Ten Speculative Fiction Writing Contests: 2nd Quarter 2015

Posted on May 15, 2015 by KL Wagoner — Leave a comment

If you’re a speculative fiction writer who has never entered a writing contest, I encourage you to give it a try. It could be the kick-in-the-pants you need to call a story done and send it out into the world. You’ll find every flavor of writing contest on the following list from flash fiction to short story to novel.

Not sure how your story measures up to others in your genre? Some contests offer feedback as part of the entry fee (#7 and #8). Don’t like paying for contests? More than half on this list have no entry fee or low fees of $10 and under. And if you tend to write longer stories that don’t usually fit within contest guidelines, the fantasy contest at Inkitt (#6) has no word limit and no entry fee. For a unique approach in contests, check out The Ink & Insights 2015 novel contest (#8) where judges are assigned based on the genre and experience level of the manuscript.

Sometimes writers must weigh several factors when deciding if a contest is right for their work. The old standby Writers of the Future (#10) accepts up to 17,000 words with no fee, but the number of entries in this quarterly contest are sure to be high. Compare that to The Colorado Gold Writing Contest (#3) – 4,000 word-count limit, $30 fee – where speculative fiction is one of six categories, but only 200 entries are accepted for the entire contest. Chances are much better to place in this smaller, lesser known, contest.

You decide if you’re ready to enter writing competitions, but jumping in is one of the best ways to get wet. Hurry though – half of these contest deadlines are looming in the next few weeks. Good luck!

1. Albedo One, Ireland’s Magazine of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror, announces the 10th International Aeon Award Short Fiction Contest. Contest runs from January 1 through November 30 with four rounds (or quarters) throughout the year. Deadlines: March 31, June 30, September 30, November 30 – but enter anytime because submissions that miss a deadline (except the final one) go into the next quarter and multiple entries are allowed throughout the competition. The best submissions are chosen from each quarter and shortlisted for consideration for three prizes at the end of the year. Grand prize: €1000; second prize: €200; third prize: €100, plus place winners are published in Albedo One. Word count: up to 10,000. Entry fee: €7.50. Current quarterly deadline: June 30. Contest guidelines.

2. British Fantasy Society Short Story Competition accepts any kind of fantastical story – fantasy, science fiction, horror, supernatural, fabulation, magic realism, slipstream, etc. or any combination of those genres. Open to BFS members and nonmembers. 1st prize: £100. 2nd prize: £50. 3rd prize: £20. First and second place receive a year’s BFS membership. All place winners will be published in the BFS Journal. Word count: up to 5,000. Entry fee: Nonmembers pay £5. Deadline: June 30. Contest guidelines.

3. The Colorado Gold Writing Contest, for emerging writers, is in its thirtieth year. For unpublished writers of novel-length fiction (self-published and vanity press published novels are eligible). Speculative Fiction is one of six categories. Each category has five finalists: 1st place: $150; 2nd place: $100; 3rd place: $75; 2 remaining finalists: $30. Finalists have a chance to improve their submission before going on to the final round. The contest is limited to the first 200 entries received. Word count: first 4000 words, plus 750-word synopsis. Entry fee: $30. Critique option: add $25. Deadline: June 1. Contest guidelines.

4. The 2015 Driftless Unsolicited Novella Contest seeks novellas in any genre on the theme “Over” which may be broadly interpreted by the author. Three winning novellas will receive a $250.00 cash prize, a publication contract, and royalties for the novella with Brain Mill Press. The cash prize is not an advance against royalties. Word count: 20,000-40,000. Entry fee: $25.00, includes a one-year membership to Brain Mill Press. Deadline: June 1. Contest guidelines.

5. 2015 Flash Fiction Contest is hosted by WOW! (Women on Writing) every three months. Open to anyone on the planet who can submit their entry in English; any style and genre; any subject matter for this quarter. 1st Place, $350 and complete publishing package from BookBaby; 2nd Place, $250; 3rd Place, $150. In addition, Place winners and seven Runners Up receive $25 Amazon Gift Certificate, entry published on WOW!, and interview in The Muffin. Ten Honorable Mentions receive $20 Amazon Gift Certificate and their name and title entry published in The Muffin. The contest is limited to the first 300 entries received. Word Count: 250-750. Entry Fee: $10. Critique option: add $10. Current quarterly deadline: May 31. Visit the contest website and download the pdf guidelines.

