Being a fantasy writer isn’t easy, and it’s not just the writing part (although that’s some of it. Writing is always hard). It’s also the fact that a lot of journals don’t take fantasy or speculative things. I have spent hours upon hours researching places to send my work to. I thought it might be helpful to others if I threw down a master post of journals that take this sort of thing, so you can benefit from all the free time I seem to have. Not all of them accept submissions all of the time, so you will still need to keep your ear to the ground.
I’m updating as I go along, every few months or so. If you know of a journal I haven’t listed, send the info along and I’ll post it. I want this thing to be as comprehensive as possible, and as up-to-date as possible. I’m trying only to list active markets, which is a moving target…
I also think I should discuss how I’m qualifying my categories. Professional rates are $0.06 per word as defined by the SWFA, and 2 sales at that rate qualify you for membership unless otherwise stated. “Paying Well” is something I’m defining myself as being $0.05 per word or less but likely to make you $50 or more for a 2,500 word story (which I think is pretty average for a short story), or that there is a flat fee payment that is over $50. “Paying Not A Lot” means that you are likely to make under $50 on the sale of a 2,500 word story, with some places offering only a token payment (such as $5 or something). “Paying Nothing,” I would hope, is self-explanatory. Professional, Well, and Nothing are listed by response time (from shortest to longest), and Not A Lot is listed in order of compensation (from most to least).
Now on to the list of Journals, and happy submitting!
Paying Professional Rates:
- Clarkesworld Magazine (response time: a few days/2 weeks) –http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/submissions/
- Lightspeed Magazine (response time: a few days/2 weeks) –http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/about/guidelines/
- Uncanny Magazine (response time: 2 weeks) – http://uncannymagazine.com/submissions/
- Fantastic Stories of the Imagination (response time: 2 weeks) –http://www.fantasticstoriesoftheimagination.com/submission-guidelines/
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (response time: 2 weeks+) – http://submissions.ccfinlay.com/fsf/
- Liminal Magazine (response time: under 1 month) – http://liminalstoriesmag.com/submissions
- Apex Magazine (response time: 1 month) – http://www.apex-magazine.com/submission-guidelines
- Heliotrope Magazine (response time: 1 month) – http://www.heliotropemag.com/submission-guidelines/
- Strange Horizons (response time: 3-5 weeks) – http://www.strangehorizons.com/Guidelines.shtml
- Beneath Ceaseless Skies (response time: 4-6 weeks) – http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/submissions/
- Asimov’s Science Fiction (response time: 5 weeks, takes fantasy if it’s not sword and sorcery) – http://www.asimovs.com/contact-us/writers-guidelines/
- Intergalactic Medicine Show (response time: 3 months) – http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=content&article=submissions
- L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest (response time: 3 months) –http://www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest/
- Podcastle Magazine (response time: 3 months) – http://podcastle.org/guidelines/
- Unlikely Story Magazine (response time: 3 months+, themed) – http://www.unlikely-story.com/submission-guidelines/fiction-submissions/
- Cicada Magazine (response time: 3-6 months, but pays a TON) –https://cricketmag.submittable.com/submit/17820
- Tor.com (response time: 3-7 months, but pays a TON) – http://www.tor.com/submissions-guidelines/
- Evil Girlfriend Media (response time: unknown) – http://www.evilgirlfriendmedia.com/submissions/
- Weird City Magazine (response time: unknown) – https://weirdcitypress.submittable.com/submit
- Urban Fantasy (response time: unknown) – http://urbanfantasymagazine.com/submission-guidelines/
- Aliterate Magazine (response time: unknown, not yet a SFWA qualifying market) – https://www.aliterate.org/submit.html
- Persistent Visions (response time: unknown, not yet a SFWA qualifying market) – https://persistentvisionsmag.com/guidelines
Paying Well:
- Betwixed Magazine (response time: 2 weeks) – http://betwixtmagazine.com/submissions/
- Shimmer Magazine (response time: 3 weeks) – http://www.shimmerzine.com/guidelines/fiction-guidelines/
- Capricious Magazine (response time: up to 4 weeks) – http://www.capricioussf.org/submissions/
- Third Flatiron (response time: 8 weeks, themed issues) – http://www.thirdflatiron.com/liveSite/pages/submissions
- Red Sun Magazine (response time: up to 3 months, likes war stories) – http://redsunmagazine.com/guidelines/
- Abyss and Apex Magazine (response time: 6 months) – http://www.abyssapexzine.com/submissions
- Fiction Vortex Magazine (response time: unknown) – http://www.fictionvortex.com/submissions/submit-a-short-story/
- Fantastic Frontiers Magazine (response time: unknown) –http://www.fantasticfrontiersmagazine.com/submissions.html
- On Spec Magazine (response time: unknown) – https://onspecmag.wordpress.com/submissions/
- T. Gene Davis’ Speculative Fiction Blog (response time: 2 months) – http://freesciencefiction.com/submission-guidelines/
- Farstrider Magazine (response time: unknown) – http://www.farstridermag.com/submit.html
Paying Not a Lot:
- Ideomancer ($40/story – response time: 1 month) – http://www.ideomancer.com/?page_id=20
- Diabolical Plots ($30/story – response time: 1 month) – http://www.diabolicalplots.com/guidelines/
- Hub Magazine (£25/story – response time 4 months) – http://www.hubfiction.com/submissions/
- Another Realm ($25/story – response time: unknown, but could be lengthy) –http://anotherealm.com/guidelines/
- Lakeside Circus ($0.02/word, 2500 words MAX – response time: 2 months) –http://lakesidecircus.com/submissions/
- New Myths ($0.015/word or $30 – response time: up to 3 months) – https://sites.google.com/a/newmyths.com/nmwebsite/submissions
- Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine ($.0125/word – response time: unknown) – http://www.andromedaspaceways.com/submissions/submission-guidelines/
- Fantasy Scroll Magazine ($0.01/word – response time: 2 months) – http://fantasyscrollmag.com/submissions/
- Lackington’s ($0.01/word or $25 – response time: unknown, themed issues) – https://lackingtons.com/submissions/
- Otter Libris Press ($25 – response time: unknown. Themed anthologies) – http://otterlibris.com/open-projects/
- Leading Edge Magazine ($.01/word – response time: “several months,” I’ve currently been waiting 8) – http://www.leadingedgemagazine.com/?page_id=31
- Story Quest Magazine ($15/story – response time up to: 8 weeks) – https://sqmag.com/submissions/
- The Lorelai Signal/Mystic Signals ($7.50/story – response time up to: 2 months) –http://www.loreleisignal.com/Guidelines.htm
- Fey Publishing (varies, but $5/story usually – response time: 2 months) – http://www.feypublishing.com/submissions.html
- Empyreome (a quarter of a cent/word – response time: 2 weeks) – http://empyreome.com/submissions.aspx
Paying Nothing/Unknown:
- Bewildering Stories (response time: 4 weeks) – http://www.bewilderingstories.com/submissions.html
- Interzone Magazine (response time: unknown) – http://ttapress.com/1710/interzone-now-open-to-online-submissions/ Note: this magazine has a good reputation of being semi-pro, but won’t list their rates (although I’ve seen on message boards that they’re still paying kinda well?) No info means they get relegated to the “Unknown” category, though.
- Othergate Magazine (response time: unknown) – http://othergate.umwblogs.org/faq/
- Planet Magazine (response time: unknown) – http://www.planetmagazine.com/blog/submission-guidelines/
Casey E. Hamilton 