Cemetery Dance magazine will open to submissions again later this year (please don’t send anything now – it’ll still be returned unread). However, they are only going to open to submissions for two months at the very most. Prior to closing to submissions, they state that they were receiving up to 500 stories per month, with a limited number of fiction slots available per issue, hence the change.

In addition, they will have a new electronic submission system in place, allowing quicker response, saving on the cost of postage and being more environmentally-friendly.

They will be seeking: “Horror, dark mystery, and suspense short stories up to 5,000 words. Originals, no reprints. We want tales that are powerful and emotional—creepy, chilling, disturbing, and moody. Suspense/mystery/crime tales with a horror element are always welcome. Both supernatural and psychological stories are fine. Most common reasons for rejection are: lack of power, lack of originality, slow pacing, poor writing, boring themes. Read the magazine, see what type of fiction we are publishing—don’t submit with a blind eye!”

Payment will be: “Professional rates, minimum of five cents per word, plus two contributor copies. Payable within 30 days of publication. Up to 5,000 words; maximum payment of $250. All rights revert to the author upon publication.”

Full details on how to submit will be posted on the website once the new submission system is ready. The publishers stress that writers must not submit until the appropriate time – all manuscripts submitted before they have the new system ready will be returned unread.

Cemetery Dance have announced an exciting new membership plan that will allow you to read ANY ebook they publish in 2012, along with all of the ebooks they’ve already published, for a small one-time fee.

They state:
“In the six months since we launched our ebook store, we’ve published books by William Peter Blatty, Peter Straub, Jay Bonansinga, Norman Partridge, Glen Hirshberg, Brian Hodge, Brian Keene, Mick Garris, Rick Hautala, Ronald Kelly, Simon Clark, Ed Gorman, Geoff Cooper, Brian James Freeman, James A. Moore, Rocky Wood, Kirby McCauley, and many others.

There are nearly 40 ebooks you can download right away with a combined retail value of more than $130, plus we have dozens of new ebooks in the works for 2012, including some exciting originals and also reprints of classic out of print horror novels you haven’t read in years.

Our ebooks range in price from $0.99 to $9.99, but the cost of this membership is just a one-time fee of $49, which breaks down to $4.08 per month. If you think you’d want to download even a couple of ebooks each month, this is a great deal!

Because we hope you still love print editions as much as we do, members will also receive a FREE signed Limited Edition hardcover later this year. All you’ll have to pay is any applicable shipping. Considering the retail value of $30 to $40 for the free book, the low purchase price of this membership is an EVEN BETTER deal with this special bonus!”

Full details of the membership plan can be found HERE