Barkeep, your least objectionable coffee, see you play. ;)

Me, I'm frazzled after going one-on-one with my sig line. Things being a tad slow around here, it seemed like the time had arrived for a little pimping. Feel free to check out the link in my sig line and, if so motivated, maybe even the Flash story the link should link you to -- or something like that.

<img src="/images/emoticons/glasses10.gif" alt="glasses8">

In, 'Schemers Scheme, two young women talk about men and the acquisition of same while smoking cigarettes and polishing toenails. It's dialogue heavy but not very long (could have been a 'flasher')

Please check it out if you get a chance and share your thoughts, whether brickbats or bouquets, and suggestions for improving the poor thing.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/young-adult/-schemers-scheme-.aspx

<img src="/images/emoticons/glasses10.gif" alt="glasses8">

If you want your novel or book to have a good chance of being placed on bookshelves and you don’t have an agent, the following publishers are all good options. All of them publish print books (with digital options) and all of them have a good distribution system.

Not all of the publishers are open to submissions at all times, but most are. This list is in no particular order.


Bellevue Literary Press

Bellevue Literary Press publishes works of narrative nonfiction and literary fiction geared towards a general readership. They are open to unsolicited submissions of both kinds of work. The work they publish explores the intersection between arts and science. Many of the characters in the fictional work that they publish are doctors and scientists, but many of their books also focus on the natural world. They seem to publish about four novels for every work of nonfiction they publish.

Harlequin

Harlequin is easily the most famous romance only publisher out there. In fact, their name was synonymous with romance novels when I was growing up. They have wide distribution, from grocery stores to bookstores. They are everywhere.

DAW

DAW is an imprint of Penguin that is open to manuscript submissions from authors without an agent. This is unusual and a great opportunity. DAW is a highly respected publisher of science fiction and fantasy. They have published authors such as Marion Zimmer Bradley and Roger Zelazny, as well as many bestselling books and Hugo award winning books. They are respected and popular.

Seven Stories Press

Seven Stories Press is an independent publisher that has been around for over twenty years. They have published a number of highly respected books. Their books are distributed by Random House. They take their name from the seven authors whose work has influenced and impacted Seven Stories Press the most.

Baen

Baen is one of the best known publishers of science fiction and fantasy books. They have published many of the classic genre novels. They have excellent distribution, their books are found in libraries and bookstores everywhere.

Chicago Review Press

Chicago Review Press was founded over 40 years ago. They are an established independent publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction and memoir. They also publish books for children (but not picture books). They were founded by Curt Matthews and his wife, Linda Matthews.

Tor/Forge

Tor/Forge publishes science fiction and fantasy books. Run by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, Tor/Forge is an imprint of Macmillan, one of the big five publishers. Tor is one of the most established science fiction publishers. They offer advances

Hard Case Crime

Hard Case Crime is a well respected and established niche publisher of hard boiled crime novels. The publisher has been featured in a number of respected publications including Time Magazine and The Stranger. They are distributed by Random House.

McSweeney’s

McSweeney’s publishes literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. McSweeney’s was founded in 1998 by Dave Eggers. They originally started out publishing a literary magazine, and now they are responsible for a number of publications, online and off, as well as podcasts, and books. They are based out of San Fransisco.


xxx


Excerpted from the free online newsletter of Authors Publish magazine (highly recommended)

Larry and Ms Elizabeth, you two should send these posts to Gav, imo.

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These are 17 themed submission calls for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and scripts. Some of the themes are humanity, detritus, winter holidays, Halloween, identity, alternate history farce and fantasy, axe murderers, retro weird, and the moon. All of these pay writers – royalties, token, or pro rates.

* copied from the free online newsletter of, Authors Publish Magazine *

Escape Artists: Cast of Wonders – Halloween, Dinovember, Winter Holidays
This is a speculative fiction online magazine and podcast for young adult fiction. Apart from unthemed works, they are also looking for Halloween, Dinovember, and Winter Holidays stories in their April reading period. They also accept reprints.
Reading period: 1-15 April 2019
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $0.06/word
Details here and here.

Visions: Humanity
They want science fiction and speculative short stories on the theme of Humanity for their second issue. Their guidelines say, “…we’re not looking to precisely define the subject but rather show the variety of perspectives that surrounds it.

This goes from pieces about what makes us human now and in the future, to ones highlighting how little we might differ from computers or animals. Stories about robots and artificial intelligence are welcome but so are the ones about DNA manipulation, eugenics, death and human behaviour in society at large.”
Deadline: 15 April 2019
Length: Up to 3,000 words; won’t take anything above 5,000 words
Pay: Around $0.06/word
Details here.

