New literary magazines are a boon for up-and-coming writers. They are staffed by motivated editors, eager for material to launch their new ventures.
Here are more than three dozen literary journals that opened in 2021. All of them pay writers, and none charge submission fees. They want every genre and style, from poetry, to fiction, to personal essays, to hybrid forms. The sky's the limit!
Here are more than three dozen literary journals that opened in 2021. All of them pay writers, and none charge submission fees. They want every genre and style, from poetry, to fiction, to personal essays, to hybrid forms. The sky's the limit!
Remember, every established magazine - even the most august - had its first issue.
Note: Many literary journals have submission periods. If you miss a deadline, do not despair! There is always a second chance. (And a third, and a fourth...)
Happy submitting!
Happy submitting!
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Archive of the Odd. Genre: Speculative fiction, horror preferred. “Archive of the Odd is a zine of uncanny occurrences, told in even stranger ways.” Stories can be set in a variety of time periods, and written in any format, except traditional prose. Some of the suggested formats are: academic papers; technical writing; medication warning sheets; sales papers; newspaper articles; recipes; knitting/crochet/weaving/what-have-you guides; care guides (plant, animal, rock garden, etc); or any other unusual format. Submissions do not have to be entirely in text. Payment: $0.01/word for short stories.
Alphabet Box. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, up to 900 words. Writers can send more than one submission, as long as the total does not exceed 900 words. Payment: $25.Abandon. Genre: Writing and artwork that has been created with abandon. Payment: $15. See deadlines.
The Deadlands. Genre: Speculative fiction, poetry, and nonfiction about death. They publish work “about the other realms, of the ends we face here, and the beginnings we find elsewhere.” Payment: $0.10/word for fiction (up to 5,000 words), $50/poem (any length), and $100/nonfiction piece (any length). Reprints accepted.
Flash Frog is a new online flash fiction magazine featuring stories under 1,000 words. "We like our stories like we like our dart frogs: small, brightly colored, and deadly to the touch." Payment: $25.
Haven Spec is seeking speculative stories in the English language up to 6,000 words. "We like stories that are subtle in their telling and stick with us long after we've finished. We're more likely to buy stories that balance a sense of wonder with a bold plot and emotional depth." Payment: 1 cent/word for fiction and nonfiction, $5 - $10 for poetry, $35 for cover art. See themes. Every other month is explicitly reserved for submissions by authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups. The interposing six months remain open to everyone.
JOURN-E: The Journal of Imaginative Literature. Genre: Adventure, Detection & Mystery, Fantasy, Horror & the Supernatural, and Science Fiction. Payment: One (1) cent per word for prose fiction and non-fiction, BUT with the following maximums: Up to $50.00 maximum for short stories; up to $35 maximum for scholarly articles; up to $15 maximum for reviews. Poetry from 3-13 lines--$7.50. Poetry from 14-50 lines--$15.00. Poetry over 50 lines--$15.00 plus 25 cents per line over 50 lines up to a maximum of $35.00. Interior Illustrations--$25-$50.00 (half-page to full-page). Cover Art in Full RGB Color--$100 [will be commissioned, or the illustrator should contact the editor with a concept before finished work and submission]. Deadline: May 1, 2022.
khōréō. Restrictions: Open to writers who identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms. "This includes, but is not limited to, first- and second-generation immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, persons who identify with one or more diaspora communities, persons who have been displaced or whose heritage has been erased due to colonialism/imperialism, transnational/transracial adoptees, and anyone whose heritage and history includes ‘here and elsewhere’. We especially encourage BIPOC creators who identify as the above to submit their work." Genre: Stories, essays, and art: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. Payment: 0.08/word for fiction, $100 for nonfiction, and $40-300 for art.
Lost Colony Magazine. Lost Colony Magazine publishes one mid-length (10,000-25,000 words) story of speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy in all of their manifestations) every quarter. Payment: $50.
