Looking for a way of group comes with the territory of being a author. Whether or not you’re searching for the fitting writing contests or residencies, it’s laborious to know the place to start and how one can discover the fitting dwelling to your private work.
However right here’s the excellent news: You may lastly cease stressing about the place and how one can submit your quick tales — we compiled an inventory for you.
On this information, you’ll discover 30+ magazines and literary journals that publish quick fiction (and nonfiction). Our record contains a mixture of publications throughout varied genres and kinds, starting from prestigious, extremely aggressive choices to these particularly in search of new and rising voices.
Plus, worldwide writers, a variety of these are open to you, too!
30 Retailers that Publish Brief Tales
Whereas we’ll provide you with a quick concept of the flavour of every journal and web site, you’ll undoubtedly wish to spend some time studying your goal publications earlier than submitting to develop into accustomed to the form of items they like.
Many of those submissions settle for authentic submissions which are concurrently submitted elsewhere. Simply ensure that to withdraw your submitted submissions for those who get your story printed!
Able to get began? Right here’s the place to submit quick tales:
1. The New Yorker
Would possibly as properly begin with a bang, proper? Including publication in The New Yorker to your portfolio places you in an entire new league, although it received’t be straightforward. Creator David. B. Consolation calculated the chances of acceptance at 0.0000416 %!
It accepts each commonplace quick fiction in addition to humorous quick fiction for the “Shouts & Murmurs” part. No phrase counts are talked about, although a fast scan of the column exhibits most items are 600 to 1,000 phrases.
Deadline: Open.
Cost: Big bragging rights; pay for unsolicited submissions isn’t specified. As of this put up’s publication, no charges particularly for brief tales.
2. The Atlantic
One other extremely revered journal, The Atlantic publishes each large names and rising writers in fiction and nonfiction. Submission tips advise, “A normal familiarity with what now we have printed previously is the very best information to what we’re searching for.”
Deadline: Open. Fiction tales are submitted to [email protected].
Cost: Unsolicited submissions are usually unpaid.
3. The Threepenny Overview
This quarterly arts journal focuses on literature, arts and society, memoir and essay. Brief tales needs to be not more than 4,000 phrases, whereas submissions to the “Desk Speak” part (pithy, irreverent and humorous musings on tradition, artwork, politics and life) needs to be 1,000 phrases or much less.
Deadline: January to June
Cost: $400 for brief tales; $200 for Desk Speak items
4. One Story
One Story is simply what the identify says: a literary journal that publishes one nice quick story each three to 4 weeks, and nothing extra.
Its major standards for an excellent quick story? One “that leaves readers feeling happy and [is] sturdy sufficient to face alone.” Tales might be any model or topic however needs to be between 3,000 and eight,000 phrases.
Deadline: January 15 – Might 31 | September 3 – November 14
Cost: $500 plus 25 contributor copies
5. The Antioch Overview
The Antioch Overview is at present on hiatus and never accepting submissions for future points. Verify again sooner or later.
The Antioch Overview not often publishes greater than three quick tales per difficulty, however its editors are open to new in addition to established writers. Authors printed right here typically wind up in Greatest American anthologies and because the recipients of Pushcart prizes.
To make the lower, editors say, “It’s the story that counts, a narrative worthy of the intense consideration of the clever reader, a narrative that’s compelling, written with distinction.” Phrase rely is versatile, however items are usually beneath 5,000.
Deadline: Open aside from the interval of June 1 to August 31, and no digital submissions.
Cost: $20 per printed web page plus two contributor copies
6. AGNI
Thought-provoking is the secret if you wish to get printed in AGNI. Its editors search for items that maintain a mirror as much as the world round us and interact in a bigger, ongoing cultural dialog about nature, mankind, the society we reside in and extra.
There aren’t any phrase limits, however shorter is mostly higher; “The longer a chunk is, the higher it must be to justify taking on a lot house within the journal,” notice the submission tips.
