I hit my goal of 100 rejections in 2020, so yay! A rejection from Apex Magazine was number 100.
Total submissions: 124 (122 to publications of 5-20¢/word; 2 to 1-4¢/word)
Rejections: 102 (63 short, 34 flash, 4 poems, 1 novel writing grant application)
Pending: 23 (17 short, 6 flash)
You can jump to the deadlines lists below (several on 11/30 and at the start of December), but first, let me just say WOW! I loved Fyrecon 2020. I feel so inspired now. I was lucky to get that scholarship. I feel so thankful to the organizers and founders DawnRay Ammon and Jenna Eatough for being flexible and allowing me to add and change classes early on. I managed to attend several master classes, in addition to the general admission classes. I originally planned to attend Amy White's master class, as well as Moon's Howling Plots class. I did attend Moon's class, but Amy White had to cancel her class due to some personal trouble. So hopefully next time I can attend Amy White's. Instead, I added 3 mornings of Dave Farland's class on how to launch a book, and Michael Gallowglas' master class on Poetry in Genre. They were all incredible, and I took plenty of notes to review.
In Moon's master class, I got a much better grasp of incorporating the essential elements of prize-winning stories. The exercise in class was great, and helped to solidify the pieces of a new short story that I will write up sometime soon (sea serpent riders and family trouble, oh my! family trouble seems to be the recurring theme in my work for multiple reasons). I've studied Moon's Super Secrets a lot, but this class helped them really take flight in my brain, so I'll use this for drafting or editing a piece in December for the Q1 deadline of WotF.
Dave Farland's class was a must-take and will help me a great deal as a I wrap up my rewrite of Hum in the Highways and start shopping it around. I am also considering some other writing projects, such as co-writing a series. So much wisdom in Farland's class provided--I was foolish and took notes by pencil on the first day and actually got a bruise as a result; I used Scrivener for note-taking the following days and that went much better.
And the Poetry in Genre class was excellent. We wrote so much, everyone shared their wonderful poetry, and there was an overwhelming amount of creativity. I wrote up a whole new poetry form for my HM winner of WotF Q3, By Sword or Son. Also got poem done for my Q4 winner that touches nicely on the MC's emotional trouble. I am looking forward to watching M. Todd Gallowglass' teaching on Twitch and joining a write-in with him in the future. Take his classes if you get the chance.
I took a bunch of general admission classes/roundtables/editing sessions: Self-Editing with Troy Lambert, Nail Your Openings with Wulf Moon, Improvisational Game with C.H. Lindsay, a combining genres roundtable with Ryan Decaria, Ravyn Evermore, and C.J. Workman, as well Pros and Cons of Collaborations with Jana S. Brown, a 3-to-1-editing session, Making Characters Funny with Michael Darling, Infinite Worlds in Finite Time with John M. Olsen, Creating Accurate and Believable LGBTQ+ Characters with Ravyn Evermore and Rowan North, Protagonist Archetypes with M. Todd Gallowglass, 3-to-1-editing session, Rituals Around the Keyboard with Dave Farland and Wulf Moon, Writing Horror/Boundaries with Sarah E. Seeley, Endings with Robert J. Defendi. What a blast all that was!
For Fyrecon 2020, I was up before 1 am three mornings in a row (slept 6-12 the day before) and then stayed awake for hours and hours of learning and creativity until 2 or 3 pm. Was such a blast. On the last day, after we finished sharing our poems, I even stopped in at BarCon for a moment, because I didn't want it to end! Oh well, life goes on, but I will definitely be keeping in touch with many writer friends made and am looking forward to more at the next Fyrecon.
EDIT: I just realized I mentioned nothing about NaNoWriMo. I am still picking away at my novel rewrite of Hum in the Highways, with some nice inspiration from Fyrecon and some of my fellow writers who read some of the novel and related flash pieces. But I likely won't hit the 50k NaNo goal, as I have other short story deadlines I've been giving priority. I just sent out a flash piece for Flame Tree's monthly contest; it was a horror flash set in the childhood of my novel's main character. I also really want to get a piece in for Cemetery Media Gates. I like their story calls. Anyway, still time for NaNoWriMo. I just sent in my latest voiceover job. That was a hard one, full of difficult to pronounce language related to temples and Buddhism. And now I'll have some free time coming up, right after I celebrate my daughter's 10th birthday! Anyway, carry on. Follow this blog for the deadlines, and feel free to follow me on FB, Twitter, and Insta, if you like.
