The site was down for ~18 hours because of the PHP thing you might have heard about. All WordPresses use PHP, and I had no idea how long it would take my webhost to update it, so I took the site down as precaution. And I do see that some images for other posts are broken from that. Fixing those are on the to-do list. If you see anything else that’s brokeen or looks weird, let me know! And I’ll get it fixed.
To my knowledge, nothing happened to this site, security-wise. I know of at least one market that’s “down” (because they made everything in-house, so updating it is their problem) because of security stuff, as is AO3. Even if it’s not on you to make sure systems are online and safe, there’s still things you can do to protect yourself! You should be making multiple backups of your work, as well as archiving stuff once it’s published. [I have some posts on those topics] if you want to learn more.
Info
For a market to be shared, it needs to meet my minimums for a market I’m comfortable recommending. This means:
- No submission fees, or there’s a waiver to that is reasonable enough (e.g. sub early enough, specific demographics, etc.)
- I count mailed-in-only subs as a “fee” because it costs money
- I’ll make exceptions on a case-by-case basis
- You’re paid for your work. Unpaid opportunities will be included if sufficiently unique/compelling (i.e. sales are for charity, hyper-niche fanzine)
- Any format is cool (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
- 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
- SubStacks no longer qualify, as [they profit from platforming and promoting Nazis]. [This is not a new issue].
- They treat your data with respect (e.g. no sharing/selling, basic security features on website, etc.)
- Nowhere the vibes are “off” (I know that’s really vague/subjective, but this is me recommending markets!)
There’s also some extra specifics to fit for this list specifically:
- This is a limited-time opportunity, either a theme or a window that will close (so places open every day of the year and have no themes, like Clarkesworld, don’t fit this)
- Markets that have schedules, like “the first week of every month” don’t qualify since it’s so predictable
- It needs to be a window lots of people can submit to, especially ones who aren’t otherwise aware they can sub to it.
- Markets with “secret” submission portals like Lightspeed don’t qualify, because you already know if you have access or not
- Markets with extremely narrow demographics (i.e. students of specific schools or members of clubs) don’t qualify, since 99.9%+ of you won’t be eligible
- Markets that do have limited demographics (like age, gender, race, disability) do qualify. Unless it’s something super narrow, like Canadians who are 13 years old exactly, then I probably won’t
- The window needs to be open long enough for readers of this to actually have a chance to submit
- This means that if I’ve seen that they hit their sub caps and close within 24 hours of opening, it’s not getting listed because it’ll be too late by the time you read this, and I don’t want to waste your time
- Even then, there’s still going to be places that qualify but won’t end up on this list, just due to time on my part. If a window has a theme, it’s a limited opportunity like an anthology, or it pays more than a token amount, then I’m more likely to list it.
Markets!
Format:
- ❓️Market, [limited demographic info (if applicable)] genre/theme (unless the market name makes it obvious), lengths/types, pay, window info [link to submission guidelines]
I shorthand the speculative genres: Science Fiction (SF), Fantasy (F), and Horror (H). So a market that says they take all three or “speculative” stories in general would be SFFH. A place that’s sci fi and fantasy would be SFF. If they give more granular genre (e.g. cosmic horror, space opera), then I’ll say those instead.
The ❓️ is 1 or more emoji to quickly communicate what lengths they take, in case you’re only interested in certain ones!
⚡️ – Flash fiction (1,000 or less)
🩳 – Short stories (1,001-7,500)
📚️ – Novelettes/Novellas (7,500-40,000-ish?)
🪶 – oh yeah poetry too
👓️ – or nonfiction (all types)
Open NOW
(Note: Some places scheduled to open on the 1st might not have the switch flipped just yet, or the switch is flipped but they haven’t updated their website, or maybe they’re in a different time zone, so check back later or click further to the submission form, if needed!)
