Be sure to read the full submission guidelines on publishers’ websites prior to submitting.
That’s right, sometimes I am wrong.
Need help keeping track of submissions? Check out my guide here:
Red’s Super-Sweet Guide to Submission Organization
Do you feel like there are too many amazing calls for submissions and you can’t possibly keep up with them all? That’s okay. I recommend reading Gemma Amor’s article about submission burnout here:
Submissions: Is it Time to Get Off the Carousel? by Gemma Amor
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Here are some upcoming open calls that have caught my radar:
Cemetery Gates Novel & Novella Submissions
by Cemetery Gates Media
Theme: We like supernatural ghost stories and slashers, would definitely pub multiple quality haunted house books if we get sent a bunch, urban legend/real life lore and locale-based fiction is our flavor.
Word Count: 20-40k novellas, 50-90k novels
Pay: Novel: $500-2,000 advance, 60% royalties. Novella: $500-1,000 advance, 60% royalties
Deadline: Check with publisher
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Dark Lit Press Novel and Novella Submissions
Currently accepting novellas and novels that fit under the umbrella of dark and speculative fiction. Readers often crave complex and well-developed characters and plot lines, and appreciate books that explore deep, thought-provoking themes.
Click above to see website for more information.
Deadly Drabble Tuesdays
by Hungry Shadow Press
Theme: horror/weird/dark
Word Count: drabble. EXACTLY 100 words. No more, no less.
Pay: 0.08c/word (works out to $8 flat payment)
Deadline: Jan 1 – (?)
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Dark Matter Magazine
Word Count: 1-5k
Pay: 8c/word
Deadline: Jan 1 – 15
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Novella Submissions open
by Raw Dog Screaming Press
Theme: dark speculative fiction
Word count: 20k-38k
Deadline: Jan 9 – 23
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Old Moon Quarterly
by Old Moon Quarterly
Theme: weird sword-and-sorcery: stories of a dark and transgressive nature, set in a secondary or historical-paranormal
Word Count: 1k – 6k
Pay: 0.08/word
Open: Jan 1-30 (?)
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Seers & Sybils
Brigids Gate Press
Theme: We’re looking for stories about the mouthpieces of gods and goddesses. Who interprets their omens, tells their prophecies, sees their visions, and performs their miracles? And to what end?
Word Count: flash up to 1k, short stories 1500-5k, poetry up to 500 words
Pay: 0.08/word, poetry: $50
Deadline: Jan 1- 31
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Ghoulish Tales
Theme: fun horror that aims to celebrate all things spooky
Word Count: up to 5k, (3k for nonfiction)
Pay: 7c/word
Deadline: Feb 15
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The First Five Minutes of the Apocalypse
by Hungry Shadow Press
Theme: apocalyptic horror
Word Count: 1500 – 4,000
Pay: 0.03/word
Open Call: February 1 – 28
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Halloween Stories
by Kangas Khan Publishing
Theme: Halloween
Word Count: 2 – 5k
Pay: 0.08/word
Deadline: March 1
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No Trouble At All anthology
by Cursed Morsels Press
Theme: Polite Horror, horror disguised through polite faces/manners, horror allowed to exist when politeness comes at the cost of self-preservation, and any other interpretation of the theme
Word Count: 2 – 4,500
Pay: 0.04/word
Open Call: March 1-15
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Mother Knows Best anthology
by Black Spot Books
Theme: women-in-horror anthology inspired by “bad mothers.” We’re looking for your best horror stories featuring mother-figures: mama trauma, smother-mother, etc.
Word Count: 1 – 5k
Pay: 0.06/word
Deadline: March 31
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Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror
by Crystal Lake Publishing
Theme: Epistolary Horror,
stories written as letters, journal entries, transcripts of
radio broadcasts, newspaper clippings, text messages, etc.
Word Count: 2500 – 7,000
Pay: 0.01/word
Open Call: April 1 – June 1
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Red Lagoe 
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