Blight Digest - New Market

One Eye Press has opened submissions for their newest zine called Blight Digest.  They are looking for horror shorts of 2000 to 5000 words for the launch of their first issue in October.  The deadline is May 12.  Payment is 1cent a word with a maximum of $25.  You can find the details here.

Angie's Desk - Anthology Calls

Angie has posted her monthly anthology calls.  Thanks, Angie!!

2014 Criminal Lines Prize - Open for Submissions

Word of a new crime prize has been posted on the Shots blog.  The AM Heath Literary Agency in association with The Writers' Workshop have announced the 2014 Criminal Line crime writing prize.  There is no fee to enter but you must be an unagented debut author who was born in or are a resident of the UK or Ireland.  The deadline is May 5 and the prize is 1000pounds.  There's also a chance of getting an agent.  You can find the details here where you'll find links back to AM Heath.

Bad Writing Habits

The lovely Michael Bracken emailed a link yesterday to an interesting article on bad habits many writers have.  Number five is my downfall, the others occasionally, but five is the one I need to work on. Be sure to click around The Web Writer Spotlight site as there are quite a few posts to help you along the writing path. 

Wicked Words Quarterly - New Market

Wicked Words Quarterly is a new zine based in the UK.  They are looking for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror stories in a variety of lengths from flash to novella.  The new zine will be published on Kindle.  Payment is 1cent a word with a cap of $150.  You can find the details here.  The editor has a blog called My Wicked Words and from there you'll find a link to a twitter account if you want to know more about who you're dealing with.

From Out of the Dark - Anthology Call

"From Out of the Dark" is an anthology call looking for horror short stories of 5000 to 10,000 words with the theme "horror in the emptiness of space between the galaxies".  The publisher is Altair Australian Publishing.  The deadline is October 31 and payment is $75.  Even though the deadline is in October the editor will be choosing stories as they come in.  You can find all the details here at Ralan.

Hat tip to the Literarium blog!

Third Flat Iron Press - Anthology Call

Third Flat Iron Press has posted their themes for 2014.  Currently open is the theme "Intelligence" for the Summer issue of their anthology series.  They're looking for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror stories of 1500 to 3000 words.  The deadline is April 15 and payment is 3cents a word.  You can find the details on their submission page.

Mystery and Horror LLC - Anthology Call

Mystery and Horror, LLC has posted their first anthology call for 2014 for "Strangely Funny II".  They're looking for humorous paranormal/supernatural short stories of 2000 to 6000 words.  The deadline is May 1, payment is a $5 advance against royalties.  You can check out the details here.  They're also open for mystery novel submissions.

Plasma Frequency - Call for Serial Fiction

Plasma Frequency magazine has posted a special call for serial fiction.  They are looking for a speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, or horror) novella that can be broken into six sections or six short stories that follow a  consecutive story line.  The word limit is 60,000 words and no section or story can be longer than 10,000.  The deadline is May 31 and payment is 1cent a word.  You can find all the details here. 

Elektrik Milk Bath Press - Motorcycle Themed Anthology Call

Elektrik Milk Bath Press has posted a call for a motorcycle themed anthology.  They're looking for stories of 1000 to 5000 words in any genre.  The deadline is April 15 and payment is $30.  You can find all the details here.

7 Gram Quarterly - New Market

Okay, this one just tickled my funny bone.  It's a new non-paying print and online magazine called "7 Gram Quarterly".  What are they looking for?  Well, poetry, short stories, and creative non-fiction about Marijuana.  A whole journal dedicated to weed.  You can find the details here.

Shock Totem - Submissions Are Open

Shock Totem has opened for submissions of short stories up to 12,000 words in the dark genres.  The deadline is May 31 and payment is 5cents a word with a cap of $250.  Submissions are through submittable the guidelines are here.

The Poisoned Pencil - Submissions Open for YA Mystery Novels

The Poisoned Pencil is the YA imprint of Poisoned Pen Publishing and they are currently open for submissions of YA Mystery novels of 45,000 to 80,000 words.  Submissions details are at their Submittable page.  There was no mention of payment but as this is a reputable press I expect those details will be discussed if your novel is accepted.

Mainly Murder Press - One More Day

I know some of you have novels looking for homes and I know this is short notice but you still have until Midnight February 14 (tomorrow!) to get your submission in to Mainly Murder Press.  You can find the details here.

Kayelle Press - Open for Submissions

Australian Speculative fiction e-publisher Kayelle Press has opened for submissions.  Along with novels for both adults and YA groups they have two anthology calls.  One for Alternate History stories and one for Romantic Spec-fiction stories.  They need stories that are 3000 to 6000 words and payment is AU$20.  Payment for novels is a royalty split.  I've linked to their submission page here and from there you'll find a drop down menu under the submissions tab that will take you to the various projects information.  Yes, they have things scattered around the site instead of all in one place.  The payments are listed under the FAQ's page.  Deadline for all projects is July 31.

Beware the Sharks

I get very depressed looking for markets some days.  I find the "we don't pay but look at what we're doing for you" attitude of many new markets annoying.  I find this especially annoying when they're bundling the stories into an ebook and selling it.

Now, I don't mind giving my story to a good market, but if you're going to be selling it and making money, I want my share.  And please don't tell me how much good it'll do for my name recognition while you're getting the cash.  Stupid is not written on my forehead and I refuse to stand next to the guy wearing the "I'm with Stupid" T-Shirt.

