Writtenwyrdd

Opportunities for anthologies

I have shamelessly swiped a few great submissions opportunities from Angie's blog. 

13 May 2011 -- Sword and Sorceress 26 -- ed. Elizabeth Waters

Stories should be the type generally referred to as "sword and sorcery" and must have a strong female protagonist whom the reader will care about. See Sword & Sorceress 22, Sword & Sorceress 23, Sword & Sorceress 24, and Sword & Sorceress 25 (or S&S 1-20) for examples. We do not want stories with explicit sex, gratuitous violence, or profanity. We are NOT a market for poetry. We are willing to consider stories set in modern times (urban fantasy), but we won't buy more than one or two of those for the anthology. We always want something short and funny for the last story.

No reprints. No simultaneous submissions.

With regard to multiple submissions, do not submit more than one story at a time. If we've rejected your first one, you may send one more as long as it's before the deadline. We have occasionally bought someone's second sumbmission. We have never bought a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth submission. If you send us two stories, and we don't hold either of them, wait until next year to try again. Please do not re-submit stories we have already rejected (including stories rejected in previous years).

If you have not previously sold to Sword & Sorceress, please read What is a Short Story? and Why Did my Story Get Rejected? before submitting to us.

Please do not explain or describe your story in the e-mail (cover letter). If your story can't stand on its own, fix the story.

Reading period: Saturday, April 16 to Friday, May 13, 2011. Stories received before or after this period will be deleted unread.

Response time is expected to follow MZB's traditional standards: you should hear within a week if we're holding your story for the final line-up or rejecting it.

Length: up to 9,000 words, with preference given to shorter stories. The longer a story is, the better it has to be. Long stories should be submitted early in the reading period.

Formatting and Submission:

Format with one-inch margins on all four sides of page.

Please do not use a header or footer.

Your name, full mailing address, and email address must be in the upper left corner, single spaced.

Skip two lines, center the text, then put the title, with your name (or byline) on the next line. We're not going to be as rigid as MZB was about pen names, but we expect them to be reasonable, rather than cute.

The rest of the manuscript should be single-spaced, with the first line of each paragraph indented 1/2 inch.

If you need to indicate a break, put "#" on a line by itself, centered.

Do not underline; use italics instead. Do not use bold face. We prefer Courier New font, size 12.

Word count will be determined by our word processor; that way it will be the same for everyone.

Save your document as an .rtf file (rich text format or interchange format, depending on what your computer calls it). E-mail as it as an attachment to mzbworks at yahoo dot com. The subject line should be "SS26, your last name, story title" (e.g.: SS26, Bradley, Dark Intruder) -- we don't want submissions caught in the spam filter.

Rights purchased: first rights, non-exclusive eBook and audio book rights.

Payment: 5 cents per word as an advance against a pro rata share of royalties and foreign or other sales.



31 March 2011 -- Triangulation: Last Contact -- eds. Jamie Lackey & Steve Ramey, Parsec Ink

[Heavily edited down to the essentials -- click through for (lots) more detail.]

Triangulation is an annual 125-150+ page short fiction anthology that publishes science fiction, fantasy, horror, and any other speculative fiction that caught the editors' fancy. Every year we have a theme: 2011's theme is "Last Contact". We pay semi-pro rates and are available online at places like Amazon.

We define "short fiction" as "up to about 5,000 words or so." If you have an awesome story that exceeds 5K then by all means send it; but be warned that we have yet to accept anything for publication much longer than 5000 words. We dig flash; there is no minimum word count.

We have no interest in getting more specific about the term "speculative fiction." Science fiction, horror, fantasy, magic realism, alternate history, whatever -- if there's a speculative element vital to your story, we'll gladly give it a read.

We love creative interpretations of our theme, "Last Contact". Don't ask us what it means -- tell us what it means with a story that convinces us you're right.

We will run mature content if we like the story. So make sure there's an actual story in that mature content.

We will consider reprints, but we are much more picky with them. If the story ran someplace obscure, then it's probably new to our readers; if it ran someplace high-profile, it's going to have to be the best thing we've read since the alphabet to get in.

The submission period is December 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. All electronic submits must be sent within that period, all snail mail submits must be postmarked by the deadline.

Compensation: We pay two cents per word (USA funds, rounded to the nearest 100 words, US$10 minimum payment) on publication and one contributor's copy. The anthology will be published in late July of 2011. We purchase North American Serial Rights, and Electronic Rights for the downloadable version(s). All subsidiary rights released upon publication. Contributors will also have the option of purchasing additional copies of the anthology at reduced price.

15 May 2011 -- Steampunk Holiday Anthology -- ed. Angela James, Carina Press

Carina is looking for steampunk novellas with a winter or winter holiday theme, to be published digitally both individually and as a collection in December 2011. The novellas should be from 18,000 to 35,000 words and feature steampunk elements as integral to the novella. The stories do not need to be romance, or even have romance elements, but can be straight steampunk, or steampunk with romantic elements, and can also feature elements of mystery, thriller, horror or other sub-genres. Additionally, there is no set heat level for these stories, so they can have no sex, or be ultra-sexy, or anything in between.

Essentially, we’re looking for interesting, creative, well-written stories within the steampunk niche that will appeal to readers’ imaginations and add to our growing catalog of steampunk stories.

The steampunk holiday collection will be supported by a marketing and promotion campaign both online and in print. In addition, though the collection won’t currently be offered for sale in print format, each author chosen to contribute to the anthology will receive a set number of limited edition print copies for their own use.

To submit, please send your completed manuscript and synopsis, along with query letter to submissions@carinapress.com by May 15th, 2011. In the subject line, please put Steampunk Holiday: Manuscript Title and Author

All submissions will be reviewed and final decision made by June 15th, 2011.

For questions about this call for submissions, please email Angela James at submissions@carinapress.com

For more information about Carina Press, and to read the submission guidelines, please visit www.carinapress.com

***

31 May 2011 -- Night Terrors 2 -- ed. Marc Ciccarone & Joseph Spagnola, Blood Bound Books

NOTE: Do not submit before 1 March.

Like volume I, this second volume will be an open themed anthology of horror. Meaning we want stories from all topics and subcategories of horror. Including, but not limited to: psychological, creatures, paranormal, and gore. Remember, evil has no boundaries and neither do we! Nothing is off limits, so take advantage of the freedom. Science fiction and dark fantasy* will be considered as long as it has a strong element of horror. Try to avoid classic horror conventions/monsters (vampires, werewolves, and zombies), unless you incorporate a unique twist.

Third person stories are preferred but we’ll read first person stories as long as they are well done or integral to the plot.

Stories can range from 750 - 4500 words firm and must be rooted in the realms of horror/dark fiction.

Stories must be formatted in the following manner:
-- 12 point font
-- Times New Roman or Courier New
-- Double-Spaced
-- Contact information in the upper left(name, address, phone number, email)
-- Word Count Upper Right
-- 1 Space after a punctuation
-- Underline everything you would like to italicize at publication
-- Attach as a .doc file

Submission: Starts March 1st and closes May 31st (2011). Selections will not be made until after the submission period.

We'll accept stories in any setting or time period, as long as it's well written, powerful and original. Most importantly, scare us. We want to be haunted by your story long after we put it down. Gore and sex are acceptable, as long as it serves a purpose.

Payment: 1st place- 5¢/word; 2nd place 3¢/word; 3rd place 2.5¢/word. All other stories will receive 2¢/word.

Send submissions to submissions@bloodboundbooks.net. Subject should read:
Night Terrors II: story title/author last name

* Fantasy is always a gray area. Dark fantasy to us is more H.P. Lovecraft than J.R.R. Tolkien. We’d like to see a creepy world you created or a flipside image of humanity rather than Middle Earth type realms featuring wizards and dwarfs.

***

UNTIL FILLED -- Horror Library, Vol. 5 -- Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We're looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what's already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won't cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They're just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we'll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission - title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

***

UNTIL FILLED -- Mortis Operandi -- ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By "supernatural" we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 -- Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

Opportunity - The Midnight Diner

For many reasons which are both personal* and embarrassingly hypocritical, I have some anti-christian biases.  Not of the I hate you because you are christian variety, but the I'm so sick of being prosyletized** to, thank you for your interest yet again, but do leave me out of it and don't expect me to BE it variety.  

But, after reading their submissions page,  I think I like these guys at The Midnight Diner, a self-proclaimed rag of "Christian writing on the fringe," might be a good read.  Because their religious slant doesn't appear to be stuffy or rigid.  I like that about anyone of any flavor.  Anyone who is secure enough in their beliefs that they don't have to take themselves too seriously around 'hot button' issues is my kind of person.  Because, without open and honest dialog (read: racial issues in the United States) the problem festers and prejudice and hatred and misunderstanding thrive.  (Off my soapbox now, I promise.)

