Third Flatiron Press - Anthology Call

Third Flatiron Press opens submissions for their Spring 2015 anthology tomorrow November 1.  The reading period will run to December 31.  The theme for this one is "The Time It Happened...".  They're looking for stories of 1500 to 3000 words about "world altering events".  One or two time travel stories would be acceptable under this theme.  Payment has changed to 3cents a word with only the lead story receiving 6cents a word.  You can find the details here.

Jack Hardway's Crime Magazine - New Issue

The first issue of Jack Hardway's Crime Magazine has hit the virtual streets.

For Your Halloween Reading

Over at "The Dark" I found an excellent story by Stephen Graham Jones called "When Swords had Names".  It is both fantasy and horror and very chilling.  You can read it here.

Just for Fun

I love looking at photographs on the Internet because I never know what I'll find,  Today I found the photographs of Christine McConnell who mixes horror themes with the feminine beauty ideals of the 1950's.  She's done some pretty interesting things.  Check it out here.

SpeckLit - Call for Drabbles

For those of you who love the drabble form of flash fiction SpeckLit is open for submissions for their January/March issue.  They want exactly 100 words of speculative fiction by November 30.  Payment is 5cents a word.  You can find the details here.

Washington City Paper - Call for Fiction Submissions

Washington City Paper has posted a call for short fiction for their third annual special fiction issue to be published in January of 2015.  They're seeking stories up to 2000 words that are related and relevant to the Washington DC area.  The deadline is December 1 and they will be paying (not much) for the stories they publish.  You can find all the details here.

Wicwas Press - Beekeeping Anthology Contest

Wicwas Press has posted a call for submissions to their anthology contest.  They're looking to collect true stories, fiction, and poetry for an anthology about beekeeping.  There's no fee to enter and the deadline is March 1, 2015.  Prizes are $500, $300, and $200 for the top three selections.  You can find the details here.

Blight Digest - New Issue

The first issue of Blight Digest has landed and is available for your Kindles, with print copies coming soon.  You can check out the details here.  And yes, I'm please to say that I have a story in this issue.

Otto Penzler - An Interview

Ran across an interview with Otto Penzler over at the Biographile site that I thought might interest many of you, especially the mystery fans out there.

Make that two interviews - Here's one at the Los Angeles Review of Books with short story writer Art Taylor asking the questions.

Diabolical Plots - New Market

The website Diabolical Plots will be publishing short fiction beginning in 2015.  They are looking for speculative fiction stories up to 2000 words in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.  The reading period begins on December 1 and closes on December 31.  Payment is 6cents a word.  You can find the details here.  Please note that you'll have to check back in December to find out where to send your submission, so mark your calendars.

Zero One Publishing - Anthology Call

Zero One Publishing has posted an anthology call for "Whispers From the Abyss Vol. II".  They're looking for stories of 2500 to 4500 words that are HP Lovecraft inspired.  They have a list of what they want and don't want to see for this theme.  They're also open to flash fiction submissions.  The deadline is May 30, 2015 and payment is 1cent a word.  You can find all the details here.

Hat tip to darkmarkets.com

Crime Factory - New Issue

Issue #16 of Crime Factory has gone live.  Check it out here.

It's Really 10 Months - Non-fiction Anthology Call

This anthology call is looking for non-fiction stories of 1000 to 2000 about your pregnancy, labor, and delivery.  It doesn't specify female only, so maybe you fellows out there can slip something in.  The deadline is January 15, 2015 and payment is $100.  You can find the details here.

Germinid Press - Anthology Calls

Geminid Press, LLC has three anthology calls posted on their site.  All three need stories of 1000 to 7500 words with a deadline of August 31, 2015.  Payment is 5cents a word.  The themes are "Conspiracy Hour", "Space Opera", and "Take Me to Your Leader".  Here's a link to their Submittable page.  And a link to their site where you can find more about the calls.

18 Free Short Stories for Halloween

If you're looking to get your spooky ghoul on for Halloween check out these 18 short stories selected by Blastr and free to read online.

