These magazines publish literary fiction. Most also accept other genres, like nonfiction and poetry, and many of them pay. Apart from the journals in this list, some other prestigious ones are also open now, including The New Yorker, One Story, and The Gettysburg Review (which charges for online, but not for mailed submissions). Most, but not all, of the magazines in the list below are open for submissions now.
And for those wishing to submit genre work, please see this list by Emily Harstone.
The Cimarron Review
This is one of the oldest quarterlies in the US, and is published out of the English Department at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. They publish award-winning and emerging writers, and you can read about the magazine here. They publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art. “We are interested in any strong writing of a literary variety, but are especially partial to fiction in the modern realist tradition”. There are no length guidelines, but they seldom publish short-shorts or work longer than 25 pages. They read year-round. Details here and here.
jmww
This is a weekly journal of writing that publishes fiction, poetry, flash, essays, and interviews. For short fiction, “We accept works up to 15 pages double spaced, although 3000 words or fewer usually catches our eye. We like strong characters whose motivations are not always known to us but can be explained within the confines of common sense. We like surprise endings but not gimmicky ones. Any genre is accepted as long as the story is well-crafted.” They have different deadlines for difference genres; flash fiction is closed, and short fiction closes end-May. Details here and here.
Split Lip Magazine
They favor interesting, literary narratives with a modern, pop culture appeal. They publish online monthly and in print annually – flash fiction (and currently, also micro fiction), short stories (up to 3,000 words), memoir, poetry, and art, as well as interviews and reviews (for interviews and reviews, query first via webform – see guidelines). They have both fee-free and paid submissions; May is one of the months when they accept fee-free submissions from all writers – these are sometimes closed earlier than the deadline, if their Submittable cap is reached. Fee-free submissions for all writers are in May, August, September, and November. Fee-free submissions for Black writers are open till end-June. Pay is $50 for web contributions, $5/page for print, $25 for reviews and interviews. They’re also accepting micro submissions of 275 words or fewer for their 10th anniversary issue until 31 May 2022, and pay $75 for these submissions. Details here and here.
Necessary Fiction
They publish fiction, including flash fiction, of up to 3,000 words, as well as translations – see their Submittable page for the list of things they like in stories, including “We’re often fans of the absurd, the off-kilter, and the darkly comic. … We prefer stories that are stories, not static moments or a character’s memories lacking broader context.” They also publish book reviews, interviews, and research notes and translation notes series. Details here (general guidelines) and here (Submittable – fiction guidelines). The deadline is end-May 2022.
Mount Hope
Mount Hope has been published since 2012 out of the creative writing program at Roger Williams University, you can read about it here. They publish fiction (up to 5,000 words), graphic storytelling, nonfiction, and poetry, online and in print. Details here.
The First Line Journal
They want fiction (300-5,000 words) 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.’ Due date: 1 August 2022
Winter: ‘When he died, their father had two requests.’ Due date: 1 November 2022.
Pay is $25-50 for fiction, $25 for nonfiction, $5-10 for poetry (less postage fee for international writers – see guidelines). Details here.
Live Novel Digest
This is an app-based magazine. Apart from the word count (2,000-4,000 words) for short fiction, they say, “Please ensure your submission is suitable for a wide audience.” They also publish Live Novel (open-world, interactive novels). Pay is $100 for short stories. Details here.
StepAway Magazine
This magazine publishes urban flash fiction (up to 1,000 words) and poetry. Their pinned Tweet for the latest submission call says, “StepAway Magazine is eager to receive prose and poetry that evokes the sensory experience of walking through imaginary worlds.” Their website/submission guidelines say, “The title of the magazine draws inspiration from Frank O’ Hara’s landmark flâneur poem, “A Step Away from Them”. Our magazine is hungry for literature that evokes the sensory experience of walking in specific neighborhoods, districts or zones within a city. This is flânerie for the twenty-first century.
Our writers lead our readership through the streets of his or her chosen city.” Details here.
Goatshed Press
This is a new magazine. “We are looking for short stories, flash fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. … We are looking for bold, exciting writing. We want to be surprised, moved and inspired.”
Pay is £25 for poems and flash fiction; £60 for stories and essays (over 1,000 words). Details here. They also said on Twitter that the submission window would be open year-round.
Fictionable
This is a new magazine of fiction (including translations and graphic narratives). Their fist issue is scheduled to be out in June 2022, and you can read about that here. “We’re keen to hear from perspectives that are currently under-represented in English and American letters, and we’re also looking for material written in languages other than English. At the moment we can only commission in English and French, but if you have work in other languages that you think would be right for Fictionable then send us a version in English and we’ll take a look.” Writers are paid upon publication. Details here.
