5 Legacy Mags Acquired by 1 Paragraph, Inc.
Authortunities #103 │March 1 — 29
The big news being discussed this week was the purchase of Asimov's Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine—have been acquired by 1 Paragraph, Inc., a Florida-based investment group I couldn’t find a website for.
I was surprised to learn the five, who I had always assumed were independently published, were already part of part of a larger corporate structure containing 85 other magazines and more than 60 puzzle books under Penny Publications.
What does this acquisition mean for smaller, independently published magazines like Space and Time? I don’t know that it changes much. Indie publishing has always been about doing more with less. Back in 2020 our publication almost shut down due to missing shipments. I was standing in food pantry lines so I could use our grocery money to pay for poetry, prose, and art.*
We survived and flash forward five years: we are talking about creating Space and Time Flash, a monthly semi-pro flash publication. In the larger picture, I’m not sure 1 Paragraph acquiring these legacy pubs changes much at all. Indies have always created on the fringes, cobbling together pennies to pay for dreams.
When we thank our supporters, we really mean thank you for keeping us alive.
*I still feel guilty about this. Many people were in line because they had zero money for food. Others were in line so they could afford car payments. I had a choice between closing Space and Time or groceries. Art might seem like a luxury to some, but in my mind it was and is essential. Right or wrong, it was the choice I made at the time, and would make again.
🌳In the NeighborHub
Jordan Francis is holding back to back open mic events on the Hub this weekend. The first is 7:30 pm with the theme: posthumous. The second, a regular bi-weekly event, will be Sunday at 8 pm. All times in Eastern.
Here is your free ticket to join.
🌳Authortunities Press-ing Matters
Currently we are reading Space and Time slush as fast as we can. The upcoming Space and Time Flash is in progress. 14 Spooky Stories for Boys and Girls is still in edits. Our Coven of the East: Reclaiming Asian Women’s Magical Histories is officially closed so we can start reading.
🌳In Other News…
Social media without the madness! I just polished up my personal social media system to share. This is how I send out 12 social media posts in less than 5 minutes a day and save my braincells for writing. Content takes me less than an hour a week and no, I am not using AI. It’s actually easier than that. Use solo, with teams and customize to your needs. All templates included. You can buy it now for $8.88.
Free to read! Sailing In Dark Waters by Jordan Francis is a powerful collection of poems dealing with mental health issues, faith and the struggles that come along with these. Free from March 1-5. Get your poetry fix here.
Want to know more about the 5 Legacy Pub takeover I opened this newsletter with? There isn’t a lot of info on it right now, but here’s my a Ko-fi post with what I know.
Another great round up from
, including a sweet shout. Read “What Every Author Needs to Know About Reviews” here.Authortunities may contain affiliate links that might earn a small fee at no extra cost to you. Any comments, questions, compliments or concerns?
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 for submissions
🔴 closing to submissions
🚀 fiction prose
📖 nonfiction
🪶 poetry
🎨 visual art
♻️ reprints
🏆 awards, contests & grants
⭐ learning, performing & networking
🟢📖🚀🪶 MAR 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
🟢🚀 MAR 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: Colour Your World with Kobo Writing Life 🌈.
https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/
🟢📖🚀🪶 MAR 1 · BookLife is open until April 1 for submissions of self-published books related to humor and satire 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 books related to travel, global culture, and food.
https://booklife.com/about-us/booklife-s-indie-spotlight.html
🟢🚀🪶🏆 MAR 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
🟢📖🚀 MAR 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
🟢📖🚀 MAR 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/
🟢🪶 MAR 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/
🟢🪶 MAR 1 · Strange Horizons is open until March 31 for speculative poetry with AJ Odasso (they/them/theirs) as March’s editor. Payment is $50 USD per poem, regardless of length or complexity.
http://strangehorizons.com/submit/poetry-submission-guidelines/
🟢📖🚀🪶 MAR 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
🟢🚀♻️ MAR 1 · Modern Mummies Anthology from Cat Eye Press is open until March 15 exclusively for BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, Disabled, Neurodiverse, and other underrepresented voices with short fiction that updates the “mummy genre” from 1,500 - 5,000 words. There will be a March 1—15 submission window exclusively for BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, Disabled, Neurodiverse, and other underrepresented voices. Payment is $0.05 USD per word; $0.01 for reprints.