Getting back to the topic, The Midnight Diner particularly wants stories set in diners, but there appears to be room for other locations.  Also, namby-pamby stories need not apply:

"The Diner is not for children, or the faint of heart. Jesus dressed up as Thor, a whore who moonlights as an exorcist, a bouncer at a strip club, and more offbeat characters were regulars in the first edition of The Diner. This is not Guideposts or your Sunday School quarterly. Pansy sanitized work will be unceremoniously dismissed. Do not send me work where gangbangers say things like, “Golly gee, Beav, what ever are we going to do with this swell crack?”

They are presently closed for submissions, but check in at their web site or blog for when they open up.  But definitely read the submissions page for their list of things they do and don't want.  Funny.

*Isn't it always about the relatives?
**Hey, I'm pagan and a Unitarian***.  We don't do proselytizing. 
***Did you hear the one about the proselytizing Unitarian Universalist?  She went to answer the door and couldn't remember why she'd knocked.  (If you don't get it, email me.)

Kick-butt first line contest reminder

Kick butt first line contest at the blog of Jamie Rush.  She does this annually, and it starts February 1st.  So check back for the details as to how you may enter.  Currently, the link takes you to the winners and entries from 2010.  Keep checking back to see this year's entry page.

New Horror magazine opportunity

Found on Anthology News & Reviews blog:

Trembles is a brand new horror magazine slated for its first release in January 2011 and released 5 times a year (Jan., Mar., May., July., and Sept.) with a double year-end issue in November. The publication will appear online and in electronic and print form and all stories accepted will cross into all three formats.

Guidelines
Horror. Simple as that. To give you an idea of what to send, some authors we like are Brian Keene, Peter Straub, Stephen King, Richard Laymon, Clive Barker, Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft. 

• Flash Fiction (1,000 words or less)
• Short Story (1,001 to 6,000 words)
• Poetry (up to 50 lines)

Format
Please send manuscripts as a .DOC, .DOCX or .RTF attachment totrembleshorrormag@gmail.com with a cover letter in the body of an e-mail. Do not send your manuscript in the body of an e-mail, it will automatically be deleted. Make sure your manuscript uses standard formatting like 12-pt New Time Roman font and double-spacing. On the first page of your manuscript, please include your name, address, phone and e-mail in the upper-left corner and the word count rounded to the nearest hundred in the upper-right.

Payment
Trembles provides a token payment of $5 for short stories and $2 for flash fiction and poetry in exchange for First North American Serial rights. You will also receive a contributor’s copy in electronic form. 

Please send any questions to the above e-mail address.

Zombie fiction opportunity

I have the perfect story for this, but it's been published, and these guys won't take reprints.  *shrug*  Oh well.  I guess I'll have to come up with a sequel!

The Library of the Living Dead presents: 

LIVE AND LET UNDEAD
Shoot 'em in the head? Not always. What about actually using the living dead as baggage handlers, guard dogs, workers in nuclear power plants, bait for fishermen, and so on? I'm looking for different slants on using the shambling masses to benefit the living. Stories may range from humorous (the movie, “Fido” or the end of “Shawn of the Dead”) to horrific representations of servitude and slavery.

Please mention in your cover letter any genre twists (comedy-horror, war, science fiction, etc.) and any publication history. All acceptances and rejections will be sent out “after” the deadline.

 DEADLINE: March 07, 2011
WORD COUNT: 4,000 – 9,000 words
PAYMENT: 1 cent per word + 1 contributor's copy
REPRINTS: No
MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Limit of 2, Maximum of 1 accepted
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: No
FORMAT: Standard Manuscript Format (click here for an example).
FONT: Times New Roman size 12
TAB INDENT: ½ inch
SPACING: Double Space
PAGE NUMBERING / HEADERS: No page numbers or headers
CONTACT INFORMATION: Place contact information in the top left of the first page (Name, Address, Phone Number and E-Mail). Place approximate word count at the top right of the first page.

Send the story to liveandletundead@holliesnider.com with the story title, your name and approximate word count in the subject line. Confirmation e-mails will be sent out within a week of receiving your submission.  Questions may be posted here or emailed to the aforementioned address (place the words “Anthology Question” in the subject line).

Opportunities for Zombie Apocalypse stories

Tales of World War Z.  Post zombie apocalypse, but you don't have to do zombies as characters at all.  Reprints allowed.

Opportunity Thursday - Aeon Contest for 2011

Via Storypilot.com's market database.  (I highly recommend their site if you haven't found it yet for yourself.) Albedo One  (Ireland,  Online and print)
	www.albedo1.com Pay Rate: €3 per 1000 words (higher for contest) Length: 2500 to 8000 words Genres: SF, F, DF, H Submissions: Electronic and mail (see submission info below) 2011 Contest open for submissions January 1, 2011.  Details here.
		Extremely broad sf, fantasy, horror. "We are always looking for thoughtful, well written fiction. Our definition of what constitutes SF, horror and fantasy is extremely broad and we love to see material which pushes at the boundaries." To enter our writing competition, the Aeon Award short fiction contest, with a grand prize of €1000 euro (thats right, €1000) and publication in Albedo One.  (Details for the 2010 contest at link.) Details:  We will read all short story submissions, but our preferred length is between 2,500 and 8,000 words. Our response time is variable - mostly between two and four months.  We as a rule only accept previously unpublished stories, and we do not accept simultaneous submissions.  While we accept e-mail submissions, we do NOT accept submissions in the form of attachments - text in the body of your e-mail only, please! Mail your e-mail submission to: bobn@yellowbrickroad.ie in the body of the email.  NO ATTACHMENTS.  See link for snail mail submission instructions. All authors receive a complimentary copy of the issue their story appears in. Our payment amounts to €3 euro per 1000 words.

Happy New Year! To celebrate, here's an anthology listing.

The Harrow Press has an anthology opening to submissions today.  If you like your Urban Fantasy with a mystery to solve, you might try your hand at this one. 

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By “supernatural” we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.

Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com

• No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
• Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
• Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.

Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.

Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 – Closes when filled. Stories submitted before Jan. 1 will be deleted unread.
Publication Date: 2012

Call for submissions

Phoenix Sullivan on her blog has a call for submissions to a new anthology, theme Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever.  Details below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Details
Stories anywhere from 1000 up to 10,000 words around the theme:
Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever.

You're kidding, right? Bear with me. It's a theme that hasn't been done to death (yeah, pun intended), and it's not as limiting as you might first imagine.

Think about it. Just how really "gone" are species when we can still study their bones, their pictures, the imprints they made on this earth? Why are we so fascinated by their past existence and why do we mourn their loss?

What would it have been like to run with the last of the mammoths? What is it like to fight governments for dwindling habitat or confront a poacher for his prize? What will the future hold for third-world countries if all the bees should die out?

Perhaps your story will envision rewilding Siberian tigers today or saving them through genetic engineering tomorrow. Perhaps it will examine flood geology of the past or look to the day the megavolcano simmering beneath Yellowstone Park finally erupts.

It could be revisionist history where a fateful asteroid strike 65 million years ago never happened and mammals were hunted by the reptiles to extinction. Or it could be the story of a modern-day Dian Fossey risking all to protect a dying breed.

Whether set in the past, present or future, as long as your story's theme touches on the subject of extinction, it's welcome.

So if I submit a story, it's in, right? Not so fast. There will be standards applied and editing performed. And if I don't receive enough quality stories to pad the volume out nicely, then maybe we'll just publish ALL the stories, unedited (and unpaid), to a dedicated blog instead. And, yeah, I'll choose which stories make the cut for the ebook.

The Good Stuff: What It Pays
Pay is 1/4-cent per word (that's a penny for every 4-word thought you have) on publication and a prorated part of 25% royalties paid on net whenever any significant amount builds up. Your actual percentage will depend on what the ratio is between the number of words you contribute and the total number of words in the volume.

To do the math, if you contribute a 4000-word story, that's a $10 advance. And if the volume has 60,000 words and earns out its advances, then you would get 15% of the 25% royalty -- or 3.75%. In real numbers (the U.S. $ kind), that's $3.75 for every $100 in sales.

Realistically, will there be any royalties? Who knows. It likely won't amount to much, and there's an option (highly encouraged!) of investing back into the book -- using a combined pool of payments to promote sales (blog tour prizes, gift cards, etc). After all, this is a proving ground for us to figure out what works in promotion and what doesn't.

Hey, isn't Amazon paying 70% royalties -- is this a scam? Not at all. The 70% rate only applies to books priced $2.99 and above. Let's face it, close family may pay that, but not too many other people will. The rate is 35% for books priced $.99 to $2.99 and there's a nominal book delivery fee Amazon tacks on plus administrative/production costs (mine) coming out of that, too. Things like rights to the picture for the cover. Plus, we'll probably promote the book for free at times to generate interest and see how that affects future sales. You can grab your contributor copies during one of the free periods. If we do play with the price point and sell some copies at $2.99 or above, you'll get your cut of a pooled rate of 60%.