6. Free Fantasy Writing Contest at Inkitt. Epic Worlds: A New Adventure – take readers on an epic journey with your best fantasy stories. Submit ancient tales about dragons and griffins, or your vision of the future through a science fantasy story. 1st Place, $100, 5 printed-and-bound copies of your story with cover created by Inkitt’s designer; 2nd Place, $50; 3rd Place, $30. Word Count: any length. No entry fee. Deadline: June 3. Contest guidelines.

7. The Twenty-First Annual Garden State Speculative Fiction Writers (GSSW) Short Story Contest. This year’s theme: Adventures in a Personal Utopia. Cast away all pessimism and craft your vision of the ideal society or the perfect future. The more whimsical and humorous, the better. Make it personal; what is the perfect life to YOU; as realistic or as absurd as you want. Stories must be original and unpublished. 1st Place: $70 and publication in a future issue of S&T. 2nd and 3rd place winners receive $40 and $25, respectively. GSSW members receive a detailed, written critique. Nonmembers receive a critique for a donation of $5. Word count: up to 4000. No entry fee. Deadline: July 31. Contest guidelines.

8. Ink & Insights 2015 novel contest is split into categories: Apprentice category for new novelists and Master category for seasoned writers (plus a nonfiction category). Judges are assigned based on the genre and experience level of the manuscript. Writers compete against peers in their own personal writing level. Every entry receives personal feedback from four different judges. Read the contest guidelines and a full list of prizes. Word count: first 10,000 words of your novel. Entry fee: $35 through May 31, $40 in June.

Apprentice prizes include 4 writing resources and Writer’s Market 2015, plus:
1st Place: $600, page-by-page critique
2nd Place: $350, scene analysis
3rd Place: $250, beta read and evaluation

Master prizes include an agent round and Writer’s Market 2015, plus:
1st Place: $350, full edit/critique
2nd Place: $200, proofread
3rd Place: $150, beta read and evaluation

9. The International Write Fight short story contest has ten categories, three of them being speculative fiction – fantasy, horror, science fiction – with three themes in each category. 10% of the profit made from this event will go directly to Writespace, a Houston literary nonprofit that seeks to support writers and their works. 1st – 3rd place winners receive a contributor copy in paperback format, plus: 1st Place overall, $1000; 2nd Place overall, $500; 3rd Place overall, $250. Word count: up to 1,500. Entry fee: $27.37 ($25 + event site fee). Deadline: May 31. Contest guidelines.

Fantasy Themes	Horror Themes	Science Fiction Themes
Group H – Hypnosis Group O – Occult Group T – Terminal	Group A – Acrobatics Group Q – Quills Group Z – Zoo	Group C – Castaway Group L – Luggage Group X – Xenophobia

10. Writers of the Future Contest. Opportunity for new and amateur writers of unpublished science fiction or fantasy short stories or novelettes. Entrants retain all publication rights. Prizes awarded every three months: $1,000, $750, $500. Quarterly first-place winners are eligible for the Annual Grand Prize of $5,000. Word count: up to 17,000. No entry fee. Current quarterly deadline: June 30. Contest guidelines.

Are you planning to enter writing contests this year?

Image “Pencil Holding Trophy” courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A Story Plot is a Net

Posted on April 29, 2015 by KL Wagoner — Leave a comment

To be stories at all they must be a series of events: but it must be understood that this series – the plot, as we call it – is only really a net whereby to catch something else. ~ C.S. Lewis

Tagged with: C.S. Lewis, quotes, story plot, storytelling, writing quotes
Posted in Quotes

Story Promises: What Readers Expect from Fiction

Posted on April 24, 2015 by KL Wagoner — 2 Comments

Like many readers, my main reason for reading fiction is to be taken out of my world and into someone else’s. Before I became a writer, I didn’t expend a lot of brain power to decide what stories to pick. I had my favorite authors, and if I wanted to try someone new, I trusted the bookstore or library shelves to provide my next adventure. Now there are too many books and not enough shelves.

