These magazines and anthologies publish fiction, and pay $50 to about $500. None of them charge a submission fee. – S. Kalekar
Aster(ix)
This is a transnational feminist literary arts journal committed to social justice and translation, placing women of color at the center of the conversation. They’re reading for a special fiction issue. Their guidelines say, “What we are looking for in submissions are works that speak beyond the trends of the current moment. We are especially interested in work that is unconventional, international, urgent, lyrical, difficult, delicious and of differing aesthetics. In this time of lightning communications we want to read writing that is thoughtful and not necessarily certain.
We are interested in literary short stories or self contained novel excerpts. This includes translations and graphic novels.” They also publish reprints.
Deadline: 31 March 2021
Length: Unspecified
Pay: $250
Details here (about the journal) and here (Submittable).
Escape Artists: PodCastle and Escape Pod
Submissions for Escape Artists’ fantasy and science fiction podcasts/magazines are open (see below). Also, submissions for their young adult podcast/magazine, Cast of Wonders, will tentatively open for submissions in April for Banned Books Week, according to their schedule.
— PodCastle publishes fantasy short fiction on their website, and in a podcast format. They are open to all sub-genres of fantasy, from magical realism to urban fantasy to slipstream to high fantasy. Fantastical or non-real content should be meaningful to the story. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 31 March 2021
Length: Up to 6,000 words for PodCastle
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
— Escape Pod – Black Future Month
This magazine publishes science fiction stories. For Black Future Month submissions, they are only accepting work from authors of the African diaspora and the African continent. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 31 March for Black Future Month; resumes reading general submissions from 1 April, until 31 May 2021.
Length: 1,500-5,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
MetaStellar
This magazine was launched in 2020, and they want flash fiction submissions of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. They also accept reviews and essays, though they do not pay for these.
Deadline: 31 March 2021
Length: Up to 1,000 words for fiction
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction
Details here.
Split Lip Magazine
This magazine publishes online monthly and in print annually – flash fiction, short stories, memoir, interviews, reviews, poetry, and art. For short stories, they accept literary, mainstream or experimental writing – no genre fiction. March is one of the months when they will accept fee-free submissions. Free submission periods sometimes close sooner than planned due to overwhelming response; they recommend submitting early.
Deadline: 31 March 2021 for general fee-free submissions, though these may close earlier; end-June for fee-free submissions for Black writers
Length: Up to 3,000 words for fiction, up to 2,000 words for memoir, one poem
Pay: $50 per author for poems, memoirs, flash, fiction, and cover art, and $25 for interviews/reviews for web issues; payment for print is $5 per page
Details here.
Malarkey Books: Fiction anthology
Malarkey Books wants fiction submissions for an anthology – there is no set theme and writers can send work in any genre. The anthology is untitled currently. Submissions for this anthology are via Oleada, a new online platform. Malarkey Books also has some other projects open for submissions, which are unpaid.
Deadline: 31 March 2021
Length: None specified
Pay: $50
Details here (Oleada submission portal).
Constelación Magazine: Beyond the Stars
This is a bilingual speculative fiction magazine, and they’ve opened submissions for ‘Beyond the Stars’ theme. Their guidelines say, “Whether it’s looking out at the immense blue sea or the vast night sky, we’ve always wondered what lies beyond. Take us on a voyage beyond the stars, beyond the limits of what’s possible and known as true. Past preconceived barriers, far away into distant lands, into your dreams, or into the future.
What lies deep inside our minds, in the corners we keep fenced off? Are there worlds beyond the ones we know? What’s on the other side of the galaxy, at the farthest reaches of the universe?” Authors are free to interpret the themes creatively, and they encourage writers to twist and bend the themes, as long as they fit into any of the speculative fiction genres. Submissions can be in English or Spanish, and they also ask for translation rights. They also commission artwork from BIPOC creators months in advance based on the issue’s theme.
Deadline: 1 April 2021
Length: Up to 6,400 words
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction, $1,000 for artwork
Details here.
Inklings Press: Tales From Alternate Earths Volume 3
This is a fiction anthology. Their guidelines say, “The theme of this anthology is alternative history. What is that? Take a moment in time and change something, then tell a story in this new and different world. What effect does the change have, what story can this new world reveal? … We want stories that makes us think, stories that make us laugh, stories that send a shiver down our spines, stories of worlds that might have been.” Their past Alternate Earth anthology stories have been about meteors that struck different places, empires that took a different course, inventions that changed the world earlier – and even time-travelling space dinosaurs.
Deadline: 1 April 2021
Length: Around 5,000 words
Pay: $50
Details here.
House of Zolo volume 3: The Climate Change Edition
This is a journal of speculative fiction and poetry. They are reading on the ‘Climate Change’ theme. Their guidelines say, “We are looking for radical, forward-thinking fiction and poetry that examines the future of our planet as it relates to Climate Change.
What will the Earth look like in a hundred years, five hundred years? How will cities evolve and humans adapt over the coming decades? The coming centuries?
What part does technology play in our future?
What will happen to the animals? …
Utopias, dystopias, magic realism, horror, science fiction — all speculative genres are welcome.”
Deadline: 15 April 2021
Length: 1,000-6,000 words
Pay: $25 per poem, $50-75 for fiction
Details here.
LampLight
This is a magazine of dark fiction, both short stories and flash fiction. They want work that is dark, literary — creepy, weird, and unsettling. Their guidelines say, “No specific sub-genres or themes, just good stories. For inspiration, we suggest “The Twilight Zone”, “The Outer Limits”,” – and also the first volume of their stories. They do not want work about vampires, zombies, werewolves, serial killers, hitmen, excessive gore or sex. They also accept reprints. They can accept only 300 submissions a month during their reading period.
Deadline: 31 May 2021
Length: Up to 7,000 words
Pay: $0.03/word, up to $150
Details here (guidelines) and here (Submittable).
Hermine Annual
Hermine is a print-only journal of short stories, published annually in Toronto. They want short stories for Issue 2. There’s no deadline specified. They will accept submissions until they have reached their quota.
Deadline: Open now
Length: Up to 4,000 words
Pay: $50-200
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.