A few weeks ago I posted a warning about a co-operative anthology site.  The owner got a bit bent out of shape because I cautioned writers to get more information about upfront costs before submitting.  I've been a member of several dairy co-ops and money doesn't always flow to the member and there's usually fees involved that cost the member.  I could see no harm to either side by mentioning that writer's should ask questions before submitting.  Writers shouldn't have to be afraid to ask questions where their work is involved.

Which brings me to the anthology call I found yesterday.  What I found really depressing was that this call was posted on THE WRITER's site.  The call was for 2014 Sywers Short Story Contest.  There were no fees to enter but all the winner received was publication.  Here, copied from the site is what I found most disturbing:

"What's in it for us?
We get the pleasure of helping out talented young authors and we make a small portion of our costs back off each book sold on-line through Amazon or Smashwords. This allows us to recoup our production costs. The contest also allows us an opportunity to help authors with NO upfront cost to them which helps us build a reputation as a trustworthy publisher.

What's in it for the authors?
They may purchase (at our cost to produce, plus shipping) as many copies as they like directly from us, then re-sell these and make money off of them. Authors will have in their hands, a printed, professional collection of their own and others' work to share and sell."

Clicking on their services tab I found that they are a "Vanity Press".  They charge $69 to format your e-book and almost $400 to format paperback copies.  And that is all they do according to the site.  They do not help you promote or sell your book, but they do have an online book store where they sell your book and make a profit.  None of this information is included with their submission guidelines.  That is not my idea of a trustworthy publisher.

Please always read everything on the publisher's site before entering a contest or submitting your work.  The world is full of sharks just waiting for a desperate writer to swim by.

Just a little addition here - No matter how reputable the site where you find the call, ALWAYS, check it out yourself.

February Femme Fatales - Now Available

For those of you with Kindles and a love of the dark here's a new anthology edited by Lily Childs called February Femmes Fatales.  All female authors in celebration of Women in Horror month.  Check it out here.

The Leaky Pencil - Horror Flash Contest

The Leaky Pencil blog is hosting its fourth annual flash contest "Days of Madness 4 - Hidden Horrors".  They want horror stories of 1000 to 1500 words with the theme Hidden Horrors and they prefer psychological horror to slasher.  The deadline is February 28 and the winners will be posted on the site during March then collected into an ebook.  You can find the details here.  There are no prizes and no fees to enter.  Just some good old writing fun.

Pulp Modern - New Theme

Pulp Modern editor Alec Cizak has changed the theme for the next issue to THIEVES AND LIARS.  Seems there were no stories coming in for the dystopia theme.  Deadline for stories is April 1.  Submissions guidelines can be found here.

Storm Moon Press - Erotica Anthology Calls

Erotica publisher Storm Moon Press has posted their anthology calls for 2014.  They're looking for novelette and novella length stories in a variety of genres from Contemporary to Western.  Payments are royalties.  You can check out the calls here, then click on their submission guidelines for more details.

Delta Green - Call for Short Stories

This call is for stories set in the specific world of Delta Green.  There are games, novels, and short stories already published and the editors have loads of information for those not familiar with their world.  They need the story pitches by February 10, so short notice, but if your pitch is selected you have until March 24 to submit your completed story.  Payment is 10cents a word with a max of $500.  You can find the details here.

Best Fiction - Dead Market

I believe that Best Fiction is pretty much a dead market since they haven't posted anything new since last February.  I was hoping for better since this was a paying market.

Emby Press - Anthology Calls

Emby Press has added two more anthology calls to their submission listings.  The first is a call for Occult Detectives in an anthology titled "A Grimoire of Eldritch Inquests" with a deadline of August 1.  The second is "The Ghost Papers" and they're looking for ghost stories in various genres.  Both need stories of 2000 to 8000 words and payment is $25.  Submission details are on their Submittable page where you'll find other open calls.

Hat tip to darkmarkets.com

Interfictions - Open for Submisstions

Interfictions is published twice a year and their reading period is currently open until February 16.  Yep, they only have a two week reading period.  They're seeking fiction, non-fiction, and poetry that is "literary genre bending".  They prefer short stories under 5000 words but will look at up to 10,000.  Payment is 5cents a word.  All the guidelines are at their Submittable page, from there you can click back to their website to see what they've already published.

Sirens Call Publications - Anthology Calls

Sirens Call Publications has posted two new anthology for short stories of 4000 to 8000 words.  Payment is royalties.  The first call is "Mental Ward: Experiments" and the deadline is April 30.  The second is "Out of Phase: Tales of Sci-Fi Horror" with a deadline of May 31.  I'm posting the link to their blog for the details because it's much easier on the eyes and they link back to their site from there.

Rosarium Publishing - Anthology Call

Rosarium Publishing has posted an anthology call for "The Sea is Ours:  Tales of Steampunk Southeast Asia".  They need stories of 2500 to 9000 words with a June 30 deadline.  Payment is 5cents a word for original stories and 1cent a word for reprints.  You can find all the details here.  And the editor's call here.

World Weaver Press - Open Reading Period

World Weaver Press has opened for submissions of novels (50,000 words and up) and novellas (17,500 to 40,000 words) in the various genres under the Speculative Fiction umbrella.  There are no advances only royalty payments.  You can check out the submission details here.  Be sure to check out the editor's post on the home page with more information of what they're looking for.

Blood Bound Books - Reading Periods Announced

Over the past month Blood Bound Books has been posting their submission periods for various types of Horror novels.  The last one goes up tomorrow.  You can check them out here.