Eric J. Guignard's Blog, page 5

I'll be at Comic-Con San Diego this weekend!

I'll be at Comic-Con SanDiego this weekend!!!

Who else will be there? Come by and say "hi"!

Here's my schedule:

• Panelist on “How To Use Hypnotic Language For Dynamic Storytelling”

Friday, July 26
6 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
San Diego ComicCon Room 11

• Panelist on “Uncanny Frontiers: A Guide to the Weird West”
Saturday, 7/27
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Omni San Diego Hotel, Omni Grand Ballroom DE, 4th Floor

• Signing Books!
Saturday, 7/27
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
SAILS Pavillion (#AA09)

• HWA Writers’ Meet-up (open to all!)
Saturday, 7/27
5:00 p.m. - onward
Hilton Bayfront Odysea (outside area)

#SDCC #sdcc2024 #comiccon #comiccon2024

July, 2024 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For July, 2024
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

https://cronegirlspress.com/submissions/
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: up to 3,000 words
Deadline: July 15, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Horror stories aboutMushrooms, Spores, Fungus, and all that rots in the dark.


Future of Sex
https://futureofsex.net/sex-science-fiction-writers/
Payment: $70 flat
Story Length: 800–1,000 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Erotic speculativefiction stories exploring the unknown and often controversial topics, such asthe intersection of technology with sexuality. This is not a call for expliciterotica meant to arousal but for artful speculation and storytelling about whatthe future of sexuality and technology may hold (i.e. sensual instead ofovertly sexual).


Storyteller: A Tanith Lee TributeAnthology
https://essentialdreams.press/submissions/
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–5,000 words
Deadline: Open between July 23–July29, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: Within 2 months
Description: Short fiction storiescelebrating Lee’s influence in speculative fiction. Open to any speculativesub-genre.


Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores
https://cosmicrootsandeldritchshores.com/submissions/
Payment:8 cents/ word original; 2 cents/ word reprint (range for non-fiction)
Story Length: 1,000–10,000words (focus on shorter form)
Deadline: Opens the 1st and 2nd day only of eachmonth.
Reprints?: Yes
Response: abt. 2 months
Description: Well written original stories in science fiction, fantasy,myth, fairy tales, and eldritch; in written, podcast, video, and/or graphicstory form, and from around the world. We care about character, plot, ideas,and storytelling ability. We accept both serious and humorous work (no horror).Also interested in poetry and non-fiction (articles).


Small Wonders
https://smallwondersmag.com/submissions/#submit
Payment: 1 cent a word (minimum $10)
Story Length: up to 1,000 words (or1,100 words for reprints)
Deadline: Intermittent
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Unspecified, but accordingto online reports up to five months
Description: Non-themed shortstories relating to Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.


Book Worms Horror Zine, Issue #6:Witches
https://rsaintclaire.com/category/call-for-submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,500 words
Deadline: September 1, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Short fiction for ourHalloween issue about Witches! We generally enjoy “fun”, “80s style” horrorreminiscent of the zine’s old-school vibe, but we’ve also been blown away byfresh voices that take the genre in a new direction. Also interested in poetry and non-fiction (articles) at different rates.
Note: This publisher accepts submissions ONLY via postal mail



***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick ofthe Month”

https://chthonicmatter.wordpress.com/chthonicmatter/
Payment: $10 per 1,000 words
Story Length: 2,000–6,000 words
Deadline: July 15, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: Within 2 months
Description: An offering of talesfrom the dark side. Its contents range in tone from the quiet horror of ShirleyJackson to the bleak stylings of Thomas Ligotti—and everything in between; i.e.literary, dark weird fiction (and horror).


Flunk Magazine (*brand new market)
https://www.flunkmagazine.com/call-for-short-story-submissions
Payment: $50 flat
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Non-themed shortstories relating to Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

Book Chain 2: Truck Stop by John Penney

 BookChain2: Tracking Log for:

Truck Stop by John Penney:

i. Bought from John Penney at Festival of Books, April 23, 2023

ii. Given from Eric J. Guignard to Craig DiLouie, June 2, 2024

iii. Where to next...? Only chance and the last reader involved may determine!