Minola Review
They publish work from writers who identify as women and non-binary. They accept fiction (micro, as well as short fiction up to 5,000 words), nonfiction, poetry, and reviews. Please note, there is a difference in pay rates between their June and September issues for all genres – for the June issue, fiction and nonfiction pay $175, poetry and reviews pay $50; for the September 2022 issue, fiction and nonfiction pay $75, poetry pays $25, and reviews pay $20. The deadline is 31 May 2022. Details here.
HeartWood
This is an alumni-run semi-annual online literary publication in association with the low-residency MFA program at West Virginia Wesleyan College. They publish fiction (flash, short, and novel excerpts, up to 3,000 words), nonfiction, and poetry. “We are interested in writing that pushes into, dares to reveal, its own truth, that takes emotional risks, that gets to the heart of the matter.” The deadline is 30 June 2022. Details here and here.
The Bombay Literary Magazine
They are open for short fiction (2,000-7,000 words), and poetry. Nonfiction, translations, and reviews are currently commissioned, they do not want unsolicited submissions of those. They are primarily India-based, but take submissions from all over the world. Pay is INR5,000/approximately $65, per contributor. The deadline is 31 May 2022. Details here.
Mud Season Review
They accept submissions of fiction (up to 6,000 words), nonfiction, and poetry. “We seek deeply human work that will teach us something about life, but also about the craft of writing or visual art, and work that is original in its approach and that in some way moves us.” They have both fee-free and paid categories. Their next submission period is 1-30 June 2022. Certain categories may close early, depending on volume. Pay is $50. Details here.
Broken Pencil
This is a Canadian publication of zine culture and independent arts. They accept fiction submissions (up to 3,000 words) via Submittable. They want “works of fiction from diverse writers (broadly defined) that conform to no principles, no guidelines, and no preconceptions. We want work that is quirky, surprising, moving, and raw. … Please, no COVID-19 pandemic stories or poorly veiled anti-vax allegories.” They accept pitches for nonfiction. They do not publish poetry.
Pay is CAD60-120 for fiction. Details here (general guidelines) and here (fiction guidelines and Submittable).
Hermine
This is a print-only annual magazine of fiction, and they open periodically for submissions. Pay is CAD50-200 for stories up to 4,000 words. Details here.
Bodega
This magazine publishes digital issues on the first Monday of every month (except January), featuring fiction (up to 3,000 words), nonfiction, poetry, and occasional interviews by established and emerging writers. “We’re here to give you a handful of essential pieces you can digest in one sitting.” 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.
The Boiler
This magazine publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. For fiction, they want submissions “that display commonalities in the human spirit which derive from an human ideal. Whether those commonalities display loss, defeat, triumph, humor, abandonment, fortitude, etc. We admire duality of character, conflict and unique personality. The reading period is 15 June-15 August 2022. Details here.
AGNI
This magazine is housed at Boston University. It is printed twice yearly, and they also have an online edition and you can read more about them here. “A very small portion of each is reprinted on this site, but you’ll also find a trove of writing published exclusively online, including categories like reviews and interviews that we tend not to feature in “the print.”… We’re especially proud when we can lay claim to being the first to publish a new writer or translator.” They publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Pay is $20 per printed page of prose, and $40 per page of poetry, up to $300. They now charge for online submissions, but postal submissions are free. The deadline is 31 May 2022. Details here.
Nashville Review
This literary magazine publishes fiction (flash, short fiction, and novel excerpts, up to 8,000 words), nonfiction, poetry, translations, and comics. They have reading periods for all genres (apart from comics, which are open year-round) – January, May, and September. Category-wise submissions may close earlier than the deadline, if volume demands. Pay is $100, and the deadline is 31 May 2022, or until filled. Details here.
Singapore Unbound: SUSPECT
Their website says, “SUSPECT grew out of SP Blog, the blog of the NYC-based literary non-profit Singapore Unbound.” They want literary fiction, poetry, essays, and any kind of writings that do not fall into these categories, written or translated into English by authors who identify as Asian. They also publish reviews of books by Asian authors and interviews with Asian writers and artists. Pay is $100. Details here (scroll down).
Toasted Cheese Literary Journal
This journal was founded in 2021 by a group of Canadian and American women writers. They publish work from writers all over the world – fiction (flash and short, up to 5,000 words), nonfiction, poetry, and reviews. They read submissions through the year, with seasonal cut-off dates; for the September issue, the deadline is 30 June 2022. Details here.
(They also run some fee-free contests; currently they’re reading submissions for A Midsummer Tale Narrative Writing Contest, writers can submit literary fiction or creative nonfiction; the theme is The End – “write about a personal ending that ties into a concurrent cataclysmic event and together feel like the end of the world for your protagonist. Your story must be set during the hot summer months and the theme must play an integral role in the story”, the deadline is 21 June 2022, and prizes are Amazon gift cards.)
