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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.
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 |
| Contrary | http://contrarymagazine.com /submissions/ | $20 | Asks for rights "in perpetuity" |
| 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 |
| Opossum | http://opossumlit.com/submit/ | $100 (?) | Must be related to music See submission periods |
| 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 |
| Going Down Swinging | https://goingdownswinging.org.au/submission-guidelines/ | $60 - $220 | Up to 2000 words Has submission periods |
| Calliope Interactive | https://calliopeinteractive.com/open-call | 5 cents/word | Speculative fiction |
| The West Review | https://www.westreview.org/submit.html | $10 | Flash fiction should be up to 500 words |
| Bards and Sages Quarterly | https://www.bardsandsages.com/contact_us/ fiction_submission_guidelines | $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/fiction/ | $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 Puritan | http://puritan-magazine.com/submissions/ | $75 | See submission periods Submissions are free on a limited basis |
| Nanoism | http://nanoism.net/submit/ | $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 |
| Nightmare Fuel | https://nightmarefuelmagazine.com/submit/ | 5 cents AUD per word | Dark fiction and poetry 666 words max Australian writers only |
| Coastal Shelf | https://coastalshelf.com/submit/ | $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 | 1.5 cents/word with a minimum payment of $30 | 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) |
| Gaze | https://www.gazejournal.net/submit/ | $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 |
| The Archive | https://www.sanspress.com/submissions | €50 | We want the weird, the unexpected, the completely new. No theme, no genre, no need to be previously unpublished 2000 words max Has submission periods |
| 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 | https://www.dreamofshadows.co.uk/submission-guidelines | £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) | https://macromic.org/submit/ | $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/ | $20 | Horror up to 1000 words 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/wp-content/uploads/AQUILA-author%E2%80%99s-guidelinesSep2019.pdf | £105 | Short stories between 1,000 and 1,150 words; Nonfiction articles of 800 words for children |
| Youth Imagination | https://youthimagination.org/index.php/yi-submissions | 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 | http://landluckreview.com/submissions/ | $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 | https://sfsstories.com/ | 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 |
| The Offing | https://theoffingmag.submittable.com/submit | $25 - $100, depending on length and department | Back of the envelope seeks writing of any length which relates to, or draws on, science and the natural world The offing also publishes art, fiction, CNF, poetry, micro-fiction, translations, and humor |
| 101 Words | https://101words.org/submit-your-stories/ | $10 for flash fiction anthologies | Stories of exactly 101 words |
| Fantasy Magazine | https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/fantasy/guidelines | 8 cents/word | Flash fiction up to 1500 words Fantasy |
| The Maul | https://themaulmag.com/submissions/ | 8 cents/word for original fiction, 2 cents/word for reprints | Horror between 100 and 3,000 words. |
| Etherea Magazine | https://ethereamagazine.com/submissions/ | $25 for flash fiction (1000 words max) | Australian publication Fantasy and science fiction, 500 to 1000 words for flash fiction |
| Midnight and Indigo | https://www.midnightandindigo.com/write-for-us/ | $100 - $200 | Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, and Personal Essays written by Black women writers 1500 words minimum |
| The First Line | http://www.thefirstline.com/submission.htm | $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction | Fiction, poetry, nonfiction using the first line provided 300 - 5,000 words - all genres |
| Short Story Substack | https://shortstory.substack.com/p/coming-soon?s=r | $100 | 6 words - 10,000 words, any genre |
| Trampset | https://trampset.org/submissions-6e83932b0985 | $25 | 3,000 words max - any genre |
| Apogee/Perigee | https://apogeejournal.org/submit-perigee/ | $50 | Under 1000 words |
| Stanchion | https://www.stanchionzine.com/submissions | $10 | Stanchion is looking for original, never-before-published short stories (3000-ish word max), flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, prose poems, stray thoughts, short screenplays, monologues, experimental work, interviews with inanimate objects, reviews of everyday items and moments, comics, black & white photography (vertical, portrait-oriented images are preferred), black & white drawings, black & white collage art, and other evocative images of mixed media artwork (you guessed it, also in black and white). |
| The Suburban Review | https://thesuburbanreview.com/submit/ | 1000-2000 words (payment $200) 500-1000 words (payment $150) AUD | Poetry, prose and art on themes |
| Aothen Magazine | https://aothenmagazine.com/#work | $10 | Ancient Greece/Roman/Egyptian related poetry, fiction (1000 words max), nonfiction (2500 words max), art, translations |
| Book Worms | https://rsaintclaire.com/ | 8 cents/word | Horror Short fiction 500 – 3000 words |
| Sasee | https://sasee.com/submissions/#writer-guidelines | Varies | Essays, humor, satire, personal experience, and features on topics relating to women 500-1000 words |
| Pride Quarterly | https://pridebookcafe.com/pride-quarterly/?v=7516fd43adaa | $0.08/word for the first 1,000 words and $0.01/word after for original fiction. $0.01/word for reprints. $15 for poems. They also pay a minimum of $100 for cover art, $50 per page for comics, and $25 for reviews on bookish QTBIPOC topics. | Genre fiction magazine for QTBIPOC creators "We’re particularly interested in romance, historical fiction, mystery & crime, thriller & suspense, horror, science fiction, and fantasy." Flash - up to 1000 words Accepts reprints |
| Abandon Journal | https://abandonjournal.submittable.com/submit | $15 | Flash - up to 1000 words |
| Sci-fi Shorts | https://www.scifishorts.co/write-with-us | Percentage of pooled royalties | Up to 1000 words Science fiction |
| Air and Nothingness Press | http://aanpress.com/submissions.html | 8 cents/word | Exactly 1000 words Has submission periods Speculative fiction anthologies |
| Dose of Dread | https://dreadstonepress.com/submissions/ | 2 cents/word | Horror Up to 1000 words See submission periods |
| The Drop | https://inkbloodbook.company/#thedrop | $10 | Dark fantasy and science fiction Up to 1000 words See submission periods |
| The Aurora Journal | https://www.theaurorajournal.org/submit | $12 | Poetry and prose 1000 words max for prose |
| Table Cell | Table Cell | Table Cell | Table Cell |
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