These magazines and anthologies pay for fiction. Most of them also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. They’re either open now, or will open soon. Some deadlines are approaching quickly. – S. Kalekar
Baltimore Review
They publish fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Some editor preferences are in the bios on their Staff page, and some guidelines are on their Submittable page. Please note, fiction submissions may be capped, so may close earlier than the deadline. There are other opportunities listed too on Submittable, please be sure to submit in the correct one.
Deadline: 30 November 2024, or until filled
Length: Up to 5,000 words for prose, up to 3 poems
Pay: $50 (via a gift certificate or PayPal, if preferred)
Details here and here.
Nimrod International Journal
This print journal is affiliated with the University of Tulsa. You can read about them here. They’re accepting fiction and poetry submissions.
Deadline: 30 November 2024
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction, 3-7 pages for poetry (see guidelines)
Pay: $20 per poem/page of prose, up to $300
Details here.
The Fiddlehead
This respected Canadian magazine accepts international fiction, non-fiction, and poetry submissions via Submittable during this reading period, and Canadian submissions only during the Spring reading period (see guidelines). They also accept translations. Mailed submissions are open year-round. “We particularly welcome submissions from BIPOC writers, writers with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ writers, and writers from other intersectional and underrepresented communities. If you are comfortable identifying yourself as one or more of the above, please feel free to mention this in your cover letter.” Their Submittable is open for other categories as well, please be sure to submit in the correct one.
Deadline: 30 November 2024
Length: Up to 6,000 words for prose, up to 6 poems (see guidelines)
Pay: CAD65/page
Details here and here.
The Cincinnati Review
They usually accept work for their print magazine from all writers thrice a year (opens at the beginning of May, September, and December), and accept submissions for their miCRo category for most of the year on an ongoing basis (see guidelines). They will soon open for submissions for the print journal – fiction, fiction translations, poetry, poetry translations, literary nonfiction, queries for drama, on the 1st of December, and will close when filled. Shorter miCRo submissions, which are published online, are currently open.
Opens on: 1 December 2024 for print journal; ongoing for miCRo
Length: Up to 40 pages for fiction, up to 20 pages for non-fiction, up to 5 poems for print; and 500 words for prose and 32 lines for poetry for miCRo
Pay: $25/page for prose and $30/page for poetry in the print journal; $25 for miCRo posts or special features
Details here and here.
The Forge
They open for fiction and non-fiction submissions on the 1st of every month, and close when their submission cap is reached. They love flash and micro pieces also. They will reopen on the 1st of December.
Opens on: 1 December 2024
Length: Up to 5,000 words (prefer up to 3,000)
Pay: $100
Details here.
Griffith Review: Culture Vultures
Griffith Review is an Australian literary and current affairs journal; they mostly publish work of Australian writers, and some work by international writers. They are accepting fiction and non-fiction submissions on the Culture Vultures theme, for Issue 88. “There’s no escaping the onslaught of content these days. But it seems increasingly tricky to determine what’s good and what’s not as we stream, tap and swipe our way through our endless entertainment feeds. How can we tell our own taste? Have we reached the end of culture? What place does criticism occupy in this ever-shifting landscape? And what does all this mean for the relationship between form and content?
From page to screen and everything in between, this edition of Griffith Review consumes the culture of the twenty-first century – and tries to outrun the algorithm.” Please note, they want prose submissions only; there will be a separate call-out for poetry later in December.
Deadline: 1 December 2024 (11.59 AEST)
Length: Up to 4,000 words
Pay: AUD0.75/word for print prose
Details here and here.
Book Worms Zine: Space and Science Fiction Horror
They want short stories, essays, and poems for their Winter 2025 issue; the theme is Space and Science Fiction Horror(must have horror elements, not just sci-fi.) “We generally enjoy “fun”, “80s style” horror reminiscent of the zine’s old-school vibe, but we’ve also been blown away by fresh voices that take the genre in a new direction.” Submissions have to be mailed.
Deadline: 15 December 2024
Length: Up to 1,500 words for prose
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction and essays (up to 1,500 words), $25 for short poems (up to 10 lines), $50 for longer poems
Details here.
Matter Press: The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts
They publish fiction and creative non-fiction, as well as fiction and creative non-fiction prose poetry, as long as it is compressed in some way.
Deadline: 15 December 2024
Length: Up to 600 words
Pay: $50
Details here and here.
The Ex-Puritan
This Canadian literary magazine publishes fiction, non-fiction, experimental/hybrid work, interviews, reviews, poetry, and poetry in translation. The deadline is 25 December, or until filled, for the next issue; they accept a limited number of fee-free submissions every month, and read year-round.
