The Dark City Crime and Mystery Magazine - New Issue

The January issue of The Dark City Crime and Mystery Magazine is now available to read online.  They're also open for submissions and pay $25 for stories based in West Coast cities.

Occult Detective Quarterly - First Issue Available - Opening for Submissions

The first issue of Occult Detective Quarterly is now available for purchase.  They will also be opening submissions for the next issue tomorrow February 1, 2017 and will close on February 28, 2017.  They are looking for mystery stories featuring Occult Detectives of 3000 to 5000 words.  Payment is 1cent a word for original work and $25 for reprints.  You can find the details here to purchase a copy and at the bottom of the page is a pdf link for the submission guidelines.

New Zenith - Closed

I was going through the links and discovered that New Zenith magazine has closed its doors and is releasing all submitted stories back to the authors.

Crime Syndicate - Open for Submissions

There are only two weeks left to get a submission in for issue #3 of Crime Syndicate.  They're looking for crime stories of 2500 to 5000 words.  The deadline is February 14, 2017 and payment is $25.  Submissions are through Submittable.  You can find the details here.

The Writer's Chronicle - Call for Non-fiction Writing Articles

The Writer's Chronicle is seeking non-fiction articles about writing.  The deadline is September 30, 2017 and payment is $18 per one hundred words.  The details are on their submission page at Submittable.

Flame Tree Publlishing - Anthology Calls

Flame Tree Publishing has posted their 2017 anthology calls.  Each anthology is seeking stories of 2000 to 4000 words either new or reprints.  The deadline is February 28, 2017 and payment is 6cents a word.  They are an approved SFWA publisher.  You can find the details here.  The titles and themes are:

Lost Worlds
Supernatural Horror
Time Travel
Heroic Fantasy

Exile Editions - Anthology Call - Canadian Authors Only

Editor Colleen Anderson has posted an anthology call for "Alice Unbound".  Only Canadian or expat Canadians writers can submit.  Exile Editions is the publisher.  They're looking for speculative fiction "stories taking place in modern or slightly futuristic world" based on characters created by Lewis Carroll.  Your stories should "go beyond Alice in every way".  The submission period is February 1 to May 31, 2017.  Stories should be 2000 to 5000 words in length and payment is 5cents a word.  You can find all the details here.

Autonomous Press - Anthology Call

Autonomous Press is seeking submissions for their anthology "Spoon Knife 3:  Incursions".  Their looking for "pieces that focus on the theme of incursions by one reality into another".  Stories should be under 10,000 words.  They're also accepting poetry and memoir.  The deadline is September 30, 2017 and payment is 1cent a word.  You can find the details here.

Turn to Ash - Open for Submissions

Turn to Ash volume 3 is open for submissions.  There is no theme this time around they're just looking for good horror stories up to 7500 words.  They're also open to reprints that aren't easily available.  The deadline is March 7, 2017 and payment is 1cent a word with a minimum payment of $35.  You can find the details here.

2017 Agatha Award Nominees

Malice Domestic has announced the nominees for their annual Agatha Awards.  You can check them out over at The Rap Sheet.  Congrats to all the nominees!!

Red Sun - Open for Submissions

Red Sun magazine is open for submissions to their July issue.  They're looking for stories of 3000 to 17,000 words in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.  Payment is $100 for stories of 3000 to 5000 words, $150 for stories of 15,000 to 17,000 words, and $300 for serializations.  You can find the details here.

You can find an interview with the editors at Jim Harrington's excellent blog Six Questions For...

Future Fire Publishing - Anthology Call

Future Fire Publishing has posted an anthology call for "Problem Daughters".  They're looking for short stories up to 7500 words.  They want "Work of speculative fiction that reflect and celebrate the full range of feminist experience and agency, across the globe and across time."  The deadline is March 1, 2017 and payment is 6cents a word.  You can find the details here.

UPDATE:  I just ran across this interview with Rivqua Rafael, one of the editors of this anthology.  It might give you a better idea of what they're looking for.

UPDATE:  February 25, 2017  This anthology has been canceled.

Transmundane Press - Anthology Call

Transmundane Press has posted an anthology call for an as yet untitled anthology with the theme of fire.  They're looking for stories of 4000 to 10,000 words in any genre so long as the theme of fire is used.  The deadline is February 18, 2017 and payment is $15 to $20 depending on length.  You can find the details here.