Submission Deadlines/Windows from November's End and Beyond (5-20¢/word USD)
11/30, ServiceScape Short Story Award, ~5000 words, $1,000 USD (one winner), Genre: any
11/30, "Hellmark" anthology from Cemetery Media Gates Anthology with Gabino Iglesias, 2000-5000 words, 5¢/word, Genre: Horror, Theme: movie/monsters ruin the holidays ("make it dark, creepy, scary, gory, and horrific while using the smalltown/holidays/crappy movie aesthetic"), send to iglesiasworkshops@gmail.com
11/30, ProleSCARYet: Tales of Horror and Class Warfare, 1000-4500 words, $75/story, Genre: Horror/Dark Weird/Dark SF, Theme: anti-capitalist horror (horrors of capitalism; monstrous bosses, jobs from literal Hell, working class folks fighting back against great cosmic evils, etc.), Simultaneous OK, Note: send subs to prolescaryetanthology@gmail.com with your name, story title, and word count in the subject heading (e.g., Karl Marx — “Capitalism Bad” — 3,500 Words), and an an author bio of under 100 words and no more than two links
12/1, Don't Touch That: An Anthology of Parenthood in SFF, ~5000 words, 6¢/word, Genre: F/SF, Theme: "Parents exploring ancient, curse-ridden caves with their children. Parents trying to give their kin enough personal space to grow their own intergalactic empires - and make their mistakes. Parents hunting the monsters that hide beneath kids' beds. Parents offering advice to the adventuring child who never takes it," Note: send as .doc or .docx file to donttouchthatantho@gmail.com by 11:15pm EST, Note: open to 2 slush stories
12/1-1/1: Cast of Wonders (General Submissions), ~6000 words (best 3000-4500 or flash <1000), 8¢/word, Genre: any YA, Note: good feedback provided last time I submitted
POSTPONED 11/30-12/4, Fireside (Autumn 2021 Issue), ~3000 words, 12.5¢/word, Genre: Any (English or Spanish)
12/1-12/7, Fantasy Magazine, ~7500 words, 8¢/word, Genre: Fantasy/Dark Fantasy, Poetry ($40/poem, send up to 6)
12/1-12/7, Cossmass Infinities, 2000-10,000 words, 8¢/word, Genre: SF/F, Simultaneous OK, Note: this window is open to all authors
12/28, Arkansas Intergalactic Themed Issue, ~8000 words, $20/page c apped at $250, Genre: SF/Speculative, Simultaneous OK, Multiple OK (in one submission packet), Poetry OK, Note: no submission fee if they haven't hit the monthly cap
12/1-12/31, PodCastle, ~6000 words (3000-4500 best), 8¢/word, Genre: Fantasy, Simultaneous OK, Reprints ($100 for >1500 words, $20 for flash)
12/31, Lost Contact, 1000-7000 words, 5¢/word, Genre: Horror/Weird Science, Theme: use lost contact idea as you please and link it with horror and technology, Simultaneous OK
12/31, THE MODERN DEITY’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY, DERELICT, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (three anthologies from Zombies Need Brains LLC), 7500 words, 8¢/words + royalties, Theme 1: urban fantasy w/ a god/deity, Theme 2: SF/F about abandoned ships, Theme 3: SF/F about colliding cultures, Sub to contact@zombiesneedbrains.com w/ name of anthology and title of story submitted, Multiple OK (separate emails), Reprints/Simultaneous NO
