLE (Fraud)—The fraudulent, those guilty of exploitation in all its forms, find themselves in a crowded world of filth and disease, where they are continually driven to do the bidding of the creatures who incite the passions of the condemned. You will find among them all manner of frauds, including panderers, sorcerers, false prophets, thieves, hypocrites and corrupt politicians. Men look for cures to their ills but find only deceit.

NINTH CIRCLE (Treachery)—This place is choked with ice, barren land and frigid winds, symbolizing the icy hell of betrayal. Those who have committed treason in all forms lurk here, forced to share their souls with dark creatures who are full of pride and self-serving righteousness. In the very center of the circle, you’ll find Lumiel, the creature that committed the ultimate act of treachery and who rules the Nine Circles of Hell.

COOL WELL PRESS has opened a call for submissions for their new young adult anthology, INFERNO. Stories should be set within the worlds of the Nine Circles and targeted for 16 to 18 year old readers. These should have paranormal flare and be 5,000 to 8,000 words. Deadline is January 17th, 2012. We will select one story for each Circle.

Please follow the submission guidelines when preparing your manuscript. Send completed submission to denise@coolwellpress.com and mark the subject of the email as INFERNO.

Authors whose stories are accepted will be sent a contract. Compensation will be a one-time payment at .10 per word and a copy of each format of the final anthology.

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31 January 2012 — Dark Faith Two — Apex Book Company

Apex will be publishing a follow-up to the Nebula, Bram Stoker, and Black Quill-nominated anthology Dark Faith. The book will be 80,000 words and pay five cents a word (up to four thousand words). It will debut late-summer 2012. We buy First World anthology print rights and digital rights (for three years).

We’re looking for the story only you could write, something deeply personal and at the same time universal. Everyone believes in something and we want you to put those beliefs to the test. We’re looking for smart, literate stories that don’t proselytize or stereotype. Stories that make you think, that comment on the human condition and the social order. Stories that are rich in their use of language.

However, as much as we love social commentary, don’t forget to entertain us. The best way to get a feel for what we’re looking for is to read Dark Faith.

Submissions will be accepted from 1/1/2012 until 1/31/2012. Unsolicited stories received outside this timeframe will be deleted, unread.

Please include a cover letter with your submission–even if we know you. Please send no more than one submission at a time. No reprints. Simultaneous submissions will be accepted as long as you tell us up front (and immediately withdraw the story if you sell it).

All submissions must be emailed as an RTF file to Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon at darkfaithantho@gmail.com.

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31 January 2012 — King David and the Spiders from Mars — ed. Tim Lieder, Dybbuk Press

Due to the positive response to She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror, I will be editing another Bible-themed anthology. Tentatively titled King David & The Spiders from Mars: More Tales of Biblical Terror, this will be a Bible-themed horror anthology specifically based on The Book of Samuel. Some of my favorite stories from the first anthology were David centered including Elissa Malcohn’s “Judgement at Naioth” and Christi Krug’s “As If Favorites of Their God.”

What I’m Looking For: Short stories, ideally between 1000-12000 words. All stories must be based in some way on 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. Even though this is primarily a horror anthology, I’m willing to look at stories that fall into different categories including bizarro, science fiction, fantasy, 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). There are several stories within Samuel including the madness of Saul, the end of Eli’s family as the major priesthood, David & Goliath and the death of Absalom so feel free to use whatever inspires you. Also, even though the Book of Ruth is a completely different book, it serves as a prequel to the David saga so if you got a great Ruth story, I will read it.

Update: Since I am not getting many stories thus far, I will accept stories from the rest of the Bible so if you have this awesome Elijah or Jonah story, feel free to send it. I will still appreciate the stories from the Book of Samuel more and may give them greater consideration but I won’t reject a story because it’s from a different part of the Bible.

Check out this Amazon List for reading suggestions. Please at least read the book of Samuel once to get the flavor of the stories. If you only know the story of David & Goliath, you will be at a disadvantage since that’s the most popular story in the bunch and you will have a lot of competition.

Also, if you are going to do a David & Goliath story read the original. This is a much more interesting story than the children’s books would have you believe and all that “come from behind victory” blather is inaccurate (not to mention boring as hell).

Other Suggestions:
Retellings of Biblical Stories from the perspective of another character.
Kiastic Storytelling
Deconstructionist Commentary akin to Rashi
Biblical stories retold in different literary styles (high adventure, Victorian, Romance, Mystery, etc.)
Modern stories told in the Biblical style (Best use Robert Alter’s Art of Biblical Poetry and Art of Biblical Narrative if you want a crash course)
Parodies of Prophets
“Queen Esther vs. The Brain Eating Penis Monster from Outer Space” (note that just sticking this title on a lame story is not going to endear you to me. Write a story that would justify this kind of title and I’m interested)
Biblical Movie Parodies

I am also impressed by the following: original takes on classic stories, strong female characters, stories that actually understand the original tales, style.

Formatting Guidelines: Please use Standard Manuscript format. I am going to be a little more hard on people not using this format since the last time I had stories where I couldn’t get back to the writers because they neglected to put their emails on the stories so I had no way of knowing how to tell them that they were rejected. One even made it to the Maybe pile. Please submit in .rtf or .doc.

What I am not Looking For: 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. I am not interested in other stories in the Bible. 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” but since this one is about King David, I figure there will be less of those in this slush pile. Still, don’t do that.

Also note that all snotty replies to rejections will be aired publicly on this blog and mocked mercilessly.

Pay: $50 advance against equal share of royalties – to be paid out no later than publication.

Reading Period: November 1, 2011 – January 31, 2012. All stories submitted before November 1 will be deleted unread. Although that’s the best case scenario. If I do read them I will mock them on this blog. I am using a three month window as well as waiting until November 1 because I don’t want trunk stories and I doubt anyone has been submitting their awesome King David Rips Off Foreskins story to markets until now. This gives you time to write an original story and send it by November 1 or to spend about 4 months perfecting it until it’s ready at the end of January.

Reprints. Yes. Same price. Make sure you tell me where it was originally published and that it is available for reprint right sales.

Send to: timlieder1 – at – gmail.com

***

31 January 2012 — Professor Challenger Anthology — ed. J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing

Genres: SF, Fantasy, Horror, Steampunk, Adventure

Story Length: Approx. 7,500 words to a maximum of 10,000 words

What we’re after: A broad range of new and original stories built around Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s LOST WORLD character Professor George Edward Challenger. Stories derived from the aftermath of events in the Lost World are welcome, however simply revisiting or rehashing the Lost World without good cause is not. Challenger is a man of science first and foremost, not an explorer. Mash-ups or crossovers with public domain literary characters are welcome.

For inspiration think X-files, Quatermass, Dr. Who, cryptozoology – Yeti, Nessie, etc…, aliens among us, supernatural occurrences, science gone awry in a Dr. Moreau, Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll vein, nature run amuck, monsters large and small, world threatening cataclysm, Lovecraft mythos, think H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, E. R. Burroughs, John Wyndham, Nigel Kneale, alternate history, new lost places, steampunk, whatever…. Be creative.

Mine the potential for all it’s worth! Push it out there, get weird, play, have fun!

Notes: This is a professional market. Full rate to 7,500 words, half rate for balance to 10,000 words. One time publication rights. The anthology is part invitation and part open submission. Priority will be given to invited authors, but an invitation to submit is not a guarantee of acceptance. A minimum of two slots will be held for open submissions. Acceptance is based entirely on suitability of story and quality of writing. No reprints.

Submission Format: Email submission in Rich Text Format (.rtf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) attachments only. Use standard manuscript format. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuscript_format#Basic_manuscript_formatting)

Send submissions to charles@bakerstreetdozen.com and/or themightyjrc@shaw.ca

***

UNTIL FILLED — Horror Library, Vol. 5 — Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We’re looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what’s already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won’t cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They’re just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we’ll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission – title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

***

UNTIL FILLED — Mortis Operandi — ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By “supernatural” we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 — Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

***

UNTIL FILLED — Fantastic Stories Anthology — ed. Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination is a yearly anthology. Edited by Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications Box 10641, Blacksburg, VA 24063

I’m looking for stories that cover the entire science fiction, fantasy, and horror spectrum. I love magic realism (think Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman) and hard sf. I want a story to surprise me and to take me to unexpected places. I love word play, and would like to see stories with a literary bent, though decidedly not a pretentious bent. I could spend some time telling you what I don’t want, but I’ve found that good stories can make me buy them regardless of how many of my rules they violate. Let your imagination run wild, push and blur the limits of genre, or send me something traditional. I want it to see it all. My experience as an editor tells me that over time I’ll develop preferences and that the anthology will take on its own personality. When that happens I’ll change the guidelines to be more specific, but for now I’m going to explore what’s out there before I decide what direction to go in.

Payment: 10 cents per word on acceptance for original stories (maximum of $250.00) or 2 cents per word for reprints (maximum of $100.00). A check will accompany the contract so no simultaneous submissions please. I am purchasing First English Language Book Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights.

Story length, I have no limit on story length but the longer the story is the better it will have to be.

Sorry no e-mail submissions. Why is this? Don’t you know that e-mail submissions is the future? Yes I do know that, but it’s not the way I want to do this. For me the best part of being an editor is having people over to have slush parties and interacting with them during the reading process. Editing on a screen is a thing devoid of fun or joy, I edit for the fun and joy of it.

[Note: definitely click through on this one; there's some very useful info in the comments.]

***

UNTIL FILLED — All Access Pass — ed. Amelia G, Blue Blood Books

Short version of what I’m looking for is: well-crafted fiction or memoir, cool erotica with music and/or music culture as a central theme, $50 first run + reprint rights, $25 reprints. More formal version below.

Call for Submissions: All Access Pass

Backstage Passes editor Amelia G is reading for a sequel to her anthology of rock and roll erotica, called All Access Pass. Below are general fiction guidelines for Blue Blood fiction projects. For this book in specific, music must play a central role in the story. Events could take place at a punk club or an outdoor festival, characters may be musicians, music may just really speak to a particular character, but it needs to be important. Stories ranging from balls-out memoir or entirely fantastical vampire sex are all fine, within the appropriate theme and quality standards.

When submitting electronically, please make the subject of your email ALL ACCESS PASS SUBMISSION.

Before sending anything over, please ask yourself if your work passes the Blue Blood litmus test: Is it intelligent? Is it sexy? Is it edgy/counterculture? Is it cool? Email electronic submissions to submit@blueblood.net For submissions of fiction or nonfiction text, please have your writing in a Word document with a .doc suffix (not .docx), RTF, TXT, InDesign, or Open Office format. It is preferred if you include an author bio or link to your website or online profiles.

The All Access Pass anthology is seeking erotic stories with a counterculture feel — Gothic, industrial, techno, rave, punk, metal, dyke, mystery, gangster, hard-boiled, science fiction, cyberpunk, steampunk, vampire, werewolf, medieval etc. At the moment, our needs are for stories primarily from a male or female heterosexual viewpoint, lesbian viewpoint, or female bisexual viewpoint. Often, we can also place male homosexual and gender bender stories in anthologies. We look for work between 2,000 and 7,500 words. Most accepted fiction is shorter than 4,000 words. Death and horror elements are acceptable so long as they do not prevent the piece from being sex-positive. Characters may die but not as part of the sexuality. Kinky is great — leathersex, bondage, vampirism etc. are all fine. Negative attitudes about sexuality are not fine. All sex must be consensual and arousing. PLEASE DO NOT SEND US STORIES PROMOTING NAZIS, RAPE, INCEST, OR THE SEXUALIZATION OF MURDER. NO SNUFF, RACISM, OR HOMOPHOBIA. If you can write genuinely arousing fiction which still works as a story, do contact us. Payment is net 60 on on-sale date and we generally purchase first worldwide rights (exclusive from acceptance to one year after publication) along with nonexclusive reprint rights.

***

UNTIL FILLED — Unnamed Wuxia Anthology — ed. John Dishon, Genreverse Books

What are you looking for?

You’ve probably guessed it: wuxia. I want wuxia stories. If your story isn’t wuxia, then submitting it here won’t do you any good. Even if your story is really good, the focus of this anthology is the wuxia genre. The anthology is intended for those who have never heard of or read wuxia before, and for those who have. So for the noobs I want to introduce the genre to them properly, and the veterans will know if I haven’t done that. And since the whole point of this project is to promote the wuxia, then I’m going to have to insist that your story be an example of said genre. If it is, then please submit it below. If not, you’re better off submitting it elsewhere.

If you’re not sure what wuxia is, you can read about it here.

Yeah, it’s wuxia. But is it your kind of wuxia?

Yes, it is. Because I don’t have any specific kind of wuxia I’m going for. It can be old school or new school, it can be proto-wuxia, such as some of the chuanqi of the Tang era (an example of that would be “The Kunlun Slave” or “The Curly Bearded Stranger”), or anything else. Maybe you have your own unique style you’d like to try out. Let me have it. I don’t want a book full of Jin Yong rip-offs. Some stories in that vein are fine, and I would like to see some, but I want some variety as well. With the English language we have the opportunity to take the genre in new and unexpected territories, and to use different techniques to tell our stories. We needn’t try to copy Chinese writers. What exactly I mean by that will be left up to the writers. If a standard Jin Yong or Gu Long kind of story is your thing, then send it in. But if you’re trying something new or different, then I want to see that too. The most important consideration is that it is a good story, which means it should have compelling characters put in interesting situations. Your story should have that regardless of the genre.

So I am open to stories set in modern settings as well. The essence of wuxia lies in the values expressed by the two characters that make up the word, 武 and 俠, not the time period the story takes place in. Again, feel free to experiment.

I think it’s wuxia.

Great. Send it in. If your story is a borderline case, or you’re not quite sure if it’s wuxia, then send it in anyway. The worst that can happen is it gets rejected. You don’t need to query first. Make sure you look at the “What is Wuxia?” page linked to above before making your final decision, though. There is some leeway. “Martial arts fiction” is how wuxia is often translated into English, and while that is an over-simplified translation, it’s a good guide. However, the xia part of wuxia deserves attention to. I believe it is possible to have a wuxia story that does not have any fighting in it at all, but there must be a lot of xia in that case. I’ll stop there before I complicate the issue too much. It is a tough genre to define.

How do you want it?

As stated above, all submissions must be made through Hey Publisher. The form is below. The form will accept .doc, .rtf, and .txt files. It will not accept the new .docx format for some reason, so if you are using a newer version of Word, make sure to save it as .doc instead of .docx. Sign up is easy on the form. You can go through one of various social network services, or just create an account with Hey Publisher. Either way, it only takes a few seconds. Do not email me your submission. All email submissions will be deleted without being read, no exceptions.

For proper manuscript formatting, see William Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format. If you’ve ever submitted a story to a magazine before, then you’re probably already familiar with these formatting guidelines. You don’t need to include your mailing address, if you don’t want to. Make sure you have a valid email address on there, though. One that you regularly check.

How long should it be?

2,000-30,000 words. Anywhere in between there is fine. That means no flash fiction, and no novels. Also, no novel excerpts will be considered. No excerpts of any kind will be considered, actually. I want a complete, self-contained story.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted. I anticipate the submission process to be a long one, so I don’t mind if you submit to more than one place at once. Just make sure the other place(s) you submit your story to feel the same way.

Multiple submissions are accepted. If you only have one story to send, that’s fine. If you have three stories you would like to be considered, that’s fine too. I’m looking for the best wuxia stories I can find, so let me see all of them (well, all the good ones. Don’t submit the bad ones). You can have more than one story published in the anthology.

Previously published stories are accepted. The best stories might not be the newest stories. If your story has been published before, such as in a magazine or on a blog, then you can still send it to me. If it’s a great wuxia story then I want to showcase it to the English-reading world in this anthology. It would be silly to say no just because another magazine had published it already.

What will the submission process be like?

First, write a great story. Edit/rewrite/revise that great story. Make sure someone besides you reads it, so you can be sure it’s good. Then submit it to me, via the form below. Your story will then be sent to me. When I open your submission to read your story you will receive an email saying so. At this point, wait for a bit. How long the wait will be is unknown. If I immediately am not interested in the story, then you will receive a rejection notice pretty soon, probably no more than a week after I start reading it.

If I like your story, then prepare to wait longer. If your story is a “maybe” then I will put it under consideration and you will receive an email saying so. This will likely be the longest wait period, and I can’t begin to say how long that could be. I want to find the best stories, but that could take a while. I’m sure some of the best stories haven’t been written yet as I type this. So hang tight. That’s why simultaneous submissions are allowed. I will update this website frequently to let everyone know how the selection process is going, so you can keep up with my progress that way.

Eventually, I will either accept your story or reject it. If your story is rejected, you will get an email saying so. If it is accepted, you will get an email saying your story has been accepted.

How much does this thing pay?

