Welcome to The Pitch, a monthly discussion thread of the best speculative fiction on Substack, introduced by the authors themselves!
Whether you’re a reader searching for new worlds or a writer ready to promote your latest piece, this thread is for you! Here’s how it works:
📝 Are you a writer?
Head to the comments and add:
A link to the speculative fiction that will keep your readers up at night (short story, serial chapter, anthology excerpt, essay, etc.).
A 1–2 sentence pitch to hook new readers.
Bonus: Share the inspiration behind the story, a moodboard, the first line, favorite reader tropes. Be creative!
🔖Are you a reader?
Head to the comments:
Browse the comments to discover fresh speculative fiction directly from the authors.
Like the ones that catch your eye.
Leave a comment on a story you enjoyed—it makes a writer’s day and starts great conversations.
Already have a favorite ghost story to fit the theme of this spooky month (on or off Substack)? Leave a comment to drop a rec of your own!
🖖Support the Community
Want to help these stories reach more readers?
Restack. Restack this thread. Restack the stories you are reading. Let fellow Substackers know what you enjoy.
Share it to Reddit, Discord, X, Instagram, Facebook, share it with your mom, uncle, best friend, grandpa, neighbor who weirdly does yardwork at midnight—anywhere speculative fiction lives, let them hear from you.
Your word of mouth holds so much power. The more you share, the more readers will read, the more connections we build. Let’s keep the signal strong.
Gautin’s Errand is the story of a young boy entrusted with a sudden burden too great for most men to bear. Born with a crippled leg, and without even understanding his mission, Gautin must carry a package through absolute peril, all to save his family—and his father—who have only ever treated him with contempt.
https://open.substack.com/pub/ericfalden/p/gautins-errand?r=3ecd72&utm_medium=ios
I started a brand new serialisation! Wake me up in Dystopia is subtitled An autobiographical future, so yours truly is a main character, except it starts in the year 2053 when I am 80 years old, and am facing the imminent almost-mandatory 'assisted dying' law, which requires a 'reasonable exemption' if you want to keep on living. The young nurse is approaching my house, but her neural implant isn't working, and my home assist computer doesn't behave like a normal one should. There is clearly something strange going on... what is going to happen to me? or any of us, when the time comes?
Chapters drop every Friday (follow the Sci-Friday tag on Notes for this, and other goodies in the SF community here!).
https://inadifferentplace.substack.com/p/wake-me-up-in-dystopia-first-part?r=2s9hod