Hinnom Magazine: Retro Weird Tales Edition
­­­They want horror, science fiction, and fantasy stories and poems from women. Stories should be Weird fiction and Cosmic horror (see guidelines).­ The retro edition of this magazine will have stories akin to the old Weird Tales magazines of the 1930s, but while those had mainly male authors, this magazine will have contributions only by female authors.
Deadline: 15 April 2019
Length: 1,000-6,000 words
Pay: $0.06/word for prose, $65 for poems
Details here.

The Suburban Review: Detritus
They want fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and comics on the Detritus theme. Their guidelines say, “Waste and decay surrounds and absorbs you. It’s warm, thick, fertile. Breathe in the fetid excess and expose all the crawling, seething life forces. Write into the dark warmth and send us the best of your scum and grot.”
Deadline: 18 April 2019
Length: 500-2,500 words for prose, up to three poems
Pay: $75-150 for prose and poetry, $100-200 for comics
Details here.

Shooter Literary Magazine: Identity
They want literary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and narrative journalism on the theme of ‘Identity’. They want work on anything to do with the sense of self, whether personal or cultural. They particularly want content that addresses topical issues of gender, sexuality, race, nationality, religion, and occupation. The theme is open to interpretation.
Deadline: 21 April 2019
Length: 2,000-7,500 words
Pay: £25 per story and £5 per poem
Details here.

Nightscape Press: Nox Pareidolia
The theme for this anthology is heavily influenced by Robert Aickman’s fiction. The editor wants ambiguous horror/weird fiction. “Whether it be ambiguously supernatural or whether what exactly has or is happening is ambiguous, or any creative playing off of ambiguity could be interesting to see explored. But the element that is ambiguous must be intrinsic to the story.” Also see their calls for reprints and a charity anthology on the guidelines page.
Reading period: 1-30 April 2019
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $0.06/word
Details here.

Post-to-Print Publishers: From a Cat’s View
They want stories written (fully or partially) from a cat’s point of view – from a cat’s perspective, using its words or thoughts. The cat does not have to be a principal character, though the cat’s character should impact the plot in a significant manner. They accept stories in all genres and time periods. Plots involving cat familiars and witches are low on our list of preferred stories for this volume.
Deadline: 30 April 2019
Length: 3,000-7,000 words
Pay: $25
Details here.

Martinus Publishing: This Never Happened! Alternate History Farce and Fantasy
This is an anthology devoted to the humorous side of alternative history fiction. They want stories that are funny and outrageous, “set in worlds where history differs from what happened in our own reality, with ridiculous consequences; tales that could not possibly have happened, or maybe they could have but they’d have just been absolutely hilarious!” Stories must be PG-13.
Deadline: 30 April 2019
Length: 1,500-10,000 words
Pay: A share of profits
Details here.


Quommnicate Media: Geek Out II!
The theme is, ‘Where queer meets geek’. They are looking for genre fiction, slam and non-traditional format poetry, non-memoir-based creative nonfiction, topical articles, reviews, and comedy. They also want comics/graphic stories, and scripts. This anthology will be published online, and also printed.
Deadline: 30 April 2019
Length: Up to 5,000 words of prose, up to 3 pages per poem, comics and scripts up to 10 pages
Pay: $5/page
Details here.

Lethe Press: Hatchet Job
They are looking for horror fiction featuring axe murderers. Stories need not focus solely on this antagonist, but all stories must somehow involve this threat or concept. They accept reprints – in fact they expect many stories to be reprints for this anthology – and original work.
Deadline: 30 April 2019
Length: Up to 10,000 words
Pay: $0.04/word for original, $0.02/word for reprints
Details here.

Corona Books UK: The Third Corona Book of Horror Stories
They want “brilliant modern horror short stories” for their anthology. They want various different takes on what constitutes horror – stories can be supernatural or natural horror, graphic or gory, or merely sinister or spooky. They also accept reprints and multiple submissions.
Deadline: 30 April 2019
Length: 1,000-8,000 words
Pay: Advance of £50 against royalties
Details here.

Eibonvale Press: The Once and Future Moon
This will be a fiction anthology about the moon. Their guidelines say that the ‘Once’ aspect will deal with how older cultures/earlier civilisations/people in history saw the moon, considered and reflected upon the moon. The stories do not have to be factually, scientifically accurate; the moon element could be seen as poetic, figurative, or imaginative. For ‘Future’ stories, they want both the liveable near-future (e.g. up to 50 years’ time) and slightly further ahead; stories grounded in how we will live on/adapt to/use the moon in the near and further future, and how the moon will affect our lives going forward. Will it be the site of the next war?
Deadline: 30 April 2019
Length: 1,000-5,000 words
Pay: £10
Details here (scroll down).

