Open Calls 2025

OPEN SUBMISSION CALLS FOR RACONTEUR PRESS, 2025

Guidelines for all our anthologies (psst! this is important!):

5,000 to 8,000 words. Length and genre are negotiable, as long as the story fits the concept and is entertaining. Any submission must be in Times New Roman (preferred, but you can use Georgian or other readable font), 12PT, double-spaced, with your name, title of the story, and your email on it. Name the file as [STORYTITLE]-[YOURLASTNAME]—[ANTHOLOGYTITLE]. Send it in a .docx format as an attachment—no links. Refer to the submission guideline graphic below for how to format your story—It has all the information you need! Feel free to download it for reference.

Raconteur Press will hold the rights for one year after publication; after one year, the rights will revert to the author, but we continue to pay you as long as the anthology is selling. Authors receive an equal percentage share of the proceeds from the anthology, along with the Press, our editors, and administration. Yes, you read that right. We don’t take 80% off the top and split the 20% left over between all the authors. We’re all in this together. This is why our anthologies are limited to ten stories.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE do NOT submit stories until the date the call opens. We don’t want to hang on to your piece for longer than necessary. You might find another market for it, or it decides to grow into a novel, or...so go ahead and write it, but tuck it away, and revisit it before submitting. 

Raconteur Press uses Pubshare (pubshare.com) to distribute payments and handle tax forms for anthology authors, so authors who contribute must have a free Pubshare account.

IMPORTANT: when you set up your Pubshare account, you MUST choose the method by which you want to receive your royalties. There are currently two choices: PayPal at the beginning of each month, or paper cheque each quarter. BE SURE that you have chosen a method of payment and input the required information. If you don’t, Pubshare will hang onto your royalties until you choose a method of payment and input the required information.

DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION IMPORTANT: One story submission per anthology. And the counting of submissions shall be one submission. The number of submissions shall not be two. Three is right out.

Submit to: racpresssubmissions[at]gmail.com

Questions about our publishing schedules can be addressed to Production[at]raconteurpress.com.

Finally, if you want to ensure your manuscript is read and is seriously considered for publication, read this.

• Printable schedule and open call list of 2025 anthologies can be downloaded here.

Here we are announcing all the cool anthologies for 2025!

Wyrd West - Rawhide Revenants
Edited by Nick Nethery

Closed! Wyrd on the way!

Opens: 02/01/25
Closes: 04/06/25
Contracts: 04/19/25
Publication: 05/16/25

Mad Science!
With guest editor Dave Freer!

Stories exploring fringe science and its consequences. Unhinged researchers push the boundaries of our perception of reality. Clone armies! Eccentric experiments! Doomsday devices! Abbie Normal! Flip the switch!

Don’t forget your homework!

Opens: 03/01/25
Closes: 05/04/25
Contracts: 05/12/25
Publication: 06/13/25

Goblin Souk
Edited by Cedar Sanderson

The Roc’s egg, the djinn’s twist, the heat and dust of the Middle East settling over the brilliant jeweled silken splendor of the marketplace. More tales of deals made across the thin gossamer boundaries between our world and the other. Be sure to do your homework!

Opens: 03/15/25
Closes: 05/18/25
Contracts: 05/31/25
Publication: 06/27/25

Vice Noir
Edited by LawDog

Noir in the 1980s. Glitz, glamour, neon, synthpop, and blood slowly leaking over the pulsing lighted tiles of the nightclubs. Miami’s vices, viewed through noir-colored glasses. Do your homework!

Opens: 04/12/25
Closes: 06/01/25
Contracts: 06/14/25
Publication: 07/11/25

Artifact Origins
With guest editor John M. Olsen!

Have you ever wondered where all those odd magical artifacts come from in fantasy novels? Stories describe everything from weird trinkets to devices with world-ending importance. We want fantasy stories about eccentric alchemists, quirky witches, and genius wizards without a lick of common sense as they create the stuff of legends. Make your artifacts fun, whimsical, and dangerous beyond all reason. Oh yeah, we’ve got homework for this one.

Opens: 04/26/25
Closes: 06/15/25
Contracts: 06/28/25
Publication: 07/25/25

Alien Family Values - Chosen Kindred
With guest editor Sandra Medlock!

In the midst of war, family life goes on, taking new form as adoptions, fosters, and blood relatives all choose love over conflict. Disruptions leave civilizations reeling in the wake of battles, while homes shelter aliens, humans, any species that need succor.

Tell us the stories of how this happens, who is involved, what the consequences will be, and why it came to be that this choice was the best possible outcome.

From Sandra: “I’d like to focus on positive stories for this volume—a family emphasis, but one that doesn’t go dark. Pretty close to what we had in the first, but a feel-good, family-first vibe.”

Opens: 05/10/25
Closes: 06/29/25
Contracts: 07/12/25
Publication: 08/08/25

Blades & Black Magic
With Guest Editor Jason M. Waltz

Barbarians! Battles! Babes! Swords, sorcerers, and saucy wenches. These are the days of high adventure! Pay tribute to the likes of Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber, or the post-apocalyptic science-fantasy of Thundarr the Barbarian and Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards. Answer the age-old question: “What is best in life?” And by Crom, do your homework!

