Gravelight Press Anthology Series Current Words Publishing (Gold Star Program) Gold Star

EVERY ODD YEAR... Gravelight Press, the horror imprint of Current Words Publishing, LLC, publishes a new volume of Halloween Party, the Gravelight Press horror anthology that features short stories and (possibly) poems relating to all things horror.

The book, a collection of horror short stories and (possibly) horror poetry, will be curated and edited by horror author Gabby Gilliam.

We are currently searching for an artist to compliment the book, as Juan Cantu did last year. If you would like to be that artist, please email [email protected].

Submission dates run from September 11, 2024-January 30, 2025, Selected authors are notified in February 2025.

THE WORK MUST BE CREATIVE.

All work must be original, not AI created, and not previously published. We do not accept novel excerpts. We will accept short stories/poems that are going to be part of a collection of by the same author, and all rights stay with the authors. (If Netflix comes knocking you don't owe us a cut, or need to get any permission from us.) DO NOT INCLUDE in your pieces any song lyrics that you have not written yourself, excerpts from other authors' writing, art, or testimonials.

SELECTED AUTHORS ARE PAID.
For 2025 the payment is $25 per story, or $25 for every 1- 3 poems ($25 total, whether one, two, or three poems by the same author are chosen). All published authors also receive a free copy of the book, typically valued at $15. The $25 payment makes authors eligible for membership in the Horror Writers Association.
The payment is made electronically.
All chosen authors are given a contract.

HOW MANY SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED?

We accept poetry and short stories. A person could have more than one of each accepted. Ultimately, we will choose approx 20-25 authors for a good-sized book.

LENGTH

Poetry can be 0-3 pages per piece submitted.

Fiction can be 300-5000 words

DO YOU NEED MY BIO?

For your submission it says bio of 100 words. In truth, when it comes time to publish the anthology, that is when we will need your bio, and it should be 300 words +/- a few words. You SHOULD include links to your universe (website, blog, what-have-you) in that bio.

HISTORY OF PUBLICATION.

You do not need a history of publications to be chosen. You just need good work.

THERE IS A $10 SUBMISSION FEE. This offsets the cost of production, in addition to weeding out the less on-topic, less polished pieces. This has always been a part of this anthology, and will ever be. Producing a book requires real labor that is valuable. If you believe that your creative efforts are valuable, please understand that the work of others is also valuable, or seek an alternative publication.

WHY WAS MY WORK NOT CHOSEN?

This only happens when the work is not of the quality that we look for, or is off-topic. The submission fee is not refunded for work not chosen. It takes real and valuable labor to read and respond to submissions. We do not address question on submissions not chosen. We have all been there, and we know it is hard not to be chosen. We hope you will try again in the future.

GROUP EMAIL

Please note: chosen authors (only) will be added to a group email of all the authors of the book for the ease of book production, and so we can discuss any promotion together. We do not consider this SPAM. If you're not okay with sharing your email with the other authors of the book, please don't apply.