84 Calls for Submissions in August 2026 - Paying markets

This August there are seven 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: Wikimedia]

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Acre Books. Genre: Full-length fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid forms. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: Open reading period in August.

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: August 1, 2026.

Rat Bag Lit. Genre: Short story, micro-fiction, drabbles. Payment:  1 cent/word. Deadline: Opens August 1, 2026. Accepts reprints.

We'Moon Lunar Calendar. Restrictions: Open to women only. Genre: Art, poetry and prose, 350 words maximum. Payment: Small honorarium; art up to $500. Deadline: August 1, 2026.

ryga. Genre: Poetry, prose and short plays. Payment: $50. Deadline: August 1, 2026.

The Forge Literary Magazine. Genre: Prose. They prefer stories under 3,000 words. Payment: $100. Deadline: August 1, 2026. Free submissions open on the 1st of each month and close when cap is reached. 

Starship Blunder Anthology 3: Mission Hospitality. Genre: Speculative fiction. See theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: August 1, 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: Opens August 1, 2026. Free submissions are capped at 300, so submit early.

Saddlebag Dispatches. Genre: Short stories, poetry, and non-fiction articles about the West. Payment: $10 - $20. Deadline: August 1, 2026.

Dark Waters. Genre: Dark fiction. See theme. Payment: Up to $25. Deadline: August 1, 2026.

IHRAM Press. Genre: Poetry, fiction, esssays, art. Theme:We are opening submissions for an issue dedicated to amplifying the voices of women of colour, including transgender women and women living across cultures as expats, migrants, or in diasporic communities. Payment: $50 for writing, $25 for art. Deadline: August 1, 2026.

Queer Little Daydreams. Restrictions: Contributors must identify as LGBTQIA2S+. Genre: Poetry, short fiction, and non-fiction that purposefully play with the speculative, strange, and surreal from a uniquely queer perspective. Payment: Honorarium. Deadline: August 1, 2026.

Witch House. Genre: Cosmic horror. Payment: $10. Deadline: August 2, 2026.

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores. Genre: Speculative stories. Payment: 8 cents/word for original work. 2 cents/word for reprints. Deadline: August 2, 2026. Opens August 1.

Stone’s Throw. Genre: "We're looking for dark fiction, crime and noir, length between 1,000 and 2,000 words." Payment: $25. Deadline: August 4, 2026. Open to submissions the first three days of every month.

Crimeucopia. Genre: Crime fiction. See theme. Payment: £4 per 1,000 words. Deadline: August 4, 2026.

Again Anthology. Genre: Short stories. See theme. Payment: €200. Deadline: August 4, 2026. 

Adventitious. Genre: Speculative, surreal, and literary fiction. Length: Flash Fiction (including Micro): Up to 1,000 words; Fiction: 1,000 – 6,000 words. Novelette: 6,000 – 17,000 words. Payment: $0.08 USD per word. Deadline: August 5, 2026.

Cozy Fantasy Anthology. Genre: Cozy Fantasy. Length: 1500-4500 words. Payment: USD $0.02/word; Reprints $0.01/word. Deadline: August 6, 2026.

Black Inc. Restrictions: Open to Australians. Genre: Full-length general, literary and commercial non-fiction – including history, current affairs, memoir and biography. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 7, 2026. This is a monthly call.

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: August 7, 2026. Open the first seven days of every month.

Abyss and Apex. Genre: Speculative fiction. No horror. Payment: USD $.08/word (eight cents a word) up to 1,000 words, and a flat payment of $80.00 for longer stories. Deadline: August 7, 2026.

University of Queensland Press. Restrictions: Open to Australian citizens or permanent residents. Genre: Full-length nonfiction manuscripts. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 7, 2026.

Flame Tree: Cosmic Horror Short Stories. Genre: Cosmic Horror. Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Deadline: August 9, 2026.

Flame Tree: Zombie World. Genre: Zombies! Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Deadline: August 9, 2026.

Poetry Sango-Ota. Restrictions: Open to African poets. Genre: Poetry. "We are interested in poems with a keen connection to a sense of place, nature, or otherworldly geographies." Payment: N10,000 (ten thousand naira) per poem. Deadline: August 10, 2026. Open from the 1st to the 10th of every month. 

Sparks. Restrictions: Open to residents on the island of Ireland. Genre: Fiction, flash fiction, poetry. Payment: €20 for a Short Story, €15 for Flash Fiction and €10 for a Poem. Deadline: August 10, 2026.

Poetry Wales: The Body. Genre: Nonfiction. See theme. Payment: Reviews £67.50/1,500 words; Articles £150/3,000 words. Deadline: August 10, 2026.

Words Without Borders. Genre: Original translations into English of contemporary fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and interviews, and related multimedia, as well as critical essays, book reviews, and interviews written in English. They do not publish fiction, poetry, or drama originally written in English, and they do not consider work that has already been published in English translation. Average word count is 2,000–2,500 words; they do not accept work that exceeds 4,000 words. Payment: Poetry: $50–75 for a single poem, depending on length; rates for multiple poems are negotiated based on length; Fiction: $150/1,000 words, capped at $300; Nonfiction: $150/1000 words, capped at $300; Selection and compilation of features: $250; Interviews: $150; Book reviews: $150. Deadline: August 10, 2026.

