Wizards in Space - Open for Submissions

Wizards in Space has opened submissions for issue #3.  They're looking for stories up to 5000 words with the themes of "healing and reclaiming, family and found family, communities and support systems, and quite plainly, love".  The deadline is May 26, 2018 and payment is $30.  You'll find the guidelines on their submittable page but there's much more on their website.

Switchblade - New Issue

Switchblade #5 has hit the Kindle streets.  You can find the link and the table of contents here, just scroll down the page.

20 Paying Markets for Speculative Fiction Short Stories

Over at Lit Reactor columnist Annie Neugebauer has put together a list of 20 speculative fiction markets for short stories.  All paying.

Transmundane Press - Anthology Call

Transmundane Press has posted an anthology call for "In the Air".  They're looking for stories of 3000 to 7000 words centered on or about air in the genres of fantasy, horror, erotic, and science fiction.  The deadline is June 15, 2018 and payment is $10 to $20 depending on length.  You can find the details here.

The Big Issue - Call for Fiction Submissions - Australian Writers Only

Australian based The Big Issue has opened submissions for their 2018 Fiction Edition.  This call is for Australian writers only.  They're looking for stories of 300 to 3000 words in all genres.  The deadline is May 1, 2018 and payment is $500.  You can find the details here.

The Splickety Publishing Group - Call for Flash Fiction Submissions

The Splickety Publishing Group is seeking flash fiction up to 1000 words (500 to 700 is the sweet spot) in a variety of genres for their print magazines.  There are various themes and deadlines which you can find here.  You can find the full guidelines here.  There's also a link to a sample issue so you can get a feel for what they're looking for.  Payment is 2cents a word.

Don't Flinch Podcast - Call for Script Submissions

The Don't Flinch Podcast site is seeking script submissions in the genre of horror.  They should be 20 to 30 minutes long.  Payment is $100.  There is no deadline listed.  You can find the details here.

Tough - Open for Short Crime Submissions

Editor Rusty Barnes is still open for submissions to Tough but -

Tough‏ @Tough_Crime

if you find yourself with a short crime story (1500-2500 words), consider Tough. I've accepted about as many long stories as I can stand at the moment, though I still have a few left to consider. Thanks!

Electric Lit - Open for Essay Submissions

Electric Literature has posted a submission call for personal and critical essays of 1500 to 4000 words.  The details of what they're looking for in particular are posted in the guidelines.  The deadline is April 13, 2018 and payment is $50.  You can find the details here.

Hat tip to David Nemith's twitter feed.

20 Paying Markets for April

Over at the Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity blog Erica Verrillo has posted her list of paying markets for April.  Thanks, Erica!

Gypsum Sound Tales - Anthology Call

Australian based Gypsum Sound Tales has posted an anthology call for "Thuggish Itch".  They're seeking horror, sci-fi, and speculative fiction stories of 1000 to 6000 words.  The theme for the anthology is Viva Las Vegas so your story needs to feature Las Vegas in some way.  The deadline is June 30, 2018 and  payment is $5AU for stories under 2000 words and $10AU for stories over 2000 words.  You can find the details here.

Editor Interview with Chris Rhatigan

Over at the Unlawful Acts blog David Nemeth has a great interview with editor Chris Rhatigan of All Due Respect Books.  And yes the press is open for novel submissions.

Nexxus Fantasy - Anthology Call

Nexxus Fantasy has posted an anthology call for "Corporate Shadows".  They're looking for stories of 2000 to 15,000 words inspired by recent net neutrality rulings.  Acceptable genres are speculative fiction, suspense/thriller, supernatural horror, and science fiction.  The deadline is July 1, 2018 and payment is 1cent a word.  You can find the details here, they come up as a pdf file.

Camton House Publishing - Anthology Call

Camton House Publishing is starting an anthology series call "The Future Vision".  They're looking for science fiction (and all the sub-genres that entails) stories up to 7000 words.  The deadline for the first anthology is April 15, 2018.  Payment is a minimum of $150.  The first six moths will be paid as a royalty split then you will be paid the balance of the $150.  You can find the details here.