And now I am a writer. Over the years I’ve come to understand what goes into making a good story and why I return to my favorite authors book after book. Here is what I expect from the fiction I read:

The Story
♦ Told in a new or interesting way. Even if it’s the familiar hero’s journey/quest (which I enjoy), I want to see something different in setting, plot twists, quirky characters, etc.
♦ Truth in the telling. I know storytelling relies on a sort of manipulation, and misleading a reader has its place (mystery writers do it all the time). I also know that what ends up on the page should serve the story, not merely an author’s desire to force an emotional response.
♦ Resolution. Many authors write a series of novels that follow the lives of one or more protagonists. If it’s a good story with intriguing characters, I will read more in the series. But if I don’t get some fulfillment or payback from time spent in a particular story world – that is, if there is not some kind of conclusion to the main storyline – I might not want to continue. I will probably feel cheated and either suspect the author doesn’t know what he’s doing or that he’s stringing me along so I will spend more money to discover how things turn out.

The Characters
♦ Protagonists are true, believable, and flawed. I want to care about the characters and identify with them at a certain level. I also want them to have or acquire a quality that I might not possess, such as courage or perseverance.
♦ Antagonists are true and believable with reasons for being over-the-top bad guys, if that’s what they are. Not just thrown into the story as a stumbling block for the protagonist. Not your everyday antagonist who could easily be exchanged for another bad guy.
♦ Actions/reactions make sense according to circumstances. They relate to who a character is and what his objectives are, not just a way to get from point A to point B.
♦ Multiple characters have distinct personalities and reasons for existing, not as a convenient pawn or filler for the author.

The World
♦ Experience the world naturally, through the eyes of the character(s) or narrator and not through an author’s data dumps.
♦ Consistency. Physical laws and science/political/magic systems are consistent and predictable, or have a believable (not convenient or coincidental) reason for changing.
♦ Clarity. Though a world might be full and expansive, it shouldn’t take more than one map (maybe two) and a brief glossary to understand it. The more often I stop reading to grasp what the author is trying to convey, the harder it is to return to the story world and suspend my disbelief.

Do you have something to add to the list? If you’re a writer, do you struggle with satisfying readers’ expectations?

Image “Figure Sitting And Reading Book” courtesy of Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tagged with: believable characters, reader expectation, speculative fiction readers, speculative fiction writers, story promises, story resolution, story world, suspension of disbelief, truth in story, world building
Posted in Writing Advice, Writing Fiction

10 Reasons Why You Should Write Fan Fiction

Posted on April 17, 2015 by KL Wagoner — 4 Comments

We write [fan fiction] because we love these vampires, Doctor Who companions, or demon hunters so much that we can’t stand not knowing what happened in those missing scenes or giving them the chance to make a different or better choice. We want them to have that last love scene, to redeem themselves, to not get killed off. These characters make our lives better–even if it’s just for a short time. Fanfic, to me, just returns the favor. ~ McCrary Golden

I don’t write fan fiction, but I do imagine favorite characters from movies or television shows moving about in my original storylines. Or I’ll place my own created characters in worlds I find in books. I’ve done this since I was a child. As a young adult it helped wile away the hours of the hurry-up-and-wait reality of the military. And even now, such imaginings help me fall asleep at night. Though I haven’t transferred these stories and characters from my head to paper the way a fan fiction writer might do, I feel a kinship with such writers.

Many authors of original works are against the publication of fan fiction because of possible misuse or that it threatens their livelihood (Anne Rice, George R.R. Martin, Orson Scott Card). Some authors tolerate fan fiction under certain conditions (Anne McCaffrey, Kristen Randle), while others embrace the fan fiction community and encourage fan writing (Hugh Howey, Stephenie Meyer).

A writer should always respect another writer’s wishes, work, and copyright. I also believe there are good reasons to write fan fiction. Here are ten.

1. To Celebrate the Characters and Stories You Love
Have you ever finished an awesome novel, movie, or television series whose characters and/or story wouldn’t let go of you? Ever wished such stories would never end? If you write fan fiction, you can keep the story alive. Writing for the love of the story is a foundational reason most fanfic writers take up the pen to begin with.

