Updated October 20, 2024
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
–Arthur C. Clarke
We are currently closed to submissions.
Our new anthology, “Offshoots: Humanity Twigged, is out!
The Offshoots: Humanity Twigged anthology is available in paperback,
and Kindle (see lineup under Current Issues tab).
See Current Issues tab for contents and details.
Care to try a sampler of our most popular stories? Third Flatiron Best of 2019 is available in ebook from Amazon.
Free to Kindle Unlimited readers.
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Podcast Tab: Our latest:
“Changing of the Guard” by Taylor Dye”
Also check out:
“A Touch of the Grape” by Sharon Diane King
Can’t always afford to buy our short fiction books? All our podcasts are #free (and commercial-free). We also have free stories on Smashwords and our Patreon site, and we do periodic giveaways on Amazon.
We are currently closed for submissions. See below as we add info for upcoming issues and submission periods.
Third Flatiron Publishing is based in Boulder, Colorado, and Ayr, Scotland. We are looking for submissions to our irregularly produced themed anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We want tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Light horror is acceptable, provided it fits the theme.
Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Inquire if longer.
Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, Iain Banks, Alastair Gray, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today.
For each anthology, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the “Shouts and Murmurs” feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred.
See the “Submissions” tab for preferred formats, etc.
Our publishing schedule for 2023 is below. Books will be available in ebook form as well as trade paperback. See the “Current Issues” tab for our latest offerings.
Themes and Schedules
Continuing with Third Flatiron’s quarterly themed anthologies, we will be soliciting SF/Fantasy/Horror short stories with stated themes. Themes are designed to be open-ended, allowing authors considerable leeway. We appreciate short, imaginative tales, preferring those that work with the theme in some way. Short stories should be 3,000 words or less. Flash humor pieces (<=1,000 words) can be on any theme. We aim to be inclusive and encourage submissions from all creators. Please submit during the reading periods.
Summer-Fall 2024
Theme: Offshoots: Humanity Twigged – SF, fantasy, positive futures
The dictionary defines “twig” as a shoot branching off a tree, the result or descendant of something, or a style of fashion. How will humanity cultivate the strongest branches from among myriad potential futures? Please give us your science fictional and fantasy speculations.
Possible subjects might include: bioengineering, space exploration, future societies, magical futurism, and extrapolation of trends (think Asimov’s Foundation or Loki’s Sacred Timeline). Stories about effects of AI and virtual reality are fine, but they must be written by people. Flash humor is welcome.
Reading Period: April 1 – 21, 2024
Writer Deadline: April 21, 2024
Publication Date: July 15, 2024
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Summer-Fall 2023 (submissions closed)
Theme: Rhapsody of the Spheres – SF, fantasy, space opera, hopepunk
The dictionary defines a rhapsody as “an effusively enthusiastic or
ecstatic expression of feeling.” In ancient Greece, a rhapsody was
also part of an epic poem of a suitable length for reciting.
Edie Brickell waxed rhapsodic about a smile on a dog, and Queen and
Liszt gave us their musical Bohemian and Hungarian rhapsodies, respectively.
Please give us a speculative fiction story or poem about what would make us happy right now.
Reading Period: May 19 – June 1, 2023 (now closed)
Writer Deadline: June 1, 2023
Publication Date: August 2023
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Available free: Gotta Wear Eclipse Glasses – Positive futures, SF, urban fantasy.
The future we all want. Stories of climate mitigation and adaptation, hopepunk, solarpunk, new opportunities to boldly go where none have gone before
The untented Kosmos my abode, I pass, a willful stranger
My mistress the open road
And the bright eyes of danger (Robert Louis Stevenson, Youth and Love)
Available on Smashwords (name your own price) and paperback on Amazon.
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See Current Issues tab for details on other available books
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If you’re interested in having your work read and getting paid a little something for it, then submit your story to us!
Third Flatiron Publishing are a specialist digital publisher and can help you distribute your work to a truly global audience. Subscriptions are available via Patreon.
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