###

NOTES: 

Book back copy: “On a lonely stretch of highway in the Utah mountains, Cedar Mountain Truck Stop awaits the unsuspecting traveler. Over the years, it has been the setting of unspeakable acts of horror that have gone undiscovered. It is the hunting ground for a serial killer who disposes the bodies in the junkyard behind the rambling, rundown complex. But the long dead victims are not going quietly-- Their spirits haunt the dingy hallways, sleeping rooms, gift shop and repair garage, seeking out someone who can solve their horrific deaths. Seeking someone who is a sensitive that can hear their cries for vengeance…”

Available here: https://www.encyclopocalypse.com/product/truck-stop/10?si=true

And reviewed on:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Truck-Stop-John-Penney/dp/B08KBH229C

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63012445-truck-stop

###

AND READ ABOUT WHAT #BOOKCHAIN IS ABOUT HERE!  

https://ericjguignard.blogspot.com/2024/06/book-chain.html

Book Chain 1: The Legend of Charlie Fish by Josh Rountree

BookChain1: Tracking Log for:

The Legend of Charlie Fish by Josh Rountree:

i. Given from Josh Rountree to Kasey Lansdale, July, 2023 (no picture)

ii. Given from Kasey Lansdale to Eric J. Guignard, March 28, 2024 (*although the book was given to me in March, the pic was pic taken May 31)

iii. Given from Eric J. Guignard to S. Faxon, May 31, 2024

iv. Where to next...? Only chance and the last reader involved may determine!

###

NOTES: 

Book back copy: “As anunlikely found-family flees toward Galveston, a psychic young girl bonds withCharlie Fish, an enigmatic gill-man. Meanwhile, they are pursued by bountyhunters determined to profit from the spectacle of Charlie. But the GreatStorm—the worst natural disaster in U.S. history—is on its way. Josh Rountree’sstrikingly original debut novel ranges effortlessly between the Gothic, pulp,literary, Western, and comedic.”

Available here: https://tachyonpublications.com/product/the-legend-of-charlie-fish/

And reviewed on:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Charlie-Fish-Josh-Rountree/dp/1616963948

Barnes& Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-legend-of-charlie-fish-josh-rountree/1142206168

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/63250262-the-legend-of-charlie-fish

###

AND READ ABOUT WHAT #BOOKCHAINIS ABOUT HERE!  

https://ericjguignard.blogspot.com/2024/06/book-chain.html

 

BOOK CHAIN!

I’m starting a bookchain primarily for horror-centric authors, but—of course—welcome to anydirection book tastes and genres should turn.

Here’s how it works:

1. I, or anyone else whowishes to start their own chain, obtains a book.

2. Read and enjoyit!

3. Give the book(for free) to someone else and—this is the fun part—mark on the insidecover the date and to whom the book is being gifted into a log. I created a log templateprint-out (download here) that individuals can print and glue inside the book, OR you can just writethe info directly on the inside cover.

4. Take a picture of thebook as it's given to the next book-chain reader AND take a picture of the log,AND post to social media with the tag #BookChain.

5. Tag me on social media that you completed step #4 and I will then also purchase a book from that last person (you) who gifted the #bookchain book (i.e. participating andfurthering the book chain) and I'll start a NEW chain for the book title of your choice!

How long will each chainlast? Only chance and the last author involved may determine!

#BookChain

***

BookChain1
The first #bookchain! The idea came to me when Kasey Lansdale gave me a copy of The Legend of Charlie Fish by Josh Rountree while we were panelists together at WonderCon 2024. Kasey said that Josh had given the copy to her, and she'd enjoyed it, and now was gifting it to me, and I thought, "I've got to keep this going!"

So I read it, enjoyed it also, and brought it to StokerCon 2024 (San Diego) and gave it to author Sarah S. Faxon.

In sum, the chain goes like this:

The Legend of Charlie Fish by Josh Rountree:

i. Given from Josh Rountree to Kasey Lansdale, 2023 (no picture)

ii. Given from Kasey Lansdale to Eric J. Guignard, March 28, 2024 (*although the book was given to me in March, the pic was pic taken May 31)

iii. Given from Eric J. Guignard to S. Faxon, May 31, 2024

iv. (where to next?!) ...

