These markets pay $50 to $600 for fiction. A couple of them also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. They’re open for submissions now, or will open soon. – S. Kalekar
Uncanny
This award-winning speculative fiction magazine will soon open for short fiction submissions. Their guidelines say, “We want intricate, experimental stories … with gorgeous prose, verve, and imagination that elicit strong emotions and challenge beliefs. Uncanny believes there’s still plenty of room in the genre for tales that make you feel.” Please note, they are only accepting short stories in this submission window; do not submit poetry.
Reading period: 4 August – 1 September 2021
Length: 750-6,000 words
Pay: $0.10/word
Details here (guidelines) and here (submission portal).
Starward Shadows Quarterly
This is a dark speculative fiction magazine. They are interested in Cosmic Horror, Sword and Sorcery, Sword and Planet, High/Epic Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Lovecraftian/Cthulhu Mythos inspired tales, Gothic Horror, Space Opera, Dark Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, New Weird, Grimdark, Slipstream, and Cyberpunk. They have a section on the tropes they love (and ones they hate), and authors they find inspiring. They are reading for their first issue. They accept multiple submissions (see guidelines).
Deadline: 6 August 2021
Length: 1,500-8,000 words for short stories; 500-1,500 words for flash fiction
Pay: $.0.1/word for short stories; $10/flash fiction
Details here.
Abyss & Apex Magazine
They are open for fiction submissions during the first week of August. They want speculative fiction, with “special attention to character-driven stories that examine the depths and heights of emotion and motivation from a broad variety of cultural and social perspectives. … We look for the unique: stories that stand out in a genre that pushes the envelope of unusual. We take special delight in detailed world-building: we like slipstream, YA, hypertext fiction, dark fantasy, science fiction puzzle stories, magical realism, hard science fiction, soft science fiction, science fantasy, urban fantasy, military science fiction, ghost stories, space opera, cyberpunk, steampunk . . . there is very little we will not look at, although we have a severe allergy to zombies, elves, retold fairy tales, sports, westerns, vampires, and gratuitous sex and violence.” They do not want political stories.
Deadline: 7 August 2021
Length: Up to 10,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word for the first 1,000 words, flat $80 for longer stories
Details here.
Cirsova
Their tagline is ‘Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense’. They’re looking for a range of stories, including raygun romance, sword & planet, space cops, Raymond Chandler but in space, Weird fantasy, SF, and horror, lost world, mad science, and South Sea adventure. See guidelines for the authors they like, and the tropes they do not want.
Deadline: 7 August 2021
Length: 2,000-7,000 words
Pay: $0.125/word (1.25 cents/word)
Details here.
Planet Scumm: Winter Horror
They’re reading submissions for their winter horror issue. Apart from speculative elements (SF, speculative fiction, weird fiction, slipstream), these stories must also have a horror element. They’d also love to see submissions that work in wintery content—snowstorms, isolation, ritual, family, and so on.
Deadline: 15 August 2021
Length: 2,000-6,000 words
Pay: $0.03/word
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for Silence in the City anthology; they want speculative stories of what happens when a city—and all of modern civilization—is plunged into darkness, when the power goes off. They pay $0.06/word for stories of 2,500-5,000 words, and the deadline is 15 September 2021. This will be extremely competitive, as they’re looking to fill just two or three slots via the open call.)
Buckmxn Story Service
They want submissions from US-based writers only, of preferably unpublished fiction and creative non-fiction. This is a snail-mail subscription of ten short stories, with one story delivered each week by post. The first volume began in Fall 2020. “All writing styles are welcomed as long as it tells a story and takes the reader on a ride.” Each author may submit up to three stories, though only one per author will be published in each story service volume.
Deadline: 18 August 2021
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: Begins at $120
Details here.
Strangehouse Books: Chromophobia
Strangehouse Books is open for submissions by writers who identify as women for ‘Chromophobia: A Strangehouse Anthology by Women in Horror’. Their guidelines say, “The use of color in literature is something that has been studied, analyzed, and written about for decades. Think of classics like ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ by Edgar Allan Poe. Descriptions of color can entirely change a story’s atmosphere and tone; the imagery can lull us into safety or sickness. I’m looking for stories that use color in creative, unconventional ways. Terrify me with pastels. Use watercolors to invoke dread. Take a classic trope and redye it into something unique. I also welcome stories of chromophobia, stories with characters who have never seen color or who are color blind, or who deal with visual disabilities.” Writers don’t have to use the color in the title.
Deadline: 31 August 2021
Length: 1,500-6,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for The New Lesbian Pulp anthology; they want stories by queer woman-identified authors for pulp stories, and pay $500-1,000 for stories of 1,500-10,000 words. The deadline is 1 September 2021.)
The Forge Literary Magazine
They publish one prose piece per week, fiction or non-fiction, and are open to all genres and voices. They open on the 1st of every month and can accept a limited number of fee-free submissions – the window closes when the limit is reached, and will re-open the following month, except September, which is when they run a contest.
Deadline: Until filled, each month except September
Length: Prefer up to 3,000 words; won’t accept anything above 5,000 words
Pay: $75
Details here.
Etherea Magazine
This Australian magazine was established in July 2021. They are looking for fantasy and science fiction; they are not too interested in horror or grimdark.
Deadline: Open now
Length: 2,000-5,000 words for short stories; 500-1,000 words for flash fiction
Pay: AUD100 for short stories; AUD25 for flash fiction
Details here.
Triangle House Review
They are currently open for fiction and poetry, and they are now paying contributors – see their Twitter thread in late July.
Deadline: Open now
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction, unspecified for poetry
Pay: $50
Details here (scroll down).
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.
