#calls for submissions

[newsmutproject]

Call for Submissions: Erato II

Send us your most seductive flash fiction and prose poetry*!

We’re seeking super short writing in any subgenre, featuring characters of any and every orientation and gender, so long as they’re 18+ and express their consent to all erotic activities. Whether they find pleasure through BDSM, fetish, or vanilla encounters; in long-term romances or one-night stands; with one person, a roomful of people, or just themselves, it’s all good.

How explicitly you want to portray the sex, and what counts as sex, is up to you - but leave the reader in some way breathless.

Vivid writing, clever and original plots, and stylistic or structural experimentation are particularly welcome. We want stories that are sex positive, body positive, and inclusive. Usually at least half the stories in our anthologies feature characters who are LGBTQIA+, including the ace spectrum.

BIPOC writers, trans and nonbinary writers, disabled writers, working-class writers, and writers of other marginalized and underrepresented identities are warmly encouraged to submit. We’re thrilled to work with writers from around the world at any stage of their careers, including those who have never been published before.

*Please note, prose poetry, not verse poetry. We share some inspiring verse poetry on our blog, but don’t publish it—yet.

We’re also interested in excerpts from longer works, including sex scenes from stories in a genre other than erotica. 

Payment & Length:

We’ll pay $25 for the first 500 words and 2 cents per word thereafter, up to $45 for 1,500 words. 

Please include wordcount with your submission. We’re willing to look at slightly longer stories, so long as they still fit the spirit of ‘flash fiction’ (e.g., if you’re at 1,575 words and can’t find more to trim), but payment is capped at $45.

Accepted pieces shorter than 500 words will receive $25.

All contributors will also receive an ebook copy of the anthology and a discount on paperback copies.

For a taste of our tastes, check out our first flash anthology, Erato, and our blog – but we love to be surprised by new concepts, and we actively want to expand the range of identities and perspectives we publish with each book.

You can also read two of the pieces from Erato for free online - both award winners!  

“A Study in Circuits and Charcoal” by jem zero won the Best Feminist Sex category of the Good Sex Awards.

“Touch” by D. Fostalove was a runner-up in the Best Sexy Talk category.

More details and tips below the cut:

Submissions open: April 2 – August 31, 2023 (Extensions can be made upon request.)

We’ll send a confirmation email (manually) within a week of receiving your story. Please query or resend if you don’t see this confirmation in <7 days. 

Acceptances won’t be sent until the submissions period ends and all stories have been considered. Some rejections may be sent out sooner.

Publication date: Early 2024

Some tips to save you time --

Our hard-ons:

All stories will be copyedited before going to print, but well-polished submissions have some advantage. Here’s a guide to dialogue punctuation - getting it right can save lots of editing time (it also shows you paid attention to these guidelines).

We strongly prefer 1 character’s POV per scene unless you’re doing something incredible with an omniscient narrator. Use scene breaks to change POV rather than ‘head hopping’.

We don’t require, but do enjoy, stories that feature realistic sexuality, including safer sex.

Throughout our blog, we share lots of stuff we find interesting about sexuality and would love to see reflected in submissions! For instance: do you know how excited we’d be to publish a story about a character with vaginismus? (Hint: very!)

We’re eager to see sympathetic and sensual depictions of people who are often poorly represented in mainstream smut. Just to start with, this includes Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color, trans women (as well as trans men and nonbinary people, but we want to especially recognize the impact of transmisogyny), disabled people, and fat people, as well as the many people who belong to more than one marginalized group. Writers of these backgrounds are warmly encouraged to submit. 

Some of our favorite erotic flash fiction opens in the middle of sex. However you do it (and there are many ways to do it), grab the reader’s attention from the first lines.

However short the flash, there’s always room for the ingredients that take a sex scene from a list of mechanical actions to an interaction between multidimensional characters. Some writers get creative by choosing to omit one of those tools, like dialogue - this can work too! We certainly don’t mandate dialogue, or descriptions of textures and scents, or whatnot. But if you’re looking at your story and feel it might be missing something, the Sex Writing 101 list can be useful.

