Pickpik
This December there are eight dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always, every genre, style, and form is wanted, from short stories to poetry to essays.I post upcoming calls for submissions shortly before the first day of every month. But as I am collecting them, I post them on my page, Calls for Submissions. You can get a jump on next month's calls for submissions by checking that page periodically throughout the month. (I only post paying markets.)
Also see Paying Markets for hundreds of paying markets arranged by form and genre.
Happy submitting!
________________
Eternal Haunted Summer. Genre: Poetry, short fiction. Theme: Horror. Payment: $5. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Sundog. Genre: Fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art. Payment: $25. Deadline: December 1, 2023. Submit early in month to avoid submission fee.
Death in the Mouth Anthology. Restrictions: Authors who identify as BIPOC or, outside of US-American context, anyone who is from a marginalized ethnicity (eg. Roma, Sámi, Nenets would also fall under this umbrella etc)”. Genre: Horror short fiction and art. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Red Cape Publishing: A - Z of Horror: W is for Witchcraft. Genre: Horror on theme. Payment: £10. Deadline: Opens December 1, 2023. Open until full.
Big Wing. Genre: Poetry, prose, spoken word, and visual art works. Theme: Nature. Payment: $25. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Parabola. Genre: Original essays and translations, poetry, reviews. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: December 1, 2023. See themes.
december magazine. Genre: Poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction (essays, memoirs, biography, literary journalism, social or cultural commentary or analysis) and visual art that can be reproduced in our print format. Payment: $10.00 per page with a minimum of $40.00 and a maximum of $200.00. Deadline: December 1, 2023. Charges for online submission. No charge via snail mail.
Assault Team Anthology. Genre: Military Science Fiction. Payment: "a percentage of sales divided equally between the contributing authors." Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Cincinnati Review. Genre: Prose, poetry, art. Payment: $25/page for prose in journal. $30/page for poetry in journal. Deadline: Opens on December 1, closes when cap is reached.
Northern Lights Anthology. Restrictions: Open to Canadians. Genre: Horror and horror-adjacent dark weird fiction, ideally set in Canada and incorporating a motif of night / nighttime/ dusk/ darkness. Stories should be between 500 and 5,000 words. Payment: 10 cents CAD/word. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
What If...Walls Could Talk. Genre: Speculative fiction. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Air/Light. Genre: New and innovative works of literary arts across all mediums and genres including cross genre work. Length: Up to 4,000 words for prose, and up to 10 pages for poetry. Payment: Poetry: $50; Responses and department pieces: $100; Fiction and essays/nonfiction: $200; Visual art, music, and multimedia: $200. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores. Genre: Speculative stories, poetry, nonfiction. Payment: 8 cents/word for original work. 2 cents/word for reprints. $1 a line for poetry. 2 - 8 cents/word for nonfiction. Deadline: December 2, 2023. Accepts reprints.
Invisible City. Genre: Nonfiction up to 5,000 words. Payment: $20. Deadline: December 5, 2023.
Bad Day Book. Genre: Poetry and prose. See site for themes. Payment: $40 - $75, depending on length. Deadline: December 5, 2023.
Stone’s Throw. Genre: "We're looking for dark fiction, crime and noir, length between 1,000 and 2,000 words." Payment: $25. Deadline: December 7, 2023. Open to submissions the first week of every month.
A Coup of Owls. Restrictions: Only submit if you are aged 18 or over and belong to an underrepresented or marginalised community. These include, but are not limited to: LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and disabled people. Genre: Fiction, all genres. Payment: £5 - 15. Deadline: December 7, 2023. Closes when they reach their cap.
The Other Stories (Audio). Genre: Horror on themes. Payment: 15 GBT. Deadline: December 9, 2023. See themes.
Northern Gravy. Restrictions: Northern Gravy welcomes submissions from UK & Ireland writers of any background, including first-time writers. Genre: Fiction, Poetry and Kid Lit (writing for Middle Grade and Young Adult audiences) Payment: £100 per contributor. Deadline: December 10, 2023.
Hippocampus Magazine. Genre: Memoir Excerpts, Personal Essays, and Flash Nonfiction. Payment: $40. Deadline: Fee free from December 1 - December 14, 2023.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Cat Stories. Genre: True stories and poems. "We are looking for first-person true stories and poems up to 1200 words that highlight the unique personalities that dogs have. Celebrate your dog, or a dog you know, with a wonderful story about what he or she does. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both." Payment: $200. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dog Stories. Genre: True stories and poems. "We are looking for first-person true stories and poems up to 1200 words that highlight the unique personalities that cats have. Celebrate your cat, or a cat you know, with a wonderful story about what he or she does. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both." Payment: $200. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Eye to the Telescope. Genre: Speculative poetry. Payment: $0.04/word, up to $25. Deadline: December 15, 2023. See theme.
