May: Monthly Theme Updates
・the new prompts are here! the new prompts are here!
The weather’s gettin’ gorge! Here are some micro prompts for May:
Black Hare Press - Dark Moments
Word Count: 100 exactly
Genre: Horror
Theme: Time Travel
Open: 5/1-31
Rate: $.04/wd
No Sim Subs / No Reprints
*ANONYMOUS SUBS*
What they want:
Show us timelines that warp, loop, or fracture; futures that hunt their past; histories that reject alteration; and travellers who return changed—or not at all.
Explore paradoxes that bleed, hours that devour, and moments that refuse to stay fixed. Whether your tale is scientific, mystical, or accidental, let the manipulation of time open a door to dread; where every tick of the clock tightens the noose.
My take: BHP are absolutely fantastic to work with. I will almost always try to come up with something dark and weird for their monthly calls. All you SF/horror peeps — this one’s for you!
In a Flash
Word Count: 500 words max
Genre: CNF (creative nonfiction)
Theme: Goodbyes
Open: 5/1-15
Rate: $25
Sim Subs Allowed / No Reprints
What they want:
We’re a writing group devoted to flash CNF (creative nonfiction), and we’ve spent the last two years editing each other’s pieces while racking up publishing creds. We love working in flash— the electric way a single sentence, a single short paragraph, a single phrase can change the way you view yourself and the world in the span of a moment. We want to create more opportunities for short flash nonfiction in the literary world, and are excited to do so here.
My take: None yet. I would like to explore CNF a little more, so I’m going to try to come up with something for this one…
Rat Bag Lit 🐀
Word Count: 100 exactly (drabbles) / 300 max (micros)
Genre: Weird
Theme: multiple (see below)
Open: varies (see below)
Rate: $.01/wd
Sim Subs Allowed / No Reprints (unless specified)
*SUBMISSIONS HAVE A CAP*
Open calls:
Dealer’s Choice - Unthemed Drabbles (closes 5/7) ←that’s soon, people!
We know you have drabbles that haven’t fit any of our calls that you know are perfect for us. You’ve been waiting patiently and now’s your chance. Choose your own theme! As long as it’s quirky and weird, send it our way. This month you can send 3 drabbles, as 3 separate submissions (i.e. 1 drabble per submission, maximum of 3 submissions total.)
“But, wait,” you might be thinking, “I need the wacky themes to stimulate my brain cells!”
We got you.
Splinter says: “I’d love to read some silly speculative fiction, cozy horror, and anything weird and queer. I love pieces that incorporate modern slang and foreign language in interesting ways.”
Raconteur says: “Give me a monster horror story that is actually about love, a portal-jumping romp about grief, or anything with an unexpected pool of deep meaning lurking under the puddle of strange. And, of course, beautiful language with a poetic lilt.”
Microfiction (closes 5/7) ←again, that’s soon!
Unthemed. Maximum 300 words. For digital publication – pays .01 a word, up to $3. No reprints.
You may submit 2 micros this month, as two separate submissions with 1 micro per submission.
My take: Now I judge all my weird drabbles: is this ‘normal’ weird, or is it ‘Rat Bag Lit’ weird…? Gonna absolutely dredge up something for this call.
Manawaker Studios 100 Word Project:
Word Count: 100 exactly
Genre: any, but the editor leans towards “the speculative, the fantastic, the futuristic, and the weird”
Theme: Date
Open: 5/1-31
Rate: $.01/wd
No Sim Subs / No Reprints
What they want:
The 100 Word Project is an ongoing project focused on 100 word stories which will be published as a monthly, themed online journal and in a yearly print anthology. Each month (except for June and December) will bring a new prompt, and in the first half of the next month nine of the submitted drabbles for that prompt will be posted in the public-facing section of the Manawaker Patreon alongside one drabble from Manawaker EiC, CB Droege (An audio edition will be available to Patreon patrons as a subscriber perk). At the end of the year, the ten stories from each of the ten prompts will be assembled into the next volume of the 100 x 100 series to be published as a print, digital, and audio book. The project is curated and edited by CB Droege. 100 x 100 is published by Manawaker Studio as part of their regular line of anthologies.
My take: None yet. I can’t even seem to manage my time well enough to submit, honestly…
Anomaly Drabble Contest
Word Count: 100 exactly
Genre: sci fi
Theme: Music
Open: 5/1-31
Rate: $.08/wd
Remember that you do need to subscribe to their substack to submit, but the contest is available to both free and paid subscribers.
They also have voting every month for the following month’s theme, so if you have a drabble lying around that fits one, why not cast a vote for it?
My take: none yet
✴︎And here’s a new contest✴︎
Prism International - Grouse Grind Lit Prize for V. Short Forms
(Normally I wouldn’t include this, because there is a $15 entrance fee — BUT the fee is waived for self-identifying Black and Indigenous writers for all contests. They also have a limited number of free entries to offer to low-income writers, and they encourage writers for whom the contest entry fee is prohibitive to contact them at prism.promos@ubc.ca to arrange contest entry.)
Word Count: 300 words max
Genre: literary
Deadline: 5/15 (it says 5/1, but Submittable says its open until the 15th, so…?)
Prizes: $500 Grand Prize, $150 runner-up, $50 2nd runner-up
No Reprints
*ANONYMOUS SUBS*
What they want:
Send us your flash fiction and nonfiction, your hybrid forms and experimental work.
My take: I say, if you have a literary micro you love that you’ve been holding on to, waiting for the perfect contest, this might be it! Check out their past winners to see if you vibe with them:
Past winners: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017
What you can look forward to from Micro Markets: themed and unthemed calls, monthly micro contests, micro-lit mags that are always open, micro-focused anthologies... maybe even some craft essays about writing microfiction and a place to feature YOUR published micros.
So dust off some of your tiny treasures, and let’s send them out into the world!
Rat Bag Lit is a great market. I've sold five pieces (mostly drabbles) there so far. Some of my stories are quite weird... but that's what they seem to love!