Short Story Magazines

Kaylum J
I found this very helpfull. Now, hopefully, I can follow my dream of being a fiction writer. Thank you!

June C
Hi Chris, great site, here's a few stalwarts on the Irish literary scene that take short stories: Stinging Fly, The Dublin Review, The Penny Dreadful and The Moth Magazine

Chris Fielden
Thanks June, added!!

June C
That's super! Your resource/blog is brillo by the way! Well done. Best, June

Chris Fielden
Thanking you June, much appreciated :-)

Jan H
Hi Chris

Great blog; nice to get comp details without a fee/registration.  Wondered whether you could perhaps give advice on which comps are worthy of entry and also which to avoid in terms of copyright.  Heard some real horror stories about c/right issues.

Brilliant website though!  Thank you. :)

Chris Fielden
Hi Jan, all of the comps listed on the competitions page are worth entering. Obviously the more prestigious ones would look better on your writing CV if you managed to win one, but you'd be up against professional writers and thousands of entrants, so winning is less likely, even if you pen a masterpiece! That shouldn't stop you entering the big comps BTW. I'd just advise you enter a variety of competitions to give yourself the best chance of publication.

Re copyright - I haven't had any nightmare experiences with it yet, thankfully. Most comps and magazines ask for previously unpublished work and require first publication rights. You retain copyright, and can do what you want with them after they've been published. I'd just read the Ts and Cs ccarefully and make sure you're happy with the rights asked for before entering a comp or submitting to a magazine.

I have one interesting situation however - I was shortlisted in the Chater One Promotions short story competition at the beginning of 2012. They were supposed to be publishing my story in an anthology at the beginning of 2013 and were supposed to send me a draft to proofread last November. I signed a contract early in 2012, but have heard nothing from them since - they're not replying to emails or letters, which is frustrating. So I may have my first nightmare looming. If so, I'll be sure to write about it and let you know what happens.

Anyway, I hope that's useful. Cheers, Chris

Steven R
Thank you so much for the work you've put into your site. As a beginner it's invaluable.

Kay J
Excellent work. A wonderful guide for any one interested in submitting to magazines.Thank you, K J

Foti S
Christopher, great resource, in Australia you need to add more especially Meanjin, Overland and if you like go to the Victorian Writers Centre and they have lists as well. Cheers

Chris Fielden
Thanks Foti - Meanjin and Overland Literary Journal listed!

Tarak G
I am a senior journalist and writer from Kolkata, India. Thanks a lot for presenting this website. It is very useful. Tarak

Jesse C
Good list... very helpful thanks Chris...

Not always easy to submit with all of them...

American sites by far the most user-unfriendly...

I reposted this link on FB...

Chris Fielden
Great, thanks Jesse :-)

Jesse C
Going by the response I get from my submissions I realise that the conditions imposed by people who 'take' (or rather don't take) submissions are so many that in the end... they only end up turning most stuff down...

How can a magazine turn down multiple submissions if they are genuinely interested in writers? All the same... how can most of the press refuse email submissions? What age do those people live in?

Chris Fielden
Thanks for the comment Jesse. I understand your frustration, but you have to bear in mind that most fiction magazines receive hundreds / thousands of submissions a month. If you read a lot of magazine submission pages, they state that they receive a huge volume of stories but only have room to publish a fraction of the work submitted. It's industry standard. Don't be disheartened.

A lot of writers submit to magazines without reading previous issues to see if their stories might be appropriate. Do your research thoroughly. Write with the market in mind. Submit to magazines that might appreciate your style. Don't be put off by rejection. One editor might dismiss a story that another might love.

Re email subs, I think that the majority of magazines offer online submissions nowadays. Some still only accept submissions via post, but they are an ever growing minority.

Jesse C
Hi Chris !

Thanks for your return... I only mean to be informative and not to contradict... still...

More than frustration, we writers feel there is ample room for more space for our work. To top it all very often when we are published the press never even tell us or send us a copy (a PDF would suffice)...

Believe it or not, I've contacted hundreds of magazines and I hear this from other writers too... a lot of them never voice their feeling... for fear of not being read next time they submit their work...

As to emails subs, speaking from experience most magazines won't take them and, when they do, it's one submission at a time...

