14 August deadlines and submission opportunities...
1.) The Fairy Tale Magazine:
Trolls - They’ll soon open for a brief submission period. They want fairy tales inspired
by the Trolls theme. “Tell us what compels trolls to guard bridges. Are bridge
trolls keepers of wisdom, curses, or safe passage? Or perhaps you have a troll
song to share, the story of a fiddling troll, or maybe a new tune for escaping
the Hall of the Mountain King.
Or tell us the tale of the troll who tends the hearth, the garden, brews a soup
that keeps the forests in balance. How do trolls live among us today? (Not
internet trolls, but beings of stone, moss, and magic trying to survive in the
world today.) Give us the story of someone who has troll ancestry; tell us
about their sense of self, their magic, their place in the world.” They have
detailed guidelines, including, “Keep in mind that all fairy tale related
fiction and poetry needs an element of the supernatural—as well as
transformation. Mashups welcomed. The essence of classic fairy tales should be
maintained in stories and poems submitted here. You can take a lot of license
with the work, but there must be a clear connection to the theme.” They do not
want children’s stories. They want PG content. Submissions will be via a form.
Payment is unspecified.
Reading period: 15 to 21 August 2025
Length: 900-2,000 words for fiction, up to 500 words for poetry
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.
2.) Griffith Review: On the Money - Griffith Review is an Australian literary magazine and they want fiction and
nonfiction submissions for their 91st issue; the theme is On
the Money. “Money talks – but it doesn’t always speak the truth. It’s also far
more than a medium of exchange and a store of value: money is a status symbol,
a friendship destroyer, an opportunity creator, a psychological blocker, an
obsession, a dream, a curse, an albatross and an elephant in the room.
And if money makes the world go round, it’s spinning us faster than ever these
days. Do we stand any chance of bridging the wealth gap? How does money
influence our behaviour? What part does it play in the erosion of democracy and
institutional trust? Should financial literacy be taught in schools? And does
anyone actually understand crypto?
This edition of Griffith Review follows the money to tally the
past, present and future of our filthy lucre.” Do not send poetry (there will
be a separate call-out for poetry in September). They mostly accept work from
writers in Australia, and some work from overseas writers.
Deadline: 24 August 2025 (see guidelines)
Length: Up to 4,000 words for prose (for print)
Pay: AUD0.75/word
Details here and here.
3.) Flame Tree Anthologies - They are reading fiction for some themed anthologies with deadlines in
August: two romantic fantasy anthologies, and for two anthologies that are part
of their Myths, Gods, and Monsters series. They also accept reprints for all of
these anthologies.
— Romantic Fantasy Series: Dreams Divine: Enigmatic
escapes from reality and gateways into unknown worlds, dreams arrive in
different forms, a distant whispering, prophesying a message. They are unbound.
An illogical succession of events, freed from the constricts of time,
understanding and place. Our fantasies may be revealed in our dreams, they find
us, suspended in the twilight zone of reality and a dream-like state, blurring
what is real and what isn’t, balancing on the known and unknown. Lost loves or
new loves materialise from the mists in this amorphous world – will they
solidify into reality or vanish from whence they came? Still, we yearn to
dream, craving to see a face again from a distant place, but where there is
light, the cracks can be filled with darkness, where dreams can look like
nightmares, a veil that is pulled across our eyelids.” Stories of 2,000-4,000
words, deadline 24th August 2025.
— Romantic Fantasy Series: Of Swords & Roses: They
want “tales of chivalry and court intrigue; quests of passion and honour; wars
waged for the sake of a beloved’s hand; and great sacrifices made in the name
of love. Such endeavours may play out as open clashes on the battlefield, or as
guileful strategy woven into court rivalries. With a flavour of the
fantastical, tales are twined with magic or abound with whimsical creatures,
spanning kingdoms or bridging worlds. A chivalric hero may clash with their
enemy to win another’s affections; or perhaps that enemy proves to have been
The One all along?”Stories of 2,000-4,000 words, deadline 24th August
2025.