Tough - New Crime Short Story Market

Editor and author Rusty Barnes is starting a new online zine called TOUGH.  He's looking for short crime fiction stories of 1000 to 4000 words.  The first stories will be posted in July.  Payment is $25.  You can find the details here.  If you'd like to get a feel for what he likes check out the excellent online zine Fried Chicken and Coffee which he also edits.

via SMFS

HeadStuff - Open for Submissions

HeadStuff has posted a call for science fiction short stories up to 5000 words that they will post on site from February to April.  The deadline is February 12, 2017, there's no mention of payment but they seem to be a big traffic site.  You can find their online submission page here.

2017 Edgar Award Nominees

The 2017 Edgar Award nominees have been announced.  You can check them out here.  A big round of congratulations to everyone and most especially the lovely and talented Patti Abbott!!

Gathering Storm - New Market

Gathering Storm is a new market seeking fiction under 2000 words and open to all genres.  All stories must fit their themes and use the phrase in the story in some way.  I'm a bit late with this one as the deadline for all their listed themes is January 31, 2017.  Here are the current themes:

1. Break a leg.
2.  Knock on wood.
3.  People who live in glass house, shouldn't throw stones.
4.  Revenge is a dish best served cold.

I'm linking to their Submittable page as that is where the themes are listed.  Payment is $25.

9 Tales - Open for Submissions

Bride of Chaos Publishing has opened submissions for their anthology series 9 Tales.  They're looking for stories of 1000 to 15,000 words in the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, crime/mystery, and westerns.  They do accept reprints here.  They no longer pay except for 1 pdf copy of the anthology.  You can find the details here.

Carina Press - Novella Submission Call

Carina Press has posted an anthology call for a 2017 Holiday Anthology.  They're looking for romance stories (sweet to erotica) of 25,000 to 40,000 words set during any holiday that fall between October and January.  The deadline is March 5, 2017 and payment is a royalty split.  The novellas will be published individually and as an anthology, authors will receive a royalty split from both.  Submissions are through Submittable, you can find the details here.

Cactus Moon Publishing - Open for Novel Submissions

Cactus Moon Publishing LLC is open for novel submissions in the crime/mystery genres along with several other genres.  There's no mention of their pay scale.  Be sure to read their FAQ's page before submitting (you can find the link on their home page).  You can find their submission guidelines here.

Angie's Desk - Anthology Markets

Angie has posted up her January list of paying anthology markets.  Thanks, Angie!

Welcome Back to A Twist of Noir

Just received word from the lovely Paul Brazill that A Twist of Noir is back.  They're looking for stories of 1000 words or less in any genre so long as there is a crime and noir.  This is a non-paying crime fiction market.  You can find the details here.  There's been a new site set up and a couple of stories posted for your reading pleasure.  Welcome back!!

DeadLights - Open for Submissions

Print horror magazine DeadLights has opened submissions for their April issue.  They are looking for flash of 300 to 700 words and short stories of 2000 to 7000 words.  The deadline if February 3,2017.  Payment is $50 for shorts and $10 for flash, poetry, and non-fiction.  You can find the details here.

Gwendolyn Kiste - Paying Markets for January

Gwendolyn Kiste has posted her list of January paying markets.  You can check them out here.  Thanks, Gwendolyn!

Sapphire Books Publishing - Erotica Anthology Call (Lesbian)

Erotica seems to be the theme of the day :)  Sapphire Books Publishing has posted an anthology call for "A Heart Well Traveled...Tales of Long Distance Love Affairs and Unlikely Outcomes".  They're looking for romance/erotica stories of 1500 to 5000 words about a long distance love affair that features a lesbian character.  The deadline is February 28, 2017 and payment is $50.  You can find the details here, they come up as a pdf file.

Black Scat Books - Erotica Anthology Call - Female Writers Only

Black Scat Books has posted an anthology call for "New Urge Reader 3".  This call is for female writers only.  They're looking for erotica stories of 500 to 10,000 words in several genres including noir (the only reason I'm passing this on).  The deadline is October 15, 2017 and payment is a copy of the anthology.  You can find the details here

18th Wall Productions - Anthology Call

18th Wall Productions has posted an anthology call for "Their Coats All Red".  They're looking for strange/weird stories of 4000 to 16,000 words steeped in the history of the British Empire circa 1880 to 1905 (Victorian Era).  The deadline is April 15, 2017 and payment is 5% of the gross profits ( 4% for stories under 1500 words).  You can find the call here.  Be sure to click on the title at the top of the guidelines - it will take you to a pdf copy of the guidelines that gives you even more detail into what they want and don't want.