Mascara Literary Review. Genre: Fiction, poetry, nonfiction on theme Resilience. Payment: $200. See deadlines.
Orion's Beau. Genre: Gay fantasy: fiction, poetry, art. Payment: $3. Deadline: September 11, 2022. See themes.
Samjoko Magazine is devoted to publishing "exemplary work from content creators around the world. Focusing mainly upon the written word, we hope to create an immersive digital and print platform that stands out for its honesty and desire to take risks for the sake of artistic expression. We have no set aesthetic, though different themes will be focused upon periodically. We aim to publish seasonally, with our inaugural issue expected to be released early 2022. Response times vary between 1 day to 4 months. Apologies in advance for form rejections. Our goal is to publish 15 pieces per issue." Payment: $20. Deadline: October 15, 2022.
Scrawl Place is part visitor’s guide, part literary journal. "My only fixed criteria is that your submission be about or connected to or associated with a specific, physical place that someone could visit. The more specific the place, the better. How that manifests in terms of content, style and form is up to you." Payment: $35.
Sepia Quarterly. Genre: Literary fiction and creative nonfiction between 100 and 5,000 words as well as poetry and art. "Sepia Quarterly seeks writing that
makes us feel hazy, golden, sepia-toned. We want deep drifting
emotions: nostalgia, maudlin, melancholy, morose, sentimentality etc." Payment: $25.
Synthetic Reality. Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, SHTF, Slipstream, Horror, Sword and Sorcery and surreal fiction. "A limited print-run and online magazine dedicated to unpublished authors." Payment: 1 cent/word.
Tales From Between. Genre: Horror flash fiction, novelettes. Payment: $20 - $120. See deadlines.
The Phlogiston Press. Genre: Speculative fiction. "We’re looking for short form speculative fiction, old style, slipstream, horror, fantasy, science fiction, literary, poetry, flash with a maximum length of 8,000 words - or even a longer story to serialise over a few newszines." Payment: Royalties.
Uncharted Genre: Crime, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and thriller short stories. "We want stories that richly imagine the future of technology and science, that explore our world through a speculative lens. We want stories of fantasy that make us hunger for new worlds, new biomes, new places we can explore through thrilling sensual details and human empathy. We want stories that thrill us, that make us feel alive, that awaken our desires to explore and go on adventures." Payment: $200.
The Vanishing Point. Genre: Speculative fiction and nonfiction up to 6,000 words. Payment: $25.
swim meet lit mag. Genre: Poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, reviews, hybrids, visual art and photography. Preference for work involving swimming. Payment: Not specified. See deadlines.
Adi Magazine: Political Fictions. Genre: Short fiction. "We’re looking for short stories that examine lives impacted by policy and politics. We’re not interested in the drearily righteous; we want stories that unearth new worlds, that plumb interior lives alongside external conflicts, that satirize and fantasize, that disturb, beguile, challenge, surprise, ignite." Payment: For full-length stories, 2,500 words or more, payment is $500. For flash fiction, under 1,000 words, payment is $200. See deadlines.
Diet Milk: ‘In The Bleak Midwinter.' Genre: Gothic micro/flash fiction. Payment: $3 for micro fiction, $5 for flash fiction. Deadline: October 31, 2022. (Runs from October 1 - 31)
Paper Lanterns. Genre: Fiction and poetry for young adults. Payment. €50 for poetry or flash fiction and €75 for short stories. If you are under 16, you will receive a book voucher. See deadlines.
Bleed Error "We’re looking for short stories, flash fiction, and poetry that runs the gamut of everything from absurdist horror to bizarre science-fiction to unsettling dark fantasy. We love the uncanny." Length: Up to 7,000 words. Payment: 1c per word, and $15 per poem, regardless of length. All listed currency is in CAD. See deadlines.
The Woodward Review. Genre: Poetry, prose, art, and digital media from anyone, anywhere. Each issue will also include a Detroit Folio, featuring work from those with roots in the city. Payment: $25. See deadlines.
