50 Calls for Submissions in May 2018 - Paying Markets

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There are more than three dozen calls for submissions in May. Every genre and form is wanted, from speculative fiction to fairy tales and from novel excerpts to essays.

All of these markets pay, and none require submission fees.

For more paying markets you can find a list, organized by genre and subject matter here: Paying Markets.

Happy submitting!
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Hashtag Queer. Genre: Fiction and nonfiction up to 7,500 words, poetry up to 5 pages and scripts for the stage and screen up to 10 pages. Payment: $5 per printed page. Deadline: May 1, 2018.

The Fantasist. Genre: Steam Punk. Length: Stories must be at least 15,000 words and at most 50,000. Payment: $100. Deadline: May 1, 2018.

Mud Season Review. Genre: Fiction up to 7,000 words, poetry. Payment: $50. Deadline: May 1, 2018.

Carte Blanche. Genres: Fiction, poetry, CNF, art, photography. Payment: Modest. Deadline: May 1, 2018.

Midnight Hour: Vols 1&2. Genre: Supernatural horror (monsters, ghosts, witchcraft, etc.), Neo-noire (murder, conspiracy, mystery), Urban settings (not a must, but it catches our attention), Speculative Fiction (dark dystopian themes), Cyberpunk themes. Payment: 2 cents per word up to 8K words. Deadline: May 1, 2018. Reprints accepted.

Midnight Hour: Midnight Before Christmas. "There's no doubt that the Holidays are the most magical time of year, but that doesn't mean dark happenings aren't lurking beneath your Christmas tree as well." Genre: Supernatural horror (monsters, ghosts, witchcraft, etc.), Neo-noire (murder, conspiracy, mystery), Urban settings (not a must, but it catches our attention), Speculative Fiction (dark dystopian themes), Cyberpunk themes. Payment: 2 cents per word up to 8K words. Deadline: May 1, 2018. Reprints accepted.

Visions. Genre: Speculative fiction on theme of "Home." Payment: 4 to 5p (~6¢) per word. The final fee will be decided together with the author. Deadline: May 1, 2018.

Lethe Press: The Decadents. Genre: Gay male short stories. Stories should be set during the 18th or 19th century. Payment: Payment for reprints is 1.5 cents per word. Payment for original fiction is 5 cents a word. Deadline: May 2018 (no date).

Havok: Rampage! Monsters vs. Robots. Genre: Speculative fiction. Length: Story should be between 300 and 1,000 words long. Sub-genres: Giant robots, giant monsters, giant giants, Kaiju. From Transformers to King Kong, from Voltron to Godzilla, these are classics of the sci-fi genre. In this issue, we’re looking for a twist on the classic monsters vs. robots trope. Whether they’re duking it out over territory, bumbling and making things worse for the humans they’re trying to save, or are well-meaning but unable to control their own power and rage, these creatures need to tear up the pages and make us cower in fear from the destruction they leave in their wake. Who saves the world better? Let the games begin. Payment: 2 cents/word. Deadline: May 4, 2018.

Pulp Modern. Genre: Crime, fantasy, science fiction, horror, and westerns. Absolutely NO SUBJECT is taboo. Payment: $10. Deadline: May 10, 2018.

Sword & Sorceress. Genre: Fantasy "sword and sorcery" stories with a strong female protagonist. Length: up to 9,000 words, with preference given to shorter stories. Payment: 6 cents per word as an advance against a pro rata share of royalties and foreign or other sales. Deadline: May 13, 2018.

Spider Magazine. Genres: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, activities, crafts, and recipes for children on theme of Inventions. "We are looking for LGBTQAI+ inclusive fiction, poetry, and non-fiction manuscripts. We would like to see warm family stories, an entire story without gender pronouns, children with different gender expressions, and gentle realistic or metaphorical coming out stories. We are especially interested in matter-of-fact stories where being different isn’t the heart of the story, but part of the character’s identity." Payment: Stories and articles: up to 25¢ per word, Poems: up to $3.00 per line; $25.00 minimum, Activities and recipes: $75.00 flat rate. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Tor.com. Genre: Science fiction and fantasy novellas, 20,000 - 40,000 words. Payment: Advance against royalties. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Tesseracts Twenty-two. Restrictions: Canadians only. Genre: Speculative fiction on the theme of Alchemy and Artifacts. Payment: Payment for short stories is prorated as follows: $50 for stories up to 1,500 words, rising to a maximum of $150 for stories up to 5,000 words. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Bennington Review. Genre: Prose and poetry. Payment: $100-$200 for prose, $20 per poem. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Alaska Quarterly Review. Genre: Fiction, short plays, poetry, photo essays, and literary non-fiction in traditional and experimental styles. Payment: $50-$200 for prose; $10-$50 for poetry. Deadline: May 15, 2018. Snail mail submissions only.