I have created groups, pages and blogs to welcome writers to gain exposure...

Thanks again for all your good work and kind help ! Nothing but the best, Jesse

Chris Fielden
Hi Jesse

Thanks again for your comments.

I've found when writing for newspapers that they don't always tell you if they're going to use your work, but I haven't experienced this problem when writing fiction. But you and I may well be writing different genres and therefore submitting to different publications!

I never use the post, so always submit via email or online submission forms, hence my experience is different to yours again. Do you submit to a lot of French magazines? I only have experience with Australia, Ireland, UK and USA markets. Maybe that's the difference?

I think most magazines are forced to take only one submission from a writer at a time due to the sheer volume of submissions they receive. Often magazines are run by a small number of people and they simply can't read thousands of stories a week. I've also found that magazines often close submissions from time to time, just so they can get on top of all their reading!

It's great that you offer blogs to help other writers - keep up the fab work :-)

Best of luck with your writing! Chris

Sarah P

Hi Chris, love the article – very handy for those of us studying Creative Writing with the OU, who are (as part of an assignment) required to find a publication suitable for our work.

My question is hopefully a relatively simple one – the top item on your listing – “Crimewave” magazine – the current issue (11) according to the link is November 2010. As the ‘zine is supposed to be issued quarterly, would it be correct to assume it’s no longer active, or am I being too presumptuous and there’s simply a typo in the year? I hope you might know the answer. Thankyou for providing such a useful resource – this problem aside!

Sarah

Chris Fielden
Hi Sarah - it looks like their Contributors' Guidelines page is out of date. If you look on the main Crimewave page you will see that they have current updates and fresh content. So it looks like it's still running to me :-) Best of luck with your course!

Sarah P
Hi Chris, I looked there too, and the “main news” page is the same whichever publication you select at the top (whether it be Interzone, Crimewave or Black Static). I’m still thinking that although the publisher (ttapress) may be going, that Crimewave itself isn’t. Actually, having revisited that, Black Static has one additional entry, but Interzone and Crimewave share the same information.

Thanks for the reply though – I just thought it might be worth mentioning it. I will contact TTA Press for a definitive answer.

Thanks also for the luck – two more assignments, and I’m back in my maths comfort zone – Creative Writing has been a lot of fun, and it’ll be something I continue to do for pleasure, but I am not sure I am ready to try to get published yet!

Best wishes, Sarah

Chris Fielden
Thanks for pointing all this out Sarah, it's really helpful :-)

If you do get a response from TTA Press, could you let me know? Then I can update the page accordingly!

Cheers, Chris

Gill J
A long time ago I was stationed in a place called Aden with the Royal Marines.  I would write copious short stories and articles on the Sgt Maj's old battered typewriter.  Most were  accepted around the world at that time, and payment was given for all.  Years later I lived in NZ, and again sold many short stories and articles.  I then lived in SA and sold a lot of short stories there.

I've now written 20 novels, and had 8 published as Print on Demand - but no agent has ever read anything I've done - they just won't accept submissions.  I now have several crime stories, mainly written from experience as a Det/Sgt in the NZ Police - but still no luck.

What do we have to do - be a "celebrity", a serial killer or something?

Best of luck with your own writing, Chris, looks like you've hit it!

Chris Fielden
Hi Gill. 20 novels - that's pretty prolific! I've managed 1 to date, although others are in the pipeline.

It's a shame you haven't had any luck with publishers or agents, but I guess they must receive a huge amount of submissions. You could try looking through my novel / book competitions page and see if there is anything suitable for your work there?

Best of luck with your writing. Chris

Erin
Thanks for the link to Spry Literary Journal. I just wanted to note that we are actually based out of the USA, and not the UK. Thanks!

Chris Fielden
Hi Erin, apologies for the mistake and thanks for letting me know - I've updated the listing for you!

Maureen O
I just found out about the Coffin Factory. They publish short stories three times a year. There is a 5 dollar submission fee. Cheers Maureen

Chris Fielden
Thanks, Maureen. Coffin Factory has been added to the list.

Janet E
I was looking up information for my 21 year old son. He is under a doctor's care, but is able to write some very creative short stories. He leans toward the horror genre, but he strives for fresh images and situations. Any suggestion would be helpful. Thank you.