***

BookChain2

Truck Stop by John Penney:

i. Bought from John Penney at Festival of Books, April 23, 2023

ii. Given from Eric J. Guignard to Craig DiLouie, June 2, 2024

iii. (where to next?!) ...

***

BookChain3

The Hunger by Alma Katsu:

i. Bought on Amazon, February 2, 2024
* I brought this book to StokerCon 2024 and set it down on a table, and it then vanished. Guessing someone "really" wanted to read it! I presume this particular Book Chain to be dead, but I did affix the log inside the cover, so perhaps someone will realize they have this copy, and come upon this Book Chain promo idea, and then set the book onto its rightful course!
Otherwise, I'll probably just get another copy and start this one over at another time...
ii. (where to next?!) ...
***

BookChain4

Exploring Dark Short Fiction #1: A Primer to Steve Rasnic Tem, edited by Eric J. Guignard, with fiction written by Steve Rasnic Tem:

i. Given from Eric J. Guignard to Rena Mason, June 2, 2024

ii. (where to next?!) ...

***

BookChain5

I'm starting this new book chain early before Sarah has passed the copy from BookChain1 to anyone, simply for appreciation of her being in the first round!

Tiny Dreadfuls: Horrors, Oddities, and Tales of the Dark  by Sarah S. Faxon:

i. Bought on Amazon, June 24, 2024

ii. (where to next?!) ...

***

BookChain6

I'm starting this new book chain early before Craig has passed the copy from BookChain2 to anyone, simply for appreciation of him being in the first round!

How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie:

i. Bought on Amazon, June 22, 2024

ii. (where to next?!) ...

***

BookChain7

I'm starting this new book chain early before Rena has passed the copy from BookChain4 to anyone, simply for appreciation of her being in the first round!

The Evolutionist by Rena Mason:

i. Bought on Amazon, June 22, 2024

ii. (where to next?!) ...

***

#BookChain #ericjguignard #booklover #bookworm #bookcommunity #horrorcommunity #horrorlovers #promotebooks #readmorebooks #amreading 

Looking for info on Indian author S. Mukerji

It’s seemingly a rather meager pool, but I’m going to dive as deep as I can into the life and work of Indian author S. Mukerji, author of INDIAN GHOST STORIES (1914). If anyone happens to have insights into this (possible pseudonym) author who appears to have only written between 1913–1921, please do contact me.

April, 2024 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For April, 2024
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Solarpunk Magazine
https://solarpunkmagazine.com/submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 500–7,500 words (apreference between 1,500–3,000)
Open From: April 1, 2024–April 14,2024
Reprints?: No
Response: Generally within 60 days
Description: Stories that strive fora utopian ideal, that are set in futures where communities are optimisticallystruggling to solve or adapt to climate change, to create or maintain a worldin which humanity, technology, and nature coexist in harmony rather than inconflict, etc. Also open to poetry and non-fiction.


Cursed Cooking: A Horror CommunityCookbook and Food Horror Anthology
https://www.cateyepress.com/submissions
Payment: 5 cents a word (1 cent/word for reprints)
Story Length: up to 4,000 words
Deadline: April 30, 2024
Reprints?: Yes
Response: unknown
Description: cookbook and foodhorror anthology, featuring both real-world recipes and food horror fiction; talesof haunted hamburgers, killer chocolate chip cookies, monstrous manicotti,world-ending wontons, and everything in between. Cook up a story filled withgenetically modified grossness, fast-food freakiness, or homemade horrors. Getcreative. Get hungry. Think outside the pizza box. But also, send us therecipes that you love, recipes that make your mouth water and have peoplescreaming for seconds (and thirds and fourths).


Offshoots: HumanityTwigged (Third Flatiron)
https://thirdflatiron.com/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–3,000words
Open From: April 1, 2024–April21, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: by June 15, 2024
Description: SF, fantasy, positive futures: Thedictionary defines “twig” as a shoot branching off a tree, the result ordescendant of something, or a style of fashion. How will humanity cultivate thestrongest branches from among myriad potential futures? Please give us yourscience fictional and fantasy speculations. Possible subjects might include:bioengineering, space exploration, future societies, magical futurism, andextrapolation of trends (think Asimov’s Foundation or Loki’s Sacred Timeline).Stories about effects of AI and virtual reality are fine, but they must bewritten by people. Flash humor is welcome.


