These magazines/anthologies pay up to $800 for short stories; one magazine pays more for longer stories. Some magazines also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. – S. Kalekar
Split Lip Magazine
Split Lip Magazine is a voice-driven literary journal with a pop culture twist. 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). Fee-free submissions for all writers are open during certain months, including August, September and November; these sometimes closed earlier, if their Submittable cap is reached. Fee-free submissions for Black writers are open till mid-December.
Deadline: See above
Length: Up to 3,000 words for fiction, up to 2,000 words for memoir, 1 poem
Pay: $75 for web contributions, $5/page for print, $50 for interviews/reviews, and $25 for mini-reviews for their web issues. Details here and here.
Heartlines Spec
This is a Canadian online and print magazine, and they have published 2 issues so far. Please note, they will publish at least 50 percent Canadian content in each issue. “We’re looking for short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. We don’t want the blaze of new love or the obsession of a new friend. We want pieces that show that comfort that develops when people know each other for years.
Give us deep space, dusty frontiers, or dreamy fantasy. We want stories and poetry with strong, confident relationships amid all the sci-fi/fantasy. While we are primarily looking for stories with happy endings (yeah, yeah), we also want endings that are earned. If things get a little teary or gory, that’s ok.
We are especially interested in stories featuring queer platonic relationships, ace/aro love stories, and polycules.” They also list the kind of stories they do not want, on their guidelines page.
Reading period: Up to 31 August for equity-deserving groups, 1-30 September 2023 for all writers
Length: 1,000-3,500 words for fiction, or up to 5 poems
Pay: CAD0.08/word for fiction and CAD60/poem
Details here.
One Story
They publish literary fiction – one story per month. Their Submittable will open on 5th September, and will close when their submission cap is reached. They also accept translations, and some reprints (see guidelines). Apart from cash payment, they also give 25 contributor copies.
Opens on: 5th September 2023, open until filled
Length: 3,000-8,000 words
Pay: $500
Details here.
Weird Horror Magazine
They publish horror and weird fiction. Their submission portal will open during the reading period.
Reading period: 2-16 September 2023
Length: 500-6,000 words
Pay: 1.5 cents a word
Details here.
Reckoning
They publish work on environmental justice – fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, essays, translation, and art. Query for reprints and reviews. They are accepting submissions for issue 8. They have detailed guidelines, including, “For Reckoning 8, we want thinking, writing and art about … this. All of this, right now. We want to hear about active resistance to the patriarchofascist, corporate-captured extractive state. … Help us understand how strategies of repression and control all over the world concentrate agency in the hands of the few at the expense of all other life. We are looking for work in opposition to a broad, insidious fascism that treats water, trees, and bodies as exploitable, expendable resources rather than sacred, essential components of our global, infinitely interconnected and interdependent web of life.”
Deadline: 22 September 2023
Length: Up to 20,000 words for fiction and creative non-fiction, up to 10 pages of poetry
Pay: $0.10/word for prose, $50 for reviews, and $50/page of poetry. Details here (issue-specific guidelines), here (general guidelines), and here (submission portal)
Cybear Punk Anthology
This submission call is for science fiction stories – they want cyberpunk, Afrofuturist, solar punk, space opera, hard and soft sci-fi, futuristic speculative fiction, raypunk, dystopian, sci-fi noir, post-apocalypse and utopian stories. They want “sci-fi stories that feature fat/chubby/big-boned’ed gay/bi/queer men in heroic leads (bonus points if there’s — gasp! — more than one fat gay man in your story!)”. Please see their preferences and also the kind of work they do not want. Regarding who can submit to this anthology, they say, “literally anyone! We would love for those in the gay bear community to submit, own-voice matters to us. But anyone who wants to can submit a story.”
Deadline: 1 October 2023
Length: 5,000-10,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Baltimore Review
They publish fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Some editor preferences are in the bios on their Staff page.
Deadline: 30 November 2023
Length: Up to 5,000 words for prose, up to 3 poems
Pay: $50 (via a gift certificate or PayPal, if preferred)
Details here and here.
Tales to Terrify
They want short horror, dark fantasy, and other disturbing fiction for their weekly podcast. “We encourage you to challenge the definition of horror. Standard tropes and monsters are welcome, but give us your own unique take. Avoid the cliche and expected, unless as devices used purposefully and cleverly to further your story.
Drag us deep into the unsettling atmosphere of a crumbling Gothic mansion. Show us the gritty, real-world horrors of evil people with dark intentions. Make our blood run cold and our breath catch in our throats as we’re hunted by ravenous creatures. Unhinge our minds with reality-bending, psychological horrors. Make us feel the pain and sorrow of a long-suffering spirit.” They pay for short fiction, not flash, and have several open reading periods in the year for these. They also accept reprints.
Deadline: Open now
Length: Up to 10,000 words (they do not pay for fiction under 2,000 words)
Pay: $0.01/word for short fiction (2,000-10,000 words)
Details here and here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.