The M.O. - New Theme Announced

Over at Criminal Element they've posted the new theme for the next "issue" of the M.O.  This is basically a contest with the winning entry being published online and receiving  5cents a word for their story.  The new theme is "Lesson Learned".  Stories should be 1000 to 1500 words and the reading period is August 14 to August 28.  You can find the details here and be sure to click on their guidelines link for the rest of the information.

Just to Clarify

I just wanted to clarify a few things about what I do here on the blog.  When I post markets I have taken the time to check out the website, checked to see if they charge fees, and find out if they're a paying market.  That's the first things I look for.  The only non-paying markets I post these days are crime markets as that's mostly where my interests lie.  I also post the occasional charity anthology or no-fee contests.

If the market is already in business I check to see if they publish on schedule, who they publish, and if the stories have been edited or just slapped up mistakes and all.  I read their guidelines, if they're too picky about formatting I usually pass on posting them unless they're a pro paying market.  I also check to see if they have any clauses that might harm a writer in some way, but I don't always catch them.  If they're going to pay IF they have a successful KickStarter I always mention that fact.  Anyone can promise money, but that little loophole means they might not.  It's always your decision whether to submit or not.

In most cases I don't know the editors (crime markets are the exception in some cases).  I don't have any more information about who's running the market than you do.  I can't help you if an editor doesn't respond to your submission or the market goes belly-up.  We're all in that boat together.

What I do is pass along market information that I've found and thought might be of interest to other writers as well as myself.  I expect each of you to check out the markets yourself and make that final decision to submit after you've done a bit of research about the market.

All I do here is track down markets and post the information.  I'm not responsible for what that market/editor does.  That said, I'll keep on posting markets as I find them and hope that in some small way I've helped other writers out there find homes for their work.

Thanks for reading.

In Short Publishing Company - New Market

The In Short Publishing Company is a press based in Australia but accepting submissions from around the world.  They're looking for short stories of 3000 to 4500 words in any genre.  Stories will be published in pocket sized chapbooks.  Payment is royalties only.  You can check out the details here.

To MFA or Not

Over at Elaine Ash's AshEdit blog there's an interesting post by Les Edgerton about the MFA programs. Elaine has been running this topic as a series both pro and con so be sure to check out her other postings,

Postmark Books - Non-fiction Anthology Call - Canadian Residents Only

Canadian publisher Postmark Books has posted an anthology call for "Disconnectopia".  They're looking for personal essays of 1000 to 3000 words about digital detoxing.  The deadline is August 31 and payment is an honorarium of CDN $25.  Only residents of Canada are allowed to submit to this anthology (they say it's a tax thing).  You can find the details here.

FunDead Publications - Anthology Call

FunDead Publications has posted an anthology call (untitled at this time) for spooky short stories set in Salem, MA, any time period is acceptable.  Stories should be 1000 to 6000 words.  The deadline is March 15, 2016 and payment is $10.  You can find the details here.

Microcosm Publishing - Anthology Call

Microcosm Publishing has posted an anthology for their fourth Bikes in Space series.  This one is "Bikes in Space 4: Utopia/Dystopia".  This series seeks "speculative fiction short stories with a feminist perspective that incorporates bicycling or bicycles in some way".  The average story is 2500 words but they accept longer and shorter.  The deadline is November 1 for publication in 2016.  Payment depends on a successful KickStarter.  You can find the details here.

Prairie Rose Publications - Call for Novellas

Prairie Rose Publications has posted a call for novella submissions of 15,000 to 25,000 words.  They're looking for romance stories (various genres) based on song titles they have listed and in the time periods of those songs.  They will be pairing the stories as "Duets" (two to a book).  At this time they're looking for queries.  The deadline is January 1, 2016.  You can find the details here.  Just scroll down the page.  This is a royalty paying press.

Urban Farmhouse Press - Non-fiction Anthology Call

Urban Farmhouse Press has posted an anthology call on their Submittable page for craft essays of 2000 to 9500 words focused on the topics of poetry, fiction, and literary science fiction.  While they charge a fee for submitting to their  other projects there is no fee to submit to the anthology.  The deadline is September 30, payment is a small cash honorarium.   You can find the details here, just scroll down the page.