— Myths, Gods, and Monsters Series: The Valkyries: “The
Valkyries – fierce daughters of battle, riders of storm and shadow. They choose
the slain and carry souls to glory, moving between mortal and divine. For this
call, we seek stories that tell their own back stories, and echo their power:
tales of fate, war, sacrifice and the mythic eternal. Awe-inspiring and
magical, when we think of the Valkyries, we conjure a vision of fierce but
angelic warrior goddesses racing across the sky. They come to select half of
those who have died in battle and escort them to Odin’s hall of heroes:
Valhalla. There they receive the heroes with horns of mead. But there is so
much more to these heavily symbolic beings. … This submission theme offers an
exciting opportunity to explore and expand on existing stories associated with
Valkyries (not simply retell classic tales) or imagine completely new names and
narratives for those who have never seen the limelight.” (Stories of
3,000-4,000 words, deadline 24th August 2025.)
4.) WolfSinger Publications: Search for the Any Key - This is a fiction anthology; the theme is, Search for the Any Key. “This
will be mostly action/adventure, but can be placed in any time period, on other
planets or any type of setting. All genres accepted and may contain humor,
drama, romance, etc. Diverse characters welcome, human or otherwise. The catch
– no traditional keys accepted. If the characters don’t find the key, that’s
okay.
Example – on a certain TV show, characters were searching for forgiveness and
the key to enter was tears of regret. Another film had a key as part of a
puzzle box which opened several artifacts.
Please think outside the box when writing these stories. The Why of the search
is the most important point.”
Deadline: 29 August 2025
Length: 1,000 – 7,000 words
Pay: $15 + royalty share
Details here.
5.) Thalia Press: Time After Time
Anthology - This is “is a short story
anthology targeted toward lovers of mysteries set in specific historical eras.
We are seeking short stories of no more than 7,500 words that have a strong
crime or mystery element and that take place in a time period other than the
present. Both cozy and dark stories are welcome. … If you choose to submit a
story set in the future, please be aware that, again, it must be primarily
mystery- or crime-related and not just science fiction. Bonus points for
creating an authentic historical setting that engrosses readers.” Please
read their terms carefully.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: Up to 7,500 words
Pay: $25
Details here.
(Thalia Press is also reading fiction for a mystery/crime fiction
anthology featuring one or more cats as an integral part of the plot; pays
$25, deadline 30 September, details here –
scroll down.)
6.) White City Press: Sex and
Synthesizers – An Erotic Crime Anthology - This is a fiction
anthology, the second in a series. “In this second volume, synthesizers can be
used as an instrumental enhancement, as a weapon, or as a concept. Synthesizers
are made to trick the audience into believing something is there – but it’s not.
Example: it can make you believe there’s a piano playing when there is no piano
on stage. This can give a nice twist to a story. The key is to have something
appear to be one thing when it’s actually another.” And, “We do expect stories
to be anywhere from Rated R to Rated XXX. The anthology is sold age-restricted
to 18 and older.” All stories must be set in the 1980s. LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC
characters (and authors) are welcome and encouraged.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: 3,500 – 5,000 words
Pay: $25 or two paperback copies
Details here.
7.) Zoetic Press: Non-Binary Review – Erased from History - They want speculative work – poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and art.
They’re reading on the Erased from History theme. All submissions must have a
clear relationship to the theme. “History, as the old saying goes, is written
by the winners. This means that in most histories, the stories are about
discovery and conquest rather than plunder and genocide. It also means that
some of those losers of history have been forgotten – erased by the cultures
that overran them. Historical erasure isn’t limited to countries or cultures.
Underrepresented societal groups – those denigrated by the dominant culture –
are often left out of histories, their contributions to society, including
their arts, inventions, and scientific discoveries, are either attributed to
others, or left out entirely.
We are looking for stories of people or things that have been erased from
history, the mechanism by which that erasure is effected, or the consequence of
erasure. We want the story of the lizard people that originally colonized
earth, leading to the widespread theory that many world leaders are lizard
people. The reason why Atlantis was erased from history and relegated to myth.
The fact that gravity was invented by an illiterate Burmese restaurant owner in
1146CE.
We are NOT looking for dry factual histories (no term papers, please), personal
screeds or jeremiads, or the life and personal stories of individuals from an
erased group”.
Please note, they have changed their reading periods; they will now read
submissions in February, May, August, and November. They are in the process of
changing their submission system to Duosuma.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: Up to 3,000 words for prose; up to 3 pages for poetry
Pay: $0.01/word for prose, $10 for poetry
Details here and here.
(They’ve also given the reading periods for other themes on their website.)