Chris Fielden
Janet, you could try Darker Times. They run a monthly horror competition and publish an anthology once a quarter, so that might be appropriate. You could also try Albedo One who also run a competition that states horror as one its genres.

Aside from that, you can try Writers' Forum, Scribble and other magazines of that nature, as they will consider all different types of fiction.

Try having a look through my short story competition page, as a lot of these comps accept entries from all genres, including horror :-)

Janet E
Thank you very much!

Grainne M
Fabulous resource! Thank you Chris.

Miranda H
Thanks for the listing of Sassafras, Christopher!

It's a great website you have, lots of useful links, and your posts are so worth stopping by to read, I'll be looking out for new posts, cheers, Mira

Sheela J
I stumbled across this page, and thought I must thank you for it's useful. I live in Goa, India and write short stories.

Chris Fielden
Janet, Grainne, Mira and Sheela - thank you all very much :-)

Dave M
Hey great resource - thanks a lot! I've been tinkering around with various stories and this site has given me lots of ideas where to submit them :)

Dee L
Chris, please can you advise on the protocol for submitting short stories to publications - for example do you have to wait for your submission to be rejected by one before sending it to another for consideration or can you send the same submission to several at the same time? Regards Dee

Chris Fielden
Thanks Dave :-)

Dee, the rules vary from magazine to magazine and competition to competition. I find magazines are often more open to simultaneous submissions than competitions, but it's best to read the submission criteria for each magazine / competition you wish to approach.

Some magazines and many competitions ask you not to submit elsewhere while a story is under their consideration, but sometimes (especially with annual competitions or magazines with very long editorial queues) you can be waiting 6 months to a year for a reply. If the turnaround time is short (say up to 3 months) I won't submit a story elsewhere if it's a requirement. But if the turnaround time is longer than this I tend to submit elsewhere anyway. If you don't, you just limit your chances of being published - in my opinion, life is too short to be waiting six months to a year for a decision! In all honesty, the likelihood of a story being accepted twice is pretty slim, even if your story is amazing. In all the time I've been writing and submitting stories, I've only had to withdraw from a competition that asked you not to submit elsewhere once. I wrote them a polite email explaining the situation and they wrote back saying, 'Thanks for letting us know.'

That's how I deal with it, but you have to do what you're comfortable with :-)

Hope that's helpful.

Carolyn T
I sent a story to Crimewave but got no reply. Three months later I sent a letter enquiring about it and enclosed a stamped addressed envelope for a reply but again I got no response. Before sending the story I sent for a copy of their latest magazine which I received but it seemed to have been published in 2011 and they are still advertising that magazine on their website so I am wondering whether the magazine is still being published although they claim it is published twice a year.

Chris Fielden
Thanks for letting me know Carolyn. I have linked to your comment from the listing so that other users can see the problems you experienced. Please let me know if you hear anything more from them so I can update the listing. Thanks :-)

Catherine B
Dear Christopher, thank you for doing such a fantastic job compiling all this information! Truly appreciated! I wanted to recommend two websites that might be of interest:

Apart from contests, the Glimmer Train Literary Magazine also accepts standard submissions. And then there's something called the Submission Calendar for Writing Contests, Grants, etc. From what I gather it has mostly American contests.

Chris Fielden
Thanks Catherine. I've listed Glimmer Train and have linked to the competition calendar in your comment as it will be useful to other readers.

Catherine B
Dear Christopher, thank you for your reply. Regarding your list of magazines that accept short stories, would you happen to know which one of these magazines accept stories from beginning writers? For example, The New Yorker tends to only accept stories from more established writers, and that might also be the case for some of the other magazines.

Chris Fielden
Catherine, you’d have to read the submissions guidelines for each magazine really. And it’s advisable to read previous issues before submitting, to get a flavour of what the editors might be looking for.

I know that Writers’ Forum and Scribble both consider work from beginners, as they were the first two magazines to publish my work in print. So you could start there maybe?

Catherine B
Hello Chris, thank you very much for your advice, and I will look into the Writers´ Forum and Scribble magazines. If I stumble upon new contests or magazines I will let you know.