Slice Magazine: Persistence
ETA: They just switched their submission window to the fall. They want fiction, nonfiction and poetry for their ‘Persistence’ themed issue. They publish both established and emerging voices. They look for work that plays off the theme, especially in unexpected ways.
Reading period: 1 April-15 May 2019
Length: Up to 5,000 words for prose, up to five poems
Pay: $250 for stories and essays, $75 for flash fiction pieces, $75 for poems
Details here.

Rock and Hard Place Magazine
They want fiction about that focus on the plight of marginalized, poor, depressed, and desperate people. They want fiction on this theme in any genre, or mixed genres.
Deadline: Unspecified
Length: 2,000-5,000 words
Pay: $35
Details here.

The Norwegian American
This is a magazine for the Norwegian-American community. They also publish short works of fiction of any genre that have something to do with Norway, or crime/mystery stories even if they have nothing to do with Norway, though bonus points if they do.
Deadline: Rolling
Length: Up to 1,500 words (under 1,000 words preferred)
Pay: $50
Details here.

Issues in Earth Science
They want middle grade and young adult fiction that incorporates earth science concepts as key, not incidental, elements, and also represent a key idea that might be taught in an earth science classroom. Stories should also be emotionally compelling. Those with adult characters but for a young adult or middle grade audience will also be considered. The purpose of these stories will be to serve as supplemental reading material for middle or high school students studying particular topics in earth science. They also accept nonfiction, for “Topics for Debate” and these should address a topic of interest in earth science, science education, or science in fiction. Deadline: Open now
Length: 1,000-3,000 words for fiction, 500-1,000 words for nonfiction
Pay: $0.06/word; additional pay if selected for print edition later
Details here.

Zooscape
They want stories prominently featuring an anthropomorphic animal figure – it could be anthropomorphic in body or only intelligence. “We’ll consider any type of furry fiction from secret life of animals to fox in Starbucks. We love science-fiction with animal-like aliens and fantasy with talking dragons, unicorns, or witch familiars.” Query for multiple submissions. They accept reprints.
Deadline: Open now
Length: Up to 10,000 words
Pay: $0.06/word up to 1,000 words, flat rate of $60 for longer
Details here.

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April is National Poetry Month. To celebrate, here is a list of poetry markets that accept poetry submissions in April 2019. They do not charge a fee to publish, or they have fee-free options (like free mailed submissions, or free online submissions during certain periods), and many of them pay writers. Several magazines and websites publish other genres also, like fiction, nonfiction, reviews, and scripts. Here they are, in no particular order.

* copied from the free online newsletter of, Authors Publish Magazine *


Grain Magazine
This Canadian literary magazine accepts individual poems, sequences, or suites up to a maximum of six pages. They also publish literary nonfiction and fiction, and accept queries for submissions of work in other forms (short plays, comics, etc.). Submissions of visual art are by invitation but artists are welcome to query. Pay is CAD50/page up to CAD250, and the deadline is 31 May 2019.
Details here.

The Georgia Review
­­­­­This award-winning literary magazine publishes poetry, and they accept up to five poems. They also publish fiction, nonfiction, and reviews (including book briefs and essay-reviews). There is no fee for mailed submissions. Pay is $4/line of poetry, and $50/page for prose. The deadline for submissions is 15 May 2019. Details here.

The Frogmore Papers
This UK-based literary magazine accepts poetry. Their guidelines say, “Very long poems and very short poems have more to do than poems of an average length (say, 20-80 lines)”. Also, “Poems where the form drives the meaning are unlikely to find favour”, and “Poems written by people who clearly haven’t read any poetry since Wordsworth will not find favour.” Send 4-6 poems. They also publish short stories and they are reading for their September issue until 30 April 2019. Details here.

Alaska Quarterly Review
This award-winning magazine publishes poetry. They publish work in traditional and experimental styles, but not light verse. Send up to 20 pages of poetry. They also accept fiction, short plays, and literary non-fiction. They welcome work by new and emerging writers alongside established and award-winning ones. They accept only hard copy submissions. Their deadline is 15 May 2019. Details here.

Epoch Magazine
This literary magazine considers poetry in all forms, including the long poem; send up to five poems. They also publish fiction, essays, cartoons, screenplays, graphic art, and graphic fiction. The magazine is edited by faculty at Cornell University. They only accept mailed submissions. They pay a minimum of $50 per poem, and $150 per short story (more for longer stories). The deadline is 15 April 2019. Details here.