The Dark City - New Crime Market

The Dark City is a new crime and mystery magazine that's looking to launch this Fall.  They're looking for short stories of 1000 to 7500 words.  There's no deadline listed and payment is $25.  You can find the details here.

Good Mourning Media - Anthology Call

Good Mourning Media has posted an anthology call for "Unconventional Love".  They're looking for romantic fiction up to 15,000 words that revolves around attending a convention.  The genres seem to be open so long as there's romance involved.  The deadline is August 31 and payment is $30.  You can find the details here. 

CBAY Books - Anthology Call

CBAY Books has published an anthology call for "Giants & Ogres".  They're looking for stories up to 5000 words in the genres of fantasy or sci-fi.  Each story must feature either an ogre or a giant as the main character and stories should be aimed at the 13 to 18 year old audience.  The submission period opens on August 1 and ends September 18.  Payment is $30, publication in June 2016.  You can find the details here.

Hat tip to Coffintree Hill.

Solarpunk Press - New Market

Solarpunk Press will be opening for submissions on Monday, July 27.  They're looking for short stories of 2000 to 5000 words that feature worlds powered by any type of solar power.  Payment is 3cents a word.  They will be publishing one story a month in both audio and text form on their site.  You can check out the details here.

House of Erotica - Anthology Call - Crime Stories

UK Publisher House of Erotica has posted an anthology call for "A Dose of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem".  They're looking for stories of 5000 to 15,000 words that include a crime and romance (any heat level is acceptable).  The deadline is October 31 and payment is a royalty split.  You can find the call here.

Pulp Modern - New Issue

Pulp Modern #9 is now available for purchase.  Check it out here.

Mantle Press - Anthology Call

UK publisher Mantle Press has posted an anthology call for "It Haunts Us Still".  They're looking for stories of 1000 to 6000 words.  Haunted can refer to a state of mind or it can be meant literally.  The deadline is August 30 and payment is 1p per word.  Writers based in the UK Midlands have the best chance of being accepted but they are open to writers from other areas.  You can find the details here.

Black Book Publishing - Anthology Calls

Black Book Publishing has two anthology calls listed on their submission page, both with open until full deadlines.  The first is "Illuminati at My Door" which is seeking stories of 3000 to 10,000 words that feature aspects of modern "Secret Society" mythology and rumors.  The second is an Urban Romance anthology titled "Sugar Daddy Wanted:  No Experience Necessary".  This one is seeking stories of 3000 to 10,000 words that focus on a pay to play relationship.  Both anthologies pay $50 plus royalties.  You can find the details here, just scroll down the page.   One thing you should note about this publisher is that they're geared toward the African American culture and experience - This is stated at the top of their home page but not in the guidelines.

Prairie Rose Publications - Anthology Calls

Prairie Rose Publications has a call posted for three Christmas anthologies.  The first two are looking for fictional stories of 10,000 to 15,000 words for the titles "A Mail-Order Christmas Bride" and "One Christmas Knight".  The deadline for both of these is September 15.  They're also looking for non-fiction Christmas stories of 1500 to 3000 words for "Memories from Maple Street USA".  The deadline for this one is October 15.  This is a royalty paying publisher.  You can find the details here.

Sez Publishing - Anthology Call

SEZ Publishing is a brand new publisher that has posted an anthology call for "Ghost Stories".  They're looking for poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and photography.  Short fiction should be 500 to 3500 words.  The deadline is August 25, payment is a royalty split.  You can find the details here.

12 Greatest Fictional Detectives?

Over at the io9 site they  have a list of "The 12 Greatest Fictional Detectives (Who Aren't Sherlock Holmes)".  Not sure if I agree with some of them, but it surely is an interesting list.  I would have put Lew Archer there instead of Jessica Fletcher, but that's my humble opinion.

A Quick Note

Okay, I just got back online and will try to catch up as soon as possible with markets and such.  My little black cable box just hates thunderstorms and that's apparently what took it out on Friday night.  Back soon.

Angie's Desk - Anthology Markets

Angie has published her July listing of anthology markets.  Thanks, Angie!