On Spec. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. Payment: $100CAD. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Propagule. Genre: Short stories that are intrepid with regard to experimentation and oddity; the strange, the surreal, the atypical, the unexpected. Payment: Up to $20. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Copper Nickel. Genre: Poetry, fiction, essays, and translation folios. Payment: $30 per printed page + two copies of the issue in which the author’s work appears + a one-year subscription. Deadline: December 15, 2023. Submit early in the month to avoid submission fees.
Baffling Magazine. Genre: Speculative flash fiction. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Lost Boys Press: Romantasy. Genre: Romance set in a fantasy world. Word count should be between 60,000 and 120,000 words. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Brazenhead Review. Genre: Poetry. Payment: $200. Deadline: December 15, 2023. Note: Closes when cap is reached.
Eavesdrop Magazine. Restrictions: Canadian writers (anyone living in Canada for work, school, asylum, etc, as well as artists living on traditional, unceded territories, is welcome to submit). Genre: Fiction, poetry, comics, plays, CNF, art. Payment: $30 per poem, $70 per short fiction, CNF piece, and short play, $70 per visual art piece, $30 per comic. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Midstory Magazine. Genre: Personal essays about love, loss, and friendship at midlife. We are looking for a strong, clear writing voice and raw, honest storytelling, in keeping with our mission to elevate the voices of midlife women. Preferred word count: 750-2000 words. Payment: $50 for accepted essays. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, mixed media, visual arts, "and even kitchen sinks, if they are compressed in some way.” Payment: $50. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Archive of the Odd. Genre: Speculative fiction, horror preferred. “Archive of the Odd is a zine of uncanny occurrences, told in even stranger ways.” They’d like a variety of time periods. Stories can be in any format, except traditional prose. Some of the suggested formats are: academic papers; technical writing; medication warning sheets; sales papers; newspaper articles; recipes; knitting/crochet/weaving/what-have-you guides; care guides (plant, animal, rock garden, etc); or any other unusual format. Submissions do not have to be entirely in text. Payment: $15-25 for fiction of 500-5,000+ words. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Samjoko Magazine. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, play, screenplay. Payment: $20. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Muse Magazine. Genre: Nonfiction articles for children. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: December 15, 2023. See themes. Queries only.
Eastover Press: Rural Writers of Color. Restrictions: Open to BIPOC writers who live in or hail from rural or semi-rural locales in the U.S. and whose short stories feature characters living or working in rural or semi-rural spaces. Genre: Short stories. Payment: $100-$300. Deadline: December 15, 2023. Previously published stories in 2021 and 2022 only.
Rebel Satori Press. Genre: Full-length LGBTQ+ speculative fiction, Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Borne in the Blood. Genre: "WolfSinger Publications is seeking stories about things that are carried in the blood. Be it magic, disease or something else – it must be Borne in the Blood. We will be donating proceeds from Borne in the Blood to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. All genres will be considered with the exception of erotica." Length:1000-7000 words. Payment: $20. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Yule: a collection of Yule Time Tales. Genre: "We are looking for submissions of Pagan Yule stories, not Christmas stories. All genres are welcome, as long as it is Yule and Solstice centered. The winter solstice is the longest night of the year, but the light will return by degrees after that December night. We want stories about what happens in those dark and still winter months. Stories of transformation and growth. Stories of the winter witch, cold forests, elves and magical places. Old ghost stories.” Word count 2,500 to 8,000. Payment: $10. Deadline: December 16, 2023.
The Offing. Genre: Creative nonfiction (usually personal essay) that centers one’s personal experience against the backdrop of art, literature, and culture.. Length: 7,500 words max. Payment: $25 - $100. Deadline: December 16, 2023.
Humour Me. Genre: Humor. "We want your festive stories for our Christmas special, fiction and non fiction! Min 1k words, Max 3k. These can be any sub-genre. Western Santa Claus? Zombie reindeer? Go for it as long as they have a humour/satirical element! We will also accept cartoons/comic strips as long as they meet the Christmas/humour theme." Payment: £25 (GBP) - £40 (GBP). Deadline: December 16, 2023.
I Want That Twink OBLITERATED! Anthology. Genre: Classic pulp adventures centering non-traditionally masculine queer heroes and villains. "We’re taking the classic tropes of pulp science-fiction, fantasy, and horror, recast through a radical queer lens." Payment: $0.08 /word. Deadline: December 17, 2023.
Island. Restrictions: Open to Australian and New Zealand citizens and residents only. Genre: Fiction Nonfiction. Payment: 40 cents per word, with a minimum of $700 and a maximum of $1500. Poetry for print - $175 per poem. Island Online - $450 for short-form fiction and nonfiction. Deadline: December 17, 2023.
Fanatical. Genre: Sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories between 2,000 and 6,000 words. Payment: £20. Deadline: December 17, 2023.
Funemployment Quarterly. Genre: Science-fiction/fantasy. See theme. Payment: $20 CAD. Deadline: December 18, 2023.
Folk Horror Anthology. Genre: Folk Horror and Weird Fiction. Payment: £100. Deadline: December 20, 2023.