Cast of Wonders Podcast. Genre: Speculative fiction for teens. Length: 3,000 words max.  Theme: Banned Books Week, an annual international event celebrating the freedom to read and raising awareness of the immense social value of free and open access to information. Payment: 6 cents/word. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Broadswords and Blasters. Genre: Pulp fiction: sword and sorcery; westerns (Weird or otherwise); horror (Cosmic, Southern Gothic, visceral, and psychological); detective tales; two-fisted action; retro science fiction. Payment: $15 + digital contributor copy. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Cricket. Genres: Middle Grade (9 - 14) fiction, nonfiction, poetry, recipes, and activities on theme of Endless Summer. Payment: Fiction: up to 10¢ per word, Nonfiction: up to 25¢ per word, Poems: up to $3.00 per line; $25.00 minimum. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Hinnom Magazine. Genre: Horror, dark fiction. Payment: $30 for stories under 3,000 words, $55 for stories over 3,000 words. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Augur. Genre: Reprints of flash and/or short stories. "We’re looking for dream-touched realism, slipstream, fabulism, magical realism." Payment: $20 for short stories, $10 for flash fiction. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space): A Pirate Anthology. Genre: Pirate stories. "We’re looking for stories about pirates who sailed the Caribbean under the Jolly Roger, Barbary Corsairs, pirates in the China Sea, pirates in the Irish Sea, pirates in the ancient Mediterranean, pirates in outer space, pirates in fantastical settings, you name it." Payment: $100, $50 for reprints. Deadline: May 15, 2018.

Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine. Genre: Fairy tale on theme of "Summer." Length: 1, 500 words. Payment: Story $20. US dollars only. Deadline: May 20, 2018.

Griffith Review 62: Novella Project VI (Australia). Genres: Novella and CNF. "We are open to fiction and long-form creative non-fiction that explore individuals, social movements, particular moments or notable episodes in the struggle towards equality. We’re looking for novellas, memoirs, biography or reportage that bring to life issues, and the stories around them, in the national narrative. They can be historical or contemporary, small scale or global, personal or philosophical, but which illustrate and bring to life the realities of political struggle in its many forms across the nation." Payment: Rates vary. Deadline: May 21, 2018.

Every Day Fiction. Genre: Flash fiction, 1000 words max. Payment: $3. Deadline: May 27, 2018.

Pedestal Magazine. Genre: Poems. Payment: $40 for each poem accepted. Deadline: May 27, 2018.

Kweli Journal. "Kweli is the first online journal of its kind to celebrate community and cultural kinships. In this shared space, you will hear the lived experience of people of color. Our many stories. Our shared histories. Our creative play with language. Here our memories are wrapped inside the music of the Muscogee, the blues songs of the South, the clipped patois of the Caribbean." Genre: Self-contained novel excerpt, short story, or creative non-fiction piece, poetry. Length: No more than 7,000 words. Payment: "upon publication." Deadline: May 30, 2018.

The Wyrd. Genre: Stories that come with a heavy dose of the uncanny, the strange, and blend literary, science-fiction, fantasy, mystery and horror tropes. Payment: $10. Deadline: May 30, 2018.

Blood in the Rain. Genre: Vampire erotica. Length: 2,500-7,000 words. Payment: $75, one print copy to US authors, e-book to all. Deadline: May 30, 2018.

Arc. Genre: Poetry. Payment: $50 per page for poetry or prose published in the magazine. $50 per webpage for online reprints on the website. $50 per column for How Poems Work. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Beyond the Infinite - Tales from the Outer Reaches. Genre: Dark Fiction. Payment: $50 AUD for a story, as well as a copy of the book in paperback form.  Deadline: "End of May."

Baltimore Review. Genre: Fiction, poetry, CNF. Payment: $40 per piece. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

One Story. Genre: Literary Fiction. Length: Between 3,000 and 8,000 words. Payment: $500. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Goliad Review. Genres: Fiction, poetry, and essays. Payment: $25 per poem, up to 5 poems. For short fiction and essays, $15 per page (up to 20 pages). Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Contemporary Verse 2. Genre: Poetry and critical writing about poetry, including interviews, articles, essays, and reviews. Length: Varies. Payment: Poetry: $30 per poem; Interviews: $50-$100, depending upon length; Articles: $50-$100, depending upon length; Essays: $40-$150, depending upon length; Reviews: $20-$75, depending upon length. Deadline: May 31, 2018. No simultaneous submissions.