12/31, Curiouser Magazine, ~5000 words (~1000 words = about 7¢/word), $50-125/story ($25/poem), Simultaneous OK, Multiple OK (1 story or 3 poems or 2 flash of ~750 words)
1/1/2021-11/30/2021, Strange Horizons, open every Mon 16:00 UTC - Tue 16:00 UTC, ~10,000 words, 10¢/word, Genre: all speculative, (Note: closes for all of December, Poetry OK, Non-Fiction OK
1/1-1/7, Fantasy Magazine, ~7500 words, 8¢/word, Genre: Fantasy/Dark Fantasy, Poetry ($40/poem, send up to 6)
1/1-1/7, Cossmass Infinities, 2000-10,000 words, 8¢/word, Genre: SF/F, Simultaneous OK, Note: this window is only open to Black, Asian, Latin, LGBTQ+ and other under-represented authors
1/2-1/31, Departure Mirror, ~20,000 words, 10¢/word ($300/story above 3000 words), Genre: SF/F, Poetry OK, Simultaneous OK, Multiple OK
10/1-1/31, Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award, ~8000 words, 8¢/word, Genre: SF, Want "Moon bases, Mars colonies, orbital habitats, space elevators, asteroid mining, artificial intelligence, nano-technology, realistic spacecraft, heroics, sacrifice, adventure"
2/1-2/7, Fantasy Magazine, ~7500 words, 8¢/word, Genre: Fantasy/Dark Fantasy, Poetry ($40/poem, send up to 6)
2/1-2/7, Cossmass Infinities, 2000-10,000 words, 8¢/word, Genre: SF/F, Simultaneous OK, Note: this window is open to all authors
2/25, The Dread Machine's first annual anthology, 8¢/word, Genre/Theme: anything dread-inspiring set in the actual 1986 or alternate version, Multiple subs OK but no simultaneous
10/31-2/28, We Cryptids, 3000-6000 (3000-4000=5¢/word), $200/story+royalties, Genre: urban fantasy, Theme: what would happen if cryptids lived among us (modern time period; should be written in 2020 or as close as possible), Tone: noblebright not grimdark or despairing, Simultaneous OK
3/1-3/7, Fantasy Magazine, ~7500 words, 8¢/word, Genre: Fantasy/Dark Fantasy, Poetry ($40/poem, send up to 6)
3/1-3/7, Cossmass Infinities, 2000-10,000 words, 8¢/word, Genre: SF/F, Simultaneous OK, Note: this window is only open to Black, Asian, Latin, LGBTQ+ and other under-represented authors
8/10/2021-8/31/2021, PseudoPod (Flash Fiction Contest), ~1500 words (500-1000 best), 8¢/word, Genre: any horror, Reprints OK, Simultaneous OK (if not an Escape Artists podcast)
New open anthology with no specified deadline (1-10¢/word USD)
There is also a new story call for an anthology forthcoming from Cemetery Media Gates with no specific deadline (probably closing in early 2021 once they have enough stories). Details: CMG's Quiet Horror anthology, 1000-3000 words probably best (up to 5000 words OK), payment is a flat $100 (so if 1000 words then 10¢/word, if 2000 words then 5¢/word, 3000 words then about 3¢/word), Genre/Theme: Quiet Horror/confessional style supernatural experiences, Multiple and Simultaneous NO (but can resubmit one week after receiving a rejection), Note: this links to CMG's Twitter post on it which is the primary source on this "secret open call".
