By S. Kalekar
These magazines pay up to $2,000 for fiction. Some of them also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. They’re open now, or will soon open for submissions. Some deadlines are approaching quickly.
Sci Phi Journal
This award-winning journal wants Campbellian hard science fiction, fictional non-fiction, and speculative philosophy, and have detailed guidelines for each. They also accept translations. They have a February deadline for fiction submissions; queries for non-fiction are open on an ongoing basis.
Deadline: 12 February 2026 for fiction
Length: Up to 2,000 words
Pay: €0.03/word; €0.01/word for translations
Details here and here.
Fission #6 Anthology
Submissions will soon open for Fission, an annual science fiction anthology published by the British Science Fiction Association; all sub-genres and hybrids are welcome. You do not need to be a BSFA member to submit.
Reading period: 13th to 27th February 2026 (see guidelines)
Length: 1,000 to 5,000 words
Pay: £0.03/word
Details here.
Griffith Review: Into the Archive
Griffith Review is an Australian literary magazine and they want fiction and nonfiction submissions for issue 93; the theme is Into the Archive. “The archive has long been a form of collection, preservation and communication. As the internet and social media reshape what, why and how we record information, whether for personal or institutional means, the nature of the archive itself is also in flux. How does the archive mediate the relationship between public and private space? How do archives shape individual and collective memory? Should the archivist preserve without intervention? What will the archives of the future look like? And in what ways do other mediums – bodies, places, cultures – act as their own kinds of archive? This edition of Griffith Review goes on the record to reveal the secrets and surprises of the archive.”
Do not send poetry. They mostly accept work from writers in Australia, and some work from overseas writers.
Deadline is 15 February 2026 (11:59 pm AEST)
Length: Up to 4,000 words for prose
Pay: AUD0.75/word
Details here and here
The Slab Press: Obsidian – The Dark Space Novelette Anthology
“We are looking for darker stories about exploration, isolation, and the harsh conditions of space. Think space horror, like Sunshine or Event Horizon, psychological stories, dystopian, and bleak. The crucial thing is the space setting.
What we will love: stories that focus on character.”
Deadline: 15th February 2026
Length: 9,000-25,000 words
Pay: 1p a word up to £100
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for The Slab Press’s Screams and Wails – The Rock-Horror Anthology.They accept translations – see guidelines. Pay is 1p a word up to £50 for stories of 2,000-9,000 words, and the deadline is 28 February 2026; details here.)
The Tributary
They want submissions from undergraduate students across the US for this submission window; see here – “In the fall, we have a Lycoming College only issue, and in the spring, we open submissions to undergraduate students across the nation.” And, you do nothave to be a creative writing, English, or fine arts major to submit; they particularly welcome submissions from underrepresented writers. They accept fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, poetry. Regarding fiction, “We welcome all genres, including literary fiction, speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy), romance, etc.” They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 20 February 2026
Length: 1,000-5,000 words for prose, up to 5 poems
Pay: $0.08/word for prose, up to $100 per poem (see guidelines)
Details here.
Flash Fiction Online
This is a fiction magazine. “We are looking for complete 500- to 1000-word stories with crisp prose, well-developed characters, compelling plots, and satisfying resolutions. We want stories that engage our minds and emotions.
We publish across many genres, including speculative (science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and horror) and literary fiction. For more information on the type of stories we enjoy, please read a few issues and check out our “What We’re Looking For” page.” They have a submission cap, so may close earlier than the deadline.
Deadline: 28 February 2026, or until filled
Length: 500-1,000 words
Pay: $100
Details here.
Southword
This is a print literary journal published twice a year by the Munster Literature Centre. Their reading period for fiction opened on 1st February, and they will close end-February or when they hit their submission cap, whichever is earlier.
Deadline: 28 February 2026, or until filled
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: €400
Details here and here.
Haven Speculative
They publish speculative fiction and poetry. They have Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall submission periods; and during one month in each submission period, they accept general submissions (i.e. from all writers). They also publish climate crisis focused Dry and Wet issues each year; scroll down on the guidelines page for these themes.
Deadline: 28 February 2026 (general submissions)
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction, up to 5 poems
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction, $20/poem
Details here and here.
Cold Caller Mag
Cold Caller is a Substack-based magazine. They publish “crime and mystery fiction, and we define those terms broadly. We’re looking for stories of bad decisions and worse consequences; unlucky losers who can’t catch a break; grifters and con men convinced they’re about to score big; good men and women who have very good reasons to do terrible things.” They’ve given a list of stories, as well as TV shows and movies, that match their vibe (see guidelines). And, “We lean toward noir and realism, so generally speaking we aren’t looking for cozy mysteries, spy thrillers, or for cross-genre work such as mystery-romance, mystery-science fiction, mystery-fantasy, etc.” They prefer stories of 2,000-6,000 words, and can accept up to 10,000 words.
Deadline: Open now
Length: See above
Pay: $125
Details here.
Tangled Wilderness
Their tagline is, ‘Producers of radical culture’. From their About page: “Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness is an independent media publishing collective dedicated to producing and curating inclusive and intersectional culture that is informed by anarchistic ideals.” They have various publishing formats, including their monthly features, which are “usually 2–5k words (or 10–30 pages in the case of poetry). … These are formatted into a small quarter-sized zine which is mailed to our supporters as well as posted on our website and produced into a podcast. … Reprints are fine.” These publish various genres/formats, including recipes, poetry, essays and “Retellings or annotations of fairy tales that highlight subversive elements in them …
Fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, literature, horror, romance, anything written from a radical perspective (but that isn’t necessarily directly about politics!)”
They also publish zines and books, and payment for those is royalties.
Deadline: Open now
Length: See above
Pay: $200
Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here