Seize the Press "Seize The Press Magazine is looking to publish dark, transgressive speculative fiction. Bleak sci-fi, dark fantasy and horror only. We’re looking for stories that aren’t didactic or moralistic. We want stories where everything isn’t wrapped up neatly at the end. We want to promote a diverse range of voices from authors who write messy characters, so give us your problematic queers and your angry women—we want your difficult and morally questionable characters in unpleasant situations who don’t slide neatly into a narrow definition of positive representation and don’t fit the model minority mould." Length: 2000 words max. Payment: 6 pence (GBP) per word. This currently equates to slightly over 8 cents (USD)
Wyngraf publishes cozy fantasy. Stories should have a pre-modern technology level. Wyngraf doesn’t publish stories set on our Earth, either now or in the past. Payment: 1 cent/word up to 10,000 words. See deadlines.
Tasavvur is a new magazine of South Asian speculative fiction. “Tasavvur, which literally means Imagination in Urdu/Hindi, aims to provide a warm and cozy space for imaginative short stories from South Asia. While we love all sorts of stories, we want to publish those with a South Asian theme, setting or characters. Give us your dreamscapes and nightmares, your soaring fantasies, your futuristic miasmas.” Payment: 2.5 cents/word, for stories up to 5,000 words. See deadlines.
Utopia Science Fiction “We’re looking for enthralling stories set in a future we want to believe in, one we would fight to make a reality. We are especially in need of science and non-fiction articles for our Science Corner. Articles can be on any subject in any style, but must be accessible to a non-academic audience.” Length: 100 - 6,000 words. Payment: $0.01/word for fiction, $35 for nonfiction, and $5-10 for poetry.
Riddlebird. Genre: Literary fiction, personal essays, genre fiction. Payment: $100. See deadlines.
Solarpunk Magazine is a new speculative fiction magazine. Payment: $0.08/word for fiction, $40/poem, and $75/essay. See schedule for deadlines.
Et Sequitur publishes short stories from 500 to 2,500 words. "We are open to all genres, from literary to speculative and everything in between. Our only requirement is that your submission in some way connect with the latest Et Sequitur story, be that in character (minor, major, protagonist, antagonist), setting (neighborhood, world, workplace, house -- even a certain object could work, if it's featured prominently), or theme. Be creative! Continue the story, tell a side-character's story, take the theme and twist it in a new way. In the submission form, you'll be asked to identify which element of the previous story you've chosen to incorporate in your own. Submissions for the next issue will open once the previous issue is published (expected to be the first day of every-other month). They will temporarily close when a story has been chosen for the next issue." Payment: $25.
The Maul publishes horror between 100 and 3,000 words. "We enjoy pulp fiction. That means we look for stories that pop. Exaggeration, melodrama, impossibly imaginative settings, and vivid imagery are encouraged. Bring us something that really jumps off the page. Be as over-the-top as you like. If you’re a more subtle writer, submit anyway. Sometimes one good twist or some relatable descriptions will still catch people’s eye, even the uninitiated." Payment: $0.08/word for original fiction, $0.02/word for reprints. See reading periods.
Propagule publishes short stories that are intrepid with regard to experimentation and oddity; the strange, the surreal, the atypical, the unexpected. "Traditional genre divisions do not matter to us—we do not care whether a piece qualifies as strictly ‘literary’; we only care that it is high-quality, that it is well-written, and that it is interesting. Please send us pieces that you feel do not fit in anywhere else, or are beyond the pale of any given trend. Send us content that causes us to experience feelings we do not have names for." Payment: $20.
Dark Yonder "There are no setting requirements, but all stories submitted must be loosely categorized as “neo-noir.” We’re not looking for your grandfather’s noir fiction. We’re looking for new, unique voices and interpretations of dark literary fiction (crime, horror, speculative lit, etc) that fit into our rapidly evolving world." Payment: $50.
berlin lit berlin lit is an online journal for new poetry in English, founded in 2022 in Berlin. Genre: Poetry. Payment: 20 euros per poem. See reading periods.