We’re interested in erotic narratives that build or explore a consent culture.  We want to see affirmative consent, whether expressed through a verbal “yes” (or a “maybe, let’s try” or “yes for now”), through action & collaboration (returning their partner’s kiss, guiding their hands to where they want them, etc.), or telepathy. “Enthusiastic consent” can be a fuzzy target (who decides what counts as ‘enthusiasm’? does it leave room for more cautious experimentation or other nuances?), but we’re never going to reject a story because its characters seem too eager and excited to have sex with each other.

All sex that takes place in the action of the story must be consensual. However, stories about characters who have survived sexual coercion or trauma will certainly be considered.

At the New Smut Project, we’re looking for thoughtful stories that explore sex as a positive force in people’s lives. The overall tone of our anthologies tends toward the optimistic, although there’s definitely room for stories that are nuanced, bittersweet, and even gently tragic (both our Good Sex Award winners, linked above, are strong examples of stories that are bittersweet, mixing challenges with reason for hope - and have we mentioned scorching-hot sexiness?). Hope and defiance are very sexy. 

References to other literature, art, music, and more are awesome. Brainy is sexy. Nerdy is sexy. Do keep in mind we can’t publish outright fanfiction unless it’s of a work in the public domain. But we are all about erotic retellings of Shakespeare, or the Epic of Gilgamesh, or what have you.

Right now for Erato II, we’d love to fit in more super-short pieces (500 words and shorter) with intense feeling and imagery - prose with the impact of poetry.

Hard sells and hard nos: 

Our upper limit of 1,500 words isn’t firm because we want to make writers’ lives easier: we know there are times when you aimed for flash, overshot, but trying to trim more words could remove something significant or take more time than it’s worth. Remember, though, this is still a flash fiction anthology, so we can’t include stories that exceed the limit by more than a few hundred words. (The reason we’re not saying how exactly how many more is because that would become a new upper limit that’s not necessarily firm...ad infinitum. If you need a hard limit, aim for <1,500.) 

No coercion as part of the action of the story (as mentioned, it might form part of a character’s history, sensitively handled and not for titillation). This means no characters badgering each other into an activity or characters being “obligated” by circumstances. We’d also prefer not to see sex between teachers and students or doctors/therapists and patients. Especially gross and deliberate violations of the consent guideline may result in your email address being blocked without notice. Don’t troll us. (If you’re not a troll, don’t worry; the kinds of things we block for are not written or sent by accident.) 

No sexually active characters under the age of 18. 

Stories about deception (including infidelity) are very hard sells. Like many of our hard sells, these ideas are worth exploring in literature but often aren’t a good fit with our focus on sex as a positive force in people’s lives.

We appreciate bittersweet stories, but aren’t fans of when tragedy seems like a “punishment” inflicted on the characters for having sex. If characters have contempt for each other in place of sexual tension or the story ends with a death, it’s likely too grim for us (at the same time, stories about desire mingled with grief, pleasure in the face of impending loss, or ghosts with vibrant sex after-lives can be a great fit and are of personal interest to editor T.C. Mill). 

Stories about a character being seduced by someone who turns out to be a vampire, demon, or serial killer and then - surprise! - gets killed/eaten/tortured/dragged to Hell are not a good fit. Cryptid boyfriends (and lovers of other genders) are great, we just don’t want to see them tricking and preying on their partners; that’s not exactly sex positive consent culture in action. 

Other concepts we’re not thrilled to see: stories where characters have sex while very intoxicated/high, stories about sex robots (vs robots who happen to have sex; it’s a key distinction!), and stories where characters have sex because they are hired to (our focus is on different motives for sex; we welcome pieces about sex worker protagonists in their personal lives). Stories with other premises will be much more competitive in the submissions pile. 

Don’t send stories based in transphobia, homophobia, racism, sexism, ableism, fatphobia, and other asshole moves (but it’s fine to send stories acknowledging these prejudices as part of a character’s lived experience).

We can’t accept writing or characters you don’t hold the copyright to (this has been a particular issue with quoted song lyrics. Please only quote lyrics you have written yourself or know to be in the public domain. It also now includes AI-generated text). As mentioned, intertextuality with public domain works is wonderful, though, so bring on the erotic Great Gatsby retellings!

