10 Speculative Magazines Accepting Submissions NOW — Paying markets
Here are ten literary magazines currently open to submissions of speculative fiction and poetry. They are seeking a wide variety of subgenres: Quantum Fiction, Cyberpunk, Alternative Histories, Steampunk, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Myth, Folklore, Surrealism, Slipstream and Weird Fiction.
All of these are paying markets. Some accept reprints. None charge a submission fee.
For an extensive list of paying markets organized by genre see: Paying Markets.
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Unfit Magazine: Stories that bend the rules of science fiction
Unfit publishes Quantum Fiction, Cyberpunk, Alternative Histories and Steampunk.
Length: 500–3,000 words
Payment: $0.03/word for fiction; $0.01/word for nonfiction. Reprints are paid at $.01/word. Payments are only made to your PayPal account. They only pay for what appears in print, not for online publication.
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Unreal publishes Fantasy, Magical Realism, Experimental Fiction
Length: 500 to 5,000 words
Payment: $.03/word for fiction. For nonfiction, $.01/word. Reprints are paid at $.01/word. Payments are only made to your PayPal account. They only pay for what appears in print, not for online publication.
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Alban Lake Publishing: Midnight in the Witch’s Kitchen
“Everyone depends on Granny Barnes. The side door to her old house is the direct entry to her kitchen. During the day, she’s a grandmother whose family and friends flock to her house daily for meals or her sage advice. Everyone seeks both her wisdom and her recipes. However, Granny’s kitchen becomes something else after midnight. Those who knock on her kitchen door then have come for another reason altogether. Granny is witch . . . and those who come to her for help after dark should never enter her kitchen without serious pause as to the cost or the consequences. What the editor will be looking for from all other writers is that their short stories must have a paranormal, horror or fantasy/dark fantasy aspect and must involve a witch.”
Length: 4,000–10,000 words
Payment: $20
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Through the Gate: Fantastical poetry
“We are looking for fantastical poetry of literary and emotional depth from a diversity of voices and perspectives. Our definition of fantastical is quite fluid, encompassing fantasy, magic realism, myth, folklore, surrealism and slipstream. We desire poetry that is atypically beautiful, unconventionally imaginative, and boundary-crossing. We are not interested in work that is strictly science fiction or mainstream, but poetry that blurs the lines between such genres and the fantastical is welcome.”
Length: Up to three poems
Payment: $20 per poem
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“NewMyths.com publishes speculative fiction of every stripe except graphic horror. We like each issue to have an eclectic variety of stories: funny, frightening, hard and soft sci-fi, adventure, thoughtful, etc. Every issue includes at least one nonfiction piece dealing with some aspect of science, myth, folklore, or literature as it relates to speculative fiction, usually of the well-researched essay variety rather than opinion or editorial. Speculative poetry is welcome. We tend to receive a lot of free verse and not enough “form” poetry. We also buy one piece of artwork per issue, and occasionally commission one. We publish book reviews of recent releases about every two weeks. If you have written a review, or have a book coming out soon, please contact us.”
Length: Up to 10,000 words.
Payment: 1.5 cents/word with a minimum payment of $30 for all submissions, fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction and poetry.
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“Original speculative fiction: horror, fantasy, and science fiction. We’re looking for short stories from across the big classifications and those shadowy places between: magical realism, fantastique, slipstream, interstitial, and the Weird. We will consider suspense or western, though we prefer it contain some speculative element. We like voices that are full of feeling, from literary to pulpy, with styles unique and flowing, but not too experimental. All labels aside, we want tales that expand genre, that value imagination in character, narrative, and plot. We want to see something new and different.”
Length: Short fiction 1000–7000 words, Flash fiction 500–1000 words, (2000–5000 preferred)
Payment: $100 for short fiction, $30 for flash fiction; + 1 print annual
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“We prefer science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but we’re willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres. We do not consider poetry, stories with over-the-top sex or violence, serials, novels, fan fiction, or non-fiction. We don’t accept multiple submissions; in other words, only submit one story at a time and wait for a response before submitting another. We accept simultaneous submissions as long as you let us know up front and tell us as soon as it’s accepted elsewhere. We do not publish reprints, including anything that has appeared on a website.”
Length: 250 to 7000 words
Payment: $20
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The Dark publishes dark fantasy and horror. “Don’t be afraid to experiment or to deviate from the ordinary; be different — try us with fiction that may fall out of “regular” categories. However, it is also important to understand that despite the name, The Dark is not a market for graphic, violent horror.”
Length: 2,000–6,000 words.
Payment: 6 cents/word for original fiction up to 6,000 words on publication for first world rights; and 1 cent/word for reprint fiction up to 6,000 words on publication for nonexclusive reprint rights.
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Nowhereville: Weird is Other People
“We want diverse stories with modern sensibilities from many different voices that show the immense and diverging possibilities for weird fiction, fearlessly exploring the new and the strange. We are actively seeking submissions from writers from underrepresented populations. (This includes, but is not limited to, writers of any race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, class, and physical or mental abledness.)”
Length: Short stories of 3,000–7,500 words
Payment: 8 cents/word
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“Daily Science Fiction (DSF) is a market accepting speculative fiction stories. By this we mean science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, etc. We will consider flash series — three or more flash tales built around a common theme.”
Length:100 to 1,500 words
Payment: 8 cents/word
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