Written by S. Kalekar May 8th, 2025

5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in May 2025

These magazines pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They are a mix of literary and genre magazines. Not all of them are open through the month.

Goblins & Galaxies
This is a new magazine and they have opened a brief, one-week submission period, from 7th to 14th May 2025. They want sword & sorcery, dark fantasy, and science fiction stories. They accept artwork year-round.
Deadline: See above
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $0.03/word
Details here and here.

Tableware Magazine
This is a new print magazine. They want “art, poetry, fiction, essays, photography, reviews. Most anything you can print on paper.”
Deadline: 15 May 2025
Length: Up to 15 pages for writing (see guidelines)
Pay: $50
Details here.

Baltimore Review
They publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Some editor preferences are in the bios on their Staff page, and some guidelines are on their Submittable page. Please note, fiction submissions may be capped, so may close earlier than the deadline. There are other opportunities listed too on Submittable, please be sure to submit in the correct one.
Deadline: 31 May 2025, or until filled
Length: Up to 5,000 words for prose, up to 3 poems
Pay: $50 (via a gift certificate or PayPal, if preferred)
Details here and here.

(And, AGNI charges for online submissions, but postal submissions are still free. They publish fiction, nonfiction, and poetry – send up to 5 poems. They pay $30/page for prose, $50/page for poetry, up to $300, and the deadline is 31 May 2025; details here. )

Escape Artists: Escape Pod
Escape Pod is an online magazine and podcast for science fiction. “We are fairly flexible on what counts as science (superheroes! steampunk! space opera! time travel!) and are interested in exploring the range of the genre. We want stories that center science, technology, future projections, and/or alternate history, and how any or all of these things impact individuals and society.
Escape Pod leans in the direction of escapism, hopepunk and optimism rather than grimdark and gloom.” They also accept translations. They’re currently also open for novelette reprints (see here)
Deadline: 31 May 2025 (see schedule)
Length: 1,500-6,000 words for original stories, 1,500 – 7,500 words for sort story reprints; and 7500 to 18,000 words for novelette reprints
Pay: $0.08/word for original fiction; $100-175 for novelette reprints
Details here and here.

(– And, Three-Lobed Burning Eye is accepting submissions of speculative fiction: horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction. They also accept translations. Pay is $0.08/word for stories of 500-7,499 words, and the deadline is 15 May 2025; details here and here.

— Also, speculative fiction magazine Strange Horizons will open for novelette submissions of 10,000-18,000 words on 4th June, and will stay open until a cap is reached. They usually pay $0.10/word, see their general fiction guidelines are here. Their submission portal will open during the reading period.)

Poetry Magazine
This prestigious magazine, run by the Poetry Foundation, publishes various kinds of poetry, poetry translations, and poetry-related prose. They have detailed guidelines for each section, please read them carefully. They close for submissions from June 15 to September 15 annually. 
Deadline: See above
Length: Up to 4 poems, 1,500-2,500 words for prose
Pay: $10/line for text poems, $400-600 for visual and video poems, and $250/page for poetry-related prose
Details here and here.


Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.

 

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