The 2016 Derringer Award Winners

The winners of the 2016 Derringer Awards are:

Best Flash Story (up to 1,000 words):
“Hero,” by Vy Kava (from Red Dawn: Best New England Crime Stories 2016, edited by Mark Ammons, Katherine Fast, Barbara Ross, and Leslie Wheeler; Level Best)

Best Short Story (1,001-4,000 words):
“Twilight Ladies,” by Meg Opperman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], March/April 2015)

Best Long Story (4,001-8,000 words):
“Dentonville,” by John M. Floyd (EQMM, November 2015)

Best Novelette (8,001-20,000 words):
“Driver,” by John M. Floyd (The Strand Magazine, February-May 2015)

In addition, the Society reports that “a committee of the SMFS Officers, Awards Coordinator, and two members-at-large awarded the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer (Lifetime Achievement) to: Michael Bracken.”

These winners will be honored during a special presentation at Bouchercon 2016, which is scheduled to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, from September 15 to 18.

A huge round of congratulations to all the winners and a special shout-out to friend of the blog Michael Bracken!!!

Crime Factory - New Issue

Crime Factory #18 is now available.  Check it out here.

Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity - 18 Paying Markets for April

Over at the Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity blog Erica Verrillo has posted 18 paying markets with April deadlines.  Thanks, Erica!

GWG Productions - Anthology Call

I received an email from editor Kimber Grey asking me to post this anthology call.  The publisher is GWG Productions and the anthology is "Singular Irregularity".  They're seeking stories up to 10,000 words that answer the question "It's only time travel; what could go wrong.".  They are open to any fiction sub-genre that fits the theme so you crime writers out there can work a murder mystery into the mix :)  Payment is 1cent a word if they have a successful Kickstarter and more if they reach their stretch goals.  If the Kickstarter is unsuccessful stories will be returned to the authors and the anthology canceled.  You can find the details here.

Creative Writing Contests - New Listings

For those of you who enjoy entering writing contests the Creative Writing Contests blog has started posting again and has a ton of contests for poetry, short stories, and novels.  Most have fees to enter but there are a few with no entry fees.  Check them out here.

Fun Dead Press - Anthology Calls

New markets have been hard to come by the past few days but I did run across Fun Dead Press today and they have four anthology calls listed.  There are two poetry calls, one looking for dark poetry and the other for family friendly Halloween poetry, these pay $5 each.

The other two are for short stories.  The first is "Chilling Christmas Tales" which is seeking shorts of 1000 to 6000 words with a deadline of June 1, 2016 and payment of $10.  The second is "Night in New Orleans" which is seeking dark and spooky stories of 1000 to 6000 words set in New Orleans and payment is $10.

You can find the details for all the anthology calls here.

Aegis Publishing House - Open for Short Story Submissions

Aegis Publishing House is looking for short stories in the genres of mystery, crime, and horror for posting online.  They also need romantic and erotica shorts.  The length should be no more than 3000 words and payment is 1cent a word with a $30 cap.  There is no fee to submit but there is a donate button under the guidelines.  You can find the details here.

Blyant Publishing - Open for Submissions

UK based Blyant Publishing has opened submissions for issue #2 of their print magazine "Blaekk".  The theme for this issue is FEAR and all genres are welcome.  Stories must be either 1000 words or 2000 words with a 10% margin either way.  Payment is 10pounds for 1000 words and 20pounds for 2000 words.  The deadline is July 1, 2016.  You can find the details here.

Trigger Warnings - New Market

First off, this is a non-paying market but I'm posting it because a lot of you write the really dark stories that don't fit in many of the zines.  Trigger Warnings is a new market looking for flash fiction and short stories up to 3000 words for publication online and possibly selected for a best of anthology at the end of the year.  They're open to all genres so long as the story is dark  You can find the details here.  There are some stories posted on their home page so you can get an idea of what they're looking for.

