Ash Tales is open for short story submissions. If your story fits the world of post-apocalyptic, apocalyptic, or dystopian fiction, send it in.
>SUBMISSIONS // OPEN // ASH TALES FICTION DESK
If your story is accepted, it will be published as its own dedicated page in the Ash Tales story archive at ashtales.com/stories/, where readers can discover and share it.
Some accepted stories are also selected for audio adaptation and featured as episodes of the Ash Tales podcast, giving your work another format and audience.
Use the form below to send complete, edited short fiction for review by the Ash Tales fiction desk.
Accepted stories are published under non-exclusive rights for Ash Tales digital publication, including website publication, podcast adaptation, and potential future anthology use.
You retain your rights. If your story is accepted elsewhere while pending, contact ryan@ashtales.com to withdraw it.
Response time varies by volume. If accepted, you will be contacted directly by email.
I care most about one thing: the quality of the story itself. If you can use AI tools and still produce excellent fiction, that is absolutely fine with me.
In practice, trying to reliably detect AI-assisted writing is neither enforceable nor predictable, and I do not plan to turn submissions into a detection exercise. This is a merit-based process, and the work stands or falls on its own.
I also think AI can be genuinely useful for the more utilitarian parts of creative work. I used AI while designing this website, and I built an assistant that helps me surface character details and plot points from earlier books when I need continuity support.
How far you take it is your call, and that decision ultimately belongs to you, the artist.
Thanks for sending your story to Ash Tales. Your submission is now in the review queue.