Focus on the Family - Call for Submissions

I ran across this online Christian magazine called Focus on the Family.  They're seeking non-fiction articles on several topics but there was also one fiction call for what they call Brio Fiction.  They are seeking contemporary short stories of 800 to 1000 words specific to teens and their sibling relationships.  Their audience is teen girls with a biblical world view.  The deadline is April 9, 2018 and payment is $250.  You can find the details here.   

Queen of Swords Press - Anthology Call

Queen of Swords Press has posted an anthology call for "Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space):  A Pirate Anthology.  They're seeking pirate stories of 4000 to 7500 words with the sweet spot being 5000 to 6000 words.  The deadline is May 15, 2018 and payment is $100 for original stories and $50 for reprints.  You can find the details here.  No erotica.

Toe Six Press - Guidelines Posted

Toe Six Press has posted their submission guidelines.  At this time submissions are by invitation only.  When they open to general submissions they will be looking for crime stories of 2000 to 6000 words.  Payment is $25.

Bracken Magazine - Seeking Help

Bracken magazine is looking for help in the form of a fiction editor, fiction reader, and a website manager.  These are non-paying positions.  You can find the details here.

Gemini Magazine - Open for Submissions

Gemini Magazine is seeking submissions for their monthly online zine.  They accept both flash fiction and short stories in any genre.  Payment here is $10.  You can find the details here.

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores - Open for Submissions

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores opened for submissions today.  It's a short submission period of only seven days and ends on March 28, 2018.  They're seeking science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tale, and eldritch stories of 1000 words and up.  Payment is 6cents a word for original stories and 2cents a word for reprints.  You can find the details here.

Spinetingler - Gone?

I not sure why, but the Spinetingler website has disappeared.  I know they were closing down but they were supposed to be publishing more stories.

UPDATE:  And it looks like former Spinetinger editors Sandra Ruttan and Brian Lindenmuth are starting up a new crime magazine called Toe Six Press.  No guidelines up yet, I'll keep watch and let you know.

Sick Day by Kurt Rieman

Over at Shotgun Honey there's a nice piece of flash written by Kurt Rieman.  I love how he gives you the same old story of a man who owes money then turns it upside down.

Galaxy's Edge - Open for Submissions

Galaxy's Edge is open for submissions of science fiction stories up to 7000 words.  There's no deadline listed.  Payment is 7cents a word.  You can find the guidelines here.  The March issue is online for you to read so you can get an idea of what kinds of stories they're looking for.

Freeze Frame Fiction - Open for Submissions

Freeze Frame Fiction is open for flash fiction submissions up to 1000 words in any genre.  The deadline is July 31, 2018 and payment is $10.  You can find the details here.

Dubious Writing Advice by Michael Bracken

Over at SleuthSayers today prolific short story writer Michael Bracken gives us some excellent writing advice on how not to use certain words.

The Hobby Lark Story Cupboard

While looking for markets I came across this site called Hobby Lark that had a post with 27 scary story ideas.  Looking around the site I discovered they have a whole section about writing that could be useful to writers of all kinds.

Tough - Open for Crime Story Submissions

Editor Rusty Barnes posted to the SMFS group this morning that he's still looking for crime stories for his online zine Tough.  Pay is $25.  You can find the details here.

One Story - Open for Submissions

One Story is currently open for submissions of literary stories of 3000 to 8000 words.  The deadline is May 31, 2018 and payment is $500.  You can find the details here.

Spinetingler - Closing

Spinetingler magazine is the latest crime magazine to bite the dust.  You can find the details here.

Betty Fedora - New Web Site

Betty Fedora has posted a new website link.  They're not open for submissions but I'll keep an eye open.

Martian Migraine Press - Anthology Call

Canadian based Martian Migraine Press has posted an anthology call for "Monstrous Outlines".  They're looking for horror and weird fiction stories with a focus on the theme of camouflage.  They want flash under 1500 words and short stories of 1500 to 7000 words.  The deadline is November 31, 2018 and payment is 3cents CAD a word.  You can find the details here.