Deadline: Open September 1 to Might 31
Cost: $10 per printed web page (as much as a max of $150) plus a 12 months’s subscription, two contributor’s copies and 4 present copies
7. Barrelhouse
Revealed by an unbiased nonprofit literary group, Barrelhouse’s biannual print journal and on-line difficulty search to “bridge the hole between severe artwork and popular culture.” Its editors search for high quality writing that’s additionally edgy and humorous — as they are saying, they “wish to be your bizarre Web pal.”
There’s no laborious phrase rely, however attempt to preserve your submission beneath 8,000 phrases.
Deadline: At the moment open for e-book opinions solely. Verify the webpage to see all open classes and join the e-mail record to obtain updates on submissions.
Cost: $50 to print and on-line contributors; print contributors additionally obtain two contributor copies.
8. Cincinnati Overview
The Cincinnati Overview publishes work by writers of all genres and in any respect factors of their careers. Its editors need “work that has power,” that’s “wealthy in language and plot construction” and “that’s not simply ecstatic, however that makes its reader really feel ecstatic, too.”
Fiction and nonfiction submissions needs to be not more than 40 double-spaced pages.
Deadline: The overview accepts submissions throughout three time intervals, September, December, and Might. Submit earlier within the month as a result of they’ll cease accepting submissions when their cap is reached.
Cost: $25 per web page for prose in journal
9. The First Line
This cool quarterly is all about jumpstarting that pesky author’s block. Every difficulty comprises quick fiction tales (300-5,000 phrases) that every start with the identical pre-assigned first line.
For those who actually wish to get bold, you can even write a four-part story that makes use of every of that 12 months’s first strains (which is due by the subsequent 12 months’s spring difficulty deadline). To seek out every difficulty’s assigned first line, take a look at the submission tips.
Deadline: February 1 (spring); Might 1 (summer time); August 1 (fall); November 1 (winter)
Cost: $25 to $50 (fiction); $25 (nonfiction) plus a contributor’s copy
10. The Georgia Overview
One other one high on the status record, The Georgia Overview options all kinds of essays, fiction, e-book opinions, and extra throughout a variety of matters. You may learn particular necessities for every within the submission tips, however the frequent theme amongst all of them is high quality, high quality, high quality.
Keep in mind submitting requires a $3 processing price for those who’re not a subscriber.
Deadline: Opens on August 15
Cost: $50 per printed web page; contributors additionally obtain a one-year subscription to the quarterly and a 50% low cost on extra copies of that difficulty
11. Boulevard Journal
Boulevard Journal is at all times looking out for “much less skilled or unpublished writers with distinctive promise.” It accepts prose items (fiction and nonfiction) as much as 8,000 phrases (notice: no science fiction, erotica, westerns, horror, romance or kids’s tales).
There may be a web-based submission price of $3. Free if submitting by put up.
Deadline: Open November 1 to Might 1
Cost: $100 to $300
12. Story
Story Journal is, you guessed it, all concerning the story, no matter form it takes. Every difficulty — printed tri-annually in February, June, and November — is “dedicated to the complicated and various world of narrative with a concentrate on fiction and nonfiction.” Fortunately, you don’t have to stay to any formal tips with reference to model, content material, and even size; they contemplate all “quick” narrative size work, from flash fiction to novellas. There’s a $3 submission price.
Deadline: Open
Cost: Common fee price is $10 per web page upon publication
13. Vestal Overview
Desire to maintain your quick tales extraordinarily quick? Vestal Overview publishes flash fiction of not more than 500 phrases. Its editors are open to all genres aside from syrupy romance, laborious science fiction and kids’s tales, they usually have a particular fondness for humor. R-rated content material is OK, however keep away from something too racy, gory or obscene.
There’s a submission price of $2 for every submission.
Deadline: Submission intervals are February to Might and August to November
Cost: The writer of an accepted print submission will get $25 and a print copy; $10 for accepted net submissions.
