By Theresa van Baalen
Are you dreaming of writing, but battling to find the time to write? Why not try your hand at something really short? Flash fiction is a genre of fiction that is defined as a very short story. They are also sometimes called sudden fiction, short-short stories, postcard fiction, micro stories, nanotales, or even napkin fiction, and can range in length from fewer than ten words to around 1,000 words. Here is a list of publications that will pay for your short-short story or short creative nonfiction piece. Some pay a token amount, others pay quite handsomely considering the length, but only you can decide who to submit to. None of these charge a submission/reading fee. Length requirements and other criteria vary, so be sure to study the submission guidelines before submitting to a specific publication.
Baffling Magazine
Baffling Magazine is a quarterly online magazine of flash fantasy, science fiction and horror with a queer bent. They currently publish two to three flash stories per month on their Patreon. Maximum wordcount is 1,200 but they would love to see more stories under 500 words. The pay is 8 cents per word. Take a look here at their submission guidelines and over here you can read current and past issues. Submissions are open until 15 June 2021.
Blue Marble Review
They are a quarterly online literary journal showcasing creative work of writers ages 13-22. They want flash fiction and short stories of 1,500 words or less. You may submit up to three pieces at a time, and the pay is $25 per published piece. They also welcome poetry, personal essays, travel stories, and opinion pieces as well as art and photography. For more information visit their submissions page here.
City. River. Tree.
They are looking for fiction of 100-500 words in any genre. You may submit up to three stories, and the pay is 2 cents per word ($2 minimum, $5 maximum). For more information, visit their submissions page here.
Coastal Shelf
Coastal Shelf is a journal of literary and visual arts. They accept long and short prose, as well as poetry. You may submit one piece of short prose of under 3,000 words (under 1,000 words is preferred) via the free submission portal, or two pieces if they are under 500 words. Currently they are looking for science-themed prose and poetry, and the submissions window closes on July 1, 2021. They pay $30 per published piece. Take a look here at their submission guidelines, and submit online through their Submittable portal.
Craft
Craft is a literary magazine for fiction and nonfiction. They pay $100 for original flash fiction and creative nonfiction of less than 1,000 words, and $200 for original short fiction and creative nonfiction. Read the submission guidelines for the various categories here. Also read previously published works here.
Curiouser Magazine
Curiouser is a bi-annual Australian literary journal. They accept flash fiction, short stories and poems in the genre magical realism. You may submit up to two flash pieces of 750 words or less, or one short story, or three poems at a time. International authors will receive AU$20 for successful flash pieces, plus a copy of the issue in which it is published, mailed to you, whereas Australian authors will receive AU$50-75 plus a copy of the issue. (They put the pay difference down to postage fees.) The pay for short stories for international authors is AU$60-125 (plus a copy of the issue), and AU $80-140 (plus a copy of the issue) for Australian authors. Take a look at their submission guidelines here. Submissions are open until July 1, 2021.
Daily Science Fiction
Daily Science Fiction accepts speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, slipstream, etc.) from 100 to 1,500 words in length. They especially want very short fiction, and pay 8 cents per word. Look at their submission guidelines here. Submit only one story at a time and if you have received no reply after four weeks, feel free to query your submission.
Dark Dispatch
Dark Dispatch is a pop culture site devoted to all things dark: dark fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and crime. Their second issue will be a themed issue, featuring stories on Deadly Love. Submissions will be open until July 9, 2021. They want two-sentence stories, flash fiction (they favor 300 to 999 words) and short stories (they prefer short stories to be 2,000-5,000 words in length). The pay for two-sentence stories is $10, for flash fiction it is $25, and for short stories it is $50. Check out their submission guidelines here.
Dark Moments
Dark Moments is the online publication of Black Hare press, a small independent publisher in Australia of dark short speculative fiction. They publish short form anthologies, but also run a monthly “drabble challenge” of which the 12 best drabbles (short pieces with a word count of exactly 100 words) are published on their site, at a pay of 4 cents per word ($4 US in total). They are also currently running different calls for submission with different requirements, so visit their submissions page here, and be sure to scroll down all the way to the bottom to look at the various opportunities.
Dream of Shadows
Dream of Shadows is a London-based website that publishes horror and fantasy short stories of maximum 1,500 words. (They are not too keen on sci-fi.) They pay £20 for each published story. Visit their submissions guidelines page here, for more information.
Every Day Fiction
They aim to publish one flash fiction story of under 1,000 words most days of the week. All fiction genres are acceptable and they pay $3 per published story. For more on their submission guidelines, click here.
Flame Tree Press
Flame Tree Press is the trade imprint of Flame Tree Publishing, a publisher that focuses on new novels in horror, crime, sci-fi and fantasy. They also publish a monthly newsletter for which they require two flash fiction stories of between 700 and 1,000 words in length, usually one horror and one sci-fi. The newsletter also serves to inform writers of the monthly theme and submissions window for flash stories. They pay 8 cents per word. Take a look here at their submissions policy, and sign up here for the monthly newsletter.