2. To Break Writer’s Block
The next time you hit a wall in your latest manuscript, write some fan fiction to break through. Let go of the need to produce, and free your mind to be creative. Give it a chance, it could become your go-to way to get you over the wall and back on track.

3. To Regain or Begin a Joy of Writing
What better way to find what you’ve lost than to return to the place it all began. Make writing fun again by using the story world of a favorite novel or movie. And if you want your kids or grandkids to be more involved in reading and writing, fan fiction could be the answer. Can you say, “Sponge Bob in Space?” Oh, yes.

4. To Get Creativity Flowing
If you’re looking for a way to be more creative, writing fan fiction can address the three needs of creativity: exercise, stimulation, and an outlet. Taking time to strengthen and nourish the imagination is as important to a writer as conditioning the body is for an athlete.

5. To Refine Your Craft/Storytelling Technique
In fan fiction, the characters and settings are already in place, leaving you free to work on plot. Or you could take an established storyline and add a new character to the mix. By using predefined elements and adding a bit of study, you can learn such things as what makes strong, believable, and sympathetic characters; how setting impacts a story; and what story structure is about.

Much of Wattpad’s popularity is based on fan fiction, but after a month sifting through the platform’s original fiction categories I suspect that…in popular genres like sci-fi, fantasy and young adult, Wattpad’s best contributors are more than good enough to match their professionally published counterparts. ~ Damien Walter

6. As a Springboard for Original Writing
It’s only natural that your own characters and storylines will spring forth from all the imagining and creating that’s necessary to write fiction. One idea sparks another, which sparks a variation, which leads to your own complete, separate, and original work.

7. To Connect with Kids
Looking for a way to connect with your children or students? Writing stories together or reading your created bedtime story using favorite characters and settings can be an awesome shared experience. So can using a television show or comic you loved as a kid as a basis for new adventures.

8. To Join an Active Writing Community
There are many online fan fiction communities that can satisfy the need to interact with like-minded people, share stories, and get feedback, including Archive of Our Own, FanFiction, The Gossamer Project, Skrawl, Trekiverse, and Wattpad.

9. To Get Discovered
Practice and perfect your craft through writing fan fiction, and the publishing industry might take note. Big Bang Press is one publisher who recruits authors from the fan fiction community. “We want to take people who have been writing a lot of fan fiction and honing their writing talent, but who are interested in writing original stuff and clearly have the talent and ability to do so.” ~ Morgan Davies, Big Bang’s editor-in-chief

And Skrawl has partnered with Hollywood to allow rights’ holders to search for new writers and story lines among its posted stories. “Much like publishers like Simon & Schuster have offered book deals to Wattpad authors, Skrawl’s community seeks to invite the film industry into the minds of its users.” ~ Mercy Pilkington

10. To Get Paid
It’s a long road to get published in franchised worlds, such as Star Trek or Star Wars, in which you have to be proven and tested, and invited in. Amazon’s Fan Fiction program – Kindle Worlds – is an option if you write in specific licensed worlds that include crime, paranormal, romance, science fiction, and superheroes. See the complete list at Kindle Worlds.

What do you think about fan fiction? If you write fan fiction, why do you? And if not, why?

You might also want to read:

“Fan Fiction: An Epiphany”
A.L.S. Vossler talks about her progression from believing “fan fiction is the lowest life form of the writing universe” to accepting it as a good way to get creative juices flowing.

Tagged with: Big Bang Press, fan fiction, FanFiction, Kindle Worlds, reading and writing connection, Skrawl, speculative fiction readers, speculative fiction writers, Trekiverse, Wattpad, writer's block
Posted in Writing Fiction

Learn to Write One Brick at a Time

Posted on March 31, 2015 by KL Wagoner — Leave a comment

Most writing is not a special gift or talent. Writing is a skill that can be taught. It can be likened to bricklaying; you learn it one brick at a time, and you get better the more bricks you lay. ~ Bob Mayer

Tagged with: Bob Mayer, writing advice, writing quotes
Posted in Quotes

New Mexico’s Connection to Science Fact and Fiction

Posted on March 28, 2015 by KL Wagoner — 3 Comments

This post was updated on June 14, 2018.