The Gettysburg Review. Genre: Poetry, fiction, essays. Payment: $2.00 per line for poetry and $15 per printed page for prose. Published authors also receive a copy of the issue containing their work and a one-year subscription. Deadline: May 31, 2017. (Charges small fee for online submissions. No fee for snail mail.)

Agni. Genre: Poetry, short stories, essays, stand-alone novel excerpts. Payment: $20 per page for prose and $40 per page for poetry, with a $300 maximum. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Grain Magazine. Genre: Poetry, short stories, literary non-fiction. Payment: $50 per page to a maximum of $250, plus 3 copies of the issue. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

ZYZZYVA. Payment: Token to semi-pro. Deadline: May 31, 2018. Snail mail submissions only.

Nashville Review. "Nashville Review seeks to publish the best work we can get our hands on, period. From expansive to minimalist, narrative to lyric, epiphanic to subtle—if it’s a moving work of art, we want it." Genre: Short stories and poems. Payment: $100/story, $25/poem. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Antioch Review. Genre: Nonfiction articles and some fiction geared to an educated audience. Payment: $20/page. Deadline: May 31, 2017. Snail mail submissions only.

New Rivers Press. Genre: Manuscripts of creative nonfiction, essays, and mixed-genre work between 70 and 120 pages in length. Payment: Royalties. (Advance?) Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Black Coffee & Vinyl. Genre: Nonfiction, Poetry, Fiction, Visual Art, Photography, Music on the theme of "Ice Culture." "We are seeking work that features the physical and spiritual beauty of our world's ice, explores the life of the people and cultures that are connected to the ice from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, and addresses important political issues related to ice." Payment: $50.  Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Gehenna & Hinnom Books. Genre: Novellas, novelettes and chapbooks of weird fiction and cosmic horror. See themes. Payment: $300-$400 (depending on length) signing bonus against royalties, which will be paid before publication; 35-40% (depending on length) net royalties, paid either monthly or bi-monthly. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Blood Bound Books: ‘Best of’ Anthology. Genre: Horror. Payment: At least $0.05/word, up to $0.08/word. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Apotheosis 2: More Stories of Survival After the Rise of the Elder Gods. Genre: Stories inspired by the stories of H.P. Lovecraft and associated writers. Payment: $0.03/word. Deadline: May 31, 2018. Reprints accepted.

FurPlanet Anthology: Exploring New Places. Genre: Furry stories about going someplace new.  That journey can be anything, from a comedy about someone going on a packaged vacation to an exotic resort where everything goes wrong, or a romance where they find Mr. or Ms. Right, to a horror story about an expedition to explore a new planet, or a historic drama about a sailing ship blown off course in a hurricane to an unknown continent. Payment: 1/2 cent per word. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Apparition Lit. Genre: Speculative fiction on theme of Visions. Payment: $0.01 per word, minimum of $10. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Alternating Current: Retell It Like It Is: Classic Fairytales Retold by People of Color (Anthology Submissions). Genre: Fairytales retold by people of color. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Alternating Current: DaguerreoTyped Monthly Photo Prompt Challenge. Genre: Poetry, prose, hybrid, fiction or nonfiction, experimental—Anything goes that has a history bent. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Alternating Current: Undeniable: Writers Respond to Climate Change (Anthology Submissions). Genre: Poems, fiction, nonfiction, or hybrid work that addresses the theme of climate change, especially in a unique way. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: May 31, 2018.

Note: I am adding some June 1 deadlines to this list because it is good to get submissions in a little early.

Spark: The “Aww” Factor. Genre: Flash fiction between 300 and 1000 words. "Write us a story where a single parent meets his daughter’s science teacher and there’s chemistry or maybe a vet falls for a police officer who brings in his K9. Think sweet and charming stories that make us go “aww!”  Payment: 2 cents/word. Deadline: June 1, 2018.

Nature’s Healing Spirit: Real Life Stories to Nurture the Soul. Genre: Nature essay between 1,200 and 2,000 words. Payment: $50 per essay. Accepted poems pay at the rate of $25. Deadline: June 1, 2018.

Slice. Genre: Poetry, prose. Payment: $250 for long stories and essays, $75 for flash fiction, and $75 for poems. Deadline: June 1, 2018.