The Ex-Puritan. Genres: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, hybrid work. Payment: $150 -$200. Deadline: December 25, 2023.
Off Topic Publishing: Poetry Box. Genre: Poetry. Payment $30 CAD. Deadline: December 25, 2023. This is a monthly call.
Nightmare Diaries. Genre: Dark fiction short stories, fairy tales, flash fiction, and novellas of 500-10,000 words. Payment: $0.10 per word. Deadline: December 27, 2023.
Extrasensory Overload: an anthology of speculative excess. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. "We are seeking submissions that actively engage readers with multi-sensory (more than one sense), supra (beyond the five senses), super or extra sensory experience (including paranormal, ESP, etc.) as part of speculative fiction and poetry." Payment: $5 per poem and $10 for each short story. Deadline: December 29, 2023.
Havok. Genre: Flash fiction. See themes. Payment: $50 via PayPal for each story selected for an Anthology. No payment for online publication. Deadline: December 29, 2023.
JackLeg Press. Genre: Poetry and short story collections. They also consider select literary novels and creative nonfiction. JackLeg only publishes U.S.-based writers. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 30, 2023.
Workers Write! Tales from the Cubicle. Genre: Fiction and poetry that contain stories and poems from the office worker's point of view. "we're especially interested to see how the home office has taken on a new meaning because of Covid and what it's been like for those of us who have returned to the annoying commutes and communal bathrooms." Payment: $5 - $50. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
The Theatre Phantasmagoria. Genre: Horror flash fiction up to 2,000 words. Payment: £10. Deadline: December 31, 2023. This is a monthly call. See themes.
Islandia. Restrictions: Preference is given to residents of Florida & the Caribbean but Islandia considers written work and visual art with strong ties to the region. Genre: Poetry, art, and prose. Payment: Pay for poetry and visual art begins at $50 and for prose submissions $100 - $150. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Meadowlark Reader. Genre: Personal essays, interviews, journalistic pieces. “True stories about Kansas written by Kansans." Payment: $10 plus one contributor copy. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
In the Eyes of the Hungry. Genre: Short horror stories, 2500 to 6000 words, in the style of Steinbeck. Payment: $50. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Zombies Need Brains: Three Anthologies. Genre: Speculative fiction. See themes. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Food Blog Horror Anthology: Necroyummycon. Genre: Horror stories in the form of food blogs, including recipes. Payment: $25. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Interstellar Flight Press. Genre: Speculative flash fiction. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Spooky. Genre: Horror. "Cozy horror. Fun horror. Classy horror. Dare we say, wholesome horror?" Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Thinking Ink Press: The Neurodiversiverse Anthology. Genre: Speculative short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and art exploring encounters between neurodivergent people and neurodivergent aliens. They are looking for: Short stories up to 6k words, Flash fiction up to 1k words, Poetry up to 100 lines, Black-and-white line art illustrations. Payment: $100 per short story, $50 for flash fiction, $50 for poems, and $50-100 for illustrations. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
The Black Beacon Book of Pirate Tales. Genre: Fiction on theme: Pirate tales. Payment: 20€ for original stories and 5€ for reprints regardless of length, plus one print copy. Preferred word count between 5,000 and 10,000 words. Deadline: December 31, 2023. Accepts reprints.
Ninth Letter. Genre: Poems, nonfiction, and short fiction. Payment: $25 for poetry, $100 for prose. Deadline: December 31, 2023. Fee-free until they hit 300 submissions, so submit early in the month.
The Map of Lost Places Anthology. Genre: Stories about places where weird things happen. "Places that have strange histories, their own traditions and customs, their own dangers. These can be based off real folk tales or old wives tales - think the Mothman in Point Pleasant, WV - or ones that you come up with all on your own. But your story should tell of someone going to one of these places - either intentionally or they just stumble across it - and what happens when they encounter the frightening/strange thing that is in or occurs in that location." Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
The Margins. Genre: Poetry by emerging and established Asian American and diasporic poets. Payment: $50 – $90 for a single poem. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Rattus Futura. Genre: Short stories, poetry, art about the future which feature rodents. Payment: $10 per accepted poem, 1c/word ($5 minimum.) for accepted fiction ($15 per page for graphic narrative fiction), $20 per accepted piece of non-narrative internal visual art, Half of above for reprints, $100 (negotiable) for the cover illustration. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Allegory. Genre: Speculative Fiction. Payment: $15. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Dracula Beyond Stoker. Genre: Fiction based on Stoker’s characters. See theme. Payment: 5 cents/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Jay Henge: Sunshine Superhighway. Genre: Speculative fiction. "Solarpunk, cyberpunk, other planets, alternate worlds that might be nearly lost through our own hubris; futuristic fantasy and speculative-fiction stories of all kinds that are hopeful and leave us with the idea that despite the doom and gloom in the universe, things can possibly work out if we strive to make life better, even if in a small way." Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words. Length: Up to 15k words. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Air and Nothingness Press: We Are All Thieves of Somebody's Future. Genre: We are seeking stories for an anthology to be titled We Are All Thieves of Somebody's Future which will collect stories with the theme: Resource Scarcity - using up the last of a critical resource and dealing with the aftermath. While stories could be dystopic (ex. the last tree), authors could also explore hopepunk (losing a resource leads to something unforeseen and positive), solarpunk (a pollution laden resource leads to a better solution), fantasy (the last dragon). We are open to all genres. All stories are requested to be between 1000 and 3000 words in length. Payment: $0.08/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Freeze Frame Fiction. Genre: Flash fiction. "Any genre, no content restrictions. We want your science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, drama, literary works, satire, bizarre fiction, or anything else you can come up with or mix together. The more original, the better. The weirder, the better.” Payment: $10. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Dancing Star Press. Genre: Speculative fiction novellas. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2023. Genre: Queer Speculative Fiction. Submissions are open for all speculative work published in 2023 under 17,500 words that deals either implicitly or explicitly with queerness. Editors and authors may submit. Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Chestnut Review. Genre: Poetry, flash fiction, short fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, visual media (art/photography). Payment: $120. Deadline: December 31, 2023. Submit early in the month to avoid submission fee.
