10 Short Fiction Markets that Pay Writers ($50 to $800)

These magazines and websites all pay for fiction submissions, from $50 to $800. A few of them also accept other genres, like poetry and non-fiction. None charge a submission fee, and they’re all open for submissions in January. Deadlines are approaching soon. – S. Kalekar

Crone Girls Press
They are accepting short stories for two anthologies: Coppice and Brake, for which they want fiction submissions in the genres of dark fantasy, supernatural, and eerie horror – that explore the darker side of speculative fiction.  For Stories We Tell After Midnight, they want “chilling horror, your stories that are set firmly in the genre, tagging the tropes and atmospherics of things that will cause you to have nightmares and not be able to escape the dark, even when you pull the covers over your head and sleep with the light on.”
Deadline: 6 January 2020
Length: 500-1,500 words for flash fiction, 3,000-8,000 words for short stories, and 12,000-25,000 words for novellas
Pay: $0.02/word or $25/story, whichever is greater
Details here

Prairie Fire
This Canadian literary magazine accepts fiction, creative non-fiction, essays and poetry and currently they are reading work on the theme Why We Walk. Their guidelines say, “As human beings, walking is intrinsic to our nature. Why, and where, we walk is complex and deeply connected to our values, beliefs and circumstances.

We walk to explore, slow down, seek solace, get inspired, connect with nature, for increased wellbeing, for the sheer joy of moving one foot in front of the other—although, many who walk, don’t walk with their feet touching the ground.

We come together collectively to walk for our rights, to protest the multitude of injustices in the world—we walk when it matters. Sometimes we walk, not because we want to, but because we don’t have any other options.” Work for the themed issue can be emailed or mailed. They are also reading unthemed work – this needs to be mailed. 
Deadline: 10 January 2020 for the themed issue; rolling for unthemed
Length: Up to 5,000 words for prose or up to 3 poems for themed issue; up to 10,000 words or up to 6 poems for general
Pay: CAD0.10/word, capped at CAD250 for fiction, CAD50-250 for other prose, CAD40/poem
Details herehere and here.

Cossmass Infinities
This is a science fiction and fantasy short story magazine. They also publish reprints.
Deadline: 12 January 2020
Length: 2,000-10,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.

Atthis Arts: Community of Magic Pens
They want short stories for this general fiction anthology. The theme goals are:
“… to celebrate the joy, power, community, and diversity of writing.
Also, in general:
– Feature unique, original, diverse, artistic content from authors across fiction genres.
– Provide an anthology theme that is workable within and between many genres.
– Provide guidelines that will generate original content but are flexible enough, that if a story is not included, it can still be used or sold elsewhere.
– Allow authors, editors, and readers all to have fun with the collection.”
They are specially interested in hearing from underrepresented writers.
Deadline: 15 January 2020
Length: Up to 3,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.

Split Lip Magazine
This is a voice-driven literary journal with a pop culture twist. They publish online monthly and in print annually – flash fiction, short stories, memoir, and poetry. January is one of the months when they accept fee-free submissions. Sometimes the fee-free options are closed earlier than scheduled due to overwhelming response, so they recommend submitting early during these months.
Reading period: 1-31 January 2020 (for fee-free submissions)
Length: Up to 2,500 words for fiction, up to 2,000 words for memoir, one poem
Pay: $50 for web contributions, $5/page for print
Details here.

The Overcast
This is a speculative fiction podcast. Their guidelines say, “We are interested in speculative fiction, whatever that means to you, be it Science Fiction, Fantasy, Steampunk, Magical Realism, Slipstream, or an as-yet-unnamed genre.  Anything that looks at the world and life from an unexpected angle.” Roughly half the stories they publish are from writers in (or connected to) the Pacific Northwest, and the rest are from around the world. They welcome reprints that haven’t been previously produced in an audio format. They do not publish horror.
Reading period: 1-31 January 2020
Length: 1,000-5,000 words (2,000-3,000 is the sweet spot)
Pay: $0.01/word, $20 for stories under 2,000 words
Details here.

34 Orchard
This is a magazine of fiction and poetry. Their guidelines say, “we like dark, intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad. We like things we can’t put down and things that make us go “wow” when we’ve finished. But our main goal here at 34 Orchard is to publish the stuff we like to read, and you’re not in our heads. So don’t over think it. Just submit.”
Reading period: 1-31 January 2020
Length: 1,000-7,500 words for fiction; poetry any style or length
Pay: $50
Details here.

HYBRID: Small Loves – A Queer Microfiction Anthology
They want micro- and flash-fiction submissions that explore queer and minority identities. Their guidelines say, “There is no restriction on the gender, expression, orientation, relationship configuration, or ace/aro spectrum of the characters, but the stories should focus on those topics. There is no restriction on genre. We are particularly keen on featuring #OwnVoices authors.

The topics in this anthology will be particularly useful to teens and young adults. While your stories needn’t contain characters of that age range, keep in mind that we will be attempting to reach the audience who will benefit most from hearing stories with which they identify. As such, we will be particularly wary of tragedies, though please do not let that stop you from submitting. While stories about coming out are particularly important to such a demographic, please don’t hesitate to also focus on day to day life, transition, relationships, and so on.” Stories should be G- to PG-rated.
Deadline: 1 February 2020
Length: 200-2,000 words
Pay: 2½¢ per word
Details here.


Leading Edge
This is a science fiction and fantasy magazine. It is affiliated with Birmingham Young University, so submissions must confirm with the BYU Honor Code, including no excessive violence or belittlement of traditional family values.
Deadline: Open now
Length: Fiction up to 10,000 words, under 5,000 words for non-fiction, unspecified for poetry
Pay: $0.01/word, up to $50 for fiction, up to $20 for poetry, up to $75 for art, unspecified for non-fiction
Details here.

Three-Lobed Burning Eye
This is a magazine of speculative fiction – horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Their guidelines say, “We’re looking for short stories from across the big classifications and those shadowy places between: magical realism, fantastique, slipstream, interstitial, Weird fiction.” They like voices that are “full of feeling, from literary to pulpy, with styles unique and flowing, but not too experimental.” They do not want extreme horror. They welcome translations. Their issues include audio readings.  
Deadline: Open now
Length: 500-7,000 words
Pay: $30-100
Details here.


Author Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.

 

We send you writing jobs.

Sign up and we'll send you 3 companies hiring writers now. Plus, we'll send more companies as we find and review them. All in our free email magazine.

We're the magazine for freelance writers.

We send you companies hiring writers.

Subscribe and we'll send you 3 companies hiring right now.

We'll also send you a guide that gets you started.

We're completely free.

Subscribe now. (It's free.)



>

About Us

We're dedicated to helping freelance writers succeed. We send you reviews of freelance writing companies, assignments, and articles to help build your writing career. You can view our privacy policy here, and our disclaimer. To get started, simply enter your email address in the form on this page.