14. Flash Fiction On-line
Flash Fiction On-line permits for barely longer flash tales — between 500 and 1,000 phrases. Its editors like sci-fi and fantasy however are open to all genres (aside from nonfiction and poetry!). As with Vestal, keep away from the heavier stuff like erotica and violence. What they’re searching for is developed, empathetic characters and discernible, resolved plots. In contrast to most of the different publications, they’ll settle for beforehand printed work, which you’d submit within the reprint class.
Deadline: Open every month for submissions from the first to the twenty first of the month.
Cost: $80 per story; two cents per phrase for reprints
15. Black Warrior Overview
Black Warrior Overview publishes a mixture of work by up-and-coming writers and nationally identified names. Fiction items of as much as 7,000 phrases needs to be progressive, difficult, and distinctive; its editors value “absurdity, hybridity, the magical [and] the stark.”
BWR additionally accepts flash fiction beneath 1,000 phrases and nonfiction items (as much as 7,000 phrases) that complicate western traditions of truth-telling, and “foregrounds the historical past of feelings moderately than the historical past of information.” There’s a $3 submission price.
Deadline: Submission intervals are December 1 to March 1 and June 1 to September 1
Cost: A one-year subscription to BWR and a nominal lump-sum price (quantity not disclosed in its tips)
16. The Solar Journal
The Solar Journal presents a few of the greatest funds we’ve seen, and whereas its tips particularly point out private writing and provocative political/cultural items, in addition they say editors are “open to absolutely anything.”
Works ought to run not more than 7,000 phrases. Submit one thing the editors love, and you would get a pleasant payday.
Deadline: Open
Cost: $300 to $2,000
17. Virginia Quarterly (VQR)
A various publication that options each award-winning and rising writers, VQR accepts quick fiction (3,500 to eight,000 phrases) however will not be a fan of style work like romance, sci-fi and fantasy. It additionally takes nonfiction (3,500 to 9,000 phrases) like journey essays that study the world round us.
Deadline: Submissions learn July 1 to July 31
Cost: Usually $1,000 and above for brief fiction and prose (roughly 25 cents per phrase) with higher charges for investigative reporting; $100 to $200 for content material printed on-line.
Ploughshares’ award-winning literary journal is printed by Boston’s Emerson School. They settle for fiction and nonfiction beneath 7,500 phrases and require a $3 service price for those who submit on-line (it’s free to submit by mail, although they like digital submissions). You can even submit your considerably longer work (7,500 to twenty,000 phrases) to the Ploughshares Solos collection!
Deadline: June 1 to January 15 at midday EST
Cost: $45 per printed web page (for at least $90 per title and a maximum of $450 per writer); plus two contributor copies of the difficulty and a one-year subscription
19. Carve Journal
Writers are in for a deal with! Carve Journal accepts poetry, quick tales and nonfiction submissions, not exceeding 10,000 phrases. They settle for literary fiction solely and are usually not open to style fiction (i.e. thriller, horror, romance, and so on.). In addition they settle for novel excerpts however solely these that may stand alone within the story. There’s a $3 submission price, however you’ll be able to subscribe to the journal to skirt previous it.
Deadline: Open all-year-round from anyplace on this planet.
Cost: Pays $100 and presents suggestions on 5 to 10% of declined submissions.
20. Every day Science Fiction
Sci-fi and fantasy writers, this one’s for you. Every day Science Fiction is searching for character-driven fiction, and the shorter, the higher. Whereas their phrase rely vary is 100 to 1,500 phrases, they may contemplate flash collection — AKA three or extra flash tales constructed round a standard theme.
Deadline: Open aside from the interval between December 24 to January 2
Cost: Eight cents per phrase, with the potential for extra pay for reprints in themed Every day Science Fiction anthologies
21. JMWW
This literary journal publishes fiction tales with as much as 300 phrases and flash fiction of not than 1.500 phrases, and it’s open to any style so long as the story is well-crafted. To up your possibilities of catching the editors’ eyes, notice that they like “sturdy characters whose motivations are usually not at all times identified to us however might be defined inside the confines of frequent sense,” in addition to shock endings (nothing gimmicky).
