Mystery Readers Journal - Call for Non-fiction Submissions

Over at Mystery Fanfare editor Janet Rudolph has posted a call for non-fiction submissions about crime fiction set in New York City for Mystery Readers Journal.  She's looking for reviews of 50 to 250 words, articles of 250 to 1000 words, and Author! Author essays of 500 to 1500 words.  The deadline is February 20.  I believe this is a non-paying market but it is a good place to get your name out there in the crime fiction community and a lovely chance to advertise your novel if you have one set in New York.  You can find the details here.

Joe Lansdale - Darkness on the Edge of Town

Wonderful piece about author Joe Lansdale on the Texas Monthly website.

Hat tip to Bill Crider.

Duane Swierczynski - Interview

There's a very interesting interview with author Duane Swierczynski over at Geekadelphia where he talks about writing comics.

Hat tip to Title 18.

The Liz McMullen Show - Anthology Call

The Liz McMullen Show has posted an anthology call for "A Lizzie's Bedtime Stories Humor Anthology".  They're looking for laugh out loud funny essays of 2000 to 4000 words and short stories of 3000 to 4000 words.  The deadline is April 18 and payment is $50 plus two print copies.  You can find the details here.

Hypnos - Open for Submissions

Hypnos magazine has opened for submissions to their Spring issue.  They are looking for stories up to 10,000 words in the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror but it must embrace the "Weird".  The deadline is April 3 and payment is 1cent a word.  They do accept reprints but prefer original work.  You can find the details here.

Free Online Comics Course

For those of you interested in learning about the world of creating comics California College of the Arts is offering a free online course titled "Comics:  Art of Relationships".  This is a five session course that begins in February.  You can find the details here.

Down and Out Books - Anthology Call

Down and Out Books has posted a submission call on FaceBook for "Blood on the Bayou: Bouchercon 2016 Anthology".  They're looking for crime stories of 2000 to 5000 words set in or inspired by Bayou Country.  The deadline is March 15.  As this is a charity anthology payment is one print and one ebook copy.  You can find the details here.

The Flash Fiction Press - Open for Submissions

The Flash Fiction Press is an online site that publishes flash fiction of 100 to 1200 words in any genre.  Also once a week they publish a short story of 1200 to 5000 words.  Payment here is $3 for flash and $5 for shorts.  You can find the details here.  There are stories already published on the site so you can get a feel for what they're looking for.

Crooked Cat Publishing - Open for Novel Submissions

UK based Crooked Cat Publishing is open to novel submissions in the Crime, Thriller, and Mystery genres.  They want the first three chapters up to 10,000 words but the novel (up to 90,000 words) must be complete.  I could find no pay specifics so that is something you'll have to query.  You can find the details and the submission form here.

A Two Dames Production - Anthology Call

A Two Dame Production is an erotica publisher and they've opened submissions for an anthology with the theme of Fairy Tales.  They want retold stories up to 5000 words and not the usual suspect fairytales.  They have a link in the guidelines to an online collection of fairytales.  The deadline is March 20 and payment is $25 plus a print copy.  The book will be published in both print and ebook formats.  You can find the details here.

Timeless Tales Magazine - Open for Submissions

Timeless Tales Magazine open submissions today for issue #6 with the theme of Psyche and Cupid.  The want PG stories up to 2000 words that are retellings of fairytales and myths that fit their theme.  Reprints are acceptable.  The deadline is February 25 and payment has been raised from $10 to $20.  You can find the details here.  They are also accepting poetry this year.

One Eye Press - Open for Crime Novella Queries

One Eye Press is currently open for crime and hard luck novellas of 25,000 to 45,000 words.  You must query first.  They will be open until their 2016 lineup is full.  You can find the details here.

Lethe Press - Anthology Calls

Lethe Press has posted their anthology calls for 2016.  This is a gay press looking to fill three original and one reprint anthology all with different themes (mostly in the speculative fiction genre).  The deadlines vary, and payments range from 3cents a word to flat rates depending on length.  You can find the details here.