Rights remain with you. I'll initially put the book on Amazon (US and UK sites). Here are some other venues I'll look at targeting:

• Barnes & Noble's PubIt!
• Borders
• Kobo
• iTunes
• iPad
• Android
• Diesel
• Smashwords
• Sony
• eBook.com
• BooksOnBoard
• Powell's eBooks
• Fictionwise
• Apple iStore

If anyone wants to publish it out on other sites, that's great, too, so long as royalties come through me first so I can track and divvy and make sure the formats and price points comply with those pesky contracts online publishers require you to abide by.

What about a print version? Always a possibility. Let's see how the e-version does first, though, shall we?

Contest opportunity

The Writer's Digest 11th Annual Short Short Story Competition

We're looking for fiction that's bold, brilliant...but brief. Send us your best in 1,500 words or fewer.

But don't be too long about it—the deadline is Thursday, December 1, 2010.

PRIZES
First Place: $3,000 and a trip to the Writer's Digest Conference in New York City
Second Place: $1,500
Third Place: $500
Fourth Through Tenth Place: $100
Eleventh Through Twenty-Fifth Place: $50 gift certificate for Writer's Digest Books

* The names and story titles of the First-through Tenth-Place winners will be printed in the May/June 2011 Writer's Digest, and winners will receive the 2011 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market and Agents, Editors, and You: The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published. Plus, all First through 25th place winners will receive a free copy of the 11th Annual Writer's Digest Short Short Story Competition Collection.

Go here for rules and entry forms.

Thanks to Biting Edge for the link.

Opportunity: Anthology "It Came From Her Purse"

Anthology News & Reviews has an interesting anthology opportunity, and the title is about all the prompt you are going to get, other than they want sf, fantasy or horror.  Humor optional.

Sam's Dot Publishing, Anthology "It Came From Her Purse."  They want: stories between 2000 and 5000 words, "original short stories in the genres of science fiction and fantasy, and...a very few horror stories...original poetry and illustrations."  They pay: Stories: $10.00 each, Poems: $3.00 each, Illustrations: $5.00 each, Cover art: $20.  Submissions:  1 May 2010 until we are filled at 65,000 words.  Guidelines here.  Publication is anticipated for Spring 2011.  Contact: fromherpurse AT yahoo DOT com.

Why am I now thinking of Kim Bassinger and that movie My Stepmother Is An Alien?

Opportunity to be in a cool anthology

Ann and Jeff VanderMeer have another cool anthology they are assembling, and this one is one where they are seeking micro submissions.  There's a short turnaround, but this looks like fun.  To whit:

"Dr. Lambshead's Cabinet" Anthology. Wanted: micro-fiction (see below for details).  Pay: Contributor's copy.  DEADLINE: September 7, 2010. If they want to use your piece, you will hear from the editors by September 15. If you have questions, please post them in the comments here and submissions in the comments here.

A loose sequel to The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases—among other honors, a Hugo Award and World Fantasy Award finalist—this new anthology ramps up both the art and the storytelling, with full-page art, the delights of eccentric front and end matter, “exhibit” descriptions, and a core formed of full-on short stories. (The book will be dedicated to Kage Baker, who contributed to the first volume.)

Contributors will include Mike Mignola, Greg Broadmore, China Mieville, Holly Black, Naomi Novik, Minister Faust, Alan Moore, Cherie Priest, Michael Moorcock, Tad Williams, Jake Von Slatt, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Jeffrey Ford, Gio Clairval, Garth Nix, Stepan Chapman, Michael Cisco, Will Hindmarch, Ekaterina Sedia, Reza Negarestani, Lev Grossman, Ted Chiang, Carrie Vaughn, Kelly Barnhill, Helen Oyemi, and several more. John Coulthart will be doing a lot of art for, with additional work by Jake von Slatt, Eric Orchard, Yishan Lee, Eric Schaller, and others.

Unfortunately, the specific nature of the fiction being commissioned doesn’t allow us to have a standard open reading period.

HOWEVER, we are having an open reading period, starting today, for a micro-fiction section in the back of the anthology, which will consist of a list, with descriptions, of items from Dr. Lambshead cabinet that are not described in the stories. Here are the rules.

(1) Entries should take this form:

ITEM NAME. Description. – Your Name

For example:

TESLA’S SHINBONE. Preserved in amber, this electricity-producing relic from the famous eccentric scientist was first acquired by Dr. Lambshead in 1945 while on a trip to London. Etc. Etc. Etc. – Jeff VanderMeer

(2) Entries must be no longer than 100 to 150 words, and posted in the comments section of this post. They do not have to mention Dr. Lambshead specifically. They should be PG13, tops.

(3) You must include your email address in the appropriate comment field when you post so we can contact you if we would like to publish your entry.

(4) Steer clear of creatures in bottles and obvious Steampunk devices, as existing fiction for the anthology already covers these elements thoroughly. We can’t divulge all of the items being written about in the stories proper, but some overlap is acceptable.

(5) A high level of writing and imagination is expected for these entries, and we also expect that they will be properly grammar/spell-checked before being submitted. In short, perform all of the quality control you would do if submitting an actual story to an anthology. Both humorous and serious entries are welcome.

(6) We will choose a percentage of the entries to appear in the anthology. HarperCollins has agreed to provide a contributor’s copy as payment for each chosen entry.

(7) Dr. Lambshead is a character owned by the VanderMeers. You may not use his persona outside of the context of this submission process. However, if we don’t use your entry, you are of course free to do with it what you will, so long as it doesn’t reference Dr. Lambshead.

(8) We reserve the right to acquire as many or as few entries as we feel work for the book. Limit one entry per writer.

Here is more information about Dr. Lambshead’s cabinet. 

After the death of Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead in 2003 at his house in Wimpering-on-the-Brook, England, a long process of discovery followed for those assigned by his estate. For one thing, the great man’s house was in a catastrophic state of disarray, with letters to heads of state mixed in with grocery lists, major medical awards propping up tables or sticking enigmatically out of the many kitty litter boxes, and several thousand personal diaries shoved into random spaces in a library as shambolic as it was complete. Because of this disarray, it took caretakers until last year to unearth perhaps the most stunning find: a basement space lost under a collapsed floor, in which were found the remains of a remarkable cabinet of curiosities, much of it unfortunately ravaged by a fire or similar catastrophe.

Containing artifacts, curios, and keepsakes collected over Dr. Lambshead’s many, many decades, the remains of the cabinet of curiosities took months to unearth, document, and catalog. Several of the pieces related to anecdotes and stories in the doctor’s personal diaries. Others, when shown to the doctor’s friends, elicited further stories. In many cases, a partial catalog of items triggered valuable recollections and, working with trained artists, illustrations of items that were recovered in a damaged stage, or that simply no longer exist.

Thus, in keeping with the bold spirit exemplified by Dr. Lambshead and his exploits, we are now proud to present highlights from the doctor’s cabinet, reconstructed not only through visual representations but also through exciting stories of intrigue and adventure.

Know any unpublished UK writers with "counterfactual" novels?

A good blog to follow if you want to know what's happening in the speculative fiction world is Science Fiction Awards Watch.  And they recently mentioned a contest for first-time novelists, the Terry Pratchett Prize.  A counterfactual novel (sometimes called alternate history) is something akin to what Mr. Pratchett does in his Discworld novels--history is other than factual.  Of course, if you have read any of his novels, you understand that counterfactual covers Pratchett's sort of story better! 

Anywhere but here, anywhen but now. Which means we are after stories set on Earth, although it may be an Earth that might have been, or might yet be, one that has gone down a different leg of the famous trousers of time (see the illustration in almost every book about quantum theory).

We will be looking for books set at any time, perhaps today, perhaps in the Rome of today but in a world where 2000 years ago the crowd shouted for Jesus Christ to be spared, or where in 1962, John F Kennedy's game of chicken with the Russians went horribly wrong. It might be one day in the life of an ordinary person. It could be a love story, an old story, a war story, a story set in a world where Leonardo da Vinci turned out to be a lot better at Aeronautics. But it won't be a story about being in an alternate Earth because the people in an alternate Earth don't know that they are; after all, you don't.

But this might just be the start. The wonderful Peter Dickinson once wrote a book that could convince you that flying dragons might have existed on Earth. Perhaps in the seething mass of alternate worlds humanity didn't survive, or never evolved -- but other things did, and they would have seen the world in a different way. The possibilities are literally endless, but remember, it's all on Earth. Maybe the continents will be different and the climate unfamiliar, but the physics will be the same as ours. What goes up must come down, ants are ant-sized because if they were any bigger their legs wouldn't carry them. In short, the story must be theoretically possible on some version of the past, present or future of a planet Earth.

