14 Spooky Stories for ToC, “Human Authored” by Authors Guild
Authortunities #99 │February 1 — March 1
☯️It’s time to zero in and remember why we are here — to create. We write because sometimes life is too dark and the world needs light. We write because sometimes life is too bright and we need a little shade. Sometimes the world hits us hard, but throughout time no one has ever been able to silence all of the words, all of the time. Language has a way of sneaking through. Art is resistance.
🌳In the NeighborHub
We’re up to 267 members in the Hub and we just started recorded the first Authortunities Coach class for certification. Sign ups will be open to all very soon. Tomorrow evening, Sunday, Jordan Frances has his “Bi-Weekly Open MIC Poetry and Book Excerpt reading.” Join us if you like.
🌳Authortunities Press-ing Matters
Space and Time submissions ended up at 424 with 85 poems and 339 prose pieces. Thank you everyone for submitting. We have some reading to do.
12 Spooky Stories quickly became 14 because… just one more. We plan to have this released for Halloween 2025. It was so much fun to read all these stories we may be doing it again soon. The accepted stories are:
"Ding Dong, Witch" by Jon Clendaniel
"The Goatman" by Henry Herz
"The Ebony Box" by Edward Ahern
"Bigfoot Meets Chupacabras" by Gary Every
"The Fearless and the Fallen" by Matt Bliss
"Muck" by Derek Alan Jones
"Depends" by Matthew Ross
"Classified" by E.J. Bramble
"Double Trouble" by Dot F Stute
"Lights Out" by Daisy Franco
"Duncan's Horror Holiday" by Jeremy J Gadd
"Ghost Wolf" by Jason E Maddux
"The Night Forest" by RJ Fuller
"It's Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature" by Scott Talbot Evans
Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who submitted work. It was really hard to choose just 12… 14.
🌳In Other News…
“Seeking refuge in some nostalgic reading material, Harper wakes up in the mind and body of Patricia Weaver—the main character of her favorite book…” Phantom Delivery by Mark Guyer
… and while we’re on the subject of Mark Guyer, he just posted about what scares him. *hint* It’s all over the news. Read “What Scares me.”
The Authors Guild just unveiled “Human Authored”—a first-of-its-kind official certification system that writers and publishers will be able to use in their books and in marketing. Read “Authors Guild Launches “Human Authored” Certification to Preserve Authenticity in Literature.”
Bookshop.org finally has eBooks! I started a list on Bookshop.org of books written by my Authortunities subscribers! If your book is on Bookshop.org, share your links and I’ll add it. See what I have so far here.
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My authortunities are organized by emoji! Use your “Ctrl+F” keys to find what you want fast. Video tutorial on how to do this.
🟢 opening subs
🟡 multiple opening & closing subs
🔴 closing subs
⭐ events, workshops, open mics
💼 conferences, virtual and in person
♻️ reprints
🏆 awards, contests & grants
🟡 FEB 1 · BookLife is open until March 1 for submissions of self-published books related to travel, global culture, and food for their Indie Spotlight feature, a thematic roundup of self-published books both online and in print in Publishers Weekly magazine. Each Indie Spotlight is open to all types of books as long as they match the month's topic. Submissions close for self-published romances and nonfiction titles devoted to the topic of relationships.
https://booklife.com/about-us/booklife-s-indie-spotlight.html
🟢 FEB 1 · Reedsy Prompts is open until the following Friday for short fiction between 1,000 - 3,000 words based on one of five prompts. Writers have until the following Friday at 11.59 pm EST to enter. No fee to enter and have work posted. $5 fee to be eligible for the $250 cash prize. This week’s prompt is: A Perfect Storm 🌧️.
https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/
🟢 FEB 1 · 2025 Next Generation Indie Book Awards is closing to all indie book authors and publishers who have a fiction or nonfiction book, manuscript, or galley proof written in English and released in 2023, 2024 or 2025. First place winner receives a $1,500 cash prize and trophy. See listing for more awards and information. Entry fee is $75 for the first category entered plus $60 for each additional category entered.
https://indiebookawards.com/awarddetails.php
🟢 FEB 1 · TeenQuill Writing Contest is open for poetry and play monologues from to students aged 12 to 19. Authors of selected works will receive a $50 Amazon e-gift card and publication in Kinsman Quarterly. Selected works will also be featured on its website, promoted on social media platforms, and included in printed advertisements. One student will be selected each season.
