February Market Report
The SFWA Blog is now offering monthly market updates. Here’s the February, 2016 report:
Deadlines and Closures to Note:
Original/reprint market Altered States II: A Cyberpunk Anthology ($10/story via PayPal after publication) has changed its deadline; they are now open until filled.
The Angry Robot Books and Gollancz open reading periods for unagented submissions have closed.
Bundoran Press is closed to novel submissions until their next reading period (September 15-January 31, 2016), and they’re open to short stories for the anthology Lazarus Risen until February 29, 2016.
The Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit & Métis Literature 2016 has a new deadline of March 31, 2016 (note: open to Canadians only).
For Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores and Nameless, see Magazine News.
Event Horizon Magazine science poetry competition (prize: $500; theme: scientific theories and concepts) has a deadline of February 29, 2016.
Semiprozine Farstrider Magazine is temporarily closed to submissions.
The Futures theme issue of GUTS Canadian Feminist Magazine will close to short pitches on February 19, 2016.
The Goethe Glass: An Anthology of Canadian Fiction About Climate Change has a deadline of February 15, 2016 (note: open to Canadians only).
NewMyths.com will close to submissions on February 28, 2016.
Orthogonal has extended its reading period to February 13, 2016.
The People of Colo(u)R Destroy Science Fiction! Special Issue of prozine Lightspeed will close on February 19, 2016.
The literary slipstream/interstitial/magic realist journal Phantom Drift will close to submissions on March 31, 2016 (they pay $5/page with a minimum payment of $10).
Unlikely Story‘s April Fools’ Mini-Issue pays $.06/word and has a deadline of February 29, 2016.
World Weaver Press has canceled the Last Outpost anthology due to slow sales of the previous Far Orbit books.
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Magazine/Webzine News:
Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores will reopen to submissions for two weeks, starting February 7 and ending February 21, 2016.
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Nameless reports: “Due to overwhelming response, we are not currently accepting new submissions. We are going through the backlogged submissions and are sending out notices at the moment; if you have not heard back yet, please be patient — we will get to you shortly. Thanks for your patience and understanding.”
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Speculate! opens to submissions on February 1, 2016 and pays $100 via Paypal.
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Prozine Strange Horizons reopens to fiction submissions on February 1, 2016.
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New prozine recompose: a journal of literary speculative poetry & fiction has received a lot of submissions, and they’ve decided to institute three reading periods in 2016:
1-31 Jan 2016
1-31 May 2016
1-30 Sep 2016
They expect to release #1 at the end of April, #2 at the end of August, and #3 at the end of December, 2016.
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Anthology News:
Ghosts on Drugs pays 6-15 cents/word:
Bestselling author Hy Bender (BookProposal.net; 16 books including 5 Dummies books, a Complete Idiot’s Guide, and The Sandman Companion; The New York Times, Mad Magazine) and book developer Will Paoletto (Enterprise Cometh; My Bad Parent) are putting together a short story fiction anthology titled Ghosts on Drugs.
“The only rule is that a tale include some version of at least one ghost who’s on some version of at least one drug.
“And both key terms are broadly defined—e.g., a ghostwriter hooked on cough syrup could fit, and a dead ancient god with an inhumanly intense craving to be worshipped again could too.”
Payment on our acceptance—15 cents a word for the first 2,500 words and 6 cents a word after that. Share of the royalties (based on word count).
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Sword & Sorceress
Reading period for Sword & Sorceress 31 will start in April 2016 Stories should be the type generally referred to as “sword and sorcery” and must have a strong female protagonist whom the reader will care about.
No reprints. No simultaneous submissions.
Reading period: Saturday, April 16 to Friday, May 13, 2016. Stories received before or after this period will be deleted unread.
Length: up to 9,000 words, with preference given to shorter stories. The longer a story is, the better it has to be. Long stories should be submitted early in the reading period.Payment: 6 cents per word as an advance against a pro rata share of royalties and foreign or other sales.
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Power & Magic: A Queer Witch Comics Anthology…About Women Of Color, By Women Of Color! will be accepting submissions between February 15th-March 15th, 2016; they will pay $100 per page, per team, pending Kickstarter success.
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From Time Alone Press: Let Us In
Call for submissions
Let Us In will be the first horror anthology released by Time Alone Press. Payment $.06 per word plus half of royalties distributed among the writers after the recovery of initial costs (paid twice per year).
The submission period for stories will run from December 24th 2015 until April 30th 2016. Official acceptances will be announced on July 1st 2016.
“The theme of the anthology will be lightly shaped as we go, but here is the gist: Write for us the horrors that we invite into our lives, whether willingly or with reluctance. These are horrors that need our permission to enter.”
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Workshop News:
The diversity writing workshop Writing the Other®: Bridging Cultural Differences for Successful Fiction presents its first online workshop:
When: 2PM – 7PM (Eastern), Sunday, February 21, 2016
Length: Five hours (includes 60-minute lunch break)
Location: Online via GoToMeeting
Instructors: Writers/editors Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward
Price: $150 + service fee (total: $156.24)
Registration is open and space is currently available.
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Market report by Cynthia Ward. Cynthia has published stories in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Witches: Wicked, Wild & Wonderful (Prime Books), Weird Tales, and elsewhere. She edited the anthologies Lost Trails: Forgotten Tales of the Weird West: Volumes One and Two (WolfSinger Publications). With Nisi Shawl, she coauthored the diversity fiction-writing handbook Writing the Other: A Practical Approach (Aqueduct Press).
If you’re looking for indepth SF/fantasy/horror/paranormal market news, Cynthia publishes the monthly Market Maven e’newsletter, where a sample issue may be found.