New Reader Magazine
They publish poetry of all genres and types, and especially welcome experimental poetry and work that defies genre conventions. They accept videos of spoken word poetry if the video has not been previously published. They ask for a minimum of three poems per submission. The magazine publishes “stories about humans and about being human.” Apart from poetry, they also publish investigative stories, memoirs and profiles, interviews, etc. of people who are doing interesting things and changing perspectives in big cities or small, secret towns, fiction, lyrical essays, and comics, as well as illustrations and photography. They pay $5 per poem, $10-20 for prose, and accept work year-round. Details here.

Gertrude Press
This is a queer literary and arts journal accepting submissions from new and established LGBTQIA writers and artists. They accept submissions of up to five poems on any subject, not necessarily LGBTQIA-specific. Poems of fewer than 40 lines are preferable. They also accept fiction, creative nonfiction, and art. The deadline for poetry submissions is 2 March, 2020. Details here.

Lighten Up Online

This is a quarterly light verse webzine. Their website says, “We believe that light verse is very far from being the poor relation of “proper” poetry.” Send up to three poems. They also accept reprints. Details here.

P N Review
This prestigious UK-based poetry magazine accepts poems, including translations. Send up to four poems/five pages of poetry, or up to 15 pages of poetry-related prose. They publish no short stories, children’s prose/poetry, and very little non-poetry related work. Non-subscribers must post their submissions, and subscribers can email them. Details here.

Able Muse
The predominantly publish metrical poetry and poetry translation complemented by art and photography, fiction and nonfiction including essays, book reviews and interviews with a focus on metrical and formal poetry. They want “well-crafted poems of any length or subject that employ skillful and imaginative use of meter and rhyme, executed in a contemporary idiom, that reads as naturally as your free verse poems.” All forms of formal poetry are welcome. They also publish, occasionally, exceptional free verse poetry. They also accept humorous or light poetry. Send 1-5 poems. They publish established as well as new voices, and accept submissions through the year. Details here.

Valparaiso Poetry Review
They welcome submissions of unpublished poems, book reviews, author interviews, and essays about poetry or poetics for which the rights belong to the author. They do not publish translations. Very rarely and only in special circumstances, previously published material will be accepted if it is unavailable anywhere else online. They publish new, emerging and well-known poets. Works published in this magazine have received honours or been chosen for inclusion in award anthologies. Submit up to five poems. Details here.

Vallum Magazine: Fear
This Canadian poetry magazine is reading for its ‘Fear’ themed issue. Their guidelines say, “It has been said by writers like William Golding that fear is the most destructive of human emotions. It may be a fear of the known or of the unknown, a fear that seems overwhelming and unbeatable. Franklin D. Roosevelt said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” How is fear represented in poetry, specifically in your poetry? What are we afraid of?” Send 4-7 poems (by mail only). They also accept essays, interviews, reviews, and audio and video poems. They pay their contributors. They are reading for this theme until 15 May 2019. Details here.

<img src="/images/emoticons/glasses10.gif" alt="glasses8">

Grain Magazine
This Canadian literary magazine accepts individual poems, sequences, or suites up to a maximum of six pages. They also publish literary nonfiction and fiction, and accept queries for submissions of work in other forms (short plays, comics, etc.). Submissions of visual art are by invitation but artists are welcome to query. Pay is CAD50/page up to CAD250, and the deadline is 31 May 2019.
Details here.

The Georgia Review
­­­­­This award-winning literary magazine publishes poetry, and they accept up to five poems. They also publish fiction, nonfiction, and reviews (including book briefs and essay-reviews). There is no fee for mailed submissions. Pay is $4/line of poetry, and $50/page for prose. The deadline for submissions is 15 May 2019. Details here.

The Frogmore Papers
This UK-based literary magazine accepts poetry. Their guidelines say, “Very long poems and very short poems have more to do than poems of an average length (say, 20-80 lines)”. Also, “Poems where the form drives the meaning are unlikely to find favour”, and “Poems written by people who clearly haven’t read any poetry since Wordsworth will not find favour.” Send 4-6 poems. They also publish short stories and they are reading for their September issue until 30 April 2019. Details here.

Alaska Quarterly Review
This award-winning magazine publishes poetry. They publish work in traditional and experimental styles, but not light verse. Send up to 20 pages of poetry. They also accept fiction, short plays, and literary non-fiction. They welcome work by new and emerging writers alongside established and award-winning ones. They accept only hard copy submissions. Their deadline is 15 May 2019. Details here.

Epoch Magazine
This literary magazine considers poetry in all forms, including the long poem; send up to five poems. They also publish fiction, essays, cartoons, screenplays, graphic art, and graphic fiction. The magazine is edited by faculty at Cornell University. They only accept mailed submissions. They pay a minimum of $50 per poem, and $150 per short story (more for longer stories). The deadline is 15 April 2019. Details here.