Haven Speculative. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. Payment: 1 cent/word for fiction and $5 - $10 for poetry. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Eerie River. Genre: Horror inspired by Tarot: 1500 - 7000 firm. Payment: ¢1 per word CAD. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Dragon Soul Press: Across Time. Genre: "All time travel romance stories. Happily Ever After not required. All genres accepted." Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Dragon Soul Press: Fallen. Genre: "All stories involving angels who have fallen from grace. Examples include it being a misunderstanding or they are purposely wreaking havoc. The darker, the better. All genres accepted." Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
The Way of Worlds Genre: Speculative fiction. "We want aliens, solar systems, spaceships, alternate universes, and to go somewhere beyond imagination. We are looking for polished manuscripts of about 3,500 - 12,000 words." Payment: 3 cents per word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Grendel Press: Uncanny & Unearthly Tales (Vol 2) – The Midnight Labyrinth. Genre: “Each story should feature a tale delivered from a character who stepped through a door and found themselves someplace unexpected. On their journey, they will notice a book called Midnight Labyrinth. No requirement to read or interact with it; it just needs to appear. Genre-bending is welcome! Sci-fi, steampunk, horror, fantasy, etc. … This anthology is an exploration of PLACE and FANTASY, so the MC in the story needs to actually find themselves in a new world/city/place that they’ve either never been before or haven’t been for a long time.” Payment: 5 cents per word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Arc Poetry Magazine. Genre: Poetry. Payment: $50 per page. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Best American. Genre: Published short stories, essays, food writing, mystery and suspense, nature writing, science fiction and fantasy. Payment: ? Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Nine Pens. Restrictions: Open to poets in UK and Ireland. Genre: Poetry pamphlets. See theme, Payment: Royalties? Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Channel. Genre: Fiction, art, creative non-fiction, and poetry that engages with the natural world, and have a particular interest in work which encourages reflection on human interaction with plant and animal life, landscape and the self. Payment: €40/poem, and €50/page of prose up to €150. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Book XI. Genre: Personal essays, memoir, fiction, science fiction, humor, and poetry with philosophical themes. Payment: $200 for prose; $50 for poetry. Deadline: December 31, 2023. Closes after 200 submissions.
AND A FEW MORE...
Three Ravens Press. Genre: Cryptid horror. Word Count: 5,000 – 10,000. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Wild Umbrella. Genre: Short stories, essays, and poems. Payment: €10 per poem and €25 per fiction story or non-fiction essay. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Cafe Irreal. Genre: Magical realism. Length: Up to 2,000 words. Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Book Worms. Genre: Dark fiction, essays, poetry. Theme is My Bloody Valentine: dark love stories, Tinder dates gone horribly wrong, bitter romance, a lover’s revenge, tragic love, etc. Dark humor is okay, but it should fit the themes of horror and romance. Specifically looking for original poetry (any length). Payment: $0.08/word for prose. $25 – $50 per poem. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Cardinal Rule Press Genre: Children’s picture books that empower children through meaningful stories for readers, age 4-11. They also publish non-fiction books for parents (word count up to 70k). Payment: Royalties. Deadline: Opens January 1, 2024.
The Body’s Experience of Religion. Genre: Poetry. Payment: $10. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Totally Entwined: Oh, Baby!. Genre: Novellas, 30,000 - 50,000 words. Theme: Surprise Babies. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Here There Be Dragons. Genre: Speculative fiction, poetry, art. "Dragons are icons of fantasy and legends about them abound. Found in novels, poetry, and art, they stir the imagination as helpers, heroes, villains, and symbols of love, fear, and wealth. We are looking for renderings of dragons in writing and art that capture the essence of these fascinating creatures." Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Reservoir Road Literary Review. Genre: Literary short stories, lyrical creative non-fiction, photography. Payment: $5. Deadline: Opens January 1, 2024. Note: Submission window closes when their cap is reached.
