These magazines publish flash fiction; a few also publish micros. Many of them publish longer work too, as well as other genres, like nonfiction and poetry. Most, but not all, of these are open for submissions now. They are a mix of genre and literary outlets, and listed in no particular order.
The Offing
They publish various genres, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. This Twitter thread has details of what the fiction editors are looking for, including: “”I’m looking for stories and flash pieces with a strong sense of place and fully embodied in whatever world they inhabit. I want to walk these streets, however grounded or fantastical! Especially interested in emerging and debut writers!” At the time of writing, they were also open for art, back of the envelope (writing that draws from the natural world), comics, micro, and translations; there was no deadline specified for these genres. Flash and other fiction submissions are open until 1 August 2022. Pay is $25-100. Details here.
101 Words
They want stories of exactly 101 words. Stories selected for Flash Fiction Magazine anthologies get $10; there is no payment for stories on the website. Writers can submit one story a month. Details here and here.
Fantasy Magazine
This magazine publishes fantasy and dark fantasy stories. They also welcome work previously rejected by their sister publications, Lightspeed and Nightmare magazines. Essays are by invitation only, though they do accept essay pitches. They also publish poetry. Length guidelines are up to 1,500 words for flash fiction, and 1,500-7,500 words for short fiction (up to 5,000 words preferred). Pay is $0.08/word for fiction, $10/poem, and $75/essay. They plan to open for submissions by BIPOC writers through 2022, and their next submission windows for all writers will be 21-27 July (dates subject to change). Details here.
The Maul
This is a new magazine and they’re reading for Issue Zero. They want stories (100-3,000 words), comics, and art – horror and other speculative fiction for younger readers. They have detailed guidelines, including, “…even though our target audience skews younger, we’re really just looking for great writing. Our focus is on horror but we’ll take other genres. In fact, the editors prefer stories that are a mix of genres. You’re more likely to be published if you give us fantasy or sci-fi mixed with horror. We’ll also take literary work, though please realize that, given our clientele and organizational goals, it can be a hard sell.” They also accept reprints. They take submissions from writers under 18 as well, though there’s no payment for these. Pay is $0.08/word for fiction, and the deadline is 31 July 2022. Details here.
Etherea Magazine
This journal, established in July 2021, is seeking fantasy and science fiction short stories. “We are not too interested in horror or grimdark, however every submission is read and considered on its merits.” Also, “We are an Australian publication, and have dedicated ourselves to publishing a minimum of 25% Australian content.” They also accept reprints, and will consider completed serials (see guidelines). Length guidelines are 500-1,000 words for flash fiction, and 2,000-5,000 words for short fiction. Pay is AUD25 for flash fiction, and AUD100 for short fiction. Details here.
Flash Fiction Online
They publish flash fiction, 500-1,000 words, literary as well as across many genres. They also accept reprints. Pay is $80 for originals, and $0.02/word for reprints. They are open from the 1st to 21st of every month, or when they hit their Submittable cap for the month. Submissions are open for all months, except December. Details here.
Midnight & Indigo
They publish work by Black women writers only. They are currently looking for short character-driven fiction in all genres, as well as speculative fiction, and first-person POV narrative and personal essays. Length guidelines are minimum 1,500 words for fiction, and minimum 1,200 words for nonfiction. Pay is $0.07/word for short fiction; $100 for speculative fiction published online, and $200 for speculative fiction published in other formats; and $100 for essays. The deadline is 30 July 2022. Details here.
10 by 10 Flash
This magazine debuted in June 2022, and they’ve published two issues so far. Send one unpublished story of 500 words or fewer. They accept rolling submissions; as soon as they select 10 stories, they will publish an issue. Details here.
Epoch Magazine
This magazine is associated with Cornell University. They accept short-shorts to novella-length fiction, as well as essays, poetry, art, and comics. Online submissions are charged, and accepted only during the months of January and August; however, they do have one fee-free submission weekend during each of these months. There is no fee for mailed submissions; for these, the submission period is August to March. Pay depends on funding, and currently is $100-500. Details here and here.
