Most literary journals are only intrusted in publishing short stories that are up to 3,000 words in length. So it can be harder for someone who wrote a longer short story to place it in a good home, unless they are publishing a collection of short stories.
The following literary journals are all open to publishing longer short stories, although the specific lengths the journals are looking for does vary. So if you have written one or several short stories that exceeds 3,000 words in length, here are some good options for you.
Some of these publishers open and close to submissions, so if one of your favorite literary journals is not currently accepting submissions, make sure to monitor their website. The journals are listed in no particular order.
1. The Long Story
This is the only literary journal in North America devoted exclusively to publishing long stories. The stories they are looking to publish are between 8,000 and 20,000 words in length. They publish one print issue a year and are open to electronic submissions. They are open to most genres. To learn more, visit their website here: http://www.longstorylitmag.com/longstorylitmag/LongStory.html
2. The Fiction Desk
The Fiction Desk is a UK based print magazine that focuses on publishing short stories between 2,000 and 20,000 words. They pay their authors. They try to respond to all submissions within three months, however if you pay their “voluntary” submission fee your piece will be expedited and they will respond to your submission within two weeks. To learn more read their submission guidelines here: http://www.thefictiondesk.com/submissions/short-story-submission-guidelines.php
3. The Conium Review
The Conium Review publishes fiction of all length from flash fiction (which must be shorter than a 1000 words) to Novellas (that start at 15,000 words and can go up to 40,000). They are an annual print journal (although they have an online compendium it has different requirements). Contributors receive copies of the issue their work appears in. To learn more read their submission guidelines here: http://coniumreview.com/submission-guidelines/
4. NovellaT
NovellaT is an online literary journal that publishes novellas and short stories in a serialized fashion. They came up with this idea when they were based in Boston with the idea of making it easy to read on public transpiration (in Boston their public transportation system is called the T). Each week their subscribers receive a new section of the story. They break down the story into sections after accepting it. Stories should be between 13,000 and 40,000 words in length. To learn more about their submission guidelines visit their website here: http://www.novella-t.com/submit/
5. The Collagist
The Collagist is a respected online literary journal that is published by Dzanc Books. They are open to publishing novellas up to 40,000 words in length. To lean more about their submission process, visit their guidelines here: https://thecollagist.submittable.com/submit