8.) STORYHOUSE BIOGRAPHICAL
NONFICTION CONTES - https://www.storyhouse.org/contest2025.html - NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2025. A biographical entry must
be a true story of an individual(s) known to the author personally--not a
fictional or historical character. Autobiography, of course, must be a
true story about the author's life, the whole or an episode. Biographical stories,
especially those from older people, or about them by children and
grandchildren, are especially appropriate for our mission--to "preserve
the extraordinary stories of 'ordinary' people." Stories from any country
are fine, although they must be written in English. Language in the stories
should be free of words or scenes not suitable for children, since many
children read the stories and some actually post their stories. One prize of
$200 for the winner, $100 for the runner-up, and certificates of achievement
for all finalists.
9.) Cast of Wonders: Young
Author Showcase - Cast of Wonders is Escape Artists’
speculative young adult (YA) online and audio magazine. “All stories should
contain a clear speculative element and be appropriate for a YA audience. We
particularly encourage submissions from authors whose backgrounds are
under-represented in publishing, and also love #ownvoices submissions.” They
have detailed guidelines on what counts as young adult, please read them
carefully. For this submission window, they want submissions by young authors
only, under 20 years of age. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word for originals
Details here (guidelines), here (schedule),
and here (submission portal + details of Young Author
Showcase 2025).
(And, Cast of Wonders will open for YA fiction submissions by all
authors from 1st to 14th September –
see their schedule.)
10.) Thinking Ink Press - They open during August and February for literary postcards, Instant Books, and
other publications in non-traditional formats. “For postcards: (a
4 x 6″ flat card that can be sent through the mail) poems or flash stories you
wish someone would send you in the mail. Story length is about 100 to 300
words. Poetry length is 30 lines or fewer.
For Instant Books: (a mini book folded from a single sheet of
paper) standalone stories around 500-1,300 words in length with strong
narrative arcs.
For a 4-page flexagon: (A flexagon is a flat paper object that you
can fold and twist to reveal hidden surfaces.) Stories or poems that can be
divided into four pages and read as a loop, with no enforced beginning or end.
Word limit is about 130 words per page, or about 16 lines of poetry per page.”
Please read the guidelines for the editor’s preferences.
Deadline: 31 August 2025
Length: One story or up to 5 poems (see guidelines)
Pay: $20
Details here.
11.) SHORTCUTS SHORT FILM
CONTEST (ILLINOIS) - https://www.plussevencompany.com/815horts - NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2025. The Illinois Department of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is encouraging Illinois filmmakers to
enter the DCEO Illinois Film Office’s Shortcuts Short Film Contest dedicated to
promoting the best short films from Illinois students or residents 22 years old
or younger. The Shortcuts winner will receive $250 and be screened at the
815HORTS festival, a short film festival based in Rockford scheduled November
14-15, 2025.
12.) HellBound HIGHWAY - AN
anthology of Road Trip Terror: HellBound
Books Anthology submission Calls - * 3K - 6K word count Deadline: 31 August 2025 (please
note: all submissions are assessed only AFTER the deadline date and, due to the
overwhelming response HBB receives for all anthologies, we are only able to
contact the the authors of sucessful submissions).
13.) KINDLE STORYTELLER AWARD - https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=s9_acss_bw_cg_ConUK_4c1_w?node=77998573031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-1&pf_rd_r=P3C3G27AE89T43A6BSMN&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=3db39743-4143-410b-a414-dc401262df5e&pf_rd_i=12061299031
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2025. A literary prize for
authors who publish in any genre in English on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP),
Amazon's self-publishing service between 1st May 2025 and 31st August 2025.
Each Finalist will receive a Kindle Oasis E-reader. The winning author will receive
a cash prize of £20,000 and a merchandise package to support the book on
Amazon.co.uk.
14.) INTREPID WRITING
COMPETITION - https://intrepidtimes.com/writing-competition-a-book-led-me-there/ - NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2025. Open internationally. The
winning writer will receive a prize of $300 USD as well as publication on
Intrepid Times. Up to four runners-up will also be selected for publication and
paid our standard publication fee. Pieces must be original, factual, and not
published elsewhere online. The maximum word count is 2000; pieces that exceed
this limit will not be considered.
— Lunch Ticket: Diana
Woods Award in Creative Nonfiction and Gabo Prize for Literature in
Translation & Multilingual Texts: For
short creative non-fiction ($250) and translation ($200) respectively; deadline
31 August 2025; details here and here.
