Submissions

We are looking for TEN stories and will be paying 1¢ per word. We are hoping to raise this as the publication grows.

Genre: Sword & Sorcery, Dark Fantasy, Dying Earth

Reprints: No

Simulsubs: Yes, but please let us know if you wish to withdraw ASAP.

Multiple submissions per author: No

Wordcount: 1500-2500.

Pay: 1¢ per word

Eligibility: Amateur writers preferred. If you have made a pro-rate sale (8c/6p per word) in this genre please consider submitting to a better paying market.

Rights: Standard 6-months-from-publication exclusivity. No film & TV, reprint, or other rights.

Generative AI: Use of LLMs to edit, write, or help in the creative process are not allowed. If caught the work will be rejected and the author will be blacklisted for life.

Contract: We believe you should see what you would be signing up to beforehand. Please read our model contract here.

Current Status: CLOSED

We are looking for stories of action, of movement, in the tradition of sword & sorcery, but with a through line of horror. We don’t expect everyone to survive with life, mind, and soul intact. We want the stakes to be personal. Visceral.

To help with this, we have put together our own Appendix I and the HEWN scoring system, which should help you understand the tone we are seeking.

We strongly recommend against submitting works featuring standardised fantasy elements. If it feels like a retelling of a DnD campaign, it’s probably not the right fit.

Be WEIRD. Let the world be covered in slime and ichor.

In particular we are really interested to see:

• Horrifying sublime situations
• Non-western settings
• Personal stakes
• Weapons which are interesting e.g. tridents, nets, a severed mummified arm.

What we are less interested in seeing:

• World-shattering stakes
• Sterotypical DnD/Lovecraftian monsters
• Magic Systems