Metaphorosis - Open for Submissions

Metaphorosis online magazine has opened submissions for their next issue.  They're looking for sci-fi/fantasy stories of 1000 to 6000 words.  Submissions are through Submittable.  Payment is 1cent a word.  You can find the details here.

Crime Wave Press - Open for Novel Submissions

Crime Wave Press has opened submissions for both crime novels up to 90,000 words and short story collections up to 60,000 words.  There is no advance only a royalty split.  They publish in both ebook and print formats.  You can find the details here.

Transmundane Press - Anthology Call

Transmundane Press has extended the deadline for their anthology "After the Happily Ever After".  They're looking for stories of 100 to 7500 words that "transform well-known fairytales into modern, realistic, or fantastical stories".  The deadline is February 20 and payment is $5 to $20 depending on length.  You can find the details here.

Angie's Desk - Anthology Calls

Angie has published her January list of anthology calls.  Thanks, Angie!

Writer's Ark Forum - Market Resource

This past weekend I discovered the Writer's Ark Forum and today I spotted a list of paying markets for April, May, and June.  You can check the post here.  This forum is basically for spec fiction writers but you never know what you'll find that might interest your writer brain.

Mystery Writers of America - 2016 Edgar Award Nominees

Mystery Writers of America has announced the nominees for this year's Edgar awards.  Congrats to all the nominees!!

Hat tip to Bill Crider!

Dead Gun Magazine - First Issue Now Available

Dead Gun Press has published the first print issue of Dead Gun Magazine.  You can pick up a copy here.  Lots of familiar names on the TOC.

Crime Syndicate - New Issue

I somehow missed that the new magazine "Crime Syndicate" has been published and is now available for your Kindles.  Check it out here.

Michael Bracken Interview

Michael Bracken talks about writing and rejection in an interview over at the Rejectomancy blog.

Orthogonal Magazine - Open for Submissions

Orthogonal magazine has opened submissions until January 31.  They have a very short window here.  They are looking for stories that fit two themes which are "Code" and "Criminal Variations".  At this point they are especially looking for flash fiction under 1000 words for which they pay $30.  For short stories of 1000 to 5000 words they pay $100.  You can find the details here.  Especially note that they require an anonymous email account for submissions - they want everything anonymous so every writer has an equal chance of acceptance. 

Silver Birch Press - Anthology Call

Silver Birch Press has posted an anthology call for a "Nancy Drew Anthology".  They're looking for poems, shorts to 2000 words, essays to 1500 words, and creative non-fiction to 2000 words that celebrate Nancy Drew.  The deadline is April 30 and payment is 1 print copy.  You can find the details here.

Yes, it's basically a non-paying market but I know there are a lot of Nancy Drew fans out there who might enjoy participating in this one.

Evil Girlfriend Media - Open Call for February 1st

Evil Girlfriend Media will be opening for submissions on February 1 for a new online feature called Speculate!  They're looking for dark speculative fiction stories of 4000 to 7000 words that fit the theme "Curiosity Killed the Cat".  The editors state that they're looking for magic and mystery, murder and mayhem so crime stories can be a fit here if you add a speculative (horror is part of the speculative genre) twist to your murder mystery.  There's no deadline listed and payment is $100.  They also want the option to print an anthology of the Speculate! and authors will be paid an addition reprint fee if they do.  You can find the details here,

Alan Rickman RIP

Just found out that Alan Rickman passed away.  Such sad news for movie watchers like me.  While he was wonderful in playing over the top bad guys I always loved his turns with comedy.  I have two favorites that are rarely mentioned "Blow Dry" and "Judas Kiss".  And I will always remember that surprised look on his face when Quigley shot him in their final scene of "Quigley Down Under" then said, "Didn't say I couldn't use one, I said I didn't have much use for one."  And that wonderful Rickman smirk as he died in that scene.  RIP in peace good sir.  You will be missed.