https://www.kinsmanquarterly.org/teenquill-writing-contest
🟢 FEB 1 · Write or Die Magazine is open for free submissions of essays and essays and fiction for the first week of the month. There is a $3 submission fee for the rest of the month. No fee for author interviews. “Payment is approx. $50.”
https://writeordiemag.com/submission-guidelines
🟢 FEB 1 · The Forge Literary Magazine is open for fiction and nonfiction, including flash and micro, until the free submissions quota is full. “If there is no free link, we’ve hit our quota.” Payment is for $100 flat rate, regardless of length.
https://forgelitmag.com/submit/
🟢 FEB 1 · The Other Stories Podcast opens until September 30 for 2,000 word speculative fiction on the theme of THE WORKPLACE. “Give us stories of the slow death — office politics, chaos from the cubicle, stories from the ant farm, the workshop, the assembly line, the burnout, the boss from hell.” Payment is $15 GBP.
https://theotherstories.net/submissions/
🟢 FEB 1 · Strange Horizons is open until February 28 for speculative poetry with Lisa M. Bradley (she/her/hers) as February’s editor. Payment is $50 USD per poem, regardless of length or complexity.
http://strangehorizons.com/submit/poetry-submission-guidelines/
🟢 FEB 1 · Fahmidan Publishing is open for manuscript submissions for their digital chapbooks at a maximum of 30 pages for poetry and 7500 Words for prose until February 28. Payment is 30% royalties.
https://www.fahmidan.net/publishing-submissions
🟢 FEB 1 · The Threepenny Review opens until “mid-April” for submissions of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Payment is $400 per story or article, and $200 per poem or Table Talk piece.
https://www.threepennyreview.com/submissions.html
🟢 FEB 1 · Electric Spec is open until April 15 for speculative fiction stories of “science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre” between 250 and 7000 words for their May issue. Payment is $20 per piece.
http://www.electricspec.com/Submissions.html
🟢 FEB 1 · Rattle Magazine’s Ekphrastic Poetry Challenge opens until the last day of the month for ekphrastic poetry in response to selected visual art posted on their page. Two winners receive $100 and publication online.
https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/
🟢 FEB 1 · Flame Tree Fiction Newsletter calls for monthly themed submissions from newsletter subscribers only (free to subscribe) up to 1k words for $0.08 per word USD for original fiction.
https://www.flametreepress.com/submissions/
⭐ FEB 1 · Generating Poetry/Generating Flash Fiction & Short Fiction: Narrative Development & Beyond Fahmidan's workshops are as little as $5 with pay-what-you-can options up to $25. All workshops will be recorded via Zoom. Check the listing for times.
https://fahmidanjournal.submittable.com/submit/308885/fahmidan-workshops-2024-2025
🔴♻️ FEB 1 · NonBinary Review, Zoetic Press is closing for prose, poetry and visual art. Submissions may close before the closing date as there is an acceptance cap for each issue. Payment is $0.01 USD per word for prose up to 3k words, $10 for poetry and visual art $25 USD flat rate. Theme is “MISTAKEN IDENTITY.”
https://nonbinaryreview.submittable.com/submit
🔴 FEB 1 · Last Girls Club is open until February 1 for feminist horror short stories and poems. Payments for short story-2,500 words or less is $0.015 USD per word ($37.50 USD max); Flash Fiction-less than 1,000 words $0.015 USD per word ($15 USD max); Poems-less than 200 words $10.
https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/last-girls-club-lImp7
⭐ FEB 2 · Rattlecast livestreams, is part interview and open mic with a prompt-based open mic. Hangout with Rattle editor Timothy Green and Katie Dozier. Each Rattlecast begins with an interview, a writing prompt, and poets reading from the last week’s prompt. | Rattlecast at 8 pm EST.