Tanstaafl Press - Anthology Calls

Tanstaafl Press has posted a call for "Enter the..." anthology series.  They're looking for stories under 8000 words for three anthologies - "Enter the Apocalypse", "Enter the Aftermath", and "Enter the Rebirth".  You can write a story for one or all three.  There are different deadlines for each.  Payment is 1cent to 8cents a word with an average of 3cents a word.  They have a copy of the contract on site.  You can find the details here.

Memento Mori Press - Call for Submissions

Memento Mori Press has posted a call for horror/dark fiction stories of 2000 to 5000 words to published as ebooks.  The pay is $10 for original stories and $5 for reprints.  They have also posted an anthology call for "Haunted House" where they're looking for stories of 2000 to 5000 words with the same payment.  The deadline for the anthology is April 30, 2016.  You can find the details for the anthology call here.

Iron Press - Anthology Call

UK based Iron Press has posted a submission call for "Cold Iron" an anthology of ghost stories.  This call is open to writers residing in Great Britain or Ireland.  Stories should be 1500 to 3000 words.  The deadline is September 30, 2016 and payment is 50pounds.  You can find the details here.

Hemingway Shorts - Call for Submissions

The Ernest Hemingway Foundation is opening submissions for their new project called "Hemingway Shorts".  This will be both an online and print magazine.  They are looking for stories of up to 1500 words from new writers.  The deadline is June 15.  The top stories will be published but only the story picked as the winner will receive a prize of $500.  Basically they're running this as a no fee contest.  You can find the details here.

13 Paying Markets for Personal Essays

Over at Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity Erica Verrillo has posted 13 paying markets for personal essays.  Thanks, Erica!

Richard Zwicker - Interview

There's an interesting interview with short story writer Richard Zwicker over at SF Signal where he talks about combining humor, detective fiction, and Greek Mythology into sci-fi stories.

Lamplight - Open for Submissions

Lamplight has opened submissions for their next issue.  They're looking for dark stories in all genres up to 7,000 words with a literary bend.  The deadline is May 15 and payment is 3cents a word or original stories and 1cent a word for reprints.  Submissions are though Submittable.  You can find the details here.

Pulp Modern - New Issue

Pulp Modern Issue #10 is now available in paperback format at Amazon.  And here is a link for the Kindle edition.

Otter Libris - Anthology Call

Otter Libris is currently open to submissions for their anthology "Now in the Main Ring:  Amazing Tales from the Circus".  They're looking for dark stories of 3000 to 10,000 words centered around going to the circus.  The deadline is May 31 and payment is $25.  You can find the details here.

Christopher Fielden - Writing Resource

Do you ever check out links that bring people to your blog?  I do, though I usually do a search first to make sure it's a legitimate site.  Which brings us to Christopher Fielden's web site.  There's a lot of information about finding markets, getting your short stories published, and writing tips on his site.  He's also open to other authors submitting a reprint short story and a post about how you wrote it, found a market, etc.  There's no pay but it seems like it might be a good place to get your work out there and if you have a novel that's for sale it could be a good spot for a little publicity.  You can check it out here.

Angie's Desk - Anthology Markets

Angie has posted her March list of anthology markets.  Thanks, Angie!

Crime Syndicate Magazine - Anthology Call

Crime Syndicate Magazine has posted an anthology call for "Fast Women and Neon Lights".  They're looking for crime stories of 2500 to 5000 words that are eighties-inspired neon noir.  "Colorful, lit-up stories of crime and depravity, set in the 1980's."  The guidelines state that the deadline is June 1 but submissions are through Submittable and the deadline there is May 15 so I suggest that you hit that date.  Payment here is a royalty split.  You can find the call here and there is much more detailed guidelines at Submittable so be sure to check that out before you start writing.