Further details at the link, but the deadline is December 31st, 2010. 

Opportunities for novel length fiction

A couple of imprints that are newish.  Luna Press, a division of eHarlequin, which has published some of my favorite authors in the urban fantasy and fantasy genres--Laura Ann Gillman, C.E. Murphy, and Michelle Sagara.  Submission guidelines and info here.  They've been around for several years now primarily publishing trade paperbacks. 

And then there's Carina Press, who are debuting our very own Ms. Bernita Harris with her upcoming novel this summer.  They are primarily an epublisher at this point; but I'm given to understand they plan to branch out into print in the near-ish future.  Submission guidelines and info here.  

Both of these appear to be primarily focused on romance, but accept novels with the primary focus on the genre.  I suspect an underlying romantic element or sexual tension subplot will be invaluable in selling to either.  (In particular I say this for Luna, having read a number of their publications.)

Happy writing and submitting!

Steampunk opportunity for writers under 25

SMD (aka Shaun Duke, blog host of World In A Satin Bag) mentioned that the Survival By Storytelling magazine is seeking stories in the steampunk subgenre for their next issue.  The catch is that they only accept stories from writers under 25.  Submissions details here.

AND, JUST SO YOU KNOW:  THIS IS THE 1500TH POST ON THIS BLOG.   Verbosity is moi.  *curtsies*

Opportunities for apocalyptic writers

Thanks to Anthology News & Reviews for this post content.  I've swiped it in its entirety from their Feb 20th post.

The Last Man Anthology is seeking submissions:

We are a print publication bringing together the best of catastrophic literature. This anthology is a tribute to Mary Shelley's novel, "The Last Man." Submissions to the Last Man Anthology will be accepted until filled. The anthology will be released August 30, 2010 in celebration of Mary Shelley's birthday.

Word count: 1500-8888 words.

All fiction should focus on the theme of catastrophic literature, and present interesting and innovative ideas that lend to the conception of being the last. Show us the last man, woman, robot, alien, planet, universe. The last person to do what. The last planet to do what. Show us the end of the world. What world is up to you to decide. The characters or world must show the last of something. Stories should be science fiction in nature, although genre-bending is acceptable. No alternate history.

Email submissions to LastManAnthology[@]aol.com. Attachments in doc. or docx. Subject header should read: Last Man Anth/title/word count. Please include a bio, any creative writing or college classes you've taken, if any. In a few sentences tell us what your favorite book is and why. Lastly, in a few sentences explain why science fiction is important to you.

Visit our website for complete instructions: http://lastmananthology.weebly.com/

Novella length fantasy opportunity (Link added!)

Library of Science Fiction & Fantasy Press is pleased to announce open submissions for “Distant Realms”, an anthology of novella length Fantasy. Submissions close end of March.

Fantasy sometimes needs big brush strokes to paint a world, or room to spread and grow to show the entire picture, and that can make the novella the perfect length. It’s a length often neglected in modern genre fiction, but it has the potential to deliver incredible stories. We believe very strongly in that potential and invite you to help us find it.

The details:
There are a lot of different opinions on how many words it takes to make a novella. For Distant Realms, we’re looking for stories that run between 20,000 and 30,000 words. Those two numbers make fairly solid barriers and it makes us sad to reject things solely based on length.

We prefer your submission be in standard manuscript format and attached to your e-mail as an rtf file. For a good reference on what standard manuscript format entails, please see William Shunn’s web pageon the subject.

Payment for inclusion in this anthology will be $100, two contributor’s copies of the book, and the everlasting knowledge of being involved in something special. In return, you’ll be giving Library of Science Fiction & Fantasy Press two year exclusive print and electronic rights from the date of publication; not to the world you’ve created, just to the story.

Submissions are open and will close at midnight on 31 Mar 2010. This is a fairly large window, but we recognize the size and scope of a novella can require a great deal more time than a short story. If you don’t have one ready to go, we’d like to give you a chance to write and polish one from scratch.

Submissions and Queries should be sent to distanteditor@gmail.com with ‘Submission – Distant Realms’ or ‘Query – Distant Realms’ in the subject line, as applicable.

Caveats:
Strange Horizons provides a wonderfully detailed (yet certainly incomplete) list of overused themes and plots.  We’re not saying don’t do it, because it’s always possible to bring something new to a cliché, but if you’ve picked something from this list as your main focus, try to stand it on its head.

Because there is only room for 4 or 5 stories in Distant Realms, submissions will be taken in two stages, building a shortlist of possible inclusions. Rejections will happen, but final decisions on acceptances won’t be made until ALL submissions have been read. The speculative elements you choose, whatever they are, must be integral to the story. If you can write the same story without them, then it’s not a
genre story. That said, our definition of Fantasy is very broad. If you can say Fantasy when you look at your story, please send it because we want to read it.

Quoted from a post at Anthology News & Reviews, as there wasn't a site link provided.

GUD Volume 7 call for submissions (reopened)

GUD magazine is reopening submissions for issue 7.  They want to find more stories written by or written with people of color as main characters.  The idea is to increase cultural diversity in the generally 'white default' landscape of literature. 

If you've got something, check them out here.

Contest opportunity (with a fairly large purse)

I'm starting to receive emails re contests.  I love it when work is made easy for me.  (I'm like a cat that way...or maybe a dog?  After all dogs eat garbage, and given my fondness for junk food...)

Albedo One, Ireland's magazine of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, has announced the fifth Aeon Award 2010 short fiction contest, which may be of interest to you.

For the 2010 contest, the grand prize is again 1000 euro and publication in Albedo One, with 200 and 100 euro and publication in Albedo One for second and third place stories. As a bonus prize this year, the winning story will have the option of free publication for one year in the Storywire section of the excellent Authorlink.com, where authors earn royalties from online readers of their work.

The contest begins Jan 1st, and ends Nov 30th. In essence, the contest is aimed at promoting new writers and writing in the speculative fiction genres (e.g. horror, SF, fantasy, anything in-between or unclassifiable), which we think is a pretty worthy goal.

The full rules and guidelines can be found at the link below.
http://www.albedo1.com/html/aeon_award.html

Anthology opportunities

This time, I am fulfilling my Opportunity Thursday commitment, but I'm being lazy.  Check out Angie's excellent round of of market opportunities here.  (Thanks, Angie!)

Opportunity Thursday

Anthology News & Reviews posted a new submission that you all might like to know about:

Blood Bound Books.  Short story contest and anthology call for submissions for Night Terrors: An Anthology of Horror.  Wanted:  750-5000 words (query for longer.)  Payment:  1st Place - $.05 per word, 2nd Place - $.01 per word, 3rd Place - 1/2 cent per word, runners-up - 1/2 cent per word.  "Stories ...must be rooted in the realms of horror/dark fiction. Science fiction and dark fantasy will be considered as long as it has a strong element of horror. Try to avoid classic horror conventions, unless you incorporate a new twist. Remember, evil has no boundaries and neither do we! Nothing is off limits, so take advantage of the freedom. We'll accept stories in any setting or time period, as long as it's well written, powerful and original. Most importantly, scare us. We want to be haunted by your story long after we put it down. Gore and sex are acceptable, as long as it serves a purpose. If we start receiving an abundance of common themed stories, I will update this page so authors have a better idea of what we still need, but for now it's wide open."  Submissions guidelines here.

Samhain Publishing Anthology Opportunities

This is a publisher you should check out fairly regularly.  They have open calls for anthologies most of the time.  So if you aren't sure what to tackle next for a novella length, this is the place to get an idea.

Samhain Publishing. Electronic and print publisher.  Want:  "Samhain Publishing is now open to general submissions of all genres of romance and erotica, as well as fantasy, urban fantasy and science fiction with strong romantic elements. We are refocusing our efforts and will no longer be accepting submissions in other genres for the time being, including women’s fiction, chick lit and young adult."  Main submissions page here, where you can see what they have cooking in general and can find novel-length submissions guidelines. 

In specific, they have currently a couple of projects open for submissions, two anthology opportunities I wanted to share:

Red-Hot Fairy Tales Anthology.  Want:  Novellas 20,000-25,000 words in length.  "[O]pen to any genre, M/F, M/M, or multiples thereof. [They are] looking for your super-hot take on the fairy tales we grew up with and… there must be a Happily Ever After."  Pay: "offers 40% of the cover price (as set by Samhain Publishing, Ltd) for a single-author ebook."  Deadline:  February 1st, 2010.  Publication date: August 2010.    NOTE:  They do say that "[o]ur contract requests full rights to the work, including both digital and print [but this] is fully negotiable and available for review upon acceptance of your story."  So you might need to get them to agree for one-time rights or whatever you feel is appropriate.