⭐ FEB 4 · Fears of the Dark - 6-week horror writing school It might be a new year, but the terrors continue with the latest run of the online horror writing school! We’ll be presenting six weeks of guest horror writing workshops, feedback sessions, one-to-ones and more, all running online so you can feel the fear from the comfort of your own home! From £59.41. Check the listing for times.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fears-of-the-dark-6-week-horror-writing-school-tickets-1026248325367
⭐ FEB 6 · Establish (or Improve) Your Email Newsletter with Jane Friedman, hosted by Writer’s Digest. Being able to directly reach your readers, or your most engaged audience, is a powerful capability that rewards your time and investment. This 90-minute class will cover best practices of email newsletters, how to avoid the mistakes most prevalent in the writing community, plus the pros and cons of using the popular newsletter platform Substack. Class costs $89 USD.
https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/establish-your-email-newsletter
💼 FEB 6-9 · Superstars Writing Seminars seeks to empower writers, ignite creativity, and guide individuals on the transformative journey to becoming successful authors. Since their inception in 2010, they have been on a mission to redefine writing conferences, offering more than just workshops: they are on a quest to shape careers and transform dreams into tangible success stories. Cost: $999 for new members, with discounts for students or military and for conference alumni. There are also tickets available for “Skills Day,” an optional workshop that takes place February 5 before the event. In Colorado Springs, Colorado.
https://www.superstarswriting.com/
🔴 FEB 7 · Rattle Magazine’s “Poets Respond” challenge calls for poems inspired by “a news story or public event from the previous week, and has been written in the time since.” Selected poems will appear as the Sunday poem at Rattle.com which appear to over 10,000 people via RSS feed and daily email service. Poets will receive $100 and a free print magazine subscription. Each week's deadline is Friday midnight PST.
https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/30232/poets-respond-online
🟢 FEB 7 · Apex Magazine Monthly Flash Fiction Contest Submissions open to all for speculative flash fiction until the last day of the month at midnight. Winner will be announced no later than the 15th of the following month and be paid $0.08/word or $10, whichever is more and published on the Apex Magazine Patreon as an exclusive the month following and will be included in the forthcoming issue of Apex Magazine.
https://apexbookcompany.moksha.io/publication/apex-magazine-flash-fiction
⭐ FEB 7 · First Friday - Third Thursday Quick Read features 6 authors each reading a selection of speculative fiction for 8 minutes. There will be time for questions & answers at the end and a giveaway from the authors. This free event hosted by Strong Women - Strange Worlds features Anne E.G. Nydam, JD Rivers, Jennifer Hart, and emcee/host Sarah Smith along with support from authors Anne Nydam and Terri Bruce. Pre-register.
https://strongwomenstrangeworlds.weebly.com/
⭐ FEB 8 · Reading to Write: Before we put words to paper, we started with understanding the words of those who came before us.- Yasmine Dashti Fahmidan's workshops are as little as $5 with pay-what-you-can options up to $25. All workshops will be recorded via Zoom. Check the listing for times.
https://fahmidanjournal.submittable.com/submit/308885/fahmidan-workshops-2024-2025
⭐ FEB 9 · Inspirational Indie Authors podcast with the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and Howard Lovy. Dive deep into personal stories of indie authors, understanding their pathways to success, challenges faced, and lessons learned. 1 pm GMT.
https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/inspirational-indie-author-interviews-podcast/
⭐ FEB 9 · Rattlecast livestreams, is part interview and open mic with a prompt-based open mic. Hangout with Rattle editor Timothy Green and Katie Dozier. Each Rattlecast begins with an interview, a writing prompt, and poets reading from the last week’s prompt. | Rattlecast at 8 pm EST.
⭐ FEB 13 · Writers Circle Join this virtual Science Fiction and Fantasy focused writing group sponsored by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society to workshop your latest WIP, get feedback from fellow local authors and advice on getting your work sold to professional markets from people who've done it! Every second and fourth Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 pm EST. Virtual meetings take place on Zoom.
https://zoom.us/j/91064908740?pwd=TENjZ25HenRNOHhtcHFaRlZnOGE3dz09#success
🔴 FEB 14 · Rattle Magazine’s “Poets Respond” challenge calls for poems inspired by “a news story or public event from the previous week, and has been written in the time since.” Selected poems will appear as the Sunday poem at Rattle.com which appear to over 10,000 people via RSS feed and daily email service. Poets will receive $100 and a free print magazine subscription. Each week's deadline is Friday midnight PST.
https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/30232/poets-respond-online
🔴 FEB 14 · 2025 Next Generation Indie Book Awards is closing to all indie book authors and publishers who have a fiction or nonfiction book, manuscript, or galley proof written in English and released in 2023, 2024 or 2025. First place winner receives a $1,500 cash prize and trophy. See listing for more awards and information. Entry fee is $75 for the first category entered plus $60 for each additional category entered.
https://indiebookawards.com/awarddetails.php
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