Off the Grid For a While

Postings will once again be light to non-existent for a bit.  In the space of three weeks I've lost my mother and now my husband.  Neither death was expected as neither of them were ill and to tell the truth I'm having a bit of trouble coping.  One minute I'm fine, the next crying my heart out.  Nothing really prepares you for such loss.  March Madness has come to have a whole new meaning for me.  Take care my friends and treasure those you love.  Life can change in the blink of an eye.

Witness: Crime and Execution - Anthology Call

The National Association of Writers in Education based in the UK has posted an anthology call for "Witness:  Crime and Execution".  They're looking for stories up to 5000 words about crime in a specific place, preferable from the North East UK but also open to other countries and places.  The deadline is June 1, there is no mention of payment so that's something you'll have to query.  You can find the call here. 

Thanks to Michael Bracken for the link!

Horror Addicts - Anthology Call

The Horror Addicts site has posted an anthology call for "Once Upon a Scream".  They're looking for horror fairytales of 2000 to 8000 words.  The deadline is October 31 and payment is $5.  You can find the details here.

Betty Fedora - First Issue Now Available

The first issue of the new magazine Betty Fedora is now available in both print and ebook format.  Very cool cover and some great authors.  Check it out here. 

Mad Scientist Journal - Special Issue Call

Just a reminder that the special call for "Selfies From the End of the World" sponsored by Mad Scientist Journal closes on March 31.  Payment is 1cent a word for this one.  You can find the details here.

Robot Cowgirl Press - Anthology Calls

Robot Cowgirl Press has two open anthology calls.  The first is short notice called "Alien Abduction" with a deadline of March 31.  Stories should be 2000 to 8000 words.  Payment is $50.  The second is titled "Sword and Sorcery" with an April 30 deadline.  Stories should be 3000 to 8000 words. Payment is $50.  They have an online submission form on their site.  The link will take you to the home page where you'll find links to both calls.

Red Moon Romance - Anthology Calls

Red Moon Romance has two anthology calls posted.  One titled "Rough Edges" is looking for western romance stories either contemporary or historical.  The second titled "Covalent Bonds" is looking for geek romance.  Payment is a royalty share.  You can find the details here, just scroll down the page for the anthology calls.

Burial Day Books - Anthology Call

Burial Day Books has posted call for Vol 5 of their Gothic Blue Book series.  They need gothic stories and poetry up to 3500 words.  Please read the guidelines carefully as they have some specific details they want in the stories.  The deadline is August 15 and payment is $25.  Submissions are through Submittable.  You can find the details here.

Murder in the Newsroom - Anthology Call

From Michael Bracken comes a link to an anthology call for "Murder in the Newsroom".  They're looking for stories of 1000 to 8000 words that feature a strong New England newsroom connection.  Stories can be contemporary or historical.  The deadline is June 1 with publication being in 2016.  Payment is $50.  You can find the details here on the right hand side of the page.

Killer Reads - Call for Novel Submissions

Harper Collins has opened submissions for their ebook line Killer Reads.  They're looking for crime/thriller novels of 70,000 words.  The deadline is April 19.  There's no mention of payment rates.  You can find the details here.  Be sure to read all the way to the bottom as there's more details in the fine print that might help with your decision to submit.

Blight Digest - New Issue

The Winter issue of Blight Digest has hit the stores.  Check it out here.

Christina Escamilla Publishing - Anthology Call

Christina Escamilla Publishing has posted an anthology call for "The Deep Dark Woods".  They're looking for horror stories set in the woods - flash fiction to 500 words and shorts to 8000 words.  The deadline is May 31 and payment is 5cents a word.  You can find the details here.

Less Than Three Press - Anthology Call

Erotica Publisher Less Than Three Press has posted an anthology call for "Enchanted Soles".  They're looking for stories of 10,000 to 20,000 words about "people assisted on their way by enchanted shoes".  There should be at least one bisexual character and a romance in the story.  Any genre is acceptable.  The deadline is August 31 and payment is $200.  You can find the details here. 