Deadline: 25 December 2024, or until filled
Length: Varies
Pay: CAD200 per essay; CAD150 for fiction; CAD100 per interview or review; CAD50 per poem, capped at CAD100; CAD50+ per experimental or hybrid work, at an increasing scale depending on the nature of the piece.
Details here and here.
Channel Magazine
This Ireland-based magazine publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. “We love work that speaks directly of a writer’s bond with and fear for our planet, and work that takes a local landscape, or a local flower, as its subject; equally, though, we love work that draws on an aspect of nature as setting, image or metaphor. We believe that all writing relies to some extent on historical engagement with nature, in that all human language has been shaped by our embeddedness in our shared environments.” They reopened for fiction and poetry on 15th November, and the deadline for these genres is 31 December 2024. Non-fiction (considered for both print and online) is accepted on an ongoing bases. They accept submissions in English and Irish.
Deadline: 31 December 2024 for fiction and poetry, ongoing for non-fiction
Length: Varies
Pay: €35 per printed page, up to €250 per piece and with a minimum fee of €50 for single-page works; €35 per 400 words, up to a maximum of €250 per piece and with a minimum fee of €50 for work published online
Details here.
Rosarium Publishing: Planet Black Joy
This is an anthology of speculative fiction. They want work by women and non-binary folk who identify as Black, African, or of Afro-descendent heritage only; stories exploring and celebrating Black joy and pleasure. “We want to showcase stories of Black joy in the fantastical and the mundane in the present, past, and the future. We’d like a variety of Black joy from catharsis to irreverence to clawing resilience out of the darkness. From Black Twitter after the Alabama Brawl to the kind of joy that has been constructed in the face of white supremacy and patriarchy. We want to know what Black joy means to you.” They also accept translations and reprints.
Deadline: 1 January 2025
Length: 3,000-7,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word for originals
Details here.
(There are other projects too that are fee-free for, or only open for a limited demographic:
— Renaissance: Choices – An Anthology of Reproductive Horror: A reproductive horror fiction anthology; want submissions from writers of marginalized genders only, and 50% of stories in the anthology will be by Canadian authors; want submissions from Cis women, Trans women, Trans men, Nonbinary people, Two-Spirit people, and also encourage disabled, 2SLGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, racialized, and working class/poor writers to submit; pays CAD0.08/word for up to 6,000 words, deadline 30 November 2024.
— khōréō: A quarterly magazine of speculative fiction and migration, only publish work by immigrant and diaspora authors, and are open for speculative fiction submissions on the Symbiosis theme, also accept translations. Accepts up to 5,000 words (prefers up to 3,500) for original fiction, up to 3,500 words for translations, pays $0.10/word, deadline 30 November 2024, details here and here.
— Whisper House Press: Dread Mondays: A workplace horror fiction anthology, still open for marginalized authors (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, etc.) only, pays $0.06/word for stories up to 4,000 words, deadline 30 November 2024.
— Never Whistle at Night, Part II: Back for Blood Anthology: They want horror stories from emerging Indigenous writers in North America only; the anthology will be published by Vintage Books in the US and McClelland & Stewart and Random House Canada, pays $1,500 for stories of 3,000-5,000 words, deadline 1 December 2024.
— Fantasy is a Drag! Anthology: They want “fantasy stories that are, first and foremost, drag” from members of the drag community only, pays $50 + royalties for stories up to 10,000 words, deadline 1 December 2024.
— Geist: For general (non-contest) submissions, they want fiction, non-fiction, comics, and poetry from Canadian writers only, which is charged, but offer fee-free submissions to Canadian BIPOC writers; pays $100-1,000, deadline 4 December 2024, details here and here.
— Flame Tree: Latin American Shared Stories: This is an anthology for their Beyond & Within series, “which will be a selection of speculative stories highlighting the many voices, mythologies, folklore and storytelling prowess of authors from Latin American countries or writing in the traditions of the Latin American diaspora.” Pays $0.08/word for stories of 2,000-4,000 words (see guidelines), deadline 15 December 2024. See their other calls, current and past, on their blog.
— EastOver Press Anthology of Rural Stories: They want submissions of previously published fiction from BIPOC writers in the rural US only, whose short stories feature characters living and/or working in rural or semi-rural spaces/from BIPOC writers who’ve spent a significant amount of time in rural or semi-rural locales and whose work might reflect those spaces. Pays $100-300 for stories up to 7,500 words, deadline is 31 December 2024. They’re also open for other opportunities currently, including short creative nonfiction submissions for their literary journal, Cutleaf.
— FIYAH: They only accept speculative fiction and poetry from Black writers of the African Diaspora. They’re reading submissions for an unthemed issue, pay $0.08/word for fiction of 2,000-15,000 words and $50 for poetry, deadline 31 December 2024.)
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.