CultureCult Press warmly invites writers from all walks of life to send in their short fiction for our upcoming anthology, “Metrics: The Money Trap”—a bold exploration of how money, metrics and the constant need to “add up” can quietly shape, distort or even shatter modern life.
We’re looking for honest, strange, genre-bending stories that examine how systems of economic metrics entrap individuals, corrode societies and redefines reality itself. Whether speculative, surreal, realist, horrific, satirical, or philosophical—bring us tales where earning becomes obsession, value becomes control and money becomes a mythical God manifested off barterial convenience.
THE FINAL DATE OF SUBMISSION IS JULY 5, 2025
Come up with your own story or feel free to get started with one of our writing prompts:
- With AI rapidly stealing jobs, a company invites individuals to sell their time: essentially years of their life for instant wealth.
- A government proposes a program that calculates a citizen’s political vote weight based on their net economic contribution. The philosophy: the more you earn, the more you care about national policy.
- Neck deep in credit card debt, a desperate man comes across a mysterious man who proposes to clear his debts, provided he agreed to murder someone.
- A week before her wedding, a woman starts receiving persistent calls and letters from a faceless financial institution claiming she owes a massive sum of money for a “Life Initiation Loan” she signed up for at birth—a loan she has no memory of taking.
- In a struggling village far from from the city, it rains money for three days and three nights. At first, it’s considered a miracle—until relationships begin to fall apart and everyone wants to find the most creative ways to spend their wealth.
- A minimum-wage worker invests in a pyramid scheme that sells “life hack courses” to out-earn poverty. The catch? Each hack is a small moral compromise. First shoplifting. Then forgery. Then…
We are accepting TRANSLATED WORKS as well. Submission of translated works must be accompanied by a statement declaring that the translator has obtained the author’s permission and their publisher’s, if required.
Simultaneous Submissions are welcome, but the author must inform us my email as soon as the submitted piece is accepted elsewhere. Pieces cannot be withdrawn once CultureCult Press informs the author of its acceptance for publication.
We consider reprints. Please mention that your work should be considered as a ‘reprint’ in the body of your email.
At present, we are unable to pay our contributors.
Each contributor shall receive a COMPLIMENTARY DIGITAL COPY of the anthology as soon as it publishes.
Manuscripts should directly be sent to CCAnthologySubs@gmail.com
Emails must have the subject line “Submission for METRICS”
Each submission MUST be accompanied with a short bio (preferably within 100 words) and, if possible, a photograph of the author to go along with publication.
Please submit your files in the following formats: .doc /.docx / only. DO NOT submit PDFs.
CultureCult Press and its imprint use non exclusive rights to publish in its anthologies and website. Authors are free to republish their work anywhere else once it has been published.
Please submit only original pieces. CultureCult Press or the editor/s of the anthology shall not be responsible for any disputes arising out of plagiarism or copyright infringement.
We shall consider submission from all authors, regardless of their previous publication experience.
NOTE: We try to reply within a month after receiving submissions. However, replies can be delayed under unforeseen circumstances.
