Tuesday, April 14th 2026
This anthology is part of their Beyond & Within anthology series. “Women’s ambition is not always welcomed, let alone encouraged. Speculative fiction is a context that offers other possibilities (and worlds), where writers and readers imagine what could be. Climbing High: Speculative Stories of Female Ambition will feature stories exploring contexts where female ambition is treated differently, aspiration and achievement in the face of adversity, and ambitions that extend beyond what’s possible in our contemporary world. This anthology takes an empowering stance of embracing ambition while being unafraid to explore the costs and consequences that characters may face in doing so and the impacts of ambitions pursued or fulfilled.
Stories may engage with the question of navigating disparate values and commitments (the often-asked and often-sexist question of “How do you balance x and y?”), or they may abandon all that, with characters who prioritise their desires above all else. Whether characters are reshaping the world(s), themselves, or aiming to brew the best cup of tea, their drives are the driving force of their stories.” They are looking for four stories via this open call.
Deadline: 3 May 2026
Length: 2,000-4,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Deadline: May 3rd, 2026
Tuesday, November 4th 2025
They are reading submissions for a fiction anthology. “Next year’s entry in the acclaimed ‘ABC of Horror’ series will be called Ghost Lights, and as ever, I’m looking for stories that are as disturbing, strange, and original as you can make them. I’m not averse to humour, and neither am I averse to horror tropes like zombies, vampires, and serial killers. But if you are going to write stories with such familiar, tried-and-trusted elements, then you need to find a new and unique way of presenting them. I want to be surprised and scared by your stories, and I want them to be populated by characters who are both believable and identifiable (even the evil ones). Your stories can be anything from 2,000-8,000 words, though the sweet spot is around the 4,000-5,000 word mark.” They do not want reprints for this anthology.
Deadline: 14 November 2025
Length: See above
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Deadline: November 14th, 2025