Flickr.com: Flying Saucers #4, November 1967. Dell Comics.

Depending on where you’re from, you might not know New Mexico is the birthplace of Demi Moore, Smokey Bear, and the first atomic bomb. It is also the burial place of Billy the Kid and tons of nuclear waste (at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant). Even though the hit television series Breaking Bad put the state on the map for many people, there are still a good number of U.S. citizens who don’t realize New Mexico is one of the 50 states (#47). Residents sometimes joke that they live in the lost state—the only one with USA stamped on their license plates. Regardless of the reason for this confusion, those who live in New Mexico have always known why it’s nicknamed The Land of Enchantment.

Immense blue skies (where the sun shines 360 days a year), hypnotic sunsets, and a temperate climate that makes it possible to play outside nearly every day of the year have captured many a child’s heart. Lava flows and surreal caverns, forested mountains and rocky mesas, and ancient cultures and diverse nationalities are also found in New Mexico.

Less than 2,100,000 people live in 121,589 square miles, hemmed in by Arizona (west), Colorado (north), Texas (east), and Mexico to the south. Large areas of open and undeveloped land have drawn artists and celebrities for years, as well as research and development from government and private sectors. Such secluded places make excellent hidey-holes for secrets and keep the public safe from a variety of dangerous activities.

New Mexico has only been a state since 1912 but has already helped shape the world. Here are a few ways this state is connected to science fact and fiction.

♦ Space

Ham the Astrochimp, the first primate launched into space (1961), was trained at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo.

Spaceport America: “The world’s first purpose built commercial spaceport” has welcomed permanent tenants Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, UP Aerospace, EXOS Aerospace, and EnergeticX Pipeline2Space. Its FAA-licensed horizontal and vertical launch areas are located on 18,000 acres near the town of Truth or Consequences adjacent to the restricted airspace of White Sands Missile Range.

UFOs—Roswell: Filled with alien-inspired shops and attractions, Roswell is home of the International UFO Museum and Research Center. UFO sightings, Hangar 84, alien abductions —it all happened here. Read the “living history” of the July 1947 UFO crash told 50 years later by witnesses to the event now known as the Roswell Incident.

The Very Large Array (Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI)

The Very Large Array (VLA): Astronomers from around the world use these giant antenna dishes to listen to the universe and observe celestial bodies. VLA has been called a scifi icon because of its recognizable features in movies. Located 50 miles west of Socorro.

White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH) was once a Space Shuttle runway, test site for rocket research, back up landing site for space shuttle missions, and primary training area for NASA’s Shuttle pilots practicing approaches and landings. Located west of Alamogordo within the White Sands Missile Range.

♦ Research

RAPTOR (RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response) at LANL

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)—Los Alamos: As part of the Manhattan Project in 1943, they designed and built the first atomic bomb in 20 months. Their basic mission now is to maintain “the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent without the need to return to underground testing.” Bioscience, Lasers, Supercomputers, 3D Simulators.

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech)—Socorro: One of the top 10 engineering programs in the U.S., it’s a center of higher learning in advanced fields of science and technology. The Energetic Materials Research & Testing Center (EMRTC) has blown stuff up on “M” mountain for decades. Geology, Astronomy, Seismology.

“Arcs & Sparks” of PBFA Z

Sandia National Laboratory (SNL)—Albuquerque: In the 1940s, Los Alamos National Laboratory moved its Z Division to Albuquerque’s Sandia Army Base where the laboratory was renamed. Most of their research focuses on enhancing national security in regards to renewable energy systems, climate and environment, robotics, defense systems, and weapons testing. Albuquerque residents still wonder about the possibilities of weapons stored in bunkers and nearby foothills.

Z Pulsed Power Facility (also known as the Z Machine) at SNL is the largest X-ray generator in the world and is designed to test materials under conditions of extreme temperature and pressure.

Trinity Site—Alamogordo: On July 16, 1945 the world’s first nuclear explosion occurred in the New Mexico desert on what is now White Sands Missile Range. The test was code-named “Trinity” and the spot where the explosion occurred became known as the Trinity Site.

