54 Paying Markets for Flash Fiction

Pixabay

Updated 2/5/24

Flash fiction is shorter than the normal range of short stories, which are generally 3,000 words or more. The precise length remains somewhat elusive. Some literary journals ask for 2,000 words or less, others set maximum word counts in the hundreds. Each publication has its own style, its own format, and its own needs, so whether your 1,953-word short story qualifies as "flash" is entirely up to the editors.

Flash fiction is very popular. There are dozens of sites where you can read flash fiction on a daily basis. This is perfect for people who are commuting on a train, waiting to see a doctor, or have other brief, potentially interrupted periods of time to fill.

Below is a list of paying markets for flash fiction. I have included links to submission guidelines, payment information, and word counts where available. Make sure you follow their guidelines carefully. (Editors don't consider submissions that fail to follow guidelines.) None of these magazines charge submission fees.

For my excellent list of paying markets, nicely organized by genre and form, see Paying Markets.

Journal	Submission Guidelines	Payment	Notes
Confrontation	https://confrontation-magazine.org/submit/	$175-$250; more for commissioned work.	Reading period for all submissions: August 16 – April 15 500 words max
The Good Life Review: "Micro Monday" (online)	https://thegoodlifereview.com/submissions/	$25	Flash fiction and CNF (500 words) and poetry See submission periods
Fabula Argentea	http://www.fabulaargentea.com/ index.php /submissions/	$3	Accepts all genres
Flash Fiction Online	https://www.flashfictiononline.com/submission-guidelines-flash-fiction/what-were-looking-for-and-not/	$80; reprints $.02 (two cents) per word	500 to 1000 words
Brazenhead Review	https://brazenheadreview.com/About	$10	Has submission periods
Every Day Fiction	https://everydayfiction.com /submit-story/	$3	Up to 1,000 words
Stupefying Stories	https://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/p/submission-guidelines_1.html	$15 $5 for reprints	Science fiction, fantasy, and horror, in that order
Longleaf Review	https://longleafreview.com/submissions/	$20 (?)	Horror 1000 words max See submission periods
The Quilliad	https://thequilliad.wordpress.com /submissions/	$13	Canadians only See submission periods
Manawaker Studios	http://www.manawaker.com/ffp-submissions/	1 cent/word	Flash fiction podcast ideal length is around 800 words, but stories as short as 250 or as long as 1500 may be considered
Craft	https://www.craftliterary.com/submit/	$100	Reprints accepted (no pay)
Baltimore Review	http://baltimorereview.org/index.php /submit	$40	You can submit up to 3 pieces of flash fiction See submission periods
The Cafe Irreal	http://cafeirreal.alicewhittenburg.com/	1 cent/word	Magical realism 2000 words max
Cicada	https://cricketmag.submittable.com/ submit /17820/cicada-magazine-for-ages-14	Up to 10 cents/word	For teens
The Cincinnati Review	https://www.cincinnatireview.com /submission_guidelines/	$25/page	500 words maximum Submit up to 3 pieces
Electric Lit	https://electricliterature.com/submit-ebdd3b73083a	$100	Electric Lit has short, infrequent submission periods
Odyssa	https://odyssamagazine.com/submit/	$30	Travel themes 700-1500 words
Chestnut Review	https://chestnutreview.submittable.com/submit	$120	All genres 1,000 words max
Bayou Magazine	https://bayoumagazine.org/submissions/	$25	Submission period September 1- May 1
Copper Nickel	http://copper-nickel.org/submit/	$30/printed page	Submission periods September 1 to December 15, January 15 to March 1
Tales and Feathers	http://www.augurmag.com/submissions/	11 cents CAD/word	Cozy slice-of-life fantasy short stories 2,500 words max Has submission periods
Ruminate	https://ruminatemagazine.submittable.com/submit	$20/400 words for prose	Also accepts poetry and art
The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts	https://matter.submittable.com/submit	$50	"We accept fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, mixed media, visual arts, and even kitchen sinks" See reading periods
Funny Times	https://funnytimes.com/about/ submissions/	$60	Humor 500-700 words
Futures	http://blogs.nature.com/futureconditional/ 2015/04/19/how-to-write-for-nature-futures/	$130	Science fiction 850 - 950 words
Monstrous	https://monstrousbooks.com/submissions	6 cents a word.	Horror 1000 - 1500 words max
Flickers of Fear	https://www.offlimitspress.com/flickers-of-fear	$10	Flash fiction up to 300 words and poetry Horror Has themes
The West Review	CLOSED	$10	Flash fiction should be up to 500 words