https://www.cateyepress.com/submissions
🟢🚀 MAR 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
🟢🚀 MAR 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/
🔴📖🚀🪶🎨♻️ MAR 1 · THEMA, a theme-related journal that serves as source material and inspiration for teachers of creative writing, is closing for fiction, nonfiction, poetry and visual art on the theme of “The Lost Sock.” US residents submit by postal mail, electronic submissions for international. Payment is USD $10 for fiction under 1,000 words; $25 for longer stories, $25 for essays and $10 per piece for poems and visual art.
https://themaliterarysociety.com/submissions.html
🔴🚀 MAR 1 · The Joining: Scenes of Wedding Terror is closing for horror stories between 2,500 and 5,000 words in length concerning the rite of matrimony. Stories “need not concern only the event itself. They might take place at any time, so long as nuptials are central to the narrative.” Payment is .02 per word.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xVEpj9Mg2JebvkDObUIeVYc9VC-vxlVyxrSn-pqGJ-M/edit?usp=sharing
🔴📖🚀🪶 MAR 1 · SUSPECT Journal's Themed Portfolio: Eco is closing for submissions exploring the theme of "Eco-" for a special portfolio scheduled for publication starting June 5, 2025 to commemorate World Environment Day. They accept fiction and essays (up to 6,500 words) or poetry (up to 10 pages) from authors who identify as Asian. Payment is $100 USD per accepted contribution.
https://singaporeunbound.org/opp/eco
🔴🚀 MAR 1 · Book XI, is a journal of literary philosophy, is closing for creative writing and philosophical reflection “that draws on, addresses, or illuminates broadly philosophical themes.” Payment is $200 USD per piece, $50 per poem.
🔴📖🚀🪶🎨 MAR 1 · IHRAM magazine, a project of the International Human Rights Art Movement, is closing for fiction, nonfiction, poetry and visual art written to the theme “The Evolving Gaze: Society’s Voice for Masculinity.” Payment is $50 USD per piece, $25 for visual art.
https://humanrightsartmovement.org/ihraf-publishes
🔴🚀🎨 MAR 1 · Bikes in Space Anthology, a project of Microcosm Publishing, is closing for fiction and visual art featuring feminist bicycle science fiction with the theme “Disability & Bikes in Space.” Payment is USD $50 minimum.
https://duotrope.com/anthology/bikes-in-space-anthology-series-16112
🔴📖🏆 MAR 1 · Intrepid Times’ Pilgrimages Writing Competition is closing for narrative nonfiction from 1,200 - 1,800 words. Open to a variety of styles, including literary and personal. Winning writer will be paid $300 USD and have their original story and accompanying photographs published in Intrepid Times. Up to four runners-up will also be selected for publication at their standard article rates of $100.
https://intrepidtimes.com/pilgrimages-2025-travel-writing-competition-now-open/
🔴🪶🏆 MAR 1 · Deep Wild Graduate Student Poetry Contest is closing for “up to four pages of poetry or up to 3,000 words of prose” from currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students. authors will receive cash awards and five copies of the journal. The 1st Place prize is $200, 2nd Place $100, and 3rd Place $50.
https://deepwildjournal.submittable.com/submit
🪶⭐ MAR 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.
🔴📖🚀🎨♻️ MAR 3 · Collaborature Monthly Contest is open until the 17th of the month for fiction and poetry “written by more than one author or include a collaboration of two people (i.e., art and poetry).” Reprints are allowed. Payment is $20 USD.
https://collaborature.blogspot.com/p/contests.html
⭐ MAR 5-8 · Women in Publishing Summit is the biggest 4-day, online conference for women, and those who identify as women, in publishing. Our community and conference helps aspiring and published authors grow their craft, and publishing professionals expand their network and skills. Tickets cost $147, virtual event.
https://womeninpublishingsummit.com/
🔴📖🚀🪶🎨 MAR 6 · Talk Vomit is closing for fiction, nonfiction, poetry and visual art in a variety of styles, including humorous and literary to the theme of “The call is coming from inside the house.” Pay ranges from USD $10-30 for prose and $5-15 for poetry.