Chris Fielden
Fab, thanks Catherine :-)

Claire J
Wow! What an amazing website, just what I've been looking for! Thank You. Best get scribbling..... :)

Chris Fielden
Thanks Claire, best of luck with your scribbling :-)

Nayan S
Thanks for this brilliant site. A quick question though... do these publications accept stories/write-ups from countries outside the geography of publication?

Chris Fielden
Nayan, most of the magazines accept listing from authors residing anywhere in the world, as long as the stories are written in English. But it's best to check each of their submission guidelines, as there are some exceptions to the rule.

Anthony E
Your blog, Chris - which I stumbled upon by the way - is the best in this generation and I hope many upcoming authors will make a stop here. I've already sent out a couple of my dormant stories hoping one hits the mark. Best regards.

Chris Fielden
Thank Anthony! Best of luck with your story submissions :-)

Steve C
Thank you - I have been trying to find help on publishing, getting published and literary agents for a while now but it isn't easy. Then I chanced upon this little jewel. I hope it works.

Chris Fielden
Welcome Steve - best of luck with your submissions :-)

David W
This is an excellent site, thank you for taking the trouble to make so much useful information available to aspiring short story writers , like myself, who have had nowhere to go for some time now :)

Chris Fielden
Thanks David, you're welcome :-)

Richard H
I found this so helpful as l have joined a writers course and want to write a book and get it published.

Chris Fielden
Glad you found it helpful, Richard. Best of luck with your book :-)

Darryl A
Thanks for the help.  Learning to write well is such an arduous process that I am always amazed that it is not more prized. I write humorous fiction and the people I send it to love to read something light that may make them laugh.  It seems a market should exist for this and not be so complicated to be considered for publication. 

Your efforts are truly appreciated, Darryl

Chris Fielden
Thanks very much Darryl :-)

I am currently running a humorous short story competition - maybe you'd like to enter that?

Hope
This is helpful. Keep up the good job.

Chris Fielden
Thanks Hope :-)

Sudhanwa P
Hi, this is Sudhanwa from India. I found this very interesting and extremely helpful. Thank you for creating such page.

Margie W
I need to get a listing of magazine publishers and the addresses for children and their guidelines. Please help me.

Chris Fielden
Sudhanwa, thanks, I'm glad you found the page useful :-)

Margie, you could try the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook. That might have what you need. Hope that's helpful :-)

Ashley B
I submitted two of my short stories to Glimmer Train. Hopefully something good will come of it. I'm very excited, and hope to at least get some feedback on my work.

Chris Fielden
Excellent, Ashley! Best of luck with your submissions :-)

Lally M
I've been writing since the early ninties, I am a bad speller, but have writen ten stories. I am seventy now and still hoping to get somone to publish at least one before i kick the bucket. Any decent sugestions please?

Vito S
Thanks for the guidance. I found this very helpful. I will thank you forever when I sell my first story. It feels good having a dream to pursue.  Thank you!

Chris Fielden

Thanks Vito!

Lally, I'd look through the lists of short story competitions and magazines on my site and see which ones might be most appropriate for your style. If your spelling is bad, I'd use a spell checker before submitting as lots of errors can seriously hinder your chances of success.

Hope that's helpful :-)

Roshan K
Sir,I am really feeling great to read all your books. I am a young writer and I'm looking for a good platform to send my articles and work. Please let me know where I could start, i.e, those magazines which I could send my articles to. They are mostly issue based.

Chris Fielden
Roshan, you will need to do some research and see where your writing would fit best. I compile these lists in the hope that it's easier for writers to find websites and magazines that might publish their work, but you will have to read their submission guidelines and see what will work best for you and your style of writing. It's best to read the magazines and websites where possible, to see what kind of work they publish.

Best of luck with your writing!

D Schultz
I'm trying to find magazines that publish short stories in German. Can you help? Thanks.

Chris Fielden
David, I'm afraid I don't know of any magazines that publish fiction in German. Sorry I can't be of more help.

If you find any, please let me know and I'll list them on the site.

Varun V
This is just to inform you that there is another magazine which accepts fiction works from writers. It is titled Clarkesworld Magazine. It has a fair turnaround and good payment for selected works.

