72 Calls for Submissions in January 2026 - Paying markets

This January there are six dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always, every genre, style, and form is wanted, from short stories to poetry to essays.

I post upcoming calls for submissions shortly before the first day of every month. But as I am collecting them, I post them on my page, Calls for Submissions. You can get a jump on next month's calls for submissions by checking that page periodically throughout the month. (I only post paying markets.)

Also see Paying Markets for hundreds of paying markets arranged by form and genre.

[Image: Pickpik]

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Acre Books. Genre: Full-length poetry manuscripts. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: Open reading period in January.

The Bombay Literary Magazine. Genre: Fiction, poetry, translated fiction/poetry and graphic fiction. Payment: Indian rupees 5,000 (approx. $61) per contribution. Deadline: Opens January 1, 2026.

Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing is accepting submissions of complete, previously unpublished manuscripts in the speculative fiction genre that have series potential. Speculative fiction encompasses horror, fantasy, and science fiction—and all of the niche categories under those large umbrellas. They are only considering full length novels between 40K and 100K words. See submission requirements HERE. Deadline: Opens January 1, 2026.

The Paris Review. Genres: Fiction, poetry. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: Opens Janurary 1, 2026, and closes when they reach capacity.

Cafe Irreal. Genre: Magical realism. Length: Up to 2,000 words. Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: January 1, 2026.

Utopia Science Fiction: Weird Science Fiction. Genre: Utopian science fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art. Theme: Weird Science Fiction. Payment: $0.08/word for fiction, $30 for nonfiction, $30 per poem. Deadline: January 1, 2026.

Butch Bait Anthology. Genre: Art, poetry, fiction, erotica, and photography. See theme. Payment: $10. Deadline: January 1, 2026.

Griffith Review. Poetry. Theme: Post and Found. Payment: $200. Deadline: January 4, 2026.

Mslexia. Genre: Stories, poems and script on themes. Length: Stories up to 2,200 words, poems up to 40 lines, and short scripts up to 1,000 words (including character names and stage instructions).  Payment: £25. Deadline: January 5, 2026. 

Daikaijuzine. Genre: Speculative fiction, poetry, art. Payment: $10.00 for each short story, and $5.00 for each poem and flash fiction piece. Deadline: January 5, 2026.

Affirm Press Restrictions: They only accept Australians. Genre: All literary and genre fiction. For non-fiction, they are interested in most subjects that have a mn authors or authors based in Australia, and only manuscripts that haven’t been previously published. They only accept submissions on the first Monday of each month. Read their submission guidelines here. Deadline: January 5, 2026.

Sunlight Press. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, photography, reviews. Payment: $20 - $50. Deadline: Opens January 5, 2026.

Cosmic Horror Monthly. Genre: Weird and cosmic fiction under 5,000 words. Payment: 3 cents (USD) per word. Deadline: January 7, 2026.

Notch. Genre: Flash fiction. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: January 7, 2026.

Headland. Restrictions: Open to Māori writers. Genre: Short fiction and nonfiction. Payment: $75. Deadline: January 9, 2026.

Blanket Gravity Magazine. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art. "We are interested in moments of emotional intensity, and how their effects ring out in the bigger picture of our identities. We are looking for writing and art that explore mental health or emotional life. By "mental health," we mean art that tries to make sense of emotional struggle or uncertainty, as well as our thoughts about who we are, what other people mean to us, and the nature of the world." Payment: $40. Deadline: January 10, 2026. (?)

Book Worms. Genre: Apocalypic horror. Payment: 8 cents a word for fiction (1500 words or less). $25 flat fee for poetry (20 lines or less). Deadline: January 10, 2026.

Cordite. Genre: Poetry. See theme. Payment: Not specified. Payment is available for Australian contributors only. Deadline: January 10, 2026.

34 Orchard. Genre: Fiction, poetry. "We like dark, intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad." Payment: $50. Deadline: January 10, 2026. Opens January 1.