Crime Syndicate - Open for Submissions

Crime Syndicate Magazine has opened submissions for issue #3.  Their guest editor this time around is Eyrk Pruitt.  They're looking for dark crime stories of 2500 to 5000 words.  Submissions are through Submittable.  The deadline is February 14, 2017 and payment is $25.  You can find the details here.

47 Paying Markets for January

Over at Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity Erica Verrillo has posted up 47 paying markets for January list.  Thanks, Erica!

End of Watch by Kevin Z. Garvey

There is an excellent story over at Out of the Gutter titled "End of Watch" by Kevin Z. Garvey.  People tend to delude themselves but sometimes that delusion can get away them.  Fun story that does the unexpected.

Radiant Crown Publishing - Anthology Call

Radiant Crown Publishing LLC has opened submissions for their anthology "Gaslandia".  They're looking for diesel punk adventure stories of 1001 to 40,000 (these are broke down in groups in the guidelines) words that will be framed as tales told during an air raid.  The deadline is March 1, 2017 and payment is 1cent a word.  One spotlight story of 1000 to 1500 words that features an air pilot with a prosthetic limb will be paid 2 or 3cents a word.  You can find the details here.

Crime Fiction Market Roundup for 2016 - New Markets

And now for the good news - the new markets that have hit the virtual streets this year.  We lost more than we gained but with any luck this year will be better.

Gamut Magazine opened this year and usually have so many submissions that they close the window within 24 hours of opening on the first of each month.  They are a pro-paying market.

Switchblade opened for submissions late in the year.  They've published their lineup for the first issue which is due in March.  This is a non-paying market.

Occult Detective Quarterly opened for submissions, selected their stories, but haven't yet published their first issue.  Payment here is 1cent a word for original work and $25 for reprints.

DeadLights Magazine is a horror magazine but noir crime stories can be an excellent fit.  Submissions for the next issue open on January 15.  They pay $10 to $50 depending on length.

Crimson Streets is a modern pulp market.  They publish online.  They pay 1cent a word.

The Norwegian American is an online newspaper that opened for short mystery fiction last year.  They pay a flat rate of $50.

Dark City Soul opened late last year.  They've only posted a few stories so far but hopefully they'll keep going.  They pay $5 per story.

And finally the beloved Plots With Guns made a return to the virtual streets last Fall.  They pay $10.

Crime Fiction Market Roundup for 2016 - Closed

Well, it's time again to post the annual roundup of short fiction crime markets.  This post contains all the markets that we lost this year.

I think the saddest loss was ThugLit.  It was a great market and one that many writers who were published here went on to have novels picked up.

The Big Click was a great paying market but they never seemed to pick up enough steam to keep going.  They published some excellent fiction here.

Pulp Modern closed their doors this year but there are whispers that they might be coming back.

Crime Factory hasn't announced that they're closing but their last issue was in March and they weren't open to submissions in 2016.

Shock Totem was publishing novellas but they didn't open submissions for the second half of the year.

Noir Nation posted back in June that issue #6 was due out any day but it never appeared.  They have also been closed for submissions for over a year.

Crime City Central was a podcast that posted reprints and sadly they closed their doors this year.

Dead Gun Press went on hiatus last summer and haven't returned.  And the anthologies that were filled haven't been published yet.

And finally Button Tapper Press announced a new imprint called Damned Dames but they never actually published anything.  And the call has disappeared from their website.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!!  May your writing successes exceed your dreams.

Pushpin Books - Anthology Call

Submissions open today for Pushpin Books new anthology "The Far Orbit:  Perigee".  They're looking for "modern space adventures crafted in the pulp style popular in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s".  Stories can be up to 12,000 words.  The deadline is March 15, 2017 and payment is 1cent a word.  You can find the details here.

Saddlebag Dispatches - Open for Submissions

Saddlebag Dispatches is open to submissions for their Spring issue.  They're looking for Western short stories set in both the past and the present.  They're also accepting serial novels, poetry, and non-fiction.  The deadline is February 1, 2017 and there is no mention of payment.  You can find the details here.