Richard and Judy Competition

Richard and Judy (TV Show Couple) are searching for a best seller and are encouraging people to submit their manuscripts. Full details can be found here but please note that they are not currently looking for science fiction, fantasy, children’s and teenage fiction; and that all submitted works should be 80,000 words or more.

Submissions Open – Uncanny Magazine

Submissions are open at Uncanny Magazine for short stories. Uncanny is a Science Fiction and Fantasy based magazine and they are currently looking for unpublished speculative fiction stories between 750-6000 words. Payment is $.08 per word.

More details can be found here.

Alternative Reality Submissions

There are new submissions open for two anthologies at Alternative Reality. The two anthologies are called Summer’s End (wanting fantasy stories) and Broken Bones & Ten Dollar Bills (looking for science fiction stories).

The deadline is the 30^th April and stories should be between 2000 and 5000 word. More details can be found here.

Hic Dragones - micropress open call!

Hic Dragones is a Manchester-based micro-press and creative writing organisation. Their recently-launched anthology Impossible Spaces featured short stories from upcoming authors as well as long-established names such as Simon Bestwick and Ramsey Campbell.

Now Hic Dragones have another open call: this time, for an anthology titled Hauntings. Full details can be found over here. If this sounds like your bag, go see what they're looking for...

Radio Opportunity

BBC Radio 4 are inviting submissions from writers "new to radio" for their annual season of short plays, Opening Lines. By short, they point out, they mean around a maximum of 2000 words, with an emphasis on narrative rather than dialogue. They are also at pains to point out that they will be looking for plays that successfully link the end back to the beginning. Helpfully, the website - see here, folks - gives examples from last year's entries.

The submission window closes on December 14th 2012. For full details, see the link above.

Fields of Opportunity

NewCon Press has announced a new flash-fic competition, in association with the Institute of Agricultural Engineers. No, really, this does make sense. They're looking for stories that explore the possible futures for agricultural engineering, farming and food production over the next century. Successful stories are in line for a prize of up to £75, as well as publication in both the IAE's journal and a themed anthology from NewCon Press itself.

Details can be found here; the word limits are strictly between 800-900; and all submissions must be received by January 12th 2013.

In other news, don't forget that tomorrow night is the groop's second meet of the month - as ever, we're at the Old Queen's Head from 7.30ish. Look forward to seeing y'all there...

Who keeps leaving all these doors open?

Hard on the heels of Angry Robot's Open Door period (well, six months down the line, perhaps) comes another opportunity from one of the big names in publishing. This time it's Harper Voyager, who publish stuff by the likes of George R. R. Martin, Kim Harrison, Raymond E. Feist, Robin Hobb, Richard Kadrey, Sara Douglass, Peter V. Brett and Kylie Chan - amongst many others.

Harper Voyager will be opening their doors to unagented, novel-length works of all subgenres (what they actually say is: "all kinds of adult and young adult speculative fiction for digital publication, but particularly epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, dystopia and supernatural") for two weeks only from 1st to 14th October. Interestingly, given the seismic shifts in publishing over the last few years, they aim to publish the selected fruits of this window primarily through digital platforms, as "digital originals", though they are at pains to stress that all projects thus selected will receive exactly the same attention and treatment (editing, marketing etc) as standard print book projects.

They also state that they will consider novels that have already been self-published.

For more details, see the link below.

http://harpervoyagerbooks.com/harper-voyager-guidelines-for-digital-submission/

Sharpen those red pens, folks....

NextRead Magazine now open for submissions

A new magazine, due to be launched on 1 May 2010, is now open for submissions. NextRead Magazine is "a themed bi-monthly short story magazine". Each issue will contain six to eight short stories on a given theme. It will be published in both PDF and epub formats, and will cost £1.50 an issue.

Issue #0's theme is "Science Fiction combined with Myth". Deadline for submissions is 14 April 2010.

Word limit is 5,000 words. Submit as attached document - doc, rtf, txt. Submissions are only accepted from people who have pre-bought the issue of the magazine. Token payment for stories published in the magazine, and each issue a story chosen by the editor will receive a book "that fits the theme that edition of the magazine".

See here for more details.

Speculative Ramayana Anthology: call for submissions

Zubaan Books of Delhi are looking for stories for an anthology to be edited by Anil Menon and Vandana Singh. Stories should "use the Ramayana in an essential and innovative way". They should also be speculative. "We’re looking for literary stories. Given a choice between an idea-rich but poorly-told story and a well-told but not-so-brilliant story, we’ll pick the well-told one."

Stories should be between 2000 and 700 words. Submit as RTF attachments to zubaan.antho@gmail.com. Reading period is February 14, 2010 - June 01, 2010. Payment will be Rs 1000 (about $25) plus a contributor copy.

See here for full guidelines.

Null Immortalis - Nemonymous 10

Nemonymous 10, Null Immortalis, is now open for submissions. The book is planned for publication in July 2010. It will be the last Nemonymous.