Steampunk Romance Anthology.  Want: Novellas 25,000-30,000 words in length.  "[A]s a primarily romance publisher, we require all stories for this anthology to fit into the romance genre, complete with “happy ever after” or “happy for now” ending." Pay: "offers 40% of the cover price (as set by Samhain Publishing, Ltd) for a single-author ebook."  Deadline: April 30th, 2010.  Publication date: Fall 2010.  NOTE:  They do say that "[o]ur contract requests full rights to the work, including both digital and print [but this] is fully negotiable and available for review upon acceptance of your story."  So you might need to get them to agree for one-time rights or whatever you feel is appropriate.

Opportunity for novella writers

Failbetter.com, which publishes fiction on the web (no payment, sorry) is holding a novella contest.  Entries due May 15th, 2010. First prize nets $500.  Details here.

Novella opportunities

Novellas are seemingly more difficult to place, but on duotrope I found quite a few.  Here are some of them.

My top pick:  The Paper Golem, which has the stated mission of "address[ing] under-served niches. First, the vast pool of tremendously talented up-and-coming writers, as well as many already arrived writers who are still brushing off their shoes. Call it "paying it forward" or recalling our own roots, but as authors ourselves we feel that these fresh writers are the life-blood of fiction. Nurturing their work at the beginning of their careers is a critical task, one we are proud to take up. Second, providing a home for novella length fiction, an ideal length for our genre, but one which has been under-utilized because few markets exist for it. As readers, we're tired of missing out on brilliantly written stories simply because there's no where for their authors to sell them."  Submit novellas for next issue of Alembical, a recurring anthology via email: papergolemsubs@gmail.com.  Pay: not disclosed.

Panverse Publishing.  Anthologies consisting of spec fic novellas (17,500-40,000 words.) Currently seeking submissions for Panverse Two, due to go to press in Spring 2010.  Pay: $75.   "What we're looking for: Pro-level novellas. "What we don't want:  Military SF, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Horror, RPG, superhero, shared-universe stuff, etc.  Vampires and Cthulhu-mythos stories are strongly discouraged unless you've done something absolutely original with either theme. No gratuitous or wildly excessive sex or violence: what this means is that sex or violence which serves the plot is okay, within limits; the same goes for language. Think R-rated rather than XXX-rated." "Depth of characterization will count for a lot – however clever the idea, if we don't care for the protagonist, we'll bounce it. We like stories that instill wonder. Subject matter is pretty wide open. If we care, can't put the story down, and find no big holes in the plot or worldbuilding, you've got a good shot."  Submissions are open until filled.  Submissions page here. 

Wildchild Publishing publishes the Weirdly anthologies, but is currently closed to submissions.  Check back here periodically to see if there is anything new.  (I list it because Weirdly is a great anthology.)

You can check out more sf opportunities on duotrope.com. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paper Golem has an excellent list of small presses as well:

Aqueduct Press 
Ben Bella Books 
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing / Tesseract Books 
Fairwood Press 
Golden Gryphon Press 
Hadley Rille Books 
NESFA Press 
NightShade Books 
Prime Books 
PS Publishing 
Robert J. Sawyer Books 
Small Beer Press 
Subterranean Press 
Tachyon Publications 
Wheatland Press

Opportunities for short fiction

I've fallen off the Opportunity Thursday wagon and have today climbed back upon it.  Hope some of these are good for what you have on the stove!

Brain Harvest - emagazine that likes it speculative, shocking, and short (750 words or less.)  Submission guidelines here.  Pay is above the average.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies - a fantasy emagazine that loves literary fantasy, or any sort of fantasy that's set in a world substantially different from our own.  Submissions page here.

Stygian Publications/Necrotic Tissue.  Stories exactly 100 words or 101-5,000 words.  They want horror:  We are into horror, both speculative and psychological. We assume all stories submitted are fictional, so if they aren't, don't ever tell us. Any cross over genres with a strong horror element will be considered. Dark humor, that is done well, (how is that for subjective?) is always appreciated. Submissions guidelines here, but closed for submissions until January 1st, 2010.  Pay: "The best story from each submission period will receive 5 cents per word, up to the maximum word count of 5,000 words for a total of up to $250 dollars."  Everyone else gets $.01/word.  NOTE: You can check out announcements for contests and calls for submissions by Stigian Press and its affiliated pubs here on their blog.

Anthology Opportunity

MBrane SF and Hadley Rille Books are doing a joint effort, open-source (shared world) anthology.   Details are here and here, and the shared-world bible is here.  The codicil is that you will be doing this for love...it's going to be released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license.

Opportunity Thursday

Another contest opportunity.  I've been having trouble getting access to my database service and so haven't dug up new submissions opportunities for you guys.  Sorry!  I'll get back to it eventually.

In the meantime, lots of contests out there.  (And you can thank my homie, Sue G for this bunch.  She's more a poetry gal, but sends me good links here and there for other stuff.)  The ones listed here have short deadlines, but I thought that I'd give you a heads up in case you had something gathering dust or hot off the press.

Writer's Digest 10th Annual Short Story competition.  
We're looking for fiction that's bold, brilliant...but brief. Send us your best in 1,500 words or fewer.  But don't be too long about it—the deadline is Tuesday, December 1, 2009.  Go here to enter.

PRIZES
First Place: $3,000
Second Place: $1,500
Third Place: $500
Fourth Through Tenth Place: $100
Eleventh Through Twenty-Fifth Place: $50 gift certificate for Writer's Digest Books

DIAGRAM announces the second Hybrid Essay Contest, with a deadline of October 31, 2009. "We still don't know exactly what we mean by hybrid, and we would certainly prefer to leave definitions up to you. We don't like them. We think the term hybrid suggests a resistance to definition. I guess the only way to describe it is we're looking for essays that are in some way outside the traditional boundaries of the genre. The lyric essay is a great example of a hybrid form: an essay that is essay but also poem. So we're looking for fusion of one sort or another. In particular we'd like to see work with greater visual components, or perhaps audio, or something that will amaze and beguile us. You can check out the issue with the finalist essays in early 2009 if you like, though again, we want crazy, awesome (maybe nixing the comma between them) stuff."  $15 entry fee.  $1,000 and publication to the winner.  Email submissions okay.  Deadline:  October 30, 2009. 

Dana Awards Literary Competition.  "We offer our three $1,000 awards annually in the Novel, Short Fiction, and Poetry, our traditional awards....Whether fiction or poetry, it must be work that is original yet not merely sensational for the sake of sensation."  Guidelines page.  Deadline: October 31, 2009.  No email submissions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poets & Writers has a wonderful page, "Grants & Awards: Upcoming Writing Contests."  I got most of this post info from there.  And considering there's more money up for grabs on these contests than the small amount you get from a 'zine for a short story, it is worth looking into these things! (Note: some of these are out of date, but the magazines and entities cited appear to have recurring contests, at least some of them.)

Another anthology opportunity

Well, I've let my subscription to my favorite sff opportunity site (SpecFicMe-$19.95 for 2 years) lapse, and have just renewed.  So next week I should have some opportunities to share that aren't cribbed from one of my favorite writing-related news sites, Anthology News & Reviews.  Let me make it up to  you with this:

She's Raina, a cross between a white tiger and a Siberian tiger.  One of my friend Ken's sons is a tiger handler and she's one of his 'kids'.  Isn't she gorgeous, and isn't it cute how she's licking up snow flakes from the air?

Blade Red Press.  Length: short spec fic up to 7,500 words.  Pays: Payment is a flat rate of AUD$25 per story.  What they want:  Submissions must have some element of a speculative nature (scifi, fantasy, horror, alternate universe, steampunk, etc.) that is integral to the plot. Stories must also have a dark and gritty edge. We’re not a Young Adult or Kids publisher – we’re looking for tales that disturb, dismay and unsettle, yarns that stay in the mind long after they’re read. We like our dark tales to be clever and interesting rather than blatant. Dark doesn’t mean tortureporn or slash and slay. We are interested in all aspects of speculative fiction, so surprise us with your imagination...Blade Red Press is not a straight horror publisher, so we’re looking for a variety of speculative fiction with a dark edge. Surprise us!  Submissions: via email to contact@blade-red.com.  File as .rtf attachment. 

NOTE Blade Red Press is a new publisher, hence the low payment.  They pay via PayPal as well.

Another anthology opportunity

From the great blog, Anthology News & Reviews, an announcement of a great-sounding opportunity.

