Alibi is Random House’s digital first imprint that focuses on publishing mysteries and thrillers. This is a great opportunity for writers without an agent to be published by one of “The Big 5” publishing houses.

All Alibi books are initially published as eBooks, but if they do well, a print version will also be published.

Alibi books has a marketing team devoted to them. They stress that:

“Our program (Alibi) is managed with the same attention given all of our other imprints within the Penguin-Random House Publishing Group. Every book will be assigned to an accomplished Random House editor and a dedicated marketer and publicist. Not only do our authors benefit from working with the finest cover designers to ensure irresistibly eye-catching books, but they are also offered the unique advantage of social media tools and training that will allow them to connect directly with their readers.”

You will be expected to help with promoting the book but the book will be promoted by the assigned publicist as well, and you will be give be given guidance and training in terms of promoting your book.

It is important to note that their contract was initially very controversial, and was modified. There are still points of contention, but there are fewer. You can learn more about all of that here.

They are interested in full-length works, so your work must be 40,000 words or more. They also accept submissions of previously published or self published work as long as you currently control all electronic and print publishing rights.

All queries must be made by filling out their easy to use submission form. You must also attach a sample excerpt that is under 1,500 words in length.

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

Theme of Absence publishes speculative flash fiction and the occasional longer piece. All styles are welcome, including humor, as long as the story includes elements of horror, science fiction, or fantasy.  Spine tingling ghost stories are just as welcome as robots and spaceships.

Theme of Absence is an online literary journal that is approachable. They publish approximately 1/4th of what is submitted to them.

Their maximum word count for flash fiction is 1000 and 3000 for short stories. They just pay a token amount offering $3.00 for stories under 1000 words and $5.00 for works under 3000 words in length. The amount is paid via paypal. If you waive the payment it counts as a donation towards Theme of Absence.

They are not interested in poetry or non-fiction or any fiction outside of the genre of speculative fiction. They do not publish reprints. Do not submit more than one story at once to them and do not submit simultaneously. They respond to most submissions within two weeks, so wait times are not long.

One of the neat things about Theme of Absence is that every contributor can do an author interview with the editor as a way to promote their other writing (self published or otherwise).

All submissions must be made via email. To learn more or to submit, visit their website here: http://www.themeofabsence.com/submission-guidelines/

Think of The Next Great Horror Writer Contest as Project Runway for horror writers. Except it is a podcast, so there is no need for anyone to be on camera.

Writers are put through a series of challenges and judged by a variety of accomplished judges. At the end of the contest, a winner will be declared based on points received throughout the challenges.

The judges include the author Annette Curtis Klause, producer and director Frank H. Woodward, and the author and editor Dairo Ciriello.

The winner will receive a variety of prizes including a book contract with Crystal Lake Publishing (who has published Neil Gaiman and Wes Craven.).

Winners of individual competitions during the larger competition will also receive prizes, some paying, some not.

You must apply to participate by March 1st, 2017. The competition runs from March through October.

In order to participate you must meet the following qualifications

You must be 18 years or older. (Or will be 18 by March 1, 2017)
*You must not currently be a HorrorAddicts.net staff member.
*You must be able to write and communicate in English, even if it’s your second language.
*You have to be a newbie—meaning you do not have a book-sized publication for sale with a publisher. Nothing over 10,000 words can be for sale by anyone but yourself. So self-pub authors are eligible.
*You are committed to doing your best to complete in each challenge by the deadline and in theme. Challenges run from March 2017-October 2017.

To learn more about the opportunity visit their website here.