Publications open for submission with no specified deadline (5-20¢/word USD)
Analog Science Fiction and Fact, ~20,000 (8-10 cents/word), 40k-80k serials (6 cents/word), poetry ($1/line), 4000-word fact articles (9 cents/word), Genre: SF, Multiple YesAnathema: Spec from the Margins, 1500-6000 words (if 1500-2000 words pays 5¢/word), $100 CAD/story ($50/poem), Genre: SF/F/H, Simultaneous OK, Poetry OK (under 100 lines, Non-Fiction OK (1500-3000 words), Limited demographic: queer/two-spirit person of colour/Indigenous/Aboriginal, Note on Genre/Theme: "We are open to any form of genre or speculative content. We talk about what we do as "SF/F/H, the weird, slipstream, surrealism, fabulism, and more," elsewhere on the site. But we are not limited to those genres. Use them as a starting point and send whatever you want: as long as it's got some kind of speculative content we'll consider it. And we are also interested in seeing work that has been difficult to place because of content or perspective."Apex Magazine, ~7500 words, 8 cents/word, Genre: F/SF/Horror
Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, open 1st-2nd every month, 1000-40000 words (shorter preferred), 6¢/word (reprints 2¢/word), Genre: F/SF, Poetry ($1/line, ~40 lines, reprints 50¢/word), Articles (2-6¢/word, reprints 1-4¢/word), Note: great feedback provided if requested in cover letter
Reckoning, ~20,000 words, 8¢/word ($30/page for poems), Genre: SF/F/General, Theme: enivironmental justic, Simultaneous OK, Poetry OK (prefer multiple 3-5 poems <10 pages, but send only one if longer)Smokelong Quarterly, ~1000 words, $50/piece, Genre: Literary, Simultaneous OK, Notes on what they want: language that surprises and excites, narratives that strive toward something other than a final punch line or twist, pieces that add up to something, often (but not necessarily always) something profound or emotionally resonant honest work that feels as if it has far more purpose than a writer wanting to write a story
Publications Currently Closed (5-20¢/word USD)
Hybrid Fiction, 500-5000 words (or serialized novellas), 6¢/word, Genre: speculative hybrid/cross-genre (blend of 2+ genres, such as dark fantasy, steampunk western, historical fantasy, weird western, crime fantasy, etc.), CLOSED UNTIL FEB 2021
Strange Horizons, open Mon. 1600 UTC - Tue. 1600 UTC (closed Dec.), ~10,000 words (~5000 best), 10¢/word, Genre: SF/Fantasy/Humor/Literary, Poetry ($50/poem), Reprints No, Multiple No, Simultaneous No, CURRENTLY CLOSED UNTIL 1/1/2021
Submission Deadlines in November and Beyond (1-4¢/word USD)
11/30, Women Destroy Retro Science Fiction, 750-1500 ($10) or 1501-2500 words ($15), Genre/Theme: retro-futurism with a female filled world of impossible wonders, Note: Women authors only (Transwomen authors accepted because transwomen are women)
12/1 Worldbuilding Fantasy Anthology, 3500-7000 or 9000-15,000 words, flat payment (short $100; novella $200), Theme: Politics as Conflict. Genre: any Fantasy (PG-13)
3/15/2021-5/15/2021, Lamplight Magazine, ~7000 words. 3¢/word, Genre: Dark/Literary
Publications Open for Submission (No Specified Deadline; 1-4¢/word USDt)
Star Ship Sofa (District of Wonders), 3000-9000, 1¢/word (less if 7500-9000 words), Genre: SF, Reprints OK, Simultaneous OK, Note: buying audio rights onlyDark Moon Digest, opens on the 1st every month and closes when full 1500-7000 words, 3¢/word, Genre: Horror (complex, creepy, like Twilight Zone or Black Mirror, Simultaneous OK
Where to search for submission windows on your own?
Where to Submit Short Stories: 30 Magazines and Websites That Want Your Work, a decent list with a literary focus
28 Themed Submission Calls for August by S. Kalekar, submission possibilities including a few good ones I haven't had time to add to the lists above
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: plenty of updated lists of agents, calls for submission, contests, conferences, recipes, and more
Need motivation for the submission game?
Submitting Short Fiction: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Genre Edition by Holly Lyn Walrath, a useful guide on playing the submission game written in 2019
Submission Tetris: An Analytic Approach by Laurence Raphael Brothers, a brief but useful consideration of what and where to submit in the submissions game from SFWA
Also, great advice at these links below
Wulf Moon's Super Secrets: a ton of great advice on writing short stories that win (he runs a workshop that you can peek in on and learn from as it goes)
Charlie Jane Anders' advice: chapters from her forthcoming non-fiction book Never Say You Can't Survive with new chapters released every Tuesday
Delilah S. Dawson's page of links, including her advice on how to get published
And here, more links
This is a listing of speculative award winners. Go read, study, and improve yourself.
Here are grants to apply for with the Speculative Literature Foundation
This is a listing at critter.org that shows general response times of various publish