Lame Goat Press wants submissions for its INNER FEARS ANTHOLOGY (to be published in 2010 sometime.)  LENGTH: 1000-5000 words.  PAY: $.02 per word and shared royalties (see the site for details).  They want "stories about a character who has an inner fear. Whether it's your inner fear or a fear of one of your characters doesn't matter to me. The genre will obviously be horror, but I'll be flexible on what other elements it has (sci-fi, fantasy, etc.). I'd prefer third person stories where the fear really grips the reader. I'll accept some first person narratives if they're well written, but as I'll probably receive an abundance of those, they must be VERY well written to be accepted."  DEADLINE:  December 20, 2009.  SUBMISSIONS:  Submissions to William Wolford at wgwolford@gmail.com with "Inner Fear submission" in the subject line, doc in .rtf format. Include a cover letter with your name, address, e-mail address, phone number, and publication history. Also, a short author's biography of around 100 words.

Opportunity for a big prize

Anthology News & Reviews announces a contest that has a short deadline (October 1st):

The Missouri Review is now offering $15,000 in prize money for the 19th annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editor's Prize Contest -- $5,000 per genre in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Past winners' work has been reprinted in the Best American series. Each entry is $20. All entrants receive a one-year subscription to The Missouri Review either in print or in the new environmentally friendly digital format, which includes bonus audio content. The deadline is October 1st, and you can enter online or by mail. For details, check out our webpage: http://missourireview.com/contest

Opportunity for...what? Bacon horror, you say?

I am scheduled for surgery this morning, so think kind thoughts of me, please, and I'll be back online to chat at you with live (instead of those moldy canned) tidings (or bitchiness as the case may be) in a few days.  In the meantime, enjoy this shared post from Victoria Mixon's blog.  (If you don't follow her, you might consider it.  She has lovely things to share with writers.)

This is too bizarre NOT to pass on to you guys:

Victorya of the Library of Living Dead Forum is proud to announce the latest anthology, Baconology!

Bacon has long been a staple in our breakfast diet, so it’s time bacon gets its due in literature–with a horror twist! Write a terrifying tale, from 1K-5K words, where bacon is the star of the show! Let’s not just make it fun, but a wee-bit unpredictable (no bacon kills because of the cholesterol–positive portrayals of bacon are encouraged). Remember, as a Library of Horror production there needs to be an element of horror, but good sense of humor and a dose of the surreal are appreciated. Other traditional monsters are allowed as long as bacon is a major component of the story (and yes, let’s make sure they are stories with a beginning, middle, and end). Send all submissions to baconhorror@gmail.com

I can make ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEES about the quality of this anthology or the integrity of the people involved. I’ve never heard of them before–this notice just came through a writer’s list this morning. But they sound like complete maniacs. I like that in writers!

If any of you do submit, please let us know how it goes!

No deadline, no payment information, just the submission information.  But it might be worth querying.  Also the site, Library of the Living Dead Forum, is all things zombie, all the time.  if that sort of thing punches your ticket, you might want to go over there and explore.

See ya on the flipside, folks!

Opportunity @ Writers of the Future

L. RON HUBBARD'S WRITERS OF THE FUTURE CONTEST - quarterly; sf/f/h/SpecFic (fic). Words: <17k. Fee: $0. 3 quarterly Prizes=$2250 +pub; 1 annual Grand Prize=$5000.  Quarterly deadlines of 31December, 31June, 30March, 30September.  This is one you should polish up your prose for, folks.  I mean, can you say RECOGNITION?  The rules page.  Specifically you non-published or slightly published should note:  "The Contest is open only to those who have not had professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Professional publication is deemed to be payment, and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits."

Yes, I'm dogging this one--because it's such a great opportunity for an unknown writer.  Come on, do it.  You know you want to!

Bonus Opportunity with Angry Robot

From the Authonomy newsletter:

We're giving you the chance to have your short story published in Angry
Robot author Lauren Beukes' next book. In order to enter, all you need to
do is write a short story (up to 3000 words) based in the universe Lauren
created in her first novel, Moxyland. Use characters, themes and settings
from her book to create your own work.

Moxyland is available to read on authonomy now.
http://authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=10869

Or, if you prefer, you can read the whole book using browse inside.
http://browseinside.harpercollins.co.uk/index.aspx?isbn13=9780007323890

You can enter the competition by copying your entry into the comments
section of the Moxyland book page. Over the next couple of months, Lauren
will be on the site and reading every story with her favourite 3 going into
her next book, out in Spring 2010. The closing date for entries is
September 11th 2009. The winners will be announced at this year's [British Fantasy Society's]
FantasyCon which will be taking place in Nottingham, UK. For more
information, go to http://www.fantasycon.org.uk

Click on the following link to read the full Terms and Conditions:
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/legal/Pages/angry-robot-competition.aspx 

[I'm not posting it as a regular opportunity because of the specific nature of the requirements for this opportunity, which likely excludes 99.9% of you all.]

Another anthology opportunity for the experimenter in you

From Anthology News & Reviews, an interesting opportunity for experimental fiction (a category into which spec fic can nicely slide):

A Handsome Laundrette, a Box of Lovers and Two Dozen Happy Seacows for Anthology "Moonlight tubers."  Stories: Up to 5000 words.  What they want.  "[S]tories of an experimental, odd, or surreal nature." Payment: $50 (Australian)  Deadline:  August 30th 2009.  Submissions via email, .rft attachment, to moonlighttuber@ gmail.com No reprints.

"AHLABOLATDFHS is open to writers of all varied nations, but is particularly interested in publishing Australian writers and funny dogs."

Not One Of Us

Here's a print magazine I just discovered. 

Not One Of Us.  Want: Short stories up to 6000 words.  Pay:  ¼¢ per word ($5 minimum).  "Not One of Us is about people (or things) out of place in their surroundings, outsiders, social misfits, aliens in the sf sense—anyone excluded from society for whatever the reason. We want to explore “otherness” from every possible angle: horror, SF, fantasy, whatever... We prefer stories of 6000 words or less. While we’re willing to read stories up to 7500 words long, they are a harder sell because of the size limitation of our format. We prefer poems of 40 lines or less, although we’re willing to read longer poems. Just not ones of epic length. "  Submissions.

Cross-genre opportunity: GUD Magazine

Here's one that I should have mentioned a while back: 

GUD Magazine, aka Greatest Uncommon Denominator. 

Payment: a minimum of $5.00 per piece, or $.03/word for longer pieces, first rights, or minimum $2.00 per piece, $.01/word for reprints. "When we publish your story, we pay you. Every time your story sells, we pay you. If we include it in an anthology, we pay you. If an issue does particularly well, you're looking at pro rates plus. If not—well, it may mean we've lost some money, but you've got your semi-pro in hand."

What they are.  GUD is a twice-yearly publication in either electronic or print format.  They have an experiment going on, a pay as you read sort of thing, which is sort of described in the payment section above. 

What they accept.  "We publish work in any genre, plus artwork, factual articles, and interviews. We'll publish something as short as 20 words or as long as 15,000 words, as long as it grabs us. Be warned: We read a lot. We've seen it all before. We are not easy to impress. Is your work original? Does it have something to say? Read it again. If you genuinely believe it to be so, send it. "  And the editor further states, "Send me clever Flash fiction, send me meaty 8,000 word stories, send me evocative poetry. And art. I love well-composed art! I especially love: alternate history; derelict spacecraft (unless you blow them up at the end, boo hiss); aircraft (incl planes, airships, balloons, why); cats; horses; strong women characters (but not 'kickass heroines'); puzzles. I am not so fond of: conventional horror; zombies; vampires; werewolves, etc, but you can always surprise me. Please note: cover art for #6 has already been purchased; all interior art will be printed in monochrome. luv the Ed..." so I think your speculative fiction has a really good shot at being accepted. 

Submissions page here.

And somehow our beloved SF SQRL is involved... Just sayin'...

Contest (and critique) opportunity

To celebrate their graduation from beta status, Anthology Builder is hosting a contest.  The challenge? Write a 1,000-10,000 word short story  to go with something from the Anthology Builder database of cover art and submit.  All finalists win a $30 gift certificate from Anthology Builder, and a critique of their story by Nancy Fulda, assistant editor at Jim Baen's Universe.   Deadline: September 30.  Details here.

Flash opportunities

Via a link in Querytracker, here's a market for 500-1,000 word flash fiction:

Flash Fiction Online.  500-1,000 words.  Pay: $50 (professional rate)!  They are looking for well-rounded stories in this short format, and they mean it.  Check out their thoughts on stories here. 

There are other flash venues; but this one pays a lot better for flash than most of the free ezines out there.  You might see what you can come up with and submit!

Open Call Opportunities with some of the Big SpecFic Magazines

Several magazines are major players in the spec fic short story field.  You might consider them:  Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Clarksworld Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Weird Tales.  There are many others, of course, but these six are admittedly the Big Six in my mind.  They pay professional rates and they publish future and current heavy hitters.  Being accepted into the alumni club of these rags is an honor indeed.   