1-5 cents per word, depending on how much money I raise for the project. I would like to be able to pay everyone 5 cents a word, but that means I would have to raise $5,550 USD. Here’s hoping. But for the purposes of deciding if you want to submit a story to me, plan on 1 cent per word. That’s probably the most realistic guess. Tell everyone you know about this project and ask them to donate so there will be more money to pay the writers.

What rights are you seeking?

Anthology rights. That means I’m buying your story for the purpose of publishing it in an anthology. The anthology will be printed, and it will also be available in electronic format. This anthology will be published globally, so I will be seeking permission to publish it everywhere. However, aside from the print and online versions of the anthology, I don’t want anything else from you. You are and will remain free to publish your story anywhere else you want. You retain the rights to your story; you’re just giving me permission to publish it in my anthology and sell it globally in print and in electronic formats.

I’m not seeking First-anything rights. Even if this anthology is the first place your story will be published.

Wait, there is one more thing I want. I want the exclusive right to publish your story. Meaning that your story can’t be published at the same time as my anthology is published. Obviously, if it’s already been published then that’s fine, but you can publish it anywhere else new while I’m publishing it in my anthology. I am seeking exclusive rights to publish your story for three months after the publication of the anthology. So once the anthology has been out for three months, you can publish your story anywhere you please.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, “Until Filled” markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Non-erotica/romance writers: check out Rocket Science, Borderlands 6, Damnation and Dames, Horror Library, Mortis Operandi, the Fantastic Stories Anthology, and the Wuxia Anthology.

Note that Panverse 4 has been cancelled.

***

31 October 2011 — Rocket Science — ed. Ian Sales, Mutation Press

Science fiction does take place in a vacuum. Travel more than 100 kilometres vertically from where you’re standing, and you’ll be in space. Where there’s no life-sustaining air; where the cold, and direct sunlight, can kill. There’s no gravity, and background radiation will cause cancer in one in ten people. Yet the future of our species quite possibly lies up there, or somewhere that will require us to cross space to reach.

Too often, science fiction glosses over the difficulties associated with leaving a planetary surface, travelling billions of kilometres through space, or even living in a radiation-soaked vacuum. The laws of physics are side-stepped in the interests of drama. Yet there’s plenty of drama, plenty of science fiction drama, in overcoming the challenges space presents. Whether it is, for example, an alternate history take on the Apollo Lunar landings; the discovery of an alien artefact on a moon of Jupiter; or the story of a mission to the nearest star.

ROCKET SCIENCE is looking for original stories which realistically depict space travel and its hazards. The reader needs to know what it would be like to be there. This doesn’t mean stories must be set in interplanetary or interstellar space; but the technology and science involved must be present somewhere. It could be a story set in a spacecraft, on an asteroid or space station; or about a mission soon to leave Earth’s surface. It could be a first contact, a rescue against the odds, or a study of some unusual space phenomenon. Whatever suits. Don’t be afraid to be literary.

But no space opera, definitely no space opera.

ROCKET SCIENCE will also feature relevant non-fiction – history, science, technology, perhaps a study of notable books / films / tv. Feel free to submit.

Reading period 1 Aug 2011 to 31 Oct 2011. Do not send before.

Word limit 6k. Payment GBP10.00 per 1k words. No reprints.

Please stick to the theme.

ROCKET SCIENCE, edited by Ian Sales. To be published by Mutation Press in 2012. For more information: visit this page for updates or email rocketscience.editor@gmail.com

***

31 October 2011 — Borderlands 6 — ed. Elizabeth E. & Thomas F. Monteleone, Borderlands Press

Manuscripts ONLY (14 pt, Double Spaced, Times New Roman, numbered & your name on EACH page)

Please no COVER LETTER. 1st page list your contact info. Let the story speak for itself.

Borderlands Press * PO Box 61* Benson MD 21018

Accepting: 15 to 20 stories

Response: via email (no SASE unless you want your ms. returned)

Editions: signed limited edition (250 numbered) plus an e-book

This a non-themed anthology which carries on the tradition and high standards established by the first five volumes in this series. It is the intention of the editors to publish new, original, short fiction, which pushes the limits of what is being done in darkly imaginative fiction. If you are published in Borderlands, you will be part of the expedition to open the gates to new literary territory, and you will help scorch a path through the jagged landscape of the imagination unbound . . . and all those other cool metaphors.

You don’t need to read a Borderlands story on a stormy dark night, with glowing embers banked in the fireplace, and a cruel wind howling across the moors. The stories we want can be read under the clear light of day and pure reason, and they will still knock you around and put a new rhythm in your head.

Which means: we are not looking for any of the traditional bug-bears and boogeymen. No ghosts or vampires need apply. No zombies, no werewolves, no mummies, succubi, or Hitchcockian spouses with plans to do in their mates.

In other words we don’t want stories employing any of the familiar symbols or icons which have defined the genre.

Having said all that, we believe you’ll have a far better chance of selling us your story if you have sampled previous volumes of this anthology series.

Please check our website (www.borderlandspress.com) periodically for updates on the status of the anthology’s progress.

Simultaneous submissions okay (if you sell it before we get to it, it’s our loss)

NO Reprints

Length: up to 5,000 words (unless by previous arrangement)

Payment: .05 cents per word for the limited edition; e-book royalties are based on 50% of retail e-book price and shared by all contributors on a pro-rata basis. Royalties will be calculated quarterly and payments disbursed when a contributor’s share exceeds $20 in any quarterly accounting. [I'm pretty sure they mean five cents per word here, not five hundredths of a cent, but that's just me making a guess.]

***

1 November 2011 — Damnation and Dames — ed. Amanda Pillar and Liz Grzyb, Ticonderoga Publications

We are looking for stories which show the paranormal and noir crime worlds colliding. You might find werewolf femme fatales, vampire hardboiled detectives, alcoholic psychic journalists, zombie bankrobbers, ghostly gendarmes, demonic insurance salesmen, down-on-their-luck djinns, double-crossing mummies, or even fae with a love for red herrings.

The anthology will be published by Ticonderoga Publications in 2012.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Send us your best paranormal noir stories.

1. — Story length 1,000 to 7,500 words. (Longer stories may be accepted, although payment is capped at 7,500).
2. — Original stories only: no reprints, multiple, or simultaneous submissions.
3. — Stories may be submitted via email at paranormalnoir@ticonderogapublications.com.
4. — Manuscript format: double spaced, large margins, sensible font, Australian English spelling.
5. — The editors reserve the right to use their discretion in selecting stories.
6. — Deadline: 1st November, 2011.
7. — Payment: 2 copies of anthology and Aus 2 cents/word (GST inc., maximum payment $150) on publication.

***

1 December 2011 — Eternal Love — Cool Well Press

Valentine’s Day was first celebrated in 496 A.D., and was done in remembrance of the martyrs who opposed Ancient Rome. They were known as Martyr Valentinus, which in Latin means those who are worthy, powerful, and strong. Over the centuries, Valentine’s Day has come to represent a time when intimate companions show their love and affection. It also serves to remind us of love that has been lost.

As far back as the misty ages go, men have always believed that there are immortals roaming the Earth. These immortals come in many forms, such as Vampires, Werewolves, Shapeshifters, Angels, and Faery. Because these creatures are supernaturally strong and powerful, and cannot die, they might be referred to as the true Valentinus. They experience profound love and profound loss, and while many are not worthy, many more are. We want stories about these beings that have lived and eternally loved.

COOL WELL PRESS is opening a call for submissions for their new young adult anthology, ETERNAL LOVE to be published in February 2012. Stories should be set in all eras and locals, and is targeted for 15 to 18 year old readers. No sexually explicit stories. These should have a paranormal flare and be 5,000 to 8,000 words. Deadline is December 1, 2011. Please follow the submission guidelines when preparing your manuscript. Send completed submission to denise@coolwellpress.com and mark the subject of the email as ETERNAL LOVE.

Authors whose stories are accepted will be sent a contract. Compensation will be a one-time payment at .10 per word and a copy of each format of the final anthology.

***

15 December 2011 — Kingdoms of Desire: Erotic Tales of Fantasy — ed. Mitzi Szereto, Cleis Press

To be published by Cleis Press in autumn 2012.

Kingdoms of Desire: Erotic Tales of Fantasy is a place where lust and legend abound, and adventure, passion and danger entwine. Think mystical lands and creatures, kings and queens, knights and renegades, heroes and villains, warlords, maidens and princesses. Think battles and danger, honor and dishonor, good and evil. Most of all think hearts filled with passion and secret desire. This is a place where romantic chivalry is alive and well, but so too is romantic wickedness. This is a place where the good do not always win, and the bad are often more captivating and desirable than their altruistic counterparts. In these lush and timeless landscapes, the battle for flesh can be as important as the battle for power. Intrigue, sorcery, revenge, lawlessness, dark secrets and mysterious elixirs; entanglements with supernatural beings – everything is possible in these magical mythical landscapes. Think Game of Thrones and you get the picture!

Word count: 3,000 to 6,000 words.

What I’m looking for: Well-developed story lines and well-crafted prose told in a unique voice and containing interesting characters and settings. Think atmosphere, passion, desire… imaginative steamy tales that transport the reader to fantastical realms. Stories from female and male writers are welcome, as are stories containing characters of any sexual orientation.

Note: Although sexually explicit content is acceptable as well as a more subtle approach, absolutely no stock sex scenes or formulaic writing/terminology. Please refer to my previous anthologies (especially Red Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance) to get an idea of the variety and style of content I look for. Even though the stories need to have a strong element of eroticism and sensuality to them, I do not want stories that are one-dimensional sex stories or smut. The erotic element is an important part of the story, but it should not be the sole basis for the story or a replacement for plot and character development. No reprints (be it print, digital, or online). Original fiction only.

Payment: One-time payment in the range of USD $50-70 (payable on publication) and 2 copies of the anthology.

Submission requirements:

Stories must be formatted as follows: double-spaced Arial 12-point black font Word or RTF document (sent as an attachment). Indent the first line of each paragraph by half an inch. Do not add extra lines between paragraphs or irregular spacing between words. American spelling and punctuation only (i.e. quote marks, etc). Include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), postal address, and a fifty-word maximum author bio written in the third person. Contract is for one-time, non-exclusive anthology rights with one year’s exclusivity from date of publication. (This may be waived if your story is selected for a “Best Of” collection). No simultaneous submissions please.

In the subject line of your email, please state: Kingdoms of Desire

Send to: submissions @ mitziszereto.com

Submission deadline: December 15, 2011. (Stories will be read on an on-going basis, so early submissions are highly encouraged.) [I can't swear to it, but phrasing it this way makes me think she's going to be buying stories as good ones come in, which means a good story subbed near the deadline might be rejected because it's too close to a similar story she bought a month earlier. Or maybe not, but that's what this is saying to me.]

***

UNTIL FILLED — Horror Library, Vol. 5 — Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We’re looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what’s already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won’t cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They’re just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we’ll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission – title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

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UNTIL FILLED — Mortis Operandi — ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By “supernatural” we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 — Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

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UNTIL FILLED — Fantastic Stories Anthology — ed. Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination is a yearly anthology. Edited by Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications Box 10641, Blacksburg, VA 24063

I’m looking for stories that cover the entire science fiction, fantasy, and horror spectrum. I love magic realism (think Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman) and hard sf. I want a story to surprise me and to take me to unexpected places. I love word play, and would like to see stories with a literary bent, though decidedly not a pretentious bent. I could spend some time telling you what I don’t want, but I’ve found that good stories can make me buy them regardless of how many of my rules they violate. Let your imagination run wild, push and blur the limits of genre, or send me something traditional. I want it to see it all. My experience as an editor tells me that over time I’ll develop preferences and that the anthology will take on its own personality. When that happens I’ll change the guidelines to be more specific, but for now I’m going to explore what’s out there before I decide what direction to go in.

Payment: 10 cents per word on acceptance for original stories (maximum of $250.00) or 2 cents per word for reprints (maximum of $100.00). A check will accompany the contract so no simultaneous submissions please. I am purchasing First English Language Book Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights.

Story length, I have no limit on story length but the longer the story is the better it will have to be.

Sorry no e-mail submissions. Why is this? Don’t you know that e-mail submissions is the future? Yes I do know that, but it’s not the way I want to do this. For me the best part of being an editor is having people over to have slush parties and interacting with them during the reading process. Editing on a screen is a thing devoid of fun or joy, I edit for the fun and joy of it.

[Note: definitely click through on this one; there's some very useful info in the comments.]

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UNTIL FILLED — All Access Pass — ed. Amelia G, Blue Blood Books

Short version of what I’m looking for is: well-crafted fiction or memoir, cool erotica with music and/or music culture as a central theme, $50 first run + reprint rights, $25 reprints. More formal version below.

Call for Submissions: All Access Pass

Backstage Passes editor Amelia G is reading for a sequel to her anthology of rock and roll erotica, called All Access Pass. Below are general fiction guidelines for Blue Blood fiction projects. For this book in specific, music must play a central role in the story. Events could take place at a punk club or an outdoor festival, characters may be musicians, music may just really speak to a particular character, but it needs to be important. Stories ranging from balls-out memoir or entirely fantastical vampire sex are all fine, within the appropriate theme and quality standards.

When submitting electronically, please make the subject of your email ALL ACCESS PASS SUBMISSION.

Before sending anything over, please ask yourself if your work passes the Blue Blood litmus test: Is it intelligent? Is it sexy? Is it edgy/counterculture? Is it cool? Email electronic submissions to submit@blueblood.net For submissions of fiction or nonfiction text, please have your writing in a Word document with a .doc suffix (not .docx), RTF, TXT, InDesign, or Open Office format. It is preferred if you include an author bio or link to your website or online profiles.

The All Access Pass anthology is seeking erotic stories with a counterculture feel — Gothic, industrial, techno, rave, punk, metal, dyke, mystery, gangster, hard-boiled, science fiction, cyberpunk, steampunk, vampire, werewolf, medieval etc. At the moment, our needs are for stories primarily from a male or female heterosexual viewpoint, lesbian viewpoint, or female bisexual viewpoint. Often, we can also place male homosexual and gender bender stories in anthologies. We look for work between 2,000 and 7,500 words. Most accepted fiction is shorter than 4,000 words. Death and horror elements are acceptable so long as they do not prevent the piece from being sex-positive. Characters may die but not as part of the sexuality. Kinky is great — leathersex, bondage, vampirism etc. are all fine. Negative attitudes about sexuality are not fine. All sex must be consensual and arousing. PLEASE DO NOT SEND US STORIES PROMOTING NAZIS, RAPE, INCEST, OR THE SEXUALIZATION OF MURDER. NO SNUFF, RACISM, OR HOMOPHOBIA. If you can write genuinely arousing fiction which still works as a story, do contact us. Payment is net 60 on on-sale date and we generally purchase first worldwide rights (exclusive from acceptance to one year after publication) along with nonexclusive reprint rights.

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UNTIL FILLED — Unnamed Wuxia Anthology — ed. John Dishon, Genreverse Books

What are you looking for?

You’ve probably guessed it: wuxia. I want wuxia stories. If your story isn’t wuxia, then submitting it here won’t do you any good. Even if your story is really good, the focus of this anthology is the wuxia genre. The anthology is intended for those who have never heard of or read wuxia before, and for those who have. So for the noobs I want to introduce the genre to them properly, and the veterans will know if I haven’t done that. And since the whole point of this project is to promote the wuxia, then I’m going to have to insist that your story be an example of said genre. If it is, then please submit it below. If not, you’re better off submitting it elsewhere.

If you’re not sure what wuxia is, you can read about it here.

Yeah, it’s wuxia. But is it your kind of wuxia?

Yes, it is. Because I don’t have any specific kind of wuxia I’m going for. It can be old school or new school, it can be proto-wuxia, such as some of the chuanqi of the Tang era (an example of that would be “The Kunlun Slave” or “The Curly Bearded Stranger”), or anything else. Maybe you have your own unique style you’d like to try out. Let me have it. I don’t want a book full of Jin Yong rip-offs. Some stories in that vein are fine, and I would like to see some, but I want some variety as well. With the English language we have the opportunity to take the genre in new and unexpected territories, and to use different techniques to tell our stories. We needn’t try to copy Chinese writers. What exactly I mean by that will be left up to the writers. If a standard Jin Yong or Gu Long kind of story is your thing, then send it in. But if you’re trying something new or different, then I want to see that too. The most important consideration is that it is a good story, which means it should have compelling characters put in interesting situations. Your story should have that regardless of the genre.

So I am open to stories set in modern settings as well. The essence of wuxia lies in the values expressed by the two characters that make up the word, 武 and 俠, not the time period the story takes place in. Again, feel free to experiment.

I think it’s wuxia.

Great. Send it in. If your story is a borderline case, or you’re not quite sure if it’s wuxia, then send it in anyway. The worst that can happen is it gets rejected. You don’t need to query first. Make sure you look at the “What is Wuxia?” page linked to above before making your final decision, though. There is some leeway. “Martial arts fiction” is how wuxia is often translated into English, and while that is an over-simplified translation, it’s a good guide. However, the xia part of wuxia deserves attention to. I believe it is possible to have a wuxia story that does not have any fighting in it at all, but there must be a lot of xia in that case. I’ll stop there before I complicate the issue too much. It is a tough genre to define.

