Dead Fox Publishing Gold Star Program Gold Star

Dead Fox Publishing is a group of queer, disabled, neurodivergent cryptids looking to lift marginalized voices and share the unique and the weird. The forest crew worked seamlessly together in a previous life, so when that life ended, they were reborn, peeking out from the underbrush like new growth after a fire.
The crew are also authors and artists; with the state of the world being what it is and the influx of AI slop prevalent in the industry, we want to build a community to support and lift each other up.

STANDARD PAY RATES

For all works (anthology submissions, short stories, novellas, novels) - 50% royalties of net earnings unless otherwise stated in the submission call.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

When submitting, please do not send your manuscript already formatted as a book with complex images, margins, and fonts. We would greatly appreciate if you followed the formatting guidelines below:

file type: *.doc or *.docx
Font: Any legible serif, e.g., Times New Roman, Garamond
Include author information at the top of page 1
Include reprint information at the top of page 1
Include potential content warnings at the top of page 1
Use formatted indents and not tabs to begin each paragraph
Use hard returns to start new paragraphs
Use page breaks to begin chapters on a new page

When in doubt, just remember we want your MS as clean and readable as possible!

More information available on our website.

Horror picture book illustrator Free Open

Closes on Friday, November 20, 2026 11:59 PM PST (in 27 days).

Hello, illustrators!

For this open call, Dead Fox Publishing is looking for your art.

We have a horror picture book in need of illustrations. Although this is a children's book, we're looking for a style that has broad appeal to both kids and adults. Please see below for details.

PROJECT SCOPE:

Project will include approximately 30-40 square illustrations sized approximately 8x8 (some may be combined as 1 image over a two-page spread; one of these would be for the cover illustration)
Payment is in the form of royalty share. Royalties are 50% of net earnings to be split evenly between Author and Illustrator (meaning 25% to each).
All artwork copyright remains with Illustrator. The publisher will file copyright on the finished project under the claimant names of the Author and Illustrator.

TIMING:
Our schedule is flexible for the right artist! There is currently no hard deadline. Expectations can be set prior to contract signing.

WHAT TO SUBMIT:

Individual pieces you feel match the style you would provide for the project
Link to a portfolio
Pieces tailored to fit the sample text are welcome but by no means expected

SAMPLE:
Below is a sampling of the unfinished text from the book. The story revolves around a witch and her very old cat.

P01-02:
A witch had a cat who was black as the night,
His claws and the teeth in his jaws were a fright,
Despite his mean looks he was cuddly and sweet,
And curled up for bed every night by her feet.

P03-04:
The cat helped the witch do her daily witch things,
Like cleaning out cauldrons and drying bat wings,
But one night the witch fell asleep in her bed,
And woke up next morning to find her cat dead.

P05-06:
She poked him and sniffed him, she opened one eye,
She hardly believed that her black cat could die.
“This won’t do,” she said, or rather, she huffed it.
“I just won’t accept that my good cat has snuffed it.”

Submit

Dead Fox Pub Bite-Sized Stories Temp Closed

DFP is looking for your short works!

Each accepted story receives its own solo eBook release with its own cover with print copies available as website exclusives. We aim to release one per month!

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

When submitting, please do not send your story already formatted with complex images, margins, and fonts. We would greatly appreciate if you followed the guidelines below:

4,000 - 8,000 words long
dark fiction (including but not limited to: horror, grimdark/dark fantasy, thriller, and suspense)
in a .doc, .docx, or similar file type, and neatly formatted for ease of review
original works only—AI-GENERATED CONTENT IS NOT ALLOWED

REPRINT POLICY

Stories previously published in eBook or print are not accepted. Stories who have previously only been in audio format (such as podcasts) are allowed.

PAYMENT

Authors receive 50% royalties of net earnings.

More information about our process, offerings, and publications are available on our website.

NOTE ON SUBMISSION CAPS

We accept a limited number of submissions per month. If you find this call closed, check back in next month!

Not Open