Please note: Per the submission guidelines below, the submission window closed on June 22, 2022. Submissions received after this date will not be considered. All writers who submitted during the submission window should receive a confirmation email no later than June 25, 2022.

******* Closed Call Info Below ******

Dark Dispatch is open to submission of dark flash fiction, short stories, and novelettes from February 10, 2022 until June 22, 2022.

Dark fiction includes horror, dark fantasy, sci-fi, and crime. Dark Dispatch favors speculative fiction.

Theme:

Outsiders. People othered, excluded, shunned, cast aside. Societies excluded from the mainstream.

Guidelines:

Writers should follow the submission guidelines posted here.

Final decisions should be expected no later than July 31, 2022.

Writers should not query about the status of their story before August 2022.

All correspondence about a submission should be sent as a response to the submission to ensure we follow up with the right sub. Sending separate correspondence may result in a delayed response. We will not respond to status update queries sent before August 2022.

The Summer issue is not open to reprints.

Payment:

Flash Fiction: $25 flat rate

Short Stories: $50 flat rate

Novelettes: $75 flat rate

Payment rate is based on final word count after editing.

Editor

Submissions should be addressed to Sandra Ruttan

Multiple Submissions

Writers may submit two works in total, not per length category. If you send a short story, you may send another short story, a novelette, or a flash fiction story. You cannot send two for each length category. All submissions will be disqualified from consideration if a writer sends three or more.

Pro Tip

I strongly encourage you to download and read Deadly Love before submitting, or wait and read The Dead Inside. Submitting on day one offers no advantage, but understanding the editor’s content preferences can help you choose the right stories to fit this submission call.

Withdrawing Submissions

Send your withdrawal as a response to your original submission. Just keeping it real, when people don’t withdraw subs that have been accepted elsewhere, it can waste a lot of our time. And that might make us grumbly enough to remember your name unfavorably. Out of respect to authors, we welcome simultaneous submissions. We simply ask authors let us know if they’re withdrawing a story, and do so in a way that ensures the correct submission is withdrawn. (You’d be amazed at how difficult it is to know which sub to withdraw if a person has multiple subs or used a different email address for their sub and doesn’t ID their sub in their withdrawal email. And I don’t think anyone would be amazed at how frustrating it is to try to chase basic information they should have included with their withdrawal. If you don’t send the withdrawal as a response to the submission, it won’t be withdrawn. And if we offer acceptance and find out it’s been published, we will remember next time you submit.)