How do you want it?

As stated above, all submissions must be made through Hey Publisher. The form is below. The form will accept .doc, .rtf, and .txt files. It will not accept the new .docx format for some reason, so if you are using a newer version of Word, make sure to save it as .doc instead of .docx. Sign up is easy on the form. You can go through one of various social network services, or just create an account with Hey Publisher. Either way, it only takes a few seconds. Do not email me your submission. All email submissions will be deleted without being read, no exceptions.

For proper manuscript formatting, see William Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format. If you’ve ever submitted a story to a magazine before, then you’re probably already familiar with these formatting guidelines. You don’t need to include your mailing address, if you don’t want to. Make sure you have a valid email address on there, though. One that you regularly check.

How long should it be?

2,000-30,000 words. Anywhere in between there is fine. That means no flash fiction, and no novels. Also, no novel excerpts will be considered. No excerpts of any kind will be considered, actually. I want a complete, self-contained story.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted. I anticipate the submission process to be a long one, so I don’t mind if you submit to more than one place at once. Just make sure the other place(s) you submit your story to feel the same way.

Multiple submissions are accepted. If you only have one story to send, that’s fine. If you have three stories you would like to be considered, that’s fine too. I’m looking for the best wuxia stories I can find, so let me see all of them (well, all the good ones. Don’t submit the bad ones). You can have more than one story published in the anthology.

Previously published stories are accepted. The best stories might not be the newest stories. If your story has been published before, such as in a magazine or on a blog, then you can still send it to me. If it’s a great wuxia story then I want to showcase it to the English-reading world in this anthology. It would be silly to say no just because another magazine had published it already.

What will the submission process be like?

First, write a great story. Edit/rewrite/revise that great story. Make sure someone besides you reads it, so you can be sure it’s good. Then submit it to me, via the form below. Your story will then be sent to me. When I open your submission to read your story you will receive an email saying so. At this point, wait for a bit. How long the wait will be is unknown. If I immediately am not interested in the story, then you will receive a rejection notice pretty soon, probably no more than a week after I start reading it.

If I like your story, then prepare to wait longer. If your story is a “maybe” then I will put it under consideration and you will receive an email saying so. This will likely be the longest wait period, and I can’t begin to say how long that could be. I want to find the best stories, but that could take a while. I’m sure some of the best stories haven’t been written yet as I type this. So hang tight. That’s why simultaneous submissions are allowed. I will update this website frequently to let everyone know how the selection process is going, so you can keep up with my progress that way.

Eventually, I will either accept your story or reject it. If your story is rejected, you will get an email saying so. If it is accepted, you will get an email saying your story has been accepted.

How much does this thing pay?

1-5 cents per word, depending on how much money I raise for the project. I would like to be able to pay everyone 5 cents a word, but that means I would have to raise $5,550 USD. Here’s hoping. But for the purposes of deciding if you want to submit a story to me, plan on 1 cent per word. That’s probably the most realistic guess. Tell everyone you know about this project and ask them to donate so there will be more money to pay the writers.

What rights are you seeking?

Anthology rights. That means I’m buying your story for the purpose of publishing it in an anthology. The anthology will be printed, and it will also be available in electronic format. This anthology will be published globally, so I will be seeking permission to publish it everywhere. However, aside from the print and online versions of the anthology, I don’t want anything else from you. You are and will remain free to publish your story anywhere else you want. You retain the rights to your story; you’re just giving me permission to publish it in my anthology and sell it globally in print and in electronic formats.

I’m not seeking First-anything rights. Even if this anthology is the first place your story will be published.

Wait, there is one more thing I want. I want the exclusive right to publish your story. Meaning that your story can’t be published at the same time as my anthology is published. Obviously, if it’s already been published then that’s fine, but you can publish it anywhere else new while I’m publishing it in my anthology. I am seeking exclusive rights to publish your story for three months after the publication of the anthology. So once the anthology has been out for three months, you can publish your story anywhere you please.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, “Until Filled” markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Non-erotica/romance writers: check out Apocalypse Hope, Mutation Nation, Rocket Science, Damnation and Dames, Horror Library, Mortis Operandi, the Fantastic Stories Anthology, the Wuxia Anthology and Panverse Four.

***

30 September 2011 — Shades of Gray — ed. S.L. Armstrong, Storm Moon Press

This is a place where morality takes a backseat and the lines of right and wrong blur. In Shades of Gray, we are looking for short, M/M stories that push the envelope, are dark, sexy, and erotic. Hurt/comfort, dubious consent and forced seduction, imprisonment, angst, sadism, masochism, and perversion, all carefully wrapped in the package of erotic romance. We don’t want to see angst and torture for angst and torture’s sake, but because it will ultimately unite your two heroes who triumph over the darkest times in their lives. We want dark tones with bright rays of hope.

We will even consider sociopaths as main characters along the lines of Dexter and American Pyscho. All torment must be redeemed through romance and eroticism. Will will NOT accept outright rape, disgusting fetishes used as torture, or snuff stories. Dark yes, gross no.

Length of submissions should be between 10,000 and 15,000 words.

Only short stories that still have their First English language rights still attached will be considered, and we do ask for exclusive electronic and print rights for two (2) years, at which time, all rights revert. We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

Payment is $0.013 per word (based on final, edited word count) paid upon publication, plus a PDF copy of the e-book, and two contributor copies of the print book.

We are accepting submissions until September 30th, 2011. Acceptance notifications and contracts will be issued during the month of October. All content to be featured in Shades of Gray will be edited. Planned release for both the e-book and print book is January 31st, 2012.

Again, please, look over our standard submission guidelines for all the details with regards for our lines, anthologies, and requirements.

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30 September 2011 — Unmasked & Undressed — ed. Eric Summers, STARbooks Press

Once again, STARbooks Press is putting together a collection of hot, fun, sexy stories about superheroes, their sidekicks, and their fans. What made Unmasked STARbooks Press best-seller of all time were the great characters, steamy sex, and humor! Surely, you have a superhero whose story you want to tell.

Keep in mind: Every superhero has at least one special ability and one secret weakness. Use these to your advantage. If you contributed to Unmasked or Unmasked II, or both, let’s see a sequel!

Your characters need to be at least 18 years old.

We are seeking well-written stories that are erotic, not just pornographic. There are no limits to the possibilities or scenarios. All we ask is that writers be creative, have fun, and offer our readers something fresh and new. And humor is always greatly appreciated! We want well-developed characters and plots, believable and accurate situations (even if it is fantasy or science fiction, it must make sense), and settings, along with internal consistency. All characters must be at least 18 years of age. Please use lube and not spit.

Feel free to query me about the idea you may have about a story for this anthology at eric@starbookspress.com.

Thank you,
Eric Summers

Submit your query to eric@starbookspress.com in the body of an email. Include a short bio, your name, postal and email addresses, the title and a five-paragraph excerpt of your story. Indicate whether or not your submission has been previously published and, if so, where and when. You don’t need to sell your story in the letter; your work will speak for itself. If your query is accepted, we will be in contact with you about submitting the complete work. The end product should be around eight pages of single spaced 12 pt. type. Occasionally, novellas are accepted, but they must be exceptional. Be sure to edit and proof your query.

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30 September 2011 — The Boys of Summer — ed. Mickey Erlach, STARbooks Press

Everyone knows what happens when the thermostat hits 100! Remember those summers between semesters at the lake? How about that camping trip before your senior year in college? Did you have a summer job with a landscaping company to pay for school? Were you a lifeguard at a nude beach?

One cannot help but be horny with all those hot young guys stripped to the waist, sweating and playing or working in the blazing sun. With so little else to remove, getting it on is never easier than on a hot summer night!

Come on and give it to us – those Hot Boys of Summer. We want it steamy; we want it often; we want it good.

Your characters need to be at least 18 years old.

We are seeking well-written stories that are erotic, not just pornographic. There are no limits to the possibilities or scenarios. All we ask is that writers be creative, have fun, and offer our readers something fresh and new. And humor is always greatly appreciated! We want well-developed characters and plots, believable and accurate situations (even if it is fantasy or science fiction, it must make sense), and settings, along with internal consistency. All characters must be at least 18 years of age. Please use lube and not spit.

Feel free to query me about the idea you may have about a story for this anthology at mickey@starbookspress.com.

Thank you,
Mickey Erlach

Submit your query to mickey@starbookspress.com in the body of an email. Include a short bio, your name, postal and email addresses, the title and a five-paragraph excerpt of your story. Indicate whether or not your submission has been previously published and, if so, where and when. You don’t need to sell your story in the letter; your work will speak for itself. If your query is accepted, we will be in contact with you about submitting the complete work. The end product should be around eight pages of single spaced 12 pt. type. Occasionally, novellas are accepted, but they must be exceptional. Be sure to edit and proof your query.

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30 September 2011 — Apocalypse Hope — ed. Tehani Wessely, Fablecroft Publishing

The world is ending: climate change, natural disaster, war and disease threaten to destroy all we know. Predictions of the future are bleak. But does the apocalypse really mean the end of the world? Is there no hope for a future that follows?

FableCroft Publishing is seeking speculative fiction stories on the theme “Apocalypse Hope”. The stories must in some way address the idea that after the apocalypse (whatever and wherever in your universe that might be), there is a future for the peoples who survive it. The rest is up to your imagination.

Stories should be between 2,000 and 8,000 words. Please query the editor before sending stories outside those limits.

Original stories are preferred. Please query for reprints.

No simultaneous submissions please.

For multiple submissions, please query first.

Submissions close: September 30, 2011

Anticipated publication date: June 2012
Electronic submissions only. Please send story as an rtf or doc attachment to fablecroft [at] gmail [dot] com, with the subject line: SUBMISSION: Title of Story

Please ensure your story file includes your contact details including postal address and email address.

Stories should be formatted to usual electronic submission standard. Times New Roman font of 11/12 point preferred, with at least 1.5 spacing.

Please be cautious to only submit final, proofread copy – ensure you have checked all your edits and removed all track changes in your document.

The editor will respond with a submission received email within 48 hours, but story selection may not occur until up to one month after the deadline. This anthology is open to international contributors.

Payment will be AUD$50.00 and one contributor copy of the print book. Further royalties will apply for e-book revenue.

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1 October 2011 — Mutation Nation — ed. Kelly Dunn, Rainstorm Press

Mutations. Such tiny changes, such radical extremes. Mutations are not what we expect and more than we bargained for. The red-headed beauty on the fashion catwalk, Cronenberg’s “Brundlefly” abomination—both are the result of mutations, but with wildly different results. Mutations can beautify or deform, create or destroy. Mutations have the power to build a new physical look, alter brain chemistry, affect emotions. With mutations in the mix, humans can wind up stranded in a hellish unfinished limbo, or evolve a little too well into something the rest of us might not recognize.

Who are these human oddities? How do these characters and/or the people in their lives deal with the curse—or the blessing—of their mutations? This anthology will contain stories that explore these human mutations—and their consequences.

Your mutation story should contain these basic elements:

1. One or more human characters with a single or multiple mutations.
2. One or more human characters dealing with a problem/problems related to the mutation.
3. If your mutation results in a monster, that monster should be a new or different twist on humanity—not a vampire, werebeast, zombie, or other overly familiar supernatural creature.

The form the mutation takes is up to you. You might choose a mutation that causes physical changes, and/or changes in brain chemistry; a mutation known to biological science or one of your own design. The mutation could be the result of an experiment, environmental factors, or even caused in some way by the character’s own actions.

There are infinite possibilities to explore.

I am looking for compelling characters, strong plotting, and vivid imagery. I would prefer that the feeling of terror be mingled with a sense of wonder or the darkly miraculous. The word “mutation” does not have to appear in the story, but it should be very clear that the conflict of the story has arisen as a result of one or more mutations.

Details:
Genre: This is a horror anthology. Think “Twilight Zone” in terms of range. Stories can contain elements of science fiction, dystopia, dark fantasy, gothic, and psychological horror. Stories can take place in any time period.

Words: Stories should be between 3,000 and 7,000 words, with a length of 5,000-6,000 words preferred.

Rights: First-time World Anthology and first-time electronic publication rights only are purchased by Rainstorm Press for paper and electronic publishing. No simultaneous submissions or reprints.

Payment: $50.00 will be paid upon acceptance, plus one print contributor’s copy and one electronic contributor’s copy.

Deadline: All submissions must be received by October 1, 2011. Target release date is December 1, 2011.

Format: Manuscripts may be submitted by e-mail attachment. Word documents only, please. Standard manuscript format. You can see an example of the correct formatting here: http://www.sfwa.org/2008/11/manuscript-preparation/

Send submission to: mutantantho@earthlink.net

Feel free to send any questions you may have to this email address, as well.

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31 October 2011 — Rocket Science — ed. Ian Sales, Mutation Press

Science fiction does take place in a vacuum. Travel more than 100 kilometres vertically from where you’re standing, and you’ll be in space. Where there’s no life-sustaining air; where the cold, and direct sunlight, can kill. There’s no gravity, and background radiation will cause cancer in one in ten people. Yet the future of our species quite possibly lies up there, or somewhere that will require us to cross space to reach.

Too often, science fiction glosses over the difficulties associated with leaving a planetary surface, travelling billions of kilometres through space, or even living in a radiation-soaked vacuum. The laws of physics are side-stepped in the interests of drama. Yet there’s plenty of drama, plenty of science fiction drama, in overcoming the challenges space presents. Whether it is, for example, an alternate history take on the Apollo Lunar landings; the discovery of an alien artefact on a moon of Jupiter; or the story of a mission to the nearest star.

ROCKET SCIENCE is looking for original stories which realistically depict space travel and its hazards. The reader needs to know what it would be like to be there. This doesn’t mean stories must be set in interplanetary or interstellar space; but the technology and science involved must be present somewhere. It could be a story set in a spacecraft, on an asteroid or space station; or about a mission soon to leave Earth’s surface. It could be a first contact, a rescue against the odds, or a study of some unusual space phenomenon. Whatever suits. Don’t be afraid to be literary.

But no space opera, definitely no space opera.

ROCKET SCIENCE will also feature relevant non-fiction – history, science, technology, perhaps a study of notable books / films / tv. Feel free to submit.

Reading period 1 Aug 2011 to 31 Oct 2011. Do not send before.

Word limit 6k. Payment GBP10.00 per 1k words. No reprints.

Please stick to the theme.

ROCKET SCIENCE, edited by Ian Sales. To be published by Mutation Press in 2012. For more information: visit this page for updates or email rocketscience.editor@gmail.com

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1 November 2011 — Damnation and Dames — ed. Amanda Pillar and Liz Grzyb, Ticonderoga Publications

We are looking for stories which show the paranormal and noir crime worlds colliding. You might find werewolf femme fatales, vampire hardboiled detectives, alcoholic psychic journalists, zombie bankrobbers, ghostly gendarmes, demonic insurance salesmen, down-on-their-luck djinns, double-crossing mummies, or even fae with a love for red herrings.

The anthology will be published by Ticonderoga Publications in 2012.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Send us your best paranormal noir stories.

1. — Story length 1,000 to 7,500 words. (Longer stories may be accepted, although payment is capped at 7,500).
2. — Original stories only: no reprints, multiple, or simultaneous submissions.
3. — Stories may be submitted via email at paranormalnoir@ticonderogapublications.com.
4. — Manuscript format: double spaced, large margins, sensible font, Australian English spelling.
5. — The editors reserve the right to use their discretion in selecting stories.
6. — Deadline: 1st November, 2011.
7. — Payment: 2 copies of anthology and Aus 2 cents/word (GST inc., maximum payment $150) on publication.

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UNTIL FILLED — Horror Library, Vol. 5 — Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We’re looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what’s already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won’t cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They’re just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we’ll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission – title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

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UNTIL FILLED — Mortis Operandi — ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By “supernatural” we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 — Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

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UNTIL FILLED — Fantastic Stories Anthology — ed. Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination is a yearly anthology. Edited by Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications Box 10641, Blacksburg, VA 24063

I’m looking for stories that cover the entire science fiction, fantasy, and horror spectrum. I love magic realism (think Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman) and hard sf. I want a story to surprise me and to take me to unexpected places. I love word play, and would like to see stories with a literary bent, though decidedly not a pretentious bent. I could spend some time telling you what I don’t want, but I’ve found that good stories can make me buy them regardless of how many of my rules they violate. Let your imagination run wild, push and blur the limits of genre, or send me something traditional. I want it to see it all. My experience as an editor tells me that over time I’ll develop preferences and that the anthology will take on its own personality. When that happens I’ll change the guidelines to be more specific, but for now I’m going to explore what’s out there before I decide what direction to go in.

