These markets pay $50 to about $700 for short fiction, and one pays more for longer stories. A few outlets also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. – S. Kalekar
Westerly
This Australian literary magazine publishes fiction, nonfiction, reviews, and poetry. They also accept artwork. The deadline for all creative work is end-July; scholarly articles are accepted year-round. Please note, “While we will accept submissions from non-subscribers, should your work be accepted for publication in this instance, we will offer you the opportunity to take out a discounted year’s subscription as part-payment for your work.”
Deadline: 31 July 2022
Length: Up to 3,500 words fiction and creative non-fiction, up to 5 poems, 500-700 words for reviews
Pay (in AUD): $200 for fiction and articles, $120-150 for poetry, $100 for reviews and visual art/intro essay, $120 for online publication
Details here.
The Maul
This is a new magazine and they’re reading for Issue Zero. They want stories, comics, and art – horror and other speculative fiction for younger readers. They have detailed guidelines, including, “…even though our target audience skews younger, we’re really just looking for great writing. Our focus is on horror but we’ll take other genres. In fact, the editors prefer stories that are a mix of genres. You’re more likely to be published if you give us fantasy or sci-fi mixed with horror. We’ll also take literary work, though please realize that, given our clientele and organizational goals, it can be a hard sell.
We enjoy pulp fiction. That means we look for stories that pop. Exaggeration, melodrama, impossibly imaginative settings, and vivid imagery are encouraged. Bring us something that really jumps off the page. Be as over-the-top as you like. If you’re a more subtle writer, submit anyway.” They also accept reprints. They take submissions from writers under 18 as well, though there’s no payment for these.
Deadline: 31 July 2022
Length: 100-3,000 words for fiction
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction
Details here.
Augur and Tales & Feathers Magazines
Augur is open for submissions. They now have a sister magazine, which has opened its first reading period, as well.
— Augur: This is a Canadian speculative fiction and poetry magazine. “Our perfect submission defies categorization—pieces that could be “too speculative” for CanLit or literary magazines or “not speculative enough” for speculative magazines. However, we also love a good genre romp, and will publish across many genres” – some of these are fantasy, science fiction (softer side), apocalypse/post-apocalypse, slipstream, fairytales, fables, and magical realism. They also welcome translations. Writers can send up to two stories per reading period.
Deadline: 31 July 2022
Length: up to 5,000 words for fiction, up to five poems
Pay: CAD0.11/word for fiction, CAD60 per poem
Details here.
— Tales & Feathers Magazine: This is the sister publication of Augur. Tales & Feathers will publish cozy slice-of-life fantasy – they want quiet character-driven storytelling, gentle moments, rich fantastical worldbuilding, everyday moments, stories that take place before or between or after the epic conflicts, and stories that offer warmth, comfort, and possibility. “We welcome stories written in any fantasy genre or genres, including stories that blur genre lines. We are especially interested in high fantasy, fairy tales, and myth.
We also welcome stories that have been translated into English and stories that engage with non-Western fantasy genre traditions.”
Writers can send up to three stories each.
Deadline: 31 July 2022
Length: Up to 2,500 words
Pay: CAD0.11/word
Details here.
(And Fantasy Magazine publishes fantasy and dark fantasy stories. They also publish poetry. They accept stories up to 7,500 words, though up to 5,000 words preferred, and pay $0.08/word for fiction, $10/poem, and $75/essay – query first for essays. See their Tweet here about the July general submission window. They’re open for submissions by BIPOC writers through 2022, and their next submission windows for all writers will be 21-27 July, though these dates are subject to change. Details here.)
Horror Oasis: Fear Street Anthology
For this anthology, they want YA horror steeped in late 80s-90s nostalgia – the unexplained mysteries, missing people, the things that lurk in the dark. “We also encourage writers to have a diverse representation of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and strong female, Disabled, fat, and neurodivergent representation.” They accept reprints, as well.
Deadline: 1 August 2022
Length: 4,000-8,000 words
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here.
(Some other themed submission calls, open now for submissions from all writers, are:
— Negative Space 2 – A Return to Survival Horror: “We want stories featuring characters trapped in isolated and/or hostile environments. We want stories full of deadly monsters, makeshift weapons, and unspeakable horrors.” They want creature feature, thriller/suspense, supernatural horror, serial killer, cosmic horror, sci-fi horror, but not military horror. Pay is $0.01/word for stories of 2,000-7,500 words, and the deadline is 15 July 2022. Details here.