Mainly Murder Press - Open for Novel Submissions

Mainly Murder Press is currently open for novel submissions.  They publish mystery novels with an emphasis on New England based stories by New England authors, though they will considers other mystery novels.  You can check them out here.  This is a royalty paying press.

Betty Fedora - Open for Submissions

Just a reminder that print magazine Betty Fedora is still open for crime stories featuring "kick-ass" women.  Stories should be 1000 to 6000 words.  The deadline is July 31 and payment is one print copy.  You can check it out here.

Golfwell's Annual Golf Story Writing Competition - No Fee

Golfwell's Annual Golf Story Writing Competition is looking for entries of family friendly golf stories up to 700 words.  Both fiction and non-fiction are welcome.  There is no fee to enter.  Prizes are $300 - $150 - $50 for the top three stories plus publication on their site.  One thing to consider before you enter is that they're taking the option of publishing all entries online.  If you scroll down the page you'll see some of the entries that are already posted.  You can check out the details here.

Apex Books - Helping Out Tom Piccirilli's Family

Apex Books has posted that from now until the end of the month if you purchase any of Tom Piccirilli's work that they've published on their site all proceeds will be donated to Tom's wife Michele Scalise and their family to help with the medical bills.  They've also published links to Tom's work that listed at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  While the big guys aren't donating all the profits, the sales will help his family.  You can check out the post here.

Fossil Lake - Anthology Call

Okay, this one doesn't pay much, $5 for poetry and flash to 1000 words and $10 for shorts of 2000 to 5000 words, but the theme sounds like so much fun.  The title of this anthology is "Fossil Lake III:  Unicornado!".  The theme is unicorns and/or natural disasters, preferably both.  And they want you to have fun and go as wild as you want.  Submissions open next week on July 22 and close on August 22.  You can find the details here.

The Sirens Call - Open for Submissions

The Sirens Call ezine is open for submissions for issue #22.  The theme is "Supernatural".  They're looking for shorts of 1000 to 2500 words, flash of 300 to 1000 words, and drabbles of exactly 100 words.  The deadline is August 1.  This is a non-paying market but they accept reprints which can give your stories a wider audience.  You can check out the details here.  They also have an anthology call listed which I've mentioned before just scroll down the page for the details.  The pay is $25 for the anthology.

2015 International Thriller Writers Awards

Via Shots Magazine comes the list of winners of the 2015 International Thrillers Writers Awards.  Congrats to all the winners!!

Mothership Zeta - New Market

Mothership Zeta is a new quarterly ezine from the folks at Escape Artists Inc. who produce Escape Pod, Pod Castle, and Pseudo Pod.  But this market is not a podcast it's an online print zine.  Their reading period opens today July 12 and ends July 25 so don't dally if you're going to submit.  They're looking for shorts up to 6,000 words and flash up to 1,000 words.  And they want "sci-fi, fantasy, and horror stories that are fun".  Payment is 6cents a word for stories and a flat rate of $30 for flash.  You can find the details here.

Looking at the World of Weird Westerns

Interesting piece in The Guardian about "Weird Westerns that Cross the Genre Border".  Loved what they had to say about Joe R. Lansdale.

Pages of Stories - Anthology Call

From Canadian publisher Pages of Stories comes news that their magazine Fieta Fabula will now be an anthology.  They are looking for stories of 1500 words to 8000 words in any genre.  Payment is in the form of royalties, be sure to scroll down the page to read how the royalties are paid.  You can find the details here.  The link will take you to their guidelines page where you'll find a link to a pdf file.

Thanks to short story writer Herschel Cozine for the tip!

Apex Publications - Open for Novel and Novella Submissions

Apex Publications has opened for novel and novella submissions in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.  Novels up to 120,000 words and novellas should be 30,000 to 40,000 words in length.  The deadline is July 31.  No agents are required to submit.  They pay an advance plus royalties.  You can find all the details here.

Hat tip to Horror Tree!

The H Word: The Politics of Horror by Paul Tremblay

Over at Nightmare Magazine there's a great essay by Paul Tremblay that shines a light on the horror genre and how the best of it should be written.  You can check it out here.

