DARK MOON DIGEST
Short Story Submissions
Dark Moon Digest Is looking for quality short stories for future issues of our publication. Any genre will be accepted as long as it is in the horror genre. There are no deadlines to this call for submissions as stories will be selected for future issues of Dark Moon Digest, so submit at your leisure.
This contest is open to all writers, published or unpublished.
The story style does not matter. It can be anything from a slasher type story (although we have to admit right up front, those are not our favorites) to a humorous tale or anything in between. But most importantly, it must be an entertaining horror short story. We must want to turn that page to see what happens next in the story and how things end. Oh, and don’t forget scary. That is, perhaps, the most important consideration.
Here are the rest of the rules:
- DEADLINE: There is no submission deadline. Stories will be reviewed as they are submitted for future issues of Dark Moon Digest.
- PAYMENT: Authors will receive $10.00 and a copy of the issue of DARK MOON DIGEST in which their story appears. (Authors entering contests should read specific contest rules, guidelines and prizes. This applies to all short stories and articles, but does not apply to flash fiction and micro-fiction submissions. See those specific pages for details regarding those categories.)
- ENTRY FEE: There is no entry fee for short story submissions.
- All short stories must be submitted by the author holding the copyright. (If your short story is not copyrighted, don’t worry. Copyright laws protect your work from the moment you started writing it. Check here for more information on copyrights.)
- Your horror short story must be previously unpublished in print format unless you still hold the copyright. (You must inform us if a story has previously been published and where it was published so we can verify who holds the copyright.) Online publication is okay as long as you hold the copyright and are not bound by exclusivity to any person, party or website.
- By submitting your horror short fiction work to this contest, you are giving us First North American Serial Rights and the permission to possibly publish the work in our annual anthology. (Dark Moon Books plans to publish a yearly anthology which will contain the best stories published in Dark Moon Digest.) You keep all other rights including the original copyright. Stories published in either the magazine or the anthology will carry notices which stipulate the copyright resides with the author. (NOTE: If your submission has previously appeared in another publication or anthology, we will discuss publication rights with you.)
- All submissions should be a minimum of 1,000 words and should not exceed 4,000 words. This is not a strict guideline, but anything differing from these figures should be the exception rather than the rule. Remember, your story could be rejected simply because it is excessively long. (Flash fiction should not exceed 500 words and micro-fiction should not exceed 50 words.)
- You may withdraw your short story from consideration at any point, but this request must be made in writing (e-mail acceptable).
- Entrants selected for publication will be contacted prior to publication with further instructions. There are some instances in which we might ask the author for a re-write (with suggestions) if we think it would improve the story and its chances of being published. We also edit stories selected for publication, but send edited stories back to authors for final approval of edits.)
HOW TO ENTER:
Submit all stories via e-mail to HorrorQuarterly@gmail.com" style="color: #A7B3E3; text-decoration: underline;"> HorrorQuarterly@gmail.com as an attachment in either Word (.doc) or rich text format. Please use “Horror Short Story Submission” in your subject line. No queries are required.
- Include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address on the first page of your short story and in your e-mail. Do not use headers or add page numbering.
- Please use a serif type to format your short story. (i.e. Times Roman, Georgia, Garamond, Courier).
Inquires and questions should be directed to HorrorQuarterly@gmail.com" style="color: #A7B3E3; text-decoration: underline;"> HorrorQuarterly@gmail.com.
Good luck and have fun, but stay scared!