Deadline: Open
Cost: No pay specified
22. Smokelong Quarterly
SmokeLong, a literary magazine dedicated to flash fiction, publishes flash narratives as much as 1000 phrases — and that’s a agency phrase restrict, so remember to follow it. The SLQ aesthetic stays “an ever-changing, ever-elusive set of rules,” but it surely most certainly has to do with these sorts of issues: language that surprises and excites, narratives that try towards one thing aside from a last punch line or twist, and extra which you’ll be able to see within the submission tips. Assume you’ll be able to deal with that?
Deadline: Open
Cost: $50 per story upon publication within the quarterly difficulty
23. Literary Orphans
Fiction comes first for this quick fiction and artwork journal. Editors need your fiction of any style, however they’ve a necessity for micro-fiction, flash, and quick tales which are 2,000 phrases or much less (however 1,500 is their candy spot!). Artistic nonfiction can be accepted for the bi-monthly Literary Orphans difficulty on the principle website; simply preserve your story to five,000 phrases max. Plus, teenagers beneath 19, there’s a class for you, too. Submit a narrative of not more than 3,000 phrases to its “TEEN SPIRIT” part
As a result of they obtain a high quantity of submissions, editors ask that you just submit your *finest* piece. However right here’s the place it will get fascinating: For those who can’t select only one, ship each! (So long as each tales mixed don’t surpass 2,000 phrases.)
Deadline: At the moment no open requires submission, however examine again sooner or later!
Cost: Not specified
24. The Grasp’s Overview
The Grasp’s Overview’s New Voices class is open to any new or rising writer who has not printed a piece of fiction or narrative nonfiction of novel size — not together with authors with quick story collections. Submit your flash fiction of 1,000 phrases or your piece of fiction or narrative nonfiction of as much as 7,000 phrases. Although, editors are sincere: There aren’t any submission charges, however they’re extremely selective.
Deadline: Open
Cost: A flat price of $100 for flash-length tales; $200 for brief fiction
25. Ruminate Journal
Each rising and established writers are inspired to submit fiction or artistic nonfiction tales that “engages the contemplative spirit of our journal and embraces curiosity and discovery moderately than decision.” Each genres are capped at a phrase rely of 5,500 phrases.
Need an alternative choice? There’s no pay for this one (simply contributor copies), however The Waking is Ruminate Journal’s on-line publication house they usually’re searching for short-form prose, fiction and nonfiction that’s “holy, nutritious and essential.” Hold your submissions to 1,000 phrases or much less.
Deadline: July 2, 2020; fiction studying intervals are April 1 to June 30; January 15 to June 30 for nonfiction
Cost: $20 per 400 phrases, plus contributor copies
26. Asimov’s Science Fiction
Have you ever ever questioned the place George R. R. Martin’s Daenerys Targaryen first appeared on the printed web page? Nicely, that is it! A longtime marketplace for science fiction tales, Asimov’s Science Fiction journal has received quite a few Hugo and Nebula Awards, and the writers they’ve printed have led profitable careers.
They need you to submit your character-oriented, “severe, considerate, but accessible fiction,” however there’s room for humor as properly. Whereas science fiction dominates what the journal publishes, you’re welcome to submit borderline fantasy, slipstream and surreal fiction — avoid sword and sorcery, express intercourse or violence. Whereas there’s no particular phrase rely, ASF seldom buys tales shorter than 1,000 phrases or longer than 20,000 phrases.
