Deadly Love Submission Guidelines

August 19, 2021 update.

All contracts are complete. Rejections were sent for all valid submissions. If you did not receive a rejection, it may be too late to check your spam folder. However, since contracts are complete, you can conclude your story was not selected if you did not receive a rejection in your inbox. We received over 450 submissions, including many excellent stories, and wish you the best as you search for a home for your story.

Please also note: some people sent Deadly Love submissions to the email address for The Dead Inside, which those editors noted while doing their submission reviews. However, stories for Deadly Love had already been selected and contracted by that time.

Please note, it’s clearly stated on our submissions page that if you had queries about the status of your submission, you were asked to send that query as a reply to your original submission. Different editors work on different projects. It is not their responsibility to forward correspondence or track down answers for different projects, and it was a straightforward request.

Please have continued to send queries as separate emails, to different email addresses. These queries have not and will not receive replies. Many writers invalidated their submissions by ignoring submission guidelines, and we will not ask editors to give up their time to accommodate writers who can’t or won’t follow simple instructions.

Since the contracts for this project are complete, we’re only responding to correspondence from the contracted writers for Deadly Love. Thank you.

The second issue of Dark Dispatch will be a themed issue, featuring stories on Deadly Love. Let your mind wander to the dark places and share your horror love stories about relationships gone wrong. This submission call opens May 5, and will be open until July 9, 2021.

Submission Guidelines

Opens May 5 to submissions of original works focusing on the theme of deadly love.

Clarification: romantic horror should be an element in the story. It should focus on love gone wrong. The stories can fall within the dark fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and crime genres.

Submission window closes July 9 at midnight EDST. We accept submission of the following:

• Two-Sentence Stories
• Flash Fiction (we favor submissions 300 to 999 words in length)
• Short Stories (we prefer submissions 2,000 to 5,000 words in length)

Pay:

• Two-Sentence Stories: $10
• Flash Fiction: $25 per story
• Short Stories: $50 per story

Reprints will be considered on a case by case basis and will be subject to a different pay rate.

Submission format for original unpublished works:

All submissions should be attached as .doc or .docx files. – .rtf and PDF files will not be read.

All submissions should use Times/Times New Roman/Courier New font.

Text should be in black ink, text size should be 12pt, and the file should not display editing changes or comments.

The email’s subject line should have the type of content-submission title-author’s name-word count-submission date. For example, if Windbags McBlowhard is submitting a 2,200-word story called Foul Wind, their subject line should read as follows:

Short Story-Foul Wind-Windbags McBlowhard-2,200-May 16

The email should include the following:

• Paypal address
• 50-100 word bio written in third person

A pitch or summary of unpublished submissions is not required. (We prefer brief emails.)

Submissions should be emailed to [email protected]

We accept simultaneous submissions but ask you to notify us immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere for publication.

Do not submit unpublished content that’s already under contract for publication.

Writers may submit two pieces in total. If you submit more than two pieces your submissions may all be disqualified from consideration.

Submission format for previously published works should follow the standard submission guidelines above, with two exceptions. The subject line should add -reprint to the end of the other requested information. Also, in the body of your email, include one paragraph explaining where the work was previously published, when it was previously published, and include 2-3 sentences covering the content topic. You should also make it clear you have the right to republish the work in *September 2021. If your prior publishing contract prohibits you from republishing the work by then, do not submit it. 

All payments will be made via Paypal. You must have a verified Paypal account to receive payment. 

Please note:

We won’t consider publishing sexual violence, extreme violence, derogatory language, hateful and harmful language directed towards groups, people, or belief systems. Strong content must serve the story.

Editor: Destinee Schriner

• *please note this correction – the text previously stated ‘November’ but the intended publication for Deadly Love is early fall.