♦ Authors

Here are a few of the more famous scifi/fantasy authors who call New Mexico home:
Daniel Abraham and James S.A. Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck)
Steven Gould
Jane Lindskold
George R.R. Martin
Melinda Snodgrass
Robert Vardeman
Walter Jon Williams
Jack Williamson
Roger Zelazny (Read George R.R. Martin’s “In Memoriam: Roger Zelazny“)

♦ Movies and Television

The following science fiction movies and television series were filmed principally in New Mexico:
The Man Who Fell to Earth, 1976
Earth 2, 1994-1995, television series
The Lost Room, television mini-series, 2006
Terminator Salvation, 2009
The Book of Eli, 2010
Transcendence, 2014
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, 2015
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, 2016
Independence Day: Resurgence, 2016
The Space Between Us, 2017

Shots of the state are also found in many other films including Contact (1997), Transformers (2007), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), The Avengers (2012), and The Host (2013). Visit the New Mexico Film Office for other movies and TV shows filmed here.

♦ Other

Bubonicon—Albuquerque: This annual Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention began in 1969 and is named for the bubonic plague that shows up in some parts of the state on occasion. To help offset the connotations of the name, they adopted a cute mascot named Perry Rhodent. Attendance for the last five years has ranged from 750-980 at each convention.

Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library—Portales: Located at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU), the library contains more than 30,000 science fiction related items (including books, magazines, manuscripts, correspondence, and photographs) donated primarily by award-winning author and ENMU faculty member Jack Williamson.

Microsoft—Albuquerque: Bill Gates and Paul Allen first registered Micro-Soft as a business with the State of New Mexico in the mid-1970s.

New Mexico Museum of Space History—Alamogordo: Dedicated to the origins of the U.S. space exploration program. The museum includes the International Space Hall of Fame (ISHF), an air and space park, the Daisy Track, a theater/planetarium, and other exhibits.

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)—Carlsbad: The only deep geologic repository in the United States for permanent disposal of a specific type of waste byproduct of the nation’s nuclear defense program.

You might want to check out:

Federal Research and Development in New Mexico from Discovery and Innovation: Federal Research and Development Activities in the Fifty States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico
A timeline of the history of Sandia National Laboratory
Out of This World: New Mexico’s Contributions to Space Travel and The Complete Space Buff’s Bucket List, both by Loretta Hall

Tagged with: Bubonicon, Land of Enchantment, New Mexico Authors, New Mexico Film Industry, New Mexico Movies, Roswell Incident, Spaceport America, The Very Large Array, Trinity Site, White Sands Missile Range, White Sands Space Harbor
Posted in Facts to Fiction

When the Magic Comes…

Posted on February 18, 2015 by KL Wagoner — Leave a comment

We…don’t know what it is that sometimes comes to make our books alive. All we can do is to write dutifully and day after day, every day, giving our work the very best of what we are capable. I don’t think that we can consciously put the magic in; it doesn’t work that way. When the magic comes, it’s a gift. ~ Madeleine L’Engle

Tagged with: creativity, encouragement to write, imagination, importance of reading, Madeleine L’Engle, motivation to write, power of words, words change the world, writing quotes
Posted in Quotes

Will You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?

Posted on February 13, 2015 by KL Wagoner — Leave a comment

Today is one of those Fridays. I need to come up with some clever and catchy title to categorize it. Something that rhymes with procrastination…I’ll work on that another day.

The internet is filled with too many addictive distractions, so (since it is one of those “P” days) why not go all out and make it a “Z” day? I blame it on Netflix and the long wait for the latest season of The Walking Dead.

My surfing took me to sites filled with assorted The Walking Dead paraphernalia including t-shirts, board games, bobble-heads (really!), action figures, and window clings. Sigh. Snore. And then I remembered the Ultimate Zombie Apocalypse Survival Quiz that I stumbled upon several years ago.

I retook the test because it is a Z day, after all.

And I scored 80.5%. It seems my chance of surviving a zombie apocalypse is better than average. Maybe not the best it could be.