Jaggery
They publish fiction, essays and interviews, poetry, and reviews. The magazine “connects South Asian diasporic writers and homeland writers; we also welcome non-South Asians with a deep and thoughtful connection to South Asian countries, who bring their own intersecting perspectives to the conversation. (By South Asia we mean Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.) Our hope with Jaggery is to create a journal that offers the best writing by and about South Asians and their diaspora”, according to their guidelines. They pay $100 for fiction and $25 for other genres. The reading period is 15 May to 17 July 2022. Details here.
Ploughshares
Ploughshares is the literary magazine housed at Emerson College in Boston. They publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Pay is $45/page, up to $450. Their reading period is usually 1 June to 15 January annually. Non-subscribers are charged for online submissions, but there is no fee for mailed submissions. Details here and here.
(At the time of writing, they were also open for blog pitches. They publish Solos and Look2 Essays, too. All of these pay.)
The FictionWeek Literary Review
They publish fiction, including selections from novels, of up to 5,000 words. They want new innovative and/or postmodern fiction; you can read the magazine here. They also publish poetry and essays/book reviews. Details here.
Antithesis: Tender
Antithesis is an Australian literary magazine and they’re accepting work on the ‘Tender’ theme. They publish nonfiction (pitch first), fiction, poetry, and artwork, including graphic narrative. They have extensive guidelines on the theme. They want “diverse voices that showcase what tenderness looks like in 2022 and beyond. What can we learn from the past, and what can we change for the future?” Pay is AUD50 for contributors to the print magazine, and the final submission deadline is 12 June 2022. There is no pay for blog submissions. Details here (general guidelines) and here (Submittable).
HOAX
This magazine publishes creative writing and art, and all work must incorporate text in some way. Online submissions are meant to be displayed on the site, and they also accept work for the print version. They ask contributors to read their background and principles before submitting. They do not want reviews, articles, or nonfiction. Currently, they publish one piece weekly online, and biannually in print. Pay is £50. Details here and here.
The Citron Review
Their tagline is, ‘A Journal of Brief Literature’. They publish micros (up to 100 words) as well as flash-length fiction (up to 1,000 words). They also publish creative nonfiction and poetry. Their reading period is 1 February to 6 December, and submissions may close periodically each month when the Submittable limit is reached. Details here and here.
Channel
This Ireland-based journal publishes fiction (up to 6,000 words), nonfiction, and poetry with an environmentalist perspective, from all over the world. They want work that engages with the natural world, and they have a particular interest in work which encourages reflection on human interaction with plant and animal life, landscape and the self. They also accept translations. Pay is €50/page of prose up to €150, and €50/poem. The deadline is 15 June 2022. Details here.
Neon: Machines
They publish fiction, poetry, comics, and photography. You can read more about them here – “We publish creative work that is fantastic or surreal, and which crosses the boundaries between science-fiction, horror and literary fiction.” They prefer darker pieces, “especially those with an element of the surreal or speculative, but are open to anything and like to be surprised.” They are reading submissions on the Machines theme until 15 January 2023, and pay £0.02/word for fiction. Details here.
Story Radio Podcast
This is a monthly podcast “dedicated to celebrating the literary short story and all things bookish.” Send stories of 1,500-2,500 words. Details here.
The Molotov Cocktail
This is a flash fiction magazine – send work up to 1,000 words. “interested in volatile flash fiction, the kind of prose you cook up in a bathtub and handle with rubber gloves. While literary fiction is certainly welcomed, The Molotov Cocktail isn’t some erudite journal that will only accept stories with at least five layers of metaphor. We want your action, we want your rotten characters, we want viscera.” They have detailed guidelines on the kind of work they want, and on what they do not want. Details here.
CRAFT Literary
They publish fiction (micro, flash, and short), creative nonfiction, as well as critical writing and interviews. Pay is $100 for flash fiction and creative nonfiction, $200 for short fiction and creative nonfiction, and $50 to $100 for original craft content. For BIPOC and other underrepresented authors, they have a fast responses form – this was open at the time of writing. Details here and here.
Emerge Literary Journal
They publish flash fiction (up to 750 words) and creative nonfiction, as well as poetry. They’ll consider most genres, except horror and erotica, so long as the piece has literary undertones. They also have an Esperanza Corner: “Emerge Literary Journal believes that #mentalillnessawareness and #endingthestigma are of paramount importance. We believe in the necessity of sharing our mental illness stories to facilitate writing through illness and create broader awareness. We aim to publish and showcase work in this category in each issue.” They also accept work for scissor & spackle, “your experimental & odd & bizarre poetry and flash”. They pay $5. Details here and here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
