10 Fiction Markets Paying $50 to $480

These magazines publish fiction, and pay up to $480 for stories. A few also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. – S. Kalekar

Fusion Fragment
This Canadian magazine publishes science fiction or SF-tinged literary fiction stories and novelettes. Their guidelines say, “Although any science fiction subgenre is fair game, our tastes lean towards slipstream, cyberpunk, post-apocalypse, and anything with a little taste of the bizarre. That said, quality always outstrips genre preference in terms of importance, so feel free to send us anything that even vaguely resembles science fiction.” Work by Canadian writers will be prioritized.
Deadline: 23 October 2022
Length: 2,000-15,000 words
Pay: 3.5 cents/word, up to $300 (Canadian)
Details here.

Underland Arcana
This magazine is published thrice yearly. They want “short fiction that veers into the numinous, the esoteric, the supernatural, and the weird. We like these stories to be mildly speculative, fantastic, mysterious, and/or horrific (if you prefer genre tags). We’re not terribly keen on stories that splash through gore, but we don’t mind the grotesque. We prefer character-driven pieces, but will pause and admire works that are exceptionally experimental in tone, style, and presentation.”  About the current reading period, their website says, “Our next reading period begins October 1st, 2022. We will be reading for issues to be published in 2023. The reading period will last for at least one month. We expect this to be the only reading period for next year’s issues.”
Deadline: 31 October 2022, or until filled (see above)
Length: 1,000-5,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word for work published on website
Details here.

MetaStellar
They pay for speculative flash fiction – science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They also accept nonfiction and reviews, but there is no payment for those.
Deadline: 31 October 2022
Length: Up to 1,200 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.

word west revue
This is a new journal; they want fiction, nonfiction, poetry, video submissions, and photography. Their website says, “word west revue is a home for western-y writing and art and a whole lot more. a place to reimagine ‘the west’ and ‘westerns’ from new angles, overlooked perspectives, in both analogue + digital. we’re into subversion and surprise. we’re into road trips and weird americana, ufos and cosmic country—from the mountains to the deserts to the beaches to the plains. go west-ish.” Their guidelines say, “we’re looking for writing and art and whatever else you’ve got that engages with and reimagines the ‘west.’ ideally you or your work will have some connection to the western usa, but this theme is wide open to your interpretation (though our print issues will be more focused and western-y than online, which will be more free-wheeling). we like  intersections and echoes, mythos and symbolism, and perspectives not as often seen.” There is also a word west radio, and videos. Pitches for online content (reviews, interviews, etc.) will always be accepted, and they plan to have two annual reading periods for the print magazine. They also have a press.
Deadline: 15 November 2022
Length: Up to 5,000 words for prose, up to 5 poems
Pay: $25 for online, $100 for print, $50 for videos
Details here (guidelines) and here (Submittable)

Neon
This is a UK-based literary magazine, and they publish prose, poetry, photography, and comics. Their website says, “Neon is a magazine of slipstream fiction, poetry, and artwork. We publish creative work that is fantastic or surreal, and which crosses the boundaries between science-fiction, horror and literary fiction.” They prefer darker pieces, especially those with an element of the surreal or speculative, but are open to anything and like to be surprised. They also publish images, comics, and graphic poems, and self-contained extracts. They’re reading on two themes – Machines (deadline 15 January 2023), and Childhood (deadline 15 June 2023).
Deadline: See above
Length: Up 5,000 words for fiction, up to 6 poems
Pay: £0.02/word for prose, £0.20/line of poetry
Details here.

Escape Pod
This is a science fiction online magazine and podcast from the Escape Artists suite of magazines, and they reopened for submissions on 15 September. “We are fairly flexible on what counts as science (superheroes! steampunk! space opera! time travel!) and are interested in exploring the range of the genre. We want stories that center science, technology, future projections, and/or alternate history, and how any or all of these things impact individuals and society.
Escape Pod leans in the direction of escapism, hopepunk and optimism rather than grimdark and gloom. We love to see funny stories, which can include dark humor that doesn’t punch down, and satire that isn’t painfully bleak.” They also accept translations, and reprints.
Deadline: 31 May 2023 (see schedule)
Length: 1,500-6,000 words for original fiction; longer for reprints
Pay: $0.08/word for originals, $100 for reprints
Details here (guidelines), and here (submission portal).
(Two other magazines from the Escape Artists suite are scheduled to open next month – PodCastle will open to fantasy submissions through November – schedule here, and Cast of Wonders is scheduled to have a reading period for young adult fiction during mid- to end-November – schedule here. Both pay $0.08/word for original fiction.)

Grendel Press

They are accepting submissions for 4 dark fantasy, dark romance, and horror anthologies. They are reading on these themes currently – Paramnesia (a condition or phenomenon involving distorted memory or confusions of fact and fantasy, such as confabulation or déjà vu); stories with monsters as main characters; supernatural stories (ghosts, cults, etc.); and stories for an anthology titled The Devil Who Loves Me – literal devil, figurative devil, questionably the devil, open to interpretation. There is no deadline listed.
Deadline: Until filled
Length: 3,000-7,000 words
Pay: $0.05/word
Details here.

GigaNotoSaurus
They publish science fiction and fantasy (or any combination thereof). They publish one story a month.
Deadline: Open now
Length: 5,000-25,000 words
Pay: $100
Details here.

Protean
This is a leftist publication that produces an annual print magazine (open periodically) and publishes online content year-round. They’re reading submissions for their online content now – fiction, non-fiction (pitches and drafts of criticism, news analysis, essays, or film or book reviews), and poetry. “Fiction need not be explicitly leftist, but it’s preferable.” They also publish art/illustration.
Deadline: Ongoing
Length: 1,000-3,000 words for fiction, 1,700-4,500 for non-fiction, up to 5 poems
Pay (for online work): $100 for fiction, $200 for non-fiction (negotiable – see guidelines), $150 for interviews, $50/poem
Details here (scroll down).

The Razor
This is the magazine of Gotham Writers Workshop. They publish two pieces each month, one fiction and one non-fiction.
Deadline: Ongoing
Length: Up to 2,000 words
Pay: $100
Details here (guidelines) and here (submission portal – you have to register).


Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.

 

 

 

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