By Theresa van Baalen
Sci-fi and fantasy appeals to a very specific loyal readership. So it is no wonder that many websites, blogs, e-zines and magazines dedicate themselves to the publication and promotion of this genre. Here are 28 markets that might be interested in your sci-fi or fantasy tale (or poetry), and are willing to pay you for it. Some pay much more than others, but the decision to submit is yours. They are all currently open for submissions, or are scheduled to open soon. None of them charge a submission/reading fee. Study submission guidelines carefully before submitting your story.
Abyss & Apex
Their mission is to publish the finest in speculative and imaginative fiction and poetry, which includes science fiction, dark fantasy, slipstream, hypertext fiction, puzzle stories, magical realism, etc. There is very little they don’t look at, but apparently, they have an allergy to zombies, elves, vampires, retold fairy tales, and more. They prefer a word count of 10,000 or less, and are especially interested in good flash fiction of up to 1,250 words. Take a look at their detailed submission requirements here, and read the current and previous issues here to get an idea of what they have published before.
They pay 8 cents per word for up to 1,000 words, and a flat payment of $80 for longer stories. For each poem accepted they pay $5.50.
They are currently closed for fiction submissions, but will be open again during the first week of August 2021.
Allegory
Allegory is a biannual online publication of fiction and non-fiction that specializes in science fiction, fantasy and horror. They have no prescribed length for fiction, but seem to prefer stories of between 500 and 5,000 words. Non-fiction articles about the art or business of writing must be less than 2,000 words in length. Payment is upon publication and they pay a flat rate of $15 for all accepted pieces. You can read more about their requirements here. Submission periods are from May 1 until June 30, and November 1 until December 31. Read the stories in their current issue here to give you a better idea of what they are looking for.
Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine
Analog is an established market for science fiction stories and factual articles, that has been going strong since 1930. They have no hard and fast editorial guidelines as far as fiction is concerned, but want the stories to be realistic with believable people (not necessarily human) doing believable things, no matter how fantastic the background might be. To get an idea of the work they publish, take a look here at excerpts from the current issue. They pay 8-10 cents per word for shorter fiction (up to approximately 20,000 words), 6 cents per word for serials (40,000-80,000 words), and $1 per line for poetry.
Fact articles must be around 4,000 words in length and the pay is 9 cents per word.
All work must be submitted via their online submission system. For more information, take a look at their writer’s guidelines here.
Andromeda Spaceways Magazine
They are an Australian magazine that publishes speculative fiction. This includes science fiction, fantasy, horror and any sub-genres that fall into these categories. Subscribers to the magazine (from wherever) and Australian and New Zealand authors may submit work of up to 20,000 words. Non-subscribers and writers not from Australia or New Zealand may submit work of up to 10,000 words. They pay one Australian cent per word, with a minimum of AUD$20 and a maximum of AUD$100. For flash fiction (under 1000 words) they pay AUD$10.
They also publish poetry at a flat rate of AUD$10 per poem, and non-fiction articles of 5,000 words max, also at a flat rate of AUD$10.
All submissions must be made through their online submissions manager. To read more about their submission guidelines, click here.
Apex Magazine
Apex Magazine focuses on dark and spectacular science fiction, fantasy, and horror. New issues are released every two months and issue content is made available for free on the website, piecemeal, over the two months between issues. Read some of the newest content here. Maximum length for stories is 7,500 words and they pay 8 cents per word, with a minimum of $50. If they podcast your story, you will earn an additional payment of 1 cent per word. Stories must be submitted online. Read more about their submission guidelines here.
Asimov’s Science Fiction
Asimov’s is an established market for science fiction stories, that has been around since 1977. It is released six times per year as a 208-page double issue and is available in print and digital formats.
They are looking for character orientated stories, where the characters, rather than the science, are the main focus. They like serious, thoughtful fiction, but there is always room for humor. They will also consider borderline fantasy, slipstream and surreal fiction. Stories must preferably be between 1,000 and 20,000 words in length. For a more complete idea of their requirements, take a look at their writer’s guidelines here.
They pay 8-10 cents per word for stories of up to 7,500 words, and 8 cents for each word over 7,500. They pay $1 a line for poetry, which should not exceed 40 lines. Submissions must be made via their online submission system, but they allow manual submissions via the postal system as well.