Payment: 10 cents per word on acceptance for original stories (maximum of $250.00) or 2 cents per word for reprints (maximum of $100.00). A check will accompany the contract so no simultaneous submissions please. I am purchasing First English Language Book Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights.

Story length, I have no limit on story length but the longer the story is the better it will have to be.

Sorry no e-mail submissions. Why is this? Don’t you know that e-mail submissions is the future? Yes I do know that, but it’s not the way I want to do this. For me the best part of being an editor is having people over to have slush parties and interacting with them during the reading process. Editing on a screen is a thing devoid of fun or joy, I edit for the fun and joy of it.

[Note: definitely click through on this one; there's some very useful info in the comments.]

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UNTIL FILLED — All Access Pass — ed. Amelia G, Blue Blood Books

Short version of what I’m looking for is: well-crafted fiction or memoir, cool erotica with music and/or music culture as a central theme, $50 first run + reprint rights, $25 reprints. More formal version below.

Call for Submissions: All Access Pass

Backstage Passes editor Amelia G is reading for a sequel to her anthology of rock and roll erotica, called All Access Pass. Below are general fiction guidelines for Blue Blood fiction projects. For this book in specific, music must play a central role in the story. Events could take place at a punk club or an outdoor festival, characters may be musicians, music may just really speak to a particular character, but it needs to be important. Stories ranging from balls-out memoir or entirely fantastical vampire sex are all fine, within the appropriate theme and quality standards.

When submitting electronically, please make the subject of your email ALL ACCESS PASS SUBMISSION.

Before sending anything over, please ask yourself if your work passes the Blue Blood litmus test: Is it intelligent? Is it sexy? Is it edgy/counterculture? Is it cool? Email electronic submissions to submit@blueblood.net For submissions of fiction or nonfiction text, please have your writing in a Word document with a .doc suffix (not .docx), RTF, TXT, InDesign, or Open Office format. It is preferred if you include an author bio or link to your website or online profiles.

The All Access Pass anthology is seeking erotic stories with a counterculture feel — Gothic, industrial, techno, rave, punk, metal, dyke, mystery, gangster, hard-boiled, science fiction, cyberpunk, steampunk, vampire, werewolf, medieval etc. At the moment, our needs are for stories primarily from a male or female heterosexual viewpoint, lesbian viewpoint, or female bisexual viewpoint. Often, we can also place male homosexual and gender bender stories in anthologies. We look for work between 2,000 and 7,500 words. Most accepted fiction is shorter than 4,000 words. Death and horror elements are acceptable so long as they do not prevent the piece from being sex-positive. Characters may die but not as part of the sexuality. Kinky is great — leathersex, bondage, vampirism etc. are all fine. Negative attitudes about sexuality are not fine. All sex must be consensual and arousing. PLEASE DO NOT SEND US STORIES PROMOTING NAZIS, RAPE, INCEST, OR THE SEXUALIZATION OF MURDER. NO SNUFF, RACISM, OR HOMOPHOBIA. If you can write genuinely arousing fiction which still works as a story, do contact us. Payment is net 60 on on-sale date and we generally purchase first worldwide rights (exclusive from acceptance to one year after publication) along with nonexclusive reprint rights.

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UNTIL FILLED — Unnamed Wuxia Anthology — ed. John Dishon, Genreverse Books

What are you looking for?

You’ve probably guessed it: wuxia. I want wuxia stories. If your story isn’t wuxia, then submitting it here won’t do you any good. Even if your story is really good, the focus of this anthology is the wuxia genre. The anthology is intended for those who have never heard of or read wuxia before, and for those who have. So for the noobs I want to introduce the genre to them properly, and the veterans will know if I haven’t done that. And since the whole point of this project is to promote the wuxia, then I’m going to have to insist that your story be an example of said genre. If it is, then please submit it below. If not, you’re better off submitting it elsewhere.

If you’re not sure what wuxia is, you can read about it here.

Yeah, it’s wuxia. But is it your kind of wuxia?

Yes, it is. Because I don’t have any specific kind of wuxia I’m going for. It can be old school or new school, it can be proto-wuxia, such as some of the chuanqi of the Tang era (an example of that would be “The Kunlun Slave” or “The Curly Bearded Stranger”), or anything else. Maybe you have your own unique style you’d like to try out. Let me have it. I don’t want a book full of Jin Yong rip-offs. Some stories in that vein are fine, and I would like to see some, but I want some variety as well. With the English language we have the opportunity to take the genre in new and unexpected territories, and to use different techniques to tell our stories. We needn’t try to copy Chinese writers. What exactly I mean by that will be left up to the writers. If a standard Jin Yong or Gu Long kind of story is your thing, then send it in. But if you’re trying something new or different, then I want to see that too. The most important consideration is that it is a good story, which means it should have compelling characters put in interesting situations. Your story should have that regardless of the genre.

So I am open to stories set in modern settings as well. The essence of wuxia lies in the values expressed by the two characters that make up the word, 武 and 俠, not the time period the story takes place in. Again, feel free to experiment.

I think it’s wuxia.

Great. Send it in. If your story is a borderline case, or you’re not quite sure if it’s wuxia, then send it in anyway. The worst that can happen is it gets rejected. You don’t need to query first. Make sure you look at the “What is Wuxia?” page linked to above before making your final decision, though. There is some leeway. “Martial arts fiction” is how wuxia is often translated into English, and while that is an over-simplified translation, it’s a good guide. However, the xia part of wuxia deserves attention to. I believe it is possible to have a wuxia story that does not have any fighting in it at all, but there must be a lot of xia in that case. I’ll stop there before I complicate the issue too much. It is a tough genre to define.

How do you want it?

As stated above, all submissions must be made through Hey Publisher. The form is below. The form will accept .doc, .rtf, and .txt files. It will not accept the new .docx format for some reason, so if you are using a newer version of Word, make sure to save it as .doc instead of .docx. Sign up is easy on the form. You can go through one of various social network services, or just create an account with Hey Publisher. Either way, it only takes a few seconds. Do not email me your submission. All email submissions will be deleted without being read, no exceptions.

For proper manuscript formatting, see William Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format. If you’ve ever submitted a story to a magazine before, then you’re probably already familiar with these formatting guidelines. You don’t need to include your mailing address, if you don’t want to. Make sure you have a valid email address on there, though. One that you regularly check.

How long should it be?

2,000-30,000 words. Anywhere in between there is fine. That means no flash fiction, and no novels. Also, no novel excerpts will be considered. No excerpts of any kind will be considered, actually. I want a complete, self-contained story.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted. I anticipate the submission process to be a long one, so I don’t mind if you submit to more than one place at once. Just make sure the other place(s) you submit your story to feel the same way.

Multiple submissions are accepted. If you only have one story to send, that’s fine. If you have three stories you would like to be considered, that’s fine too. I’m looking for the best wuxia stories I can find, so let me see all of them (well, all the good ones. Don’t submit the bad ones). You can have more than one story published in the anthology.

Previously published stories are accepted. The best stories might not be the newest stories. If your story has been published before, such as in a magazine or on a blog, then you can still send it to me. If it’s a great wuxia story then I want to showcase it to the English-reading world in this anthology. It would be silly to say no just because another magazine had published it already.

What will the submission process be like?

First, write a great story. Edit/rewrite/revise that great story. Make sure someone besides you reads it, so you can be sure it’s good. Then submit it to me, via the form below. Your story will then be sent to me. When I open your submission to read your story you will receive an email saying so. At this point, wait for a bit. How long the wait will be is unknown. If I immediately am not interested in the story, then you will receive a rejection notice pretty soon, probably no more than a week after I start reading it.

If I like your story, then prepare to wait longer. If your story is a “maybe” then I will put it under consideration and you will receive an email saying so. This will likely be the longest wait period, and I can’t begin to say how long that could be. I want to find the best stories, but that could take a while. I’m sure some of the best stories haven’t been written yet as I type this. So hang tight. That’s why simultaneous submissions are allowed. I will update this website frequently to let everyone know how the selection process is going, so you can keep up with my progress that way.

Eventually, I will either accept your story or reject it. If your story is rejected, you will get an email saying so. If it is accepted, you will get an email saying your story has been accepted.

How much does this thing pay?

1-5 cents per word, depending on how much money I raise for the project. I would like to be able to pay everyone 5 cents a word, but that means I would have to raise $5,550 USD. Here’s hoping. But for the purposes of deciding if you want to submit a story to me, plan on 1 cent per word. That’s probably the most realistic guess. Tell everyone you know about this project and ask them to donate so there will be more money to pay the writers.

What rights are you seeking?

Anthology rights. That means I’m buying your story for the purpose of publishing it in an anthology. The anthology will be printed, and it will also be available in electronic format. This anthology will be published globally, so I will be seeking permission to publish it everywhere. However, aside from the print and online versions of the anthology, I don’t want anything else from you. You are and will remain free to publish your story anywhere else you want. You retain the rights to your story; you’re just giving me permission to publish it in my anthology and sell it globally in print and in electronic formats.

I’m not seeking First-anything rights. Even if this anthology is the first place your story will be published.

Wait, there is one more thing I want. I want the exclusive right to publish your story. Meaning that your story can’t be published at the same time as my anthology is published. Obviously, if it’s already been published then that’s fine, but you can publish it anywhere else new while I’m publishing it in my anthology. I am seeking exclusive rights to publish your story for three months after the publication of the anthology. So once the anthology has been out for three months, you can publish your story anywhere you please.

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UNTIL FILLED — Panverse Four — ed. Dario Ciriello, Panverse Publishing

We are now reading for Panverse Four (publication date Sept 1, 2012). We’ll be reading very selectively, and submissions will remain open until the anthology is filled. With the change in reading habits and the cost of print books, Panverse Four will very probably be our first digital-only edition, and will be available in all the popular digital formats (Kindle/mobi, ePub, pdf, etc). We are currently thinking through the digital-only idea, and will of course notify our authors in due course.

What we’re looking for in Panverse Four:
Pro-level novellas of between 17,500 and 40,000 words. We are particularly interested in core SF stories, as well as Fantasy and Alternate History. With Fantasy, note that we gravitate toward urban and edgy, though we do have a weakness for non-sappy stories involving Faërie or Sidhe characters. Your story should be original and unpublished in any medium including web publication.

Depth of characterization will count for a lot—however clever the idea, if we don’t care for the protagonist, we’ll reject it. We like stories that instill wonder. Give us a character we care for, a world both interesting and well-developed, and a story that carries us along, and you’ve probably got a sale.

What we don’t want in Panverse Four:
Military SF, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Horror, RPG, superhero, shared-universe stuff, etc. Vampires and Cthulhu-mythos stories are strongly discouraged unless you’ve done something absolutely original with either theme. No gratuitous or wildly excessive sex or violence: what this means is that sex or violence which serves the plot is okay, within limits; the same goes for language. Think R-rated rather than XXX-rated.

Response Time:
We’ll respond to all submissions inside six weeks; if you haven’t heard after that time, please ping us. If we’re on the fence over a story, we’ll keep you in the loop rather than leave you wondering. Yes, we’ve been on the other side of the slush pile, and it’s our intention to maintain a gold standard in this regard.

How to Submit Stories:
Your submission should be professionally formatted, with paragraphs indented but not separated by line breaks.

Please send only your best work, and take the time to proofread and format it properly. If your submission completely ignores these guidelines or is full of typos, we’re unlikely to read it. Please send us only one story at a time. No simultaneous or multiple submissions.

NO ‘BOOK BLURB’, please: I don’t want to know in advance what the story’s about! There’s no better way to annoy me in a submission than to ignore this rule.

A cover letter is optional, but please keep it very short.

If we really, really like a story but feel some edits or rewriting are needed, we’ll make suggestions and discuss them with you rather than just bounce the story outright. We’re doing this because we want to help you make this story the best it can be. If you’re not open to constructive editing, don’t submit to us.

Finally, please don’t expect critiques or reasons for rejection. If your story is rejected, it’s probably because it either doesn’t conform to our needs, or doesn’t grab us enough to make us want to publish it.

Email us your submission at pansubs (at) gmail (dot) com as an attachment in either docx, doc, or rtf format. Write SUBMISSION: (Story Name) in the subject line. Stories pasted into the email will be deleted. Please don’t attach anything except the story.

Payment and rights:
Each contributor will receive $75 on publication. We buy FNASR for a period of one year.

Here’s the deal: we’re working on a shoestring, and we’re going to be to spending time and money on getting this series—and YOU—noticed. Expect reviews in LOCUS, TANGENT ONLINE, ASIMOV’S and several other prominent venues; we’ll blog about this anthology, notify everyone on our large email list, and generally market our butts off; and of course Panverse Four will be available in all digital formats via Amazon.com and other online outlets.

If you’re thinking, “Waitaminnit! The pro mags would pay me 6 cents a word!” by all means try them first—we’re rooting for you! But the sad truth is that the very few remaining pro markets between them only have room for maybe 10-15 novellas a year, and they’re not known for taking chances on novellas by new authors.

Panverse, on the other hand, exists primarily to publish authors writing at these longer lengths, and our titles have received several excellent reviews in LOCUS, ASIMOV’S and elsewhere. Stories from Panverse Two made both the LOCUS and TANGENT ONLINE reading lists, and Alan Smale’s AH story from Panverse Two, ‘A Clash of Eagles,’ has just won the 2011 Sidewise Award!

The Panverse series is the premier anthology for all-original SF/F novellas in the market today.

Required Format for all Submissions
We’re easier on this than many publications and don’t care if your ms. isn’t double-spaced since it takes a second to fix this on an electronic sub; but a poorly-formatted ms. marks you as an amateur. So, in order of importance:

Mandatory
Font: 12pt Courier or Times New Roman. NO FANCY FONTS unless the story requires weird formatting for some internal reason (better be a good one, and even then only in small bits).

First (title) page should have author’s real name, address, email, and phone number at top left; the wordcount goes at top right, and the story title, as well as the name you wish the story to appear under, should be halfway or so down the first page.

Author’s last name, story title, and page number, in header or footer of each page.

First Line Indent (1/4″-1/2″ ) for new paragraphs; please do not use line breaks between paragraphs.

Save and attach ms. as docx, doc, or rtf file only: all other formats will be deleted!

Preferred
1″ margins on all sides.

Use a single hash sign (#) to indicate scene or section breaks.

Bonus Points
Use a double hyphen with no spaces (i.e., xxx–xxx) for an em-dash (—); better still, use a real em-dash!

We prefer italics for italics rather than underlining italicized text–this is the digital age!

(Don’t sweat these last two, ’cause we know how to fix them, whereas it might drive you completely insane unless you’re an MS Word geek. If you cover the mandatory items, were cool with the rest.)

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, “Until Filled” markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Non-erotica/romance writers: check out the Fish-Themed Fantasy Antho, Uncle John’s Flush Fiction, Apocalypse Hope, Rocket Science, Damnation and Dames, Horror Library, Mortis Operandi, the Fantastic Stories Anthology and the Wuxia Anthology.

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31 August 2011 — To-Be-Named Fish-Themed Fantasy Anthology — Dagan Books

Our next open anthology will begin accepting submissions on June 1, 2011, and we will take stories until August 30, 2011. The theme of this anthology is “Fish”. We want your mythic adventures and modern retellings. We want Dagan, not of Lovecraft but of the Phillistines. We want Ku-ula, of Hawaii, and Hatmehyt, and Nereus with his bounty. We want magic koi in ancient ponds and the street shaman with his fishy avatar, stalking the streets in some odd future. We want sharks, hunting far out at sea. We want carnival goldfish with short-lived secrets.

Send us something beautiful.

Submit stories of up to 4,000 words (flash of under 1000 is also encouraged) to:

submissions@daganbooks.com

Stories must be sent as a .doc attachment. Do not double space after the end of sentences. Do use paragraphs and tab indents. Do not add an extra line after each paragraph.

Subject heading must have: [FISH] Story Title, Author Last Name

This project pays 1 cent per word plus 1% royalty, paid quarterly, for the first two years of the book’s life.

Cover art by Galen Dara will be available June 1, 2011.

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31 August 2011 — Uncle John’s Flush Fiction — ed. Amy Miller, Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers

Uncle John’s Flush Fiction wants your short story! We’re looking for entertaining short fiction, suitable for bathroom (or anyroom) reading, maximum 1,000 words. Send us your best Western, mystery, horror, sci-fi, literary story, parody—all we ask is that it’s entertaining.

== All themes, styles, and hybrids considered.
== Humor is appreciated, but not mandatory.
== Does not have to be bathroom-related, but if you have a tasteful and imaginative take on a bathroom topic, we’d like to see that too.

Uncle John’s Flush Fiction will be a print anthology edited by the team behind the bestselling Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader series. With over 20 years of publishing experience and more than 13 million books sold, we’re now looking for the best, most entertaining short fiction to bring to our loyal readers. Flush Fiction will go on sale in major bookstores and via Amazon and other internet retailers in spring 2012.