Opens: 05/24/25
Closes: 07/13/25
Contracts: 07/26/25
Publication: 08/22/25

Moggies of Mars
Sword & Planet Adventures Edited by Rita Beeman

The mighty warriors of a planet fur, fur, away wield edged weapons and radium guns in their unceasing battles for the diminishing resources of a vanishing civilization. The kittens cry out for water, and the princesses fight alongside their mates to provide it for them. Moggies of Mars is a loving tribute to the Barsoom series of Edgar Rice Burroughs, but we want you to explore the moons, the planets, and the canals that never were in your sword-and-sorcery tales of noble courage and purrest loves! Don’t forget your homework!

Opens: 06/07/25
Closes: 07/27/25
Contracts: 08/09/25
Publication: 09/05/25

Planks & Plunder
Edited by Sarah Clithero

Ghost ships, cursed treasures in ancient tombs guarded by legendary creatures, and haunted lost islands. Pirates and the people who fight them, with magical or supernatural themes. Not limited to fantasy. Arrgh!

Opens: 06/21/25
Closes: 08/10/25
Contracts: 08/23/25
Publication: 09/19/25

Glitched Grimm
With guest editor Steve Diamond!

Cinderella was an anarchist trying to murder the prince, and her step-family is trying to prevent her from pulling it off. Robin Hood really is the vicious bandit the Sheriff says, only robbing from the rich to give to himself. Snow White is the leader of a terrorist cell, and the queen and her huntsman are only trying to capture her and her evil dwarves before they can conduct a horrible attack. Little Red Riding Hood is trying to con Granny out of her retirement, and the Wolf is the misunderstood PI doing his best. These stories take the usual fairy tales and turn them on their head.

Opens: 07/05/25
Closes: 08/24/25
Contracts: 09/06/25
Publication: 10/03/25

It Came From The Pulp - Creature Features
Edited by Spearman Burke

Stories about monsters with a retro feel. Tales in the vein of Roger Corman, Harry Harryhausen, Christopher Lee, Bob Wilkins, and so on. Giant killer kaijus! Genetic experiments! A creature feature of tentacles, gill-men, and were-beasts! Are those skeletons walking around? Oh my!

Opens: 07/19/25
Closes: 09/07/25
Contracts: 09/20/25
Publication: 10/17/25

Mercs and Mayhem
Edited by Nick Nethery

Stories about mercenaries and their adventures. Think Black Company, Hammer’s Slammers, Strange Company, Jon Sable, Phule’s Company, some cranially-iffy guy named Roland, and so on. Mercenaries aren’t obligated to maintain the same moral/ethical standards a soldier is expected to. They may also be the only ones able to pull off a mission when the uniformed military is unable to do so. Not limited to a specific timeframe or setting. This could be futuristic power-suited space mercs, modern-day soldiers of fortune, or Scottish mercenaries at Nördlingen in the 1630s.

Opens: 08/02/25
Closes: 09/21/25
Contracts: 10/04/25
Publication: 10/31/25

Bourbon and Lead - Dime Detective Stories
Edited by D. Jason Fleming (Deej)!

The early pulp magazines and books may have cost a dime, but these detectives need more than that to keep body and soul together. They were the gumshoes, the flat-feet, who used old-fashioned persistence and a healthy dose of common sense to track down clues and close the net on the perpetrators. Read Frederic Brown’s The Fabulous Clipjoint and you’ll have a clue to what we’re looking for. Men whose gruff exterior hid a soft heart and a sharp mind, they were not noir, they were something uniquely American, classless, and driven by a desire for justice—but not at all costs. They got their man, or woman, in the end.

Opens: 08/16/25
Closes: 10/05/25
Contracts: 10/18/25
Publication: 11/14/25

Pinup Noir - High Class Muscle
With high-class guest editor Sam Robb!

The ladies have had their turn. Now it’s time for stories about those fellas who place themselves between the hazard and the helpless. Reluctantly or not, they’ll uphold their moral code, even if it costs them.

Opens: 09/13/25
Closes: 11/02/25
Contracts: 11/15/25
Publication: 12/12/25

Uncanny Valet
Edited by Rita Beeman

Robots, androids, drones. Stories about life with our synthetic helpers. Does artificial intelligence lead to artificial emotions? What happens when your kid wants to grow up to be just like his droid? Automatons with attitude.

Opens: 09/27/25
Closes: 11/16/25
Contracts: 11/29/25
Publication: 12/26/25

CAUTION: Void where prohibited by law (also Dragon Con). May contain live badgers, Albino Brain Chiggers, engine squirrels, six-fingered cowboys and/or tree nuts. Side effects are uncommon and may include spontaneous attraction to AI cover art, Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny, diabeetus, Sudden Unexplained Urge to Write Short Fiction (SUUWSF), the ability to commune with dolphins, Dallas Mouth, and a spastic colon. If sudden death lasts longer than four hours, consult a medical professional. If other symptoms last longer than 72 hours, check your author email—WHICH YOU SHOULD BE DOING, ANYWAY.