These magazines and anthologies pay for speculative fiction – up to $700 for short fiction, and one magazine pays more for novella-length stories. Some also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry.
Many are open for submissions now, or will open soon, or have announced their next submission window; not all of them have, however.
They’re listed in no particular order. Some calls are themed.
– S. Kalekar
NPQ Magazine: Climate Fiction
Their website says, “NPQ uses a range of media channels to help advance critical conversations that can refine nonprofit and social movement policy and practice.” They publish research-based articles. They have issued a special fiction call for NPQ Magazine; “we’re looking for short climate fiction stories that spark imaginative visions of the future. Particularly, we want to see writing that is largely speculative in nature but scientifically grounded. In the midst of our climate crisis reshaping the way people live, our fall 2023 issue focuses on the question, Where do we find/how do we create home in the future? As such, we are interested in stories that speak to our intersectional lived experiences in the context of climate change and how these might play out, evolve, or even completely transform in your visionary future world. Stories can be utopian and apocalyptic or somewhere in between.” Stories can be up to 2,000 words. They “will pay $500 for substantive science-grounded stories and $300 for short stories around 500 words.” The deadline is 30 June 2023. Details here.
Lightspeed
Lightspeed is open to submissions of science fiction flash stories from BIPOC writers only till 31st May, and from all writers during 1st to 7th June. They also accept translations. They will open during 23rd to 30th June for fantasy flash fiction from BIPOC writers, and submissions for all writers in this genre will be open during 1st to 7th July. Please only send the work in the relevant lengths and genres, during their reading periods. Length guidelines are up to 1,500 words for flash fiction. They pay $0.08/word. Details here.
Randon Journal
Their guidelines say, “Radon welcomes short story and poetry submissions containing elements of anarchism, transhumanism, dystopia, or science fiction.” You can read more about the genres they publish in the FAQ section, here. Send stories up to 3,000 words, or up to 5 poems. Pay is $0.01/word for fiction, and $10 for poetry. They also accept reprints. Details here.
NewMyths
They publish fiction (up to 10,000 words), nonfiction, and poetry. “We like to balance each quarterly issue between science fiction and fantasy, dark and light, serious and humorous, hard and soft science fiction, and longer and shorter works.” Their pay rates have doubled in 2023. They also accept artwork. They are scheduled to open submissions on 1st June, and will stay open until 31st July 2023.
They pay $0.03/word; “minimum payment of $50 for all submissions, fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction and poetry”. Details here.
Atomic Carnival: Two anthologies
They are reading submissions for two anthologies: Greater Than His Nature, and Open All Night.
— “For Greater Than His Nature, I’m looking for short stories based around the theme of “mad science.” Cackling Victorian scientists, giant atomic monsters, and Cronenbergian body horror are all fair game. I’m even open to the right piece of nonfiction for this one.
I’m especially interested to include stories from disabled and chronically ill writers.”
— “For Open All Night, I want horror and fantasy (and all and any assorted sub- and cross-genres) based around the theme of “open all night.” While not strictly necessary, I’ll definitely be looking for retail and service industry-based stories. Give me graveyard shifts, overnight inventories gone bad, and haunted diners, shit so sordid and spooky that even the most seasoned of waitresses can’t handle what’s happening.
No nonfiction here, but if you want to deviate from the above genres, a little or a lot, that’s cool with me.”The Kickstarter for both anthologies has been funded. Send stories up to 10,000 words (2,000-6,000 words preferred); pay is $0.03/word (more if Kickstarter hits stretch goals). The deadline is 30 June 2023 for both anthologies. Details here.
History Through Fiction
Their website says, “History Through Fiction accepts historical fiction short story and novel excerpt submissions that, if accepted, will be published in the member-only content area of our website. Stories and excerpts must be previously unpublished and should be 1,000 – 7,000 words long. HTF prefers stories that are based on real historical events and/or people. However, all stories (with the exception of those related to Nazi cruelty) with any kind of historical setting will be considered – this includes those with elements of fantasy and alternative history.” They publish one story a month, have ongoing submissions, and pay $25. Novel submissions will reopen in September. Details here (scroll down).
