Publisher’s Spotlight: UFO Publishing

On April 1st UFO Publishing opens submissions for their sixth Unidentified Funny Objects anthology!  From Terry Pratchett to Douglas Adams, comedic speculative fiction is some of the most beloved of the genre and unfortunately too often overlooked by publishers.  So channel your inner comedian and get to submitting!

Not sure how to write comedy?  Check out these articles for my advice on where to get started.

• In their own words: “We’re looking for speculative stories with a strong humor element. Think Resnick and Sheckley, Fredric Brown and Douglas Adams.  We welcome quality flash fiction and non-traditional narratives. Take chances, try something new, just make sure that your story is funny.”
• Genres they accept: Speculative Fiction.
• Word count limit: 500-5000 words.
• Payment: $0.10 per word + contributor copy. Payment will be made upon acceptance. Our preferred method of payment is via PayPal, but you may request a check.
• Simultaneous Submissions*: Unknown; my advice is don’t.
• Multiple Submissions**: No.  Limit of 1 submission per author — even if you receive a response before the submission window closes please do not send another story unless directly invited to do so.
• Schedule: Submissions open April 1 – April 30, 2017

Additional tips: “Puns and stories that are little more than vehicles for delivering a punch line at the end aren’t likely to win us over.  The best way to learn what we like in general is to read a previous volume. You can buy it here and also read the online stories for free.”  They also include a list of tired tropes.  Click on their submission guidelines page for details.

*This means whether they will allow you to submit this story to another publisher at the same time or not.

**This means whether you can send them more than one story at at time.

Reminders when submitting:

Read the publication:  Their stories are freely accessible on the site.  You have no excuse not to do your research and see what kind of style gets their attention.  It will also give you an idea of what’s been done before so you don’t end up sending them something too similar to a recently published story.

Read the guidelines: I don’t post everything required for their submissions, just the basics.  Furthermore, this is a static post.  Publishers change their submission requirements at will so it’s always a good idea to read and re-read them, even if you’ve submitted to them before.

Follow the rules: Do I really need to say this?  Don’t send pieces over the word count.  Don’t send content they specifically warn against.  Don’t send weirdly formatted manuscripts if they give you specific instructions.  “But Liz, I–” Nope!  No, no, no.  If you do not follow the rules you risk being a pariah to that magazine – and worse, editors can exchange notes on who’s being a pain.

Happy submitting!

Publisher’s Spotlight: Third Flatiron

It’s been awhile since we highlighted a themed anthology publisher, so let’s take a look at the speculative fiction interests of Third Flatiron!  Details below:

• In their own words: “We are looking for submissions to our quarterly themed anthologies… Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome.”Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today.”
• Genres they accept: Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We want tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Light horror is acceptable, provided it fits the theme.
• Word count limit: 1,500 – 3,000 words. Inquire if longer.
• Payment: 6¢/word (U.S./SFWA professional rate)
• Simultaneous Submissions*: No
• Multiple Submissions**: No
• Schedule: Please see the main page for upcoming themes.  Current themes as of this posting are:
  • “Cat’s Breakfast” Reading period: Feb 15 – April 15, 2017
  • “Strange Beasties” Reading period: May 15 – July 15, 2o17

Bonus Feature: “For each anthology, we will also accept  a few very short humor pieces on the order of the “Shouts and Murmurs” feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred.”

*This means whether they will allow you to submit this story to another publisher at the same time or not.

**This means whether you can send them more than one story at at time.

Reminders when submitting:

Read the publication:  Their stories are freely accessible on the site.  You have no excuse not to do your research and see what kind of style gets their attention.  It will also give you an idea of what’s been done before so you don’t end up sending them something too similar to a recently published story.

Read the guidelines: I don’t post everything required for their submissions, just the basics.  Furthermore, this is a static post.  Publishers change their submission requirements at will so it’s always a good idea to read and re-read them, even if you’ve submitted to them before.

Follow the rules: Do I really need to say this?  Don’t send pieces over the word count.  Don’t send content they specifically warn against.  Don’t send weirdly formatted manuscripts if they give you specific instructions.  “But Liz, I–” Nope!  No, no, no.  If you do not follow the rules you risk being a pariah to that magazine – and worse, editors can exchange notes on who’s being a pain.

Happy submitting!

