10 Publishers Paying for Short Stories ($100 to $600)

These markets pay $100 to about $600. A few also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. Some of the calls are themed. The markets are either open for submissions now, or will open shortly. – S. Kalekar


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Goal Publications: Inverted Fairy Tales & Folklore
They want inverted fairy tales for an anthropomorphic fantasy anthology. Their guidelines say, “We’ve all heard the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, the Princess and the Pea, and other faithful classics. We’re sure that more than a few are familiar with the mythology of ancient Greece, Egypt, and others.
Great! That’s NOT what we’re looking for, with a few exceptions.​
We’re looking for folklore, mythology, or fairy tales from other places, and fantasy stories that invoke these, that can have a furry (anthropomorphic animal) twist. Have a story about Baba Yaga? Toss it over here. One about Raw Head and Blood Bones? Sure, would love to see it! We want tales that have been lost to time, but we want you to twist it into being your own story.” See guidelines for further details of the kind of work they do, and do not, want. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 16 February 2020
Length: 1,000-8,000 words
Pay: $0.04/word (up to $100)
Details here.

Apparition Lit
They will read speculative fiction and poetry on the theme of ‘Transfiguration’. Their reading period opens soon.
Reading period: 15-28 February
Length: 1,000-5,000 words for fiction; up to 5 poems
Pay: $0.03/word for fiction; $30/poem
Details here.

Vastarien
This journal is a source of critical study and creative response to the corpus of Thomas Ligotti as well as associated authors and ideas. They want literary horror fiction inspired by Ligottian and/or related themes. They also want scholarly and/or critical articles pertaining these themes, and poetry. For Women in Horror month, they are only accepting submissions by writers who do not identify as male, and their website says they’ll open for general submissions in the next three months.   
Deadline: end-February 2020
Length: 750-6,000 words for literary horror fiction, 2,000-7,500 words for articles, poetry of up to 50 lines
Pay: $0.05/word for prose, $50/poem
Details here.

Upstreet
This literary magazine publishes fiction and creative non-fiction. For poetry, they accept queries only. 
Deadline: 1 March 2020
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: $50-250
Details here.


The Cincinnati Review
This literary magazine accepts fiction, literary non-fiction, poetry, poetry translations, and art. Query for drama submissions. They also have a weekly online Flash feature called micro (payment for this is a digital contributor copy). They accept online submissions only, except from writers with disabilities or those who are incarcerated. See guidelines for editors’ preferences.  
Deadline: 1 March 2020
Length: Fiction can be up to 40 pages, nonfiction up to 20 pages, and up to 5 poems
Pay: $25/page for prose in the journal, $30/page for poetry
Details here.


Third Flatiron
They are reading positive future, SF, and urban fantasy stories on the theme of ‘Gotta Wear Eclipse Glasses’. Their guidelines say, “The future we all want. Examples might include effects of technology on the young (online learning, socialization), climate mitigation and adaptation, new opportunities to boldly go where none have gone before”. Also, “Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome.” Their reading period opens soon.
Reading period: 15 February-15 March 2020
Length: 1,500-3,000 words (query for longer)
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here and here.

Deep Magic
They want clean fantasy and sci-fi stories. They won’t publish fiction with graphic violence, mature sexual themes, or profanity. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 31 March 2020 (see Twitter)
Length: 1,000-40,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word, capped at $599 for stories longer than 7,499 words
Details here.

87 Bedford
They are accepting short fiction for a historic fantasy anthology. They want literary fantasy. Their guidelines say, “We are seeking stories that offer a riveting reimagining of a historic time period imbued with fantasy and magic. As always, we prefer stories with a literary quality built upon strong characters, spellbinding language, and believable world-building.”
Deadline: 30 April 2020
Length: 1,000-5,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.

Grain Magazine
This Canadian literary magazine publishes fiction, literary non-fiction, and poetry from Canadians and from writers around the world, as well as artwork. Queries for submissions of work in other forms (i.e. short plays, comics, etc.) are welcome. Artwork submission is mainly by invitation, but artists are welcome to query. They are also reading submissions for their Queer Writers Issue, which has an earlier deadline – 29 February 2020.
Deadline: 15 May 2020 for the general issue
Length: Up to six pages for poetry, up to 3,500 words for fiction and literary nonfiction
Pay: CAD50/page up to CAD250 for writing, up to CAD500 for art
Details here.

Vice: Terraform
Vice’s Motherboard platform has a section called Terraform, which publishes future fiction. They want “speculative fiction honing in on the tech, science, and future culture topics driving the zeitgeist” according to their guidelines, and are particularly interested in nearer-future fiction.
Deadline: Ongoing
Length: Up to 2,000 words
Pay: $0.20/word
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.

 

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