Deadline: Open
Cost: 8 to 10 cents per phrase for brief tales as much as 7,500 phrases; 8 cents per phrase for every phrase over 7,500
27. Slice Journal
Obtained a contemporary voice and a compelling story to share? This one’s for you. To bridge the hole between rising and established authors, SLICE presents an area the place each are printed side-by-side. In every difficulty, a particular cultural theme turns into the catalyst for articles, interviews, tales and poetry from famend writers and lesser-known voices alike. Brief fiction and nonfiction submissions needs to be 5,000 phrases max.
Deadline: Slice printed their last difficulty within the fall of 2021 and are not searching for submissions.
Cost: $400 for tales and essays; $150 for flash fiction items; $100 for poems
28. Cricket Media
Cricket Media desires to publish your best high quality writing for kids of all ages in considered one of its 4 literary magazines — you’ve gotten choices! Open to submissions from writers of each level of expertise, CM’s mags are focused on a variety of issues, it doesn’t matter what style: sensible up to date fiction, historic fiction, science fiction and fantasy, people tales, myths and legends, humor, and even westerns. Their recommendation? Give attention to telling a very good story that’s well-plotted, character-driven and has a satisfying conclusion.
Most tales are 1200 to 1800 phrases in size; nonetheless, they often serialize longer tales of as much as 6,000 phrases.
Deadline: Varies; examine the rules to be taught the deadlines for every lit magazine
Cost: As much as 25 cents per phrase
29. The Darkish Sire
Horror writers, you’re up! A reasonably new literary journal, The Darkish Sire is a quarterly on-line and print journal that “explores speculative fiction works for fanatics” of gothic, horror, fantasy and psychological realism in brief fiction, poetry and artwork. Topics of specific curiosity embrace: vampires, monsters, previous castles, dragons, magic, psychological sickness, hell, illness and decay of society. No phrase rely.
Deadline: Open
Cost: None, however they promote writers via writer occasions, social media outreach and the (in improvement) TDS podcast
30. The Widespread
Based mostly at Amherst School, The Widespread is an award-winning print and digital literary journal printed biannually within the fall and spring. They search fiction and nonfiction tales and dispatches (800-word notes, information and impressions from all over the world) that “embody a robust sense of place: items through which the setting is essential to character, narrative, temper and language.” Keep on with a ten,000 word-count and also you’re stable. There’s a $3 submission price.
Deadline: Studying intervals are March 1 to June 1 and September 1 to December 1; subscribers can submit without cost year-round
Cost: $100 for fiction and nonfiction submissions; $50 per dispatch
30. Kindle Vella
Somewhat than in search of {a magazine} or journals editorial approval, you’ll be able to publish on to Kindle Vella’s quick story program. Right here, your work will go on to market and its success can be decided by most people, not by an editorial crew. You additionally don’t have to attend months on a response as as to whether your quick story can be printed. You may add and be printed on Kindle Vella in beneath 48 hours. For a full overview of Kindle Vella, learn this text.
Deadline: None
Cost: Royalties on KDP reads.
Submission Ideas
With laborious work and persistence you’ll be able to see your quick tales printed!
Listed here are a number of ideas to remember:
- Take time to learn via the literary magazines earlier than you submit. You should have a greater concept of what they’re wanting and know which magazines match finest together with your writing model.
- Learn the submission particulars earlier than you submit. Every publication has totally different specs for submissions – be sure to fulfill their necessities.
- Be affected person. Many of those publications have a small crew and a variety of submissions. It’s regular to attend a number of months earlier than listening to whether or not an article can be printed or not.
- Hold observe of which articles you’ve gotten submitted to which publications. As a result of can submit the identical quick story to a number of publications, you will want to withdraw that article if it will get printed. You don’t wish to by chance publish the identical piece in a number of locations.
- Don’t give up!. Whilst you would possibly obtain a number of rejections earlier than you get your first piece printed, with laborious work it will likely be well worth the wait when you get your first piece in print!
The unique model of this story was written by Kelly Gurnett. We up to date the put up so it’s extra helpful for our readers.
Photograph by way of Nito/ Shutterstock