Simultaneous submissions OK; previously published acceptable if you retain copyright (please tell us where it was published). Each accepted author will receive an honorarium of $50, paid upon publication, plus two copies of Flush Fiction. Byline given.

We purchase North American Serial Rights, and Electronic Rights for an e-book version of the anthology. Entries must be postmarked by
August 31, 2011. Entries accepted via snail mail only; no e-mail entries. If your work is accepted, you will be notified in early 2012. No phone calls or e-mails, please. Please note that the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader series is family-friendly. Edgy’s fine; erotica, not so much.

Please send submission, a cover letter with name, address, phone number, email address, and a brief bio (50 words max), and an SASE with sufficient postage for return of manuscript to:

Amy Miller, Staff Editor
Flush Fiction
Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers
PO Box 1117
Ashland, OR 97520

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1 September 2011 — Super Hero Anthology — ed. Sasha Knight, Samhain Publishing

It’s up, up and away we go, to a world of superheroes and supervillains, where heroes and/or heroines with special abilities and crime-fighting prowess protect the public…and fall in love.

I’m very happy to announce an open call for submissions for a new, yet-to-be-titled spring 2012 superhero romance anthology. For more information on what I’m looking for when I ask for superhero stories, check out these entries on wikipedia.

I’m open to M/F, M/M, F/F, or multiples thereof, any sexual heat level, and the romance must end happily ever after or happy for now.

The novellas must range between 25,000 to 30,000 words in length, no more, no less—please note, only manuscripts that fall in this word count will be considered for this anthology—and will be released individually as ebooks in spring 2012 and in print approximately one year later.

Submissions are open to all authors, published with Samhain or aspiring to be published with Samhain. All submissions must be new material—previously published submissions will not be considered. Additionally, manuscripts previously submitted, whether individually or for past anthologies, will not be considered either. Be aware that manuscripts submitted to this anthology cannot be resubmitted at a later date unless by invitation from an editor.

Please note: fanfiction of popular, trademarked and copyrighted superheroes will not be considered. Only original works please.

To submit a manuscript for consideration, please include:

The full manuscript (of 25,000 to 30,000 words) with a comprehensive 2-5 page synopsis. Also include a letter of introduction/query letter. Full manuscripts are required for this as it is a special project.

As well, when you send your manuscript, be sure to use the naming convention Superhero_Title_MS and Superhero_Title_Synopsis. This will ensure that your submission doesn’t get missed in the many submissions we receive, and makes it easy for me to find in my e-reader.

Submissions are open until September 1, 2011. No submissions will be accepted after this date—no exceptions. A final decision will be made by October 1, 2011. Send your submission to editor@samhainpublishing.com and include Superhero Anthology in the subject line. Questions and queries can be addressed to Sasha Knight (sasha@samhainpublishing.com) though do your due diligence and read this anthology call completely and check the Samhain Submission FAQ page before emailing.

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30 September 2011 — Shades of Gray — ed. S.L. Armstrong, Storm Moon Press

This is a place where morality takes a backseat and the lines of right and wrong blur. In Shades of Gray, we are looking for short, M/M stories that push the envelope, are dark, sexy, and erotic. Hurt/comfort, dubious consent and forced seduction, imprisonment, angst, sadism, masochism, and perversion, all carefully wrapped in the package of erotic romance. We don’t want to see angst and torture for angst and torture’s sake, but because it will ultimately unite your two heroes who triumph over the darkest times in their lives. We want dark tones with bright rays of hope.

We will even consider sociopaths as main characters along the lines of Dexter and American Pyscho. All torment must be redeemed through romance and eroticism. Will will NOT accept outright rape, disgusting fetishes used as torture, or snuff stories. Dark yes, gross no.

Length of submissions should be between 10,000 and 15,000 words.

Only short stories that still have their First English language rights still attached will be considered, and we do ask for exclusive electronic and print rights for two (2) years, at which time, all rights revert. We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

Payment is $0.013 per word (based on final, edited word count) paid upon publication, plus a PDF copy of the e-book, and two contributor copies of the print book.

We are accepting submissions until September 30th, 2011. Acceptance notifications and contracts will be issued during the month of October. All content to be featured in Shades of Gray will be edited. Planned release for both the e-book and print book is January 31st, 2012.

Again, please, look over our standard submission guidelines for all the details with regards for our lines, anthologies, and requirements.

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30 September 2011 — Unmasked & Undressed — ed. Eric Summers, STARbooks Press

Once again, STARbooks Press is putting together a collection of hot, fun, sexy stories about superheroes, their sidekicks, and their fans. What made Unmasked STARbooks Press best-seller of all time were the great characters, steamy sex, and humor! Surely, you have a superhero whose story you want to tell.

Keep in mind: Every superhero has at least one special ability and one secret weakness. Use these to your advantage. If you contributed to Unmasked or Unmasked II, or both, let’s see a sequel!

Your characters need to be at least 18 years old.

We are seeking well-written stories that are erotic, not just pornographic. There are no limits to the possibilities or scenarios. All we ask is that writers be creative, have fun, and offer our readers something fresh and new. And humor is always greatly appreciated! We want well-developed characters and plots, believable and accurate situations (even if it is fantasy or science fiction, it must make sense), and settings, along with internal consistency. All characters must be at least 18 years of age. Please use lube and not spit.

Feel free to query me about the idea you may have about a story for this anthology at eric@starbookspress.com.

Thank you,
Eric Summers

Submit your query to eric@starbookspress.com in the body of an email. Include a short bio, your name, postal and email addresses, the title and a five-paragraph excerpt of your story. Indicate whether or not your submission has been previously published and, if so, where and when. You don’t need to sell your story in the letter; your work will speak for itself. If your query is accepted, we will be in contact with you about submitting the complete work. The end product should be around eight pages of single spaced 12 pt. type. Occasionally, novellas are accepted, but they must be exceptional. Be sure to edit and proof your query.

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30 September 2011 — The Boys of Summer — ed. Mickey Erlach, STARbooks Press

Everyone knows what happens when the thermostat hits 100! Remember those summers between semesters at the lake? How about that camping trip before your senior year in college? Did you have a summer job with a landscaping company to pay for school? Were you a lifeguard at a nude beach?

One cannot help but be horny with all those hot young guys stripped to the waist, sweating and playing or working in the blazing sun. With so little else to remove, getting it on is never easier than on a hot summer night!

Come on and give it to us – those Hot Boys of Summer. We want it steamy; we want it often; we want it good.

Your characters need to be at least 18 years old.

We are seeking well-written stories that are erotic, not just pornographic. There are no limits to the possibilities or scenarios. All we ask is that writers be creative, have fun, and offer our readers something fresh and new. And humor is always greatly appreciated! We want well-developed characters and plots, believable and accurate situations (even if it is fantasy or science fiction, it must make sense), and settings, along with internal consistency. All characters must be at least 18 years of age. Please use lube and not spit.

Feel free to query me about the idea you may have about a story for this anthology at mickey@starbookspress.com.

Thank you,
Mickey Erlach

Submit your query to mickey@starbookspress.com in the body of an email. Include a short bio, your name, postal and email addresses, the title and a five-paragraph excerpt of your story. Indicate whether or not your submission has been previously published and, if so, where and when. You don’t need to sell your story in the letter; your work will speak for itself. If your query is accepted, we will be in contact with you about submitting the complete work. The end product should be around eight pages of single spaced 12 pt. type. Occasionally, novellas are accepted, but they must be exceptional. Be sure to edit and proof your query.

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30 September 2011 — Apocalypse Hope — ed. Tehani Wessely, Fablecroft Publishing

The world is ending: climate change, natural disaster, war and disease threaten to destroy all we know. Predictions of the future are bleak. But does the apocalypse really mean the end of the world? Is there no hope for a future that follows?

FableCroft Publishing is seeking speculative fiction stories on the theme “Apocalypse Hope”. The stories must in some way address the idea that after the apocalypse (whatever and wherever in your universe that might be), there is a future for the peoples who survive it. The rest is up to your imagination.

Stories should be between 2,000 and 8,000 words. Please query the editor before sending stories outside those limits.

Original stories are preferred. Please query for reprints.

No simultaneous submissions please.

For multiple submissions, please query first.

Submissions close: September 30, 2011

Anticipated publication date: June 2012
Electronic submissions only. Please send story as an rtf or doc attachment to fablecroft [at] gmail [dot] com, with the subject line: SUBMISSION: Title of Story

Please ensure your story file includes your contact details including postal address and email address.

Stories should be formatted to usual electronic submission standard. Times New Roman font of 11/12 point preferred, with at least 1.5 spacing.

Please be cautious to only submit final, proofread copy – ensure you have checked all your edits and removed all track changes in your document.

The editor will respond with a submission received email within 48 hours, but story selection may not occur until up to one month after the deadline. This anthology is open to international contributors.

Payment will be AUD$50.00 and one contributor copy of the print book. Further royalties will apply for e-book revenue.

***

31 October 2011 — Rocket Science — ed. Ian Sales, Mutation Press

Science fiction does take place in a vacuum. Travel more than 100 kilometres vertically from where you’re standing, and you’ll be in space. Where there’s no life-sustaining air; where the cold, and direct sunlight, can kill. There’s no gravity, and background radiation will cause cancer in one in ten people. Yet the future of our species quite possibly lies up there, or somewhere that will require us to cross space to reach.

Too often, science fiction glosses over the difficulties associated with leaving a planetary surface, travelling billions of kilometres through space, or even living in a radiation-soaked vacuum. The laws of physics are side-stepped in the interests of drama. Yet there’s plenty of drama, plenty of science fiction drama, in overcoming the challenges space presents. Whether it is, for example, an alternate history take on the Apollo Lunar landings; the discovery of an alien artefact on a moon of Jupiter; or the story of a mission to the nearest star.

ROCKET SCIENCE is looking for original stories which realistically depict space travel and its hazards. The reader needs to know what it would be like to be there. This doesn’t mean stories must be set in interplanetary or interstellar space; but the technology and science involved must be present somewhere. It could be a story set in a spacecraft, on an asteroid or space station; or about a mission soon to leave Earth’s surface. It could be a first contact, a rescue against the odds, or a study of some unusual space phenomenon. Whatever suits. Don’t be afraid to be literary.

But no space opera, definitely no space opera.

ROCKET SCIENCE will also feature relevant non-fiction – history, science, technology, perhaps a study of notable books / films / tv. Feel free to submit.

Reading period 1 Aug 2011 to 31 Oct 2011. Do not send before.

Word limit 6k. Payment GBP10.00 per 1k words. No reprints.

Please stick to the theme.

ROCKET SCIENCE, edited by Ian Sales. To be published by Mutation Press in 2012. For more information: visit this page for updates or email rocketscience.editor@gmail.com

***

1 November 2011 — Damnation and Dames — ed. Amanda Pillar and Liz Grzyb, Ticonderoga Publications

We are looking for stories which show the paranormal and noir crime worlds colliding. You might find werewolf femme fatales, vampire hardboiled detectives, alcoholic psychic journalists, zombie bankrobbers, ghostly gendarmes, demonic insurance salesmen, down-on-their-luck djinns, double-crossing mummies, or even fae with a love for red herrings.

The anthology will be published by Ticonderoga Publications in 2012.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Send us your best paranormal noir stories.

1. — Story length 1,000 to 7,500 words. (Longer stories may be accepted, although payment is capped at 7,500).
2. — Original stories only: no reprints, multiple, or simultaneous submissions.
3. — Stories may be submitted via email at paranormalnoir@ticonderogapublications.com.
4. — Manuscript format: double spaced, large margins, sensible font, Australian English spelling.
5. — The editors reserve the right to use their discretion in selecting stories.
6. — Deadline: 1st November, 2011.
7. — Payment: 2 copies of anthology and Aus 2 cents/word (GST inc., maximum payment $150) on publication.

***

UNTIL FILLED — Horror Library, Vol. 5 — Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We’re looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what’s already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won’t cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They’re just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we’ll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission – title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

***

UNTIL FILLED — Mortis Operandi — ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By “supernatural” we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 — Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

***

UNTIL FILLED — Fantastic Stories Anthology — ed. Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination is a yearly anthology. Edited by Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications Box 10641, Blacksburg, VA 24063

I’m looking for stories that cover the entire science fiction, fantasy, and horror spectrum. I love magic realism (think Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman) and hard sf. I want a story to surprise me and to take me to unexpected places. I love word play, and would like to see stories with a literary bent, though decidedly not a pretentious bent. I could spend some time telling you what I don’t want, but I’ve found that good stories can make me buy them regardless of how many of my rules they violate. Let your imagination run wild, push and blur the limits of genre, or send me something traditional. I want it to see it all. My experience as an editor tells me that over time I’ll develop preferences and that the anthology will take on its own personality. When that happens I’ll change the guidelines to be more specific, but for now I’m going to explore what’s out there before I decide what direction to go in.

Payment: 10 cents per word on acceptance for original stories (maximum of $250.00) or 2 cents per word for reprints (maximum of $100.00). A check will accompany the contract so no simultaneous submissions please. I am purchasing First English Language Book Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights.

Story length, I have no limit on story length but the longer the story is the better it will have to be.

Sorry no e-mail submissions. Why is this? Don’t you know that e-mail submissions is the future? Yes I do know that, but it’s not the way I want to do this. For me the best part of being an editor is having people over to have slush parties and interacting with them during the reading process. Editing on a screen is a thing devoid of fun or joy, I edit for the fun and joy of it.

[Note: definitely click through on this one; there's some very useful info in the comments.]

***

UNTIL FILLED — All Access Pass — ed. Amelia G, Blue Blood Books

Short version of what I’m looking for is: well-crafted fiction or memoir, cool erotica with music and/or music culture as a central theme, $50 first run + reprint rights, $25 reprints. More formal version below.

Call for Submissions: All Access Pass

Backstage Passes editor Amelia G is reading for a sequel to her anthology of rock and roll erotica, called All Access Pass. Below are general fiction guidelines for Blue Blood fiction projects. For this book in specific, music must play a central role in the story. Events could take place at a punk club or an outdoor festival, characters may be musicians, music may just really speak to a particular character, but it needs to be important. Stories ranging from balls-out memoir or entirely fantastical vampire sex are all fine, within the appropriate theme and quality standards.

When submitting electronically, please make the subject of your email ALL ACCESS PASS SUBMISSION.

Before sending anything over, please ask yourself if your work passes the Blue Blood litmus test: Is it intelligent? Is it sexy? Is it edgy/counterculture? Is it cool? Email electronic submissions to submit@blueblood.net For submissions of fiction or nonfiction text, please have your writing in a Word document with a .doc suffix (not .docx), RTF, TXT, InDesign, or Open Office format. It is preferred if you include an author bio or link to your website or online profiles.

The All Access Pass anthology is seeking erotic stories with a counterculture feel — Gothic, industrial, techno, rave, punk, metal, dyke, mystery, gangster, hard-boiled, science fiction, cyberpunk, steampunk, vampire, werewolf, medieval etc. At the moment, our needs are for stories primarily from a male or female heterosexual viewpoint, lesbian viewpoint, or female bisexual viewpoint. Often, we can also place male homosexual and gender bender stories in anthologies. We look for work between 2,000 and 7,500 words. Most accepted fiction is shorter than 4,000 words. Death and horror elements are acceptable so long as they do not prevent the piece from being sex-positive. Characters may die but not as part of the sexuality. Kinky is great — leathersex, bondage, vampirism etc. are all fine. Negative attitudes about sexuality are not fine. All sex must be consensual and arousing. PLEASE DO NOT SEND US STORIES PROMOTING NAZIS, RAPE, INCEST, OR THE SEXUALIZATION OF MURDER. NO SNUFF, RACISM, OR HOMOPHOBIA. If you can write genuinely arousing fiction which still works as a story, do contact us. Payment is net 60 on on-sale date and we generally purchase first worldwide rights (exclusive from acceptance to one year after publication) along with nonexclusive reprint rights.

***

UNTIL FILLED — Unnamed Wuxia Anthology — ed. John Dishon, Genreverse Books

What are you looking for?

You’ve probably guessed it: wuxia. I want wuxia stories. If your story isn’t wuxia, then submitting it here won’t do you any good. Even if your story is really good, the focus of this anthology is the wuxia genre. The anthology is intended for those who have never heard of or read wuxia before, and for those who have. So for the noobs I want to introduce the genre to them properly, and the veterans will know if I haven’t done that. And since the whole point of this project is to promote the wuxia, then I’m going to have to insist that your story be an example of said genre. If it is, then please submit it below. If not, you’re better off submitting it elsewhere.

If you’re not sure what wuxia is, you can read about it here.

Yeah, it’s wuxia. But is it your kind of wuxia?

