Halloween may be over, but spooky season is all year round if you want it to be. Whether you’re a seasoned horror writer or just dipping your pencil into the genre, you likely already know how crucial of a part tension plays. Tension is essential in every story, regardless of genre, but it especially does […]
Have you ever read a witch story and felt torn between wanting a classic “good versus evil” plot and craving something totally different? You’re not alone. Writing about witches is tricky business. On the one hand, we love the tried-and-true story arcs, those classic patterns we’ve seen since the days of Shakespeare or even Greek […]
We’re excited to reveal our 3 winners and the authors on the shortlist! First Place: The Blades of Ana Velasquez by Alexa T. Dodd Second Place: Deep Skin Anatomy by Lora Gray Third Place: Thank You, Bus Driver by Richard Brann Also publishing: Till Death by Ingrid S. Bergø The Theft at Cato’s Well by […]
Uncharted Magazine: In an interview, you described the sense of satisfaction and empowerment of putting yourself in control of a cruel world when writing horror. “Salt Girl” is a deftly written dark fantasy where dread is created through Rika’s loss of autonomy. Was there a catharsis to penning her deterioration into a pile of salt? Angela Liu: […]
By Caitlin Taylor So From the early 2000s to mid-2010s, young adult films of all genres dominated theaters. YA movie trailers were inescapable during commercial breaks. Up-and-coming actors became household names overnight. While the YA movie craze has since calmed down in 2023, it certainly isn’t a thing of the past. Instead of featuring in […]
Last day to submit! Did you know that we’re now accepting historical fiction short stories? To launch this new category, we’re thrilled to announce a new writing challenge! For this challenge, we’re pleased to offer the first-place winner $500 and publication. All entries will be considered for general publication at our regular rate of $200. […]
For this contest, we’ve got 15 stories we loved! We’ve handed over the hard decisions to find the winners to our judge, A. C. Wise! Congratulations to everyone with a title on this list!
Ah, witch lit, that sublime subgenre of fiction where broomsticks aren’t just for sweeping and a full moon means more than a cloudless night. For readers of this enchanted genre, and certainly for its architects, the term “witch lit” evokes a rich tapestry of magical realism, occult traditions, and—most importantly—a celebration of feminine power. Though […]
Congrats to the three co-winners and the writers of all 14 novel excerpts! We can’t wait to see what happens with these novels in progress! Co-winners: – Ch. 9/Seven-Out by Veronica Reinhart Despite being given an excerpt nine chapters into a manuscript, I was immediately pulled into space…and not just space but a ramshackle hodgepodge of […]
For this contest, we’ve got 27 stories we loved! Now, we’re making the hard decisions to get to a shortlist of 15 stories to send to our judge, A. C. Wise! Congratulations to everyone with a title on this list!
Congrats to the writers of these 14 novel excerpts! We’re so honored when submitters trust us with their writing, especially excepts from their novels in progress. Now, we wait for Sequoia to choose his winners!
Crafting literature in the witch lit genre is akin to stirring a cauldron of diverse cultural influences. It’s not merely an assembly of spells and incantations; it invokes universal archetypes and symbols expressed through a rich tapestry of languages and lore. Drawing from an array of traditions, be it Celtic legends or Yoruba myths, Sanskrit […]
Congrats to the writers of these 34 novel excerpts! We’re so honored when submitters trust us with their writing, especially excepts from their novels in progress. We’re working on narrowing this down to a shortlist of 15 to send to Sequoia!
Have you ever found yourself eager to dabble in a bit of magic into your narratives? Welcome to the world of witch lit, where the extraordinary hides within the ordinary. Witch lit is a subgenre of fiction that intricately weaves elements of witchcraft into everyday life, creating stories where the mundane and the magical coexist. […]
CLOSED We invite writers to submit to the Uncharted Magazine Novel Excerpt Prize from September 1 to October 31, 2023. Think you’ve got an excerpt that will keep us reading and will leave us begging for more? We’re looking for the best 5,000 words or fewer of your novel in progress! We love to read […]
The winner is “More Than Electric Sheep” by Paul Martz! Congrats to all of the writers that made this shortlist!