Unlike many publishers, we’re willing to consider stories we rejected from previous calls. It’s best to be upfront about what you’re re-sending and why you believe it might be a fit for us this time around (if the story has been substantially revised, if it received a personal rejection lamenting that we just couldn't fit it in a prior anthology, etc.). Also, be upfront with yourself about whether you have other ideas for stories to submit and if you’re certain you understand the kinds of stories we publish. 

Multiple submissions: We’ll look at 1 or 2 stories per author. You don’t need to send both stories at the same time, but if you are submitting 2 stories at once, feel free to do so as 2 attachments to a single email (easier for us to keep track of).

Simultaneous submissions: Please let us know in your cover email if your story is also under consideration elsewhere. Keep in mind that we’ll hold stories we’re considering at least until September 1, 2023 (and likely later, as it can take some time to make final decisions about which stories we’ll publish).

Reprints: Happily considered! So are translations of stories into English and excerpts from longer pieces. We especially enjoy republishing older stories (reviving those which have gone out of print) and love to look at sexy scenes excerpted from longer stories in genres that aren’t erotica. In your cover email, please give us the details and confirm that you can offer us reprint rights. 

How to submit: Send your story to newsmutproject(at)gmail.com as a .doc/.docx or .rtf file, a Google Drive link, or in the body of the email. In the subject line, include the story’s title and “Erato Submission” to keep your email safe from the spam filter.

We’re not picky about format, but anything resembling Shunn’s Modern Manuscript Format works especially well. However you do it, please include wordcount somewhere on the first page. This info helps us organize the stories we’re considering.

Provide your cover letter in the body of the email, not as an additional attachment. If you’re unsure what to put in your cover letter, no sweat. We don’t need much, but Strange Horizons’s tips are excellent. If authors are comfortable declaring marginalized identities that have informed their writing in their cover letters, we appreciate knowing this and will not disclose the information to others (it’s up to you what you feel safe and comfortable sharing in your published author biography and promotional interviews - and in your cover letter; all this is optional).  

Also, we appreciate hearing in your cover letter about where you learned of this call for submissions! Big thanks to everyone who’s done this so far - it helps us know where to promote future anthology calls.

Submissions will be read by T.C. Mill (she/her) and Guinevere Chase (she/her). 

Questions, updates, and more information: Contact us with questions and suggestions at newsmutproject(at)gmail.com. Answers to frequently asked questions are posted in the q&a tag on this blog. For updates and more info, you can sign up for our newsletter through MailChimp, follow us here on Tumblr, and/or follow us on Twitter (much less active).

#call for submissions #calls for submissions #erato #nsp status update #flash fiction #submission guidelines

[inclusivefuture]

Calling all trans, nonbinary, agender, and genderqueer writers/artists!

Inclusive Future Magazine is opening its submissions for Issue 1: Visions from a Gender Inclusive Future for a second round!!

We’re looking for submissions of prose and art from trans, nonbinary, agender and genderqueer artists and writers that respond to the question: What might gender look like fifty years from now?

This round, we're specifically looking for pieces that fit in with and respond to the work we already have, like a feature article to accompany Liasis’ cover illustration (above). Find out more by visiting the call for submissions page.

(links and more details to follow in reblog)

#sorry in advance for all these tags... #inclusivefuture #magazine #nonbinary #nonbinary writer #trans #trans writers #trans artists #trans artist #trans art #calls for subs #call for subs #calls for submissions #call for submissions #nonbinary artists #nonbinary artist #nonbinary art #genderqueer writer #genderqueer writers #genderqueer artist #genderqueer #genderqueer art #queer artists #queer writers #queer artist #queer art #queer #agender writers #agender writer #agender artist

[mumblingsage]

Two charity anthology calls (both donate their proceeds to NARAL Pro-Choice America (prochoiceamerica.org).) for horror & dark fantasy:

(This is a signal boost; I am not affiliated with either call and questions should be directed to the contacts listed on the linked sites)

The Dark Side of Purity Zine

Deadline: July 8th

How do you feel about society’s obsession with women’s virginity and chastity? Do you have something to say about Purity Culture and the harm it causes? Are you angered by the recent assaults on reproductive rights?    Here’s your chance to put those thoughts to the page and SAY something about it. Join us.