New Reader Magazine
They publish poetry of all genres and types, and especially welcome experimental poetry and work that defies genre conventions. They accept videos of spoken word poetry if the video has not been previously published. They ask for a minimum of three poems per submission. The magazine publishes “stories about humans and about being human.” Apart from poetry, they also publish investigative stories, memoirs and profiles, interviews, etc. of people who are doing interesting things and changing perspectives in big cities or small, secret towns, fiction, lyrical essays, and comics, as well as illustrations and photography. They pay $5 per poem, $10-20 for prose, and accept work year-round. Details here.

Gertrude Press
This is a queer literary and arts journal accepting submissions from new and established LGBTQIA writers and artists. They accept submissions of up to five poems on any subject, not necessarily LGBTQIA-specific. Poems of fewer than 40 lines are preferable. They also accept fiction, creative nonfiction, and art. The deadline for poetry submissions is 2 March, 2020. Details here.

Lighten Up Online

This is a quarterly light verse webzine. Their website says, “We believe that light verse is very far from being the poor relation of “proper” poetry.” Send up to three poems. They also accept reprints. Details here.

P N Review
This prestigious UK-based poetry magazine accepts poems, including translations. Send up to four poems/five pages of poetry, or up to 15 pages of poetry-related prose. They publish no short stories, children’s prose/poetry, and very little non-poetry related work. Non-subscribers must post their submissions, and subscribers can email them. Details here.

Able Muse
The predominantly publish metrical poetry and poetry translation complemented by art and photography, fiction and nonfiction including essays, book reviews and interviews with a focus on metrical and formal poetry. They want “well-crafted poems of any length or subject that employ skillful and imaginative use of meter and rhyme, executed in a contemporary idiom, that reads as naturally as your free verse poems.” All forms of formal poetry are welcome. They also publish, occasionally, exceptional free verse poetry. They also accept humorous or light poetry. Send 1-5 poems. They publish established as well as new voices, and accept submissions through the year. Details here.

Valparaiso Poetry Review
They welcome submissions of unpublished poems, book reviews, author interviews, and essays about poetry or poetics for which the rights belong to the author. They do not publish translations. Very rarely and only in special circumstances, previously published material will be accepted if it is unavailable anywhere else online. They publish new, emerging and well-known poets. Works published in this magazine have received honours or been chosen for inclusion in award anthologies. Submit up to five poems. Details here.

Vallum Magazine: Fear
This Canadian poetry magazine is reading for its ‘Fear’ themed issue. Their guidelines say, “It has been said by writers like William Golding that fear is the most destructive of human emotions. It may be a fear of the known or of the unknown, a fear that seems overwhelming and unbeatable. Franklin D. Roosevelt said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” How is fear represented in poetry, specifically in your poetry? What are we afraid of?” Send 4-7 poems (by mail only). They also accept essays, interviews, reviews, and audio and video poems. They pay their contributors. They are reading for this theme until 15 May 2019. Details here.
<img src="/images/emoticons/glasses10.gif" alt="glasses8">

There's a new challenge waiting for the bold and brave up in the 'Challenges and Prompts' forum. This one comes from 'Her Maggieship' and includes an image to be contemplated first. For more info and a look at the image, journey to the old C & P to learn all.

<img src="/images/emoticons/glasses10.gif" alt="glasses8">

* Excerpted from the free online Authors Publish newsletter (highly recommended)

xxx

Flame Tree Publishing: Detective Mysteries; Epic Fantasy
They want new and recent short stories for two anthologies. Writers can submit more than one story, and to each anthology. They accept reprints.
— Detective Mysteries. Their guidelines say, “Private Eyes with eagle eyes and rare skills, PIs and gumshoes, bloodhounds and sleuths: the shadowy arts of the detective have intrigued us since tales of the Pinkerton Detective Agency and Sherlock Holmes. Add some treachery, intimacy, and a little murder to the mix and you’ll find a powerful series of dark stories from classic and contemporary writers.”
— Epic Fantasy. Their guidelines say, “George R.R. Martin drew on Tolkien, who was inspired by William Morris, Medieval epics, and Norse mythology. This new collection of epic fantasy tales explores the classic themes of good vs. evil, the low-born hero, and the arrogant overlord, lacing them with a taste of sorcery that reaches back to the early sources and stirring them in with the brand new storytellers of today.”
Deadline: 24 March 2019
Length: 2,000-4,000 words are most likely to be successful; will read slightly outside this rage
Pay: $0.06/word
Details here.