Also see Paying Markets for hundreds of paying markets arranged by form and genre.
Happy submitting!
________________
Eternal Haunted Summer. Genre: Poetry, short fiction. Theme: Horror. Payment: $5. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Sundog. Genre: Fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art. Payment: $25. Deadline: December 1, 2023. Submit early in month to avoid submission fee.
Death in the Mouth Anthology. Restrictions: Authors who identify as BIPOC or, outside of US-American context, anyone who is from a marginalized ethnicity (eg. Roma, Sámi, Nenets would also fall under this umbrella etc)”. Genre: Horror short fiction and art. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Red Cape Publishing: A - Z of Horror: W is for Witchcraft. Genre: Horror on theme. Payment: £10. Deadline: Opens December 1, 2023. Open until full.
Big Wing. Genre: Poetry, prose, spoken word, and visual art works. Theme: Nature. Payment: $25. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Parabola. Genre: Original essays and translations, poetry, reviews. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: December 1, 2023. See themes.
december magazine. Genre: Poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction (essays, memoirs, biography, literary journalism, social or cultural commentary or analysis) and visual art that can be reproduced in our print format. Payment: $10.00 per page with a minimum of $40.00 and a maximum of $200.00. Deadline: December 1, 2023. Charges for online submission. No charge via snail mail.
Assault Team Anthology. Genre: Military Science Fiction. Payment: "a percentage of sales divided equally between the contributing authors." Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Cincinnati Review. Genre: Prose, poetry, art. Payment: $25/page for prose in journal. $30/page for poetry in journal. Deadline: Opens on December 1, closes when cap is reached.
Northern Lights Anthology. Restrictions: Open to Canadians. Genre: Horror and horror-adjacent dark weird fiction, ideally set in Canada and incorporating a motif of night / nighttime/ dusk/ darkness. Stories should be between 500 and 5,000 words. Payment: 10 cents CAD/word. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
What If...Walls Could Talk. Genre: Speculative fiction. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Air/Light. Genre: New and innovative works of literary arts across all mediums and genres including cross genre work. Length: Up to 4,000 words for prose, and up to 10 pages for poetry. Payment: Poetry: $50; Responses and department pieces: $100; Fiction and essays/nonfiction: $200; Visual art, music, and multimedia: $200. Deadline: December 1, 2023.
Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores. Genre: Speculative stories, poetry, nonfiction. Payment: 8 cents/word for original work. 2 cents/word for reprints. $1 a line for poetry. 2 - 8 cents/word for nonfiction. Deadline: December 2, 2023. Accepts reprints.
Invisible City. Genre: Nonfiction up to 5,000 words. Payment: $20. Deadline: December 5, 2023.
Bad Day Book. Genre: Poetry and prose. See site for themes. Payment: $40 - $75, depending on length. Deadline: December 5, 2023.
Stone’s Throw. Genre: "We're looking for dark fiction, crime and noir, length between 1,000 and 2,000 words." Payment: $25. Deadline: December 7, 2023. Open to submissions the first week of every month.
A Coup of Owls. Restrictions: Only submit if you are aged 18 or over and belong to an underrepresented or marginalised community. These include, but are not limited to: LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and disabled people. Genre: Fiction, all genres. Payment: £5 - 15. Deadline: December 7, 2023. Closes when they reach their cap.
The Other Stories (Audio). Genre: Horror on themes. Payment: 15 GBT. Deadline: December 9, 2023. See themes.
Northern Gravy. Restrictions: Northern Gravy welcomes submissions from UK & Ireland writers of any background, including first-time writers. Genre: Fiction, Poetry and Kid Lit (writing for Middle Grade and Young Adult audiences) Payment: £100 per contributor. Deadline: December 10, 2023.
Hippocampus Magazine. Genre: Memoir Excerpts, Personal Essays, and Flash Nonfiction. Payment: $40. Deadline: Fee free from December 1 - December 14, 2023.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Cat Stories. Genre: True stories and poems. "We are looking for first-person true stories and poems up to 1200 words that highlight the unique personalities that dogs have. Celebrate your dog, or a dog you know, with a wonderful story about what he or she does. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both." Payment: $200. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dog Stories. Genre: True stories and poems. "We are looking for first-person true stories and poems up to 1200 words that highlight the unique personalities that cats have. Celebrate your cat, or a cat you know, with a wonderful story about what he or she does. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both." Payment: $200. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Eye to the Telescope. Genre: Speculative poetry. Payment: $0.04/word, up to $25. Deadline: December 15, 2023. See theme.
On Spec. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. Payment: $100CAD. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Propagule. Genre: Short stories that are intrepid with regard to experimentation and oddity; the strange, the surreal, the atypical, the unexpected. Payment: Up to $20. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Copper Nickel. Genre: Poetry, fiction, essays, and translation folios. Payment: $30 per printed page + two copies of the issue in which the author’s work appears + a one-year subscription. Deadline: December 15, 2023. Submit early in the month to avoid submission fees.