Sirens Call Publications - Anthology Call

Sirens Call Publications has posted a new anthology call for "Monster Brawl!".  They're looking for stories of 4000 to 8000 words with monsters fighting monsters.  The deadline is May 1 and payment is $25.  Their zine is also open for submissions for issue #26 titled "Dreamscapes of the Wicked".  This is an all men - all horror issue.  There is no payment but they do accept reprints.  They accept drabbles, flash, and shorts to 2500 words.  You can find the details for both here.

Strange Horizons - Open for Submissions

Strange Horizons is currently open for submissions of short fiction up to 10,000 words with payment of 8cents a word.  They're also for non-fiction where they pay $30 for reviews, $50 for essays, and $25 for reprint essays.  I'm linking to their general guideline page where you'll find links to each open call.

Crime City Central - Closed

Crime City Central is no longer taking submissions for their podcasts but the archives are still open for your listening pleasure.  There's a lot of great stories there so head on over and take a listen.

What Makes a Character Active?

There's an interesting piece over at Grey Matter Press about how to make your victim (and other characters) active.

WordHaus - Open for Submissions

First off, wordhaus is a non-paying market but it states in the guidelines that by submitting a story it "does not breach any other agreement you are under" which suggests that they take reprints.  They're open to stories up to 2500 words in the genres of romance, thriller/horror, and sci-fi/fantasy.  What they do here is publish your story online but they also email stories out each week to subscribers.  Which makes it a good deal for getting your reprints out there to the public.  You can check them out here.

Flash Fiction Online - Open for Submissions

Flash Fiction Online is currently open for submissions.  They are looking for flash stories of 500 to 1000 words in any genre.  Submissions are through Submittable.  Payment here is $60 for original stories and 2cents a word for reprints.  You can find the details here.

The Good Thief Story Cupboard

If you're looking to put a different spin on the stealing habits of your thieves you might find this story a good place to start.  It's probably a good fit for a cozy mystery, you know, a group of people who steal to teach people a lesson.  Or maybe the PI who has his license stolen only to find someone solving his cases for him.  I'm not sure if there is a noir angle here but I'm sure someone could find that dark side with a little bit of thought. 

24 Submission Calls for March

Erica Verillo has posted her March list of submission calls over at Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity.  Thanks, Erica!

2016 Best Private Eye Novel Competition - Open for Submissions

For those of you who have a PI novel on your hard drive you might consider The Best Private Eye Novel Competition sponsored by Minotaur Books and the PWA.  The deadline is July 1 and there is no fee to enter.  The prize is publication and a $10,000 advance against royalties.  You can find all the details here, just scroll down the page as the first two competitions are closed.

UPDATE:  April 3, 2016 - According to the PWA website there will be no competition until they acquire a new sponser.

Black Denim Lit - Open for Submissions

Black Denim Lit has reopened to submissions.  They are looking for stories in all genres but they must lean toward the literary side of writing.  They want flash of 500 to 1000 words, shorts to 7500 words, and novelettes to 17,500 words for their online zine.  If you have something over 17,500 you have to query and if accepted the story would be published separately.  Payment here is 1cent a word.  You can find the details here.  Submissions are through Submittable.

ThugLit - New Issue

Issue #22 of ThugLit is now available for your Kindles.  Check it out here.

The Big Click - Final Issue

The March/April issue of The Big Click has gone live today featuring short stories by and an interview with Libby Cudmore.  The sad news is that this is the final issue of a great zine.  According to the editorial they're open to someone buying the zine and taking over.

Lit Select - Anthology Calls

Lit Select has posted their 2016 anthology calls.  Two are for sci-fi/fantasy stories and two are for romantic/erotic stories.  First up is titled "What Went Wrong" and they're looking for sci-fi/fantasy stories of 2,000 to 8,000 words.  The deadline is March 31 and payment is $30.  The word count and payment is the same for the all the anthologies but each  have different reading periods.  You can find the details here.

The 2016 Derringer Finalists

The Short Mystery Fiction Society has announced the 2016 Derringer Finalists.  A big congratulations to all the winners!!