The Rumen. "We publish works that move in the conceptual, that draw the tangential lines between condition and potential. We seek work that blends neoclassical ideas with urban grunge, the high concepts of reality mixed with the low reductions of fantasy. Like the aforementioned digesta, we want things that find new meaning when thrust through the reticulum of the written word. We want humor, horror, strange fixations, canvases upended, bodies broken down cell by cell." Payment: $10 for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, flash fiction, art.
The Four Faced Liar is a new print journal that accepts fiction and creative non-fiction (up to 4000 words); flash fiction (up to 1000 words); poetry (up to 3 pages); visual art (1 piece). Payment: €200 for a short story or CNF piece, €100 for a poem or piece of flash, and €100 for visual art, as well as a copy of the magazine for each contributor. See submission periods.
Gully is a new literary magazine, published annually in print and online. "We publish fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and visual art. Our founding editors are based in New York City, Singapore and Berlin, and we are excited to publish work by writers and artists from around the world." Payment: US$15 for poems and Gullets (flash fiction and non-fiction of less than 1,000 words) and US$30 for features and longer fiction (1,000 words and over).
Anthophile magazine is "a space for our contributors to explore and celebrate the plant and flower filled landscape we live in (understanding that plants and flowers are part of life's bigger picture, a synthesis and celebration of many arts and sciences) It will publish contemporary fiction and poetry, alongside incisive and erudite essays, and features. We are open to both experimental and traditional forms of writing, anything that's meaningful, surprising, felt. We like humour, and enjoy satire, 'fake non-fiction, open letters and the weird and quirky. We don't want to be too prescriptive about length but as a guide, non-fiction pieces between 800 and 2,500 words, short fiction, no more than 4000 words. We are open to publishing extracts from existing books and collections." Payment not specified.
Black Lipstick is the internet boudoir of off-center beauty, literature and culture. Featuring art and writing on makeup, mental health, mortality, queerness, sex, gender, nostalgia, pop culture, parenthood, weird dreams, dark thoughts, and everything else. Affecting personal essays/hybrid nonfictions on almost any topic. Creative, deep-divey reviews of books, beauty products, films, experiences. Interviews with artists, writers and self-made icons. Glamour-forward with a punk ethos. Edgy but not edgelord. If your piece is too literary for Allure but too frivolous for Guernica, it’s probably Black Lipstick material. Payment: Essays/hybrid creative nonfiction (1500-3500 words): $150. Creative reviews and interviews (1000-2000 words): $100.
Over/Exposed publishes flash, short fiction, and non-fiction personal essays/memoir, poetry, reviews, experimental, and art. "We are focused on the publication of works that are vulnerable, experimental, a little bit weird and sexy. We prioritize the work of graduate students, so please indicate in your submission if you are a graduate student, including your university, and department." Open internationally. Payment: $15 CAD, Has submission periods.
Horror Story Magazine "Horror. Terror. Chillers. Thrillers. Scary stories. That’s what we’re about—delivering the things that go bump in the night in print and electronic formats." Themed issues. Payment: 2 cents/word.
Broken Antler publishes online and in print. They want all genres of horror, as well as sci-fi and dark fantasy. The editors are partial to a wide range of subgenres—body, cosmic, folk, gore, etc. For poetry, creative nonfiction, and hybrid submissions, we’re looking for work that is haunting and monstrous, weird and bizarre. Extra points if your work is experimental or doing something unusual with form. Send up to two hybrid submissions. Payment: $10 - $20.
Heduan Review. Genre: Prose, poetry, art, reviews. CNF. Payment: 5 cents/word. See submission periods.
Manyworlds. Restrictions: Open to those who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex. Genre: All genres. Payment: $10. See submission periods.