Now I realize this quiz can not predict how I will actually fare against an undead attacker or how long I can survive the day-to-day horrors that a world full of zombies will bring. But I’m using it as a sounding board.

To ensure even better odds, I will have to work on my survival skills and the practical knowledge that would make me indispensable to a tribe of survivors. And I will need to shift my mindset to get rid of those goody-goody hero tendencies in favor of what’s best for me-me-me and my future.

What are your chances of surviving the zombie apocalypse? Click here to take the Ultimate Zombie Apocalypse Survival Quiz and find out. Then come back and let us know how you did.

Image “Zombie Hand Through The Door” courtesy of satit_srihin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tagged with: Procrastination, The Walking Dead, Ultimate Zombie Apocalypse Survival Quiz, zombie apocalypse, zombie apocalypse quiz, zombies
Posted in Just Because

Reading Inspires Writing

Posted on February 5, 2015 by KL Wagoner — 1 Comment

We write by the light of every story we have ever read. ~ Richard Peck

Image “Astronaut Floating With Balloons” courtesy of Victor Habbick / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tagged with: importance of reading, reading and writing connection, Richard Peck
Posted in Quotes

14 SFWA Short Story Qualifying Markets for Speculative Fiction

Posted on January 31, 2015 by KL Wagoner — Leave a comment

Since first posting this article in January 2015, the list of markets has changed considerably. For the current list, please click HERE to read “SFWA Short Story Qualifying Markets for Speculative Fiction: 2016.”

For the most up-to-date listing, go to 2017 SFWA Short Story Qualifying Markets for Speculative Fiction or visit my Writing Resources page.

SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) is a professional organization for authors who specialize in science fiction, fantasy and other related genres. Active Membership in SFWA is something many speculative fiction writers (including myself) continue to work towards – that is, trying to make sales to qualifying markets as part of their membership eligibility requirements. But no matter my status, I will continue to use the organization’s free Information Center for great articles of interest to writers and their Writer Beware site for advice and warnings regarding the publishing industry.

The following is a list of SFWA short story qualifying markets still accepting unagented submissions as of the date of this post. At the end of the list you’ll find a link to a pdf spreadsheet for future reference.

(This article was updated October 16, 2015.)

AE is looking exclusively for science fiction, though their interpretation of the genre can be quite inclusive. They welcome submissions from both established and emerging authors – they are a Canadian market that publishes a limited number of international stories.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
500-3,000	7 cents/word	90 days	No
Other: Accepts simultaneous submissions (read guidelines). Submit one story at a time. No excerpts or poetry.

Analog publishes science fiction stories in which some aspect of future science or technology is so integral to the plot that, if that aspect were removed, the story would collapse. The science can be physical, sociological, psychological, but the stories must be strong and realistic, with believable people (who needn’t be human) doing believable things – no matter how fantastic the background might be.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
2,000-80,000 (see Other)	8-10 cents/word up to 7,500 words 8-8.5 cents/word for longer works	2-3 months	No
Other: No simultaneous submissions. Accepts manual submissions. Preferred lengths: short stories, 2,000-7,000 words; novelettes/novellas, 10,000-20,000 words; serials, 40,000-80,000 words.

Apex Magazine is a monthly online prose and poetry magazine of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mash-ups of all three. Works full of marrow and passion, stories that are twisted, strange, and beautiful. Update: Closed to submissions until January 1, 2016.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
Up to 7,500	6 cents/word	30 days	No
Other: No simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions.

Asimov’s is looking for character-oriented science fiction stories in which the characters, rather than the science, provide the main focus for the reader’s interest. Borderline fantasy is fine, but no Sword & Sorcery. No explicit sex or violence.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
1,000-20,000	8-10 cents/word up to 7,500 words 8-8.5 cents/word for longer works	5 weeks	No
Other: No simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions. Accepts manual submissions.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies is an award-winning online magazine publishing “literary adventure fantasy” with a secondary-world setting – different from our own primary world – and a traditional/classic fantasy feel, written with a literary focus on the characters. No urban fantasy.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
Up to 10,000	6 cents/word	2-4 weeks	No
Other: Accepts simultaneous submissions (read guidelines). No multiple submissions or novel excerpts.