The details:    Genres: Horror, dark fantasy, weird…just make it dark speculative    Open dates: June 18-July 8    Length guidelines: Up to 1,000 words or 2 pages of poetry/art    Payment: This is for charity, so no payment will be provided, though every contributor will of course receive a digital copy of the Vol. III zine.        Please email your submissions to: [email protected]    No need for a lengthy cover letter. Just introduce yourself and include your pieces as attachments (.docx for documents).  

Kickstarter campaign details here!

Body Autonomy Horror Anthology from Creature Horror

Submission Period: June 1, 2022 – August 1, 2022

Theme: Reproductive Rights and Body Autonomy Horror

Please note that while the inspiration for this anthology comes from the SCOTUS rumor, we are seeking a wide range of body autonomy-themed stories.

What we are looking for:

Open to any horror tropes that deliver the theme. Open to all genders, but we especially want to hear the voices of uterus owners. We are also looking for a diverse representation of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disability, body positivity, and neurodivergence.

Because this is a fast turnaround, please make sure submissions are edited and as close to publish-ready as possible.

What we are NOT looking for:

Please do not submit stories that do not fit the theme. Submissions can not contain rape scenes on-page. Please ensure any scenes of a sexual nature are necessary and non-exploitative.

Submissions must be between 3,000 – 5,000 words.

Email subject: Last, First, Title-Word Count

Cover letter: Include an author bio no longer than 100 words with socials

Trigger warnings are encouraged. Please note that the final anthology will include trigger warnings located at the end of the book for those who need them.

Click to read full guidelines 

#signal boost #calls for submissions #call for submissions #horror

[that-disabled-radfem]

For the youngers around these parts:

Girls Right the World is a literary journal inviting girls and young, gender-expansive writers and artists, ages 14–21, to submit work for consideration for the eighth annual issue. We believe girls’ voices transform the world for the better. They're accepting poetry, prose, and visual art of any style or theme until January 31, 2024.

https://girlsrighttheworld.com/submissions/

#calls for submissions #calls for submission #call for submissions #Girls Right the World

[faecorpspublishing]

Fae Speaks

Wanna read our Newsletter? It goes out once a month. It has poetry, Art, Stories, and Book Recommendations every time. We occasionally do a second one for special occasions, but it is really rare. Interested in being in the Newsletter? Send your art, Stories, and poetry to [email protected] with the Subject of Newsletter. Submissions that do not tell us what they are for end up not…

View On WordPress

#calls for submissions #indie publishing #Newsletter #subscribe

[sfsucw]

Call for Proposals: LCA Extraordinary Ideas Grants

LCA’s Professional Development Committee is pleased to announce a call for proposals for the Extraordinary Ideas Grants. These grants support innovative and creative cross-disciplinary research and activities that result from collaboration across programs, departments, and colleges.

The Professional Development Committee especially encourages proposals that focus on promoting social/racial justice.

Proposals for up to $2,000 must be submitted by 11:59pm on Monday, October 23, 2023.

A final expense report and summary of the project progress will be due by 5 p.m. on June 28th, 2024.

For more info: https://sfsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1FvqTGDkoj2xYjk

#submissions #calls for submissions #proposal

[artcontests]

2023 AMERICAN ART AWARDS

300+ winners get the BEST PRESS / 80 NEWS ARTICLES will name winning work as BEST CONTEMPORARY ARTWORKS IN COUNTRY or category. 

AWARDS: $5,000.00 in CASH PRIZES. 

DEADLINE: August 30, 2023. 

For more information: https://www.theartlist.com/2023-american-art-awards

#art #art call #Call to Artists #calls for submissions #call for submissions #AMERICAN ART AWARDS #TheArtList

[shiftythrifting]

bubble wrap trousers. at least they're waterproof...?

found in an Oxfam, UK

#thrifting #shiftythrifting #submission #pussy out look #bubble wrap #pants #2007 calling

[color-palettes]

Parallel Play - Submitted by Synoicus

#CADCE4 #889EC4 #966A91 #413169 #E8D2B0

#color me curious #yellow #blue #purple #submission #very excited and delighted that this palette was made from being in a discord call

[antisocialxconstruct]

You're an angel, I'm a dog

(sources in alt text)

#web weave #web weaving #on devotion #on violent devotion #on obsession #on submission #dogs #teeth #PHEW....... I need to stop working on this and call it done #anyway. #maksim girard #dog motif