Chris Fielden
Thanks for letting me know, Varun. I've added it to the lists!

Varun V
I forgot to mention Tor.com...

It accepts stories upto 17.5k words, recommended amount is 15k words... No entry fee... Turnaround time is high but quality-wise, this is one of the best. It pays 25 cents per word for first 5k words, 15 cents per word for the next 5k words, and 10 cents a word after that. Online submissions only... I think this is the highest paying of the entire list, but as can be predicted, hard to get in.

Chris Fielden
Awesome, thanks Varun. Tor.com also added to the lists :-)

Asma E
I want to send one of my stories to a publisher to read. What shoud I do? Is it possible they'll accept my writing?

Chris Fielden
Asma, you will have to research publishers, see what their submission guidelines say and then decide whether your work is appropriate for that market. Usually all this information is on a publisher's website. If not, you could try calling them to find out.

Hope that's helpful!

Charles V
I am eighty four years young and have been married to the same lady for sixty-six years. I retired from three major corporations and after retirement was a free-lance columnist, authored three books, and have made over three hundred speeches to senior organizations.

My writings deal with growing up in the 30's and 40's and how life was with the writings intended for the seniors, so they can search their memory data bank for their stories and for the young to give them a history lesson on the last great generation. In searching for an outlet to publish my type of stories, I was unable to find a source.

So if you can direct me to a source, I would deeply appreciate it. Thank you.

Chris Fielden
Charles, at the moment, with the 75th anniversary of D Day, there are quite a few one-off war story competitions running. Most of the competitions do not require the story to about the war, but need to be set within that period of history. As your stories are set in the 30's and 40's, they might fit here. You can find details of these on the Short Story Competitions page.

I hope that's helpful. Best of luck with publishing your stories.

Lorraine K
I have written a story entitled "The Hidden Baby" with a little less than 10,000 words.  I can shorten it if someone is interested.  I originally intended to make it a novelette. I would like some advice on where to submit "The Hidden Baby" as a short story.

Thank you.

Chris Fielden
Lorraine, you'll have to do some research and see which magazines might be most appropriate for your writing style. It's best to buy back issues and see what kinds of stories they publish. That way you'll be able to tell if your style of writing is appropriate for them.

There are very few short story competitions that accept 10,000 word stories. So magazines are probably a better bet for you. You can start your researching by using this page. Try Booktrust as they have some useful lists too.

Best of luck with getting your stories published :-)

Shaniah B
Hello , I know you get this a lot but , I would like to publish my short story . My story is about a young lady that falls in love with a man named David who gave her aids . This story is a life lesson that I know women around the country can relate too.

Chris Fielden
Shaniah, I don't publish other writers' stories on my website, accept through my short story competition.

There are a lot of magazines listed on this page that you could approach, but you will have to do some research. Try buying a back copy of any you want to approach and see if your style of writing is appropriate for the magazine. Or try some of the short story competitions I list. There are lots of opportunities for writers now, you just need to research and see where you want to submit.

Best of luck with getting your work published :-)

Moragh C
Thanks, Chris. A very helpful list.

Chris Fielden
Welcome, Moragh, glad you found it useful :-)

Marion H
I am three-quarters 0f the way through my writers course with the Writers Bureau and have written several articles: fiction and non-fiction, which I'd like to have published.  My preference is fiction really and eventually I'd like to complete the novel I've already started and publish that as well.

What do you advise as the most cost-effective avenue for publishing my work?

Many thanks for your kindness.

Chris Fielden
Marion, the best bet is to do some market research. While it's best to do this before writing, particularly with non-fiction - so you can write with your market in mind - you can still submit successfully after writing. You'll still have to do market research though. Have a look for publications that cover the subject matters and style you write in. Then buy back issues and read them. If it's a blog you're considering approaching, read the blog and see what kind of writing they publish. Then tweak your work to give it the best chance of publication and approach them.

For fiction, try Writers' Forum. They consider most styles and genres of story, so it's a good place to start. They also run a monthly short story competition, so turnaround times are quick, and they offer affordable and useful critiques.

I hope that's helpful, and best of luck with your writing.

