Please scroll down for more information regarding open calls.
There are currently no open calls.
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Submissions for the Eighth Novella Series are now closed; they will open June 15-30 2025 for trans women and writers of color, and then October 15-30 2025 from all writers.
Submissions to We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2024 for queer short fiction reprints from 2024 are closed. We’ll reopen for 2025 soon.
Submissions for Shatter the Sun: Queer Tales of Untold Adventure are closed. Our next anthology call will be in the fall of 2025.
Flash fiction submissions at Baffling Magazine are closed. We’ll be open June 1-15 2025 for unthemed stories and for a soon-to-be-announced theme as well (the secret theme is related to mechs).
General submission notes:
Unless the editors are otherwise specified, you can address cover letters to “Dear editors” or “Dear dave.” Please avoid “Dear Mr. Ring.”
If you joke about how straight white men are underrepresented in speculative fiction, it will not win you any points.
Please query admin@neonhemlock.com if you aren’t sure if your submission went through. We’re happy to check.
Translations always welcome with permission from author. Payment to be split between author and translator, or according to your agreement.
Authors from all countries are welcome to submit.
Thanks for thinking of Neon Hemlock for your work!
Please don’t self-reject.
Submissions for the Eighth Novella Series are now closed; they will open June 15-30 2025 for trans women and writers of color, and then October 15-30 2025 from all writers.
We are looking for:
Wordcount: 17,500–40,000 words.
Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural, Slipstream, & Weird. Hybrid work or difficult to categorize novellas are also welcome.
Standalone works, although they may be connected to other series or work.
We are particularly interested in work that explores some element of queer experience, broadly speaking.
Guidelines:
Please submit complete manuscripts (your entire novella) in .doc or .docx formats, formatted in something approaching Standard Manuscript Format. However, please use italics and bold as necessary. The editor has an aversion to Courier and a fondness for Georgia.
Please include a cover/query letter with the title, genre, length, a short pitch/synopsis of the concept, and a brief bio. You may include links to your website/social media, and previous publications if any. Please don’t stress about this cover letter, if we have additional questions about your submission, we’ll ask them.
Simultaneous submissions are fine, please withdraw immediately if you take another offer. Novellas should be previously unpublished.
Please no multiple submissions.
Original submissions only. Short stories that have been adapted to novella length or similar are welcome, but the novella itself may not have been published.
Submissions are open to all. Neon Hemlock Press is particularly interested in queer stories and authors. Authors from all underrepresented backgrounds and marginalized communities are strongly encouraged to submit. Please don’t self-reject.
Some of our favorite novellas include A Ruin of Shadows by L.D. Lewis, Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson, and the Tensorate novellas by Neon Yang.
This call is for our eighth Novella Series. Novellas will be distributed in paperback and ebook formats. Our standard contract will ask authors to choose between an Advance+Royalties option or a Royalties Only option. We ask for exclusive Worldwide English rights. We do not ask for audio rights.
Our turnaround time is expected to be around four months. Please query if you haven’t heard from us after 120 days. We’d love if you tracked your submissions on Duotrope or the Submission Grinder.
Submissions to We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2024 for queer short fiction reprints from 2024 are closed. We’ll reopen for stories from 2025 soon.
We are looking for:
The best speculative stories published in 2024 under 17,500 words that implicitly or explicitly explores queerness and/or transness.
We refer to queerness that is inclusive of ace/aro stories, trans and nonbinary stories, and intersex stories.
What we don’t want to see: Original/unpublished work, unqueer work, non-speculative work.
Guidelines:
Please submit your story in .pdf, .doc or .docx file, formatted for publication or in something approaching Standard Manuscript Format. Please use italics and bold as necessary. This should be the final version that was published, not including editor notes or track changes.
Please include a cover/query letter with the title, length, where/when the story was published, and a brief bio. You may include links to your website/social media, and previous publications if any. Please don’t stress about this cover letter, if we have additional questions about your submission, we’ll ask them.
Simultaneous submissions are welcome.
Multiple submissions are welcome.
Reprint submissions from 2024 only. This can include self-published stories, and those published on your blog or Patreon.
Submissions are open to all. Neon Hemlock Press is particularly interested in queer stories and authors. Authors from all underrepresented backgrounds and marginalized communities are strongly encouraged to submit. Please don’t self-reject.
The compensation level for stories accepted to WE’RE HERE: THE BEST SPECULATIVE FICTION 2024 is $0.01/word. Submissions will close December 31st 2024.
Editors are encouraged to recommend work from their publications and can submit multiple stories for consideration. Authors may also submit their own work; authors from all underrepresented backgrounds and marginalized communities are strongly encouraged to submit. Please don’t self-reject.
Please note that we will not be sending rejections for this anthology, as is standard for other Best Of anthologies. The authors of selected stories will be reached out to in April 2025. We will be announcing our ToC in May 2025.
We’d love if you tracked your submissions on Duotrope or the Submission Grinder.