Crimeucopia. Genre: Crime fiction. See theme. Payment: £4 per 1,000 words. Deadline: August 11, 2026.

Pseudopod. Genre: Horror. Payment: USD $0.08 per word for original fiction. USD $100 per story for reprint fiction. Deadline: August 11, 2026.

Raconteur Press: Hold-My-Beer Heroes. Genre: Short stories. Hold-My-Beer Heroes plays with the "superiority theory" concept of comedy. The author and the reader are in on the joke of the overconfident everyman thrust into a situation they have no business surviving, but somehow manage to end up winning the day. The ever- predictable train-wreck unfolds in real time. Length: 5,000 to 8,000 words. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 14, 2026.

Manuscrypt Magazine. Genre: Horror. See theme. Payment: $50. Deadline: August 14, 2026.

Havok. Genre: Flash fiction. See themes. Payment: $50 via PayPal for each story selected for an Anthology. No payment for online publication. Deadline: August 14, 2026.

Luna Station Quarterly. Restrictions: Open to women writers only. Genre: Speculative fiction. Payment: $10. Deadline: August 15, 2026. 

Carnage House. Genre: Splatterpunk. Payment: $5. Deadline: August 15, 2026. 

Grimalkin Press: Sweet Screams – A Taste of Darkness. Restrictions: Open to women writers and gender diverse people only. Genre: Horror stories centered around themes of sweetness, baking, cooking, desserts, and the unsettling things that can exist beneath comfort, nostalgia, celebration, or indulgence. Payment: $0.08/word. Deadline: August 15, 2026. 

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Star Wars 50th anniversary book. Genre: True stories. How has Star Wars affected you? And not just the movies. The brand has expanded to books, video games, TV shows, theme parks, toys, clothes, board games and more. Payment: $200. Deadline: August 15, 2026. 

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings. Genre: Nonfiction. One of the most important keys to contentment and happiness is the ability to count your blessings. Even during the toughest times, if we can find gratitude and count our blessings we feel better. Each day holds something to be thankful for and it could be just as simple as having the sun shine or having food on the table. Payment: $200. Deadline: August 15, 2026. 

Inkd Publishing: Cthulu: Awakens. Genre: Lovecraftian horror. Word Limit: 2,000 to 6,000 words. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 15, 2026. 

In a Flash: Recipes. Genre: Creative nonfiction of 500 words or less. See theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: August 15, 2026.

Beyond the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Genre: Fiction. Sherlock Holmes themes. Payment: $100. Deadline: August 15, 2026. 

The Lorelei Signal. Genre: Fantasy short stories, flash fiction, and poetry with strong female characters. Payment: $15 for short stories, $5 for poems and flash (<1000 wds) fiction pieces, $5 for reprints. Deadline: August 15, 2026. Accepts reprints.

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

Rat Bag. Genre: Drabble. See theme. Payment: $1. Deadline: August 22, 2026.

Griffith Review. Genre: Nonfiction and fiction. See theme. Payment: AUD$0.75 per word. Deadline: August 23, 2026.

Sunday Morning. Genre: Poetry, flash fiction. Payment: $1. Deadline: August 23, 2026. (Open one day only)

Headland. Genre: Short fiction and creative nonfiction. Payment: $75. Deadline: August 24, 2026.

Carte Blanche (Canada). Restrictions: Open to Quebec- and Canada-based contributors. Genre: Poetry, fiction, CNF, translations. comics, photography. Payment: $75 CAD. Deadline: August 24, 2026.

Poetry and polar science. Genre: Poetry on theme of polar science. Payment: $100. Deadline: August 26, 2026.

Rough Cut Press. Genre: Short prose from the LGBTQIA community on theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: September 27, 2026.

Not/Feeling Better. Genre: Poetry, short fiction, and memoir on theme: Not/Feeling Better. Payment: £10. Deadline: August 29, 2026.

Augur Press. Genre: Speculative literature that breaks down walls between literary and sci-fi/fantasy spaces. We seek work across genres: poignant dark fantasy, crisp science fiction, lush secondary world adventures, contemporary gothic, quiet myth-building, and dreamy realism. Length: Novellas and novelettes. Payment: Advance and royalties. Deadline: August 30, 2026.

Sublimation. Genre: Speculative poetry and art. See theme. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Room Magazine. Restrictions: Open to Canadian artists of marginalized genders. Genre: Fiction, creative nonfiction, visual art, and poems. See theme. Payment: $50 per page. Deadline: August 31, 2026. Closes when cap is reached.