Aurealis
Aurealis is looking for science fiction, fantasy or horror short stories of between 2,000 and 8,000 words. They pay between AUD$20 and AUD$60 per 1,000 words. Payment is made soon after publication and you will also receive a free electronic copy of the issue containing your story. They are open to submissions in English from “anywhere in the multiverse” during specific reading periods. Reading periods for 2021 are as follow: Submissions from Australian and New Zealand writers: 1 February – 30 September. Submissions from anyone anywhere: 1July – 31 July 2021. Read more about their requirements here.
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Beneath Ceaseless Skies is a non-profit online magazine dedicated to publishing “literary adventure fantasy”. This they define as “stories with a secondary-world setting and some fantasy feel, but written with a literary approach”. Read their submission guidelines here to get a better idea of what this means. They publish two stories per issue, with a new issue every fortnight. Stories must be under 15,000 words and the pay is 8 cents per word.
Cast of Wonders
Cast of Wonders is a YA speculative fiction podcast. Every week they present short stories featuring everything from hard science fiction, to urban fantasy, horror, steampunk, superheroes and more. They pay writers 8 cents per word for original fiction of up to 6,000 words (they prefer short stories to be between 3,000 and 4,500 words in length, and flash fiction to be under 1,000 words), and for reprints they pay a $100 flat rate for short fiction and $20 for flash fiction. To read more about their submission requirements, click here. They are not permanently open for submissions, but work according to a themed schedule, with four submission windows still upcoming this year (the next one is 13-26 June). Click here to access the 2021-submission schedule.
Clarkesworld Magazine
Clarkesworld is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine that is published monthly, and is available for purchase in e-book format and via electronic subscription. You can also read the issues for free on their website. They want short stories of between 1,000 and 22,000 words, as well as non-fiction articles of up to 2,500 words. They pay 10 cents per word for both fiction and non-fiction. Work must be submitted through their online submission system. Take a look at their submission guidelines here to get a better idea of what they require, and especially of what you should avoid. To read the current issue, click here.
Daily Science Fiction
Daily Science Fiction publishes one speculative fiction story of between 100 and 1,500 words every weekday, and pay 8 cents per word. This includes science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and much more. Over here you can read all previously accepted stories arranged by topic. For more information about submitting, go to their main submissions page by clicking here. Follow the links for story submission guidelines, story formatting guidelines and online submission.
Electric Spec
Electric Spec is a speculative fiction magazine that is published four times per year and they will consider any story between 250 and 7,000 words with speculative fiction elements. They prefer science fiction, fantasy and the macabre, and pay $20 for every story they publish. Although they don’t acknowledge story receipt, they aim to respond within 135 days by email, with a “reject”, “accept”, or “hold-for-voting” message. If you haven’t received any message by that time, please resubmit. Take a look at their submission guidelines here. Read the current and previous issues here.
Escape Pod
Escape Pod is a science fiction podcast magazine, bringing readers and listeners sci-fi short stories in convenient audio and text formats every week. All stories are free to enjoy. Original short stories must be 1,500-6,000 words in length, and they will pay you 8 cents per word. They also accept reprints, for which they pay a flat rate of $100. Work must be submitted through their online submission portal. For more detailed submission information, click here. They will be closed for submissions from June 1 to August 31, but get your stories ready!
Fairy Tale Review
Fairy Tale Review is an annual literary journal dedicated to publishing new fairy tales. Submissions for The Lilac Issue (Vol 18, 2022) are open until July 6, 2021. The issue is themed around “sleep and dreams: the forgotten language of fairy tales”. Work must be submitted through their Submittable portal. Writers may submit a single piece of prose up to 1,000 words. You may also submit poetry, graphic novels, comics and drama of up to four pages, and artists may submit up to 5 high-resolution images. For more information regarding their general submission guidelines, click here. They pay contributors $50 upon publication. Contributors will also receive two copies of The Lilac Issue.
Fantasy Magazine
Fantasy is a digital short fiction magazine seeking original fantasy or dark fantasy stories. Short stories must be between 1,500 and 7,500 words in length (less than 5,000 words is preferred), and flash fiction up to 1,500 words. They pay 8 cents per word. They are also seeking original fantasy and dark fantasy poems, for which they pay $40 per poem. Feel free to submit up to six poems in the same document.
They are only open for submissions during the first week of every month (1st-7th). All submissions must be made via their online submission system. Click here to read their complete submission guidelines.
Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction was founded in 1949 and is printed bimonthly. It is available in hard copy as well as digital formats. They have no formula for fiction, but prefer character-orientated stories. Stories may be up to 25,000 words in length, and they pay 8-12 cents per word on acceptance. Submissions must be made through their online submission form. Read their writer’s guidelines here.