SmokeLong Quarterly
They publish flash narratives–fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid–up to 1,000 words, and pay $50 for these. They also publish reviews, craft essays, submissions in Spanish, French, and German, and art. Details here.
The Citron Review
This is a journal of brief literature. They publish micros (100-word pieces across all genres), flash fiction and nonfiction (up to 1,000 words), as well as poetry. They read submissions February 1st – December 6th, but some categories can close periodically. Details here and here.
Factor Four Magazine
They want flash speculative fiction — science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, super hero, or any combination of these, of up to 1,000 words. Pay is $0.11/word. They also accept artwork. Details here.
The First Line Journal
They want fiction and poetry that begins with pre-set first lines, one for each quarterly issue. For nonfiction, they want critical articles about your favorite first line from a literary work. For fiction and poetry, the first lines are:
Fall: ‘Lily unlocked the back door of the thrift store using a key that didn’t belong to her.’ Deadline: 1 August 2022
Winter: ‘When he died, their father had two requests.’ Deadline: 1 November 2022.
Length guidelines are 300-5,000 words for fiction, and 500-800 words for nonfiction. Pay is $25-50 for fiction, $25 for nonfiction, $5-10 for poetry (less postage fee for international writers, should they want a print contributor copy – see guidelines). Details here.
The Chestnut Review
They publish prose, poetry, hybrid work, and art. Some categories have a submission fee, but flash submissions, of up to 1,000 words, are free. Pay is $120. They have ongoing submissions, with cut-off dates for issues; during the 1 July-30 September submission period, they read for the Winter issue. Details here and here.
Paper Butterfly Flash Fiction
They publish flash fiction, of up to 1,000 words. They accept science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, humour, western, mystery, literary, and any variation or combination thereof. Watch for their next reading period. Details here.
ShortStory Substack
They want a story, of 6 words to 10,000 words, in any genre. They publish one story a month. Send a story by the month-end, and the winner is announced on the 15th of the following month. They also accept reprints. Pay is $100, and 50% of subscription revenue. You can read more about their rules and guidelines here, and they also post the previous month’s stats, which includes payout.
Janus Literary
“We are interested in quality fiction, imposing no restrictions on genre with the exception of children’s literature and erotica.” They publish micros, of 50-250 words, and flash, of 251-700 words, both fiction and creative nonfiction. They plan to open in October; they have a Submittable cap, so it may be a good idea to submit early during the reading period. Details here.
Trampset
This is a Medium-based publication. They publish short fiction of up to 3,000 words (including flash, micro, and excerpts from longer works), nonfiction (personal essays, flash CNF, and cultural criticism), and poetry. They have both free and tip jar submissions. Pay is $25. Details here and here.
Spark Flash Fiction
“Spark provides flash fiction romance and women’s fiction stories under 1,000 words. We want stories that will grab the reader and put a lil’ spark in their day.” They want stories of 300-1,000 words. They accept romance (any time period), romantic suspense, and women’s fiction. YA in these genres is also accepted. See their upcoming themes. Details here.
Apogee
This award-winning magazine is “a journal of literature and art that engages with identity politics, including but not limited to: race, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and intersectional identities. We are a biannual publication featuring fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art, as well as a digital platform for reviews, interviews, flash, and more.” Contributors to Apogee get $50-100. They are accepting nonfiction, fiction, and poetry during July for the journal. Please note, for fiction, you have to read what the editors look for and complete a Submitter Form, apart from submitting a manuscript (see guidelines). Details here and here. Details of flash submissions (up to 1,000 words, pays $50), interview and review pitches are here.
Flash Frontier: Wonder
This NZ-based magazine is open for international fiction submissions, of up to 250 words, for some issues; for the next such issue, the theme is Wonder, and the deadline is 30 November 2022. Details here.
Stanchion
Their website says, “Launched amid the tumultuous summer of ’20, Stanchion is a quarterly zine, printed on thick, elegant uncoated A5 paper and featuring short stories, flash fiction, poetry, one-act plays, evocative thoughts, drawings, and black & white photography”. Pay is $10. Watch for their next submission period. Details here.
