Trollbreath Magazine is a new online publisher of speculative fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They publish a wide variety of genres and styles: “Our interests are as varied as the endless amount of genres, from dark fantasy to hope punk to surrealism, and everything in between.” But they especially love slipstream and fabulism. They also like experimentation: “Coloring beyond the lines encouraged.”
Trollbreath publishes four issues per year, which are available online to paid subscribers at the beginning of each quarter. Then every Friday throughout the quarter one new story is released for free to the public, until all writing in the issue is publicly available. So far they’ve published one issue featuring writing from 17 contributors.
Trollbreath holds two submission periods each year: from April 1-30th for their September and December issues, and from October 1-31st for their March and June issues. Submitting authors can expect a response within two months. They are also open year-round for nonfiction pitches.
Authors of fiction may submit one short story at a time, 1,500 to 7,500 words (though Trollbreath prefers stories between 4,000 and 5,000 words, so stories in that range are more likely to be published). Trollbreath does accept reprints of short stories that were not previously available online, but they do not accept reprints of stories that are publicly available for free, such as stories published on blogs, free webzines, and podcasts. They pay authors of fiction 4 cents per word for original writing, and ½ cent per word for reprints.
Poets may submit up to three poems in the genre of speculative fiction. Trollbreath does not accept previously published poems. They pay $25 per poem.
Trollbreath also accepts pitches for nonfiction articles about speculative fiction, written for both writers and readers: “We are interested in reviews of all types (movies, novels, video games, writing tools, cons), interviews, constructive criticisms of the movie/publishing/television/media industry, discussion of a current scientific advance, and so on.” They accept nonfiction articles up to 2,500 words, and they pay $40 per published piece.
Trollbreath accepts submissions via email, not online or by post. They do not accept simultaneous submissions, and they do not accept writing created with AI.
Trollbreath only accepts submissions that follow the guidelines they’ve posted online. Please read these guidelines in full before submitting.
If you would like to learn more or submit to Trollbreath, please visit their website here.
Bio: Ella Peary is the pen name for an author, editor, creative writing mentor, and submission consultant. Over the past five years, she’s written hundreds of articles for Authors Publish, and she’s also served as a copywriter and copy editor for a wide range of organizations and individuals. She is the author of The Quick Start Guide to Flash Fiction. She occasionally teaches a course on flash fiction. You can contact her at ellapeary@gmail.com.