Grumpy Old Gods Anthology Volume 2
This is a second call to submissions on this theme – they want speculative fiction stories about gods gone AWOL. Their guidelines say, “We invite you to re-imagine old myths, mine your local retirement home for things that tickle your fancy, and invite your Muse to go wild.” The only requirement is that the god or goddess in question (or whole pantheon) must be retired, retiring, waning in power, or ignoring their responsibilities. Humor is welcome and they want PG-13 to PG-17 stories.
Deadline: 30 March 2019
Length: 3,000-4,000 words
Pay: A portion of the profits
Details here.

Orbannin Books: Letters from the Grave – A Collection of Epistolary Horror
They want epistolary horror. Their guidelines say, “The epistolary form has a long, proud tradition in the horror genre. From the classics such as Frankenstein and Dracula, through modern classics like World War Z. We want to see your fresh takes on the idea. Remember that the epistolary genre doesn’t just include letters. It can be stories created from nearly any kinds or combinations of documents, i.e. crime scene reports, diary entries, interview transcripts, etc. This can include modern electronic and digital “documents” such as texts, voicemails, Tweets, blog posts, and more.” See guidelines for tropes they won’t accept.
Deadline (extended): 31 March 2019
Length: Up to 10,000 words
Pay: $0.05/word
Details here.

Darkhouse Books: Mid-Century Murder; A Murder of Crows
— Mid-Century Murder. For this theme, they want cozy to cozy-noir crime stories set in the late forties through the very early sixties. They want stories that evoke the era, though its fashions, homes, furniture and furnishings, vehicles, restaurants, stores and products, music, movies, radio and television. For authors on Facebook, they have pointed to two groups that could be useful for grokking the era (see guidelines). They accept reprints.
— A Murder of Crows. This is a call for cozy to cozy-noir crime stories, set in any time, from dinosaurs to the present, using the collective names of groups of animals which includes mammals, reptiles, fish, birds, and insects, or names of authors’ invention. Their guidelines also say, “Earth animals/birds only, none from outer space or invented animals. You can put your animals in jeopardy but animal cruelty or killing an animal is an automatic rejection. Choosing an animal/bird that is a little different may give you an edge on being chosen. We don’t want multiple stories using the same species! Your animals should be an integral part of the crime, not just a mention as part of the story.”
Deadline: 31 March 2019 for Mid-Century Murder; 30 April for A Murder of Crows
Length: 2,500-6,000 words
Pay: Royalties
Details here and here.

Cricket Media: Six themes
Cricket Media produces literary magazines for children of various ages – Babybug (for ages 6 months to 3 years), Ladybug (ages 3 to 6), Spider (ages 6 to 9), and Cricket (ages 9 to 14). The magazines have several themes coming up.
— Whatever the Weather. For Babybug: “stories, poems, action rhymes, and fingerplays about year-round outdoor play and exploration. What might a baby or toddler appreciate about the natural world in different seasons? Are there memorable games that can only be played at certain times of year?”
— A Part of it All. For Ladybug: “short stories, retellings of folk tales, rebus stories, poems, action rhymes, nonfiction, and songs about young children participating in their communities. Welcoming new neighbors, harvesting a shared garden, celebrating a holiday—show us how small children can affect their neighborhoods. We’re interested in explorations of communities across the US and abroad.”
— Enchanted Forest. For Spider: “stories, poems, short plays, and activities for the theme “Enchanted Forest.” Show us worlds of magic and wonder, full of unicorns, witches in the woods, mythical beasts, and fairytale castles. Give us a new version of the traditional fairytale cast—what if a princess, prince, knight, or villain did not want to follow the roles assigned to them? Fractured and contemporary fairytales welcome.”
— Indigenous Stories. For Cricket, Spider, and Ladybug: “heartfelt stories by and about indigenous peoples of North America, whether you identify as indigenous, Native American, First Nation, or another name. Tell us about special family moments, traditions continued or lost, life on or off a reservation, learning and growing up in the present or past, or an important moment in history.”
— Home for the Holidays. For Cricket and Spider: “contemporary and historical fiction, nonfiction, poetry, crafts, and recipes about the celebration or history of holidays around the world. We welcome well-told seasonal stories set against the background of major U.S. holidays, but we also have special interest in holidays and festivals celebrated in other parts of the world that may be less familiar to our young readers.”
— Open for Business. For Cricket: “seeks contemporary and historical fiction, biographies, and nonfiction about earning money or starting an enterprise. Fictional stories might be set against the background of a child’s summer job or working in a family business; saving money for an important event; or family struggles with money. Nonfiction might focus on inventors and entrepreneurs, the Industrial Revolution and labor strife, or people with unusual jobs.” These magazines also accept nonfiction, poetry, and craft submissions.
Deadline: 1 April 2019
Length: Various
Pay: Up to $0.25/word for prose, $3/line for poetry
Details here.

