Calls for Submission #7

This week Selene MacLeod once again brings us the occasional column Calls for Submission (CfS). You can see all of the CfS columns here. Don't forget to joint Selene's Facebook groups 

Call for Submissions: Poetry, Fiction, Art and Open Call: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Pulp, as well as similar active groups Open Call: Horror Markets, Open Call: For the Love of Horror, and Open Call: Crime, Thriller and Mystery Markets.

Finally, you should sign up to receive my news and columns by email; make sure you don't miss useful stuff in the social media shuffle!

Thanks for reading. - Beverly

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I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. It's hard to believe that school starts in just a few weeks. As the weather cools down, hopefully you've got some writing projects on the go. Here's a list of markets accepting submissions for what we call “early autumn.”

Pro-paying Markets accepting submissions:

Eldritch Press. Looking for (post-apocalyptic) Steampunk Horror up to 20,000 words. Pays $0.08 per word. Read guidelines carefully, as they're looking for world-building as well as great stories. No cyberpunk or sci-fi, please. No deadline listed. http://www.eldritchpress.com/steampunk-horror.html

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination. No deadlines, no word counts listed. Partial to magical realism and hard sci-fi. Pays $0.15 per word (yes, I had to read that twice). Also pays $25 for reprints. http://www.fantasticstoriesoftheimagination.com/submission-guidelines/

Cohesion Press. Blurring the Lines. Looking for horror stories that “blur the lines” between fact and fiction. Max 5000 words, deadline October 31. Pays AUS $0.08 per word. http://cohesionpress.com/about-2/submissions/anthologies/

This Patchwork Flesh. Looking for QUILTBAG horror stories, stories about the “underrepresented,” nightmares. Pays $0.05 per word, deadline August 31. Open to Canadian authors. http://michaelmatheson.wordpress.com/this-patchwork-flesh/

Pithy Pages for Erudite Readers. No deadline listed. Accepts flash up to 1000 words, short fiction up to 5000 words, and poetry. All genres. Pays $0.05 per word. http://pithypages.net/

GrimDark Magazine. Looking for grim, dark stories with a medieval fantasy or sci-fi setting. Pays $0.06 per word, must be under 4k. This is a magazine, so no deadline listed. http://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/submission-guidelines-for-grimdark-magazine/

An Alphabet of Embers. Looking for flash fiction 500-1400 words. Pays $0.06 per word. Not looking for straight “genre” fiction but interested in lyrical, magical realism, fantasy/fairy tale. Deadline September 30. http://roselemberg.net/?p=911

CONTEST: Minotaur Books First Crime Novel Competition. Open to any writer aged 18 or older who has not had a novel published. Best first crime novel (minimum 40,000 words). Pays $10,000 against publishing royalties. Deadline December 15, 2014. Note: There appears to be a second novel competition, deadline October 15, for a “Malice Domestic” themed crime novel. http://us.macmillan.com/minotaurbooks/writing-competitions

Semi-pro Markets accepting submissions:

Ticonderoga Publications Bloodlines anthology. Looking for “dark urban fantasy” about creatures who need blood to live (NOT traditional vampire stories). http://ticonderogapublications.com/index.php/our-books/185-bloodlines

Wolf WillowPress. Looking for literary flash (to 1000 words), short stories 1500-7k, but OK with “other genres,” so magical realism or light spec-fic would also work. Deadline for fall edition (“Crossroads” theme) is August 31. Winter 2015 (“Star-Crossed Lovers”) deadline November 30. http://www.wolfwillowjournal.com/submission-guidelines.html

Tacitus Publishing. It's a Grimm Life. Looking for dark, modern re-tellings of Grimm tales. Pays $0.01 per word. Deadline August 31. http://www.tacituspublishing.com/anthologies.html

Savage Beasts anthology. Looking for horror stories inspired by music (no lyrics due to copyright restrictions, please!). 3k-10k. Pays $0.02 per word. Deadline September 5. http://greymatterpress.com/open-call-for-submissions-to-savage-beasts/

Golden Fleece Press. Wee Tales Volume 1. Looking for dark, weird fiction 600-2k words, aimed at children (age 7-12). Pays $50. No deadline listed, but looking for an October release, so probably early September. Also looking for artwork, puzzles, and poetry. http://goldenfleecepress.com/journals/wee-tales/

Welcome to the Future Anthology. Pays $100 for stories 2k-8k, $25 for flash 250-500 words. Deadline September 15. http://www.christinaescamilla.com/open-submissions-welcome-to-the-future-antholog/

Emby Press. The Ghost Papers. Looking for scary ghost stories up to 8k and dark poetry. Pays $25 and an e-copy, deadline September 1. http://embypress.com/book/the-ghost-papers/

Sawney Hatton Mega Thump Anthology 2. Looking for “sex” themed sci-fi/horror stories (think Videodrome), 1000-15k words. Pays $20 and a copy. Deadline August 31. http://sawneyhatton.com/mega-thump-anthology-2/

Reel Dark: Twisted Fantasies Projected on the Flickering Page. Looking for stories of movie horror in the “real world.” Pays $25 and a contributor copy for non-members. Pro rates for full members of the HWA/SFWA. Max 3500 words, deadline November 1. http://landrewcooper.com/call-for-submissions-reel-dark/

Shooter Literary Magazine. Looking for literary fiction on the theme of “Pulling the Trigger.” (can be literal or metaphor), 2k-8k. Pays 30 (pounds UK) for fiction, $10 (pounds) for poetry. Deadline October 15. http://shooterlitmag.com/submissions/