— Corporate Catharsis – The Work From Home Edition: This anthology “gives you the opportunity to explore the impact of the COVID pandemic on your personal and professional life through your speculative fiction. We’re certain that you can, far too easily, find inspiration from your real or virtual workplace. Magic, mayhem, revenge — and, yes, perhaps even redemption — can all be found there.” Also, “Your story does not need to be set in a corporate environment. We welcome stories involving, among other settings, retail, education, or stay-at-home parenting.” Pay is $0.02/word for stories of 2,000-10,000 words. The deadline is 30 July 2022. Details here.
— Brink Literary Journal – Reverence: This literary journal wants fiction, non-fiction, poetry, hybrid/cross-genre work, and translations on the ‘Reverence’ theme. They also accept artwork. Pay is $25/poem, $50-100 for other work. The deadline is 31 July 2022. Details here.
— NewMyths – The Growers: They want speculative fiction and poetry. “The Growers (working title) will take a look at the life, struggles and dreams of those who provide for us—food, water, air, and other forms of sustenance. We are thinking agriculturists, botanists and biologists, fishermen and gatherers, terra-formers, and the like.” They also accept reviews and art. Pay is 1.5c/word, and the deadline is 31 July 2022. Details here – scroll to the middle for theme details, and here – general guidelines.
— The Suburban Review – Weeds: This Australian magazine wants fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and art. The theme is Weeds. Pay is AUD150-275 for prose, and AUD125-275 for poetry. The deadline is 3 August 2022. Details here and here.)
FIYAH: Hauntings & Horrors
This speculative fiction magazine only takes submissions by and about Black writers from Africa and the African Diaspora (see guidelines). For non-fiction, they want queries only. They also publish reviews. For the Hauntings & Horrors theme, “We’re turning October into Black Horror Month. Give us your night terrors, your blood-thirsty urban legends, your ancestral ghosts haunting plantation weddings. We want stories that linger in dark corners and aren’t afraid to follow us into daylight.”
Deadline: 31 July 2022
Length: 2,000-15,000 words for fiction; up to 1,000 words for poetry; 800-1,200 word for non-fiction
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction, $50 for poetry, $0.10/word for non-fiction.
Details here.
(Also, Sovereign – An Anthology of Black Fantasy Fiction is open for stories by Black writers only, from Africa and the African Diaspora. The sub-genres are Heroic; Mythic; Flintlock; Gaslamp; Medieval; Religious; Weird West; Arcanepunk; High/Epic Fantasy; Sword and Soul/Planet; Noblebright/Nobledark; Fables/Fairytale Retellings. They also accept reprints. Writers can send up to two stories, one original, and one reprint. Length is 1,000-39,999 words. Pay is $0.08/word for the first 1,000 words, $0.01/word thereafter; also, “If a Kickstarter campaign is successfully funded, original fiction will be raised to $0.08/word for their full word count.” The deadline is 16 July 2022, or when filled. Details here – guidelines, and here – submission form).
Mysterion
They want science fiction, fantasy and horror stories that engage meaningfully 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. They have two annual reading periods for fiction, January and July. They are open through the year for art submissions.
Deadline: 31 July 2022
Length: Up to 9,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Sci Phi Journal
They want Campbellian hard science fiction, fictional nonfiction, and speculative philosophy, and have detailed guidelines for each. They also accept translations.
Deadline: 4 August 2022
Length: Up to 2,000 words
Pay: €0.03/word; €0.01/word for translations
Details here.
The Puritan
This Canadian literary magazine publishes fiction, non-fiction, interviews, reviews, and poetry. They accept a limited number of fee-free submissions every month. Also, for the Fall issue, they will accept a limited number of fee-free entries from emerging BIPOC writers where they’ll give editorial feedback – see the ‘Editorial feedback for emerging BIPOC writers’ section.
Deadline: 25 September 2022 for Fall issue; reads year-round
Length: Up to 10,000 words for fiction, up to 4 poems; various for non-fiction (see guidelines)
Pay: CAD200 per essay; CAD150 for fiction; CAD100 per interview or review; CAD25 per poem (or page, capped at CAD80)
Details here.
Protean
This is a leftist publication that produces an annual print magazine (open periodically) and publishes online content year-round. They’re reading submissions for their online content now – fiction, non-fiction (pitches and drafts of criticism, news analysis, essays, or film or book reviews), and poetry. “Fiction need not be explicitly leftist, but it’s preferable.” They also publish art/illustration.
Deadline: Ongoing
Length: 1,000-3,000 words for fiction, 1,700-4,500 for non-fiction, up to 5 poems
Pay: $100 for fiction, $150 for non-fiction, $30/poem
Details here (scroll down).
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
