It seems that editors have spent the summer months preparing their next projects! Here are 16 of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found.

And a reminder: sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open submission calls like these…

Language Evolves
This contest supported by Cardiff University has a really exciting prompt relating to the field of language evolution. As its website states, this could include ‘imagining situations in the past or the future, speculating on how language might have evolved in a different species, or thinking about the consequences of our methods and practice.’
Word count: Up to 2500 words
Payment: £400 prize, with awards for the best Welsh language story and English language story
Deadline: 30 September 2023
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Crab Tales Magazine
You’re unlikely to have already written a story to meet the requirements of this magazine, but with a word limit of only 250 words, maybe you’d like to have a try at writing a fantastical crab story, finally?
Word count: Up to 250 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 24 September 2023
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Negative Creep
A very specific call, but one rich with possibility… The editors of this anthology to be published by Book Slayer Press are seeking horror stories themed around Nirvana songs.
Word count: 1000–3000 words
Payment: $50
Deadline: 1 October 2023
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Night Time Economy
The editors of the new Birmingham-based publisher Floodgate Press are looking for night-time tales by writers from the West Midlands.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: £20
Deadline: 31 January 2023
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Feisty Felines and Other Fantastical Familiars
This prompt is a nice twist, with emphasis placed on magical animal familiars rather than their witchy or wizardy partners.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 6 cents per word
Deadline: 15 October 2023
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Hauntings and Hoarfrost
This anthology will be filled with Gothic stories. In the words of editor Rhonda Parrish: ‘What better setting could there be than the deep, dark, depths of winter? When snow and storms can isolate remote locations for days or weeks and bundling up to keep the cold away provides a different kind of anonymity and isolation even in the heart of cities.’
Word count: Up to 7500 words
Payment: $50
Deadline: 7 October 2023
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Gamut
This well-regarded magazine has recently been revived. When the submission portal opens, you’ll need to hurry, as the submissions slots fill up fast!
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: 10 cents per word
Deadline: Open at the start of each month until submission slots are filled – next opening 1 October 2023
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Northern Nights
This opportunity’s limited to Canadian writers, but it’s a great opportunity if you fit the bill. Undertow Publications produce some of the best, and most beautifully designed, horror and weird-fiction collections imaginable.
Word count: 500–5000 words
Payment: 10 Canadian cents per word
Deadline: Open 1 October–1 December 2023
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The Way of Worlds
This anthology from Underdog Press will feature stories themed around space exploration and colonization. The editors note that stories don’t have to be hard SF, though.
Word count: 3500–12,000 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 31 December 2023
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Screams from the Ocean Floor
For their first anthology, the editors at Broken Brain Books are seeking ‘unique ocean-themed horror stories that will leave the reader thinking twice before stepping near the sea again.’
Word count: 3000–5000 words
Payment: $15
Deadline: 31 October 2023
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Love Letters to Poe
The third volume of stories connected to Edgar Allan Poe will feature tell-tale tales relating to ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.
Word count: Up to 4000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: 1 November 2023
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Decapitate
It’s a slightly misleading title, this one, as it has nothing to do with horror as far as I can see. Pandemic lockdown project Quaranzine has now relaunched with a new name, and its editors are looking for stories themed around social justice.
Word count: No limits specified
Payment: $25
Deadline: Ongoing
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Death’s Other Kingdom: Horror Tales of World War I
Historical horror specialists The Scythian Wolf are looking for WWI stories that involve the supernatural.
Word count: 4000–9000 words
Payment: $50
Deadline: 1 November 2023
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Crimson Quill Quarterly
The editors of this fantasy magazine are looking for stories with the subgenres of sword & sorcery, dark fantasy and grimdark.
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: 31 October 2023
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Paranoid Tree
The flash fiction featured in this online and print zine appear to be unthemed and not limited by particular genre.
Word count: Up to 400 words
Payment: $50
Deadline: Ongoing
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Stonecoast Review
Despite the fairly generic title (it relates to the Stonecoast MFA Program), this magazine features speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and horror, with an emphasis on character.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: None
Deadline: 1 October 2023
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Good luck if you submit a story to any of these venues! And remember, you can sign up for my email newsletter for monthly open submission calls direct to your inbox.

Image from Wikimedia Commons