Yes, it is. Because I don’t have any specific kind of wuxia I’m going for. It can be old school or new school, it can be proto-wuxia, such as some of the chuanqi of the Tang era (an example of that would be “The Kunlun Slave” or “The Curly Bearded Stranger”), or anything else. Maybe you have your own unique style you’d like to try out. Let me have it. I don’t want a book full of Jin Yong rip-offs. Some stories in that vein are fine, and I would like to see some, but I want some variety as well. With the English language we have the opportunity to take the genre in new and unexpected territories, and to use different techniques to tell our stories. We needn’t try to copy Chinese writers. What exactly I mean by that will be left up to the writers. If a standard Jin Yong or Gu Long kind of story is your thing, then send it in. But if you’re trying something new or different, then I want to see that too. The most important consideration is that it is a good story, which means it should have compelling characters put in interesting situations. Your story should have that regardless of the genre.

So I am open to stories set in modern settings as well. The essence of wuxia lies in the values expressed by the two characters that make up the word, 武 and 俠, not the time period the story takes place in. Again, feel free to experiment.

I think it’s wuxia.

Great. Send it in. If your story is a borderline case, or you’re not quite sure if it’s wuxia, then send it in anyway. The worst that can happen is it gets rejected. You don’t need to query first. Make sure you look at the “What is Wuxia?” page linked to above before making your final decision, though. There is some leeway. “Martial arts fiction” is how wuxia is often translated into English, and while that is an over-simplified translation, it’s a good guide. However, the xia part of wuxia deserves attention to. I believe it is possible to have a wuxia story that does not have any fighting in it at all, but there must be a lot of xia in that case. I’ll stop there before I complicate the issue too much. It is a tough genre to define.

How do you want it?

As stated above, all submissions must be made through Hey Publisher. The form is below. The form will accept .doc, .rtf, and .txt files. It will not accept the new .docx format for some reason, so if you are using a newer version of Word, make sure to save it as .doc instead of .docx. Sign up is easy on the form. You can go through one of various social network services, or just create an account with Hey Publisher. Either way, it only takes a few seconds. Do not email me your submission. All email submissions will be deleted without being read, no exceptions.

For proper manuscript formatting, see William Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format. If you’ve ever submitted a story to a magazine before, then you’re probably already familiar with these formatting guidelines. You don’t need to include your mailing address, if you don’t want to. Make sure you have a valid email address on there, though. One that you regularly check.

How long should it be?

2,000-30,000 words. Anywhere in between there is fine. That means no flash fiction, and no novels. Also, no novel excerpts will be considered. No excerpts of any kind will be considered, actually. I want a complete, self-contained story.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted. I anticipate the submission process to be a long one, so I don’t mind if you submit to more than one place at once. Just make sure the other place(s) you submit your story to feel the same way.

Multiple submissions are accepted. If you only have one story to send, that’s fine. If you have three stories you would like to be considered, that’s fine too. I’m looking for the best wuxia stories I can find, so let me see all of them (well, all the good ones. Don’t submit the bad ones). You can have more than one story published in the anthology.

Previously published stories are accepted. The best stories might not be the newest stories. If your story has been published before, such as in a magazine or on a blog, then you can still send it to me. If it’s a great wuxia story then I want to showcase it to the English-reading world in this anthology. It would be silly to say no just because another magazine had published it already.

What will the submission process be like?

First, write a great story. Edit/rewrite/revise that great story. Make sure someone besides you reads it, so you can be sure it’s good. Then submit it to me, via the form below. Your story will then be sent to me. When I open your submission to read your story you will receive an email saying so. At this point, wait for a bit. How long the wait will be is unknown. If I immediately am not interested in the story, then you will receive a rejection notice pretty soon, probably no more than a week after I start reading it.

If I like your story, then prepare to wait longer. If your story is a “maybe” then I will put it under consideration and you will receive an email saying so. This will likely be the longest wait period, and I can’t begin to say how long that could be. I want to find the best stories, but that could take a while. I’m sure some of the best stories haven’t been written yet as I type this. So hang tight. That’s why simultaneous submissions are allowed. I will update this website frequently to let everyone know how the selection process is going, so you can keep up with my progress that way.

Eventually, I will either accept your story or reject it. If your story is rejected, you will get an email saying so. If it is accepted, you will get an email saying your story has been accepted.

How much does this thing pay?

1-5 cents per word, depending on how much money I raise for the project. I would like to be able to pay everyone 5 cents a word, but that means I would have to raise $5,550 USD. Here’s hoping. But for the purposes of deciding if you want to submit a story to me, plan on 1 cent per word. That’s probably the most realistic guess. Tell everyone you know about this project and ask them to donate so there will be more money to pay the writers.

What rights are you seeking?

Anthology rights. That means I’m buying your story for the purpose of publishing it in an anthology. The anthology will be printed, and it will also be available in electronic format. This anthology will be published globally, so I will be seeking permission to publish it everywhere. However, aside from the print and online versions of the anthology, I don’t want anything else from you. You are and will remain free to publish your story anywhere else you want. You retain the rights to your story; you’re just giving me permission to publish it in my anthology and sell it globally in print and in electronic formats.

I’m not seeking First-anything rights. Even if this anthology is the first place your story will be published.

Wait, there is one more thing I want. I want the exclusive right to publish your story. Meaning that your story can’t be published at the same time as my anthology is published. Obviously, if it’s already been published then that’s fine, but you can publish it anywhere else new while I’m publishing it in my anthology. I am seeking exclusive rights to publish your story for three months after the publication of the anthology. So once the anthology has been out for three months, you can publish your story anywhere you please.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, “Until Filled” markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Non-erotica/romance writers: check out At Second Glance, Warrior Wisewoman, the Fish-Themed Fantasy Antho, Apocalypse Hope, Horror Library, Mortis Operandi, the Fantastic Stories Anthology and the Wuxia Anthology.

***

31 July 2011 — At Second Glance: Gay City Anthology Vol. 4 — ed. Eric Andrews-Katz & Vincent Kovar

Gay City’s Mission is to promote the health of gay/bisexual men and prevent HIV transmission by building community, fostering communication, and nurturing self-esteem. This year, our anthology series continues with volume 4: At Second Glance.

There are always at least two viewpoints of every story and yet, we usually only hear one side. In the tradition of WICKED, The Red Tent and The Mists of Avalon, a different perspective can provide an entirely different story than the commonly known tale; the other side of the looking glass, so to speak. You are encouraged to experiment with sexual and cultural norms, technology and historical events. Sensuality is fine, but please no erotica.

Examples:
== How could gay influences have changed the outcome of the Russian revolution?
== Was Mrs. Anna really there to tutor the King of Siam’s children, or was she a lesbian secret agent?
== Did ‘Jack’ kill the giant out of self-defense, or was their relationship somehow more complex?

At Second Glance is seeking previously unpublished stories that tell a tale from another viewpoint. Either historical or fictional characters are acceptable and feel free to take creative liberties. Be serious, funny, romantic, scary… just be original and unique. Submissions are open to ALL genders and orientations but must appeal to a gay male audience. Multiple submissions accepted, but please let the editors know.

All submissions must be postmarked by July 31, 2011
No electronic submissions

GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS:

Plotlines, time periods and settings are all up to you. Genres (such as steampunk, horror, science fiction, western…) are completely open, just please, no erotica.

== Word count: maximum 7K
== Double space, standard font in .doc, .rtf or compatible format.
== Include title, author’s name, and address on cover only.
== Title and page number must appear on all pages.
== Include a SASE.

Payment for accepted work includes two printed copies and $75 at time of publication. A $50.00 prize for Editor’s pick will be awarded in each category. Winners of Editor’s pick will be announced after the work is formally launched.

Send submissions to:

GC Anthologies
511 East Pike,
Seattle WA 98122-3617
For questions: anthology@gaycity.org

***

31 July 2011 — Warrior Wisewoman 4 — ed. Roby James, Norilana Press

Warrior Wisewoman is an annual anthology series of science fiction featuring powerful and remarkable women, edited by Roby James.

The first volume was published by Norilana Books in June 2008, the second volume in June 2009, and the third volume in August 2010.

The anthology was conceived as a sister volume to the classic Sword and Sorceress fantasy series originally edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley, with the main difference being that the story themes will involve science fiction instead of fantasy, and they will be intended for a more mature audience, allowing a mixture of serious contemporary issues and reasonable sexual content (but no erotica) in addition to action and adventure. The stories will have a stronger focus on the interface between scientific exploration and our sense of wonder.

Editor Roby James says:

“I am looking for stories that shed light on the truth of what it means to be female, that illuminate the wisdom and the strength of a woman, but not in clich� ‘goddess’ stories. I love action and adventure, grand space opera, thrilling discovery, and intelligent protagonists. Make the story thoughtful, wise, and surprising. In addition, the stories in the anthology should appeal to genuine emotions, suspense, fear, sorrow, delight, wonder. The science can be part of the background and the characters foremost, or the science can be central to the story, as long as the characters are realistic and appealing. It is strongly recommended you read the previous volumes to get an idea of what kind of material we’re looking for.

“This is science fiction, but I also welcome stories of spiritual exploration, looking at the bond between the scientific and the divine. I want to see how a woman survives tragedy and disaster, overcomes impossible odds, achieves her true potential, or goes on to thrive in a marvelous universe of so many possibilities, using what is inside her, as well as what she finds in the laboratory, the alien planet, or space itself.

“The stories should contain the question of ‘what if’ on some level. And they should have a woman answer it.”

Read the editorial Introduction to Volume One.

Guidelines for Volume #4 of the Anthology:

RIGHTS PURCHASED: First English Language Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights. The anthology will be published by Norilana Books in a trade paperback edition in June 2012, to be followed by an electronic edition to be produced later.
PAYMENT: $0.02 a word on acceptance, and a pro rata share of royalties, plus a contributor copy.
WORD LENGTH: Up to 10,000 words, with longer stories having to be exceptional.
DEADLINE: July 31, 2011.
HOW TO SUBMIT: Submissions are electronic only. Please submit your story as a Word (.doc or .rtf) attachment to your e-mail. The subject line of your e-mail should say “Submission: Story Title, last name of author.” Also, include a brief cover letter. It should have your full name, address, e-mail address, title of story, number of words, and brief biographical information in case we don’t know you, with most recent publishing credits, if applicable. We are open to new writers and seasoned veterans alike.
EDITORIAL ADDRESS: roby dot james at comcast dot net

We look forward to reading your most inspired work.

***

10 August 2011 — Shifting Steam — Torquere Press

Title: Shifting Steam
Genre: M/m steampunk shapeshifters
Word count: 5-10K words
Rights: first Electronic and print rights
Payments: $50 plus print trib
Publishing: October 2011
Deadline: August 10, 2011

Steam. Biting. Waistcoats. Airships. Full moons. Snarling. Sex. We need to read these stories!

Shifting Steam will be a new installment in Torquere Press’ popular Shifting series. We¹re looking for m/m, or gay male, stories in a steampunk setting with shapeshifting characters. We want all of the adventure and crazy fun of steampunk with all the sexy, growly, biting heat of werewolves and other creatures! Stories should be well-paced and well-written with romance of paramount importance to the storyline.

Stories should range from five thousand to ten thousand words (5000-10000). Payment is $50.00 on publication for first time electronic and print publication rights. No reprints, please. Submission deadline is August 10, 2011 for publication in late fall 2011. Please send clean electronic copy to submissions @ torquerepress.com with Shifting Steam in the subject line. Include query letter, full legal contact information and author biography in submission email. For questions or queries, please contact editor Lorna Hinson at submissions @ torquerepress.com

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31 August 2011 — To-Be-Named Fish-Themed Fantasy Anthology — Dagan Books

Our next open anthology will begin accepting submissions on June 1, 2011, and we will take stories until August 30, 2011. The theme of this anthology is “Fish”. We want your mythic adventures and modern retellings. We want Dagan, not of Lovecraft but of the Phillistines. We want Ku-ula, of Hawaii, and Hatmehyt, and Nereus with his bounty. We want magic koi in ancient ponds and the street shaman with his fishy avatar, stalking the streets in some odd future. We want sharks, hunting far out at sea. We want carnival goldfish with short-lived secrets.

Send us something beautiful.

Submit stories of up to 4,000 words (flash of under 1000 is also encouraged) to:

submissions@daganbooks.com

Stories must be sent as a .doc attachment. Do not double space after the end of sentences. Do use paragraphs and tab indents. Do not add an extra line after each paragraph.

Subject heading must have: [FISH] Story Title, Author Last Name

This project pays 1 cent per word plus 1% royalty, paid quarterly, for the first two years of the book’s life.

Cover art by Galen Dara will be available June 1, 2011.

***

1 September 2011 — Super Hero Anthology — ed. Sasha Knight, Samhain Publishing

It’s up, up and away we go, to a world of superheroes and supervillains, where heroes and/or heroines with special abilities and crime-fighting prowess protect the public…and fall in love.

I’m very happy to announce an open call for submissions for a new, yet-to-be-titled spring 2012 superhero romance anthology. For more information on what I’m looking for when I ask for superhero stories, check out these entries on wikipedia.

I’m open to M/F, M/M, F/F, or multiples thereof, any sexual heat level, and the romance must end happily ever after or happy for now.

The novellas must range between 25,000 to 30,000 words in length, no more, no less—please note, only manuscripts that fall in this word count will be considered for this anthology—and will be released individually as ebooks in spring 2012 and in print approximately one year later.

Submissions are open to all authors, published with Samhain or aspiring to be published with Samhain. All submissions must be new material—previously published submissions will not be considered. Additionally, manuscripts previously submitted, whether individually or for past anthologies, will not be considered either. Be aware that manuscripts submitted to this anthology cannot be resubmitted at a later date unless by invitation from an editor.

Please note: fanfiction of popular, trademarked and copyrighted superheroes will not be considered. Only original works please.

To submit a manuscript for consideration, please include:

The full manuscript (of 25,000 to 30,000 words) with a comprehensive 2-5 page synopsis. Also include a letter of introduction/query letter. Full manuscripts are required for this as it is a special project.

As well, when you send your manuscript, be sure to use the naming convention Superhero_Title_MS and Superhero_Title_Synopsis. This will ensure that your submission doesn’t get missed in the many submissions we receive, and makes it easy for me to find in my e-reader.

Submissions are open until September 1, 2011. No submissions will be accepted after this date—no exceptions. A final decision will be made by October 1, 2011. Send your submission to editor@samhainpublishing.com and include Superhero Anthology in the subject line. Questions and queries can be addressed to Sasha Knight (sasha@samhainpublishing.com) though do your due diligence and read this anthology call completely and check the Samhain Submission FAQ page before emailing.

***

30 September 2011 — Shades of Gray — ed. S.L. Armstrong, Storm Moon Press

This is a place where morality takes a backseat and the lines of right and wrong blur. In Shades of Gray, we are looking for short, M/M stories that push the envelope, are dark, sexy, and erotic. Hurt/comfort, dubious consent and forced seduction, imprisonment, angst, sadism, masochism, and perversion, all carefully wrapped in the package of erotic romance. We don’t want to see angst and torture for angst and torture’s sake, but because it will ultimately unite your two heroes who triumph over the darkest times in their lives. We want dark tones with bright rays of hope.

We will even consider sociopaths as main characters along the lines of Dexter and American Pyscho. All torment must be redeemed through romance and eroticism. Will will NOT accept outright rape, disgusting fetishes used as torture, or snuff stories. Dark yes, gross no.

Length of submissions should be between 10,000 and 15,000 words.

Only short stories that still have their First English language rights still attached will be considered, and we do ask for exclusive electronic and print rights for two (2) years, at which time, all rights revert. We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

Payment is $0.013 per word (based on final, edited word count) paid upon publication, plus a PDF copy of the e-book, and two contributor copies of the print book.

We are accepting submissions until September 30th, 2011. Acceptance notifications and contracts will be issued during the month of October. All content to be featured in Shades of Gray will be edited. Planned release for both the e-book and print book is January 31st, 2012.

Again, please, look over our standard submission guidelines for all the details with regards for our lines, anthologies, and requirements.

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30 September 2011 — Unmasked & Undressed — ed. Eric Summers, STARbooks Press

Once again, STARbooks Press is putting together a collection of hot, fun, sexy stories about superheroes, their sidekicks, and their fans. What made Unmasked STARbooks Press best-seller of all time were the great characters, steamy sex, and humor! Surely, you have a superhero whose story you want to tell.

Keep in mind: Every superhero has at least one special ability and one secret weakness. Use these to your advantage. If you contributed to Unmasked or Unmasked II, or both, let’s see a sequel!

Your characters need to be at least 18 years old.

We are seeking well-written stories that are erotic, not just pornographic. There are no limits to the possibilities or scenarios. All we ask is that writers be creative, have fun, and offer our readers something fresh and new. And humor is always greatly appreciated! We want well-developed characters and plots, believable and accurate situations (even if it is fantasy or science fiction, it must make sense), and settings, along with internal consistency. All characters must be at least 18 years of age. Please use lube and not spit.

Feel free to query me about the idea you may have about a story for this anthology at eric@starbookspress.com.

