Posts Tagged ‘submission call’

Announcing our call for submissions for Banned Books Week 2025!

Every year in September, Cast of Wonders celebrates Banned Books Week, an annual international event celebrating the freedom to read and raising awareness of the immense social value of free and open access to information.

Free a book butterflies freedom illustration

Joy that Sustains

 

It’s all too easy to doom-scroll these days. The world is facing a climate emergency amidst a global rise in fascism and prejudice.

For Banned Books Week 2025, we want to see stories of irrepressible joy. Show us the sparks that cannot be extinguished, the many facets of humanity in all its splendour. We are looking for stories that showcase the hopefulness and power of diverse voices, stories of music in dark times, stories that are unapologetic and inspiring.

At Cast of Wonders, we welcome stories that portray the full spectrum of human experience. We don’t challenge stories; we want stories to challenge us! Cast of Wonders looks for stories that evoke a sense of wonder, have deep emotional resonance, and have something unreal about them. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending stories with wide appeal, and without gratuitous or explicit sex, violence, or pervasive obscene language.

Preference for this submission window is under 5,000 words with an absolute limit of 6,000 words. Flash submissions under 1.5k are also very welcome!

Submissions must adhere to Cast of Wonders guidelines, and our standard rates apply (8c/word for original fiction, $20/$100 for reprints depending on length).  Submissions will be accepted from May 15-31 through our Moksha Portal – we can’t wait to read what you send in!

https://escapeartists.moksha.io/publication/cast-of-wonders/banned-books-week-2025/submit

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

Call for Submissions – seasonal stories

Cast of Wonders will be open to submissions of seasonal stories from the 1st-14th March 2025.

What’s a seasonal story?

This is our submission window for special dates throughout the year. Christmas, Valentines, Pride, Halloween, International Workers’ Day, Speak-like-a-Pirate Day, or any other date which is particularly meaningful to you or other people. These can be serious dates of remembrance or celebration, or more frivolous events (apparently 2nd May is World Tuna Day? Must remember to celebrate that with CatsCast!)

We’re specifically looking for our Christmas and Halloween stories for 2025, but will be open to submissions targeted towards other dates of interest.

Reprints or originals? Length?

Yes to both! Shorter fiction has slightly better odds than longer pieces owing to budgeting constraints.

Where can I submit?

Check out our full guidelines here. Our Moksha portal will appear here at the end of February.

 

Halloween 2024 submissions

Our next submissions window will be a themed call for Halloween stories. We’re looking for shorter pieces this year, covering a range of genres and themes that would also appeal to the audiences of our sister publications. So, that means…

Terrifying cats!
Kids battling tentacles!
Magic pumpkins!
Creepy space shenanigans!

…and almost anything else you can think of.  The key ingredient, as always, is speculative fiction that suits a teen+ audience.  We’d like all the stories to have a clear connection to Halloween, whether the festival itself, the traditions of tricks/treating, or just spooky genre tropes.

We’ve got a 3000 word limit on these submissions, but on the plus side we’re also looking to accept several different pieces for our Halloween event.  We’ll be open to submissions during the first two weeks of February via our Moksha Portal. Do check our submissions guidelines page as well and remember to anonymise all submissions!

Open For (Story) Business November 15th!

The gates are prepped, the clock is ticking down; Cast of Wonders opens to general submissions on November 15th!

Brush up on the submission guidelines and send us your best up to 6000 word story from mid-November through the end of December.

And if you’re an author who likes to plan further ahead, check out our annual schedule. It covers when we’re planning to run our special calls and general windows in 2018.

We look forward to reading your work!

Marguerite, Dani, Katherine,
and the entire Cast of Wonders crew

Text Against Tyranny: Banned Books Week 2017

There have always been times when facts are questioned and truths threatened. When reality is malleable, and people’s opinions are not. When freedom becomes an excuse for persecution, and we’re told to fear the faces of our friends.

September 24 to September 30 is Banned Books Week, an annual international event celebrating the freedom to read and raising awareness of the immense social value of free and open access to information. To celebrate, Cast of Wonders is continuing its tradition of holding a specific submission call for new YA fiction to air that week.

2017’s theme is Text Against Tyranny: the stories some would silence, and the power of literature, in all its forms, to enlighten humanity’s darkest hours.

What We’re Looking For

It’s said that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will start believing it – stories are no exception.

In times of seismic change, the stories that matter are the ones that enrich, inspire and support us… or simply give us the strength to carry on.  We’re looking for stories of survival in difficult times, when being true to yourself can be the most dangerous choice you make.  Stories of protest – subtle or overt. We want stories that have the courage and will to change the lives and worlds of their characters… and our own.  Send us unheard voices in unexpected places — tales that transform, and truths that define.

The stories we’re looking for might not have happy endings. Sometimes it’s the journey that matters, or the path forged for others to follow. Unknowable splattery horror and slapstick comedic romps will be hard sells. Stories that focus on silencing, marginalizing or suppressing the rights of others will be summarily rejected. Religious themes are welcome but must not present as dogmatic. Political themes are strongly encouraged – soapboxes are not.

You can find detailed submission guidelines, timeline, and previous year’s stories on our Banned Books Week page.

Writers, Start Your Engines: Submission Call Alert

September 25 through October 1st is Banned Book Week, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and raising awareness of the immense social value of free and open access to information. We’ve run special episodes spotlighting the event in the past, such as Alex Shvartsman’s The Things We Leave Behind.

To celebrate, later this year (tentatively scheduled for April/May), Cast of Wonders will hold a specific submission call for new YA stories focusing on themes of overcoming censorship, access to information and the transformative power of literature in all its forms.

Full details will be availaible before the submission window opens and will include:

  • Two week submission window to be announced in April or May 2016
  • New stories only
  • Open to both flash and short fiction
  • Our regular pay rates ($0.06/word), submission guidelines and contractual terms will apply
  • We plan to purchase up to seven stories to showcase the week

We hope this inspires you, and we can’t wait to see your stories!

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