Escape Artists: Escape Pod
This is the science fiction online magazine and podcast. “We are fairly flexible on what counts as science (superheroes! steampunk! space opera! time travel!) and are interested in exploring the range of the genre. We want stories that center science, technology, future projections, and/or alternate history, and how any or all of these things impact individuals and society.
Escape Pod leans in the direction of escapism, hopepunk and optimism rather than grimdark and gloom.” They have extensive guidelines. They also accept reprints. Escape Pod is from the Escape Artists suite of magazines. Length guidelines are 1,500-6,000 words for original short fiction, and longer for reprints. They pay $0.08/word for original stories. The deadline is 31 May 2023; they will reopen on 1st September. Details here (guidelines overview), here (detailed guidelines), here (submission portal), and here (schedule).
Escape Artists: Cast of Wonders – Banned Books Week
Cast of Wonders publishes young adult fantasy, science fiction, and horror in podcast and online format. They welcome work by young writers (writers under 18) during all their submission periods. They also accept translations and reprints. They have extensive guidelines, please read these carefully. Their submission portal will open for themed fiction submissions during the reading period (1st-14th June 2023), and will also have details on the Banned Books Week theme for 2023 at that time; and they are slated to open for unthemed YA speculative fiction submissions during August. Pay is $0.08/word for stories up to 6,000 words. Details here (guidelines) and here (schedule).
Escape Artists: PseudoPod
PseudoPod publishes horror fiction in audio and online formats. “We’re looking for horror: dark, weird fiction. We run the spectrum from grim realism or crime drama, to magic-realism, to blatantly supernatural dark fantasy. We publish highly literary stories reminiscent of Poe or Lovecraft as well as vulgar shock-value pulp fiction. We don’t split hairs about genre definitions, and we do not observe any taboos about what kind of content can appear in our stories. Originality demands that you’re better off avoiding vampires, zombies, and other recognizable horror tropes unless you have put a very unique spin on them. What matters most is that the stories are dark and compelling.” Until 31st July 2023, they are open for their Anthologies and Collections reprint call – they want to purchase submissions of “reprints from anthologies and collections released at any point in 2023.” And from 11th to 21st August 2023, they will be open for unthemed horror fiction submissions; see their schedule. They pay $0.08/word for original horror stories up to 6,000 words. Details here.
Escape Artists: PodCastle
publishes all kinds of fantasy in online and audio format, and is slated to open during the months of July and November this year; see their schedule. “We’re open to all the sub-genres of fantasy, from magical realism to urban fantasy to slipstream to high fantasy, and everything in between. Fantastical or non-real content should be meaningful to the story.” They pay $0.08/word for stories up to 6,000 words. They also accept reprints. See their guidelines here.
Third Flatiron Anthologies: Rhapsody of the Spheres
For this speculative fiction and poetry anthology; they want SF, fantasy, space opera, hopepunk on ‘Rhapsody of the Spheres’ theme. “The dictionary defines a rhapsody as “an effusively enthusiastic or ecstatic expression of feeling.” In ancient Greece, a rhapsody was also part of an epic poem of a suitable length for reciting.
Edie Brickell waxed rhapsodic about a smile on a dog, and Queen and Liszt gave us their musical Bohemian and Hungarian rhapsodies, respectively. Please give us a speculative fiction story or poem about what would make us happy right now.” They pay $0.08/word for stories of 1,500 to 3,000 words. The deadline is 1 June 2023. Details here and here.
Fairy Tale Review
They publish fairy tales and associated works. They want short fiction, essays, lyric nonfiction, and creative scholarship, as well as poetry, graphic novels, comics, drama, and translations of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry (see guidelines). Send up to 6,000 words of prose, or up to 4 poems. They pay $50, and the deadline is 15 July 2023. Details here.