Tiny Owl Workshop - Call for Noveltinis

Australian publisher Tiny Owl Workshop has opened a new line called Noveltini.  They are looking for stories of 10,000 to 25,000 words in any genre for adult and YA readers.  The deadline is May 31 and payment is a small advance plus royalties.  You can find all the details here. 

Fireside Magazine - Open for Flash Submissions

Fireside Magazine is open for flash submissions (under 1000 words) in any genre, just tell a great story.  The deadline is April 11 and payment is 12.5cents a word.  You can find all the details here.

Weirdbook Magazine - Open for Submissions

My email account is full of leads today.  From Michael Bracken comes word that Weirdbook Magazine is making a comeback.  They are open for submissions for issue 31 in various genres of the weird.  Payment is $5 per 1000 words with a maximum of $30.  They prefer that you keep stories under 6000 words.  You can find the details here.

Thanks, Michael!

Onyx Neon Shorts - Open for Submissions

This was sent to me by the Onyx Neon editor, Jeffrey Martin.  This is a royalty paying market.

Hi Sandra,

This is Jeffrey Martin, the Head Editor of Onyx Neon Shorts, I am emailing to let you know that we have three new projects that we are opening submissions for.

Below are the broad terms of the things we're looking for, with links to the specific submission guidelines for each project.

First, This summer we’re doing a genre fiction series, called Summer of the Fantastic.

It’s not one specific subcategory, but we want tales of adventure, or Magic—stories of fantastical happenings. In our world and other worlds. I know it’s pretty broad, but we want to keep it broad to entice a wide range of fantastical genre fiction stories. We already have some submissions that have come in from personal contacts, but no releases are set in stone currently.

It should be noted that anything sent will also be considered as a short during the rest of the year. It’s not like this is the only time we’ll be publishing genre fiction. I, for one, love genre fiction. So don’t fret if you don’t make it into The Summer of the Fantastic. See the full Submission Guidelines here.

Second, in October we’ll be releasing a collection of horror stories.

We’d like 13  stories that fall under the huge umbrella category of horror. For this we’re looking for stories about creepy happenings, monsters, ghosts, demons, or good old fashioned blood, guts, and gore. This is a pretty broad topic and if you feel like your story is a horror, send it our way. Instead of being a set of stand alone shorts this one will be a collection that will be packaged together as a single unit. We have had a lot of luck with this kind of thing in the past and we want this to become a yearly event. I keep seeing the genre of horror not get it’s dues, and we’d like, in whatever way we can, to help have that not happen. Let’s stand together and make a collection of stories worth reading. Also, if we can scare the crap out of some people, that would be something to be proud of. See the full Submissions Guidelines here.

And third, and finally, we’re re-activating the Cifiscape project. 

Cifiscape is a portmanteau of Sci-Fi and Cityscape. This is a project we have previously worked on, and we are excited to announce that we’re reopening it. Submissions for this are a little different than other projects that we do. We’re looking for tales of the future. We previously did two volumes of short stories about the future of Minneapolis. We’re making it much more open ended this time and want to do tales of the future from ANY city. When we first started the project in 2010, we said it needed to be science fiction. But really it can be any genre as long as it’s set in the future of a city. It’s geographically-focused, future-based fiction. So steampunk, scifi, speculative, or murder mystery would all be appropriate submissions for this project. We’ll be releasing them in the format we’ve been releasing our Onyx Neon Shorts series, and using this site as the base for it. It is about describing the future zeitgeist of a city, so if you feel like this fits what you write, you’ll know it, so submit it. If you have questions or want to ask if your story fits just let us know and we’ll be happy to talk.

A full submission guideline is available here.