Publisher’s Spotlight: Strange Horizons

Strange Horizons is back!  After a brief hiatus, they are once again open for submissions weekly starting on Monday, and close when they reach their cap.  Details below:

• In their own words: “We want good speculative fiction. If your story doesn’t have a speculative element, or strong speculative-fiction sensibilities, it’s probably not for us.   Some particular things we love, or are interested in:
  • Fiction from or about diverse perspectives and traditionally under-represented groups, settings, and cultures, written from a non-exoticizing and well-researched position.
  • Unusual yet readable styles and inventive structures and narratives.
  • Stories that address political issues in complex and nuanced ways, resisting oversimplification.
  • Hypertext fiction. If you have a work of hyperfiction you think might be a good fit for Strange Horizons, please query us to discuss how to submit it.
• Genres they accept: Speculative Fiction.  (That’s the usual sci-fi, fantasy and various flavors of slipstream, etc.)
• Word count limit: “We prefer stories under 5,000 words, but we consider stories up to 10,000 words. Note, however, that the longer the story is, the less likely we are to be interested…we have no minimum wordcount requirement; we consider short-short stories.”
• Payment: We pay 8¢/word (USD), with a minimum payment of $60. SFWA officially considers us a professional market.
• Simultaneous Submissions*: No
• Multiple Submissions**: No
• Schedule: Opens every Monday; “if and when the queue begins to significantly outstrip the reading, we’ll close for the week to give ourselves room to catch up.”

Bonus Feature: If you’ve never read Strange Horizon’s guide to tired tropes, give it a glance.  In addition to being hilarious it’ll hopefully make you rethink some of your trunk stories and challenge you to go beyond common slush problems.

The downside is that they don’t often explain why these tropes don’t work so it can be tempting to rationalize why your piece breaks the mold.  My advice?  Don’t.  Just don’t.  Find a different story to submit and in the meantime shop the other one out to trusted beta readers who can guide you away from the tropes.

*This means whether they will allow you to submit this story to another publisher at the same time or not.

**This means whether you can send them more than one story at at time.

Reminders when submitting:

Read the publication:  Their stories are freely accessible on the site.  You have no excuse not to do your research and see what kind of style gets their attention.  It will also give you an idea of what’s been done before so you don’t end up sending them something too similar to a recently published story.

Read the guidelines: I don’t post everything required for their submissions, just the basics.  Furthermore, this is a static post.  Publishers change their submission requirements at will so it’s always a good idea to read and re-read them, even if you’ve submitted to them before.

Follow the rules: Do I really need to say this?  Don’t send pieces over the word count.  Don’t send content they specifically warn against.  Don’t send weirdly formatted manuscripts if they give you specific instructions.  “But Liz, I–” Nope!  No, no, no.  If you do not follow the rules you risk being a pariah to that magazine – and worse, editors can exchange notes on who’s being a pain.

Happy submitting!

On the Bright Side

“COMET APPROACHING: DEMISE IMMINENT,” read the headline.  Maria lit a cigarette.  So much for quitting smoking.

 

Publisher’s Spotlight: Grievous Angel

Who likes Short Shorts? Grievous Angel likes short shorts!  They’ll pay Pro-rate for anything under 700 words (and accept poetry too!)  Details below:

• In their own words: “We are looking for original Poetry and Flash Fiction…At the risk of stating the bleedin’ obvious, apart from the word length, the key factor with Flash Fiction is it has all the elements of a traditional self-contained short story, including a beginning, a middle and an end, even if some aspects may be implied. Flash Fiction is NOT an extract or vignette from a longer story and should never end with the words To Be Continued…“
• Genres they accept: “We are a SFF&H genre-only webzine. This means Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and related speculative fiction sub-genres, including Urban Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Mythos, Steampunk and Magical Realism, as well Humour/Satire riffs on these genre.” (Emphasis is theirs.  Copy/paste did something funny today.)
• Word count limit: Flash: 700 words max. Poetry: max 36 lines each, up to 5 poems submitted at one time.   They encourage micro-fiction.
• Payment: $0.06 per word or $1 per line of poetry.  $5 minimum for the short stuff.  (Note: You’ll need a PayPal account to accept their payment.)
• Simultaneous Submissions*: No
• Multiple Submissions**: No (but up to 5 poems at a time.)  Please do not submit again until 6 weeks have passed (it helps keep the slush pile down.)
• Schedule: Open.

So get to it and submit those short shorts today!

*This means whether they will allow you to submit this story to another publisher at the same time or not.

**This means whether you can send them more than one story at at time.

Reminders when submitting:

Read the publication:  Flash is short and their stories are freely accessible on the site.  You have no excuse not to do your research and see what kind of style gets their attention.  It will also give you an idea of what’s been done before so you don’t end up sending them something too similar to a recently published story.