Apparition Lit: Creature
Apparition Lit is a quarterly speculative fiction and poetry magazine. Their website says, “Speculative fiction is weird, almost unclassifiable. It’s fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and literary. We want it all. Send us your strange, misshapen stories.” They’re reading submissions on the Creature theme for the last two weeks in May 2023; also see the note about their equity initiative in the guidelines here (scroll down) – “Our submission window will remain open for an additional week each quarter for writers who identify as BIPOC and self-identify in their cover letter.
We will also accept simultaneous submissions from writers who identify as BIPOC or LGBTQIA+. Please just note how you identify in your cover letter, that it is a simultaneous submission.” The deadline is 31 May 2023 for submissions from all writers on the theme; and 7 June 2023 for writers who self-identify as BIPOC in their cover letter. Pay is $0.05/word for stories of 1,000-5,000 words, and $50/poem, for up to 5 poems. Details here and here.
(They also publish flash fiction online on monthly prompts.)
Old Moon
They accept fiction and poetry. “Old Moon publishes character-focused, weird sword-and-sorcery: stories of a dark and transgressive nature, set in a secondary or historical-paranormal (“our” reality, but with a twist, if you will) world, with a focus on rounded characters undergoing some sort of conflict, resolved (though not always successfully!) by the might of their main or mind.
We love stories that combine that sense of action and adventure with well-rounded characters who make us question our own realities and perceptions. We love to see the gothic, the baroque, the eldritch, and we love to see it hit with an axe.” They want stories of 1,000-6,000 words, and pay $0.08/word; you can send up to 5 poems, they pay $50 per poem. The deadline is 1 June 2023. Details here and here.
Cosmic Horror Monthly
They publish horror and weird fiction, and related nonfiction. They pay $0.03/word for stories up to 5,000 words, up to $150. They have two annual reading periods, 1st to 7th January, and 1st to 7th July. Details here.
The Café Irreal
Their website says, “The Cafe Irreal is a quarterly webzine that presents a kind of fantastic fiction infrequently published in English. This fiction, which we would describe as irreal, resembles the work of writers such as Franz Kafka, Kobo Abe, Clarice Lispector and Jorge Luis Borges. As a type of fiction it rejects the tendency to portray people and places realistically and the need for a full resolution to the story; instead, it shows us a reality constantly being undermined. Therefore, we’re interested in stories by writers who write about what they don’t know, take us places we couldn’t possibly go, and don’t try to make us care about the characters.” They pay $0.01/word for stories up to 2,000 words. Details here.
Flash Frog
They want stories that are “Small. Brightly Colored. Deadly to the Touch.” They pay $25 for stories up to 1,000 words. They accept general submissions year-round, with some exceptions; they accept ghost story submissions during July. Details here.
Brigids Gate Press: Scissor Sisters – Sapphic Villains Anthology
They want erotic horror, gothic horror, quiet horror, and body horror for this anthology. “We’re reclaiming the predatory lesbian trope, think Mrs Danvers in Rebecca or Roxy in Basic Instinct, so we’re looking for stories of sapphic villains. Because we’re looking to reclaim this trope and not reinforce it, we don’t just want sapphic villains. Sapphic characters can also be heroes and anti-heroes. We’d like to see a diversity of queer identities in a multitude of roles. We’d especially love to see stories of feminine rage, erotic horror, genderbent retellings and reclamations of power by queer femmes.” Stories must have diverse LGBTQ+ representation, can be set anytime in the past or present; the location can be anywhere on Earth. Pay is $0.08/word for stories of 1,500-4,000 words. The deadline is 31 May 2023. Details here and here.
Solarpunk Magazine
This magazine publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry on solarpunk themes. Length guidelines are 1,500-7,500 words for fiction; 1,000-2,000 words for essays; and up to 5 poems. They pay $0.08/word for fiction, $75/essay, and $40/poem. They have listed all submission windows for 2023 on their website. Essays are accepted year-round; fiction and poetry are open periodically. Their next reading period for fiction and poetry is 1-14 July 2023. Details here.
Planet Scumm
They publish fiction, including flash fiction. They want sci-fi of all kinds, and speculative fiction, weird fiction, and slipstream. They pay $0.06/word for stories up to 5,000 words. Their next reading period will be in Summer 2023. Details here.