Your Body is a Fever Dream. Restrictions: Open to Trans, NB, agender, intersex, GNC, and generallyany gender identity other than binary cisgender. Genre: Fiction and narrative poetry. See theme. Payment: $0.03/word for stories up to 4,000 words. Deadline: January 10, 2026. Accepts reprints.

Ampersand Review. Restrictions: Open to Canadians. Genre: Poetry, fiction, nonfiction, reviews. Payment: Poetry: $50 per poem/page to a maximum of $100. Fiction: $100 per story. Non-fiction: $100 per piece. Reviews: $100 per piece. Deadline: January 11, 2026.

The Fantastic Other. Genre: Fiction, flash fiction, poetry, art on theme. Payment: $5. Deadline: January 12, 2026.

OTHERSIDE. Genre: Speculative fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by self-identified members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Payment: $0.08/word for prose. $50 per poem. $100 for nonfiction and reprints. Deadline: January 14, 2026.

Flame Tree: Black Horror, Then & Next: Short Stories. Genre: Black (American) literary horror. "e seek stories that recognize the legacy of Black horror, its literary milestones, cultural roots, and innovative voices, while pushing the genre into new, daring territory." Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word. Deadline: January 14, 2026.

Rattle: A Tribute to Invented Forms. Genre: Poetry. "Our Summer 2026 issue will be dedicated to invented forms—poetic structures created by the poets themselves. These might include entirely new formal constraints, creative spins on traditional styles, or intuitive methods developed to suit a single poem. Invented forms offer a chance to blend play and precision, and we’re excited to showcase the wide range of possibilities poets are exploring. The poems may be on any subject and of any length, as long as they demonstrate a form that you’ve invented or substantially modified yourself." Payment: $100. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

Last Girls Club. Genre: Feminist horror: short stories and poems - see themes. Payment: Fiction, 1.5 cents/word. Poetry, $10. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

Women Artists Datebook. Restrictions: Open to women. Genre: Poems and art. Theme: Peace and Justice. Payment: $200 for art, $70 for poetry. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

River Glass Books: Writes of Nature. Genre: Chapbook manuscripts (20-30 pages). All genres. Payment: $75. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

Electric Spec. Genre: Speculative fiction. Payment: $20 per piece. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

Eye to the Telescope. Genre: Speculative poetry. See theme. Payment: $0.05/word, up to $25. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

 

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles, messages from heaven, angels. Genre: True stories about miracles, angels, messages from heaven, premonitions, amazing coincidences and other unexplainable but good events! Payment: $200. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

Horror Tree: Trembling With Fear. Genre: Horror short stories. Payment: $5. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

Shenandoah. Genre: Fiction and novel excerpts. Payment: $80 per 1000 words of prose up to $400. Deadline: Opens January 15, 2026, and closes when they reach capacity.

In a Flash. Genre: Flash fiction, 500 words max. See theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

Tales from the Crosstimbers. Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, splipstream, and horror. Payment:  $10 per story or 1 cent/word rounded to the nearest 100 words, up to a maximum of $50. Deadline: January 15, 2026.

Three-Lobed Burning Eye. Genre: Horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Payment: $0.08/word. Deadline: January 16, 2026.

Full House Literary. Genre: Prose, poetry, hybrid, photography and artwork. Payment: £5. Deadline: January 17, 2026.

Pink Hydra Press. Genre: Genre fiction: novellas, novelettes, novels. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 18, 2026.

Seaside Gothic. Genre: Seaside gothic fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or a collection of photographs or illustrations. Payment: £0.01 per word. Deadline: January 18, 2026.

Splinter Journal. Genre: Poetry, fiction, memoir, nonfiction (pitches only). Payment: Profiles (pays AUD900), essays pays AUD900), writing about writing (pays AUD500), and criticism (pays AUD700), and completed submissions of poetry (pays AUD250/poem or AUD450/collection of up to four poems, fiction (pays AUD900), and memoir (pays AUD600). Deadline: January 19, 2026.