Prose-N-Cons Mystery Magazine. Looking for mystery/crime stories. No deadlines listed. Pay rates depend on length. 100 words=$10. Flash to 1k = $30, short stories 2k-3k - $50. Also accepts poetry, non-fiction, and artwork. http://www.prose-n-cons.com/ProsenConsWritersGuidelines_June2014.pdf

Magical. Looking for "adult fairy tales" (no erotica), 500-3000 words. Deadline September 1. Best story receives $150 and two runners-up will receive $25. Others receive a contributor copy. http://www.kellyannjacobson.com/magical#sthash.fJhCjCxz.8v2Vr7ZA.dpbs

Token, Royalty, and Non-Paying Markets

GHOSTS Anthology. Looking for ghost stories 2k-5k words, deadline September 28. Pays $10 via PayPal. http://davidmichaeltyson.com/2014/08/05/ghosts-anthology-submission-guidelines/

The Riding Light Review. Looking for Halloween/Horror stories 1000-3000 words and poetry for their October issue. No deadline listed, but Duotrope lists September 1. Pays a copy (one e-copy, one print).http://www.ridinglightreview.com/special-issue-guidelines.html

Fossil Lake. Looking for dark, transgressive, surreal horror stories. Deadline September 30. Pays a token $5 for poetry/flash and $10 for short stories. http://fossillake.wordpress.com/guidelines/

Garden Gnome Publications Biblical Legends series. Looking for speculative flash (to 1500 words, pays $3) and short stories (1500-10k, pays $7). Upcoming themes: Deluge (Flood stories) deadline August 23, 2014 http://gardengnomepubs.com/submissions/biblical-legends-anthology-series/deluge/ and Land of Nod (where Cain went after he was banished), deadline November 23.

http://gardengnomepubs.com/submissions/biblical-legends-anthology-series/land-nod/

Beyond the Nightlight. Looking for “child centric” horror stories (think Stephen King's IT and Neil Gaiman's Coraline). 500-13k words, pays $15 and a contributor's copy. Deadline October 13. http://www.amurderofstorytellers.com/submissions/

Shine Your Darkness. Quarterly e-zine (non-paying), with a noir/pulp theme. First issue's theme will be “First Kills.” http://shineyourdarkness.com/2014/07/10/callforsubmissions1/

Pulp Modern. Looking for crime, dark fiction, and horror stories up to 5000 words. Next theme is “drugs,” deadline October 1. Non-paying market. http://www.pulp-modern.blogspot.ca/

Give: An Anthology of Anatomical Entries Looking for horror stories about organ donors, 500-2500 words. Deadline September 30, pays $10 and a copy. http://www.whenthedead.com/submissions/give-anthology-anatomical-entries/

Stay Cool: A Tribute to Elmore Leonard. Looking for stories 1000-10k words. Deadline September 30. Shared Royalties. http://perpetualpublishing.com/2013/10/07/call-for-submissions-stay-cool-a-tribute-to-elmore-leonard/

DetCon1 - The Aftermath

It was a great convention, with good quality panels and panelists, and lots of fun at parties at night (and in some cases, great beer!). The volunteers and ConCom were fantastic as well. I was well fed by the con suite, all told. Plus the hotel was futuristic-looking and pleasant... the spaces felt good. There were food and drinks for all budgets available; however, it being mainly an office building things weren't open as widely on the weekend. Still, that is a minor complaint.

I also gave away every last business card that I had, so it's time to order more. Hopefully I'll hear from some of these people, whether they want to hire me or not. I still love making new friends and networking.

NetRoots Nation 2014 was also in the building, and I was delighted to share a space with such a cool group. We weren't there on Thursday, but Joe Biden spoke on Thursday, and Elizabeth Warren spoke on Friday. Wooo. :)

I also got a couple of blog post topic requests, so there will be more Book Marketing without B.S. columns coming--finally! Indeed, if you have any suggestions, please ask in the comments or email me, and I'll add it to my list.

So for now, I am working on publicity and social media for clients, and enjoying getting a bit more sleep. It was a good convention. I look forward to the next one, which is likely Can*Con in Ottawa.

Service Highlight: Affordable, No-BS Book Marketing and Social Media Consultations

My most under-the-radar services are the consulting services, so I wanted to say a bit more about those, and to share some words from happy consulting clients, too!

How do consulting services help you?

• Offload some of the work you don't want to do
• Get query letters written for you (or a critique for the ones you have)
• Ease your stress with step-by-step plans for publicity campaigns
• Ditch even more of that stress with social media plans and coaching tailored for your needs

You can probably afford it, too, because it starts for as little as $75. Email me for a no-charge discussion to see if working with me is right for you.

Not sure whether this is for you? Here are some clients who've been pleased with my consulting services so far:

Jinx Strange, Freelance Writer, Author

"Beverly has become as intrinsic to my writing career as my laptop or my fingers. I wouldn't take on a project without involving her, and as my work often leads me into uncharted waters, Beverly's ability to think on her feet and innovate has made her indispensable."

Karina Sumner-Smith, Author

"This is, in a word, AMAZING. You've just made my stress and anxiety about all this publicity stuff come down a few notches -- so my sanity thanks you too!"

Meghan Miller Brawley, Author, Indexer, Researcher

"Beverly was really helpful getting my social media plan in place. Her broad base of experience gives her great insight and was invaluable, and she was understanding and receptive of my needs."

I am also currently working on social media work with author Mia Marshall, author/editor Vanessa Ricci-Thode, and for AutoCrit, so if I do my job well, maybe there's more praise to come.

Please send me an email now. We can talk about your needs for free, so you have nothing to lose. I look forward to learning about what you're working on!