Fantasy Magazine
Fantasy is an award-winning fantasy and dark fantasy magazine. They’re open to submissions from BIPOC writers through 2023. All dates are subject to change. Length guidelines are: up to 7,500 words for fiction, up to 6 poems. They pay $0.08/word for fiction, and $40/poem. Details here.
Translunar Travelers Lounge
The editors of this speculative fiction magazine want fun stories. Their guidelines say, “A fun story, at its core, is one that works on the premise that things aren’t all bad; that ultimately, good wins out. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your story has to be silly or lighthearted (though it certainly can be). Joy can be made all the more powerful when juxtaposed against tragedy. In the end, though, there should be hope, and we want stories that are truly fun for as many different kinds of people as possible.” Also, “Swashbuckling adventure, deadly intrigue, and gleeful romance are some of the most obvious examples of what we’re looking for, but we won’t say no to more subtle or complicated topics, as long as they fit under the wider “fun” umbrella.” They pay $0.03/word for stories up to 5,000 words. Their next reading period is 15 September to 15 October 2023; the first week of that is reserved for writers of color. Details here.
Haven Speculative
They publish science fiction and fantasy – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and art. They accept submissions through the year; every alternate month, they accept submissions only from underrepresented writers. The publish climate-crisis focused work twice a year, in their Dry (published in March) and Wet (published in September) issues. They have extensive guidelines, including on the special issues. Length guidelines are up to 6,000 words for fiction, up to 3,000 words for nonfiction; and up to 5 poems. They pay $0.01/word for prose, and $5-10 for poetry. During May, they’re reading submissions from underrepresented writers only; during June, they will accept submissions from all writers. Details here.
Crystal Lake Publishing: Dead Letters – Episodes of Epistolary Horror
Their website says, “we’re looking for short horror stories … written in epistolary format—meaning, stories written as letters, journal entries, transcripts of radio broadcasts, newspaper clippings, text messages, etc.
Furthermore, each story should include some mention of how its manuscript was “discovered.” A letter found in a historian’s archive, for example. Or emails saved as part of a missing persons investigation. Or an audio file recovered from a dead podcaster’s PC. Push boundaries and play with the format—and above all, be scary!” They pay $0.01/word for stories of 2,500-7,000 words. The deadline is 1 June 2023. Details here (download guidelines).
Written Backwards: Qualia Nous, Vol. 2 Anthology
They want dark science fiction and all blended sub-genres of science fiction (horror, fantasy, etc.). “What does the title mean? It’s up to interpretation. Qualia: instances of subjective, conscious experience; the internal and subjective component of sense perceptions arising from stimulation of the senses by phenomena; the way it feels to have mental states. Nous: intellections; awareness; perception; understanding; reason; thought; intuition; the faculty of the human mind; having the ability to understand what is true or real; practical intelligence.
While not many like the term “literary,” that is what this anthology is looking for: groundbreaking work that break normal conventions and will stand the test of time, propelling emerging and undiscovered writers into the mainstream.” Pay is $0.10/word capped at 3,000 words for short fiction ($300), 5,000 words for long fiction ($500 for novelettes between 7,500 – 10,000 words); $50 for short poems, or $100 for long poems. The deadline is 31 July 2023. Details here.
Midnight & Indigo
They only accept work by Black women writers – speculative fiction, character-driven fiction, and essays. They pay $100 for speculative fiction on their website and $200 for works compiled in their anthology, $100 for essays, and $0.08/word for other fiction. They have rolling submissions for speculative fiction, and have deadlines for general fiction and essays – the next deadline is 30 June 2023. Details here and here.