Buzzy Mag is looking for original science fiction, fantasy and horror short stories. Thriller, suspense, and paranormal tales that cross into traditional speculative fiction are welcome. Update: On hold for submissions.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
Up to 10,000	10 cents/word	6-8 weeks	Yes
Other: Reprints: 2 cents/word. Stories must be acceptable for 15-year-old readers. No fan fiction.

Clarkesworld Magazine is a Hugo award-winning monthly science fiction/fantasy magazine. Science fiction need not be “hard” SF. Fantasy can be folkloric, medieval, contemporary, surreal, etc. Horror can be supernatural or psychological, as long as it’s frightening.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
1,000-16,000 (4,000 preferred)	10 cents/word for first 5,000 words, 8 cents/word over 5,000	2 days	No
Other: No simultaneous submissions.

Crossed Genres Magazine seeks short stories that combine elements of either science fiction and/or fantasy with the current theme. One story slot is reserved each month for an author without a professional-rate sale.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
1,000-6,000	6 cents/word	30 days from end of submission window	No
Other: No simultaneous submissions or poetry. Accepts two submissions per month sent separately. Do not submit stories for a particular theme outside that submission window. Themes: Submit September 1-30, 2015 – January 2016 Issue ♦ Theme: Nonsense Submit October 1-31, 2015 – February 2016 Issue ♦ Theme: Decoration Submit November 1-30, 2015 – March 2016 Issue ♦ Theme: Sword & Sorcery

Escape Pod seeks science fiction stories, centered on science, technology, future projections, alternate history, and how any or all of these things intersect with people. Fairly flexible on what counts as science. No fantasy, magical realism, or more than a tinge of horror.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
2,000-6,000	6 cents/word	Unknown	Yes
Other: Reprints: 3 cents/word. No flash fiction, poetry, serialized fiction, or novel excerpts.

IGMS (Intergalactic Medicine Show) is looking for science fiction and fantasy stories of any length. Science fiction: hard sf, sf adventure, alternate history, near-future, far-future, psi, alien, etc. Fantasy: heroic fantasy (based on any culture’s mythology), fairy tales, contemporary fantasy, and horror in the sense of supernatural suspense (not gory bloodfests).

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
Any Length	6 cents/word	90 days+	No*
Other: No multiple submissions. Might accept some reprints (see guidelines)*. This is a PG-13 magazine and website – no explicit/detailed sex that would earn a movie rating over PG-13 or language that earns an R rating.

Nightmare is seeking all types of original horror and dark fantasy stories. No subject is considered off-limits, and they encourage writers to take chances with their fiction and push the envelope.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
1,500-7,500 (< 5,000 preferred)	6 cents/word	2-14 days	Yes
Other: Reprints: 1 cent/word. No simultaneous submissions, multiple submissions, fan fiction, or poetry.

Strange Horizons is a weekly online magazine seeking speculative fiction, broadly defined, previously unpublished in English.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
Up to 10,000 (< 5,000 preferred)	8 cents/word	41-40 days	No
Other: No simultaneous submissions, multiple submissions, resubmissions, novel excerpts, serialized novels, or unsolicited reprints.

Terraform is seeking speculative fiction that hones in on tech, science, and future culture topics, especially nearer-future fiction, more along the lines of sentient chat bots or climate-changed dystopias than far-flung alien space operas. They publish one new story every week.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
Up to 2,000	20 cents/word	Up to 4 months	No
Other: No previously published works. One story per submission.

Tor.com publishes original speculative fiction short stories and poetry, to include SF, fantasy, horror, alternate history, and related genres.

Word Range	Payment	Response Time	Reprints
Up to 17,500 (< 12,000 preferred)	25 cents/word first 5,000, 15 cents/word for next 5,000, 10 cents/word after that	90 days+	No
Other: No simultaneous submissions, multiple submissions, or unsolicited reprints. No novels or serializations.

Here’s a handy spreadsheet incorporating the information from this post. Click HERE for the pdf version. I’ll keep an updated list on my Writing Resources page.

Is this a good resource to help you meet your publishing goals?