The downside?  Some of these guys don't accept simultaneous or electronic submissions.  Paper and snail mail are not my favorite means of submitting as they are slow and mean a trip to the post office.  (You can't win them all, though, right?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fantasy & Science Fiction.  Pay: 6-9¢ per word on acceptance.  What they want:  "We are looking for stories that will appeal to science fiction and fantasy readers. The SF element may be slight, but it should be present. We prefer character-oriented stories. We receive a lot of fantasy fiction, but never enough science fiction or humor. Do not query for fiction; send the entire manuscript. We publish fiction up to 25,000 words in length."  Submissions:  Gordon Van Gelder, Fantasy & Science Fiction, P.O. Box 3447, Hoboken, NJ 07030.

Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.  Pay:  "Beginners get 6.0 cents a word to 7,500 words, 5.0 cents a word for stories longer than 12,500 words, and $450 for stories between those lengths." 
What they want:   "We seldom buy stories longer than 15,000 words...In general, we're looking for "character oriented" stories, those in which the characters, rather than the science, provide the main focus for the reader's interest. Serious, thoughtful, yet accessible fiction will constitute the majority of our purchases, but there's always room for the humorous as well. Borderline fantasy is fine, but no Sword & Sorcery, please. Neither are we interested in explicit sex or violence. A good overview would be to consider that all fiction is written to examine or illuminate some aspect of human existence, but that in science fiction the backdrop you work against is the size of the Universe."  Submissions: Sheila Williams, Editor, 475 Park Ave. South, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016. 

Weird Tales.  Pay:  3-4¢ per word.  What they want:  Short stories of 10,000 words or less. "WEIRD TALES is looking for well-written work that is unusual and original; works of the fantastic, stories that are unique and strange with a proclivity toward the dark side. A new take on traditional storylines is also welcome as long as it is different and distinctive. Think in terms of the exploration of the imagination and stories which push the boundaries."  Submissions: Anne VanderMeer, fiction editor.  Email submissions to weirdtales@ gmail.com. 

Clarksworld Magazine.  Pay: 10¢ a word for works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. What they want:  "We have a firm word limit of 4000 words...Science fiction need not be "hard" SF, but rigor is appreciated. Fantasy can be folkloric, medieval, contemporary, surreal, etc. Horror can be supernatural or psychological, so long as it is frightening. There are no barriers as to levels of profanity, gore, or sexuality allowed, but high amounts of profanity, gore, and sexuality are generally used poorly. Be sure to use them well if you do use them."  Submissions: Online submission format.  "After completing the online submission form, you will receive an email confirmation with a tracking number. This number can be used at any time to check the status of your submission. "

Strange Horizons. Pay: 5¢ per word with a max of $50.  Short stories up to 5,000 words. They will consider up to 9k in length, but your chances of acceptance are greatly reduced past the 5k mark.  What they want:  "We want good speculative fiction. If your story doesn't have a clear fantasy or science fiction element, or at least strong speculative-fiction sensibilities, it's probably not for us.  We'd like to help make the field of speculative fiction more inclusive, more welcoming to both authors and readers from traditionally underrepresented groups, so we're interested in seeing stories from diverse perspectives and backgrounds.  We want stories that have some literary depth but aren't boring; styles that are unusual yet readable; structures that balance inventiveness with traditional narrative. We like characters we can care about. We like settings and cultures that we don't see all the time in speculative fiction.  We like stories that address political issues in complex and sensitive ways. However, we don't like heavy-handed or preachy or simplistic approaches."  Submissions:  Online submission form here.

Anthology opportunity for your inner demon (or angel) or your operatic spaceman

Over at Nice Mommy, Evil Editor, a post describing an opportunity at Samhain press for an angels & demons anthology. 

"Samhain Publishing is seeking submissions for their Spring 2010 demons and angels themed anthology. Stories can be of any genre or heat level, and submissions are open to M/F, M/M, or multiples thereof, but all submissions must feature either an angel or demon theme (or both!) as integral to the story. Submissions should be 20,000 to 30,000 words in length...To submit a manuscript for consideration please include the full manuscript (of 20,000 to 30,000 words) with a comprehensive 2-3 page synopsis in addition to a letter of introduction/query letter which details the genre, heat level and story length. Full manuscripts are required."  Submissions page.

Additionally, Samhain has a Space Opera Anthology in the works, details here.  Submissions are only open until August 10 on this one, so get off your kiesters, my writing friends and submit! 

Bonus content:  In case you need a refresher so you don't submit non-space opera, here's wiki's definition of space opera:

As David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer note in their 2006 anthology of space operas, "there is no general agreement as to what [space opera] is, which writers are the best examples, or even which works are space opera". They further note that space opera has had several key and different definitions throughout its history; definitions that were significantly affected by literary politics. They note that "what used to be science fantasy is now space opera, and what used to be space opera is entirely forgotten."

Early in its history, the term space opera was a pejorative term for the worst, "really bad" SF, and this definition of space opera remained in force till about the 1970s. In 1941...Bob Tucker (who was also science fiction writer Wilson Tucker) coined the term "space opera" (by analogy to "horse opera" and "soap opera") to describe what he characterized as "the hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn space-ship yarn, or world-saving [story] for that matter."  In other words, many works that today would be termed "space operas", would not have been called by that name originally.

Beginning in the 1960s, and widely accepted by the 1970s, the space opera was redefined, following Brian Aldiss' definition in Space Opera(1974) as "the good old stuff": adventure stories set in space.  Yet soon after his redefinition, it begun to be challenged, by writers such as Leigh Brackett, Lester del Reyand Judy-Lynn del Rey. In particular, they disputed the claims that space operas were obsolete. By early 1980s, space operas—adventure stories set in space—were redefined, and the label attached to major popcultureworks such as Star Wars. It was only in the early 1990s that the term space opera begun to be universally recognized as a legitimate genre of science fiction.

As Hartwell and Cramer note, since then, space opera means "colorful, dramatic, large-scale science fiction adventure, competently and sometimes beautifully written, usually focused on a sympathetic, heroic central character and plot action and usually set in the relatively distant future and in space or on other worlds characteristically optimistic in tone. It often deals with war, piracy, military virtues and very large-scale action, large stakes."

Contest opportunity!

Reposted:

"In Vino Veritas (Truth in Wine)" Short Fiction Contest

This spring, Jaye Wells released her kick-butt novel RED-HEADED STEPCHILD. Her debut. It was a wonderful moment for a hard-working writer and a great blog friend. (Go Jaye!)

RED-HEADED STEPCHILD had a birth of sorts back in August 2006 during the "Lonely Moon" contest here at The Clarity of Night. Jaye penned an honored entry called "I Can Dig It," which introduced the world to a rockin' female vampire/assassin burying her latest handiwork. That character is the beloved Sabina Kane now taking names and dishing punishment in her on-going series. Today, Jaye is returning to The Clarity of Night to inspire YOU, the next debut novelist who will ignite the world. Welcome to the "In Vino Veritas (Truth in Wine)" Short Fiction Contest in honor of Jaye and all of her accomplishments!! (Can I get an OH-YEAH?!!!) Please join me in welcoming her as co-host and in offering well-earned congratulations.

THE CONTEST WILL OPEN ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009.

Now, down to business. Here's how the contest works. Using the photograph above for inspiration, compose a short fiction (or poetry) piece of no more than 250 words in any genre or style. After the contest opens, send your entry to me by email at jevanswriter at yahoo dot com before 11:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 15th (Eastern Time, United States). I'd prefer attachments formatted in Microsoft Word or Word Perfect (please see the format request below), but if you have something more exotic, you can paste the text into the body of an email. Each entry will be posted and indexed.

Now for the goodies. The following prizes are up for grabs:

• 1st Place: $50 Amazon gift certificate and a signed copy of RED-HEADED STEPHCHILD
  
• 2nd Place: $30 Amazon gift certificate
  
• 3rd Place: $25 Amazon gift certificate
  
• 4th Place: $20 Amazon gift certificate
  
• 5th Place: $15 Amazon gift certificate
  
• Readers' Choice Award 1st Place: $30 Amazon Gift certificate and a signed copy of RED-HEADED STEPCHILD

But this is about more than prizes. I hope you take advantage of the opportunity to meet and interact with your fellow writers. Our different perspectives, styles, and skills shine when we all start at the same place. It's a great opportunity to learn from each other.

Rules:

1. 250 words maximum.
   
2. Titles are optional, but encouraged. Titles do not count toward your word count.
   
3. One entry per person.
   
4. Any genre or style is welcome. If you choose to submit poetry, you must have narrative movement within the poem if you wish to compete with the prose pieces for the prizes.
   
5. The copyright remains with you, the author; however, you grant me worldwide first electronic publishing rights to post your entry on this blog indefinitely.
   
6. Judging will be conducted by me, Jason Evans. For an explanation of the judging criteria and scoring system, see A Note on Judging. You can also read the winning entries from past contests. Judging will also be conducted by Jaye Wells as co-host. (See below.)
   
