There are so many wonderful publishers of short stories. Many of them pay very little, while many pay quite a lot of money. Publication by The New Yorker, for example, would probably pay your rent for quite some time.

Below is a list of publishers that pay at least $100 for short stories. Some of them pay much more. None of these publishers are easy to be published by, but they are all regularly open to submissions.

1. Tor — We just did a short review of Tor. They are one of the best paying markets for speculative fiction. They pay up to $2,000 and sometimes more. They want to publish sci-fi, horror, fantasy, ‘alternative histories’, etc. Read this for more information.
2. The Nashville Review is a literary journal published by Vanderbilt University. They pay $100 for short stories. Their current deadline is May 31st, 2015. They accept ” flash fiction, short stories, and novel excerpts of up to 8,000 words.” Here are their full submissions guidelines.
3. The Sun Magazine is a wonderful magazine, with a very loyal following. They pay up to $1,500 for fiction. To learn more about them, read this.
4. Cicada Magazine, part of the Cricket Magazine Group, pays up to $0.25 a word for Young Adult short stories. They want “realism, SF/fantasy, and historical fiction.” They publish stories up to 9,000 words. Here are their submission guidelines.
5. Alfred Hickcock’s Mystery Magazine pays $0.08 a word, up to 12k words. They accept stories in the “mystery” genre. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
6. Stories of Music is a forthcoming anthology about the ways music has impacted everyday lives. They pay $200 to every author they publish. The deadline to submit is June 1st, 2015. To learn more, read this.
7. Glimmer Train is a very prestigious publisher of short stories. They pay $700 per short story, and are currently accepting to submissions. Publication by them can lead to many more opportunities. They are closing to submissions on May 31st. To learn more, read this.