Agam
I have been writing stories for  quite a long time. Could you help me to submit? I am from India. Writing is my utmost passion. Please do help me. Thank you

Chris Fielden
Agam, you will have to undertake some research - see which magazines accept the kind of style and genre of stories that you write. Read some back issues and see if your writing fits, then submit.

Best of luck with your writing!

Ricky M
As a freelance writer, I am always looking for solid sites, companies and magazines to work with. Your site seems to consist of pretty good leads, and seems to be better than most. Being that I am returning to writing after a long absence, I am grateful for your informational site, and have made contact with some of these companies to clarify exactly what they are looking for, and what their desired format consists of. I hope to be back writing full time very soon and it seems that I have your site to thank for making the process much quicker. Thank you for your great informational site.

Chris Fielden
Thanks Ricky, glad you found the site useful :-)

Saiful
Thank you so very much for this. It is wonderful. Do these magazines accept writing from all over the world or is it restricted to certain geographies?

Chris Fielden
Saiful, most of the magazines will accept stories from writers based anywhere in the world. You will just have to check the submission guidelines for each one before submitting to them. Best of luck with your writing!

Kartik P
This was really helpful. And the list covers a wide range of magazines but you should also write about some Indian magazines.  Gotta check the whole website for some more good stuff like this.

Chris Fielden
Kartik, I would be happy to list magazines in India but don't know of any. If you know of any, please let me know :-)

Christopher O
Hello. I have short stories that I've written and I thought that I should sell them or enter them into competitions. Is this platform beneficial, safe and worthy for my writing?

Chris Fielden
Christopher, yes, entering short story competitions is a great way to see your first story published.

It is safe (you just have to read all the rules and terms and conditions and make sure you are happy with them) and it is also beneficial as most competitions and magazines have an audience who will then read your work and become aware of you as an author.

Best of luck with your writing :-)

Thirungana S
Dear Sir, we are a primary school workbooks producer in Malaysia and have a network to market books to appx 2,000 schools in Malaysia. We are keen to market your magazines related to school children and seeking your advise as to how we could go about doing so. Thanks.

Chris Fielden
Thirungana, I don't run any magazines - I simply list them. Most of the users on my site are writers of fiction, and they use the lists to find opportunities for submitting their short stories.

You'll need to approach the magazines directly if you want to explore supplying copies to schools. I hope that's helpful :-)

Nicole J
Thank you for this information, I found it all very helpful. Being new to trying to get my work out there, this was very useful. Thank you.

Chris Fielden
Welcome Nicole, I'm glad you found the site useful :-)

Phil B
Hi Chris, thanks for all the work on the site - it's really helpful. Re your mags list, I wondered if you wanted to add Gorse and Crannog  (both Irish productions) and The Manchester Review  (UK)? All v good publications.

All the best, Phil

Chris Fielden
Thanks very much Phil, I've added all 3 to the lists :-)

Paul R
Very, very helpful. Excited to find one doorway at least. Will be going ahead, and try my luck. Will keep you posted. Thanks.

Chris Fielden
You're welcome, Paul, best of luck with your submissions!

Luiz F
Dear Mr. Fielden, thank you for the valuable information in your post. But I would like to know if it would be more interesting for a guy, who thinks that he has a very good 12,000 word short story, to have it published by Amazon (for Kindle - where he could receive good money depending on the quality of his writing) or to publish it in one of the above magazines listed by you. Thanks a lot.

Chris Fielden
Luiz, you could self-publish on Amazon, but unless you have a way of marketing your work you are unlikely to make many sales.

The advantage of having your work published through a magazine is that they usually have an audience that your story will be exposed to, which helps you as an author. People will read your work and become aware of you.

So unless you have a website that attracts 1,000's of visits a month, or something similar, I'd say that approaching magazines is probably best.

I hope that's helpful :-)

Luiz F
Dear Mr. Fielden, thank you for your kind reply. Yes, it has helped me a lot. I've just decided I am going to look for a publisher right here in Brazil, where I live. I have had some publishing experience, but with finance books. So, I've had 3 finance books published by 3 different houses.  Although writing a short story is totaly different from a technical book, I believe my short story is a good one and the author's royalties  - if I manage to publish my short story - should be, in theory, much less than what Amazon promises to pay. But I hope I will sell much more there than on Amazon - as you said. What do you think about it? Do I have any chance of succeeding?

