10 Calls for Short Stories — $50 to $800 Per Story


These markets pay $50 to $800 for fiction, and a few also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. – S. Kalekar

Lightspeed
This award-winning magazine is currently open to science fiction by BIPOC authors only. They will open to general science fiction submissions during 8-15 February. They also have two short reading periods for fantasy fiction in March, one for BIPOC writers, and another for general fantasy submissions.
Deadline: 8 February 2021 for SF by BIPOC writers; 8-15 February for general science fiction submissions
Length: 1,500-10,000 words (under 5,000 preferred)
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.

Nyx Publishing: Queer Gothic short stories
They want queer Gothic short fiction. They welcome submissions featuring queerness in a broad sense. This includes perspectives from LGBTQIA+ characters, but also queering of gender and sexuality in a more abstract sense. Their guidelines say, “We love tried-and-true Gothic tropes such as crumbling castles, sketchy families, superstition, confusion over what is real or not, occultism, blurring between life and death. We also love fresh interpretations of the Gothic. Send us your gloomy retellings, genre-mash-ups, or experimental writing. Vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural beasties are welcome.”
Deadline: 20 February 2021
Length: 100-8,000 words
Pay: £40
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder! YA anthology, written by and featuring a queer protagonist – the deadline is 1 March, pay is $900+, and they are looking to fill two slots via the open call, so it will likely be extremely competitive. Authors have to be at least 13 years old to submit here.)

Kaleidotrope
­­­­­This magazine leans very heavily towards the speculative – science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They also publish poetry and artwork. They like “an eclectic mix and are therefore interested to read compelling work that blurs these lines, falls outside of neat genre categories”, according to their guidelines. Also, “Man does not live on space ships, elves, and ghostly ax murderers alone, after all. We’d suggest looking through the archives to familiarize yourself with the zine, and/or checking out other work by our past contributors, to get a sense of what we’re looking for and what we like.” Their reading periods are February, May, August, and November during 2021.
Deadline: 28 February 2021
Length: Prefer 250-10,000 words for fiction,
Pay: $0.01/word for prose, $5/poem, $60 for cover art
Details here.


Trenchcoats, Towers, and Trolls: Cyberpunk Fairy Tales

This is a call for a fiction anthology, of cyberpunk with fairy tales. Their guidelines say, “Give me a story of Rapunzel trapped in a tower of circuits rather than stones, of trolls who live under bridges as well as those who do their work behind a keyboard — or whatever passes for a keyboard in the future. What if Snow White was a computer and the apple a virus? What if Hansel and Gretel were hackers following digital breadcrumbs? Or Cinderella was a program who must stop running by midnight or else?” Original fairy tales as well as retellings are welcome.
Deadline: 28 February 2021
Length: Up to 7,500 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.


Canthius
­­­­­They welcome submissions of fiction, creative non-fiction, experimental works, play excerpts, and poetry. They publish work by women, transgender men, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and genderqueer/gender non-conforming writers, and accept submissions in Indigenous languages.   
Deadline: 1 March 2021
Length: Up to 3,500 words, up to 5 poems
Pay: $50-150
Details here.

Upstreet
They want fiction and creative nonfiction. They aren’t looking for unsolicited poetry, but do accept queries for these.
Deadline: 1 March 2021
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: $50-250
Details here.


B Cubed Press: Three themes
They are open for fiction, essays, and poetry submissions for three anthologies. They will also accept reprints.
Protest Diaries: “Stories from the front lines of revolutions throughout history.”
Alternative War: “War shapes the world through technology, boarders, and norms. What will come next?” Stories can take place anywhere in time and space.
Alternative Deathliness: “Death brings so many options” – this anthology will be a “fun filled romp into the concept and nature of Death.”

Deadline: 1 March 2021
Length: “Story length for our books average about 2200 words but have ranged from 100 to 7500 words. However, we only use one or two stories over 5000 words and our advice is to keep it under 5K, unless we communicate in advance.” 
Pay: $0.02/word + royalties
Details here.

Deep Magic
They want clean fantasy and sci-fi stories. They do not publish fiction with graphic violence, mature sexual themes, or profanity. They also accept reprints. Their submission deadline is on Twitter.
Deadline: 31 March 2021
Length: 1,000-40,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word, capped at $599.92 for stories longer than 7,499 words
Details here.

Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne
The North American Jules Verne Society is seeking short fiction and illustrations for its upcoming anthology. This is the first anthology of new fiction ever sponsored by the Society. They want short stories inspired by the writings of Jules Verne. Their guidelines say, “Your story may be set in any time or place. You may use characters from Verne’s novels (they’re all in the public domain) or make up your own. You need not write in Verne’s style. The connection between your story and at least one of Verne’s works must be obvious and significant.” They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 30 April 2021 (or until filled)
Length: 3,000-5,000 words
Pay: $0.02/word for fiction, $100 for cover art
Details here.


StarShipSofa
This is a Hugo Award winning podcast. Their guidelines say, “In a word: science-fiction. From the soft, social science fiction to the weird pulpy stuff to the vigorous hard SF and YA adventure. We welcome all sub-genres and all variety of punks in all their colours. From high-octane action to quiet philosophical stories, we’re after it all. … We welcome translations and are very interested in stories that take place/written by authors outside the US/Anglo-sphere, as well as alternative movements and styles. These include (but not limited to) “non-Western” science fiction, Chinese SF, Soviet speculative fiction, Afro-futurism, etc.” The science fiction element must be the backbone of the story. They don’t want fantasy or supernatural horror. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: Open now
Length: 3,000-9,000 words
Pay: $50
Details here.


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.

 

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