These markets are scheduled to open for brief submission periods in June 2020 (and one is open now). They accept fiction, and most will accept other genres as well, like nonfiction and poetry. Also, most of these are submission periods that will recur monthly. And though these submission windows are announced on their websites, it is a good idea to check for any potential updates to these before submitting, in these uncertain times.
Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores
This speculative fiction magazine publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and artwork. They publish science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form; see guidelines for the hard sells, and the kind of stories they won’t accept. They also accept reprints of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They have changed their submission schedule from quarterly to once a month. Submissions will be open for the first two days every month (EST), starting June 2020.
Reading period: 1-2 June 2020
Length: Anywhere from 1,000 words and up for fiction (shorter works favored); unspecified for others
Pay: $0.06/word for fiction, $0.02-0.06/word for nonfiction, $1/line for poetry up to 40 lines (lower for longer poems)
Details here.
Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine
This is a fairy tale themed magazine, which will publish one story and two non-fiction pieces every month. The theme for fiction for the entire year is Angels, and the nonfiction can be on any fairy tale related theme. Fiction guidelines say, “Angels may figure big or small in your story, and other otherworldly figures like fairies may be substituted, but, overall, the entire fiction year will feature winged entities, with angels being preferred, but not absolutely essential. So don’t send me a story without an otherworldly winged entity in it.” Also, the essence of classic fairy tales should be maintained in stories. Writers can retell a classical tale, or write an entirely new fairy tale from scratch. Happy endings are preferred, but not essential. No sci-fi, dystopian, erotica, high fantasy, excessive world building, time-travel, futuristic, space travel, western, love triangles, or children’s stories. For nonfiction, writers can explore any aspect of fairy tale culture. Scattering several links to outside sources throughout the essay is a good idea. Submission windows are scheduled to open for 72 hours at the beginning of every month (EST), starting 1 June 2020.
Reading period: 1-3 June (for July 2020)
Length: 1,200-2,500 words for fiction; 900-1,200 words for nonfiction
Pay: $100 for fiction; $50 for nonfiction
Details here.
Prairie Fire: Living in a House on Fire
This Canadian literary magazine accepts fiction, creative nonfiction, essays and poetry from writers in Canada and elsewhere and currently they are reading work on the ‘Living in a House of Fire’ themed issue (and unlike other calls in this list, this one is open currently; it will close early in June). Their guidelines say, “Many of us have experienced grief, anxiety and despair around the various outcomes of climate change–fire season, melting glaciers, declining bee populations, droughts, species collapse. Most recently our ways of being in the world have been radically challenged by the COVID-19 global pandemic, the cause of which could be linked to how industrialized farming has contributed to changing our disease ecology. So, how do we, as citizens of this planet, live in a house on fire?
Prairie Fire invites submissions of fiction, creative non-fiction essays and poetry that explore the topic of living in our current time of tremendous uncertainty. We believe that taking on the task of articulating the affective consequences of climate change will help countless others as they find their own language for inevitable loss.” They are also reading unthemed work – this can be emailed until 30 June, after which they will reevaluate.
Deadline: 5 June for themed; 30 June 2020 for unthemed
Length: Up to 5,000 words for prose or up to 3 poems for themed issue; up to 10,000 words or up to 6 poems for general
Pay: CAD0.10/word, capped at CAD250 for fiction, CAD50-250 for other prose, CAD40/poem
Details here (themed call), here (general submission guidelines) and here (contributor rates).
Scum
This Australian magazine is interested in publishing feminist-friendly fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. They accept work from 1st to 7th of every month.
Reading period: 1-7 June 2020
Length: Up to 2,000 words for prose, up to 50 lines for poetry (max 3 poems)
Pay: AUD60
Details here.
Night Shift Radio: The Storyteller Series
This podcast has The Storyteller Series and they choose two stories to publish each month. One story will be chosen for the Full Cast Audiobook treatment; that author will receive $50 for audio rights and non-exclusive print rights. A second piece will be chosen for their mid-month print only piece. The author of that piece will be offered $25. They publish fiction, nonfiction, memoir – anything that reads with tension and excitement. They read work from 21st-28th of each month.
Reading period: 21-28 June 2020
Length: 7,000-10,000 words
Pay: $25, $50 (see guidelines)
Details here (episodes) and here (guidelines).
Author Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.