Darkhouse Books - Anthology Call

This call came through the SMFS this morning.

Call for Submissions for an anthology of historical crime and mystery fiction

Darkhouse Books seeks stories for an anthology of historical crime and mystery fiction. For the purpose of this anthology we are defining historical fiction as, those works set more than a few decades prior to the present and written by someone without direct experience in the setting and events of the story. But should a truly superb story happen to stray from the above strictures and cross our threshold, we would happily consider it.

The submission period is now open and will remain open through 11:59pm (PST), December 31st, 2014.

We are seeking stories in the 2500 to 7500 word range, though if it's knockout material, we'll consider any length.

The anthology will contain between twelve and twenty stories, depending on the overall length. Authors will share equally fifty percent of royalties received.

We accept MS Word .doc and .docx files. Submissions must be in standard manuscript format. Links to formatting guides are available here.

Previously published work will be considered, provided the author has the power to grant us the right to publish in ebook, audio, and print versions, and that it has not been available elsewhere more recently than January 1st, 2014.

Submissions may be sent to submissions@darkhousebooks.com.
Please leave "Submission-" in the subject line and add the name of your story.

Andrew MacRae
Darkhouse Books

Paperback Writer - Anthology Calls

The Paperback Writer blog has a new post with ten open submission calls.  You can check it out here.  Thanks Paperback Writer!!

Another Dimension - New Market

From the folks behind the Wily Writers Fiction Podcast we have a new quarterly zine called Another Dimension.  they're looking for stories of 1000 to 3000 words in classic style horror or dark fantasy.  Think Night Gallery and the Twilight Zone.  The deadline for the first issue is December 31 and payment is 3cents a word.  You can find the details here.

Angie's Desk - Anthology Calls

Angie has posted her October list of anthology calls. Thanks, Angie!!

Writer's Block

Found one of the best thoughts about writer's block written by Octavia E. Butler in an essay titled "Breaking Through Writer's Block".

"If you know your craft, you may even be able to write well in spite of writer's block.  What's missing is not your ability to write, but your ability to feel any joy, any passion, any satisfaction in your writing"

I know that feeling well.  The words are there, but they all feel and sound like crap to me.  Some people tell you to write the crap but for me it just feels wrong and makes me feel sad instead of happy that I've managed to put words down on paper.
                                                                                                                

Raven Internation Publishing - Anthology Call

Raven International Publishing has posted an anthology call for "A Bleak New World".  They're looking for stories of 1500 to 4500 words about a dystopian future.  The deadline is October 31 and payment is $55.  You can find the details here.  They also have a second anthology call for "Super Heroic Stories: but there's no mention of payment for that one.

Permuted Press - A Caution

The latest small press to find itself the center of controversy is Permuted Press.  You can read about the details here and here. 

Garden Gnome Publicatons - Open for Themed Novella Submissions

Garden Gnome Publications is looking for novella length stories for their Mythicals series.  Stories should be 20,000 to 40,000 words that "cast old myths into new lenses or that create new myths out of thin air."  Any genre is welcome and payment is 50% of net royalties.  You can find the details here.  Their drop-down submissions menu also has other openings listed., some paying some non-paying.

writingcareer.com - Market Listings

The Writing Career site has added quite a few open paying markets to their site.  Rather than repeat what they've already posted I'll post this link for you to check them out.  It's a great site with plenty of paying markets posted almost daily.

Gemini Magazine is Now a Paying Market

I've been a fan of Gemini Magazine for quite a while and I'm pleased to announce that they're now a paying market.  They're paying $10 per story.  You can check out their guidelines here.

The News Story Cupboard

News stories are some of the best sources for short story ideas.  Take this story about an old woman who was swindled out of her home and money yet the very same people took her along when they left.  Of course, they eventually abandoned her, but the seeds of a great story are there.

What if the neighbor who reported her missing was a Miss Marple type?  What if the kidnapped woman was sharp enough to realize what was going on?  And the people who took her were twins with their godson along?  Now there's some intriguing possibilities if you wanted to add a little paranormal to your story.