Astrolabe. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, and photography & art. Payment: $50. Deadline: January 21, 2026.

The Fairy Tale Magazine. Genre: Fairy-tale inspired stories/poems. See theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: January 21, 2026.

OTHERSIDE. Genre: Speculative fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by self-identified members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Payment: $0.08/word for prose. $50 per poem. $100 for nonfiction and reprints. Deadline: January 21, 2026. Extended deadline only for BIPOC, trans, and/or disabled authors.

Baubles From Bones. Genre: Science fiction and fantasy. Length: All stories must be between 1,000 to 8,000 words. Payment: $.01/word. Deadline: January 29, 2026.

After Happy Hour. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, comics. Payment: $2.50 per printed page, with a minimum of $15 and a maximum of $50, on publication ($25 for the cover artist). Deadline: January 31, 2026. Free submissions are capped at 300, so submit early.

Double Dutch. Genre: Poetry, Music, Art. Payment: $50. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Inked in Gray: Defying Death. Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, or horror only. Theme: Defying Death. Payment: $45. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Event Magazine. Genre: Poetry, fiction. Payment: CAD $40/page for poetry and $35/page for prose, up to a maximum of $500. Deadline: January 31, 2026. Closes when cap is reached, so submit early.

The Temz Review. Genre: Prose (fiction and creative non-fiction) up to 10,000 words long. Payment: $20. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Split Lip Magazine. Genre: Fiction (flash and short stories), memoirs, and poetry. with a pop-culture twist. Payment: $75 for poems, memoirs, flash, fiction, and art, $50 for interviews/reviews, and $25 for mini-reviews web issues. Deadline: January 31, 2026. Closes when they reach capacity, so submit early.

Alocacia is a monthly mini journal of queer at-home nature writing. "We appreciate both traditional work, as well as the weird, erotic, explicit, anti-colonial, and whatever you can come up with. This is a journal about plants, gardening, and indoor horticulture. Please don’t send us work that isn’t about plants, gardening, or indoor horticulture." Payment: $50. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Nashville Review. Genre: Fiction, poetry, art, and nonfiction. Payment: $25 per poem & song selection; $100 per selection for all other categories, including featured artwork. Translators receive $25 per poem & $100 for prose selections. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Phylum. Genre: Fiction, CNF, Poetry, Art. See theme. Payment: $10. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Parsec Ink: 23rd Triangulation Anthology — Bad Romance. Genre: speculative fiction and poetry. See theme. Payment: $0.03/word for original fiction, 25 cents per line for original poetry. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Summer in the City. Genre: Short fiction. Length: 3,000 to 7,500 words. See theme. Payment: 10 cents/word. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Dragon Soul Press: Thread of the Past. Genre: Time travel stories. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 31, 2026. 

Dragon Soul Press: Elite. Genre: Warriors that have mastered their trade. Assassins, mercenaries, guilds, clans, etc. All genres are welcome. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 31, 2026. 

Cozy Fantasy Anthology. Genre: Cozy fantasy. Payment: $30. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Fourteen Poems Genre: Poetry. "We want to represent all that's thrilling about the new wave of LGBT+ poets. If you’re a poet, even if you’ve never been published before, we want to read your work. Every issue we publish 14 of the best queer poems we’ve found, and we want to include you! We publish 4 times a year, but take submissions all year round.  To be considered, email up to 5 poems, preferably in a pdf format, with a small paragraph about yourself to hello@14poems.com. Payment: £30 for each poem published. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Space and Time. Genre: Speculative fiction. "We welcome poetry, art and fiction that bend rules, transcend genre and break stereotypes." Submissions accepted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French or Italian. See theme. Payment: 1 cent/word for prose, $5 for poetry. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Southword. Genre: Poetry. Payment: €50 per poem. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Haven Speculative. Restrictions: Open to submissions by authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. Payment: 8¢ per word for fiction and $20 for poetry. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Dark Peninsula Press: Negative Space 3: The End of All Sanctuary. Genre: Survival horror. Specifically looking for horror stories with a siege (or isolation) sub-theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Inkd Publishing: Detectives, Sleuths, and Nosy Neighbors III. Genre: Murder mysteries, detectives noir, cozy, and humorous Payment: Minimum $10. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Heartlines Spec. Restrictions: "Since Heartlines Spec is primarily a Canadian magazine, we're looking to feature writers identifying as being from Canada/Turtle Island. This includes expats, new immigrants, and people who refuse/resist Canadian Identity. Our goal for each issue is to publish at least 50% Canadian content." Genre: Short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. "We want stories and poetry with strong, confident relationships amid all the sci-fi/fantasy. We are especially interested in stories featuring queer platonic relationships, ace/aro love stories, and polycules." Payment: $0.08 CAD per word for short fiction and $80 CAD flat for poetry. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