- ⚡️🩳After the Fire, SFFH stories that are Ray Bradbury-esque in subject matter, <5K flash/shorts, 10 c/w, until Jan 31 [link]
- ⚡️Agita, “Ekphrasis” theme, <1K flash, 5 c/w, until Nov 17 (limited demographics have until Nov 25) [link]
- ⚡️🩳📚️Apex, SFFH, <9K flash/shorts/novelettes, 8 c/w, until Nov 30 [link]
- 🩳Astral, Alien Fiction, non-human POVs, 1-7K shorts, 1 c/w w/$20 min, until Dec 15 [link]
- ⚡️🩳📚️Astrophobia 2, space horror, <10K flash/shorts/novelettes, $140, until Dec 31 [link]
- ⚡️🩳Black Fox Literary, any, <5K flash/shorts, $20, until Nov 30 [link]
- 👓️Also nonfiction (<1.5K words)
- 🪶 Also poetry ($6.67 per)
- ⚡️🩳📚️Best of British Science Fiction, [British/Irish/etc writers only], this is a “best of” so they want SF stuff FIRST published in 2026, 1.5 p/w GBP, until Dec 30 [link]
- 🩳Bourbon Penn, SFFH, 2-7.5K shorts, 5 c/w, until ??? [link]
- ⚡️Carmen et Error, “poems and mistakes,” 400 words, 5 GBP, until Nov 15 [link]
- 🪶Also poetry (<=40 lines)
- 🩳📚️Carynyx Press, [authors living in “the North of Engladn” only) cosmic horror, 2-8K shorts/novelettes, 20 GBP, until Nov 30 [link]
- 🩳Dirty Martini, horror noir, 1-5K shorts, 8 c/w, until Dec 31 [link]
- ⚡️🩳📚️Divergent Space, future stories about neurodivergent characters, no word count limits but please be realistic, $5+, until Jan 31 [link]
- 🪶Also poetry
- ⚡️🩳DLIM anthologies, [Filipino authors (either living in the Philippines or part of the diaspora) only] SFFH, <5K flash/shorts, 7 c/w, closes Feb 28 [link]
- 🪶Also poetry
- 🩳Escape Pod, SF, 1.5-6K shorts (but reprints can be up to 18K), 8 c/w ($100 for reprints), until May 31 [link]
- 🩳Flame Tree Press anthologies, see below for each theme, 2-4K shorts but does accept outside that range, 8 c/w
- ⚡️Flash Fiction Online, any, 0.5-1K flash, $100, until they hit cap of 300 [link]
- ⚡️Flash Frog, any, <1K flash, $25, until Dec 31 [link]
- ⚡️Flash Point SF, SFF, 0.1-1K flash, 2 c/w, until Nov 7 [link]
- This will be their last window for at least a year, so don’t miss it!
- 🩳📚️Fusion Fragment, SF, 2-15K shorts/novelettes, 4 c/w CAD, until ??? [link]
- ⚡️🩳Hobbyhorse, “obsession” theme, <5K flash/shorts, 2 c/w with a max of $70, closes Nov 30 [link]
- 👓️Also creative nonfiction
- 🩳Horror Anthology, [authors from the North {Canada} only], horror in that area/setting, 4-6K shorts, $500 (CAD, presumably), until Nov 30 [link]
- ⚡️🩳📚️the html review, weird stuff that takes advantage of the form of being online, $500, until Dec 1 [link]
- 🩳Inkd Publishing, they all go to the same URL so they get listed as one thing in here lol, 2-6K shorts, $10 + royalties, [link]
- Arcanum Magicka, magic, until Dec 31
- Hidden Villains: Enigma, what it says on the tin, until Nov 15
- Noncorporeal V: Disquiet, spooky stuff, until Nov 30
- Smite: An Anthology of Women’s Rage, until Feb 15
- ⚡️The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, whatever as long as it fits, <600 word things, $50, until Dec 15 [link]
- 👓️Nonfic works, too
- ⚡️🩳khoreo, [immigrant/diaspora writers only], SFFH, <5K flash/shorts, 10 c/w, until Nov 30 [link]
- ⚡️🩳Luna Station Quarterly, [women writers only], SFF, 0.5-7K flash/shorts, $10 until Nov 15 [link]
- 🩳📚️The Momentist, any, 1K minimum with no maximum (but be realistic), 500 EU, until ??? [link]