How to submit

If any of these sound like they are something you’d want to be involved with please let us know and submit your shorts at shorts@onyxneon.com

Twit Publishing - Anthology Calls

Twit Publishing has posted two anthology calls for this year.  The first is "Tales of Unseen Terror and Slumbering Horrors".  For this one they're looking for horror stories of 4000 to 9000 words based in the Lovecraft mythos.  The deadline is September 15 and payment is 3% royalties.  The second is "Diesel Punk Fairytales".  For this one the genres are wide open so long as there's diesel punk with a fairytale twist.  The deadline is December 15 and payment is 3% royalties.  I'm linking to the submission page where you'll find links to both calls.

18th Wall Publishing - Call for Sherlock Holmes Novellas

For all you Sherlock Holmes fans out there now's your chance to write your own story featuring the great detective.  18thWall Publishing has posted an anthology call for "The Science of Detection:  Twelve Cases of Sherlock Holmes".  They're looking for twelve novellas of 15,000 to 35,000 words.  You can use your own characters, use any time frame, or any genre just so long as you include Holmes (as Holmes, not a Zombie or Werewolf Holmes) in your story.  The novellas will be released individually each month of 2016 then collected together as an anthology.  Payment will be a 50% royalty for the individual stories and a 4% royalty on the collected stories anthology.  The deadline is November 15.  You can find the details here.

Lighter Postings than Usual

Posting might be a bit lighter than usual over the next few days.  The first reason is that I haven't been finding  many paying markets.  The second reason is personal as we've had a death in the family and I'm not sure how much time will be needed to deal with family matters.

A Death by Stephen King

"A Death" by Stephen King is free to read over at the New Yorker.  Oddly enough this isn't one of his horror stories but a Western.  And while the ending seems to have a solid conclusion it still leaves you wondering.

Sirens Call Publications - Anthology Call

Sirens Call Publications has posted an anthology call titled "Through Clouded Eyes:  A Zombie's View".  They want horror stories of 4000 to 8000 words written from the zombie's point of view.  The deadline is June 1 and payment is $25.  You can find the details here.

World Weaver Press - Anthology Call

World Weaver Press has posted an anthology call for "Frozen Fairy Tales".  Nope, not the Disney movie but original fairytales set in the Winter.  Stories can be up to 10,000 words.  The deadline is May 15 and payment is $20 plus a print copy.  You can find the details here.

Raven Warren - A Caution

Do you ever read market guidelines that set off warning bells in your head?  Over at Duotrope I found a listing for Raven Warren.  They're putting together an anthology called "Winning! A Guide to Games That Never Were".  Sounded like fun but the pay is only $5.  What bothered me is that on their about page they say that they specialize in game development.  The bells?  There's no listing of what rights they're buying.  I worry that since they're game developers that they might decide to develop one of the "imaginary" games into the real thing and if your rights aren't stated you might lose control of what happens to your story after publication.  If you decide to submit to this market be very sure of what rights you're granting this company.

Skyhorse Publishing - Anthology Call

Editor Douglas Lain has posted an anthology call for "Deserts of Fire".  He's looking for both original and reprint stories set in or during the Iraq War.  The deadline is June 1.  Payment is $50 to $100 for reprints and $100 to $200 for original stories.  Skyhorse Publishing will be publishing this anthology under their Nightshade Books imprint.  You can find the details for submitting here.

Caffeinated Press - Anthology Call

Caffeinated Press publishes their anthology "Brewed Awakenings" annually and if you'd like to make it into this year's anthology the deadline is May 15.  It's open genre and there's no theme.  Shorts up to 7500 words receive $100, novelettes up to 17,500 words receive $175, and novellas up to 40,000 receive $250.  You can find all the details here.  Writers from all over the US are welcome to submit but preference is given to writers connected to the West Michigan area.

The Offing - New Market

The Offing is a new project of the Los Angeles Review of Books.  They are planning to launch on March 16 and are seeking submissions of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.  Payment is $25, submissions are through Submittable.

Dig by Dyer Wilk

I've only read a few of Dyer Wilk's stories but they always have that knack of pulling me in and giving me a very satisfying ending.  His story at Out of the Gutter does just that, hell, he even made me smile at the end.  You can read "Dig" here.

