Enter the Labryinth

Pay rate up to 20¢ a word.

Words guaranteed to catch the attention of a starving writer (even if it's only because she has banned chocolate from the house until the 24th December - like that's going to last).

Labyrinth's Door are looking for adventure/fantasy/science fiction stories for children aged between 8 and 14. Word count 3,500 - 5,000 words and you have to query before sending the story.

The perfect excuse not to work on the second draft of Theatre.

Footprints on the Moon

The results of the Return to Luna competition are not even in yet and Eric T. Reynolds is already enticing us to write for his next anthology, Footprints.

Here are the abbreviated guidelines:


THEME. Long after our species and all its works have turned to dust, the moon landing sites will still show evidence of our time here on Earth. Imagine future explorers from among the stars interpreting that. The astronauts’ footprints should last longer than the fossils in the Olduvai Gorge have.

LENGTH. 4000 to 10000 words.

SUBMISSION PERIOD: From 15 August 2008 through 15 November 2008.

PAYMENT: $40 upon publication.

Good luck everyone.

Dead Jesters

Another market folks. Novello Publishers have announced the following submission guidelines for an anthology titled Dark Jesters, to be edited by Nick Cato and L.L. Soares.


DARK JESTERS:
AN ANTHOLOGY OF HUMOROUS HORROR

Release Date: Fall 2009

General Info: Novello Publishers is seeking 10 hysterical stories to fill their first trade paperback humorous horror anthology.

Word count is not to exceed 2,000, NO EXCEPTIONS. The shortest accepted piece will be 1,500, but closer to the 2,000 mark is ideal for this project.

Stories must be horror-oriented-no scifi unless in the vein of "Alien." Stories will be selected (mainly) on their humor content: the harder you make the editors laugh the better chance your story will be picked. Any story that insults the horror genre will not be selected; "humorous horror" does not mean we want to "make fun" of the genre. We want to see "real" horror stories with a humorous angle. Whether your story deals with classic monsters (such as vampires), the apocalypse, serial killers, ghosts, or (you fill in the blank), we want the readers to laugh 'till it hurts.

Stories that rely on profanity will probably not make the cut. Make us laugh without dropping F-bombs and your chances of acceptance skyrocket.

Format: Send your story double-spaced in a Times New Roman or Courier font as a .doc or .rtf attachment, NO EXCEPTIONS. Please underline any italicized words.

Payment: $40.00 and one contributor copy. WOW! Is it just me, but - WOW!

Note: NO REPRINTS. This will be an all-original anthology. If your story is selected you will be asked to give Novello Publishers 1 year's exclusive rights.

Reading Period: August 1st through November 30th

Send submissions to: NickYak@aol.com with DJ SUBMISSION in the subject heading. Hard copy submissions may be sent to NOVELLO PUBLISHERS/ Box 060382 / Staten Island, NY / 10306. Hard copies must be post-dated NO LATER than November 10th, 2008.

The table of contents will be announced in early December, 2008.

From the Asylum News

For those of you who have submitted something to Things Aren't What They Seem, the anthology from the guys over at 'From the Asylum'. I just checked out their site and it seems things are delayed due to a death in the family. They should be back up and running in August.

Sin in PDF

The latest issue of Necrotic Tissue hits PDF files today. Haven't had a chance to read anything other than the hundred word stories yet, but I have printed out Natalie L Sin's 'Losing Face in Kwai Chung' to read on my way into work in the morning - if I can resist that long. I may have to get into it tonight. Natalie's story inspired the cover art for the issue and if you head over to her blog you will find a blurb that will have you signing up for a copy of the 100% free 'Necrotic Tissue' just to read it.

The hundred-worders range from the laugh out loud funny 'Yesterday's Assignment' by Chris Reed (okay, maybe I have a sick sense of humour, but it should make you at least go OMG!), to an unexpected separation in 'Divorce' by Curtis LeMay, through to the poignant 'The Soldier' by M.A. Korenblium. My faves were Yesterday's Assignment, The Soldier and Anticipation by Trista K Robichaud.

***I'm asterisking this part as it's important (and more fool you if you ignore it)***

Necrotic Tissue are running their FIRST ANNUAL HALLOWEEN 100-WORD BITE CONTEST.

Taken from their 'Necrotic Tissue Wants You' blurb:

We are a horror magazine, so technically any story should be suitable for the Halloween Super-Sized October issue. However, stories that feature creatures, monsters and more traditional themes will have an edge.

ONE lucky first place winner will receive a copy of Abominations Anthology and a hard cover edition of the Northern Haunts Anthology from Shroud publishing. Not bad, eh?

ALL winners will be published in the October issue of Necrotic Tissue. In addition, they will also receive a hardcover edition of the Help Anthology, from Preditors & Editors, and one stylish NT-T-Shirt!

You have until July 31st...

A Hole in One (groan!)

Here's an unusual new magazine for you. Erik Smetana is putting together a magazine with the excellent title, Stymie.

Now don't let the golf theme put you off, in fact let it inspire you. Here are the fiction guidelines:

We want fiction, we crave it. We want mystery, lit fic, noir, humor, spec fic, whatever -- just so long as it (your submission) somehow involves golf. We have a penchant for flash fiction and would prefer nothing over 3000 words.

You can read an interview with Erik over at A J Brown's blog.

Oh, and talking of things golf related, and to get you in the golfing mood (I think someone mixed lawn feed with my morning cereal,) check out Back Spin by the fantabulous Harlan Coben. Despite being a horror writer, my favourite author writes thrillers. I'm sure there's a rule against that somewhere, but rules were made to broken.

Oh, and as a side note: Erik designed the above 'The Poisoned Apple' banner... The one I had before was, well... Crap!

Seeking Flash Fantasy

Mirror Dance have put out a call for Flash Fantasy stories as they are hoping to make their winter issue mainly flash.

Here is a blurb from their website:

Mirror Dance is a free online magazine of Fantasy in all its forms. We are especially interested in publishing stories of political intrigue and settings that aren't commonly seen in the genre, but all sub-genres will be considered. We are not accepting submissions of science fiction or horror, but dark fantasy will be considered.

There's no payment for online submissions, but your story may be chosen for the 'Best of...' Anthology and for that you get $10.

Halloween Contest

I thought the following may be of interest to many of you. Darwin's Evolutions magazine, or as they put it 'Journal of Speculative Fiction' is running a Halloween short story contest with a difference. That is, it's not for HORROR stories. Interesting. The following is a direct quote from their guidelines:

This is not a "Horror" genre contest. Rather, we are looking for the most creative stories that brush the established tropes of science fiction and fantasy against the "creepy" side of the questions of the spirit realm and life after death. Horrific aspects may or may not be present but the key is to tell tales that carry the "feel" of Halloween with them.

The word limit is 7,500 words and you (and I) have until July 1st to get something to them. First prize is $100.