Yep, there are ideas everywhere, you just have to open your imagination.

Jack Hardway's Crime Magazine - New Market

SMFS member Dan Persinger has announced that he's created a new crime zine called Jack Hardway's Crime Magazine.  He's looking for short crime stories of 1500 to 5000 words (no flash fiction) for his first issue which will premiere on October 31 providing he gets enough good stories.  The deadline for the first issue is October 27.  This is a non-paying market.  You can find the details here.

Pulp Modern - Open for Submissions

Editor Alec Cizak has announced the theme for Pulp Modern #7 is Dangerous Women.  He's looking for stories in any of the pulp genres and he'd also like to see more women contributors.  The deadline is June 1, 2015.  You can find the submission details here.  This is a non-paying market.

Burnt Bridge - Open for Novel Submissions

Burnt Bridge has opened for novel submissions in the pulp genres of Westerns (with a bit of weird) and Noir.  They publish in both ebook and print.  Submissions are through Submittable, guidelines here.

Anthology Call - Dreams From the Witch House - Female Writers Only

Editor Lynne Jamnek has posted a call for an anthology titled "Dreams From the Witch House" to be published by Dark Regions Press.  She is seeking Lovecraftian type fiction from female writers only.  Stories should be 2000 to 10,000 words in length.  The deadline is January 31, 2015.  Payment is 5cents a word for the first 5000 words and 3cents a word after that.  You can find the details here.

Short Story Sunday - Call for Submissions

A new UK based short story zine called Short Story Sunday is looking to launch in November.  They're looking for flash stories of 500 to 1000 words and shorts up to 3500 words.  They're open to all genres but they don't want erotica or extreme violence in the stories.  They're currently looking for holiday stories with a December 1 deadline for those.  This is a non-paying market.  You can find the details here.

Kegedonce Press - Anthology Call

Canadian publisher Kegedonce Press is seeking horror stories for an anthology titled "Indigenous Anthology of Horror Stories".  The deadline is November 21 for stories up to 5000 words.  Payment is $250.  The call is posted on their home page.

Midnight Echo - Open for Submissions

Midnight Echo, the official magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association, is open for submissions.  The theme this time is "Sinister".  They need stories up to 5000 words and the deadline is October 31.  Payment is 3cents a word with a maximum payment of $150.  You can find the details here.

Dark Recesses Press - Anthology Call

Dark Recesses Press is putting together an anthology titled "A Collection of Untimely Hours".  They're looking for novella length dark fiction of 15,000 to 25,000 words using the theme of time.  The deadline is December 31 and payment is 3cents a word.  You can find the details here.

Fireside Magazine - Open for Submissions

Fireside Magazine has opened submissions for their next issue also.  They're looking for flash stories up to 1000 words and shorts of 1500 to 4000 words in any genre.  They're mostly looking for flash fiction as there are only a few openings for short stories, so if you're looking to crack this market flash may be the best way to go.  The deadline is October 31 and payment is 12.5cents a word.  You can find the details here.

Nightmare - Open for Submissions

Nightmare Magazine has opened submissions for their next issue.  They're looking for Horror stories of 1500 to 7500 words.  Payment is 6cents a word.  You can find the details here.

All Due Respect - Open for Submissions

All Due Respect magazine has opened submissions for their next issue.  They're looking for crime stories of 2000 to 8000 words.  The deadline is November 15 and payment is $25.  You can find the details here.

Kraken Press - Open for Submissions

Kraken Press has opened submissions for novels, novellas, and short story collections up to 120,000 words.  You can find the details on their Submittable page

Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Awards - Open for Submissions

The 2015 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Awards has opened for submissions.  They're looking for short stories up to 8000 words that show the near future of manned space exploration.  The deadline is February 15, 2015.  There's no fee to enter.  You can find the details here.

Plots With Guns - New Issue

The final (?) issue of Plots With Guns has just hit the virtual streets.  Sixteen stories and what a great lineup of authors!  Check it out here.