Here is a list of open calls for anthologies, ranging from calls for true stories about military families and premonitions, to fiction about addiction-themed horror and sci fi/fantasy stories about submerged worlds, and more.

Chicken Soup for the Soul’s anthologies

They look for true stories, written in the first person that have a beginning, middle and end and often close “with a punch, creating an emotion rather than talking about it.” They also publish poems that tell a story. There are different deadlines for all their anthologies.

Military Families: For true stories by soldiers, both active and retired, and their families; the ups and downs, funny, or heartwarming stories. Some suggested topics are: coming home, beyond the call of duty, how military life makes you different, pets in the military, and remembering and honouring.
Extended deadline: November 30, 2016

Dreams, Premonitions and the Unexplainable: Following the success of their Dreams and Premonitions anthology, this call is for personal stories about premonitions, or dreams that save you or a loved one, or chance meetings at just the right time.
Extended deadline: January 30, 2017

Stories about Cats: For stories about rescued cats, whether adopted as kittens or as older cats, that have found their homes; serious or humorous (or both) stories about cats, their antics, or their habits.
Deadline: January 31, 2017

Stories about Dogs: Similar to stories about cats, this is for stories about rescued dogs that have found their forever homes.
Deadline: January 31, 2017

Word count for all anthologies: up to 1200
Pay: $200
Details here: http://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topics

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Multiples Illuminated: Life With Twins and Triplets, the Toddler to Tween Years 

This anthology calls for parents of twins, triplets, quardruplets or more to share specific anecdotes about their children, with universally relatable takeaways; it “will focus on stories and advice to guide parents from the toddler years through to the tween years (ages 2 to 12)”.

Word count: 800-3,000
Deadline: November 30, 2016
Pay: $40/story
Details here: http://multiplesilluminated.com/call-for-submissions/

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Zombies Need Brains LLC: three anthologies
They are looking for a range of stories, from humorous to dark for all three science fiction and fantasy anthologies; stories with unexpected settings and takes on the tropes will receive more attention.

Submerged: SF/fantasy stories that are set underwater, at least at some point. “There should be a significant reason for why the action must take place underwater; this should NOT be a story where it easily be rewritten on land and maintain its cohesion.” Half the anthology will be SF stories and half, fantasy.

All hail our robot conquerors!: Where robots in the stories harken back to the 50s/60s style of robots. The stories could be set far into the future, but there should be a significant nod to robots from that era.

The death of all things: Where Death is a character in the story. “The version of Death used should be unique, so consider all different types of versions of Death seen throughout history and in different cultures.” No torture porn or gratuitous violence.

Word count for all anthologies: up to 7,500
Deadline: December 31, 2016
Pay: at least 6c/word, more if Kickstarter funds allow, and possible royalties
Details here: http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com/488157.html

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Wicked Run Press’s Garden of Fiends: Addiction-themed horror
Horror fiction about any type of substance, and from any point of view. The substance use should “ring true with verity of terms and modes of transmission.” The addiction can be just part of the setting, but should be a major part of the conflict. Supernatural elements are welcome.
Word count: 16,000-25,000
Deadline: January 1, 2017
Pay: $500
Details here: http://www.markmatthewsauthor.com/2016/07/GardenOfFiendsSubmissions.html

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Broken Eye Books’ Ride the Star Wind: Cthulhu, Space Opera, and the Cosmic Weird
They are looking for stories that combine space opera with cosmic weird horror, either set within the Cthulhu Mythos or inspired by it. They “want to see the Mythos continue to grow and evolve, to expand as a shared literary world and not be tied to outdated and limiting sensibilities”, and are “not interested in stories with bigoted, unbalanced views on race and gender.” They are actively seeking underrepresented voices, and welcome subversive or experimental stories.
Word count: 3,000-6,000 words for short stories; up to 1,000 words for flash fiction
Deadline: January 31, 2017
Pay: 8c/word
Details here: http://www.brokeneyebooks.com/submissions.html

Lyrical Press is an electronic only imprint of Kensington, a large independent publisher. Kensington and Lyrical both publish mainstream novels and seem to put a fair amount of pressure on the author to promote their books. They publish a large number of books per year.

Lyrical publishes books in all romance genres (specifically suspense and historical novels with unique settings), compelling psychological suspense fiction, thrillers, women’s fiction, new adult, and cozy mysteries. They publish novellas, serials, and novels – all in eBook format.

