Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
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Quest
In the words of its editors, ‘Quest is a new online magazine publishing literary, visual, and critical work that uses sci-fi and fantasy to reflect the world around us’ and emphasises experimentation. The first issue is themed around ‘Thresholds’.
Word count: Minimum 2000 words
Payment: $25–$100 depending on word count
Deadline: 15 September 2025
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Write Before Midnight
Previous writers for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists include Arthur C. Clarke and Albert Einstein, but don’t let that put you off. It’s now running a contest for stories featuring, for example, ‘nuclear weapons, climate change, biological and chemical weapons, artificial intelligence, killer robots, doomsday drone submarines, bioengineered zombies, the gray goo of nanotechnology gone wild…’
Word count: Up to 7000 words
Payment: $3,000 for first place, $500 for runners-up
Deadline: 30 September 2025
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Creepy
This horror podcast has produced an impressive 2000 stories already! Maybe yours would be a good fit. Single-narrator stories are preferred.
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: Ongoing
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Thalia Press
This publisher of crime and contemporary stories is putting together an anthology themed around cats, featuring both cosy (or cozy) and dark tales.
Word count: Not specified
Payment: $25
Deadline: 30 September 2025
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Trans/Port
This anthology from Lonely Cryptid Media has the subtitle Trans Speculative Fiction for a Queer, and will feature SF stories about ‘bodies changing and being changed, bodies that are permeable, bodies that resist, bodies resisted, bodies transcended, bodies that become and are becoming’.
Word count: 3000–7000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: 15 September 2025
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Africanfuturism
This roundup isn’t complete without a call from the prolific Flame Tree Press. This time the editors are seeking Africanfuturism short stories. Note the subtle distinction from Afrofuturism, as these stories must be set in and about Africa.
Word count: 2000–4000 words
Payment: 6 cents per word
Deadline: 2 November 2025
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Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night
The editors at Death by TBR Books are on the lookout for Christmas horror stories of pretty much all subgenres.
Word count: 500–2000 words
Payment: Royalties
Deadline: 31 October 2025
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Claudine
This online microfiction zine is identified as literary, but the editors preferences include ‘myths, fairy tales, fabulism, slipstream, and haunting vibes’.
Word count: Up to 400 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: Ongoing
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It Came From The Pulp
There isn’t much time to write one before the deadline, but have you already written a story about monsters, with retro B-movie vibes? Then send it here.
Word count: 5000–8000 words
Payment: Royalties
Deadline: 7 September 2025
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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.