Easton Tales. Genre: Horror. See theme. Payment: $10CAD. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Carmen et Error. Genre: Poems, 40(ish) lines max. Fiction, 400(ish) words max. Payment: £5. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Tasavvur. Genre: South Asian speculative fiction. Payment: 3 cents per word, up to a maximum of 5,000 words. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Uncanny Magazine. Genre: Speculative poetry. Payment: $40. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Owl Hollow Press: The Unopened Door. Genre: Short stories. See theme. Payment: $50. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Reckoning. Genre: Art, poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction up to 15,000 words in length. See theme. Payment: 10 cents per word (US) for prose, $50 per page for poetry and art. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Ruadan Books. Genre: Full-length dark thrillers and speculative fiction. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Altar Literary Magazine: Golden Hour. Genre: Fiction, Poetry, CNF. See theme. Payment: $5. Deadline: August 31, 2026 or until filled.

Saraband: Inklings. Genre: Narrative non-fiction. "The Inklings is a series of pocket-sized pop culture books that introduce readers to a wide range of topics they might only have an inkling about!" Pitches only. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Nonbinary Review. Genre: Speculative fiction, poetry, art. Length: Up to 3,000 words for prose; up to 3 pages for poetry. See theme. Payment: $0.01/word for prose, $10 for poetry. $25 flat fee for visual art, or $50 for pieces chosen as cover art. Deadline: August 31, 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: August 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: August 31, 2026. Note: Closes when cap is reached.

JMS Books. Genre: LGBTQ stories, 5,000 - 9,500 words. See themes. Payment: $30. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Escape Pod. Genre: Science fiction (Audio and written format). Payment: USD $0.08 per word for original fiction. USD $100 per story for reprint fiction. Deadline: August 31, 2026. Reprints accepted.

Passing Strange: Queer Weird Arthurian Tales. Genre: Queer Arthuran stories. Word count: Between 3,000 and 10,000 words. Payment: A rate of $0.05 USD per word to a maximum of $500 USD will be offered. $200 for art. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Broken Sleep Books. Genre: Non-fiction prose pamphets (up to 150 pages). Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Hellbound Books Anthology of Body Horror. Genre: Body Horror. Payment: $5. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Hellbound Books Anthology of Found Footage Horror. Genre: Found Footage Horror. Payment: $5. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Hellbound Books Anthology of Technological Horror. Genre: Technological Horror. Payment: $5. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Propel Disability Poetry Book Series. Restrictions: Open to disabled poets. Genre: Poetry. Payment: Royalties. One poet wins a $2000 prize. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Cast of Wonders. Restrictions: Open to young authors. Genre: YA Speculative fiction. Podcast. Payment: $.08/word for original fiction up to 6,000 words. For reprints, a $100 flat rate for Short Fiction, and a $20 flat rate for Flash Fiction. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Dragon Soul Press: ONCE UPON A TALE. Genre: Fairytale retellings across all genres. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Dragon Soul Press: CURSES & CRYSTALS. Genre: Witch-themed stories across all genres. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Chicken Soup for the Soul. Genre: True humorous stories. "Share your funny stories about something that happened to you in your life – in your relationship with a partner or spouse, a parent or child, a family member or friend, at work or at home – that made you and the people around you laugh out loud. Did you mean for it to be funny? Did the other person mean to make you laugh? Did a situation just get out of control? Did a misunderstanding turn into a comedy of errors?" Payment: $200. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Slapshots in Space & Magical Marathons: A Speculative Sports Anthology. Genre: Speculative fiction on theme: Sports. Payment: $50/story, flat rate. $20 per poem. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Manawaker Studio: 100 Word Project. Genre: Speculative fiction of exactly 100 words. See theme. Payment: $1. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Haven Speculative. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. Payment: 8¢ per word for fiction and $20 for poetry. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

Sundress. Genre: Full-length poetry manuscripts. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: August 31, 2026. Submission fee is waived for all BIPOC writers.

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: Early submission period for equity-deserving groups August 24-31.

Short Story Substack accepts one short story every month. Genre: All genres. Word count 6,000 - 10,000 words. Payment: Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check. Reprints accepted. Deadline: August 31, 2026.

AND A FEW MORE...

Philadelphia Stories. Restrictions: Open to authors living in, or originally from, Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey. Genre: Fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art. Payment: $50. Deadline: September 1, 2026.

“Psycho Pulp” Anthology. Genre: Crime, horror, psychological thriller, western, science fiction, or any sub-genre or blend of these. Payment: $20. Deadline: September 1, 2026.

The Cincinnati Review. Genre: Literary nonfiction (up to 20 pages), fiction (up to 40 pages), poetry, poetry translations, drama, and art. Payment: $25/page for prose in the journal, $30/page for poetry, $25 for miCRo posts or special features. Deadline: Opens September 1, 2026. Note: Opens on the first day of the month and closes once they hit the submissions cap.

Pacific Northwest Gothic. Restrictions: Open to current residents of Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and British Columbia. Genre: Fiction, poetry, and art "that explore the region’s shadowed forests, coastal fog, urban isolation, and the quiet unease that lingers beneath its natural beauty." Payment: $25. Deadline: September 1, 2026.

Teach. Write. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction, flash fiction, poetry, CNF. "I prefer writing that is either written by composition teachers and writing students OR about teaching and learning." Payment: $15. Deadline: September 1, 2026.

University of Wisconsin Press. Genre: Novels, short story collections, and works in translation. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 1, 2026.