Thank you,
Eric Summers

Submit your query to eric@starbookspress.com in the body of an email. Include a short bio, your name, postal and email addresses, the title and a five-paragraph excerpt of your story. Indicate whether or not your submission has been previously published and, if so, where and when. You don’t need to sell your story in the letter; your work will speak for itself. If your query is accepted, we will be in contact with you about submitting the complete work. The end product should be around eight pages of single spaced 12 pt. type. Occasionally, novellas are accepted, but they must be exceptional. Be sure to edit and proof your query.

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30 September 2011 — The Boys of Summer — ed. Mickey Erlach, STARbooks Press

Everyone knows what happens when the thermostat hits 100! Remember those summers between semesters at the lake? How about that camping trip before your senior year in college? Did you have a summer job with a landscaping company to pay for school? Were you a lifeguard at a nude beach?

One cannot help but be horny with all those hot young guys stripped to the waist, sweating and playing or working in the blazing sun. With so little else to remove, getting it on is never easier than on a hot summer night!

Come on and give it to us – those Hot Boys of Summer. We want it steamy; we want it often; we want it good.

Your characters need to be at least 18 years old.

We are seeking well-written stories that are erotic, not just pornographic. There are no limits to the possibilities or scenarios. All we ask is that writers be creative, have fun, and offer our readers something fresh and new. And humor is always greatly appreciated! We want well-developed characters and plots, believable and accurate situations (even if it is fantasy or science fiction, it must make sense), and settings, along with internal consistency. All characters must be at least 18 years of age. Please use lube and not spit.

Feel free to query me about the idea you may have about a story for this anthology at mickey@starbookspress.com.

Thank you,
Mickey Erlach

Submit your query to mickey@starbookspress.com in the body of an email. Include a short bio, your name, postal and email addresses, the title and a five-paragraph excerpt of your story. Indicate whether or not your submission has been previously published and, if so, where and when. You don’t need to sell your story in the letter; your work will speak for itself. If your query is accepted, we will be in contact with you about submitting the complete work. The end product should be around eight pages of single spaced 12 pt. type. Occasionally, novellas are accepted, but they must be exceptional. Be sure to edit and proof your query.

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30 September 2011 — Apocalypse Hope — ed. Tehani Wessely, Fablecroft Publishing

The world is ending: climate change, natural disaster, war and disease threaten to destroy all we know. Predictions of the future are bleak. But does the apocalypse really mean the end of the world? Is there no hope for a future that follows?

FableCroft Publishing is seeking speculative fiction stories on the theme “Apocalypse Hope”. The stories must in some way address the idea that after the apocalypse (whatever and wherever in your universe that might be), there is a future for the peoples who survive it. The rest is up to your imagination.

Stories should be between 2,000 and 8,000 words. Please query the editor before sending stories outside those limits.

Original stories are preferred. Please query for reprints.

No simultaneous submissions please.

For multiple submissions, please query first.

Submissions close: September 30, 2011

Anticipated publication date: June 2012
Electronic submissions only. Please send story as an rtf or doc attachment to fablecroft [at] gmail [dot] com, with the subject line: SUBMISSION: Title of Story

Please ensure your story file includes your contact details including postal address and email address.

Stories should be formatted to usual electronic submission standard. Times New Roman font of 11/12 point preferred, with at least 1.5 spacing.

Please be cautious to only submit final, proofread copy – ensure you have checked all your edits and removed all track changes in your document.

The editor will respond with a submission received email within 48 hours, but story selection may not occur until up to one month after the deadline. This anthology is open to international contributors.

Payment will be AUD$50.00 and one contributor copy of the print book. Further royalties will apply for e-book revenue.

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UNTIL FILLED — Horror Library, Vol. 5 — Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We’re looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what’s already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won’t cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They’re just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we’ll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission – title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

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UNTIL FILLED — Mortis Operandi — ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By “supernatural” we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 — Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

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UNTIL FILLED — Fantastic Stories Anthology — ed. Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination is a yearly anthology. Edited by Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications Box 10641, Blacksburg, VA 24063

I’m looking for stories that cover the entire science fiction, fantasy, and horror spectrum. I love magic realism (think Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman) and hard sf. I want a story to surprise me and to take me to unexpected places. I love word play, and would like to see stories with a literary bent, though decidedly not a pretentious bent. I could spend some time telling you what I don’t want, but I’ve found that good stories can make me buy them regardless of how many of my rules they violate. Let your imagination run wild, push and blur the limits of genre, or send me something traditional. I want it to see it all. My experience as an editor tells me that over time I’ll develop preferences and that the anthology will take on its own personality. When that happens I’ll change the guidelines to be more specific, but for now I’m going to explore what’s out there before I decide what direction to go in.

Payment: 10 cents per word on acceptance for original stories (maximum of $250.00) or 2 cents per word for reprints (maximum of $100.00). A check will accompany the contract so no simultaneous submissions please. I am purchasing First English Language Book Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights.

Story length, I have no limit on story length but the longer the story is the better it will have to be.

Sorry no e-mail submissions. Why is this? Don’t you know that e-mail submissions is the future? Yes I do know that, but it’s not the way I want to do this. For me the best part of being an editor is having people over to have slush parties and interacting with them during the reading process. Editing on a screen is a thing devoid of fun or joy, I edit for the fun and joy of it.

[Note: definitely click through on this one; there's some very useful info in the comments.]

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UNTIL FILLED — All Access Pass — ed. Amelia G, Blue Blood Books

Short version of what I’m looking for is: well-crafted fiction or memoir, cool erotica with music and/or music culture as a central theme, $50 first run + reprint rights, $25 reprints. More formal version below.

Call for Submissions: All Access Pass

Backstage Passes editor Amelia G is reading for a sequel to her anthology of rock and roll erotica, called All Access Pass. Below are general fiction guidelines for Blue Blood fiction projects. For this book in specific, music must play a central role in the story. Events could take place at a punk club or an outdoor festival, characters may be musicians, music may just really speak to a particular character, but it needs to be important. Stories ranging from balls-out memoir or entirely fantastical vampire sex are all fine, within the appropriate theme and quality standards.

When submitting electronically, please make the subject of your email ALL ACCESS PASS SUBMISSION.

Before sending anything over, please ask yourself if your work passes the Blue Blood litmus test: Is it intelligent? Is it sexy? Is it edgy/counterculture? Is it cool? Email electronic submissions to submit@blueblood.net For submissions of fiction or nonfiction text, please have your writing in a Word document with a .doc suffix (not .docx), RTF, TXT, InDesign, or Open Office format. It is preferred if you include an author bio or link to your website or online profiles.

The All Access Pass anthology is seeking erotic stories with a counterculture feel — Gothic, industrial, techno, rave, punk, metal, dyke, mystery, gangster, hard-boiled, science fiction, cyberpunk, steampunk, vampire, werewolf, medieval etc. At the moment, our needs are for stories primarily from a male or female heterosexual viewpoint, lesbian viewpoint, or female bisexual viewpoint. Often, we can also place male homosexual and gender bender stories in anthologies. We look for work between 2,000 and 7,500 words. Most accepted fiction is shorter than 4,000 words. Death and horror elements are acceptable so long as they do not prevent the piece from being sex-positive. Characters may die but not as part of the sexuality. Kinky is great — leathersex, bondage, vampirism etc. are all fine. Negative attitudes about sexuality are not fine. All sex must be consensual and arousing. PLEASE DO NOT SEND US STORIES PROMOTING NAZIS, RAPE, INCEST, OR THE SEXUALIZATION OF MURDER. NO SNUFF, RACISM, OR HOMOPHOBIA. If you can write genuinely arousing fiction which still works as a story, do contact us. Payment is net 60 on on-sale date and we generally purchase first worldwide rights (exclusive from acceptance to one year after publication) along with nonexclusive reprint rights.

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UNTIL FILLED — Unnamed Wuxia Anthology — ed. John Dishon, Genreverse Books

What are you looking for?

You’ve probably guessed it: wuxia. I want wuxia stories. If your story isn’t wuxia, then submitting it here won’t do you any good. Even if your story is really good, the focus of this anthology is the wuxia genre. The anthology is intended for those who have never heard of or read wuxia before, and for those who have. So for the noobs I want to introduce the genre to them properly, and the veterans will know if I haven’t done that. And since the whole point of this project is to promote the wuxia, then I’m going to have to insist that your story be an example of said genre. If it is, then please submit it below. If not, you’re better off submitting it elsewhere.

If you’re not sure what wuxia is, you can read about it here.

Yeah, it’s wuxia. But is it your kind of wuxia?

Yes, it is. Because I don’t have any specific kind of wuxia I’m going for. It can be old school or new school, it can be proto-wuxia, such as some of the chuanqi of the Tang era (an example of that would be “The Kunlun Slave” or “The Curly Bearded Stranger”), or anything else. Maybe you have your own unique style you’d like to try out. Let me have it. I don’t want a book full of Jin Yong rip-offs. Some stories in that vein are fine, and I would like to see some, but I want some variety as well. With the English language we have the opportunity to take the genre in new and unexpected territories, and to use different techniques to tell our stories. We needn’t try to copy Chinese writers. What exactly I mean by that will be left up to the writers. If a standard Jin Yong or Gu Long kind of story is your thing, then send it in. But if you’re trying something new or different, then I want to see that too. The most important consideration is that it is a good story, which means it should have compelling characters put in interesting situations. Your story should have that regardless of the genre.

So I am open to stories set in modern settings as well. The essence of wuxia lies in the values expressed by the two characters that make up the word, 武 and 俠, not the time period the story takes place in. Again, feel free to experiment.

I think it’s wuxia.

Great. Send it in. If your story is a borderline case, or you’re not quite sure if it’s wuxia, then send it in anyway. The worst that can happen is it gets rejected. You don’t need to query first. Make sure you look at the “What is Wuxia?” page linked to above before making your final decision, though. There is some leeway. “Martial arts fiction” is how wuxia is often translated into English, and while that is an over-simplified translation, it’s a good guide. However, the xia part of wuxia deserves attention to. I believe it is possible to have a wuxia story that does not have any fighting in it at all, but there must be a lot of xia in that case. I’ll stop there before I complicate the issue too much. It is a tough genre to define.

How do you want it?

As stated above, all submissions must be made through Hey Publisher. The form is below. The form will accept .doc, .rtf, and .txt files. It will not accept the new .docx format for some reason, so if you are using a newer version of Word, make sure to save it as .doc instead of .docx. Sign up is easy on the form. You can go through one of various social network services, or just create an account with Hey Publisher. Either way, it only takes a few seconds. Do not email me your submission. All email submissions will be deleted without being read, no exceptions.

For proper manuscript formatting, see William Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format. If you’ve ever submitted a story to a magazine before, then you’re probably already familiar with these formatting guidelines. You don’t need to include your mailing address, if you don’t want to. Make sure you have a valid email address on there, though. One that you regularly check.

How long should it be?

2,000-30,000 words. Anywhere in between there is fine. That means no flash fiction, and no novels. Also, no novel excerpts will be considered. No excerpts of any kind will be considered, actually. I want a complete, self-contained story.

Simultaneous submissions are accepted. I anticipate the submission process to be a long one, so I don’t mind if you submit to more than one place at once. Just make sure the other place(s) you submit your story to feel the same way.

Multiple submissions are accepted. If you only have one story to send, that’s fine. If you have three stories you would like to be considered, that’s fine too. I’m looking for the best wuxia stories I can find, so let me see all of them (well, all the good ones. Don’t submit the bad ones). You can have more than one story published in the anthology.

Previously published stories are accepted. The best stories might not be the newest stories. If your story has been published before, such as in a magazine or on a blog, then you can still send it to me. If it’s a great wuxia story then I want to showcase it to the English-reading world in this anthology. It would be silly to say no just because another magazine had published it already.

What will the submission process be like?

First, write a great story. Edit/rewrite/revise that great story. Make sure someone besides you reads it, so you can be sure it’s good. Then submit it to me, via the form below. Your story will then be sent to me. When I open your submission to read your story you will receive an email saying so. At this point, wait for a bit. How long the wait will be is unknown. If I immediately am not interested in the story, then you will receive a rejection notice pretty soon, probably no more than a week after I start reading it.

If I like your story, then prepare to wait longer. If your story is a “maybe” then I will put it under consideration and you will receive an email saying so. This will likely be the longest wait period, and I can’t begin to say how long that could be. I want to find the best stories, but that could take a while. I’m sure some of the best stories haven’t been written yet as I type this. So hang tight. That’s why simultaneous submissions are allowed. I will update this website frequently to let everyone know how the selection process is going, so you can keep up with my progress that way.

Eventually, I will either accept your story or reject it. If your story is rejected, you will get an email saying so. If it is accepted, you will get an email saying your story has been accepted.

How much does this thing pay?

1-5 cents per word, depending on how much money I raise for the project. I would like to be able to pay everyone 5 cents a word, but that means I would have to raise $5,550 USD. Here’s hoping. But for the purposes of deciding if you want to submit a story to me, plan on 1 cent per word. That’s probably the most realistic guess. Tell everyone you know about this project and ask them to donate so there will be more money to pay the writers.

What rights are you seeking?

Anthology rights. That means I’m buying your story for the purpose of publishing it in an anthology. The anthology will be printed, and it will also be available in electronic format. This anthology will be published globally, so I will be seeking permission to publish it everywhere. However, aside from the print and online versions of the anthology, I don’t want anything else from you. You are and will remain free to publish your story anywhere else you want. You retain the rights to your story; you’re just giving me permission to publish it in my anthology and sell it globally in print and in electronic formats.

I’m not seeking First-anything rights. Even if this anthology is the first place your story will be published.

Wait, there is one more thing I want. I want the exclusive right to publish your story. Meaning that your story can’t be published at the same time as my anthology is published. Obviously, if it’s already been published then that’s fine, but you can publish it anywhere else new while I’m publishing it in my anthology. I am seeking exclusive rights to publish your story for three months after the publication of the anthology. So once the anthology has been out for three months, you can publish your story anywhere you please.

Markets with specific deadlines are listed first, “Until Filled” markets are at the bottom. There are usually more details on the original site; always click through and read the full guidelines before submitting. Note that some publishers list multiple antho guidelines on one page, so after you click through you might have to scroll a bit.

Non-erotica/romance writers: check out The Mothman Files, Mirror Shards, Machine of Death, At Second Glance, Warrior Wisewoman, the Fish-Themed Fantasy Antho, Horror Library, Mortis Operandi and the Fantastic Stories Anthology.

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30 June 2011 — Taken By Force II — ed. Christopher Pierce, STARbooks Press

Return to the cutting edge of danger and desire! In this second volume of Taken by Force: Erotic Stories of Abduction and Captivity, I am asking writers to delve even deeper into their dark imaginations and come back with their hottest stories of men kidnapping other men!

Have you ever wanted a guy so badly that you’d do anything to have him, including abducting him? Have you ever seen a big bruiser and wished he’d just tie you up, throw you over his shoulder and kidnap you away from your dull, boring life? Have you ever plotted revenge against a guy that rejected you and wanted to rip him out of his safe, comfortable world and into one where you call the shots and his very survival depends on you?

Let these scenarios stir your imagination and start writing!

All characters must be men (gay or straight) over 18 years old. Stories can be from the point-of-view of the kidnapper or the kidnapped. Stories can have any setting and be any genre (regular stroke fiction, bondage/SM, comedy, romantic, action/adventure, science fiction, fantasy, horror) so follow your imagination into your darkest and raunchiest fantasies…and be sure to bring your pen or your laptop!

Original work is preferred. There is no limit to the number of stories a single author can submit.

On the first page of your story include all contact information: Your name, your pen name (if using), your e-mail address, your physical address and your phone number. Also include a short bio.

Make sure your story has been edited and proofread. Stories that do not adhere to the guidelines will not be considered.

Send submissions as .doc files to: pierce@starbookspress.com with TBF2 and your STORY TITLE in the subject line.

Write to me with any questions: pierce@starbookspress.com

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1 July 2011 — The Mothman Files — ed. Michael Knost, Woodland Press

Format: Trade Paperback.

Payment: five-cents per word (upon publication) plus contributor copy. No reprints.

Story length: Up to 3000 words. No multiple or simultaneous subs.

E-mail submissions to: themothmanfiles at yahoo dot com. We will accept .doc attachments only.

I am looking for fictional mothman stories. The setting is not limited to West Virginia or any other regional area known as mothman territory.

I want tales with a solid plot and good character development. Stories should grab the reader’s attention quickly and hold it until the end. I want powerful and emotional tales that are creepy, chilling, disturbing, and moody.

Although stories will mainly target an adult/young adult audience, we DO NOT want stories containing language or content unsuitable for children.

Formatting your manuscript:

Double-space. Use Times New Roman (12). Italicize what you want italicized. Single space after sentence-ending punctuation.

Be sure to include your name, address, email on manuscript.