Baffling Magazine. Genre: Speculative flash fiction. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Lost Boys Press: Romantasy. Genre: Romance set in a fantasy world. Word count should be between 60,000 and 120,000 words. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Brazenhead Review. Genre: Poetry. Payment: $200. Deadline: December 15, 2023. Note: Closes when cap is reached.
Eavesdrop Magazine. Restrictions: Canadian writers (anyone living in Canada for work, school, asylum, etc, as well as artists living on traditional, unceded territories, is welcome to submit). Genre: Fiction, poetry, comics, plays, CNF, art. Payment: $30 per poem, $70 per short fiction, CNF piece, and short play, $70 per visual art piece, $30 per comic. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Midstory Magazine. Genre: Personal essays about love, loss, and friendship at midlife. We are looking for a strong, clear writing voice and raw, honest storytelling, in keeping with our mission to elevate the voices of midlife women. Preferred word count: 750-2000 words. Payment: $50 for accepted essays. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, mixed media, visual arts, "and even kitchen sinks, if they are compressed in some way.” Payment: $50. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Archive of the Odd. Genre: Speculative fiction, horror preferred. “Archive of the Odd is a zine of uncanny occurrences, told in even stranger ways.” They’d like a variety of time periods. Stories can be in any format, except traditional prose. Some of the suggested formats are: academic papers; technical writing; medication warning sheets; sales papers; newspaper articles; recipes; knitting/crochet/weaving/what-have-you guides; care guides (plant, animal, rock garden, etc); or any other unusual format. Submissions do not have to be entirely in text. Payment: $15-25 for fiction of 500-5,000+ words. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Samjoko Magazine. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, play, screenplay. Payment: $20. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Muse Magazine. Genre: Nonfiction articles for children. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: December 15, 2023. See themes. Queries only.
Eastover Press: Rural Writers of Color. Restrictions: Open to BIPOC writers who live in or hail from rural or semi-rural locales in the U.S. and whose short stories feature characters living or working in rural or semi-rural spaces. Genre: Short stories. Payment: $100-$300. Deadline: December 15, 2023. Previously published stories in 2021 and 2022 only.
Rebel Satori Press. Genre: Full-length LGBTQ+ speculative fiction, Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Borne in the Blood. Genre: "WolfSinger Publications is seeking stories about things that are carried in the blood. Be it magic, disease or something else – it must be Borne in the Blood. We will be donating proceeds from Borne in the Blood to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. All genres will be considered with the exception of erotica." Length:1000-7000 words. Payment: $20. Deadline: December 15, 2023.
Yule: a collection of Yule Time Tales. Genre: "We are looking for submissions of Pagan Yule stories, not Christmas stories. All genres are welcome, as long as it is Yule and Solstice centered. The winter solstice is the longest night of the year, but the light will return by degrees after that December night. We want stories about what happens in those dark and still winter months. Stories of transformation and growth. Stories of the winter witch, cold forests, elves and magical places. Old ghost stories.” Word count 2,500 to 8,000. Payment: $10. Deadline: December 16, 2023.
The Offing. Genre: Creative nonfiction (usually personal essay) that centers one’s personal experience against the backdrop of art, literature, and culture.. Length: 7,500 words max. Payment: $25 - $100. Deadline: December 16, 2023.
Humour Me. Genre: Humor. "We want your festive stories for our Christmas special, fiction and non fiction! Min 1k words, Max 3k. These can be any sub-genre. Western Santa Claus? Zombie reindeer? Go for it as long as they have a humour/satirical element! We will also accept cartoons/comic strips as long as they meet the Christmas/humour theme." Payment: £25 (GBP) - £40 (GBP). Deadline: December 16, 2023.
I Want That Twink OBLITERATED! Anthology. Genre: Classic pulp adventures centering non-traditionally masculine queer heroes and villains. "We’re taking the classic tropes of pulp science-fiction, fantasy, and horror, recast through a radical queer lens." Payment: $0.08 /word. Deadline: December 17, 2023.
Island. Restrictions: Open to Australian and New Zealand citizens and residents only. Genre: Fiction Nonfiction. Payment: 40 cents per word, with a minimum of $700 and a maximum of $1500. Poetry for print - $175 per poem. Island Online - $450 for short-form fiction and nonfiction. Deadline: December 17, 2023.
Fanatical. Genre: Sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories between 2,000 and 6,000 words. Payment: £20. Deadline: December 17, 2023.
Funemployment Quarterly. Genre: Science-fiction/fantasy. See theme. Payment: $20 CAD. Deadline: December 18, 2023.
Folk Horror Anthology. Genre: Folk Horror and Weird Fiction. Payment: £100. Deadline: December 20, 2023.
The Ex-Puritan. Genres: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, hybrid work. Payment: $150 -$200. Deadline: December 25, 2023.