[babykittenteach]

🌔

#ofmd #our flag means death #suggestive #ed teach #stede bonnet #do i have a predictable type and interest? oh definitely #have I basically drawn this theme before? might as well've #but when my mind is allowed to roam where is will it tends to come back to ed vulnerable in low light #drawn on a voice call after I finished my dtiys submission for the raac fan video #the theme i chose for that piece is also one I have pursued before and will pursue again because it's not my fault they put him in a catbel #anyway you should go submit a coloring for the renew as a crew video if you haven't #art i'm proud of

[newsmutproject]

What does being butch mean to you? We want to know about your experience of living and loving as a butch. Tell us about the complexities and intricacies of your butch identity, gender presentation and representation—the good and the bad.... Tell us about your power suits, buzz cuts and lucky flannel shirts....We want to hear from old school butches, baby dykes and everyone in between....

If you’re not a butch but love one, we want to hear from you, too. What do you love about butches? Maybe it’s their swagger, the way they look in a suit or how they’re unapologetically unafraid to be themselves.... We want to know about your butch’s rough edges and soft spots.

We need your essays about Ann Lister and think pieces about A League of Their Own (the new really butch one).

Our goal is to highlight butch stories and butch voices, which often go unheard or are misunderstood, and document the butch experience. Books can be mirrors and windows—reflecting our lives back to us or opening them up to others. We intend for this book to be both.

We are open to short stories, poetry, art work, essays, memoir and all forms of creative nonfiction. Give us your butch best under 4,000 words. Please include a short biographical statement of 100 words or less.

All contributors will receive a copy of the anthology.

E-mail submissions to story curator Rae Theodore at: [email protected].

Submissions should be in a Word document or pasted into the body of an e-mail.

Submissions are due by January 1, 2023.

#signal boost #other publishers #call for submissions #calls for submissions #butch

[cod-dump]

Price: Simon! I have a bone to pick with you!

Ghost: What?

Price: I embarrassed myself in a briefing today because Riley doesn't know the command "Go and lie down," he only knows "Fuck off."

Ghost: Don't blame me!

Price: I am gonna blame you! It's your fault!

Ghost: *to Riley* Go lie down.

Riley: 🐶

Ghost: ... Fuck off.

Riley: *immediately goes to his kennel*

Ghost: *dawning realization that he fucked up*

#submission #call of duty #modern warfare #simon ghost riley #john price #riley the dog #incorrect quotes #listen it’s a easy thing to accidentally do

[mumblingsage]

The Sator New Works Award will be awarded to a book-length work of either fiction or non-fiction by an author who identifies as trans or nonbinary.

The submitted manuscript must be an original work of at least 30,000 words in length, written by one author, in English.

The selected work will be published by Two Dollar Radio in 2024 (or 2025), and will receive a $3,000 advance.

Deadline December 31, 2022

#signal boost #calls for submissions #writing prize #book prize

[uncharted-constellations]

Batman "I don't like working with others, I don't trust them, and I won't sacrifice Gotham to help out unless it's absolutely dire."

*Has an extensive network of vigilantes in Gotham and elsewhere, is on 85 different Justice League Rosters, would die for half of them*

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man *fighting every hero he ever meets*

"Weird that no-one likes me, don't know what their fucking problem is, I should fight them"

#batman #spider-man #i always think its so fucking funny when every justice league adaption goes 'he isnt a team player' like #he's been in so many different variations of the justice league its not even funny #autumn could start late and this man would have a team assembled #meanwhile mr friendly neighborhood over here has probably engaged in fisticuffs with every marvel character in existence #because they rightfully looked at him funny #one of my favorite panels in his avengers run is him throwing wolverine out of an UnBreakable window because he called mj dimwitted #also that superman/spider-man crossover where peter broke his hands trying to punch him into submission #i was gonna say this man would punch his own reflection if it looked at him funny but considering the clone saga exists #he basically has

[hotvintagepoll]

Vital propaganda for Boris Karloff: he wanted to introduce the English-speaking world to the miracle of guacamole

#submission #propaganda #boris karloff: have you tried this wonderful new delightful cuisine called 'guacamole'? #boris karloff