Weird Little Worlds: Playlist of the Damned
This is a fiction (including flash) and poetry anthology. “A hiker finds a grungy cassette tape in an abandoned mine that reads, DO NOT PLAY. When he does, he unleashes 25 tales of horror from the place where music and the macabre meet. … Bring us your Faustian deals with the Devil, your debauched rock stars, and demonic incantations. Music that soothes the beast or strangles with an invisible hand. These stories should be so integrally connected with music that the narrative can’t function without it.” Also, “Specific songs can be used, but (unless you have rights to the lyrics or it is in public domain) only references and titles can be included. There is no restriction on genre, style, or time period. We are interested in short fiction, horror poetry, and flash fiction alike in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.” Length guidelines are 500-5,000 words for prose. Pay is $0.05/word for prose, $1/line for poetry (will increase if Kickstarter hits stretch goals). The deadline is 31 May 2023. Details here.
The Dark
They publish horror and dark fantasy. They also accept reprints. Payment is $0.05/word for original stories of 2,000-6,000 words. Details here.
Factor Four Magazine
Their website says, “We publish flash fiction in the genres of speculative fiction, specifically science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, super hero, or any combination of these.” They pay $0.11/word for stories up to 1,000 words. Details here.
Heartlines Spec
This is a new Canadian magazine, and they have published one issue 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.” Send stories of 1,000-3,500 words, or up to 5 poems. Pay is CAD0.08/word for fiction and CAD60/poem. The current submission deadline is 30 May 2023. Their next submission window is 1-30 September for all writers, and they have an early submission period for equity-deserving groups, 24-31 August 2023. Details here.
Orion’s Belt
This is a magazine of speculative flash fiction; they also accept poetry. Send stories of up to 1,200 words. They have detailed guidelines on the kind of stories they want (and what they do not want), please read them before submitting. Pay is $0.08/word. The deadline is 1 September 2023. Details here.
Augur Magazine: Fancy & Fantasy
This Canadian speculative fiction and poetry magazine is open for submissions on the Fancy & Fantasy theme. Send stories of up to 5,000 words, or up to 5 poems. They have detailed guidelines, including, “Give us your most gorgeous fairy tale retellings, your most earnest and subversive fables. Introduce us to your beloved mythical creatures; your trans mages and gay knights; your deeply immersive worlds and dreamworlds and underworlds.
We are interested in Fantasy that reflects the reality of our world, and strongly encourage submissions that reject or subvert the colonial and/or Western lens—especially by those with diasporic and/or existing ties to the space and culture they are writing about.” They also accept translations. Regarding the deadline, “We will be open until 11:59pm May 31st EST to everyone from everywhere, and then until June 15th, we will only be accepting submissions from creators who are Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, Disabled, and/or Trans, who are also Canadian citizens/permanent residents and/or who are living within the settler-defined borders of the land colonially known as Canada.” They pay CAD0.11/word for short fiction, CAD110 for flash fiction, and CAD60/poem. Details here.
(Augur also has a sister magazine, Tales & Feathers, which publishes cozy slice-of-life fantasy; watch for their next submission period.)
ZNB Presents
This is a project from Zombies Need Brains, which publishes themed speculative fiction anthologies each year. They also have a Patreon-based magazine which publishes unthemed speculative fiction. Their website says, “Zombies Need Brains LLC accepts submissions to its online magazine, ZNB Presents, (currently being run through Patreon … from July 1st through July 7th each year and then through further open calls if necessary. … Stories must be submitted in electronic format through the submissions management system Moksha.” They pay $0.08/word for stories of 2,500-7,500 words. The reading period will be 1st to 7th July. Details here and here.
Headland
This is a New Zealand based journal and “While we publish a majority of Aotearoa New Zealand writers, we strongly encourage writers from all over the world to submit their work.”. They have a special call for speculative fiction stories, as well as creative nonfiction linked to the speculative, for this submission period. Send work of up to 5,000 words. They pay NZ$50. The deadline is 16 July 2023. Details here.
Mysterion
They want science fiction, fantasy and horror stories that engage meaningfully with Christian themes, characters or cosmology. The stories need not teach a moral, or be close to an approved theological position, or be pro-Christian. 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 accept stories of up to 9,000 words, and pay $0.08/word. They have two annual reading periods for fiction, January and July. Details here.