Bards and Sages Quarterly	CLOSED	$10	Up to 500 words Speculative fiction
PseudoPod	http://pseudopod.org/submissions/	$20	Horror Podcast
THEMA	http://themaliterarysociety.com /submissions.html	$10	Accepts reprints Each issue has a theme
The Temz Review	https://www.thetemzreview.com/submissions.html	$20	If your pieces are fewer than 1000 words each, feel free to submit several pieces at once See submission periods
Daily Science Fiction	http://dailysciencefiction.com/submit	8 cents/word	Speculative fiction only 100 - 1000 words
Curiosities	https://gallerycurious.com/p/submissions-1599834174/	$50 for stories under 1000 words 5 cents a word USD for original fiction and a penny a word for reprints	Steampunk, dieselpunk, dreadpunk, bronzepunk, others that haven’t even been invented yet punk
The Ex-Puritan	https://ex-puritan.ca/submissions	$75	See submission periods Submissions are free on a limited basis
Nanoism	CLOSED	$1.50 for stories and a flat $5 for serials	Tweets 140 character limit
Gordon Square Review	http://www.gordonsquarereview.org/submit.html	$25	1,000 words max See submission periods
The Antihumanist	Website not functioning	5 cents US per word	Weird fiction 1,000 words max
Coastal Shelf	CLOSED	$30	Under 2000 words, under 1000 is even better See submission periods
Wyldblood Press	https://wyldblood.com/submissions-2/	£0.01 per word for print and digital rights (to a maximum of £75)	1000 words max for flash fiction See submission periods
New Myths	https://sites.google.com/newmyths.com/newmyths-com-home/submissions	3 cents/word with a minimum payment of $50	Speculative fiction (no horror) See reading periods
Curiouser Magazine (Australia)	https://curiousermag.com/submissions/	$20 - $75(AU)	Also accepts poetry and short stories up to 5,000 words See reading periods Submit up to two pieces of flash fiction (750 words or fewer) Submissions sometimes restricted to Australians - see site
Gaze	CLOSED	$25	Accepts poetry, prose, and audio/video projects See submission periods
Brilliant Flash Fiction	https://brilliantflashfiction.com/submissions/	$20	1,000 words or fewer All genres
Three-lobed Burning Eye	http://www.3lobedmag.com/ submissions.html	$30 for flash fiction	Horror and dark fantasy, magical realism, slipstream, cross genre, or weird fiction
Paranoid Tree	https://www.paranoidtree.com/	$50	Up to 400 words
Points in Case	https://www.pointsincase.com/submissions	$10 for lists, $35 stories under 1,000 words	Humor under 1000 words, lists
Prose Online	https://www.prose.onl/submit	$15	Up to 1,000 words
Mithila	http://mithilareview.com/submission-guidelines/	$10	Under 2,500 words Speculative fiction
Dark Dispatch	https://darkdispatch.com/submissions/	$25	Dark fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and crime Themed issues See reading periods Up to 1,000 words
Timber Ghost Press	https://www.timberghostpress.com/submissions.html	$5	1000 words max Horror Opens from the 1st to the 10th of every month
The Arcanist	https://thearcanist.io/a-call-for-submissions-244f646d25a4	$50	Medium-based publication, weekly 1000 words max Speculative fiction
Smokelong	https://smokelong.submittable.com/submit /128/smokelong-general-submissions	$50	1000 words max
Flash Fiction Magazine	https://flashfictionmagazine.com/submissions/	$40 Only pays for stories selected for anthologies	300–1000 words
Liquid Imagination	CLOSED	$3	Modern fantasy, science fiction, horror, dark fantasy, and literary - poetry and fiction 1000 words max
Fractured Lit	https://fracturedlit.com/submit/	$50 for original micro fiction and $75 for original flash fiction	400-1000 words See submission periods
Middle House Review: Height Chart	https://middlehousereview.submittable.com/submit	$25	Up to 1000 words See submission periods
Baffling Magazine	https://www.bafflingmag.com/submissions	8 cents/word	Under 1,200 words 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.
Short Circuit	https://short-edition.com/en/contest/short-circuit-short-circuit-02/guidelines	100 euros for short stories, 50 euros for poems	Short stories and poems of maximum 7,500 characters (spaces included) or children's works of maximum 7,000 characters.
42 Stories Anthology	https://bamwrites.blogspot.com/2018/07/42-stories-anthology.html	42 cents	Stories must be exactly 42 words long and fit into one of 42 categories BAM periodically posts new calls on his blog
Microverses	https://microverses.net/submissions	Poetry is $1 USD/line. Payment for fiction is a flat $2.80 USD/piece.	Speculative work up to 280 characters long. Poetry up to 8 lines long. Has submission periods