7. Please provide a name for your byline. If you have a website or a blog, I'd be happy to link your site to your byline. If you don't have a website or blog, feel free to include a short bio. A bio does not count towards your word count.
   
8. At the close of the contest, I will give the date and time for the announcement of winners.
   
9. After the winners are announced, I will post what I liked most about each entry in the comments.
   
10. The Readers' Choice Award is awarded by vote of the contest participants. The entry with the highest number of votes wins. The rules for this portion of the contest will be posted after the entry period closes.
    
11. Public critiques in comments are encouraged, but must remain respectful. I reserve the right to delete comments and ban participants who do not abide by the collegial spirit of Clarity of Night contests.
    
12. For prior contests and their results, see the links on the sidebar.

Format Request:
These are not rules, and I will not reject an entry which does not conform, but if you follow them, my work in running the contest is much less. For that, I will be eternally grateful!

1. Single space lines, and double space paragraph breaks.
   
2. No tabs or indents for new paragraphs.
   
3. If you have italics in your text, please code it for html by putting a begin italics code < i > where it starts and an end italics code < /i > where it ends.
   
4. Although it's rarely used, handle bold < b >< /b > and underline < u >< /u > the same way.
   
5. Write your title at the top of the document left justified in title case (first letters capitalized). On the next line write your byline left justified (example, by Jason Evans). Add two blank lines, then begin your story.

Judging By Jaye:

As co-host, Jaye will also be judging entries. She is not bound by my scoring system. Here's what she had to say about what she is looking for: "No matter the length, all good stories elicit emotion from the reader. As I'm reading the entries, I'll be paying attention to those that make me feel something--fear, sympathy, amusement, etc. Of course, I'm a sucker for clever word play (but not too clever, if you're trying too hard it shows). The third element is probably the most important: Originality. Surprise me with your take on the photo. Stretch your creative muscles and give me the unexpected. Good luck!"

Welcome to this latest contest! You can send your entries early, but the contest will officially open and entries will be posted starting on July 8th.

Help spread the word!

Today is Readercon, next week is Babelcon.

Readercon is an annual sf convention that's in the Boston area.  I could actually make this one if I could ever get the time off.  Here's some info for you, and maybe you can plan to be there next year!  And if you are free on the 17th, you can go to Louisiana and enjoy Babelcon!  (I think that's a good one; if I had to pick a place in the South to live, Louisiana would get my vote.)

I think I'll start a lit of annual conventions so that I can keep my eye on the prize and hopefully make it to one one of these days.  Maybe meet up with some of my blog friends.  Oh, wait!  Yahoo has done that for me...check out Upcoming.org group on yahoo here.  You can keep a calendar of events online.  Pretty cool site, actually.

Blog that you should watch for opportunities

Instead of actual content for Opportunity Thursday, I give you a  Cool Site, Anthology News & Reviews, which lists anthology opportunities on a regular basis.

New Markets!

Death Head Grin.  Length 500-6000 words.  Pay: $0.  "Focus on speculative fiction...all genres considered except for erotica or romance."  Open submissions as they are currently looking for submissions for the first issue.

The Fugitive's Hideaway.  SF/F/H. Length: 3-5k. Pays: $0.  "The Hideaway will eventually become a in-print/online speculative fiction magazine. We're open for submissions in all capacities and are trying to implement content fast, so submit ASAP. The first issue is on target to publish in July, the reading and submissions period will be open until 12:00am June 21st, 2009. Submissions after this are fine, they just will have to wait until later in the summer."

Emerald Tales.  Length: 4k. Pays: $40 flat.  Bi-montly print magazine.  All genres.  "Needs poetry and short fiction from a cross-section of genres all written on the same theme. There will also be an ongoing serial story of six installments, one installment per issue. Volume one: Theme: Follow the Butterflies."  Check the website for current themes and submission instructions.  Submissions@scribblersandinkspillers.com

NewFoundSpecFic.  Length: up to 4.5k.  Pays: $.01/word (Canadian$) or a flat $45 for stories exceeding 4.5k.  Bi-annual speculative fiction anthology.  Aims to showcase the creative spec fic stories of horror, fantasy and science fiction written by "many of the undiscovered talents of Canada."  Deadline: July 6, 2009 for the next issue.  (NOTE:  From the web site, it appears that submissions are not limited to Canadians.) 

CHEER UP, UNIVERSE (One Time Print - TBD) Needs: SF/F. Length: No limits. Pays: 1¢/wd ($15 max) "Seeking ORIGINAL speculative fiction stories (both SF and Fantasy) that make us feel good. Feeling good is subjective so going into specifics is not possible."  Submit: Ai_59@yahoo.com  This one sounded interesting.  I mean, upbeat futuristic fiction?  Tres droll!

HYPERSONIC TALES Length: 1k. Pays: $5.  All genres.  Looking for flash fiction.

QUEER GOTHIC (One Time Print/E anthology - Queered Fiction)  Length: 3-10k. Pays: 50% split royalty.  "We're looking for gothic tales of horror and romance. We are seeking fiction with positive images of queer characters. We’re not looking for clichés."  Submit: Editor@queeredfiction.com  Deadline: 08/31/09.  Publishing Date: Aug/Sep 2009

AND A CONTEST:

CHIZINE & Leisure Books are sponsoring a contest.  "Leisure Books, the company “leading the way in publishing paperback horror,”* is partnering with Rue Morgue magazine in association with horror fiction web site ChiZine, to present “Fresh Blood,” a new writing contest specifically for unpublished horror authors. The winner will receive a contract for publication in Leisure’s 2011 lineup....

Leisure is looking for finished horror novel manuscripts, either supernatural or non-supernatural, of 80,000–90,000 words. A panel of experts, including Leisure Executive Editor Don D’Auria and editors at ChiZine, will judge entries. The finalists will be announced in November 2009."

Confluence 2009 this month!

Say, if you aren't doing anything on the weekend of July 24th and you're in the area, perhaps you might consider attending Confluence!  It's an sf convention in Pittsburgh PA, and John Scalzi is the guest of honor.  (I actually have that week for vacation, but I am committed to getting some home improvement projets done and can't afford it this year anyhow.  But it sounds like it might be fun.)

WisCon 34: May 27-31, 2010

WisCon is a feminist oriented sf convention.  Per the site, "This is the world's leading feminist science fiction convention. WisCon encourages discussion and debate of ideas relating to feminism, gender, race and class. WisCon welcomes writers, editors and artists whose work explores these themes as well as their many fans. We have panel discussions, academic presentations, and readings as well as many other uncategorizable events. WisCon is primarily a book-oriented convention... with an irrepressible sense of humor."  Mary Ann Mohanraj is one of the guest speakers, too!

Workshop opportunity

Check this workshop opportunity out: F&SF's sponsoring a workshop led by Gardner Dozios, who was editor of Asimov's for twenty years.  Details here. 

I'm willing to plonk my money down for this one!

Contest!

Golden Gazette, part of Galaxy Press, has launched a new contest. It's not precisely about writing, but you needed to get your Halloween costume prepped anyhow, right?

The contest is simple; dress up as your favorite pulp fiction character and send your photo in to editor@galaxypress.com by email or by regular mail to:

GALAXY PRESS
Attn: Editor
7051 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028

More details at the link!

 

Anthology opportunity

From Liana Brooks' blog, an anthology opportunity:

Way of the Wizards, John Joseph Adams editor.  Payment: 5 cents per word ($250 max), plus a pro-rata share of 50% of the anthology’s earnings and 1 contributor copy.  Word limit: 5000 words. (Stories may exceed 5000 words, but $250 is the maximum payment per story, and stories 5000 words or less are strongly preferred.)  Write about real magic wielders using magic.  Being different appears to be a plus.  Submissions:  July 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010...  So you have plenty of time! 

Opportunity for a horrifying Oz

Hey kids, here's one you know you want to tackle:  Horror stories set in the milieu of Oz!

Shadows of the Emerald City. Submission period ending: July 31^st, 2009. POD Anthology.  Pay $20 and one copy.  "Stories should come in under 10k words. Now I say should, because I'm not going to leave something amazing on the floor because it's 11k words, but it had better be something very special to be seriously considered. Anything in the 5-10k range is perfect. Unpublished work preferred, but please query if you have a previously published work that you think would fit this collection."  And "what we want to see are horror stories based on the world of Oz. This includes the characters, the settings, the world itself. We're deconstructing an American institution, so we'd like to see what you can come up with. Blood and gore, or explicit sex? By all means. As long as it reads as part of the natural progression of the story and not some fucked up penthouse letter.  Scare us. Disgust us. More than anything though, give us a reason to turn the page."

Tentative Publication Date: Fall 2009.  

Thanks to Cat Rambo's post on this one.