The Fairy Tale Magazine: Love
They publish fairy tales – new fairy tales or mashups of fairy tales, as well as poetry. They have detailed guidelines, including, “The theme for 2023 is “LOVE,” with romance preferred, but love between friends, family members, pets and their humans, etc., will be considered as well.
We are also very open to the stories and poems focusing on seasonal holidays, like solstice celebrations, Halloween, Hanukkah, etc. However, while holiday based stories and poems are very welcome, you still need to include the theme. …. Do bear in mind that all fairy tale related fiction and poetry needs an element of the supernatural—as well as transformation. Transformation is a huge deal for the 2023 publishing year.” General submissions to the magazine are free, and submissions to the contest have a fee attached. Length guidelines are 1,000-5,000 words (up to 3,500 preferred) for fiction, up to 500 words for poetry, and they pay $50. The deadline is 2 June 2023. Details here.
Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores
They open on the 1st and 2nd of every month. They accept fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, originals as well as reprints. They also accept art. For fiction, they want science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form. They accept both serious and humorous work. Also see guidelines for the kind of work they’re looking for, hard sells, and what they do not want. Length guidelines are: anywhere from 1,000 words and up for fiction; poetry up to 40 lines. Pay (for originals) is $0.08/word for fiction, $0.02-0.08/word for nonfiction, $1/line for poetry. Details here.
Neon Hemlock Press: Baffling Magazine
This is a quarterly online magazine of flash fiction. “We are looking for speculative stories that explore science fiction, fantasy, and horror with a queer bent. We want queer stories and we want trans stories and we want aro/ace stories. We want indefinable stories. We welcome weird, slipstream, and interstitial writing.” They pay $0.08/word for stories up to 1,200 words. They will soon read submissions on the theme of “quiet stories” as well as unthemed speculative fiction. Their next submission period is 1st to 15th June 2023. Details here.
Neon Hemlock Press: We’re Here – The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2023
This is a reprint anthology. “Submissions are open for all speculative work published in 2023 under 17,500 words that deals either implicitly or explicitly with queerness.” They pay $0.01/word, and the deadline is 31 December 2023. Details here, here, and here.
FIYAH: Belonging
They publish speculative fiction by Black writers of the African Diaspora. They also publish nonfiction and poetry. They will soon begin reading submissions on the ‘Belonging’ theme, in collaboration with the Othering and Belonging Institute (OBI) at UC Berkeley. “For this Belonging issue, we are looking for stories highlighting why, where, and how Black folks belong across the diaspora and multiverse. Imagine a moment in time or another universe where Black people aren’t forced to question our right to be ourselves. We want to see courageous narratives about forging new relationships for the betterment of all, including the planet/land, whether among the diverse peoples of our global community or with beings from faraway worlds. We are looking for fun and dynamic adventures that give rise to a sense of belonging and showcase the importance of community.” Payment for fiction (2,000-15,000 words) is $0.08/word, for poetry, it is $50/poem, and for non-fiction, it is $0.10/word. The reading period for the Belonging theme is 1st June – 31st July 2023. Details here.
TTA Press: InterZone
Their website says, “Interzone is always open to unsolicited submissions of fantastika of between 2,000 and 17,500 words”. They pay (EUR) 1.5¢ per word. Details here.
(Also see IZ Digital; TTA Press has other genre magazines too – Black Static for horror, and Crimewave for crime fiction.)
Reckoning
This is an annual magazine. They publish creative work on environmental justice, including speculative fiction. They also accept nonfiction, poetry, works in translation, and art. Pay is $0.10/poem for prose (they accept stories up to 20,000 words), and $50/poem. Their general submission guidelines are here, specific call for issue 8 is here, and the submission system is here. The deadline is 22 September 2023.
hyphen punk
“We want to publish your speculative fiction with some type of -Punk aesthetic. Cyber-, steam-, solar-, diesel-, ray-, bio-, street-, splatter-, arcano-, nano-, or whatever else your crazed imagination can come up with. If its -Punk then it fits.
We do favor fiction that puts the punk elements first. Street level people working against the systems of power in place is what we look for. We love working class or downtrodden people fighting for their place in the world.” They publish fiction (1,000-7,500 words), graphic stories, reviews, and art. Pay is $25. Details here.