Variant Lit
Their website says, “Variant Literature is a small, nonprofit press and magazine committed to publishing diverse voices at all stages of their careers. We strive to be a press that fully supports our writers in carving paths for their work outside of big publishing.” They publish poetry (closed now), fiction, and nonfiction, of up to 15 pages. If submitting flash, you can submit up to 3 pieces. They are reading through end-July. Details here.
Bright Flash Literary Review
They publish flash (50-1,500 words), short fiction, creative non-fiction, and memoir. Details here and here.
The Suburban Review: Weeds
This Australian publication wants submissions on the Weeds theme. They want fiction and nonfiction of 500-2,500 words, poetry, and art. Pay is AUD150-275 for prose, and AUD125-275 for poetry. The deadline is 3 August 2022. Details here and here.
Ghost Parachute
They want unapologetically bold writing. Their website says, “We want to read a story unlike any other story we’ve read before. It’s easy to view the world in black and white, so Ghost Parachute paints a streak of gray. Great stories don’t ride the popular, easy narrative, and great characters are often impossible to love yet we love them anyway. We aim to unleash the spider behind the rose and dance in the surreal.” At the time of writing, they were open for flash fiction submissions, of up to 1,000 words. Details here and here.
Paragraph Planet
They want submissions that are 75 words long. “Your submission can be a short story, an extract from a novel or the capturing of a moment. The main rule is that it needs to be EXACTLY 75 words long including the title. (All submissions are formatted as one paragraph – see the home page – so it helps if you submit that way.)” Details here.
Bleed Error
Bleed Error is Paradox Ghost Press’s flagship horror anthology/magazine, publishing biannually. “We’re looking for predominantly horror short stories, flash fiction, and poetry, but they can run the gamut of everything from absurdism to bizarre (and terrifying) science-fiction to unsettling dark fantasy. We love the uncanny; what we look for is the telling drop in your stomach when you absently look up at the skies and there are far more constellations than you’d remembered, brighter and closer and in configurations you don’t quite recall. We want stories about the bleed error of the universe printing outside the margins of reality.
We are interested in stories with LGBTQ2S+ and diverse leads, especially with narratives that are not confined to tragedy tropes.”
Pay is $0.01/word for fiction, and $15/poem. Submissions close 1 September 2022. Details here.
Three-Lobed Burning Eye
This is a speculative fiction magazine. They want “Original speculative fiction: horror, fantasy, science fiction. We’re looking for short stories from across the big classifications and the shadowed places between: magical realism, fantastique, slipstream, interstitial, and the weird tale. We will consider suspense or western, though we prefer it contain some speculative element. We like voices that are full of feeling, from literary to pulpy, with styles unique and flowing, but not too experimental.” They also welcome translations. Length guidelines are: up to 1,000 words for flash fiction; 1,001-7,500 words for short stories (2,000-5,000 preferred). Pay is $30 for flash, and $100 for short fiction. Details here.
Fictive Dream
Their website says, “We chose our name with more than just a backward glance to American writer and teacher John Gardner whose concept of the fictive dream remains a cornerstone of good writing. Powerful writing ensures that readers never slip out of the fictional world or dream that a writer creates. This is the sort of writing we’re looking to promote here at Fictive Dream.
If you write fiction with a contemporary feel that gives an insight into the human condition, then we’d like to hear from you.” Send stories of 500-2,500 words. They read submissions throughout the year. Details here.
Limelight Review
They Limelight Review is more inclined to uplift the voices of marginalized/disabled/neurodivergent writers, but will consider submissions from everybody. Writers must be 13+ to submit. They accept fiction (up to 1,500 words), creative nonfiction, and poetry. They will accept submissions until 1 August 2022 (see the pinned Tweet). They are reading for their pilot issue, which is unthemed. Details here.
Orion’s Belt
This magazine publishes flash speculative fiction and poetry, of up to 1,200 words. They have extensive guidelines on the kind of stories they want and do not want, including, “All stories must contain significant speculative elements. This does not mean all sci-fi stories must have lasers and rockets. It just means a non-speculative story doesn’t become speculative if you include a single line clarifying the story takes place on Mars.” They are also open for artwork. Pay is $0.08/word, and the deadline is 1 September 2022. Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
