Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
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Fever Dreams
The ABCs of Horror anthology series from respected author and editor Mark Morris is now up to its sixth volume. He’s seeking four horror stories from up-and-comers to be placed alongside commissioned stories from some of the greats of the genre.
Word count: 3000–5000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 14 November 2024
Find out more

Vivid Worlds
This anthology from Best of British Science Fiction editor Donna Scott will feature solar punk stories – that is, SF/F stories focusing on hope for the future.
Word count: 2000–9000 words
Payment: 1 pence per word
Deadline: Open 24 November–15 December 2024
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Hexagon
This beautifully designed Canadian SF magazine has been restricting its open submission periods recently, so this is a relatively rare chance to impress them with your work.
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: 1 cent (CAD) per word
Deadline: Open 1–30 November 2024
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Once Upon a Moonless Night
The subtitle of this anthology is ‘Tales of Betrayal, Revenge, and Redemption’, which doesn’t necessarily indicate horror, and apparently all genres are welcome.
Word count: 250–15,000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: 15 December 2024
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Aphrodite / Loki
Two more submission calls from ‘Myths, God and Immortals’ series from the prolific Flame Tree Press. Keen to write about Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, or Loki, the Norse trickster god? Get to it.
Word count: 3000–4000 words
Payment: 6 cents per word
Deadline: 24 November 2024
Find out more here and here

Spoon Knife
While this publication from Autonomous Press is a literary magazine, it describes itself as ‘genre-bending’, so there’s room for us genre writers. The theme for the upcoming issue is ‘polarities’.
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: $30 plus 1 cent per word
Deadline: 31 July 2025
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Glen Must Die!
This is unique-sounding anthology – stories about the member of a group who, in the editor’s words: are ‘good people, we like them, we’re friends, and the way we communicate our love is by endlessly tormenting them’. And in each story Glen must die, of course.
Word count: 2000–5000 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 1 January 2025
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Springtime Fair
The editors of this anthology from Hearth Stories are seeking stories centred around a craft, recipe, or ritual – examples include crochet, cooking, yoga. Furthermore, each story should be accompanied by a tutorial, lesson, pattern or recipe.
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: 20 January 2024
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Latin American Shared Stories
Another call from Flame Tree Press, this time in their Beyond & Within series. This anthology of speculative stories by authors from Latin American countries or writing in the traditions of the Latin American diaspora will be edited by V. Castro.
Word count: 2000–4000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 15 December 2024
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Our Dust Earth
There’s some complexity to this submission call from Air and Nothingness Press, as stories must be themed around a mini-RPG which is explained at length on the website.
Word count: 1000–3000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: Open 1 November – 31 December 2024
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JayHenge Publishing
There are a couple of ongoing open calls from this publisher at the moment: The Apparatus Almanac, featuring stories of ‘Gizmology & Technomancy’, and Masque & Maelstrom, which has the subtitle ‘The Reluctant Exhumation of Edgar Allan Poe’.
Word count: Up to 12,000 words
Payment: $5 per 1000 words
Deadline: Open until filled
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Liminal Tales
This podcast run by Three Coin Theatre will feature readings of subtle horror stories, performed either by actors or the author themselves.
Word count: Up to 2500 words
Payment: £10
Deadline: Unclear, but the show will be recorded in January 2025
Find out more

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.