Reckoning Vol. 9
https://reckoning.press/reckoning-9-submission-call/
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: up to 20,000 words
Deadline: September 22, 2024
Reprints?: Query first
Response: 1 to 6 months
Description: Creative writing aboutenvironmental justice and social activism; any aspect of environmental justice,from food sovereignty to ocean plastics to industrial cleanup to Indigenousrights, we want to see it. Diverse fiction stories (and poetry) including aspeculative element: Searingly personal, visceral, idiosyncratic understandingof the world and the people in it as it has been, as it is, as it will be, asit could be.


Dracula Beyond Stoker: Issue 5:Lucy’s Suitors - Quincey, Jack, and/or Arthur
https://www.dbspress.com/submissions
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–5,000 words
Open From: May 1, 2024–June 15, 2024
Reprints?: Yes (if older than 10years) (and paid flat rate of $55)
Response: Unknown, but reported asgenerally between 30 and 60 days.
Description: The best new fictionbased on Stoker’s characters, locations, and themes. This issue: Let’s readsome stories of these men - together, individually, in combination - before,during, and after the events of the novel?


Flash Fiction Online
https://ffo.submittable.com/submit
Payment: $100 flat
Story Length: 500 to 1,000 words
Deadline: Open from the 1stto 21st of each month (or until reaching the cap of 1,000 submissions)(only)
Reprints?: Yes (payment at 2 cents/ word)
Response: Within eight weeks
Description: A very short but complete story of flash fiction. Strong,interesting characters: APRIL’s SUBMISSION IS FOR SPECIAL ISSUE OF WEIRDHORROR. Stories that engage with the unexplained and the unexpected, oftenthrough an esoteric lens of mysticism and metaphysics.



***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of the Month”

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N0nLj70ZKbZLiucLZyvC5ojpjhnE3JC43fip_nNZhSg/edit
Payment: $25 flat
Story Length: 500–4,000 words
Deadline: unclear (until full)
Reprints?: No
Response: 45 days
Description: carefully constructedHorror stories with a focus on the oft-unclear distinction between ascary-enough reality and our less-or-more-frightening imagination, both inpersonal and social realms.


Children of the Blind Owl (Sentinel Creatives)
https://mailchi.mp/2ece83d25ded/children-of-the-blind-owl-submissions-page
Payment: $150 - $250 flat
Story Length: 3,000–6,000 words
Deadline: August 31, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Original weird talesand essays set in the Middle East that explore the human (and inhuman)experience through the lens of weird fiction and horror.

Fun experience yesterday doing my first Table Read

Fun experience yesterdayin doing a Table Read for my friend Tim Chizmar’s upcoming movie, NAKED ALIEN MASSACRE (of which the plot is exactly as the title implies).

I’ve never done a TableRead before, in which actors and supporters get together and read the script asa dramatic presentation, in order to feel for pacing and problematic elements,or other chances for script improvement.

I read aloud for thebetter part of two hours, and my voice was worn for it afterward, but Ithoroughly enjoyed every moment (which reminded me of reading books out loud tomy son every night for bedtime). I never knew this was something to put on mybucket list, but now it’s marked off.

Plus, simultaneously,Tim had a documentary crew there filming the process for a segment about thejourney of indie filmmakers, and I got tossed an interview for that.

Anyway, really cool tobe part of someone’s dream project!

I'll be speaking and signing books at WonderCon this year

Shout out to those whowill be at WonderCon this year! I’ll be speaking on the panel “What’s New inthe Weird West”.

This Sat., March 30, 6:30p.m., Room 208

Paneling with JohnPalisano, Kasey Lansdale, Shane Hawk, Richard Carter, Ross Fisher-Davis, and MODERATEDby KC Grifant.

https://wondercon2024.sched.com/event/1azkW?iframe=no

And if that’s not enough…I’ll have an author signing slot also!