City. River. Tree.	https://cityrivertree.com/submissions/	2 cents/word	Flash fiction 100 - 500 words Reprints accepted
Dream of Shadows	CLOSED	£20	Horror and fantasy Up to 1500 words Has submission periods
Flash Point Science Fiction	https://flashpointsf.com/submissions/	$15	Speculative fiction stories from 100 to 1,000 words in length Has submission periods
Orion’s Belt	https://www.orions-belt.net/submissions	8 cents/word	Speculative fiction up to 1,200 words
The Masters Review New Voices	https://mastersreview.com/submissions/	$100	Open to new or emerging author who has not published a work of fiction or narrative nonfiction of novel length. 1,000 words max
(mac)ro(mic)	CLOSED	$15	1,000 words max See submission periods
Flash Frog	https://flash-frog.com/submit/	$25	1,000 words max
The Forge Literary Magazine	https://forgelitmag.com/submit/	$75	Open to all genres and voices  "We love flash and micro prose."
Scrawl Space	https://scrawlplace.com/submit/	$35	CNF, Fiction, Poetry, Hybrids Must be connected to a specific place 900 words max
Havok	https://gohavok.com/submission-guidelines/upcoming-themes/	$10 for each story published in an anthology	Mystery, scifi, comedy, thriller, and fantasy 300 - 1000 words See themes
Aphabet Box	https://alphabetbox.com/submissions/	$20	Fiction, poetry 900 words max See submission periods
Sage Cigarettes	https://www.sagecigarettes.com/submissions	$5	Fiction, nonfiction up to 1000 words See submission periods
Tales From Between	https://talesfrombetween.wordpress.com/submissions/	£15 plus a physical copy of the issue. REPRINT: £5 plus a physical copy of the issue.	Horror  Has submission periods
MetaStellar	https://www.metastellar.com/write-for-us/flash-fiction-story-submission/	8 cents/word	Science fiction, fantasy, horror up to 1000 words See submission periods
A Velvet Giant	https://www.avelvetgiant.com/submit	$20	"We are open to work that takes the shape of basically any format: words, recordings, visual art, hybrid forms, etc. We are open to translated original work."
The Lorelei Signal	https://www.loreleisignal.com/guidelines	$5	Fantasy with strong female characters 1000 words max
Factor Four	http://factorfourmag.com/submissionsinfo/	11 cents/word	Science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, super hero, or any combination up to 1000 words
U.S. Kids Humpty Dumpty Jack and Jill	https://uskidsmags.com/writers-guidelines/	$20 - $40 and up	Flash fiction and nonfiction for children
Aquila	https://www.aquila.co.uk/contributors-guidelines.htm	£105	Short stories between 1,000 and 1,150 words; Nonfiction articles of 800 words for children
Youth Imagination	CLOSED	Flash 200 to 999 words $3; Short Story 1000 to 8,000 words $8	Fiction, including modern, urban or classical fantasy, as well as sci-fi, slipstream, literary, action-adventure or suspense for teens
The Colored Lens	http://thecoloredlens.com/?page_id=137752	$10	Speculative fiction 500 words and up
Ripe Fiction	https://www.ripefiction.com/submissions	$40	500 words max Flash fiction inspired by recent events
Land Luck Review	CLOSED	$100	Literary and experimental flash fiction and prose poetry in the following categories: micro fiction or prose poetry under 250 words, and flash fiction or prose poetry between 250 and 500 words. See submission periods
The Waking	https://ruminatemagazine.submittable.com/submit	$10	Fiction and nonfiction, image text/hybrid work up to 1500 words
Tree and Stone	https://www.tree-and-stone.com/submissions	$0.02 per word; $20 for art	Surrealism, magical realism, fabulism, slipstream, anything that might be deemed unconventional. 1000 words max
Theme of Absence	https://themeofabsence.com/submission-guidelines/	$3 - $5	Speculative flash fiction and short stories
Rough Cut Press	https://roughcutpress.com/submit/	650 words max; $25	Experimental poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art LGBTQIA writers only Themed issues
SFS Stories	CLOSED	1000 words max; $25 No pay for reprints	Science fiction and fantasy
Starward Shadows Quarterly	https://starwardshadows.com/submissions/	$10 for flash fiction	Dark speculative fiction, flash fiction, art. Cosmic Horror, Sword and Sorcery, and most other subgenres of speculative fiction
Unnerving Magazine	https://www.unnervingbooks.com/submissions	$15 for flash fiction	Horror and suspense 400 - 1,500 words See submission periods
The Bureau Dispatch	https://www.bureaudispatch.com/submissions	$50	"Our stories often contain a hint of the speculative, a dash of the intriguing."  500 - 1,500 words See submission periods
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