I have heard mixed things about Lyrical, but many authors have had good experiences with them and have worked with them for years, not just for one book but for several, which in and of itself is a good sign. They work with agented and unagented authors.

I do not love the way their website is laid out, but it is easy to buy books on it, which is ultimately the most important thing.

When you submit to Lyrical you must chose an editor to query first. All of their editors are listed here. Some are open to genres not listed above.

If you do not hear back about your query in three months, consider your manuscript rejected.  From what I have heard they do often offer personal rejections. To learn more, visit their website here. Please do not email your manuscript. They just want the query letter and synopsis.

“All writers have this vague hope that the elves will come in the night and finish any stories.”

― Neil Gaiman

Time for writing doesn’t make itself. This might seem like a ridiculously obvious statement, yet it is a trap writers fall into all the time, myself included. If you have a good writing habit and you write regularly, this article isn’t for you.

This is article for writers like myself, who have to work hard to make the time to write. If you want to have a regular writing habit, this article is for you.

As a parent, I live a highly regimented life. If you’re like me, you might work eight hours a day and only have a small period of free time each evening or morning.

The first step to make time for writing is to be deliberate about it. Look at your calendar, and write in time reserved for writing. It can be a half hour each day. It could be three hours every Saturday morning. Whatever works.

However the most important thing isn’t writing it down calendar,  it is protecting that time. If it is on the calendar it can make it easy for you to tell friends who ask you to go out that night or that morning that you already have plans.  I have had friends get mad at me because I was writing instead of spending time with them. If a friend gets mad at you because you are writing, it is an indicator of how good a friend they are (hint: not very).

If you are at home and your home is a mess and you are tempted to clean it – don’t. Write in the mess, or go out to a coffee shop and write there. Setting aside time for writing is important, but it is even more important to take full advantage of that time by writing.

If you have a relatively flexible schedule (as I did once), it can still be hard to make time for writing. It is easy to think that there will be time, that each day the muse will visit you and tell you that the time to write is now. That rarely happens. One period of not writing leads to another.  The only reliable way to get the muse to visit you is to sit down and write.

Set aside a part of your day that belongs to writing. Be deliberate about it, even if it isn’t on the calendar, make sure there it is something you do every day.

Now I want to say that when I say writing, that is what I mean –  writing. Below are a number of things that can often be confused or conflated with writing, but are not writing and for that reason they should never take place during writing time.

• Reading
• Research
• Editing
• Submitting (your work to publishers)
• Talking (about your writing)
• Self promotion
• Emailing
• Facebook

Don’t let those things steal your writing! Those things are the opposite of the (unfortunately non-existent) elves that Neil Gaiman talked about in the opening quote. I think a lot of people convince themselves they are doing writing, when in fact that “writing” is a Facebook messaging a friend. If you need to turn off your internet or go somewhere without WiFi in order to get focused writing time – do that!

All of this information might seem obvious and self evident. But I can tell you this: Every author, from the ancients to contemporary authors, have struggled with it.

“Be ruthless about protecting writing days, i.e., do not cave in to endless requests to have “essential” and “long overdue” meetings on those days. The funny thing is that, although writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fight for time in which to do it. Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance. I must therefore guard the time allotted to writing as a Hungarian Horntail guards its firstborn egg.”

― J.K. Rowling

As an international literary journal, Banshee publishes writing by authors from Ireland and around the world. They like literature that is captivating, current, and accessible to a broad audience. They publish writing in all forms and styles, exploring a wide range of topics and themes. To get a sense of what they are looking for, you can read samples of past issues online.

Banshee is published twice a year, and each issue contains work from around 25 contributors. Poets may submit up to six poems, 40 lines or fewer each. Fiction writers may submit up to two stories, 1,500 to 5,000 words, or up to four pieces of flash fiction, 1,000 words or fewer. Nonfiction authors may submit up to two essays, 1,500 to 5,000 words. A sort biography, 50 words or fewer, should accompany all submissions. Each author may submit work in only one category.

Banshee accepts submissions via email, but not online or by post. They do not accept previously published work.

If you would like to learn more or submit to Banshee, please visit their website at http://bansheelit.tumblr.com/submissionsguidelines.