JMS Books. Genre: LGBTQ stories, 12,000 words minimum. See themes. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Bonfire Books welcomes submissions of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children’s books, as well as original translations into English. For Fiction and Non-fiction our minimum word count is 12,000 with no maximum. We are open to literary fiction, historical fiction, short stories, memoir, essays, history, literary or cultural criticism and hybrid genres. Non-fiction with a particularly Australian focus will be looked upon favourably. For Poetry our minimum length is forty pages. Poetry submissions must be sent in pdf to preserve formatting. We appreciate both traditional and modern styles and value music and rhythm. For Children’s Books please include a sample of artwork as well as the complete text. Read their submission guidelines here. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Vine Leaves Press. Genre: Novels and novellas (all genres accepted, but with a literary bent), memoirs/biographies/autobiographies, creative nonfiction, writing/publishing reference books, short story collections, and poetry and vignette collections. They will not accept anything shorter than 60 pages. Payment: 40% net royalty on all eBook and print sales. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Mud Season Review. Genre: Poetry, Fiction, CNF, Art. Payment: $50. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Garland. Genre: Poetry, prose poetry, short prose (<1500 words). See theme. Visual components and hybrid formats are welcome. Payment: $5. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Brink. Genre: Hybrid, cross-genre fiction, nonfiction poetry. Payment: $25 Poem; $50 Work (less than 1500 words); $50 Art (1-3 Images); $100 Art (4+ Images); $100 Work (more than 1501 words). See theme. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Fiction. Genre: Experimental fiction and translations of works previously unpublished in English. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Dark Moments Monthly Challenge. Genre: Dark fiction. Word count : 100 to 2000 words. Payment: 4 cents/word. Deadline: January 31, 2026.

AND A FEW MORE...

Slush. Genre: Previously unpublished short stories of up to 5000 words in length. This includes micro and flash fiction as well as comics, prose poetry and other forms. Payment: $100 AU. Deadline: February 1, 2026. 

The First Line Journal. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction and poetry using the line provided. (See theme) Payment: $25-50 for fiction, $25 for nonfiction, $10 for poetry. Deadline: February 1, 2026.

Curated by Costiuc. Genre: Mysteries and crime stories. Length: 1,000 to 5,000 words. Payment: $25. Deadline: February 1, 2026. 

June Road Press. Genre: Poetry. "This anthology will be loosely organized as a cross-country road trip: a tour of new voices from different regions of the United States. In keeping with the spirit and orientation of our full-length collections, we’re particularly interested in work that engages in meaningful ways with nature or place—the more specifically place-based or regionally inflected, the better suited to this project." Payment: Royalties. Deadline: February 1, 2026.

White Stag is looking for full length poetry manuscripts in the scope of their thematic elements, which can include themes of alchemy & the occult, mysticism & spirituality, folklore & mythos, the speculative or supranatural, or intersections of witchcraft & activism. These themes are not limited to any specific belief, culture, race, or region. Read guidelines here. Payment: $50 honorarium, 40% royalties based on total profit of each copy sold. Deadline: February 1, 2026. Note: US authors only.