These markets pay $50 to approximately $600 for fiction. A few also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. Deadlines are approaching quickly. — S. Kalekar
Diabolical Plots: Diabolical Pots
Diabolical Plots magazine wants food-themed speculative fiction for this anthology – science fiction, fantasy, and horror. All stories should have a speculative element, even horror. They have a guidelines page which lists editor preferences, and the tropes they are not looking for. They also publish translations.
Deadline: 21 October 2021
Length: Up to 3,500 words
Pay: $0.10/word
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for Flash Fiction Online – they want fiction of 500-1,000 words in many genres, including speculative and literary, as well as reprints; they’re also reading for a special 100th issue call. Pay is $80 per story, and the deadline is 21 October 2021.)
Wasafiri
This is a journal of international literature. Their deadline for fiction, life writing, and poetry is in October, and they have ongoing submissions for critical writing, interviews, and essays, and review queries. “We welcome innovative creative and critical writing that, in form, focus, or theme, seeks to expand the boundaries of global literary culture.”
Deadline: 31 October 2021 for fiction, life writing, and poetry; ongoing for others
Length: Fiction, life writing, and interviews: 4000 – 6000 words; up to 3 poems; varies for others
Pay: Fiction and life writing – £150; Interviews – £200; Poems – £40; Book reviews – £50; Review Essays – £120
Details here.
Lost Boys Press: Heroes Anthology
This is a fiction anthology and they’ll accept work in all genres. “Write a story using a hero/heroine from any era or culture and the original major plot points from their legends to craft a retelling in an entirely alternate setting.
Examples: The sagas of the sons of Ragnar set in Victorian England; the epic of Odysseus during the time of the Mayans; Mulan in a Gundam-esque space war.” Writers must use the major plot points from the original legends, and only use heroes/heroines that are in the public domain, and not copyrighted ones like Batman. Also, the heroes/heroines should be from legends and not fairytales (for example, Hercules not Snow White). They encourage gender fluidity, gender-bending, LGBTQIA+ retellings.
Deadline: 31 October 2021
Length: 3,000-9,000 words
Pay: $50 (please see their note for international contributors)
Details here.
Low Down Dirty Vote: The Color of my Vote Anthology
This is a fiction anthology, the third in the series. Stories can be in any crime sub-genre; the theme is ‘The Color of my Vote’ and authors are free to interpret the theme as literally or metaphorically as they wish. Some thematic suggestions are: “Maybe your vote is pink where only blue votes matter. Maybe your vote is pro-democracy in a power structure bent on maintaining minority rule. Maybe your vote isn’t green (delivered with a $2 million dollar dark money donation…)” Any time period or location is acceptable for this anthology.
Deadline: 31 October 2021
Length: 2,500-10,000 words
Pay: $200
Details here.
Dark Matter Magazine
This magazine was established in 2020. They publish science fiction and horror stories, work “on the shadow side of reality”. They have extensive guidelines on the kind of work they want to see. They also publish short comics and poetry, as well as reprints.
Deadline: 31 October 2021 for fiction
Length: 1,000-5,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction
Details here and here.
The Book of Queer Saints Anthology
This is a horror fiction anthology, and they want submissions only by writers who identify as LGBTQ+. “It is an anthology where unabashedly queer villains, anti-heroes, and outlaws reign supreme.” The editor talks about review bombing which occurs as a reaction to what people mark as ‘trauma porn’ in queer horror stories, which makes assumptions about the sexual and gender identity of the writer; the anthology is a reaction to this discourse, a statement about the complexity and nuance of queer folks and their stories.
Deadline: 31 October 2021
Length: 2,000-6,000 words
Pay: $0.02/word
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for Never Whistle at Night, an anthology of Indigenous dark fiction; it is open for Indigenous writers who have published no more than two books. The genres are horror, dark fantasy, dark science fiction, and gritty crime. Pay is $1,000 for stories of 2,000-5,000 words. The deadline is 1 November 2021.)
The Iowa Review
This prestigious magazine is open for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry submissions. They also accept translations. There is a fee for online submissions for non-subscribers, but postal submissions are free. They do not accept emailed submissions.
Deadline: 1 November 2021
Length: Up to 25 pages for prose, up to 8 pages for poetry (query for longer poems)
Pay: $0.08/word for prose ($100 minimum); $1.50/line for poetry ($40 minimum)
Details here.
The First Line
They want fiction that starts with a pre-set first line. For the Winter issue, this is: “Later that evening, they sat alone in their apartment, wondering if they had made the right decision.” They accept a limited number of poems and these have to start with the pre-set line, as well. For non-fiction, they want critical essays about your favourite first line from a literary work.
Deadline: 1 November 2021
Length: 300-5,000 words for fiction, 500-800 words for non-fiction
Pay: $25-50 for fiction, $5-10 for poetry, $25 for non-fiction
Details here.
Zombies Need Brains: Three anthologies
They are reading submissions for three science fiction and fantasy anthologies – Noir, Shattering the Glass Slipper, and Brave New Worlds. They want a range of stories, from humorous to dark.
— Noir “is to feature science fiction, fantasy, or urban fantasy stories with a detective/private investigator set-up and a noir atmosphere. We would like a wide variety of genre settings for this anthology, specifically SF and second world fantasy settings.”
— Shattering the Glass Slipper “is to feature stories of known fairy tales that have been upended, gender-bent, or twisted around in some way. Stories featuring less famous fairy tales, especially those from non-European cultures, will have a better chance of catching our eye.” See guidelines for which stories the anchor authors will use; they’re unlikely to use two stories featuring the same fairy tale.
— Brave New Worlds “is to feature science fiction stories set along the pathway of us leaving Earth for the stars. Stories can be set during our departure from Earth, on the long journey to reach a new planet, or upon arrival at said planet. Generation ship or colony ship stories are allowed, as well as terraforming stories once the new planet is reached. Stories featuring the human element to these types of journeys will receive more attention than strictly plot-based stories.”
Deadline: 31 December 2021
Length: Up to 7,500 words
Pay: At least $0.08/word + royalties
Details here.
Factor Four Magazine
They want flash speculative fiction — science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, super hero, or any combination of these.
Deadline: Open now
Length: Up to 1,000 words
Pay: $0.11/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.