“Western & HorrorBook Signing”

Sat., March 30, 5:30 p.m.,in the special autographs signing area (corner of main vendor floor).

Signing with: KC Grifant,John Palisano, and Shane Hawk.

https://wondercon2024.sched.com/event/1azql?iframe=no

Come say howdy, buckaroo!

#WonderCon #Wondercon2024#WeirdWest #ericjguignard#ericguignard

March, 2024 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

 HWA L.A.: For March, 2024
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

https://www.orions-belt.net/submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,200 words
Opens: March 1, 2024 and closesintermittently
Reprints?: No
Response: generally within one week
Description: Bold, experimentalliterary science fiction and fantasy stories that blur the line between “genre”fiction and literary fiction.

Ghoulish Tales Magazine, Issue#3(Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing)
https://ghoulish.rip/reopened-for-short-story-submissions-ghoulish-tales/
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: March 29, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Short stories that fitour personal definition of the word GHOULISH, which is “fun horror that aims tocelebrate all things spooky.” Also open to non-fiction articles (up to 3,000words).


Songs from the Void (publ. by MaxBlood’s Mausoleum)
https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/scifi-horror-anthology-songs-from-void-oc9bj
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 3,500–12,000 words
Deadline: January 1, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: short horror tales setin the bleakness of space; sci-fi terrors, your Lovecraftian leviathans, yourmonsters lurking through corridors, your isolation fears. Whatever it is, ifit’s in space and scary, we want to see it.


Book Worms Horror Zine, Issue #5
https://rsaintclaire.com/2024/01/30/call-for-submissions-2/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,500 words
Deadline: April 30, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Short fiction for ourRock n’ Roll Issue! From hair-raising riffs to head-banging oblivion, horrorand rock n’ roll are a match made in Hell! We generally enjoy “fun”, “80sstyle” horror reminiscent of the zine’s old-school vibe, but we’ve also beenblown away by fresh voices that take the genre in a new direction.
Note: This publisher accepts submissions ONLY via postal mail


SpeKulative Stories (anthology series)
https://www.omicronworld.com/anthology-submissions
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: up to 7,500 words
Deadline: November 30, 2024, or“whenever the anthology is filled.”
Reprints?: Yes
Response: T
Description: Quality short storiesor poetry in any form of speculative fiction genre: fantasy, horror, sciencefiction, etc. that meet the current theme. Two current themes are: TrainStories, and Aliens Among Us.


Moving Across the Landscape inSearch of an Idea (anthology, Air and Nothingness Press)
http://aanpress.com/submissions.html
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,500 words
Deadline: March 31, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: June 15, 2024
Description: Authors may explore anygenre with their stories (yes poetry too!) and we encourage a wide variety ofideas and interpretation as to the anthology title. Stories with 1500 words shouldbe divided as follows: long titles (minimum 250 words [though we know thismight be difficult so, as long as it is an obnoxiously long title, we'll beok]), concise narratives (minimum 250 words, maximum 800 words) and copiousfootnotes, endnotes, marginalia, indices and glossaries (minimum 250 words,maximum 800 words).



***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick ofthe Month”

FOUND #2: An Anthology of FoundFootage Horror Stories
https://twitter.com/andrewcull/status/1725801214523085039
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–4,000 words
Deadline: March 31, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Original, found footagetales. Stories can be written in first person, third person, as a transcript,journal, radio play, poetry, as a script. Think stories that shouldn’t be read.Videos found in flooded basements. Broadcasts heard in your dreams.


Rock and a Hard Place Magazine
https://www.rockandahardplacemag.com/stones-throw-submissions
Payment: $25 flat
Story Length: 1,000–2,000 words
Opens: the first week of the month
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: A great story based on thecontest theme.
APRIL SUBMISSIONS (opens March 1 - 7, 2024): stories that involve water. Lakes.Rivers. Oceans. Boats, commercial or personal.
MAY SUBMISSIONS (opens April 1 - 7, 2024): stories that feature workers andtheir bosses, the power imbalance between them, and the desperation or demandsthat can cause people on either side of that divide to make some very poordecisions.
etc., etc.