Deadline is 30 April 2010. Payment is 1p a word up to a maximum of £100. All submissions must include a character called SD Tullis, Scott Tullis, Mr Tullis or Tullis. Stories should be submitted as Word .doc attachments sent to both bfitzworth@yahoo.co.uk and dflewis48@hotmail.com.

See here for the full guidelines.

Twelfth Planet Press open for novelettes

Twelfth Planet Press is looking for novelettes for its doubles series. Stories should be between 10,000 and 20,000 words, science fiction or fantasy ("speculative fiction"), and they "are particularly looking for works that feel fresh, different and take risks to push boundaries and ideas".

Submissions will be open from 1 December 2009 to 28 February 2010, and should be sent as RTF attachments to twelfthplanetpress@gmail.com. Payment is $100 advance and 8% royalty on subsequent print runs.

See here for full details.

Call for submissions - Music for another world

Mark Harding is looking for stories for a science fiction and fantasy "anthology of stories on what music means to us and what it does to us, how we shape and it, and how it might shape us". The anthology will be published in paperback and as an ebook in the summer of 2010.

Submissions will be open from 6 January 2010 to 30 April 2010. Story length 2,000 to 6,000 words. Electronic submissions in RTF format to mark.musicanthology'@'gmail.com. Payment is a flat rate of £80 per author.

See here for full details.

Call for submissions for themed issue of The Future Fire magazine

The Future Fire magazine is looking for submissions for a Feminist Science Fiction themed issue to be published towards the end of this year or beginning of the next. They are looking for "science fiction (or speculative) stories that address issues of gender, sexual identity and sexuality; stories that take the "radical idea that women are human beings" and do something about it; stories that can engage, empower, educate, and inspire men and women alike. And of course stories that challenge our expectations, that avoid cliché, that are beautiful and useful, that are social, political, and speculative cyberfiction."

Indicate in your cover letter that the story is a submission for the Feminist Science Fiction special issue. Stories submitted to the general pile may be considered for the feminist-themed issue, and stories submitted to the theme may be considered for the intervening issues. All submissions should be sent as attachments to fiction(at)futurefire(dot)net. Use the email subject line: TFF submission: Surname, 'Title'.

Payment $20 per story. Stories over 10,000 words are unlikely to be purchased. "Please use a common, easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier, and use no other formatting than italics." Full guidelines are here.

Two Anthology Calls for Submission

Ahmed A Khan is looking for submissions to two sf anthologies, one of which is aimed at ten to twelve year olds.

Cheer Up, Universe: "For this anthology, I am seeking ORIGINAL speculative fiction stories (both SF and Fantasy) that make us feel good." Payment: one cent per word up to $15. Deadline: 30 June 2009.

Fun Times in Andromeda: "I am looking for speculative stories aimed at pre-teens. Target readers: precocious kids between the ages of 10-12. The anthology will be fully illustrated." Deadline: 30 June 2009.

See here for details on both anthologies.

Ahmed A Khan has previously co-edited A Mosque Among the Stars.

Call for Submissions - Destination: Future anthology

Hadley Rille Books are looking for submissions for a new anthology, Destination: Future, to be edited by ZS Adani and Eric T Reynolds and published in 2010.

They want "science fiction stories, particularly Hard SF, Space Opera, Alien Worlds, Alien Encounter Beyond Earth, Exploration and Quest stories". Length 3,000 to 6,000 words. Payment 3 cents per word.

Submission period: 1 March 2009 to 30 June 2009.

Electronic submissions - attached. doc or .rtf - only to submissions.future[at]gmail[dot]com. Put DESTINATION FUTURE in the subject line.

More details here.

Chimeraworld 6 Open for Submissions

The editor is looking for...

"I want stories depicting THE WORLD AFTER THE COMING REVOLUTION, as mankind returns to a life stripped of Capitalism and Mass Media Propaganda. Is this a worse or a better world, without the Google-fuelled glare of the bankers dictating every move you make? I want insane stories about a travelling life, a journey through real freedom. I want uncensored stories about chaos, uncertainty and anarchy. I want enlightening stories about how the world deals with no money, no banks and no business loans."

Word count 2,000 – 4,000 words, strict. Rich Text Format only. Font: Times Roman, 12 point, single space. Add postal address, email and word count to first page. Add 50–100 word bio after THE END.

Payment is £10.00UK (approx $20.00US).

Electronic submissions only to m.i.k.e.@m.i.k.e.philbin.com (remove the dots in m.i.k.e.).

Chimeraworld #6 (new world disorder) will be published by Chimericana Books, late 2009 in American format 6" by 9" trade paperback.

Thoughtcrimes Anthology Call for Submissions

Writer Leonard Richardson is putting together an anthology of five stories, Thoughtcrimes. Deadline is February 28th 2009, unless he fills the anthology before then. Payment is $200. The anthology will be published on his web site under a Creative Commons licence.

Full details here.

New Anthology - Call for Submissions

From the PS Publishing news blog:

Allen Ashley is in the process of putting together a new anthology for PS Publishing. Entitled Catastrophia, it will be "a collection of stories loosely themed around the theme of catastrophes, disasters and post-apocalyptic fiction."

More information here.