Fox Spirit Books - Anthology Call

Fox Spirit Books has posted an anthology call for "Winter Tales".  They're looking for speculative fiction stories of 1500 to 7500 words set on earth with winter as the frame.  The deadline is June 15 and payment is 10pounds plus a print and ebook copy.  You can find the details here.

The Big Click - New Issue

And the March/April issue of The Big Click is now available for your kindles or to read online.  Check it out here.

MystericalE - New Issue

The newest issue of MystericalE has hit the virtual streets.  Check it out here.

The Golden Story Cupboard

Chance or planned?  Very cool start to a crime story.

The Water Holds No Scars - Charity Anthology Call

Tulip Tree Press will be the publisher for this charity anthology titled "The Water Holds no Scars:  Fly Fishing Stories of Rivers and Rejuvenation".  They're looking for essays/creative non-fiction up to 5000 words about the healing benefits of fly fishing and/or communing with nature.  Proceeds will benefit the Platte Rivers Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Program.  The deadline is June 30.  You can find the details here.

Elysian Fields LLC - Anthology Call

Elysian Fields LLC has an open anthology call for "Katrina Plus Ten".  They're looking for poetry, short fiction, essays, and non-fiction pieces about life after Katrina.  Payment is $20 per published page plus royalties.  The deadline is March 31.  You'll find the call here.

Fey Publishing - Anthology Call

Fey Publishing has posted an anthology call for "the most disturbing horror" stories you can tell up to 10,000 words.  Payment is $5 and the deadline is June 30.  You can find the details here.  They're also open to novel submissions for both adult and YA.  Details on the same page.

Title 18: Word Crime Podcast

If you missed NoirCon in Philadelphia this year you can get a little taste of it here at Title 18: Word Crime Podcast.  In the links on the right hand side of that page you'll find selections of short stories and readings from various Noir at the Bar readings.

2015 Derringer Award Nominees

The Short Mystery Fiction Society has announced the nominees for the 2015 Derringer Awards.  Congrats to all the nominees!!

FLASH

Because Melissa Yi    Fiction River Special Edition: Crime   
Sweet Smells     Jed Power    Shotgun Honey   
HOW LIL JIMMIE BEAT THE BIG C Joseph DAgnese Shotgun Ho
Foodies    Rob Hart    Shotgun Honey   
Knockout    Eryk Pruitt    Out of the Gutter Online   
Because    Travis Richardson    Out of the Gutter Online   

SHORT

The Least of These    BV Lawson    Plan B Magazine Volume III   
Killing Sam Clemens William Burton McCormick Sherlock Holmes MysteryMagazine    
A Friend in Brown Mary E. Stiba Rogue Wave:  Best New England Crime Stories
The Bad Son    Britni Patterson Carolina Crimes: 19 Tales of Lust Love and Longing   
The Kaluki Kings of Queens Cathi Stoler    Murder New York Style: Family Matters   

LONG

A Hopeless Case    Hilary Davidson All Due Respect (issue #4)   
Separation Anxiety    Angel Luis Colón All Due Respect   
The Ultimate Mystery M. H. Callway World Enough and Crime
The Missing Money    James T. Shannon    Rogue Wave:  Best New England Crime Stories   
Dead Men Tell No Tales Cathy Wiley Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays   

NOVELETTE

Hitlers Dogs    Doug Allyn Fiction River Special Edition: Crime   
Infernal Trey Dowell Untreed Reads   
BUSTING RED HEADS Richard Helms Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine   
The Monster in Our Midst Kris Nelscott Fiction River Special Edition: Crime
Juba Good Vicki Delany Ocra Books   

ThugLit - New Issue

Issue #16 of ThugLit is now available for your Kindles.  Check it out here.

Jack Hardway's Crime Magazine - New Issue

The March/April issue of Jack Hardways' Crime Magazine has hit the virtual streets.  Check it out here.