# CrimeCalls™

> CrimeCalls™ (crimecalls.com) is a hand-checked deadline board of writing contests, awards, anthology calls, magazines and publishers for mystery, crime and thriller writers. It currently lists 62 open opportunities (17 contests, 8 awards, 11 anthologies, 8 magazines, 18 novel publishers), each with deadline, entry fee, pay, eligibility, a link to the official guidelines and the date it was last checked.

Last updated: 2026-11-03 (listings last checked 2026-10-30).

## Who it's for
Writers of mystery, crime, noir, cozy, suspense and thriller fiction, from first short story to finished novel, looking for where to submit and when it closes; plus editors and organizers who run these calls.

## How listings are checked
Each listing is checked by hand against the organizer's official guidelines page, links straight to it, and shows the date it was last checked. Past deadlines drop off automatically. Pay-to-publish and vanity schemes, and calls with no traceable source page, are left out. Paid placements are always labelled and never decide whether a call is listed. Standard listings are listed as a courtesy; organizers don't pay to appear. Editorial standards: https://crimecalls.com/about.html#editorial-standards

## Products and prices
- 2026-27 Crime Writer Submission Calendar (https://crimecalls.com/calendar.html): $9 one-time digital download. A printable month-by-month PDF of every current listing (36 dated deadlines plus 26 open-anytime markets), with entry fee, pay or prize, word count, eligibility, official link and last-checked date for each, plus a CSV spreadsheet and an ICS calendar file with a reminder a week before each deadline.
- Featured listing (https://crimecalls.com/advertise.html#featured): for contests, awards, anthologies, magazines and publishers. Pinned at the top of the board and on its detail page with a "Featured" label until the deadline. $39 founding rate for the first 10 sponsors, then $99. A featured call must pass the same check as every other listing.
- Featured resource (https://crimecalls.com/advertise.html#resource): 60-day labelled spot for editors, book coaches, cover designers, promo services and writing tools in Resources and on relevant listing pages. Same pricing: $39 founding rate (first 10 sponsors across both options), then $99.

## Publisher and contact
CrimeCalls™ is published by Continuing Education And Training, LLC, 500 Westover Drive, Suite 17707, Sanford, NC 27330. Contact: hello@crimecalls.com (corrections, new calls, featured spots).

## Key pages
- [All deadlines](https://crimecalls.com/): every open listing sorted by deadline
- [FAQ](https://crimecalls.com/faq.html): where to find open mystery/crime/thriller submission calls, upcoming deadlines, short story contests, no-fee contests, awards open to self-published books, publishers taking unagented submissions, what the $9 calendar includes
- [About and editorial standards](https://crimecalls.com/about.html#editorial-standards): what CrimeCalls covers, how listings are chosen and checked, who publishes it
- [Resources](https://crimecalls.com/resources.html): featured services and tools for crime writers (paid placements, labelled)
- [2026–27 Crime Writer Submission Calendar](https://crimecalls.com/calendar.html): $9 printable PDF of every current listing organized month by month by deadline, with CSV and ICS calendar files
- [Mystery & crime writing contests](https://crimecalls.com/contests/): Mystery and crime writing contests: short story contests, first-novel competitions and crime fiction awards, with deadlines, entry fees and prizes.
- [Crime fiction anthology calls for submissions](https://crimecalls.com/anthologies/): Open anthology calls for crime, mystery, noir and thriller short stories, with deadlines, word counts, pay and fees, checked against official guidelines.
- [Free mystery writing contests & no-fee submissions](https://crimecalls.com/free/): Mystery and crime writing contests, magazines, anthologies and publishers with no entry or reading fee, sorted by deadline, with pay and word counts.
- [Mystery & crime magazines accepting short stories](https://crimecalls.com/magazines/): Mystery, crime and noir magazines accepting short story submissions, including open-anytime markets and themed issues, with pay rates, word counts and fees.
- [Publishers accepting crime & mystery novels](https://crimecalls.com/publishers/): Publishers and imprints accepting crime, mystery, cozy and thriller novel submissions, including unagented, with submission notes and fees.

