This All Started with Peanuts by Nik Korpon

Over at Shotgun Honey you'll find a "delicious" Halloween treat for your reading enjoyment thanks to Nik Korpon's story "This All Started with Peanuts".  It's a fun flash piece that had me laughing at the end.  You've just got to love neighborly competition.

Happy Halloween, Everyone! 

Betty Fedora - Closed?

The Betty Fedora website appears to have disappeared into the ether, though their twitter account is still up but with nothing posted since May.  And I don't think their fourth issue has been published yet.

Corpus Press - Anthology Call

Corpus Press has opened submissions for their 2018 Halloween anthology.  They're looking for horror stories of 4500 to 8500 words with a central theme of Halloween.  The deadline is March 30, 2018 and payment is 3cents a word.  You can find the details here.

Yellow Mama - New Issue

The October issue of Yellow Mama has gone live.  You can read it for free online here.

The Dark City - New Issue

The Fall issue of The Dark City has gone live online.  Check it out here.

Black Cat Mystery Magazine - Closed to Submissions

According to the Black Cat Mystery Magazine site they've closed submissions early due to a flood of submissions.  They will open again sometime in 2018.

Roane Publishing - Call for Submissions

Roane Publishing has posted a call for "One Sultry Day",  They're looking for contemporary sweet romance stories set during the summer.  Stories should be 15,000 to 20,000 words in length.  The deadline is January 31, 2018 and payment is a royalty split.  You can find the details here.

Angie's Desk - Anthology Calls

Angie has posted her October list of anthology calls.  Thanks, Angie!

That Apex Flash Contest

It was pointed out to me that the Apex Flash Contest call was an old one.  On checking this out I found that the information was posted in 2015.  I was following a current lead but forgot to check on the date of the post.  My apologies.

Storyteller - Closed

From Michael Bracken comes this note from editor Douglas W. Lance:

"Due to unforeseeable circumstances regarding our publishing deal with Amazon, Storyteller is forced to shut down effective immediately."

PopShot - Open for Submissions

UK based PopShot Magazine has opened submissions for their next issue with the theme of Romance.  They're looking for short stories of 1000 to 2500 words, flash of 300 to 1000 words and drabbles of exactly 100 words in any genre which includes crime fiction.  The deadline is November 27, 2017.  There's no mention of payment, but since they're a print selling at new stands there is the possibility.  That's something you'll have to query.  You can find the details here.

All Apologies to Frida Kahlo by Mara Grayson

I was checking out a market when a title caught my eye and I began to read.  "All Apologies to Frida Kahlo" by Mara Grayson is the beautiful story of a daughter trying to understand the madness of her mother in a painting by Frida Kahlo.  I know it sounds strange but it makes so much sense as you try to understand how mother/daughter relationships work.  In the end we never really understand our mothers until they're gone and we've lost the chance to hold their hand in ours and say "Now, I understand."

Bouchercon - The Anthony Awards

And the final awards from Bouchercon, The Anthony Awards.  Congratulations to all the winners!!

Bouchercon - The Barry Awards

And the winners of the Barry Awards.  Congratulations to all!

Bouchercon - The Macavity Awards

The first awards coming out of Bouchercon, The Macavity Awards, have been announced.  A special congrats to Art Taylor in the short story category.  Way to go Art!

DeadSteam - Anthology Call

Editor Bryce Raffle has posted an anthology call for "DeadSteam".  They're looking for stories of 2000 to 8000 words that feature the dark side of steampunk or dreadpunk.  Your story must include at least one dead or undead creature and fit into some alternate version of the Victorian era.  And yes, the guidelines explain it much better and there are links to help you understand the genre.  The deadline is December 1, 2017 and payment is $25.  You can find the details here.

Longshot Island - Open for Submissions

Longshot Island is an online quarterly ezine that is looking for short stories of 1000 to 7000 words in any genre but be aware that they're looking for stories in a literary frame.  They do accept reprints.  Now, if your story is accepted it's published online then the best of the stories from that quarter is published in print with an annual anthology of the best from the print magazine.  You are paid 1cent a word if your story is selected for print only.  You can find the details here.  There are stories onsite for you to read to get a feel for what they're publishing.

Limitless Publishing - Anthology Call

Limitless Publishing has posted an anthology call for "Carnival of Fear".  They're looking for horror and dark fiction of 10,000 word (7500 to 12,000) featuring a carnival, circus, traveling show, or an amusement park.  They want 500 word story proposals submitted by November 10, 2017 with the full story due by January 1, 2018.  They don't mention pay specifics.  You can find the details here.

Red Room - New Issue

The first issue of Red Room is now available for purchase.  They will be opening for submissions in December for their second issue.

Eastern Iowa Review/Port Yonder Press - Open for Short Story Submissions

Eastern Iowa Review/Port Yonder Press is seeking short stories up to 2000 words in the genres of Mystery, Spy, Woodswoman/man, Western (All must be contemporary), Literary Fiction, and Speculative Fiction.  Submissions will close after the first 300 submissions are received.  Payment is $5.  You can find the details here.  This is for online publication.

Book Smugglers Publishing - Open for Short Story Submissions

Book Smugglers Publishing opened submissions today for their Summer 2018 short story series.  They are looking for speculative fiction stories of 1500 to 17,500 words using the theme of "Awakenings".  The deadline is December 31, 2017 and payment is 8cents a word with a cap of $800.  You can find all the details here.

Orthogonal - Open for Submissions

Orthogonal has opened submissions for their next issue with the theme of Sex & Revolution.  They're looking for stories in all genres of 5 to 5000 words using the sex and revolution theme.  Be sure to read the guidelines to understand exactly what they're looking for.  The deadline is November 1, 2017 and payment is $30 for flash stories up to 1000 words and $100 for shorts of 1001 to 5000 words.  You can find the details here.

Hat tip to horrortree.com

Cuil Press - Anthology Call

Cuil Press has posted an anthology call for a Tumblr-Twist anthology.  They're looking for fantasy stories of 4000 to 25,000 words based on Tumblr-Twists (yes, they have links) or a made up Tumblr-twist of your own.  The deadline is November 30, 2017 and payment is $25.  You can find the details here.

Uncanny Magazine - Open for Submissions

Uncanny Magazine is open for submissions of SF/F stories of 750 to 6000 words.  The deadline is October 16, 2017 and payment is 8cents a word.  You can find the details here.

28 Paying Markets for October

And yes, lots of market news today.  Ain't it great!

Over at the Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity blog Erica Verrillo has posted her October list of paying markets.  Check it out here.

Crime Syndicate Magazine - New Issue

Crime Syndicate Magazine Issue #3 is available for purchase here.

Crime Markets Open for Submissions Today

We have several other crime markets opening for submissions today:

1.  Black Cat Mystery Magazine - 3cents a word.

2.  Pulp Modern - $10 - deadline October 10 so a very short reading period.

3.  Magical Crime Scene Investigation - anthology call - $25 

Flash Bang Mysteries - New Issue - Open for Submissions

Flash Bang Mysteries has opened for submissions.  They're looking for crime flash stories of 500 to 750 words.  The deadline is October 31 and payment is $15.  You can find the details here.

While you're there check out the newest issue.