The winner will be announced by the end of the week! Congrats to all of the writers that made this shortlist!
Final week to get those submissions in! Welcome to the Uncharted Feedback Forge! Open from August 1-August 31, 2023 If you’re like us, you have a few drafts sitting in your files that could use an extra pair of eyes to help you take those stories to the next level. If iron sharpens iron, […]
The winners are: We’re also publishing:
These 16 stories have been sent to judge Gabino Iglesias! We’re anxiously awaiting his choices!
Thank you to everyone who submitted short stories! Check back in mid-July for the results! Big changes are at work for Voyage this year! We are moving all of our prize opportunities to two biannual anthologies dedicated to top-notch YA writing. We want to give our incredible contributors a chance to see their name in print! We […]
These 30 stories are under review to form a shortlist of 15 stories that we will send to judge Gabino Iglesias!
This contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered! We’ll have a longlist in around ten weeks! We’re challenging writers to create 1,000-word-max flash genre stories in ten days or fewer! You’re invited to submit to the AI Flash Challenge from May 04 to May 14, 2023. We often find that the blank […]
1st Place: Grimoire Gold by Goldie Maisey Quick 2nd Place: Roses by Emily Liu 3rd Place: In the Autumn Days of Empire by Lilia Zhang
Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer and an immigrant from Fujian. Her debut novella, Linghun, will be published this spring, as will her collection, Ai Jiang’s Smol Tales From Between Worlds. She also recently announced a new novelette, I Am Ai, coming in June. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in The Magazine of […]
Dr. Phoenix Alexander is a speculative author, scholar, teacher, and curator. His work has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Escape Pod, The Dark, Deadlands, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Black Static, and Science Fiction Studies, among others. He is a full member of the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA), and served as […]
This contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered! We’ll have a longlist in around ten weeks! We invite writers to submit to the Uncharted MagazineThrilling Story Award from January 1 to February 28, 2023. This Award is for all three genres: SF/F, Thriller/Horror, and Mystery/Crime. Guest judge Gabino Iglesias will choose three […]
And here are the winners! 1st Place: Horror/Thriller “Prologue – or, the Carny Incarcerated.” by Chloe La Vada 1st Place: Crime/Mystery “Lodged in the Body” by Adam McCulloch Runner Up: Horror/Thriller “The Violin” by Patrick Shanley Runner Up: Crime/Mystery “Buffalo Jill” by Karen Parkman 13 Shortlisted Titles!
Kristen Loesch’s newest book, The Regeneration of Stella Yin, will be released November 30, 2022, from Ad Hoc Fiction. This novella-in-flash tells the story of two women inextricably linked in a technological quest to overcome grief and trauma. Through precisely crafted prose, Loesch explores artificial super intelligence, the singularity, and the human drive for survival. […]
And the three co-winners are… 1. Men Will Die by Celeste Kallio 2. I Will Never Be Alone by Alejandro Gutierrez 3. Jacaranda Park by Kate Maruyama The Runners-Up are… 1. God fall by Kira Sutherland 2. Parts Girls by Nina Simon Comet Wine by Ken Altabef Us and Them by Siobhan Chesson Men Will […]
Writers spend a lot of time thinking critically about beginnings and ends. These are crucial moments in creating a satisfying story, but they’re also the easiest turning points to consider. What’s the first moment of trouble, the first moment of choice? What’s the final confrontation, the culmination of the character’s desires and needs? Execution, of […]
Jasmine Sawers is a writer, editor, and teacher. Sawers’s fairy tale flash collection, The Anchored World: Flash Fairy Tales and Folklore, was recently released by Rose Metal Press. From the publisher: The Anchored World: Flash Fairy Tales and Folklore “Drawing on both Western fairy tales and Thai legends, these flash fictions combine the myth and […]
I’ve been writing and submitting fiction for nearly two decades now, and while I don’t have an itemized list, I believe I’ve received about one trillion rejections. One particular criticism appeared again and again: The opening is too slow and the stakes are too low. This complaint began to wear at me like a stone […]