Flash Fiction Online
Flash Fiction Online publishes “brief, beautiful, and dynamic flash fiction – complete stories told in 500-1,000 words – across a range of speculative and literary genres.” Their submissions portal is open from the 1st to the 21st of each month. They pay $80 per story they accept. Take a look here at their submission requirements.
Flash Fiction magazine
Flash Fiction Magazine accepts fiction stories of between 300 and 1,000 words. They pay $40 for stories selected to be in The Flash Fiction Magazine anthologies. However, they don’t pay for stories published on their website. You can look at their submission requirements here.
Flash Point SF
Flash Point SF publishes new flash sci-fi and fantasy stories every other Friday. They pay $15 per story they accept. Stories must be between 100 and 1,000 words in length. They are currently closed for submissions, but say that they will be open again July 1st, 2021. Take a look at their submission guidelines here.
Fractured Lit
Fractured Lit is always open for micro and flash fiction submissions. They pay authors $50 for original micro fiction (of 400 words or less) and $75 for original flash fiction (of between 401 and 1,000 words). Take a look at their submission guidelines here.
Group Chat Review
Group Chat Review describes themselves as “a caring home for poetry and flash fiction”. You may submit up to three flash fiction stories of less than 1,000 words each. They pay $25 for each story they publish. You can read their submission guidelines here.
If there’s anyone left
They want science fiction and speculative fiction of less than 1,000 words from marginalized members of the sci-fi/spec community. This includes people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, members of marginalized genders, and disabled people. They pay 8 cents per word. Submissions are open until June 30, 2021. Read their submission guidelines here.
Manawaker Studios
They are a flash fiction podcast. All genres will be considered, but sci-fi might get a slightly stronger consideration. The ideal length is 800 words, but stories as short as 250 words or as long as 1,500 words may be considered. They pay a token amount of half cent per word, with a minimum payment of $3. Take a look at their submission guidelines here.
Nanoism
Nanoism is a twitterzine, an online publication focused on nanofiction (which refers to stories of a maximum of 140 characters, reminiscent of Twitter’s original character limit). They also accept submissions for serialized stories. Serials can be between 3-7 segments/episodes/tweets long. They pay $1.50 for individual stories, and a flat rate of $5 for serials. View their submission guidelines here.
Orion’s Belt
Orion’s Belt is a literary speculative-fiction online magazine. They publish one story per month of 1,200 words or less. Read their about page here to understand what they are looking for, and their submission guidelines here. They pay 8 cents per word for accepted stories.
Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing
They are looking for horror flash fiction to publish in their newsletter. Submissions must be less than 1,500 words in length. They pay $25 per accepted piece. Read their submission guidelines and submit here.
Short Circuit (Short Édition)
Short Édition is a French publishing house of short literature: poetry, short stories, and flash fiction. In addition to their online platform, they also publish fiction around the world via their Short Story Dispensers. These dispensers are a bit like an ATM for stories and poems. They provide the public with a literary experience free of charge. Read more about them here. They accept submissions for their quarterly review Short Circuit, and pay writers an advance payment on the royalties that will be received on a yearly basis, of 100 euros for unpublished short fiction, 50 euros for unpublished poetry, and 25 euros for previously published works. They want short stories and poems of maximum 7,500 characters, spaces included, and children’s works of maximum 7,000 characters. Read their submission requirements here. Their FAQ-page is also a valuable source of information.
SmokeLong Quarterly
They are an online literary magazine dedicated to “flash narrative”. Submissions must be no longer than 1,000 words and they pay $50 per piece upon publication in the quarterly issue. Take a look here at their submission guidelines.
The Arcanist
They are a digital literary magazine that focuses on fantasy, sci-fi, and horror flash fiction. They want stories of fewer than 1,000 words, and pay 10 cents per word. You may submit up to three stories at a time. Submissions open again on June 14, 2021. Click here to read their submission guidelines.
New Voices (The Masters Review)
The Masters Review’s New Voices category is open throughout the year to any new or emerging author who has not published a work of fiction or narrative nonfiction of novel length. Authors of short story collections are welcome to submit. They pay $200 for short fiction and narrative nonfiction of up to 7,000 words, and $100 for flash fiction of up to 1,000 words. For more information, take a look here at their submission guidelines.
Three-Lobed Burning Eye
Three-Lobed Burning Eye is a speculative fiction magazine published online twice per year. They publish short fiction (1,001-7,500 words) and flash fiction (less than 1,000 words). They pay $100 for short fiction and $30 for flash. For their submission guidelines, click here.
Timber Ghost Press
They are looking for flash fiction of under 1,000 words in the horror genre to feature on their site and in their newsletter. They pay $5 per accepted piece. Look at the submission requirements here. They are also currently running a call for submissions (deadline October 31, 2021) for an anthology titled Dead Stars and Stone Arches: A Collection of Utah Horror. Work must fall into one of four categories (poetry, flash fiction, short fiction and novelette), and the payment for accepted flash pieces is $15. Click here to read more about submitting to the anthology.
Theresa van Baalen is a freelance writer who spends most of her time writing Afrikaans books for children and teens. She lives in South Africa.
