No newsletter this month due to the usual summer-holiday chaos, but I was determined not to neglect my gathering of open submissions calls for writers…

Do sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open submission calls in future!

Microbes to the Rescue!
This short story competition from Green Stories and sponsored by the Environmental Biotechnology Network is open to SF stories concerning microbial systems.
Word count: 1000–3000 words
Payment: £500 prize for 1^st place, £200 for 2^nd place, £100 for 3^rd place
Deadline: 21 September 2023
Find out more

Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize
I don’t normally flag contests with entry fees here, but Galley Beggar are a fantastic publisher, so I can’t resist adding this to the list despite the £10 entry fee. There are 200 free slots for low earners. No genre restrictions.
Word count: Up to 6000 words
Payment: £2500 first prize, plus runner-up prizes
Deadline: 30 September 2023
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The Quiet Ones
The third issue of this creepy online zine will feature horror and dystopian stories themed around ‘The End’.
Word count: Up to 3000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: 10 September 2023
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Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction
Another contest, this one free to enter. It may hold particular appeal for SFF and horror writers as the theme is ‘The Uncanny’. Shortlisted stories will feature in an ebook anthology published by the excellent Comma Press.
Word count: 2000–7500 words
Payment: £500 prize, and publication for 10 shortlisted authors
Deadline: 22 September 2023
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African Ghost Short Stories
This is the latest anthology from the excellent Flame Tree Press. The editors seek stories from African and African-diaspora writers, and describe the anthology as featuring ‘the deep-seated supernatural element in African storytelling – whether reaching back to the spirits, ancestors and ogres of folklore or the vibrantly modern ghosts of today’s African horror’.
Word count: Around 2000–4000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 27 August 2023
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Escalators to Hell: Shopping Mall Horrors
For this unusual themed anthology, From Beyond Press are looking for horror and dark sci-fi stories about shopping malls past, present and future.
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: 31 August 2023
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Orion’s Belt
This online magazine seeks (very) short stories with ‘significant speculative elements’.
Word count: Up to 1200 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 1 September 2023
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Hearth Stories
This new magazine will feature ‘speculative fiction slice-of-life stories with a focus on connection, family, relationships, comfort, and the natural world’.
Word count: Around 1500–5000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: 31 October 2023
Find out more

Good luck if you have a try at any of these openings! And remember, you can sign up for my email newsletter for monthly open submission calls direct to your inbox.

Image from Wikimedia Commons