18th Wall Publications - Anthology Call

18th Wall Publications has posted an anthology call for "After Avalon".  They're looking for stories of 1000 to 15,000 words that come after the fall of Camelot.  You can set your stories in any time period from the death of Arthur to present day but you must stay true to Arthurian legend.  And I don't see any reason why your knights can't be police officers or PI's if you want to give this one a shot with a crime story set in present day.  It could definitely put a different spin on the legend.  The deadline is April 2 and payment is a royalty split.  You can find the details here.

Dreaming Robot Press - Anthology Call

Dreaming Robot Press has opened submissions for the "2017 Young Explorer's Adventure Guide".  They are looking for adventure stories of 3000 to 6000 words in the genres of science fiction and fantasy geared toward middle grade readers.  The deadline is May 15 and payment is 6cents a word.  You can find the details here.

Scrawl Brawl - Open for Submissions

I ran across a fun flash site tonight called Scrawl Brawl.  They're looking for stories of 100 words or less for the current theme of Medieval Times.  This could be a good spot for some of your crime fiction if you can fit it to the themes.  Sad to say that there's no payment but it is hard to find homes for drabbles and 55ers.  You can find the details here.

Unsung Signals - Open for Novella Submissions

UK publisher Unsung Stories is launching a new line called Unsung Signals.  This will be a digital only imprint and they're looking for stories of 5000 to 30,000 words in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror.  They do not mention what the payment will be but they are a paying market - royalties for novels and 25pounds for shorts under 3,000 words.  You can find the call here and other information is on their submissions pages.

Mocha Memoirs Press - Anthology Call

Mocha Memoirs Press has posted an anthology call for "Ghosts, Gears, and Grimoires".  They're looking for steampunk stories featuring the supernatural of 1500 to 6000 words.  The deadline is April 1 and payment is $10.  You can find the details here, just scroll down the page.

2015 Crime Market Update - New Markets

And after the bad news it's always good to post the new markets that came our way:

Flash Bang Mysteries - looking for flash of 500 to 750 words pays $10
Crime Syndicate Magazine - looking for stories of 2000 to 4000 words pays $25
Mystery Weekly - looking for stories of 1000 to 10,000 words pays 1/2cent a word
Darkhouse Books - an anthology publisher who pays a royalty share
Button Tapper Press - Damned Dames Imprint looking for novellas of 15,000 to 30,000 words pays royalties
Manslaughter Review - looking for stories up to 5000 words non-paying
The Dark City Mystery Magazine - looking for stories of 1000 to 5000 word with a preferred West Coast setting but other settings are welcome pays $25
Cheapjack Pulp - looking for stories up to 8000 words pays 25cents per 100 words
Dark Passages Publishing - looking for novellas of 15,000 to 35,000 words no pay specifics listed
Hard-Boiled - looking for old time pulp detective stories up to 5000 words non-paying

The up side this year is that we have more new markets that are actually paying :)  All other markets that are open to crime fiction are listed over there to the right and there's still a lot of them.  Good luck with your writing and submitting this year!

2015 Crime Market Roundup - Closed Markets

I'm a bit late with the year end roundup of crime fiction markets.

We lost quite a few markets this year.  We had three zines that popped up then just shut down almost as fast:

Crazy Cozy Stories
Jack Hardway's Crime Magazine
Sleuth

The ones that closed after a respectable run:

Plan B
All Due Respect Magazine
Crossed Genres
FictionVale
Red Penny Papers
Blank Fiction
Pulp Wood Press and online zine
Noir Nation - nothing official but no new issue since October 2014
Grift - called for subs in 2014 but still no issue three
Needle
Thrills, Kills 'n' Chaos - nothing new on site since July

On my iffy list:

The M. O. - came back as a quarterly contest for two quarters but didn't open at year's end.
Big Pulp - didn't open for submissions this year and have had a new site under construction since last January.
Bourbon Penn - only published one issue back in the Spring

Graythorn Publishing - Anthology Call

Graythorn Publishing has posted an anthology call for "Dark Clouds".  They are looking for stories of 3000 to 10,000 words in the genre of sci-fi but they'd welcome mashups with mystery and horror.  The theme is about the chaos created by the clouds of microbes that humans shed.  The deadline is April 30 and payment is 3cents a word.  This is a new publisher so please note that they have a tab called market support where they sell marketing support to independent writers.  I mention this because I don't know if they'll be charging anthology writers for marketing the book so it's just something that you might want to watch for in a contract.  You can find the submissions details here.

217 Paying Markets

Erica Verrillo has posted 217 paying markets on her blog Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity.  Thanks, Erica!

Otter Libris - Anthology Calls

Otter Libris Press has posted four anthology calls for 2016.  All four are seeking stories of 3000 to 10,000 words and payment is a flat rate of $25.  Two are currently open until February 28 and the other two open in May.  The titles are "Inclusive Cthulu" and "The Trouble with BOB" (erotica) with are both open now and "Let's Go to the Circus" and "Solstice Lady".  The circus anthology would be your best bet for crime fiction.  You can find the details here.

Crimson Streets - New Market

Crimson Streets is a new online market looking for stories of 800 to 6000 words written in the pulp style of the 1930's and 40's.  They are open to all genres except Sci-fi and Westerns.  According to their guidelines they're looking for "a darker grittier version of the 1930's and 40's".  Payment is 1cent a word.  You can find the details here.

Todd Robinson Interview

There's a great interview with ThugLit editor Todd Robinson over at The Thrill Begins website. 

Betty Fedora - Update

I mentioned back a week or so ago that Betty Fedora was open for submissions until the end of March but today I noticed that they're now using Submittable for their submissions.

Level Best Books - Anthology Call

Level Best Books has opened submissions for their 2016 crime anthology (no title yet).  They're seeking crime/mystery stories up to 5000 words set in the New England states (they have a list of the acceptable states).  The deadline is May 31, 2016 and payment is $25.  You can find the details here.

The Big Click - New Issue

The January/February issue of The Big Click is now available both online and for purchase.  This time around they're taking a run at Country Noir, one of my favorite genres, guest edited by Court Merrigan.

Apex - Open for Submissions

Apex magazine has opened for submissions of short stories.  They're looking for speculative fiction up to 7500 words.  Payment is 6cents a word.  You can find all the details here.

Lit Select - Anthology Calls

Lit Select is an ebook publisher with five anthology calls posted for this year.  All have different themes with three calls for their erotica line and two for their sci-fi/fantasy line.  Stories should be 2000 to 8000 words and each call has its own reading period.  Payment is a flat rate of $30 per story.  You can find the details here.

Vitality - Open for Submissions

Vitality e-book magazine ( this is an LGBT market ) has posted their themes for 2016.  Of special interest here is the June issue with the theme of "Death Comes Knocking" where they're looking for murder mysteries among other genres.  The deadline is February 15 and payment is $25 for stories over 1000 words and $10 for stories under 1000 words.  Submissions are through Submittable, you can find the details here. 

ThugLit - New Issue

The new issue of ThugLit is now available for purchase.  Check it out here.

DarkHouse Books - Anthology Call

DarkHouse Books has opened submissions for the anthology "Destination: Mystery! Volume II".  They are looking for cozy mystery/crime stories of 2500 to 6000 words set in popular vacation places.  Reprints are acceptable.  The deadline is March 31, 2016.  Payment is a royalty split.  You can find the details here.

Flash Bang Mysteries - New Issue

The January issue of Flash Bang Mysteries has hit the virtual streets.  You can read it here.  And don't forget that they open for submissions today.