Comet Wine Us and Them Lotus Eater Men Will Die I Will Never Be Alone The Painted Child Appetite A Life Never Lived A Stroke of Luck Together Forever B. waterways The Stain Beast in the Fog Almost Heaven or How I Unraveled in the Mortaverse Jacaranda Park Made You Look Retrieved: Notes from Diver […]
Isabel J. Kim is a Korean-American science fiction and fantasy writer based in New York City. An attorney by day, she also co-hosts Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture. Her stories have been included in the Locus Recommended Reading List, as well as TOR.com’s Must Read list. Her work has been published in […]
13 Shortlisted Titles! Mr Grim Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark GRIN Bury and Take Root The Lost Coast Motel The Carny Incarcerated A Certain Rectitude Lodged in the Body Buffalo Jill The Violin Flotsam A Detective Story Ritual
Judge Agent CeCe Lyra has made her selections! Congrats to the winners! Thank you to all of the submitters throughout the contest! The shortlisted writers deserve a celebration as well as it’s not easy to make the shortlist! 1st Place: HOMILY by Amanda Baldeneaux: The premise is intriguing: murdered girls begin to unexplainably reappear. Right away, […]
We’re excited to send these 24 first chapters to judge agent Dorian Maffei! Mr Grim Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark GRIN Bury and Take Root The Godfather of Madagascar La Brujeria Spells for Remembering Einsteins Cavern The Lost Coast Motel The Carny Incarcerated A Certain Rectitude Lodged in the Body Maple Lane Camelot Noir […]
These 15 fantastic and gripping first chapters have been sent to judge Agent CeCe Lyra! We can’t wait to reveal her selections! I AM IN LOVE WITH A STRANGE GIRL NAMED GEMMA USHERWOOD Homily Clairvoyant On the Roof Night Service Wouldn’t Be Seen Dead Billamina and the Ship that Sailed the Trees Mourn in Glory […]
Gwen E. Kirby’s recent collection Shit Cassandra Saw (Penguin) is filled with lightning-bright characters in unexpected situations. The stories, which have won too many awards to list, span centuries, centering women in their challenges and triumphs. Gwen has a lot to say, and she does so with elegance and wit. Thanks to Gwen for taking […]
Many of our readers are interested in international publishing as well as self-publishing, and Ali’s is an amazing story of success in both.
Many of our readers are interested in international publishing as well as self-publishing, and Ali’s is an amazing story of success in both.
Add to Calendar We invite writers to submit to the Uncharted Magazine Short Story Award from May 1 to July 31, 2022. This Award is for all three genres: SF/F, Thriller/Horror, and Mystery/Crime. Guest judge Lincoln Michel will choose three winning stories from a shortlist. We’re excited to offer 3 winners of this prize $1000 […]
Maria Haskins is a Swedish-Canadian writer, translator, and reviewer of speculative fiction. She’s well known in the community for her tireless support of genre work, publishing a monthly roundup of speculative fiction for her newsletter, as well as a quarterly roundup for Strange Horizons. She consistently profiles the very best new stories, and her Behind […]
And the winners are: 1st Place: SELF PRESERVATION by Rob Nisbet 2nd Place: A THOUSAND MILES AWAY by Joseph Walker 3rd Place: UNDER THE IVY by Meg Overman Shortlist The Pull by Kyle Tolan The Assassin’s Portrait by Nina Wachsman You Seen Our Girl? by S.E. Reed Self-Preservation by Rob Nisbet The Man in the […]
A few drafts in, we get so familiar with our YA manuscripts that the story begins to feel like an old friend. We know it backward and forwards, where each scene is and what happens in each scene. But we also smooth out the edges in our minds and it becomes harder and harder to look at our manuscripts with a critical eye. We get to a point where we go over all our pages only to discover we don’t know how to push them forward. To help out when that happens, we’ve compiled a few prompts to help you get fresh eyes on your story
Whether writing contemporary, historical, sci-fi or fantasy, an interview can be a great opportunity to develop a character or learn about something you didn’t know about before.
