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. They are reading work on the Archives theme.
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. They currently have an open call for reprints of horror fiction that was published/will be published in anthologies/collections in 2020.
Cast of Wonders
This young adult short fiction market, by the publishers of Escape Pod, publishes 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. They are open for submissions through July, but only by young authors.
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.
Mystery Tribune
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.” They are reading for a John Prine themed issue until 7 August 2020, though they are also accepting unthemed submissions.
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 good 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 pay professional rates.
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. They are reading on the ‘Cat People’ theme through 15 September 2020.
This free publication focuses on science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
This is a themed anthology series searching for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender erotic romance with elements of sci-fi and fantasy. This is for authors and readers over 18 only. Also see open calls in other genres by the publisher, Aurealia Leo.
They publish specultive fiction (including fantasy and science fiction) by queer/two-spirit persons of colour/Indigenous/Aboriginal writers. They are a paying market.
An online horror magazine, geared towards adults.
They publish anything speculative, including fantasy and science-fiction in all its forms from space opera to post-apocalyptic YA and the paranormal. They are a print and electronic publication.
They publish and pay for short fiction written by teen and adult authors. They accept most genres of fiction including fantasy of all kinds, sci-fi, literary, action-adventure, or suspense.
They publish “literary adventure fantasy”: stories with a secondary-world setting and some fantasy feel, but written with a literary approach. They pay professional rates.
They publish poetry and fiction in the genres of fantasy, horror and Gothic.
An online journal of speculative fiction that publishes as podcasts.
They pay to publish speculative short stories.
A genre magazine for the Kindle, with a print option. They focus on publishing science fiction, horror, fantasy and crime. They offer a token payment.
They publish clean fiction (think PG), in a wide variety of genres.
They publish speculative short stories and poetry. They pay token rates.
They publish prose, poetry, art, nonfiction, drama, and comics, that pertain to/ are inspired by fairy tales.
They publish a wide variety of fantasy fiction and poetry, and have wonderful covers.
Three Crows Magazine
They publish dark and weird fantasy, horror, and sci-fi, with complex characters making morally ambiguous decisions. They pay.
Teleport Magazine
They publish short fiction, reviews and articles in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror.
Sirus Science Fiction
They publish short stories in the neo-classical science fiction tradition.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, The 2019 Guide to Manuscript Publishers, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The Authors Publish Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Publishing.
She occasionally teaches a course on manuscript publishing, as well as a course on publishing in literary journals.
You can follow her on Facebook here.