https://talkvomit.com/submissions/
🔴🪶 MAR 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
🟢🚀 MAR 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
🚀⭐ MAR 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 Ennis Rook Bashe, Kristina W. Kelly, Jody Lynn Nye, Shantell Powell, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, and Angela Sylvaine and emcee/host Sarah Smith along with support from authors Anne Nydam and Terri Bruce. Pre-register.
https://strongwomenstrangeworlds.weebly.com/
🔴🚀🪶🎨 MAR 8 · subTerrain magazine is closing for “a stimulating fusion of fiction, poetry, photography and graphic illustration” to the theme of “dreams.” This project charges fees (or requires purchases) for some submissions so please check their guidelines carefully before submitting.
https://subterrain.ca/about/35/sub-terrain-writer-s-guidelines
⭐ MAR 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/
🪶⭐ MAR 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.
🔴📖🚀🪶 MAR 10 · Mslexia Magazine is closing for fiction, nonfiction and poetry written by women on the theme of “Snakes.” There are 25 ways of submitting to Mslexia and length, form, and theme requirements vary. As always, check their guidelines before submitting. Payments vary with a minimum of GBP £30.
https://mslexia.co.uk/submit-your-work/
🔴🏆 MAR 10 · The Scholarship From Hell, the only scholarship offered by HWA that puts the recipient right into the intensive, hands-on workshop environment of Horror University, is closing. The winner will receive domestic coach airfare (contiguous 48 states) to and from the StokerCon venue, $50 for luggage reimbursement, a 3-night stay at the convention, free registration to StokerCon, and HU workshops.
https://horrorscholarships.com/the-scholarship-from-hell/
🚀⭐ MAR 10-31 · The Influence of Mike Flanagan on Horror and Gothic Fiction This four week course, which includes creative writing tasks throughout, focuses on Mike Flanagan's extensive catalogue of work, with a particular focus on his Netflix originals (The Fall of the House of Usher, The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass). From his ability to utilise and rewrite the Gothic woman trope to his carefully constructed atmosphere, incredible jump scares of misdirection and his use of abject horror; we will look at what lessons his work holds to inform and develop our own pieces. Taught by Dr Charlotte Baker, an author and associate lecturer, with an interest in crime, horror and dark romance. From £43.37. Check the listing for times.
🔴🪶 MAR 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
🔴🪶 MAR 15 · Eye to the Telescope, a project of Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA), is closing for speculative poetry. Each issue is guest-edited, and submission guidelines will vary for each issue. Payment USD $0.04/word, rounded to nearest dollar; min. $4, max. $25.
https://www.eyetothetelescope.com/submit.html
🔴📖🚀🪶🎨 MAR 15 · kitchen work, a printed journal of food and the table, is closing for fiction, nonfiction, poetry and art on “big kitchens and small kitchens, about cooking, the business of food and the state of restaurants, about family and friends and strangers. What and how we eat and drink.” Current theme is “cities.” Payment is USD $0.20/word, $100 per visual piece.
https://www.kitchenwork.com/submissions
🔴🚀♻️ MAR 15 · Solstitia, a project of Fiction Fans Podcast, is closing for fiction from Flash to Novella length, nonfiction, poetry and visual art that “celebrates all things genre.” Current theme is “Coffeeshop!AU.” Payment: USD $50 per piece.
https://www.fictionfanspodcast.com/solstitia
🔴📖🚀🪶 MAR 15 · Fahmidan Journal's Summer Issue submissions close for poetry and fiction and nonfiction prose. Payment: USD $25 per piece.
https://www.fahmidan.net/journal-submissions
🔴🚀♻️ MAR 15 · Modern Mummies Anthology from Cat Eye Press is closing their call exclusively for BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, Disabled, Neurodiverse, and other underrepresented voices with short fiction that updates the “mummy genre” from 1,500 - 5,000 words. There will be a March 1—15 submission window exclusively for BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, Disabled, Neurodiverse, and other underrepresented voices. Payment is $0.05 USD per word; $0.01 for reprints.
https://www.cateyepress.com/submissions
✨ 🗓️ From this point on, exclusive access to upcoming weeks and always-open markets are a special perk for my amazing paid subscribers as a thank you for your support. 🌟
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Authortunities with Angela Yuriko Smith to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.