Chris Fielden
Luiz, yes, there is always a chance, and it sounds like you have the right kind of experience to make it work :-)

I wish you the best of luck with finding a publisher for your short story.

Luiz F
Hi Chris, thank you again. I will let you know about it and, hopefuly I expect to keep counting with your suggestions and advise. Best regards, Luiz

Naima A
Hi Chris, what you do is really great. I just wanted to note that Pithy Pages is no longer publishing. Take care, salam... :)

Chris Fielden
Thanks very much for letting me know, Naima - I've updated the lists accordingly :)

Naima A
It's a pleasure! I was just checking a few links and found (404 Not Found). I think you should check the list of links above, like The New Writer and others... take care!!!!

Chris Fielden
Thanks Naima! I'm right in the middle of reviewing all the links on the site (it's a New Year ritual I go through, which takes longer each year due to the volume of links!). I'm currently halfway through the 'short story competitions' page, and the 'short story magazine' page is next on the list. In the meantime, I've removed The New Writer :-)

Naima A
Good luck then!

Marcos D
You're great, great help!

Chris Fielden
Thanks Marcos :-)

Srijaya N
I am an Indian residing in Bangalore, India. I have some Indian folktales told to us by our grandmother and I have written them as short stories. Will you accept them? Srijaya

Chris Fielden
Srijaya, I'm afraid I don't publish other writer's work, except through my short story competition which you would have to enter.

This page simply lists magazines that will accept short stories. You will have to visit each magazine website, decide whether they are appropriate for your writing style and then submit directly to them.

I wish you the best of luck with your writing.

Scott S
Hi Chris, thanks for this great list. For a new writer it's been very helpful and I hope it continues to grow. Good luck out there.

Chris Fielden
Thanks Scott :-)

Beryl HB
Thank you for your compilation of magazines. Your work made mine easier. Keep up the good work!

Chris Fielden
Thanks very much Beryl :)

Sonali Roy
Thanks Chris! Your list is really helpful for me. I'll not go wandering anymore. Thanks again!

Chris Fielden
Glad you found the list useful Sonali :-)

Titas C
Hey Chris, thanks for the list. It's proved to be really informative.

Do you know where I can submit a whodunit? None of these websites seem to have crime as a theme except Crimewave and I gathered from a comment that there are some problems with that magazine.

Thanka again!!!!

Chris Fielden
Hi Titas, I know of one short story competition about crime called Bloody Scotland. You could try that.

It might also be worth looking at the Crime Writers' Association website or contacting them as they are likely to know of more crime writing opportunities.

Hope that's helpful and best of luck with getting your story published!

Marguerite S
Hello Chris, thank you for your excellent website. I am trying to establish myself as a literary translator and wonder: should I contact these magazines and offer my services? Or is there a better way to approach this?

I am a French-speaking Belgian native, living in the USA since 1996.

I have been a freelance translator (EN to FR) for over 15 years, and I have translated a few books already, for one Belgian publisher. I would like to expand my client base...

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

Chris Fielden
Marguerite, I’m afraid I don’t know anything about literary translation services. You might be better off approaching larger publishers, as I guess they are more likely to want books translated into foreign languages. If nothing else, you might be able to find out which agencies they use and then approach them as a freelancer.

Through my day job, I work with K International. It might be worth approaching them – they’re lovely people and take on freelancers, but I’m not sure if they do literary translation. Still, worth a look.

I hope that’s helpful!

Marguerite S
Sure! Thank you for your quick response. I will look into your tips.

Mark G
Dark Lane Quarterly Collaberative on your site - it is no longer functioning.

Chris Fielden
Thanks for letting me know, Mark. I've updated the lists accordingly :-)

Mark G
Hi Chris, I've just found another one - Tales From The Shadow Realm - it states 'this account has been suspended'.

Chris Fielden
Thanks Mark, have updated the page accordingly!

Mark G
Hi Chris, JJ Adams of Lightspeed advised the magazine won't be opening til next year.

'We're not sure when we're going to open again yet, but it won't be until next year some time...'