B Cubed Press: Tales from the Space Force
­­­­­This is an anthology around the Space Force. Their guidelines say, “Now that America has an official Space Force, we need to incorporate it into literature.

What to do we want? Camp? Satire? Bug Eyed Monsters? All good. We’ll do serious stories, too. Mostly we want good stories. And if I am to confess, we want campy stories. We want the golden age of pulp to live again. … Ask yourself, what would an American Space Force do? Will there be a space wall around the International Space Station? Will NASA and the Space Force get along?” Political bents are allowed, and they also accept poetry. Also check out their other themed calls: Alternative Bedtime Reading for Progressive Parents, and Alternative Apocalypses.
Deadline: 15 April 2019
Length: 500-5,000 words
Pay: $0.02/word and royalties; for flash pieces and poetry, an option of a flat $25 fee
Details here.

Thema: The Clumsy Gardener
They want fiction, poetry, and essays on the theme of The Clumsy Gardener. The premise must be an integral part of the plot, not necessarily the central theme but not incidental. They like a carefully constructed plot, good character delineation, and clever plot twists. They welcome both traditional and experimental stories. They also accept poetry, photographs, and art. Authors in the US must post their work, those outside the US can email it. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 1 July 2019
Length: Fewer than 20 pages for prose; up to three poems
Pay: $25 for short stories, $10 for flash and poetry
Details here.

Unfit Magazine: AR/VR and the downside to commercialization of technology
They publish fiction: Quantum Fiction, Cyberpunk, Scientific Realism and Augmented Reality, and they want stories with metaphors and emotional ambiance and imaginative descriptive writing. Currently, they’re looking for stories about AR/VR and the downside to the commercialization of technology.
Deadline: Open now
Length: 500-3,000 words
Pay: $0.03/word
Details here.

Unreal Magazine: Unusual creatures and odd experiences
They publish fiction: fantasy, magic realism, and experimental fiction. Currently, they are looking for stories about unusual creatures and odd experiences.
Deadline: Open now
Length: 500-5,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.

Two new writers
Two new stories
Two fresh Recommended Reads

Ansaryon, who has just joined SS, has given us, "Kissing the Girl' in the Romance category. It examines the anguish of a young woman who has developed a crush on her best friend - a straight female.

Mike Stone's first SS story is, 'A Walk in the Desert' in, Drama'. Set in Israel, it recounts an aging man's 'brief walk' using you-are- there descriptions of the settings, both urban and rural.

These are great reads and near the top of the stories list. Check 'em out.

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Most of these publishers have an imprint that accepts unsolicited submissions or queries. These imprints are sometimes very specific in terms of what genre they publish, others are very broad.

Some are print and many are digital-first. In most cases, digital-first means they publish an eBook version. If it does well, they follow it up with a traditional print run.

Not all of the imprints are currently open to submissions at this time, but all have plans to re-open.

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Versify

Versify, a new imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, is accepting submissions via email. Versify was started by the Newberry Award winning author Kwame Alexander, who you can learn more about here. The goal of Versify is to publish risky, unconventional books for children. They are looking for novels, nonfiction, picture books, and graphic novels. They also are probably the only imprint of Houghton Mifflin that has a Tumblr.

SMP Swerve


St Martin’s Press is an imprint of Macmillan. SMP Swerve is the digital-first romance publishing imprint of St Martin’s. SMP Swerve is open to all sub-genres of romance. The length of your manuscript must be between 25,000 and 100,000 words.

Forever Yours


Forever is the romance imprint of Grand Central Publishing. Grand Central Publishing is the imprint of the Hachette Book Group.Forever Yours is the digital sister of Forever, they focus on publishing un agented authors, and often publish authors without a publication history. They publish eBooks, but they have an option to print on demand any book over 50,000 words in length.

Tor/Forge

Tor/Forge publishes science fiction and fantasy books. Run by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, Tor/Forge is an imprint of Macmillan, one of the big five publishers. Tor is one of the most established science fiction publishers and they have won the Locus Award for best SF publisher many years in a row. They offer advances.


Avon Impulse

Avon Romance is a romance imprint of HarperCollins. Avon Impulse is their digital-first imprint and they publish primarily new authors because of this. If your book does well in terms of digital sales and it is over 25,000 words in length, it will receive a print run and receive good distribution. Books that receive a print run are officially published by Avon Romance for the print edition (and not Impulse).

Avon UK

10 Imprints of Big 5 Publishers That Accept Unsolicited Submissions
Avon UK has a separate digital imprint that is open to emailed submissions.