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1 July 2011 — The Touch of the Sea: Mermen & Selkies — ed. Steve Berman, Lethe Press

“The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.” — Kate Chopin

For The Touch of the the Sea, Lethe Press is seeking fantastical stories that feature mermen or selkies, doomed sailors, underwater ruins, the taste of salt on the lips and in the blood.

Have an idea? Written such a tale? The book will be editing by multiple Lambda Literary Award finalist Steve Berman.

– All submissions should feature gay male protagonists.
– Stories should be between 1,500 and 10,000 words in length.
– While some sexual situations are fine for inclusion, this is not an erotica anthology.

We have already accepted stories from such well-known writers as Jeff Mann and Adam Lowe.

Payment is 2 cents / word upon publication plus a contributor copy.

Email us at editor@lethepressbooks.com. Stories should be sent as RTF files.

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8 July 2011 — Mirror Shards: Exploring the Edges of Augmented Reality — ed. Thomas K. Carpenter, Black Moon Books

This anthology is a new yearly paying anthology that will be released by Black Moon Books early each fall as an eBook and POD.

Augmented reality holds the promise of great social change in both the near and far-flung futures. It’s also a wonderful medium for storytelling as information and graphics overlain eye-screens challenges the doors of perception and creates mixed-reality worlds to work and play. Black Moon Books is seeking stories between 3000 and 6000 words (soft edges) that utilize augmented reality as a way to explore the human condition. The stories can be set in any place, time, or genre, as long as the story cannot exist bereft of augmented reality. Feel free to explore the edges of the technology.

The anthology will pay from $0.02/word to $0.05/word. A few slots will be offered to established professionals, but at least one pro paying slot will be given through the slush pile (Gold Prize). Minimum payment per word will be $0.02 for all accepted slush stories. Rights I’ll ask for include exclusivity for 4 months, First Electronic & First English-Language Book Rights. One copy will be provided for each author in the anthology.

Stories should be emailed to mirrorshards2011 (at) blackmoonbooks (dot) com and should follow standard manuscript formatting (courier new, 12 point, double spaced, etc.) The file should be attached as an .doc or .rtf (not .docx). Multiple submissions are welcome, though your best bet is to pick your best story and send only that one.

A brief cover letter listing current publication credits would be helpful in the body of the email. If you have received an honorable mention or above in the Writers of the Future contest, please note that.

The submission period for the anthology will be from April 8, 2011 to July 8, 2011. Stories will be selected by July 20, 2011. Payment will be on acceptance and will be either mailed as a check or sent through PayPal. Publication date will be in the month of September. Accepted authors will also be required to provide a brief bio for the anthology. Authors are also encouraged to put their stories up online once the rights have reverted and will be requested (optional) to put a note in their stories linking back to the anthology to help each other (ie – if you liked this story, please check out other authors writing AR stories in…)

I will try to notify quickly for rejections. I will also notify authors of those stories I’m holding as a “maybe”. The latest possible date for all notifications, acceptance or rejection, will be July 20, 2011.

For those that are interested in entering the anthology but have no experience with augmented reality, I suggest visiting the websites: Games Alfresco, The Future Digital Life, or reading the Hugo award winning Rainbow’s End by Vernor Vinge any books or short stories by Thomas K. Carpenter.

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15 July 2011 — Machine of Death 2 — ed. Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo and David Malki

[Note: I'm making some assumptions here. North, Bennardo and Malki edited the first MOD antho. I didn't find anything on the site (with the caveat that I didn't feel like going through every single page) saying who was editing MOD 2, so I just put the three names from the first book on this one. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me.

[The premise of the book is here, in the shaded box. Essenthially, there's a machine that can take a blood sample and tell you how you're going to die. It's not terribly precise, and doesn't give a date.]

SUBMISSION PERIOD
Submissions will be accepted from May 1 – July 15, 2011. We expect to make our final selections by October 31, 2011.

PAYMENT
We pay $200 (US) upon acceptance.

LENGTH
Stories can be any length, but we recommend a length of 1,500 – 7,500 words. We will almost certainly be printing stories longer or shorter than these limits, but we expect most stories in the book will fall into this range.

RIGHTS
We buy the following rights:

– World anthology rights in English and translation
– Audio and ebook anthology rights
– Film rights, with an additional bonus payout of $4,000 if your story is substantially used in any commercial movie or TV adaptation of Machine of Death

World anthology rights and audio/ebook anthology rights are specific to anthologies. These are non-exclusive licenses allowing us to use your story in an anthology only. Specifying “in translation” allows us to request that your work be included in any potential foreign editions as well.

You retain all other print rights. So you’re free to also sell your story to magazines, or websites, or podcasts, or as an individual short story (say, on Kindle), or in a collection of your own work, or even sell it to another anthology after our book has been out for a while. It’s your story, and you keep it — we just want to be the first to print it.

Film rights allow us to include your story in any conversations we have about adapting the general Machine of Death concept into a film or TV show. Buying the rights upfront means that if any producer is interested in an MoD movie, we can instantly say “Yes! Make it happen!” without unresolved rights issues scaring anybody off. (Plenty of movies don’t get made for lesser reasons.) We don’t know if there will ever be an MoD movie or show, but we’d love for there to be! And having the rights ready just in case increases the odds that it could actually happen.

Additionally, we expect to release a Creative Commons edition of the next book, just as we did with the first one. Most of the authors in the first book elected to release their stories under Creative Commons, but it’s not strictly required. If you have strong feeling about this either way, please let us know upfront so we can take it into account when reading your story.

FORMATTING
We only accept email submissions. You can either paste your story into the body of your email message or send an attachment. If you are attaching, please use Microsoft Word (DOC), Rich Text Format (RTF), or Plain Text (TXT) formats only. Any word processor should be able to save a file as at least one of those formats. We’re not sticklers for things like double-spacing and paragraph indentation and point size. Just submit a file that is as readable as possible.

HOW TO SUBMIT
Send your story to submit at machineofdeath dot net. Please use the following subject line when submitting…

[MOD2] STORY TITLE – Your Name

So if your name is Sherwood Anderson and if your story is called “SWALLOWING A TOOTHPICK” then the subject line of your email should read…

[MOD2] SWALLOWING A TOOTHPICK – Sherwood Anderson

This is in case we get two stories with the same title, so we can tell which one is yours. Please follow this format, so your submission does not get overlooked!

Next, in the body of your email, please include the following information…

• Title: The title of your story
• Pen name: How you would want your name to appear in print
• Word count: Approximately how many words are in your story

• Real name: Your real name (not a pseudonym or handle — this is the name that will go on the contract)
• Email address
• Phone number
• Short biography: This is optional, but we’d be happy to read a short paragraph or two about your previous writing experience, where you’re from, or any personal information that has a bearing on your story. No other cover letter is necessary.

All of this information is REQUIRED (except the short biography). Don’t ask us if you can omit one or more pieces of information because the answer is “NO”. However, we won’t share any of your personal information with ANYBODY, and we will only use your contact information to tell you whether your story was accepted, and then once to tell you when the book is finished. We will always try to contact you via email first — the phone number will only be used if we need to get in touch with you and email isn’t working.

If your story is accepted we’ll ask you to confirm all your information, and you’ll also have the chance at that time to write a new short biography for publication in the book.

Finally, we ask that each writer submit no more than 3 stories. Please send only previously unpublished work, and no simultaneous submissions. Otherwise, have fun! We can’t wait to read all your stories!

[There's a LOT more on the web site; definitely click through on this one if you're interested.]

***

31 July 2011 — At Second Glance: Gay City Anthology Vol. 4 — ed. Eric Andrews-Katz & Vincent Kovar

Gay City’s Mission is to promote the health of gay/bisexual men and prevent HIV transmission by building community, fostering communication, and nurturing self-esteem. This year, our anthology series continues with volume 4: At Second Glance.

There are always at least two viewpoints of every story and yet, we usually only hear one side. In the tradition of WICKED, The Red Tent and The Mists of Avalon, a different perspective can provide an entirely different story than the commonly known tale; the other side of the looking glass, so to speak. You are encouraged to experiment with sexual and cultural norms, technology and historical events. Sensuality is fine, but please no erotica.

Examples:
== How could gay influences have changed the outcome of the Russian revolution?
== Was Mrs. Anna really there to tutor the King of Siam’s children, or was she a lesbian secret agent?
== Did ‘Jack’ kill the giant out of self-defense, or was their relationship somehow more complex?

At Second Glance is seeking previously unpublished stories that tell a tale from another viewpoint. Either historical or fictional characters are acceptable and feel free to take creative liberties. Be serious, funny, romantic, scary… just be original and unique. Submissions are open to ALL genders and orientations but must appeal to a gay male audience. Multiple submissions accepted, but please let the editors know.

All submissions must be postmarked by July 31, 2011
No electronic submissions

GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS:

Plotlines, time periods and settings are all up to you. Genres (such as steampunk, horror, science fiction, western…) are completely open, just please, no erotica.

== Word count: maximum 7K
== Double space, standard font in .doc, .rtf or compatible format.
== Include title, author’s name, and address on cover only.
== Title and page number must appear on all pages.
== Include a SASE.

Payment for accepted work includes two printed copies and $75 at time of publication. A $50.00 prize for Editor’s pick will be awarded in each category. Winners of Editor’s pick will be announced after the work is formally launched.

Send submissions to:

GC Anthologies
511 East Pike,
Seattle WA 98122-3617
For questions: anthology@gaycity.org

***

31 July 2011 — Warrior Wisewoman 4 — ed. Roby James, Norilana Press

Warrior Wisewoman is an annual anthology series of science fiction featuring powerful and remarkable women, edited by Roby James.

The first volume was published by Norilana Books in June 2008, the second volume in June 2009, and the third volume in August 2010.

The anthology was conceived as a sister volume to the classic Sword and Sorceress fantasy series originally edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley, with the main difference being that the story themes will involve science fiction instead of fantasy, and they will be intended for a more mature audience, allowing a mixture of serious contemporary issues and reasonable sexual content (but no erotica) in addition to action and adventure. The stories will have a stronger focus on the interface between scientific exploration and our sense of wonder.

Editor Roby James says:

“I am looking for stories that shed light on the truth of what it means to be female, that illuminate the wisdom and the strength of a woman, but not in clich� ‘goddess’ stories. I love action and adventure, grand space opera, thrilling discovery, and intelligent protagonists. Make the story thoughtful, wise, and surprising. In addition, the stories in the anthology should appeal to genuine emotions, suspense, fear, sorrow, delight, wonder. The science can be part of the background and the characters foremost, or the science can be central to the story, as long as the characters are realistic and appealing. It is strongly recommended you read the previous volumes to get an idea of what kind of material we’re looking for.

“This is science fiction, but I also welcome stories of spiritual exploration, looking at the bond between the scientific and the divine. I want to see how a woman survives tragedy and disaster, overcomes impossible odds, achieves her true potential, or goes on to thrive in a marvelous universe of so many possibilities, using what is inside her, as well as what she finds in the laboratory, the alien planet, or space itself.

“The stories should contain the question of ‘what if’ on some level. And they should have a woman answer it.”

Read the editorial Introduction to Volume One.

Guidelines for Volume #4 of the Anthology:

RIGHTS PURCHASED: First English Language Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights. The anthology will be published by Norilana Books in a trade paperback edition in June 2012, to be followed by an electronic edition to be produced later.
PAYMENT: $0.02 a word on acceptance, and a pro rata share of royalties, plus a contributor copy.
WORD LENGTH: Up to 10,000 words, with longer stories having to be exceptional.
DEADLINE: July 31, 2011.
HOW TO SUBMIT: Submissions are electronic only. Please submit your story as a Word (.doc or .rtf) attachment to your e-mail. The subject line of your e-mail should say “Submission: Story Title, last name of author.” Also, include a brief cover letter. It should have your full name, address, e-mail address, title of story, number of words, and brief biographical information in case we don’t know you, with most recent publishing credits, if applicable. We are open to new writers and seasoned veterans alike.
EDITORIAL ADDRESS: roby dot james at comcast dot net

We look forward to reading your most inspired work.

***

31 August 2011 — To-Be-Named Fish-Themed Fantasy Anthology — Dagan Books

Our next open anthology will begin accepting submissions on June 1, 2011, and we will take stories until August 30, 2011. The theme of this anthology is “Fish”. We want your mythic adventures and modern retellings. We want Dagan, not of Lovecraft but of the Phillistines. We want Ku-ula, of Hawaii, and Hatmehyt, and Nereus with his bounty. We want magic koi in ancient ponds and the street shaman with his fishy avatar, stalking the streets in some odd future. We want sharks, hunting far out at sea. We want carnival goldfish with short-lived secrets.

Send us something beautiful.

Submit stories of up to 4,000 words (flash of under 1000 is also encouraged) to:

submissions@daganbooks.com

Stories must be sent as a .doc attachment. Do not double space after the end of sentences. Do use paragraphs and tab indents. Do not add an extra line after each paragraph.

Subject heading must have: [FISH] Story Title, Author Last Name

This project pays 1 cent per word plus 1% royalty, paid quarterly, for the first two years of the book’s life.

Cover art by Galen Dara will be available June 1, 2011.

***

1 September 2011 — Super Hero Anthology — ed. Hailey Edwards, Samhain Publishing

It’s up, up and away we go, to a world of superheroes and supervillains, where heroes and/or heroines with special abilities and crime-fighting prowess protect the public…and fall in love.

I’m very happy to announce an open call for submissions for a new, yet-to-be-titled spring 2012 superhero romance anthology. For more information on what I’m looking for when I ask for superhero stories, check out these entries on wikipedia.

I’m open to M/F, M/M, F/F, or multiples thereof, any sexual heat level, and the romance must end happily ever after or happy for now.

The novellas must range between 25,000 to 30,000 words in length, no more, no less—please note, only manuscripts that fall in this word count will be considered for this anthology—and will be released individually as ebooks in spring 2012 and in print approximately one year later.

Submissions are open to all authors, published with Samhain or aspiring to be published with Samhain. All submissions must be new material—previously published submissions will not be considered. Additionally, manuscripts previously submitted, whether individually or for past anthologies, will not be considered either. Be aware that manuscripts submitted to this anthology cannot be resubmitted at a later date unless by invitation from an editor.

Please note: fanfiction of popular, trademarked and copyrighted superheroes will not be considered. Only original works please.

To submit a manuscript for consideration, please include:

The full manuscript (of 25,000 to 30,000 words) with a comprehensive 2-5 page synopsis. Also include a letter of introduction/query letter. Full manuscripts are required for this as it is a special project.

As well, when you send your manuscript, be sure to use the naming convention Superhero_Title_MS and Superhero_Title_Synopsis. This will ensure that your submission doesn’t get missed in the many submissions we receive, and makes it easy for me to find in my e-reader.

Submissions are open until September 1, 2011. No submissions will be accepted after this date—no exceptions. A final decision will be made by October 1, 2011. Send your submission to editor@samhainpublishing.com and include Superhero Anthology in the subject line. Questions and queries can be addressed to Sasha Knight (sasha@samhainpublishing.com) though do your due diligence and read this anthology call completely and check the Samhain Submission FAQ page before emailing.

***

UNTIL FILLED — Horror Library, Vol. 5 — Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We’re looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what’s already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won’t cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They’re just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we’ll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission – title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

***

UNTIL FILLED — Mortis Operandi — ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By “supernatural” we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 — Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

***

UNTIL FILLED — Fantastic Stories Anthology — ed. Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination is a yearly anthology. Edited by Warren Lapine, Wilder Publications Box 10641, Blacksburg, VA 24063

I’m looking for stories that cover the entire science fiction, fantasy, and horror spectrum. I love magic realism (think Tim Powers and Neil Gaiman) and hard sf. I want a story to surprise me and to take me to unexpected places. I love word play, and would like to see stories with a literary bent, though decidedly not a pretentious bent. I could spend some time telling you what I don’t want, but I’ve found that good stories can make me buy them regardless of how many of my rules they violate. Let your imagination run wild, push and blur the limits of genre, or send me something traditional. I want it to see it all. My experience as an editor tells me that over time I’ll develop preferences and that the anthology will take on its own personality. When that happens I’ll change the guidelines to be more specific, but for now I’m going to explore what’s out there before I decide what direction to go in.

Payment: 10 cents per word on acceptance for original stories (maximum of $250.00) or 2 cents per word for reprints (maximum of $100.00). A check will accompany the contract so no simultaneous submissions please. I am purchasing First English Language Book Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights.

Story length, I have no limit on story length but the longer the story is the better it will have to be.

Sorry no e-mail submissions. Why is this? Don’t you know that e-mail submissions is the future? Yes I do know that, but it’s not the way I want to do this. For me the best part of being an editor is having people over to have slush parties and interacting with them during the reading process. Editing on a screen is a thing devoid of fun or joy, I edit for the fun and joy of it.

[Note: definitely click through on this one; there's some very useful info in the comments.]