All anthologies are themed. Sometimes the theme is more about the contributor than the work itself (such as the Best New Poets anthology series), other times the theme is the subject that ties all the poems together, such as politics, violence, or Star Trek.

Below are three anthologies currently open to unsolicited submissions from writers. None of these anthologies require submitting fees.

Untitled “Moon Themed” Anthology published by Two Of Cups Press

Leigh Anne Hornfeldt & Teneice Durrant are editing an as of yet untitled “moon themed” poetry anthology. They are currently seeking poetry submissions in which the moon makes an appearance.  The poem does not have to be about the moon but it must make a reference to the moon in some way, however obscurely. Poets should email 1-3 poems in the body of an email to the press by February 14th, 2015. Submissions through the post are also accepted .The expected publication date of the anthology is April 2015. If your work is accepted, you will receive a contributor copy. To learn more or to submit, visit their website here: http://twoofcupspress.wordpress.com/current-submission-call/

What I Have Learned From My Mother (title will change) —  published by Blue Lobster Press

This anthology is focused on collecting stories, both funny and serious, about mothers. The anthology is currently titled “What I Have Learned From My Mother” but that title will be changed before the anthology is published.  Work must be submitted before January 30th 2015. The anthology should be published around Mother’s day in 2014. They pay contributors $100 for their submissions after publishing expenses are recouped. In the past this has happened in less than 2 months. Also a bonus program is available to those who actively market the book.

Blue Lobster Press currently has three open calls for submissions. So even if this anthology does not fit with your work, one of the others might. To learn more, visit their website here: http://www.bluelobsterbookco.com/open-for-early-2015-submissions/

Beware The Little White Rabbit – Leap Books

Leap books is going to publish a YA Alice themed anthology to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. All short stories should be focused on a young adult audience and include a protagonist named Alice and a stuffed white rabbit whose appearance signifies the beginning of an adventure. Submissions should be between 4,000-6,000 words in length. Any sub genre (such as science fiction) is acceptable.

Submissions are due by November 15th and the word Alice should be included in your emails heading. The lineup for the anthology will be announced December 15th. All authors who meet revision and deadline requirements will receive 50 dollars.

To learn all the details, visit their website here: http://leapbks.blogspot.ca/2014/09/leap-down-rabbit-hole-with-us.html

They have been around since 2005 and have published 13 print editions. Work they have published has been reprinted in the books Best American Essays and Best Food Writing. They have been mentioned in many publications and shows including the New York Times, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, Poets & Writers, and BBC Radio.

The work they publish may be all about food, but it takes different approaches, some serious, some humorous, and some whimsical. Most of the work focuses on how we as individuals interact with food, although some focus on the food itself.

Alimentum accepts all fiction, non-fiction, and poetry submissions through the mail, which is particularly unusual for an online journal. You must include a self addressed and stamped envelope with all submissions.

All submissions of music, videos, and book reviews can be made via email.

All works of fiction and non-fiction must be under 2,000 words. You can submit up to five poems at a time. They are also interested in poem recipes (a poem you can cook to) with pictures. They do not accept submissions of anything that has been previously been published, but they are open to simultaneous submissions.

To learn more about them and to read some of the work they have published in the past, you should visit their website here: http://www.alimentumjournal.com/. In order to submit visit this page: http://www.alimentumjournal.com/submissions

But first, a bit about our contest series. Every week we are going to have a contest on our Facebook Page. The contests will change from week to week, but the winners will always be published in the magazine. The contest winner and the runner up are chosen by a voting system, and then the editors of Authors Publish will select several additional entries from the rest to be the Editor’s Choice winners.

Below are all the winners of this week’s contest. This week the challenge was to write a short story using thirty words or less. We were  impressed by a lot of  the entries.

The next contest starts at 9 am PST on Saturday.

Winner:

Runner Up:

Editor’s Choice:

Beau Coup Publishing is primarily an ebook publisher, but they also publish print editions (through CreateSpace). They publish a wide range of books. Although most books they publish are in the romance or erotica genre, they are also interested in work outside of those genres.

They are currently open to romance and erotica, including those containing a sub-genre (IE: paranormal, western). They are also open to mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, and books aimed at young/new adults.

Beau Coup publishing is a relatively new company but they have already published some books that ended up on Amazon bestseller lists. They seem to focus more on marketing, in terms of e-books, because of this. However not all their books sell well and it is hard to find out much about the company because they are new and they do not offer that much information about their staff on their website.

They are open to publishing previously self published works and reprinting works previously published by other publishers, as long as you still have all the rights. They try to respond to most submissions within a month.

They are currently seeking books that contain a minimum of 50,000 words. Shorter books are considered if they are part of a series or  if they can be connected to other short work, so that they can be sold as part of a package deal.

They do not publish books that encourage discrimination of any kind. They also do not publish books that have incest, pedophilia, necrophilia, bestiality (not including shape shifters), and rape as titillation.

When you submit to them, include the full manuscript. In your email cover letter make sure that your name, pen name, and email address are included. Make sure to specify genre and word count. Manuscript must be 12 point Times New Roman or Calibri font. The file format must be .doc or .rtf. They only accept submissions via email.

Beau Coup handles covers, marketing, and some editing, although you are encouraged to have your book proofed by others before submitting or before publication. This is fairly normal request from a publisher of this size. Most larger publishers would not do this, but they would expect the book to be thoroughly edited anyways.

To learn more or to submit, visit their website here.