Nyx Publishing is currently open for submissions.
Our current calls are:
- Queer Gothic short stories (deadline: February 20th, 2021)
- Holiday stories (ongoing)
Nyx Publishing is closed to all other submissions at the moment, unless requested by us. We are still happy to be contacted for agented inquiries. We will have an open call for submissions again in late February 2021, so do check back regularly.
Current call for submissions: queer Gothic short stories (open until February 20th, 2021)
What we’re looking for
Nyx Publishing is seeking queer Gothic short stories for a sequel to our Unspeakable anthology. We are seeking short stories between 100 and 8,000 words. (We won’t delete your submission if your story is 8,010 words, but do please try to keep to the target length.)
We welcome submissions featuring queerness in a broad sense. This includes perspectives from LGBTQIA+ characters, but also queering of gender and sexuality in a more abstract sense. Our anthologies are explicitly trans-inclusive. We do not require our authors to out themselves or disclose their gender or sexuality to us or anyone else. Pen names or anonymous credits are fine (although we do need your information to sign the contract – which we will not share with anyone).
We love tried-and-true Gothic tropes such as crumbling castles, sketchy families, superstition, confusion over what is real or not, occultism, blurring between life and death. We also love fresh interpretations of the Gothic. Send us your gloomy retellings, genre-mash-ups, or experimental writing. Vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural beasties are welcome.
We highly recommend looking through Unspeakable to see what kind of stories we publish. If you are interested in submitting a story, please do get in touch, and we will send you a PDF of Unspeakable free of cost (no further evidence is needed).
Erotic content is fine, but we don’t seek erotica for this call.
The fine print
- Nyx Publishing is pursuing world-wide publishing rights of your short story in English for a limited time, for print, digital, and audiobook.
- We offer a flat rate of £40 for a story. Like for Unspeakable, we will run a Kickstarter campaign to hopefully increase the amount we can pay.
- Multiple submissions are acceptable.
- Your country of residence does not matter to us – as long as we can find a way to pay you.
- Let us know if you are submitting elsewhere, and if you have been offered a contract.
- Your story needs to be previously unpublished in the English language (which means it hasn’t appeared in another anthology, or been made available in full online like on Wattpad or a blog.) We do accept English translations of previously published work for this call.
- We reserve the right to close this call for submissions at any point in time.
- Due to the volume of submissions, it is likely that we won’t be able to provide individual feedback.
How to submit
To submit your story for consideration, please send your manuscript in .doc or .docx format to submissions[at]nyxpublishing.com, with the subject line GOTHIC SUBMISSION and the title of your manuscript. You can address the email to Celine (no need to be formal). Add your manuscript in .doc or .docx format as an attachment. We prefer a clean 12pt font like Times New Roman or Arial. If you want to save us some time, please only include the title of your story in the document (and no other personal information like your name and address), and use proper indenting (no tabs).
A cover letter is unnecessary. You should receive a confirmation that we have received your manuscript within a week – if not, please do send it again or give us a nudge.
If you have any questions about submitting a story, please direct those questions to submissions[at]nyxpublishing.com as well.
We expect to notify authors of the result of their submission around April/May 2021. Do keep an eye on our website and our Twitter account for updates.
Current call for submissions: holiday stories
What we’re looking for
Nyx Publishing is looking to acquire novellas and novels in which a holiday plays a significant role. This includes religious holidays (for example Passover, Diwali, Eid, Vesak, or Christmas) or secular holidays (New Year’s, national holidays).
For this call we are looking for stories between 20,000 and 120,000 words, contemporary or speculative, that end on a positive note. While the story can include grief, loss, or other difficult topics, we seek stories that are ultimately uplifting.
We are particularly keen to publish stories surrounding non-Christian holidays, and/or featuring protagonists that are traditionally excluded from ‘holiday’ reads. Stories can be romantic, family-focussed, or include found-family or close friendships. We are also very keen to read stories featuring wonderful pets.
Submissions will be open until we reach capacity, and will be considered on a rolling basis. If you haven’t received a decision within two months, do give us a prod. Full disclosure: our general editor is currently finishing her PhD, and might be somewhat slow to respond. Please bear with us 🙂
The fine print
- Nyx Publishing is pursuing world-wide publishing rights in English for a limited time, for print, digital, and audiobook.
- The contract is negotiable. We offer a 50% net sale royalty rate for ebooks and audiobooks and a competitive rate for print rights.
- Multiple submissions are acceptable.
- Your country of residence does not matter to us – as long as we can find a way to pay you.
- Let us know if you are submitting elsewhere, and if you have been offered a contract.
- We also welcome reprints and translations for this call.
- We reserve the right to close this call for submissions at any point in time.
How to submit
To submit your story for consideration, please send your manuscript in .doc or .docx format to submissions[at]nyxpublishing.com, with the subject line HOLIDAY SUBMISSION and the title of your manuscript. You can address the email to Celine (no need to be formal). Add your manuscript in .doc or .docx format as an attachment. We prefer a clean 12pt font like Times New Roman or Arial. If you want to save us some time, please only include the title of your story in the document (and no other personal information like your name and address), and use proper indenting (no tabs).
Please include a short summary of your story in the body of your email. You don’t have to overthink it, as we assess stories by themselves. A cover letter is unnecessary. You should receive a confirmation that we have received your manuscript within a week – if not, please do send it again or give us a nudge.
If you have any questions about submitting a story, please direct those questions to submissions[at]nyxpublishing.com as well.