Chris Panatier’s second novel, Stringers, releases on April 12. Publisher’s Weekly gave the book a starred review, and the American Library Association called it “a rip-roaring space adventure” and a “touching exploration of what sentient beings owe to one another.” The author himself says Stringers is “a heartfelt sci-fi vehicle for potty jokes.” I’m a […]
Most novels, whether they take place a hundred years ago or two years ago, require research.
Imagine this: a mug of hot coffee in your hand, a pencil and notebook in your backpack, and a group of fellow writers all sitting at the round table of a local bookstore cafe, waiting to talk about your writing.
As a YA writer, you might be located in any part of the world. At one point, your resources for writing might have been limited by how far you could travel. However, with the internet and the spread of online learning, it’s become more common to take writing courses from your computer.
You’ve written your first draft, second draft and perhaps a few more. You’ve gotten your book as far as you can and you’re thinking about the next step–sharing your work. Placing your words in the hands of beta readers is a daunting task. It can be scary to share your story–but feedback from others can really make your manuscript shine.
We’re so excited to announce the 35 titles of our long list! The submissions we received were so chilling, thrilling, and memorable that we’ve had a hard time narrowing down the list! We’ll announce the shortlist titles next week! Thank you for your patience! The Gunfighter and the Undertaker Potashe Preserve To Serve With Both […]
We’ve asked 5 YA writers at different stages of their career how they fit writing time into their schedules.
With a daunting task like writing a book, It’s hard to see the finish line. That can often be difficult and demotivating. That’s why it’s helpful to set daily writing goals. You’ll start feeling accomplished at the end of the day, and before you know it, all of your little moments of word count will add up to a whole book.
We’re so excited to announce the 14 titles of our Short List! The submissions we received were so chilling, thrilling, and memorable that we’ve had a hard time narrowing down the list! We’ll announce the winners in the next 2-4 weeks! The Pull The Assassin’s Portrait You Seen Our Girl? Self-Preservation The Man in the […]
If you want to get traditionally published, finding an agent is often the next step after you’ve finished revising your manuscript. It can be really helpful to have a collaborator, a partner and new eyes on something you’ve worked on for so long, but it’s important to find the right person.
A few drafts in, we get so familiar with our YA manuscripts that the story begins to feel like an old friend. We know it backward and forwards, where each scene is and what happens in each scene. But we also smooth out the edges in our minds and it becomes harder and harder to look at our manuscripts with a critical eye. We get to a point where we go over all our pages only to discover we don’t know how to push them forward. To help out when that happens, we’ve compiled a few prompts to help you get fresh eyes on your story
Nick Olson’s newest book, a speculative novel-in-flash titled Afterglow (Alien Buddha Press), will be released in June. Nick is a freelance editor and author of both literary and speculative fiction. His previous novels, Here’s Waldo and The Brother We Share, are available now. He is the editor of lit zine (mac)ro(mic). Nick let me take an early peek at Afterglow and I loved the complex future history he has envisioned.
We’re so excited to announce the 26 titles of our longlist! The submissions we received were so chilling, thrilling, and memorable that we’ve had a hard time narrowing down the list! We’ll announce the shortlist titles next week! Thank you for your patience! The Sixth of October Help, Satan! Storm in a Teacup Bad Beat […]
We’re so excited to announce the 15 titles of our shortlist! The submissions we received were so creative, thrilling, and deeply envisioned that we’ve had a hard time narrowing down the list! We’ll announce the winners in early January! Thank you for your patience! From this list, Ken Liu will select 3 winners! The Organic […]
1. What is your hottest take on the age old genre vs. fiction debate and how do you see yourself and your work fitting into that? Evan J. Peterson: You asked for it, so here goes. Genre is about money. Genres as we know them are made up to sell books, and they were made […]
Young Adult literature is a cutting-edge and captivating genre, beloved by authors who choose to write for teens. YA authors build mesmerizing worlds that fascinate young, curious minds. In turn, YA is devoured by its target audience—young people who crave excitement, adventure, love, and acceptance. Now, we are giving those most intrigued by these worlds […]