Short story submissions wanted (Gilgamesh) | 6 cents per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: FLAME TREE PUBLISHING

Deadline: 9 November 2025

Discover the mythology of humankind through its heroes, characters, gods and immortal figures. Myths, Gods & Immortals brings together the new and the ancient, familiar stories with a fresh and imaginative twist. Each book brings back to life a classic mythological or folkloric figure, with completely new stories alongside the original tales. New and emerging writers from open submissions reveal hidden themes, casting fresh perspectives on well-known stories, alongside specially commissioned text on the origins and the cultural background of the mythology. The first eight books in the series are Medusa, Odin, Circe, Anansi, Achilles, Morgana le Fay, Loki, Aphrodite, The Valkyries and Odysseus. We're now opening up submissions for the next two books, Helen of Troy and Gilgamesh. (Both will publish in September 2026).

GILGAMESH

The ancient hero from Mesopotamian mythology and possible historical king of Sumer, Gilgamesh is a hugely influential figure, not least on Homer's famous tales, the Iliad and the Odyssey, but also on modern culture. His stories, and later Babylonian interwoven narrative, have it all: quests to the underworld, epic journeys, ghosts, giants and beasts, a great flood, love and death. Together with the goddess Inanna (aka Ishtar) and his beloved companion Enkidu, Gilgamesh experiences adventure and self-discovery as gripping as any Hellenistic hero.

So as ever, we are seeking stories that really interrogate this character and all his flaws, traits and relationships. Whether as evidenced in the ancient tablets or extrapolated in your imagination, whether set 2000 years BCE or 2150 CE – your tales will be fresh with insight and inventiveness.

Submissions to: babylonian@flametreepublishing.com

TERMS:

• Multiple submissions are fine but must be in separate emails.

• Simultaneous submissions are fine but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology.

• Stories using AI-generated text will not be accepted.

• For accepted stories we pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints.

• We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline.

• Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website flametreepublishing.com for details), although some may be paid earlier than that.

• Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel.

• Let us know in your submission email whether your story would be a reprint or is currently unpublished.

IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT SUBMISSIONS AND GUIDELINES

We're always looking for better ways of working so we've tweaked our submission process to allow us to read more stories, and spend more time assessing the balance of our books. So follow these rules to avoid your story getting lost in our system!

• Submissions must use the dedicated email address.

• The subject line of the email must be the story title.

• The file with the story must be attached to the email (.docx, .doc or .rtf format).

• The name of the file must match the name in the subject line.

• If submitting more than one story, please submit one story per email.

OTHER USEFUL TIPS FOR A MORE SUCCESSFUL SUBMISSION:

• The file name of the submission must be the story name only.

• Please just use spaces between words in the title (not _ or - ).

• If the story name starts with A or The, please use it at the beginning of the file name.

• If you'd like to add some details about the story, confirm if it's new or a reprint, or add a short bio of yourself, please add to the body of the email not as an attachment.

• Story length is most likely to be successful at 3,000-4,000 words, but we will still read stories slightly outside this range.

• If submitting a story that has recently been submitted to us for consideration to another anthology, please state this in the submission email.

• Deadline for submissions is 9th November 2025.

Thank you, and good luck!

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CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):

Questions/submissions: babylonian@flametreepublishing.com

Website: https://www.flametreepublishing.com/

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