Metaphorosis
Their tagline is, ‘Beautifully Made Speculative Fiction’. They want “Beautiful writing showing engaging characters in science fiction or fantasy settings.” Pay is $0.01/word for stories of 500-10,000 words. Details here.
Occult Detective Magazine
“We are looking for intriguing fiction which features those who investigate or explore the strange and unusual, and we are eager to read submissions featuring a diverse range of characters, cultures and periods. So although we do enjoy and accept classic Victorian/Edwardian sleuths, seventies PIs and so on, a fresh twist is always likely to interest us. Your ‘investigator’ does not have to have a professional role, and can be anyone seeking answers – check out what we have already published to see the very broad range we cover. Tales with more varied geographical and historical settings are encouraged as a welcome change from the usual 21stC UK and US settings (though we take these as well, naturally). We love weird literary tales, will consider well-written Pulp, and will also accept fantasy and SF stories, as long as they fit the overall concept. Do not send us detective stories with no paranormal, occult, psychic or weird elements – or general weird and paranormal stories with no investigative work of any nature.” They pay £0.01/word for fiction, with a cap of £45; non-fiction is also at £0.01, with a cap of £25. The deadline is 1st August 2023. Details here (scroll down – download guidelines).
(They also have a call for reprints on their guidelines page – “we are looking for a handful of reprint stories SPECIFICALLY concerning those (occult detectives) who investigate Lovecraftian/Mythos and Mythos-adjacent weirdness and horror. Stories should be 4-9k words … We strongly prefer fresh and inventive approaches, not routine HPL repetition or random cthulhus on the rampage. The less tentacles the better, probably.” Pay is £25, and the deadline for this reprint Occult Detective project is 1st July 2023.)
Wyngraf
This is a magazine of cozy fantasy. They have detailed guidelines on what constitutes cozy fantasy. Pay is one and a half cents for stories of 2,000-8,000 words. Watch for their next submission period. Details here.
Bards and Sages Quarterly
“This is a quarterly journal of speculative fiction. We are interested in all of the speculative genres (horror, fantasy, science fiction, slipstream, steampunk, magical realism, etc) up to 20,000 words in length.” Pay is $30-50. Details here.
Tasavvur
They publish South Asian speculative fiction, and also accept non-fiction pitches. Regarding submission eligibility, “Our definition of South Asia is not restricted to traditional geographical terms and we welcome authors from neighboring regions and diaspora communities to submit too. We also highly encourage authors from traditionally under-represented communities to submit, such as but not restricted to: Women, LQBTQIA+ identifying, BIPOC, people with disabilities, religious and/0r ethnic minorities. … However, please do not submit to us if you are not from any BIPOC community—Tasavvur is a magazine dedicated to publishing authors of South Asian origin and other BIPOC author, so we’ll have to turn you down as we’re not the market for you.” Pay is 2.5c/word for stories of 1,000-5,000 words, and $100 for commissioned non-fiction. The deadline is 6 June 2023. Details here.
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly publishes “heroic fantasy — in both prose and poetry. We are unrepentant in our goal of elevating unapologetic sword and sorcery to a rightful high place. … Our fiction word limit is a soft 10,000 words, although we are willing to serialize at a maximum of 50,000 words over four issues. You may submit up to three poems, with a cumulative maximum of 30 pages.” Pay is $25-100 for fiction, and $25 for poetry (more for long poems – see guidelines). Their website says, they will likely open for submissions in Summer 2023. Details here.
Cirsova
Their tagline is, ‘Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense’. They have detailed guidelines about the kind of stories they want; some of the sub-genres are Raygun Romance, Radium Adventures, Sword & Planet, Space Cops, Weird Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror, Lost World, Pre-Historic/Antiquity, Occult Detective/Mystery, Mad Science, and Picaresque Adventure. Send stories of 2,000-7,500 words (can take longer – see guidelines). Pay is $0.0125 (one and a quarter cents) per word. The deadline is 7 August 2023. Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
