These markets pay $50 to $400 for fiction; and one market pays considerably more. A few also accept other genres, like nonfiction and poetry. – S. Kalekar
Flash Fiction Online
This magazine recently published its 100th issue. They publish flash fiction, literary as well as across many genres, and are open from the 1st to 21st of every month. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 21 January 2022
Length: 500-1,000 words
Pay: $80
Details here.
34 Orchard
This magazine is published twice yearly, online – they accept fiction and poetry. Their guidelines say, “we like dark, intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad.” They’re reading in January for the Spring issue. Their next reading period, for the Fall issue, is in July.
Deadline: 31 January 2022
Length: 1,000-7,500 words for fiction; up to three poems
Pay: $50
Details here.
Mysterion: Christian speculative fiction
They want science fiction, fantasy and horror stories with Christian themes, characters or cosmology. “We love science fiction and fantasy, enjoy good ghost stories, and think there’s great fiction material hidden in the mysteries of Christian theology–cherubim, leviathan, nephilim, visions, prophecy, and more”, according to guidelines. The stories need not teach a moral or be close to an approved theological position. Nor do they need to be pro-Christian – see their detailed guidelines on the kind of work they see too often, and what they would like to see. They are especially interested in stories that show Christians from cultures beyond those of the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. They also accept translations and reprints, and art submissions.
Deadline: 31 January 2022
Length: Up to 9,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
(Some other themed submission calls open now are:
— Nothing Without Us Too, an anthology open for writers with visible and invisible disabilities – see guidelines, paying CAD0.08/word up to 3,500 words, open until 31 January 2022;
— Horror That Represents You, a horror fiction call for marginalized writers, and writers can decide what that means – see guidelines, about stories that represent them, paying $0.11/word for stories up to 7,000 words, deadline 31 January 2022;
— Luminescent Machinations — Queer Tales of Monumental Invention, for “Speculative stories focusing on queerness in the darker side of science-fiction, fantasy and horror: mechs, mecha and cybernetics as both extensions and perversions of humanity”, paying $0.08/word for stories up to 6,000 words, deadline 31 January 2022; — A Fistful of Demons, a shared-world Weird West/Western horror anthology, paying at least $25 per 1,000 words up to 6,000 words, deadline 31 January 2022;
— the Audacity-themed issue from Room Magazine, for fiction up to 3,500 words, nonfiction, poetry, and art, open to people of marginalized genders, paying CAD50/page up to CAD200, deadline extended to 31 January 2022;
— CatsCast, from EscapeArtists online magazine and podcast, accepting fun speculative fiction featuring cats, pays $0.08/word for stories up to 6,000 words, deadline 1 February 2022.)
Belmont Story Review
This is a “magazine of literary arts, faith, and culture”. They publish “an eclectic mix of storytelling which includes fiction, personal essay, and poetry at the intersection of faith and culture.” Please note, they can only pay by US checks – for those who cannot accept these, i.e. writers outside the US and Canada, they pay in kind, by way of additional copies.
Deadline: 31 January 2022
Length: Up to 12,000 words for prose, up to 5 pieces for poetry
Pay: $100 for prose, $50 for poetry (click on individual sections in Submittable for guidelines and pay rates)
Details here.
Midnight & Indigo
They publish work by Black women writers only. They are currently looking for character-driven fiction in all genres, as well as first-person POV narrative and personal essays.
Deadline: 31 January 2022
Length: Minimum 1,500 words for fiction; minimum 1,200 words for nonfiction
Pay: $50 for short fiction published online, $100 for short fiction published in the print magazine, additional $125 if accepted for pring anthology; $50 for essays
Details here.
Split Lip Magazine
They favor interesting, literary narratives with a modern, pop culture appeal. They publish online monthly and in print annually – flash fiction, short stories, memoir, poetry, and art, as well as interviews and reviews (for interviews and reviews, query first via webform – see guidelines). January is one of the months when they accept fee-free submissions from all writers – these are sometimes closed earlier, if their Submittable cap is reached. Fee-free submissions for all writers are in January, March, May, August, September, and November. Fee-free submissions for Black writers are open till end-June.
Deadline: 31 January 2022 (see above)
Length: Up to 3,000 words for fiction, up to 2,000 words for memoir, one poem
Pay: $50 for web contributions, $5/page for print, $25 for reviews and interviews
Details here and here (scroll down).
The First Line Journal
They want fiction and poetry that begins with pre-set first lines, one for each quarterly issue. They also accept 4-part (or 5-part, if also using the last-line prompt from The Last Line Journal – see guidelines) stories from writers who want to use all the 4 (or 5) prompts, but all of these must be submitted by the 1 February 2022 deadline. For nonfiction, they want critical articles about your favorite first line from a literary work. For fiction and poetry, the first lines are:
Spring: ‘Rayna sat in front of the mirror removing her makeup and wondered who she would discover underneath.’ Due date: February 1, 2022
Summer: ‘Thomas hadn’t expected to be alive when the town’s time capsule was opened.’ Due date: May 1, 2022
Fall: ‘Lily unlocked the back door of the thrift store using a key that didn’t belong to her.’ Due date: August 1, 2022
Winter: ‘When he died, their father had two requests.’ Due date: November 1, 2022
Deadlines: 1 February 2022 for the Spring issue, and for 4-part (or 5-part) stories; later for other issues (see above)
Length: 300-5,000 words for fiction; 500-800 words for nonfiction
Pay: $25-50 for fiction, $25 for nonfiction, $5-10 for poetry (less postage fee for international writers – see guidelines)
Details here.
The Threepenny Review
This well-regarded literary magazine is open for submissions during January to April. They publish fiction, nonfiction (including critical articles and memoir), poetry, and Table Talk pieces. They accept submissions through their online submission system and also by mail.
Deadline: 30 April 2022
Length: 1,200 to 2,500 words for critical articles; up to 1,000 words for Table Talk items; up to 4,000 words for stories and memoir; up to 100 lines for poetry
Pay: $200 per poem or Table Talk piece; $400 for fiction and nonfiction
Details here and here.
Live Novel Digest
This is an app-based magazine and they are open for short story submissions now. Their guidelines are brief – apart from the word count, they say, “Please ensure your submission is suitable for a wide audience.” Submissions to Live Novel (open-world, interactive novels) are closed.
Deadline: Open now
Length: 2,000-6,000 words
Pay: $100
Details here.
Seize the Press
This is a new literary magazine. Their first issue will be published in January 2022, and they’re looking for fiction. “Seize The Press is looking to publish dark, transgressive speculative fiction. Bleak science fiction, dark fantasy and horror only. Three stipulations:
Strict 2000 word limit
No moralising
No happy endings”
The submission guidelines/details are in a Twitter thread – they plan to publish bimonthly, with the first issue in January, and plan to be open for submissions on an ongoing basis. Also, “Full guidelines will be formalised when the website goes live in January. For now the only preferences are docx file and double line spacing.”
Deadline: Ongoing
Length: Up to 2,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
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.
