Got a space romance that you just can’t seem to place? Did that weird fantasy story of yours veer a little too much into the realm of horror for your usual markets? Don’t file those stories away - check out the open call listings at #TeamAndMore to see if there might be a market for that unpublished gem you love!
Speaking of which - there are some cool open calls coming up at the end of July and the beginning of August. Let’s take a look at a few of them!
Calls
As always, you can find all the details for July and August (and the following months) over on the #TeamAndMore site. Head over there to find the publisher’s links.
Of special note this month: Raconteur Press, Camden Park Press, and Hellbound Books. All have multiple anthologies in the works that have deadlines in the coming weeks. If you’re a SF, fantasy, or horror writer, these are a couple of short story markets to keep an eye on.
Let’s start with July. Yes, the month is almost over, but there are a nearly a score of submission deadlines at the end of the month. Which means if you’re motivated, you still have a few days to dust off that old story and beat it into shape for one of these open calls!
31 Jul - Raconteur Press - Space Cowboys 3: Return of the Bookaroo
31 Jul - Knight Writing Press - What Really Happened
31 Jul - Sea Lion Press - Alternate Antarcticas
31 Jul - Written Backwards - Qualia Nous, Vol. 2
31 Jul - Ye Olde Dragon Books - Don't Go In the Water
31 Jul - Three Cousins Publishing - Witch Wizard Warlock
31 Jul - Live Real Press - Five Second Rule (superhero)
31 Jul - Energy Threads - Artisans of the Soul: An Anthology of Teacher Appreciation (no SF)
31 Jul - Untreed Reads - The Perp Wore Pumpkin (charity anthology for Second Harvest Food Bank)
31 Jul - Red Cape Publishing - T is for Tarot (horror)
31 Jul - The Cellar Door - After Tomorrow (post-apocalyptic dark fiction)
31 Jul - RIZE - The World of CURE (werewolves)
31 Jul - Nunum - Done in a Hundred Anthology 2023 (flash)
31 Jul - Crossing the Tees - Short Story Competition
31 Jul - Autonomous Press - Spoon Knife 8 (theme: smoke & mirrors)
31 Jul - W. J. Manares - Omni-verses: Interplanetary Poetry (SF poetry)
31 Jul - Camden Park Press - They Hunt By Night
31 Jul - Sley House Publishing - Tales of Sley House 2023
31 Jul - Pyre - Pyre Presents: Eldritch Harvest (eldritch folk horror)
Next up: August! With nearly three dozen open calls that month, you could write a story a day and still not be able to cover them all. Take a look at the list below, see if any appeal to you, and then head over to the #TeamAndMore open call page for the publisher links that will tell you more about the calls!
01 Aug - Laura Martinez - Surviving the Unthinkable (charity anthology; theme is survival)
01 Aug - Phobica Books - Terrors from the Toy Box
01 Aug - B Cubed Press - Alternative Leadership
01 Aug - Dark Dragon Press - The Dance (theme: choice & chance)
01 Aug - Hellbound Books - Madame Gray's Graveyard of Blood
01 Jul - Lintusen Press - Platypus Tales Anthology
06 Aug - Havok - Legendary Things (flash fiction)
06 Aug - Uncharted - The Aftermath (contest; theme is "the aftermath" of an event; $20 entry fee)
06 Aug - Flame Tree Press - Beyond & Within (folk horror)
11 Aug - Underland Press - Shub-Niggurath's Sweater (cozy eldritch horror)
15 Aug - Jersey Pines Ink - Flash Fiction Anthology (1k max fantasy)
15 Aug - Mitzi Szereto - Women Who Murder: An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales (non-fiction)
27 Aug - WJ Manares - HEAD SHRINKERS: Subminiature Stories from Earth
28 Aug - Dark Matter INK - The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird
30 Aug - HellBound Books - Jane Nightshade's Serial Encounters
30 Aug - Raconteur Press - Haunted Library Book 3 (charity anthology supporting a library)
30 Aug - Hellbound Books - Happy Hellidays!
31 Aug - Raconteur Press - Moggies in Space 2
31 Aug - Obsidian Butterfly - Necronomi-RomCom
31 Aug - Belanger Books - A Darker Continent: Strange Tales of Europe at War
31 Aug - Jolly Horror Press - Graveyard Boots (weird west)
31 Aug - Camden Park Press - Tidbits & Tinsel Tails (holiday stories featuring pets)
31 Aug - SciFidea - The SciFidea Award : Dyson Sphere (novella/novel contest)
31 Aug - Underdog Press - The Underdogs Rise Vol. 2
31 Aug - No Bad Books Press - Queens in Wonderland (LGBTQ+)
31 Aug - Divergent Realms - Divergent Realms (neurodivergent authors & tales)
31 Aug - The New Smut Project - Erato II (yes, it's what it says on the label)
31 Aug - Solar Press Books - The Solar Press Horror Anthology, Vol I (charity anthology, animal rescue)
31 Aug - Ink'd Press - Hidden Villains: Betrayed (feat. Kevin J. Anderson)
31 Aug - Jay Hartman - One Hit Wonders (music-themed crime anthology)
31 Aug - Renee' La Viness - La Viness Short Story Writing Contest (theme: "paper weight"; small entry fee)
31 Aug - Raconteur Press - Or All Will Burn...
31 Aug - Brain Mill Press - Ab Terra 2023 (SF)
31 Aug - Cursed Morsels - Why Didn't You Just Leave? (horror)
There you go. Over 50 open calls in the next five weeks, from four dozen different publishers! It can be a bit overwhelming, sure. If you’d like to see more timely reminders of some of these calls, then join the #TeamAndMore group on Facebook. Anna Casasent has been doing a fantastic job putting up posts to publicize open calls where she goes into more detail about what they are looking for, what they entail, etc.
That’s it for now! I hope the list of themes & titles here inspire you to put your butt in chair, hands on keyboard, and write that story you’ve been meaning to tell!