Read the guidelines: I don’t post everything required for their submissions, just the basics.  Furthermore, this is a static post.  Publishers change their submission requirements at will so it’s always a good idea to read and re-read them, even if you’ve submitted to them before.

Follow the rules: Do I really need to say this?  Don’t send pieces over the word count.  Don’t send content they specifically warn against.  Don’t send weirdly formatted manuscripts if they give you specific instructions.  “But Liz, I–” Nope!  No, no, no.  If you do not follow the rules you risk being a pariah to that magazine – and worse, editors can exchange notes on who’s being a pain.

Happy submitting!

Publisher’s Spotlight: Deadline Round-Up

Have you been keeping track of all the publishing deadlines coming up this summer?  No?  Well, let’s see if I can make that a touch easier for you.  Below is a list of all the Publishers featured on our Publisher’s Spotlight with links to the original posts AND the deadlines for their current calls.

• Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Non-Fiction: August 1 – August 30
• Haunted Waters Press
  • Penny Fiction: July 31
  • From the Depths & Short Shorts: September 20
• Molotov Cocktail, Flash Icon theme: July 31
• NYC Flash Fiction Competition: July 21st Registration Deadline
• Phobos, Deep Black Sea theme: July 31st
• Splickety Publishing (only the next upcoming deadline is posted here.)
  • HAVOK, HalloWhimsey theme: July 22
  • Splickety Love, All’s Fair in Love and Uniforms theme: August 26
  • Splickety Prime, Buckle Up theme (contest): July 8

Also, here’s a link to all publishers with rolling submissions, meaning they do not have a deadline (but they might close for the holidays; check individual pages for details.)

• Ad Hoc Fiction (weekly theme runs Wednesday to Wednesday.)
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Daily Science Fiction

Freeze Frame Fiction is currently CLOSED for submissions.

As always, don’t forget to check out their individual sites as it will have all updated info.

Happy Submitting!

Publisher’s Spotlight: Splickety Publishing

It’s a three-for-one Publisher’s Blue-Light Special Edition!  I’d like to introduce you to Splickety Publishing Group, which offers several different magazines with upcoming themes.  Luckily, each imprint publication has the same general guidelines, so I decided to group them all together instead of doing them separately.  It’s for the best, but it also means I’ve got quite a few links below.  Let’s take a closer look:

• In their own words: “Splickety fills gaps in the modern reader’s day with concise, poignant fiction under 1,000 words. We want stories that hit fast and strike hard––stories that, no matter the genre, can cut through the day’s troubles and grip readers with short attention spans.”
• Genres they accept:
  • Splickety Prime is our premier flash fiction magazine. We strive to publish the finest quality flash fiction in multiple genres including (but not limited to) action/adventure, suspense, mystery, thriller, contemporary, women’s, young adult, and historical fiction.
  • Havok is the premier publication for speculative flash fiction. We publish stories in the following genres (but this is not an exhaustive list): science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, cyberpunk, paranormal, supernatural, horror, techno-thriller, superhero, and more.
  • Splickety Love is the premier publication for romance flash fiction. We publish stories in the following genres (but this is not an exhaustive list): romance, romantic suspense, historical romance, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, inspirational romance, women’s fiction, and more.
• Word count limit: Between 300 – 1,000 words with the following bit of advice from the publisher: We acquire for each issue approximately 12 stories, with the breakdown as follows:
  • 701 – 1,000 word stories — 2-3 stories acquired
  • 500 – 700 word stories — 8-10 stories acquired
  • < 100 words — 1 story acquired
• Payment: $0.02 per word via PayPal, unless it’s a contest, in which case prize money and entry fee varies.  (Next contest: $100 grand prize, $10 entry fee.  BONUS: every entrant receives a complementary 1-year digital magazine subscription.)
• Simultaneous Submissions*: Doesn’t specify.  My personal recommendation is NOT to submit simultaneously to other venues unless they explicitly say you can.
• Multiple Submissions**: Yes, but please send separate emails.
• Schedule: Your piece must fit into one of the upcoming themes.  Follow the link for further information regarding upcoming deadlines.

Note: while they don’t say anything on their website regarding personal feedback, a few of us from my writing group sent in stories for their Fairy Tale call, and we all got a little note saying what knocked each individual piece out of the running, and included a few copy-editing notes.  They’re also pretty good about getting back to you within a week of the final submission deadline.

*This means whether they will allow you to submit this story to another publisher at the same time or not.