Alliteration Ink - Anthology Call

Alliteration Ink has posted an anthology call for "Steampunk Universe".  They're looking for multi cultural stories that focus on characters with exceptionalities.  Stories should be kept at 4000 words or less.  The deadline is June 1, 2016 - yes, you have a whole year to work on this.  Payment will be 6cents a word and they will be having a fundraiser in the future to pay for it.  You can find the details here.

Third Order Magazine - Open for Submissions

Third Order Magazine is looking for sci-fi and fantasy short stories that deal with faith and religion.  And yes, they have a list of dos and don'ts in their guidelines.  Stories can be up to 7000 words in length.  Payment is $25.  You can find the details here.  There are stories on site for you to read so you can get a feel for what they're looking for.

Fiction Vale - Closed

I missed this back in April but better late than never.  Fiction Vale has closed its virtual doors.

On Writing Steampunk by James Blaylock

The Boing Boing site has a wonderful essay up by James Blaylock called "On Writing Steampunk".  While he does talk about steampunk he also talks about how reading helps him write.  Very interesting reading.

The Big Click - New Issue

The July/August issue of The Big Click is now available.  You can check it out here.

Prose 'n Cons - New Issue

The Summer issue of Prose 'n Cons is now available for purchase.  You can check it out here.

Hat tip to In Reference to Murder.

Grift - N0T Open for Submissions

Duotrope has Grift magazine open for submissions for issue #3 but that listing was posted last year and in January of this year Issue #3 was still in the process of being put together.  I checked LuLu.com but the issue hasn't been published yet.  The only listing on their Submittable page is for art work.  My best guess would be not to send any submissions here.

Betwixt - Open for Submissions

Betwixt Magazine has opened submissions for their next issue.  They're looking for speculative fiction stories of 4000 to 7000 words.  The deadline is August 31 and payment is 3cents a word with a $225 cap.  You can find the details here.

BJ Bourg's Mystery Mag - New Crime Market

It's always a good day when I can post about a new mystery market.  Author and editor BJ Bourg has announced that he's setting up a new quarterly called BJ Bourg's Mystery Mag.  The first submission period is open until July 31 and selected stories will be published in the first issue which will debut in October.

So, what's he looking for?  Any kind of mystery/crime flash story that leans toward the hard-boiled without dipping into the hard core neo-noir.  Stories should be 500 to 750 words in length and payment is $10.  You can find all the details here.

BJ was also the publisher behind the now defunct Mouth Full of Bullets ezine.  If you're interested in the type of work that he's published before there's a Best of Year One available at Lulu.com  It's available in print or ebook.  And yes, I have a story in there :)

UPDATE:  July 6 - The website Righting Crime Fiction which is the home for the magazine has gone live.  You can check it out here.

Akashic Books - Call for Flash Submissions

Akashic Books has added an new category to their weekly flash fiction submissions.  This time around they're looking for Wilderness Wednesdays.  They want "hard-boiled stories about men and women in perilous encounters with the natural world".  In 750 words.  This is a non-paying market.  You can find the details here.

So, you want to write comics, do ya? by Alex Segura

Occasionally I post market calls for comics so it seems only fitting to post this informative essay, "So, you want to write comics, do ya?" by Alex Segura that's up over at the Do Some Damage blog today.

Literary Wanderlust - Anthology Call

Literary Wanderlust has posted an anthology call for romance stories of 10,000 to 18,000 words set during the Winter holidays.  Reprints are okay.  The deadline is July 31 and payment is $30.  You can find the details here.

FableCroft - Anthology Postponed

On May 4 I posted an anthology call from FableCroft Publishing for "Monsterful:  Stories of the Awesome and Extraordinary".  The submission period was to begin today but there was no sign of the call on their website.  Checking their Twitter account I found this:
FableCroft ‏@fablecroft May 30

Due to other commitments, we have postponed the reading period for MONSTERFUL until a future date. Apologies to those planning to submit.

 So if you've written a story I'm afraid you'll have to find a new market.  Sorry about that folks.

ThugLit - New Issue

ThugLit #18 is now available for your Kindles.  Check it out here.