## Next deadlines
The next dated deadlines on the board (all checked against official guidelines; see each listing for fee, pay and eligibility):
- 2026-11-04: [Stone's Throw – December 2026 prompt](https://crimecalls.com/o/stone-s-throw-december-2026-prompt/) (magazine; fee: Free)
- 2026-11-15: [Stitching Up Death (cozy anthology)](https://crimecalls.com/o/stitching-up-death-cozy-anthology/) (anthology; fee: Free)
- 2026-11-30: [Black Beacon Books – Lighthouses 2](https://crimecalls.com/o/black-beacon-books-lighthouses-2/) (anthology; fee: Free)
- 2026-11-30: [Minotaur Books / Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel](https://crimecalls.com/o/minotaur-books-malice-domestic-best-first-traditional-mystery-novel/) (contest; fee: Free)
- 2026-11-30: [Writory Thriller Writing Competition (round closing Nov 30, 2026)](https://crimecalls.com/o/writory-thriller-writing-competition-nov-2026/) (contest; fee: $8 (two stories $14; five $25))
- 2026-12-07: [Edgar Awards 2027 (works published in 2026)](https://crimecalls.com/o/edgar-awards-2027-works-published-in-2026/) (award; fee: See MWA)
- 2026-12-13: [Uncharted Magazine Novel Excerpt Prize 2026](https://crimecalls.com/o/uncharted-magazine-novel-excerpt-prize-2026/) (contest; fee: $20 reading fee)
- 2026-12-14: [Minotaur Books / MWA First Crime Novel Competition](https://crimecalls.com/o/minotaur-books-mwa-first-crime-novel-competition/) (contest; fee: Free)
- 2026-12-15: [CWC Awards of Excellence 2027 (published works)](https://crimecalls.com/o/cwc-awards-of-excellence-2027-published-works/) (award; fee: CA$30–55 (novel $55, novella $40, short story $30; 20% member discount))
- 2026-12-15: [Ominous Thrill – Valentine's 2027 spicy horror/thriller](https://crimecalls.com/o/ominous-thrill-valentine-s-2027-spicy-horror-thriller/) (anthology; fee: Free)
- 2026-12-15: [Secrets Worth Killing For (espionage crime anthology)](https://crimecalls.com/o/secrets-worth-killing-for-espionage-crime-anthology/) (anthology; fee: Free)
- 2026-12-31: [Behind the Tape: Urban Crime Thriller Stories](https://crimecalls.com/o/behind-the-tape-urban-crime-thriller-stories/) (anthology; fee: Free)

## Guides
- [Guides for mystery and crime writers](https://crimecalls.com/guides/): hub page
- [No-fee mystery writing contests 2026–2027](https://crimecalls.com/guides/no-fee-mystery-writing-contests-2026-2027.html)
- [Crime fiction magazines that pay](https://crimecalls.com/guides/crime-fiction-magazines-that-pay.html)
- [Mystery publishers accepting unagented submissions](https://crimecalls.com/guides/mystery-publishers-accepting-unagented-submissions.html)
- [Mystery and crime anthologies open now](https://crimecalls.com/guides/mystery-anthologies-open-now.html)
- [How to pick a crime writing contest](https://crimecalls.com/guides/how-to-pick-a-crime-writing-contest.html)

## Data
- [Full listing text for LLMs](https://crimecalls.com/llms-full.txt)
- [Open data (JSON)](https://crimecalls.com/data/opportunities.json)
- [Sitemap](https://crimecalls.com/sitemap.xml)

## For organizers
- [Add a listing](https://crimecalls.com/submit.html)
- [Featured listings and featured resources](https://crimecalls.com/advertise.html)

## Events (courtesy listings)
- [Crime, mystery and thriller book events 2026-27](https://crimecalls.com/events.html): 21 dated events (conventions, festivals, writing conferences and library programmes) plus 4 recurring bookstore calendars, each checked on its official page. Events are listed as a courtesy; organizers don't pay to appear.
- New England Crime Bake 2026: November 6–8, 2026, Dedham, Massachusetts, USA
- Iceland Noir 2026: November 11–14, 2026, Reykjavík, Iceland
- Cheshire Crime Writers Festival 2027: February 6–7, 2027, Frodsham, Cheshire, UK
- Murder in the Magic City 2027: February 6, 2027, Homewood (Birmingham), Alabama, USA
- Crime and Publishment 2027: March 5–7, 2027, Gretna Green, Scotland, UK
- Coastal Crime 2027: March 6, 2027, Southampton, UK
- Full list: https://crimecalls.com/events.html (data: https://crimecalls.com/data/events.json)

## Featured spots (paid placements)
- No featured spots are live right now.
- Featured spots are $39 at the founding rate for the first 10 sponsors, then $99: https://crimecalls.com/advertise.html