Most literary journals are interested in literary work, by which they mean, not genre work. The definition of genre is a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.
However, in the context of writing, genre can refer to poetry, prose or nonfiction in terms of form. Or it can be a subject matter classification referring to science fiction, romance, mystery, or various other established types of stories.
Most literary journals assume that you will not submit genre work to them, because many don’t consider it to be literary. This leaves many genre writers with fewer options in terms of short story and poetry publication. However, there are journals that just publish genre work.
The majority of these focus on science fiction and mystery. But there are also horror, western, romance, fantasy, thriller, and other genre publishers on this list. We tried to focus on literary journals that specialize, not ones that were open to every genre in the book.
Not all of these literary journals are currently open to submissions but many are. A link to their website or our full review of the publisher is embedded in their name. The genres they accept are mentioned in the brief description.
Unlike most literary journals, the majority of these pay.
The Five-Two
Always open to submissions, this online journal publishes crime poetry.
The Copperfield Review is a literary journal for writers of historical fiction. They pay all their authors.
Lackington’s
Lackington’s is a speculative fiction magazine that focuses in on different themes in each issue. They are a paying market.
Escape Pod
This is an audio science fiction journal that pays.
PodCastle
This is a fantasy audio journal by the publishers of Escape Pod, and pays.
PseudoPod
This is a horror audio journal by the publishers of Escape Pod, and pays.
EnLighten Magazine is a publication for speculative poetry. They accept poetry, including straight horror, of preferably 100 lines or fewer. They offer token pay.
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
This paying and competitive magazine publishes short stories and novellas in the mystery genre.
Cast of Wonders
This young adult short fiction market is open to flash fiction and short stories up to 6,000 words in length. They publish primarily science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They are a paying market and they publish reprints.
This online magazine publishes original mysteries as well as interviews and articles about mysteries.
This literary journal focuses on regularly publishing gritty fiction about crime. They will also consider western, science fiction and maybe fantasy stories, as long as they are gritty.
Asimov’s Science Fiction
Stories in Asimov’s have won many Hugo and Nebula awards. They pay well.
Analog
This is a respected science fiction journal that publishes everything from short stories to novellas. They pay well.
Cowboy Jamboree
They publish short fiction and flash fiction in the western genre, though not traditional western – they describe themselves as a “Grit-lit magazine focused on the rural working class and revisionist western writing.”
Suspense Magazine
All stories must be in the suspense/thriller/mystery/horror genres.
Frontier Tales
They publish western and historical short fiction.
Apex Magazine
Apex Magazine is a beautiful publication that publishes science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They are a paying market.
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
They publish every kind of mystery short story: the psychological suspense tale, the deductive puzzle, the private eye case – the gamut of crime and detection, from the realistic to the more imaginative.
Strange Horizons
They have a very low acceptance rates, pay professional rates, and most importantly, they publish very good stories in the science fiction genre.
They have a very quick response time, sometimes within a day, but often within two weeks. They focus on publishing dark fantasy and horror. They pay professional rates.
Lightspeed
Lightspeed is an established monthly electronic publisher of science fiction and fantasy writing. Many of the works that have been published there have gone on to be nominated for prestigious genre awards, including the Hugo. They pay all of their authors.
This crime and mystery magazine pays their authors.
They publish science fiction and fantasy works in print and eMagazine editions. They are highly respected. They pay professional rates.
Augur Magazine
They want “dream-touched realism, slipstream, fabulism, magical realism and, for lack of a better descriptor, “literary” speculative fiction.” They accept both young adult and adult pieces. They are a paying market.
They accept science fiction, fantasy and supernatural horror works up to 10,000 words in length. They accept poetry and nonfiction works as well. They pay all their authors.
Aphelion Webzine publishes science fiction, fantasy and horror.
This is an online magazine that publishes mystery stories on a monthly basis. Avoid excessive profanity or violence. They are a paying market.
Eye to the Telescope is a quarterly publication for speculative poetry that has been running since 2011. Speculative poetry they publish includes fantasy, science fiction and horror. They pay.
This free publication focuses on science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Emily Harstone is the pen name of an author whose work has been published internationally by a number of respected journals. She is a professional submissions adviser and spends much of her time researching manuscript publishers. You can follow her on Facebook.