**This means whether you can send them more than one story at at time.

Reminders when submitting:

Read the publication:  Flash is short and their stories are freely accessible on the site.  You have no excuse not to do your research and see what kind of style gets their attention.  It will also give you an idea of what’s been done before so you don’t end up sending them something too similar to a recently published story.  Download their free PDF issue here.

Read the guidelines: I don’t post everything required for their submissions, just the basics.  Furthermore, this is a static post.  Publishers change their submission requirements at will so it’s always a good idea to read and re-read them, even if you’ve submitted to them before.

Follow the rules: Do I really need to say this?  Don’t send pieces over the word count.  Don’t send content they specifically warn against.  Don’t send weirdly formatted manuscripts if they give you specific instructions.  (Guys, seriously, their instructions are VERY specific and do not follow the Shunn standard.  Read them.)

Happy submitting!

Follow the Leader

One, two, through and through the ants marched into the pinprick holes of the blast doors. Rachel followed close behind, sneaking in through a rusted out panel of the missile silo. The ants crept down the banister in loose spirals, descending into the musty darkness.

Her footsteps echoed in the hollow chamber, each creaking rung threatening to give out from under her. She had gotten used to silence of her and the ants, who led her to the abandoned food caches.

She eyed the stagnant black water at the bottom. She hated swimming, even before the war. Sharks could catch her ankle and drag her down. Now bacteria nestled in the oily sludge with decomposing bodies that didn’t quite float.

At the last rung she heard laughter across the chamber, and half-formed words from under a steel door. It no longer mattered if there were sharks.

Rachel plunged in.

Publisher’s Spotlight: Daily Science Fiction

Today on our Publisher’s Spotlight is a publication near and dear to my heart: Daily Science Fiction!  They published my first paid piece, so I’m a little biased in their direction.  Let’s look at the basics:

• In their own words: “We need short short fiction, especially flash fiction. Among our featured stories, a shorter tale will get an extra nudge on the scale when weighed against a longer one…Our goal is to publish the best stories we can that will be interesting, worthwhile reads. Some stories, especially in the short short fiction, will succeed despite lack of plot, character, punctuation, what-have-you.”
• Genres they accept: Speculative Fiction. “By this we mean science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, etc.”
• Word count limit: 100 – 1,500 words
• Payment: $0.08 per word (Pro Rate.)
• Simultaneous Submissions*: No
• Multiple Submissions**: No
• Schedule: Closed from Dec 24 – Jan 2.  Submissions accepted through their online portal.  The rate of return is estimated at two weeks (average.)  If you’re under consideration for publication they will usually let you know before they make their final decision.
• Personalized Feedback: No.

Why submit to them?  Volume, plain and simple.  Daily Science Fiction publishes five stories a week, so they’re always looking for new and exciting tales.  Most publications will publish one a week or a quarterly issue with only a few pieces.  Therefore their acceptance rate is off the charts.

*This means whether they will allow you to submit this story to another publisher at the same time or not.

**This means whether you can send them more than one story at at time.

Reminders when submitting:

Read the publication:  Flash is short and their stories are freely accessible on the site.  You have no excuse not to do your research and see what kind of style gets their attention.  It will also give you an idea of what’s been done before so you don’t end up sending them something too similar to a recently published story.

Read the guidelines: I don’t post everything required for their submissions, just the basics.  Furthermore, this is a static post.  Publishers change their submission requirements at will so it’s always a good idea to read and re-read them, even if you’ve submitted to them before.

Follow the rules: Do I really need to say this?  Don’t send pieces over the word count.  Don’t send content they specifically warn against.  Don’t send weirdly formatted manuscripts if they give you specific instructions.  “But Liz, I–” Nope!  No, no, no.  If you do not follow the rules you risk being a pariah to that magazine – and worse, editors can exchange notes on who’s being a pain.

Happy submitting!

Heaven in Nelle’s Sighs

It was on the solstice that I first brought Nelle to see the moonlight. I snuck into the heat mines at day’s end and met her where the commuter’s tube split off towards her living quarters. With my passkey we rode the lift up past Center City and into the observation towers high above the nuclear fallout.

At dome’s crest the night sky shone onto Nelle’s face, so pale it freckled in the moonlight. I could see the stars reflected in her copper colored hair when she smiled at me.

It was then that I kissed her. For a moment there was nothing else, no ruined world below nor grand sights above. I tasted bliss incarnate on my tongue, more real than either of them. I knew from then on there could be no heaven for me now but on her sweet lips – we had plucked it from the sky.