Off Topic Publishing: Poetry Box. Genre: Poetry. Payment $30 CAD. Deadline: December 25, 2023. This is a monthly call.
Nightmare Diaries. Genre: Dark fiction short stories, fairy tales, flash fiction, and novellas of 500-10,000 words. Payment: $0.10 per word. Deadline: December 27, 2023.
Extrasensory Overload: an anthology of speculative excess. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. "We are seeking submissions that actively engage readers with multi-sensory (more than one sense), supra (beyond the five senses), super or extra sensory experience (including paranormal, ESP, etc.) as part of speculative fiction and poetry." Payment: $5 per poem and $10 for each short story. Deadline: December 29, 2023.
Havok. Genre: Flash fiction. See themes. Payment: $50 via PayPal for each story selected for an Anthology. No payment for online publication. Deadline: December 29, 2023.
JackLeg Press. Genre: Poetry and short story collections. They also consider select literary novels and creative nonfiction. JackLeg only publishes U.S.-based writers. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 30, 2023.
Workers Write! Tales from the Cubicle. Genre: Fiction and poetry that contain stories and poems from the office worker's point of view. "we're especially interested to see how the home office has taken on a new meaning because of Covid and what it's been like for those of us who have returned to the annoying commutes and communal bathrooms." Payment: $5 - $50. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
The Theatre Phantasmagoria. Genre: Horror flash fiction up to 2,000 words. Payment: £10. Deadline: December 31, 2023. This is a monthly call. See themes.
Islandia. Restrictions: Preference is given to residents of Florida & the Caribbean but Islandia considers written work and visual art with strong ties to the region. Genre: Poetry, art, and prose. Payment: Pay for poetry and visual art begins at $50 and for prose submissions $100 - $150. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Meadowlark Reader. Genre: Personal essays, interviews, journalistic pieces. “True stories about Kansas written by Kansans." Payment: $10 plus one contributor copy. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
In the Eyes of the Hungry. Genre: Short horror stories, 2500 to 6000 words, in the style of Steinbeck. Payment: $50. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Zombies Need Brains: Three Anthologies. Genre: Speculative fiction. See themes. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Food Blog Horror Anthology: Necroyummycon. Genre: Horror stories in the form of food blogs, including recipes. Payment: $25. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Interstellar Flight Press. Genre: Speculative flash fiction. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Spooky. Genre: Horror. "Cozy horror. Fun horror. Classy horror. Dare we say, wholesome horror?" Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Thinking Ink Press: The Neurodiversiverse Anthology. Genre: Speculative short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and art exploring encounters between neurodivergent people and neurodivergent aliens. They are looking for: Short stories up to 6k words, Flash fiction up to 1k words, Poetry up to 100 lines, Black-and-white line art illustrations. Payment: $100 per short story, $50 for flash fiction, $50 for poems, and $50-100 for illustrations. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
The Black Beacon Book of Pirate Tales. Genre: Fiction on theme: Pirate tales. Payment: 20€ for original stories and 5€ for reprints regardless of length, plus one print copy. Preferred word count between 5,000 and 10,000 words. Deadline: December 31, 2023. Accepts reprints.
Ninth Letter. Genre: Poems, nonfiction, and short fiction. Payment: $25 for poetry, $100 for prose. Deadline: December 31, 2023. Fee-free until they hit 300 submissions, so submit early in the month.
The Map of Lost Places Anthology. Genre: Stories about places where weird things happen. "Places that have strange histories, their own traditions and customs, their own dangers. These can be based off real folk tales or old wives tales - think the Mothman in Point Pleasant, WV - or ones that you come up with all on your own. But your story should tell of someone going to one of these places - either intentionally or they just stumble across it - and what happens when they encounter the frightening/strange thing that is in or occurs in that location." Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
The Margins. Genre: Poetry by emerging and established Asian American and diasporic poets. Payment: $50 – $90 for a single poem. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Rattus Futura. Genre: Short stories, poetry, art about the future which feature rodents. Payment: $10 per accepted poem, 1c/word ($5 minimum.) for accepted fiction ($15 per page for graphic narrative fiction), $20 per accepted piece of non-narrative internal visual art, Half of above for reprints, $100 (negotiable) for the cover illustration. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Allegory. Genre: Speculative Fiction. Payment: $15. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Dracula Beyond Stoker. Genre: Fiction based on Stoker’s characters. See theme. Payment: 5 cents/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Jay Henge: Sunshine Superhighway. Genre: Speculative fiction. "Solarpunk, cyberpunk, other planets, alternate worlds that might be nearly lost through our own hubris; futuristic fantasy and speculative-fiction stories of all kinds that are hopeful and leave us with the idea that despite the doom and gloom in the universe, things can possibly work out if we strive to make life better, even if in a small way." Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words. Length: Up to 15k words. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Air and Nothingness Press: We Are All Thieves of Somebody's Future. Genre: We are seeking stories for an anthology to be titled We Are All Thieves of Somebody's Future which will collect stories with the theme: Resource Scarcity - using up the last of a critical resource and dealing with the aftermath. While stories could be dystopic (ex. the last tree), authors could also explore hopepunk (losing a resource leads to something unforeseen and positive), solarpunk (a pollution laden resource leads to a better solution), fantasy (the last dragon). We are open to all genres. All stories are requested to be between 1000 and 3000 words in length. Payment: $0.08/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Freeze Frame Fiction. Genre: Flash fiction. "Any genre, no content restrictions. We want your science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, drama, literary works, satire, bizarre fiction, or anything else you can come up with or mix together. The more original, the better. The weirder, the better.” Payment: $10. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Dancing Star Press. Genre: Speculative fiction novellas. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2023. Genre: Queer Speculative Fiction. Submissions are open for all speculative work published in 2023 under 17,500 words that deals either implicitly or explicitly with queerness. Editors and authors may submit. Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Chestnut Review. Genre: Poetry, flash fiction, short fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, visual media (art/photography). Payment: $120. Deadline: December 31, 2023. Submit early in the month to avoid submission fee.
