What is Cold Caller?
Cold Caller is a publisher of crime and mystery fiction, and we define those terms broadly. We're looking for stories of bad decisions and worse consequences; unlucky losers who can't catch a break; grifters and con men convinced they're about to score big; good men and women who have very good reasons to do terrible things.
Is that too vague? Here's what we like reading and watching. If any of this matches your vibe, send us your work.
Fiction
Homesick for Another World, Ottessa Moshfegh
The Friends of Eddie Coyle, George V. Higgins
Thieves' Dozen, Donald E. Westlake
The Code of the Woosters, P.G. Wodehouse
Crimes in Southern Indiana, Frank Bill
Different Seasons, Stephen King
Eleven, Patricia Highsmith
Crook Manifesto, Colson Whitehead
Dare Me, Megan Abbott
Black Gum, J. David Osborne
Movies & TV
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
Before I Disappear
Sneaky Pete
Rounders
Bad Santa
Fargo
How long should my story be?
Our sweet spot is 2,000 - 6,000 words, but we'll consider stories up to 10,000 words. Any longer than that and it will be an automatic rejection – no hard feelings, that's just not what we're after.
How soon should I expect a response?
We're going to strive for a 3 - 6 month response time, though we will adjust as needed once we see what kind of submission volume we receive. Please feel free to query if you haven't received a response after 6 months.
Do you accept simultaneous submissions?
Absolutely. Just let us know if your work gets accepted somewhere else.
Do you accept multiple submissions?
No. We ask that you please only send one piece of short fiction at a time. We’re a small operation, and this helps keep our reading more manageable!
If you decline my story, how long should I wait to submit something else?
We’d ask that you wait at least a month between submissions, unless we specify otherwise. Again, this rule is just to help us keep the reading pile manageable, and we appreciate your consideration.
Do you accept previously published work?
As we work to grow a subscriber base, we're only going to publish original fiction that can't be found anywhere else. That means we do not accept previously published work, even if seems like it would otherwise be a great fit.
What DON’T you want?
We lean toward noir and realism, so generally speaking we aren’t looking for cozy mysteries, spy thrillers, or for cross-genre work such as mystery-romance, mystery-science fiction, mystery-fantasy, etc.
In general, we like grounded story and character. We’d rather read a well-told story about a single mom swiping bills from a register drawer than a suave super spy who disables a nuclear bomb.
How much does Cold Caller pay for short stories?
We offer a base payment of $125 for all short fiction we publish.
In time, we hope to follow a model similar to Palisatrium and pay authors more as we gain additional subscribers.
What does publication entail?
If your story is accepted for publication, we will work with you on any necessary edits or revisions. (These probably will not be extensive–if we accepted your story, it's not because we thought the plot needed a major overhaul.) We'll also send you a contract for first North American serial rights.
After your story is finalized, we will send you a one-time $125 payment. We prefer Venmo for this kind of thing, but can also do Zelle or Paypal as needed. (We can not send paper checks at this time, and don't send cash in the mail.)
Publication also includes an author interview, to be featured on the site along with your story.
How do I submit?
Please email your story as an attachment to cold.caller.mag@gmail.com
We request you send your work as a .doc, .docx, or .ods file. Please follow standard manuscript formatting.
Who’s the brains of this little operation?
Cold Caller’s editor-in-chief is Alex Mattingly, who has published fiction and nonfiction in places like PANK, 3:AM, Annalemma, Midwestern Gothic, Joyland, North American Review, Moon City Review, Litro, BULL, Punchnel’s, and many others. He earned his MFA at Butler University in Indianapolis and served as consulting editor on Playing Authors: An Anthology, published by Old Iron Press.
Writing as Craig Francis Coates, his short crime and mystery fiction has been published by Rock and a Hard Place, Tough, All Due Respect, Manzano Mountain Review, and The Dark City. As Coates, his work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Derringer Award.
Read more at bleakfrancis.com.
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get access to author interviews, updates, and more. Paid subscribers get full access to all published short fiction as well as our publication archives.
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