Midnight Hour Media - Christmas Anthology Call

Midnight Hour Media has posted an anthology call for "Midnight Before Christmas".  They're looking for dark stories of 1000 to 10,000 words set during the holiday season or with a winter setting.  The deadline is May 1, 2018 and payment is 2cents a word with a cap of $200.  You can find the details here, just scroll down the page for the anthology specifics.

The Dark City - New Issue

The Winter 2018 issue of The Dark City is now available.  You can purchase a copy or read a selection of the stories online.

Blink-ink - Open for Submissions

For you crime fiction writers who enjoy a challenge you might want to give Blink-ink a try.  For their issue #32 the theme is "Curbside" and sounds ideal for a piece of noir or crime fiction.  The challenge?  You have to write the story in 50 words.  The deadline is April 15 and payment is one copy.  You can find the details of the call here, then click on their submission guidelines for the rest.

Odd Tales of Wonder - Open for Submissions

Odd Tales of Wonder is an irregularly published  print magazine.  They are looking for stories of all genres and any length.  The payment here is one copy and a royalty split (according to their about page).  You can find the details here.

UPDATE:  This market is closed - Sorry about this, folks.

Can You Make a Living Selling Short Fiction? by Patty Jensen

I can't quite put my finger on it, but this essay "Can You Make a Living Selling Short Fiction?" by Patty Jansen doesn't quite ring true for me.  I feel like she's left out a lot of writers.  Writers who started out writing shorts when there was a large market of genre magazines.  Are they doing as well today?  Probably not but they were there in days when you could make a living writing only short stories.  I'm thinking along the lines of writers like Lawrence Block and Stephen King.  They didn't get rich selling shorts but they left us with a treasure chest full of wonderful short stories to savor.

Link via indiecrimescene.blogspot.com

Unnerving Magazine - Editor Interview - Anthology Call

Over at the Six Questions for... blog Jim Harrington interviews Eddie Generous, the editor of Unnerving Magazine.

While the magazine is currently closed for submissions they do have an anthology titled "Haunted are These Houses" open for submissions.  They're seeking Gothic fiction of 400 to 6000 words (preferably under 4000 words).  The deadline is April 28, 2018 and payment is 1cent a word.  They are accepting both original and reprint stories for this anthology.  You can find the details on their Submittable page.

Belladonna Nightshade Press - Charity Anthology Call

Belladonna Nightshade Press has posted an anthology call for "Not Today".  They're seeking stories of 2000 to 10,000 words in which "characters survive to carry on, even if they may have lost something along the way".  They're open to all genres.  This is a charity anthology and proceeds will go to UNICEF.  The deadline is June 1, 2018.  You can find the details here.

And again, thanks to Michael Bracken for the link!

Tarl Hoch - Anthology Call

Editor Tarl Hoch posted an anthology call on GoodReads for "Maids".  He's looking for Anime-esk types of stories that feature a female maid in a major role (she must also be dressed as a maid).  And yes, there are links to examples of the type of stories they're looking for.  The stories of 5000 to 15,000 words can be in any genre.  The deadline is October 1, 2018 and payment is 1/2cent a word.  You can find the details here.

Thanks to Michael Bracken for the link!

Gypsum Sound Tales - Anthology Call

Australian based Gypsum Sound Tales has opened submissions for their first anthology "Colp".  They're looking for stories of 1000 to 5000 words in any genre that fit the theme "the passage of time".  The deadline is April 30, 2018 and payment is $5AU for stories under 1500 words and $10 AU for stories over 1500 words.  You can find the details here.  The link comes from the editor, Christopher Pulo.

Third Flatiron Press - Open for Submissions

Third Flatiron Press has opened submissions for their next anthology with the theme "Galileo's Theme Park".  They're looking for stories of 1500 to 3000 words in all genres but leaning toward speculative fiction.  The deadline is April 15, 2018 and payment is 6cents a word.  You can find the details here.