You Are Invited!

A couple of times a year, we publish anthologies of short stories centered around a common theme.  Whether you are a new writer with no experience at all or a seasoned pro, you are invited to submit a story for one of these collections (see details specific to each collection below.)  

It is important that each story have a clear and direct connection to the theme.  This is one of the biggest determining factors in whether or not a story will be accepted.  

There is never any cost to the writer (unlike some places that charge entry fees, reading or editing fees, etc.) and every writer who has a story accepted for inclusion will be paid for their work.

Our anthology projects are a great way for young/emerging writers to gain some writing  experience, and more experienced writers often find that taking on an "assignment" can be a fun challenge that is both stimulating and rewarding.  

Please submit your story/stories in .pdf, Microsoft Word, or Google doc format.  Times New Roman font 12 pt. is preferred, and please do not use page breaks or unusual formatting as this makes the files more difficult to work with.  See "Tips and Hints" section on our Submission Guidelines page.

"Hello, Monster" will be an anthology of stories about average people who encounter or meet a monster in the course of their everyday lives.  

The nature of the monster is up to you: bigfoot, the thing under the bed, a toxic mutant, etc.  However, we do not want stories about humans who society might just consider monstrous (such as a serial killer) and we aren't terribly interested in ghosts.  These should be flesh-and-blood monsters. Please don't feel that "monster" has to equal horror; while we love a good scary story, your story can be dramatic, comical, or even romantic!  We will not accept stories with graphic sex or violence.  

Submission criteria:  Limit of 5,000 words.  Submissions must be received by November 1, 2026.  

Please send your submissions, along with your name and address to strangemoonpress@gmail.com with "Hello, Monster" in the subject line.

At Strange Moon Press LLC, we have two big motivating factors: 

1. Helping young, emerging, and "outsider" writers get a start
2. Publishing book that we would want to read (especially short stories!) 

Luckily, these two things go hand-in-hand.  Short stories are a great way for writers to get started and our anthology projects provide fun, challenging inspiration. 

 If you have an idea for an anthology, we'd love to hear it!  Please send your idea to us using the link below.  If we decide to base an anthology on your suggestion, you will receive credit when the book is published.  

Please include your name, mailing address, and a short description of the anthology theme.