Haven Speculative. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. Payment: 1 cent/word for fiction and $5 - $10 for poetry. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Eerie River. Genre: Horror inspired by Tarot: 1500 - 7000 firm. Payment: ¢1 per word CAD. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Dragon Soul Press: Across Time. Genre: "All time travel romance stories. Happily Ever After not required. All genres accepted." Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Dragon Soul Press: Fallen. Genre: "All stories involving angels who have fallen from grace. Examples include it being a misunderstanding or they are purposely wreaking havoc. The darker, the better. All genres accepted." Payment: Royalties. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
The Way of Worlds Genre: Speculative fiction. "We want aliens, solar systems, spaceships, alternate universes, and to go somewhere beyond imagination. We are looking for polished manuscripts of about 3,500 - 12,000 words." Payment: 3 cents per word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Grendel Press: Uncanny & Unearthly Tales (Vol 2) – The Midnight Labyrinth. Genre: “Each story should feature a tale delivered from a character who stepped through a door and found themselves someplace unexpected. On their journey, they will notice a book called Midnight Labyrinth. No requirement to read or interact with it; it just needs to appear. Genre-bending is welcome! Sci-fi, steampunk, horror, fantasy, etc. … This anthology is an exploration of PLACE and FANTASY, so the MC in the story needs to actually find themselves in a new world/city/place that they’ve either never been before or haven’t been for a long time.” Payment: 5 cents per word. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Arc Poetry Magazine. Genre: Poetry. Payment: $50 per page. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Best American. Genre: Published short stories, essays, food writing, mystery and suspense, nature writing, science fiction and fantasy. Payment: ? Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Nine Pens. Restrictions: Open to poets in UK and Ireland. Genre: Poetry pamphlets. See theme, Payment: Royalties? Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Channel. Genre: Fiction, art, creative non-fiction, and poetry that engages with the natural world, and have a particular interest in work which encourages reflection on human interaction with plant and animal life, landscape and the self. Payment: €40/poem, and €50/page of prose up to €150. Deadline: December 31, 2023.
Book XI. Genre: Personal essays, memoir, fiction, science fiction, humor, and poetry with philosophical themes. Payment: $200 for prose; $50 for poetry. Deadline: December 31, 2023. Closes after 200 submissions.
AND A FEW MORE...
Three Ravens Press. Genre: Cryptid horror. Word Count: 5,000 – 10,000. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Wild Umbrella. Genre: Short stories, essays, and poems. Payment: €10 per poem and €25 per fiction story or non-fiction essay. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Cafe Irreal. Genre: Magical realism. Length: Up to 2,000 words. Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Book Worms. Genre: Dark fiction, essays, poetry. Theme is My Bloody Valentine: dark love stories, Tinder dates gone horribly wrong, bitter romance, a lover’s revenge, tragic love, etc. Dark humor is okay, but it should fit the themes of horror and romance. Specifically looking for original poetry (any length). Payment: $0.08/word for prose. $25 – $50 per poem. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Cardinal Rule Press Genre: Children’s picture books that empower children through meaningful stories for readers, age 4-11. They also publish non-fiction books for parents (word count up to 70k). Payment: Royalties. Deadline: Opens January 1, 2024.
The Body’s Experience of Religion. Genre: Poetry. Payment: $10. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Totally Entwined: Oh, Baby!. Genre: Novellas, 30,000 - 50,000 words. Theme: Surprise Babies. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Here There Be Dragons. Genre: Speculative fiction, poetry, art. "Dragons are icons of fantasy and legends about them abound. Found in novels, poetry, and art, they stir the imagination as helpers, heroes, villains, and symbols of love, fear, and wealth. We are looking for renderings of dragons in writing and art that capture the essence of these fascinating creatures." Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: January 1, 2024.
Reservoir Road Literary Review. Genre: Literary short stories, lyrical creative non-fiction, photography. Payment: $5. Deadline: Opens January 1, 2024. Note: Submission window closes when their cap is reached.
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