Background: I would share places to submit on cohost and in some closed writing communities. Cohost was nice and allowed me to format and make very long posts. Unfortunately, cohost is no more, but I still want to do this. If you’re a codexian, you probably already know about all of these, or can guess the sources I’m using to compile this data, but my intention is to share this with unpublished writers or writers who might not be aware of/have access to these sources.
For a market to be “notable,” it needs to be a window that just opened or will open soon (as in, sometime this month). It needs to be a limited window and not a place you can submit to every day of the year.
For a market to be shared, it has to meet my minimums for a market I’m comfortable recommending. This means:
- No submission fees, or there’s an exception to fees that is reasonable-enough to qualify for (e.g. sub early enough, specific demographics, etc.)
- Pay for work, or is unpaid but is a unique opportunity (i.e. for charity, hyper-niche fanzine)
- Any kind of adaption/format is okay (print, anthologies, web, audio, etc.), except crypto/NFT-bullshit
- Absolutely no AI of any sort
- No AI images, including social media posts
- No tolerance of AI-generated works
- I mostly go by what I see on their site, their submission guidelines, and their responses to my emails, if I can’t tell/need clarification
- They are respectful, professional, and not hateful
- Good contracts, they keep their word, etc
- No TERFs, Nazis, etc. or places that knowingly platform such people/views
- They treat your data with respect (e.g. no sharing/selling, basic security features on website, etc.)
- The focus of these lists will be fiction, since that’s what I mostly write. Some markets also do poetry and non-fiction, but those will not be the focus of these posts
Basically, these are places that I’d tell my friends to submit to and to do business with, because that’s what this is! All you people in the computer are friends 🙂 Some of these markets will be places that I have not had personal experience with because I am not eligible to submit (e.g. women-only, BIPOC-only, Canadians-only, etc.) or have yet to write a suitable piece for, but I’ve only heard good things about them/haven’t heard of issues.
I apologize that this preamble is so long! I won’t need to do this for future posts, I’ll just link back here. Also, all monies is in USD, unless otherwise noted. Always check individual market pages for the most up-to-date info!
Onto the markets!
In no particular order…
Format:
- Market, genre (unless the market name makes it obvious), lengths/types, pay, window info [link to submission guidelines]
Open NOW
- Augur, speculative, <= 5K flash/shorts, 14 c/w CAD or $112 CAD for <= 0.8K w, until Oct 31 ’24 (extra half month for BIPOC/trans/disabled Canadians) [link]
- Note they are closely related to Tales & Feathers, who want different kinds of stories, shorter stories (2.5K w max), and no Canadian requirement for the extra window time. Read [here] very carefully for specifics for both.
- Cosmic Horror anthology, 2-6K shorts, 2 c/w, until Oct 31 ’24 [link]
- Escape Pod, SF, 1.5K-6K shorts (up to 18K novelettes for reprints), 8 c/w originals and $100 for reprints, until May 31 ’25 [link]
- Strange Horizons, speculative, up to 10K shorts, 10 c/w, will close at 1K subs, so don’t wait! [link]
- Brave New Weird, weird horror, reprints <7.5K w, $25, until Oct 31 ’24. There’s some real specifics for this one so please read closely [link]
- Choices: An Anthology of Reproductive Horror, <6K w, 8 c/w CAD, until Nov 30 ’24 [link]
- Apparition Lit flash fic contest, SFF on theme “bread of the dead”, <1K, $30, until Oct 14 ’24 [link]
- Cast of wonders, YA speculative, <6K shorts/flash, 8 c/w originals $100 reprint shorts $20 reprint flash, until Oct 14 ’24 [link]
- Flash Fiction Online, genre agnostic, 0.5-1K flash, $100, until Oct 31 ’24 (but they have submission caps so it’ll probably be sooner) [link]
- Inner Worlds, speculative about “our inner lives,” 0.5K-2.5K shorts/flash, 2 c/w GBP (…p/w?) min 20 GBP, Oct 1 – 14 marginalized groups only, Oct 15 – 31 ’24 general window [link]
- I’ve been published here! Sarah is great to work with and the stories are always really neat
- Solarpunk Magazine, 1.5-7.5K shorts, 8 c/w, until Oct 14 ’24 [link]
- PAW anthology, erotic furry, 2-6K shorts, 1c/w, until Nov 1 ’24 [link]
- Poet Lore, poetry only but it’s notable/pays well, any length, $50, until Nov 30 ’24 [link]
Open SOON (later this month)
- Daikaijuzine, speculative, <=6,000 w shorts/flash, $10 short $5 flash, Oct 7 – 13 ’24 [link]
- Seaside Gothic, <=1K flash, 1 c/w GBP, Oct 7 – 13 ’24 [link]
- MYRIAD zine, speculative on theme of “kinship”, <= 1K flash, $18 CAD, Oct 14 – Nov 1 ’24 (extra week for BIPOC authors) [link]
- Saros, SF, exacts will be updated when it opens, $40 CAD, Oct 21 – Nov 4 ’24 [link]