- 🪶Also poetry (no word/line minimums, 100 EU per)
- 👓️Also nonfiction (1.5K min, 400 EU)
- ⚡️🩳📚️My Beloved Monster, PG-13 and under monster relationship stories, <10K flash/shorts/novelettes, 8 c/w, until Dec 31 [link]
- 🪶Also poetry
- 🩳Nettlesome, any, 2.5-5K shorts, $100, until ??? [link]
- ⚡️New Jersey Fantastic, SFFH in/about Jersey (someone do a story about the hockey team then I can force my roommate to buy this when it comes out), 0.7-1K flash, $5, until Dec 31 [link]
- ⚡️🩳No Gods, No Billionaires, horror of financialization/private equity, <5K flash/shorts, 10 c/w CAD, until Nov 30 [link]
- ⚡️🩳Nonbinary Review, “Redemption” theme, <3K flash/shorts, 1 c/w (reprints are paid same rate, so this is a good reprint market), until Nov 30 [link]
- 🪶Also poetry ($10)
- 🩳Ogerog Annual, horror, 3-4.5K shorts, 8 c/w, until April 4 [link]
- 🩳Phano, “Don’t Touch Grass”, 1-5K shorts, 5 c/w, they extended it to Nov 16 lol [link]
- ⚡️🩳📚️Podcastle, fantasy, <6K flash/shorts (you can do reprints up to 17K, but you MUST ask first), 8 c/w ($20 reprint flash, $100 longer reprints), until April 30 [link]
- They also have a special call for “undercity magic,” 2-6K (reprints up to 7K), until Nov 13 [link]
- 🪶Poet Lore, any, $50 per, until Nov 30 [link]
- 🩳📚️Propagule, weird stuff, 1.5-10K shorts/novelettes, $5-30, until Dec 15 [link]
- 👓️Also nonfiction
- 📚️Pyrite, stuff in space, 10-25K novelettes, 1 p/w with 100 GBP max, until Nov 30 [link]
- ⚡️🩳Queering Cthulhu, queer cthulhu mythos, 0.5-6K flash/shorts, $30, until Dec 31 [link]
- ⚡️The Razor, any, <1K flash, $100, until Dec 31 [link]
- 👓️Also nonfiction
- 🩳Scream Parks, theme park horror, 4-6K shorts, $25, until Mar 1 [link]
- 🪶Small Wonders, SFFH, this is only poetry but they’re cool with longer ones, $60, until??? [link]
- 🪶Strange Horizons, SFFH, they’re currently only open for poetry, any length, $50 per poem, they’re open year round but are looking for more subs! [link]
- ⚡️🩳Stuck, any as long as it’s dark and works with the “stuck” theme, 0.5-4K flash/shorts, 0.5 GBP/w, until Jan 31 [link]
- 📚️Superheroes/Supervillains, 8-10K novelettes, $100, until Dec 1 [link]
- 🪶Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize, any length, $250, until Dec 14 [link]
- 🩳Tome & Space, SFFH + thriller/mystery/historical, 1.5-6K shorts, 11 c/w CAD, until ??? [link]
- ⚡️🩳Umbra Magazine, mystery, 0.3-2K flash/shorts, $20, until ??? [link]
- ⚡️🩳Variant, any, 0.75-5.5K flash/shorts, $15 for flash, $25 for longer, until Nov 20 [link]
- 🪶Also poetry ($15)
- ⚡️🩳Weird Lit, any as long as it’s weird, <3K flash/shorts, $10, until Nov 5 [link]
- 🩳📚️What Blooms in Darkness: A Lunarpunk Anthology, idk how to describe this succicently lol, 1.5-10K flash/novelettes, 8 c/w, until Dec 31 [link]
- ⚡️🩳Workers Write!, from the pov of temp employees, 0.5-5K flash/shorts, $10+, until Dec 31 [link]
- 🪶Also poetry
- 🩳📚️Wyvern, sword and sorcery, 1-12K shorts/novelettes, 1 c/w w/$50 max, until Nov 6 [link]
- 👓️Also nonfiction (<3K, $10)
Open SOON (later this month)(so mark your calendars!)
- ⚡️🩳📚️The Pink Hydra, any, <40K flash/shorts/novelettes/novellas, $5 for flash, $10 up to 5K, $20 up to 10K, $10 advance + royalties for longer, Nov 2 – 6 [link]
- 🪶Also poetry ($5)
