More Open Short Story Calls for October!
Plus: an interview with Editor Jessica Guernsey
Gully Magazine - New Lit Magazine -Editors - Colin Lodewick & Naomi Xu Elegant - Open Oct 1 - Dec 31 - $15 pay for poetry and flash - $30 pay for over 1000 -no limit. - Subsims yes, Reprints no - I don’t know anything about this market but I’m always keen to share no fee, paying places for our work - Send pitches and work to gullysubmissions@gmail.com.
Once Upon A Moonless Night - Stories of Revenge and Redemption - Editor Jessica Guernsey - A Brothers Uber project - Open Now - 250-15,000 words - No sim subs - No Reprints. SUBMIT HERE My friend Jessica Guernsey is the editor, and her full interview is upcoming on Horrortree.com, but get extra hints for success below.
FLAMETREE - flash fiction call for October - Monster Masquerade - 1000 max - in HORROR genre - 8c a word - editor Leah Ratcliffe - deadline Oct 20 -send stories to flash2024@flametreepublishing.com
FLAMETREE - werewolf stories - 8c original - 6c a word reprint - 2000-4000 words - deadline Oct 27 - Submit to were-wolf@flametreepublishing.com - LEARN MORE
“We are seeking stories about werewolves, shapeshifting humans, rivalries and alliances between vampyr and werewolves. The word werewolf goes back more than a thousand years, coming directly from the Old English wer, meaning Man, and wolf. Also of interest is folklore and mythology which plays on such legends as Fenrir (born of Loki) defeating Odin at Ragnarök, and early Slavic myths and rituals in which were wolf skins are removed and stolen. Stories can explore wolves which might have been human, changing by choice at the howl of the moon, or people cursed and damned to be wolves for all time. Is that why the lone wolf is alone? The wolfish grin is a little shy? Is that why we wolf down our food? Is there a wolf inside us all? In the forests around us? Hunting us, haunting us, protecting itself and its kind.”
Graveside Press - Cosmic Horror Anthology - Oct 1- 31 - 2000-6000 words - 2c a word - Submit HERE - I just sent them a story about a guy who battles weird creatures from the bowels of the sea. Thanks to Angela https://substack.com/@angelayurikosmith for this post! She also champions short story writers.
"Cosmic horror, also known as Lovecraftian horror, is a subgenre of horror that emphasizes the terror of the unknowable and incomprehensible. It favors these psychological horrors more than gore or other elements of shock and awe. ... The core of all cosmic horror is the protagonist being absolutely terrified of the unknown or the future and what's going to happen to them. ... There should also be a contemplation of the human experience and the humanness of the struggle. They usually don't have a lot of blood and gore, and instead thrive on the ideas that are scary."
#pitdark - The next Twitter (or X) pitch party for darker literature is Oct 24, starting at 8am. - I’ve done a couple of these and had zero luck. But I’m not that active on twitter. So maybe if you have a book to pitch?
ESCAPE POD - is open! - 1,500-6000 - 8c a word - Escape Pod is a science fiction market.
We are fairly flexible on what counts as science (superheroes! steampunk! space opera! time travel!) and are interested in exploring the range of the genre. We want stories that center science, technology, future projections, and/or alternate history, and how any or all of these things impact individuals and society. -
Submit here - ANON subs
Interview with Jessica Guernsey!
I met Jessica at Superstars Writing Seminar last year and I LOVE her. You will find her name on many anthologies, as a contributing author and as an editor. Her full-time job is slush reading and she jokingly calls herself “The Crusher of Dreams.”
AF: How did you get involved with Once Upon a Moonless Night?
JG: I met Logan Uber during our Masters cohort at Western Colorado University. He also joined us at Superstars Writing Seminar. My story was accepted to his Once Upon a Future Time Vol 4, an anthology of sci-fi fairytales. I wrote a version of Puss n’Boots, where the cat is instead a small robot. Cathryn Uber is an amazing editor that I worked with for my story. Could not ask for a more capable team.
AF: Who is Jessica Guernsey? How do you spend your days and what do you dream about?
JG: Really, I’m just a weirdo who talks to her imaginary friends and writes strange stories. But my dream is to start my own publishing house and produce more anthologies! What can I say? I love short stories.
AF: What do you do as a day job and how do you find time for writing?
JG: I read the slush for my day job, hence my title as the Crusher of Dreams. Part of the reason my last novel took 3 years was because I didn’t keep my writing time sacred. I let too many things (mostly the little people I birthed) take that time. Once I started treating my writing as a business, worthy of dedicated time, I really started making progress.
AF: How do writing conferences figure into your career plan?
JG: I love writing conferences! Though I should probably add that I am an extrovert, so I thrive.
When I meet new writers who want to improve, my first piece of advice is always “start attending writing conference.” Even if all you have access to are virtual workshops. Not only will you expand on your craft, but you’ll also broaden your horizons and discover more options for your work.
Networking is huge in this business. All the work I’ve gotten as a writer has been because of the connections I made at writing conferences.
AF: What kind of stories will have the edge for acceptance into Once Upon a Moonless Night?
JG: We are looking for darker stories! That doesn’t mean we want only horror. Betrayal, revenge and redemption can come in all different colors.
Be sure at least one of those three elements is the main theme of your story to avoid an easy rejection. I like a story with a hopeful message in the end, but if your story doesn’t have that, it is absolutely not a deal breaker. What *is* a deal breaker is sending us a story that does not fit the theme.
Always follow the guidelines, my friends! You’d be surprised how much that will put you ahead of the other submissions.
So far in October, I’ve submitted 18 stories, many of them to the list above and the ones on my blog here: https://www.fawns.ca/2024/09/25/octobers-ominous-open-submission-calls/
Note of frustration, I keep trying to get a story to Astrolabe, but they are either not opening or I don’t get in before they close. They did say they were open in October. Same with Sundog Literary. They only allow so many subs before they take on a $3 fee. What’s my number one rule?
Don’t pay people to reject you.
Another note of frustration? I wrote one original flash last month. That’s it. And I’ve written ZERO original words this month. Argh. I’ve been busy doing my FOURTH pass of that cowboy romance novel because I have a meeting with an agent at World Fantasy Con and I am bringing the full manuscript. She had some notes on the first fifty pages - which I’d sent her for the second time. The crappy thing about editing a novel? If you make a change at the beginning, you have to pull that thread through the rest of the 80,000 words!!!!!!! It has been almost a year of sweating over this thing. Yeegads. Novel writing is not for the weak of heart. Did I mention I LOVE short stories?
In the first 9 days of October, I’ve had 7 rejections and one sale.
I’m thrilled to announce my story “The Moxy Mermaid” has been selected by Knight Writing Press for Mermaidens 2: Darker Waters. Guess who the editor is? YES - Jessica Guernsey! Remember her advice about meeting people at conferences can help lead to sales? Here is her quote again, “All the work I’ve gotten as a writer has been because of the connections I made at writing conferences.”
Ps. I LOVE the cover art.
Happy Halloween season my friends!!!