Harlequin

Harlequin is easily the most famous romance-only publisher out there. In fact, their name was synonymous with romance novels when I was growing up. They have wide distribution, from grocery stores to bookstores. They are everywhere. A few years ago HarperCollins purchased the company.

Carina Press

Carina Press is Harlequin’s digital-first adult fiction imprint, publishing first in digital, and then depending on the numbers releasing audio and print versions as well. Unlike most of Harlequin’simprints, they don’t just focus on romance, although they are open to all subgenres of romance, including contemporary, paranormal, LGBTQ+, and science fiction. They also publish mysteries of all flavors—from cozies to thrillers, with and without romantic elements. They, like Harlequin, are owned by HarperCollins

DAW

DAW is an imprint of Penguin that is open to manuscript submissions from authors without an agent. DAW is a highly respected publisher of Science Fiction and Fantasy. DAW has published authors such as Marion Zimmer Bradley and Roger Zelazny. DAW has published many bestselling books and they have published Hugo award winning books. So they are respected and popular.

WorthyKids/Ideals

WorthyKids/Ideals publishes fiction and nonfiction board books, novelty books, and picture books for children from birth through the age of 8. In September 2018 they were purchased by Hachette. The subjects they are interested in publishing are primarily inspiration/faith, relationships and values, general fiction, American patriotism, and holidays, particularly Easter and Christmas.

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From the free online newsletter of 'Author's Publish Magazine'

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Added 13 May 2019 | Category Young Adult | Votes 4 | Avg Score 5 | Views 151 | 3 Comments

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Added 05 Feb 2019 | Category Micro Fiction | Votes 9 | Avg Score 5 | Views 686 | 8 Comments

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Added 18 Dec 2018 | Category Musings | Votes 11 | Avg Score 5 | Views 295 | 7 Comments

Now and Forever: a love story The dream was back--so were the eyes. They hovered in an angry sky just above the horizon, seeing everything but focusing on nothing. Amy knew those eyes—knew a time when they’d been filled with happiness and a love of life. But that had been before her brother came back from Vietnam. Young, naked, and skinny, she stood alone and vulnerable on a hill surrounded...

Added 14 Aug 2018 | Category Romance | Votes 8 | Avg Score 5 | Views 247 | 5 Comments

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Added 04 Aug 2018 | Category Flash Fiction | Votes 14 | Avg Score 5 | Views 351 | 12 Comments

On a hot Friday afternoon in the summer of 1970, a young nursing student left work at the VA hospital, and hurried out to the nearby bus stop on First Avenue. The usual stop-and-go Friday traffic appeared to be stuck on stop. From the open windows of a gypsy cab came the sound of an all-news station. “In other national news, a Defense Department spokesman said 18,000 of the 31,000 US...

Added 28 Feb 2018 | Category Flash Fiction | Votes 12 | Avg Score 5 | Views 535 | 10 Comments

   The official plan, as carefully explained to all parental units, had called for Amy and Libby to share a motel room. The guys would stay with Mark’s roommate who was supposed to be in summer school. In reality, Mark’s roommate had just flunked out. And no one questioned that Bob and Libby would have the motel room to themselves. Once they were dropped off, Mark and Amy headed for...

Added 01 Nov 2017 | Category General | Votes 2 | Avg Score 5 | Views 721 | 2 Comments

  Alexandria, a small, nondescript city on the Red River in central Louisiana, is the symbolic checkpoint separating the state’s French, Catholic south from its Scots-Irish, Protestant north. In the pre-interstate days, a two-lane highway weaved its way south from town toward Baton Rouge. A picturesque, tree-lined bayou flanked one side of the road. On the other side were pastures and a...

Added 18 Oct 2017 | Category General | Votes 3 | Avg Score 5 | Views 489 | 4 Comments

 The phone wouldn't stop ringing. Amy, sitting at the table on the other side of the kitchen, eating a bologna-on-white-with-mayonnaise sandwich and heading into what she sensed would be one of the   steamier parts of,"The Carpetbaggers," tried to ignore the noise, though she couldn’t help wondering what had happened to her sister who always tried to beat everyone else to the phone. Jan...

Added 09 Oct 2017 | Category General | Votes 5 | Avg Score 5 | Views 534 | 5 Comments

Delmar Bullock wasn’t impressed, not one little bit. The three young farts standing just inside the door to his storage shed didn’t seem good for much, most of all a Klan job. At first, they tried to act cocky like this was no big deal. But none of  ‘em said a word after seeing the cross he put together that afternoon. He wondered why Jack Boudreaux, who always worried about security...

Added 25 Sep 2017 | Category General | Votes 5 | Avg Score 5 | Views 470 | 5 Comments