The Mantelpiece is open to submissions of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. All submissions must be in English and previously unpublished. Translations are welcome and should be accompanied by a copy of the original. Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Payment: 0.1 EUR per word for the first 1000 words and 0.04 EUR for every subsequent word, with a minimum payment of 40 EUR, (meaning a 1000-word piece pays 100 EUR, a 2000-word piece pays 140 EUR, a 3000-word piece pays 180 EUR, etc).
Heartlines. Restrictions: 50% of content is from writers identifying as being from Canada/Turtle Island. Genre: Speculative fiction and about relationships. "We're looking for short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. We don't want the blaze of new love or the obsession of a new friend. We want pieces that show that comfort that develops when people know each other for years." Stories - 1,000 - 3,500 words. Payment: $0.08 CAD per word for short fiction (1,000-3,500 words) and $60 CAD flat per poem. See submission periods.
Centaur is on the lookout for writing that’s inspired, bold, and surprising. With four seasonal issues a year, and between four and seven pieces in each, there’s only room for your best 400 words or fewer. Centaur will nominate pieces for each of the annual literary competitions or anthologies, including Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, and Best of the Net. Payment: $20. Accepts art.
Roses and Wildflowers. Genre: Mythopoeic Fiction, Poetry and Art Fabulism, Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Wonder Tales. Payment: $5 - $20.
The Cosmic Background. Genre: Slipstream Flash Fiction. Length: 1000 words max. Payment: 8 cents/word. Accepts reprints.
Dracula Beyond Stoker. Genre: Fiction based on Stoker’s characters. See theme. Payment: 5 cents/word. See submission periods.
Hearth Stories. Genre: Speculative fiction. "We publish fiction and poetry that explore connection, family, relationships, comfort, and the natural world. The stories often fall into a fantasy, science-fiction, or magical realism sort of “slice of life.” Payment: 1¢ per word for accepted stories (with a minimum of $20 regardless of length. See submission periods.
Showcase: Object & Idea. Genre: Prose and poetry. "We explore Object & Idea. A poem and a prose piece are selected for each monthly issue, and the authors answer questions about the meaning behind their work." Payment: $50. Reprints accepted.
Eavesdrop is a queer-focused multimedia magazine. Restrictions: Open to Canadians. Genre: Fiction, poetry, CNF, art, audio. Payment: $30 per poem, $70 per short fiction and CNF piece, $30 per comic. See themes.
Empyreal Tree Magazine. Genre: Speculative Fiction. Payment $25. See submission periods.
Crimson Quill Quarterly. Genre: Sword & sorcery, dark fantasy, and grimdark subgenres of fantasy fiction. Length: Up to 10,000 words. Payment: $25. See submission periods.
Stoso is looking for speculative fiction – that is stories and poems and art in the genres of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, and any combination thereof. Guidelines for Fiction: Length: Up to 10,000 words. This is a flexible limit for the right story. Accepts poetry. Payment: 5 cents/word. Accepts reprints.
Topograph. Genre: Fiction, poetry, nonfiction, flash fiction, place reviews on theme of Place. "Show us the where. We want work in which the setting is a character. We want work that examines a place's meaning. We want work that reveals the boundaries between places. We prefer work about places we don't hear too much about." Payment: $10. See submission periods.
Big Wing. Genre: Poetry, prose, spoken word, and visual art works. See theme. Payment: $25. See submission periods.
Waystation. Genre: Space opera. Length: Short, compressed stories that are nevertheless complete and cohesive narratives (1500 to 2500 words). Payment: $10. See submission periods.
Heathen. Genre: Horror, dark fantasy. Length: Up to 7500 words. Payment: 5 cents/word. See submission periods.
Seven Story Hotel. Genre: Interviews, essays, stories, poems, and artwork. 7SH explores the weird, esoteric, and outsider fringes of contemporary culture, art, and technology. "We seek disruptions and heresies to conventional wisdom and/or the dominant narratives of a culture." Payment: $35.
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