Flash Fiction Online
Flash Fiction Online is a free online magazine that publishes across many genres, including speculative (science fiction, fantasy, slipstream and horror) and literary fiction. Stories must be between 500 and 1,000 words in length and they pay 8 cents per word. Their submissions portal is only open from the 1st to the 21st of every month. Click here to submit, or here to find out what they are and are not looking for.
Future Science Fiction Digest
Currently they only want translated fiction and fiction written by authors for whom English is not their first language, and who do not live in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or Ireland. They are looking for science fiction stories (no horror, fantasy, fan fiction, or erotica) of up to 10,000 words, and pay 8 cents per word. For more on their submission guidelines, click here.
GigaNotoSaurus
GigaNotoSaurus publishes one science fiction or fantasy story (or a combination thereof) per month, of between 5,000 and 25,000 words. They pay $100 per story on acceptance, and stories are made available for reading online as well as downloadable formats. Read the submission guidelines here and read previous stories here.
Leading Edge Magazine
Leading Edge Magazine is a science fiction and fantasy magazine. They are looking for stories of between 1,000 and 10,000 words in length, and they pay 1 cent per word, with a minimum of $10 and a maximum of $50. Leading Edge Magazine is interested in helping authors improve, and therefore at least two members of their staff will critique your story, and the comments will be returned to you with their response. They also accept poetry submissions with science-fiction- or fantasy-related themes. Having your poem critiqued is now also an option, so you must indicate if you would like feedback. Payment for poetry will be discussed if your work is accepted. Click here to look at their complete submission guidelines.
Metaphorosis
Metaphorosis is looking for “beautiful writing showing engaging characters in science fiction or fantasy settings”. They publish one story every week. Stories may not be longer than 10,000 words, but they prefer stories of 1,000-6,000 words. They pay a flat rate of 1 cent per word. Their complete submission guidelines can be found here and to understand what is meant by “beautiful writing”, read some of their stories here.
Not One of Us
Not One of Us is a hard copy digest-sized magazine that publishes stories about people (or things) out of place in their surroundings, outsiders, social misfits, and even aliens in the sci-fi sense. They want to consider this concept from every possible fictional angle: horror, sci-fi, fantasy, slipstream, etc. Click here to look at their submission guidelines. They pay ¼ cent per word (1 cent per four words), with a minimum of $5, payable upon publication, plus one contributor’s copy of the magazine. They also accept poetry and the pay is $5 per poem plus one copy.
Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (or SFPA) is home to speculative poetry. Their official print journal is named Star*Line. They pay 3 cents per word for poetry rounded to the next dollar, with a minimum of $3. Payment also includes a contributor’s copy of the journal. They also read articles related to speculative poetry, and pay 1 cent per word for those, rounded to the next dollar. Scroll down on this page to read their submission requirements.
Space and Time Magazine
Space and Time Magazine has been around for over five decades. They welcome poetry, art and fiction that bend rules, transcend genre and break stereotypes. They want speculative fiction stories that look beyond the horizons into our future. Stories should preferably be up to 5,000 words in length, but they will consider a maximum word count of 10,000. They pay 1 cent per word. Submissions are currently closed, but will open again on June 20, 2021. Submit through their online submissions manager. Click here to look at their submission guidelines.
Starship Sofa
Starship Sofa is a science fiction podcast and they are looking for all types of science fiction stories. You may push the genre’s boundaries as far as it can go, as long as the science fiction element is the backbone of the story. If you were to remove the science fiction from the story, and the story still stands, then it is probably not right for them. Stories must be between 3,000 and 7,000 words in length. They pay $50 flat rate per story. Click here to read their complete submission guidelines.
The Arcanist
The Arcanist is a digital literary magazine that focuses on flash fiction in the sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres. They are looking for stories of 1,000 words or fewer. Pay is 10 cents per word, and you can expect payment before the story goes live. For submission guidelines click here. To read the most recent stories, click here.
The Common Tongue
The Common Tongue is a dark high fantasy magazine and they accept stories of between 600 and 6,000 words in length. Pay is 3 cents per word and they accept work in both English and Spanish. To find out more, look at their guidelines here.
The Future Fire
The Future Fire publishes fiction and poetry that focus on the social-political elements of imaginary, futuristic, fantastic, horrifying, surreal or otherwise speculative universes. They are always open to unthemed submissions of up to 17,500 words (but they mostly publish work of under 7,500 words) and pay $20 for stories of over 1,000 words, and $10 per flash piece of up to 1,000 words. They also accept poetry at $10 per poem of under 100 lines. Click here to read their submission guidelines, and follow the links for fiction and poetry submissions.
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.