Chris Fielden
Thanks Mark – Lightspeed (and quite a few of the other magazines) do this kind of thing from time to time for a variety of reasons, so I tend to leave the details as they are on the site simply because it’s too time consuming to keep up to date with it all (unfortunately). If only I made enough money to employ someone!

Thanks though - much appreciated.

Mark G
Hi Chris, on your list, there's a SF magazine, Australian, called ASIM. They ask anyone who wants, to evaluate submitted material. What's more peculiar, to me at least, is this is called 'slush duty' or something similar. Is this normal?

Chris Fielden
Hi Mark, the term ‘slush pile’ is common. I haven’t heard of ‘slush duty’ but I guess it’s a way of evaluating a large number of submissions in a manageable manner.

The more submissions a publisher receives, the harder it is to read and consider them in a timely manner. It sounds like ASIM have come up with a way of dealing with this problem by involving their readers / audience. So it might be unusual, but it’s innovative and fair, I guess, assuming the people doing the slush reading are vetted to ensure they are experienced enough to evaluate stories for the publication’s needs.

I hope that answers the question!

Zvee G
An excellent site that makes it easy to access all SF Magazines.

Thank you!

Chris Fielden
Thanks Zvee, glad you find the site useful :-)

Mark G
Chris, have you heard of Threshold website?

It seems to have been created some time ago; one of the magazines cited makes material for bathrooms etc! But there might be a few you might like to check out.

Chris Fielden
Thanks for sending this through to me, Mark.

I’ve added a new section to the page, listing other lists – seemed like the easiest way to deal with it!

Sisir KC
Immensely useful. A tremendous help for the aspiring, competent and talented but obscure and therefore unpublished writers. I convey my gratitude. Will come back to the site again and again.

Chris Fielden
Thank you, Sisir :-)

Saman BA
Right  now, I am interested in writing short stories. One of my novels named All Of A Sudden has also been published. Can you please inform me about any literary stuff where I can publish my short stories and where they can be easily published.

P.S. Happy!!!

Chris Fielden
Hi Saman, congratulations on having your novel published.

The best bet is to look through the lists of short story magazines above and lists of short story competitions. You can research the different publications and see which would be most suitable and likely to publish your work.

I hope that's helpful and wish the best of luck with publishing your short stories.

Saman BA
Chris!!! Thank you so much for your reply. Going to research and hope that I shall be published soon.

Chris B
I had a submission accepted by Aesop Magazine, who are listed on your website. Just so you know - unless you know differently - this magazine is pretty much a non-starter. They haven't even released their first issue, even though their website says that they've been publishing since 2014. Had a lot of correspondence with them earlier in the year, they said there had been delays but that the proposed publication date for the first issue was April. Nothing has materialised and they haven't updated their Twitter or Facebook for a year. I enquired as to what was happening a month ago, but have heard nothing.

Just thought I'd update you since they're listed on your website!

Chris Fielden
Thanks, Chris - updated listing accordingly.

Nigel J
I agree with the comments on Aesop magazine. I submitted something which they acknowledged but follow-up inquiries have yielded nothing. They simply don't reply, even though they have a copy of my work. Not very professional. Writers need to make sure their work is copyright and not to be  dealt with cavalierly.

Chris Fielden
Thanks for sharing your experiences Nigel.

Vijay L
I want to start writing right away.

Chris Fielden
Glad you feel inspired, Vijay :)

Henry D
Your list was very helpful and I have sent my stories to many of the magazines you have listed. It has saved me a lot of time finding and using these sources. Thank you for your work.

Chris Fielden
No problem, thanks Henry :-)

Elle
Great list, thanks for sharing. Success is still elusive though. You might want to add Three Penny Review to your list. They pay up to $400 for fiction.

Chris Fielden
Thanks, Elle. I've added The Threepenny review to the lists. Keep on writing and submitting - success only eludes those who give up. I wish you the best of luck with your writing :-)

Laura C
A wonderful resource--thanks!

Chris Fielden
Thanks, Laura.

Glad you found it useful :-)

Aranya N
This is very helpful to me.

Chris Fielden
Thanks, Aranya, glad you're finding the lists useful.

Katherine G
Thank you for sharing this list, Chris! I'm finding it difficult to place my Gothic fiction, but I hope to find a home for my stories in a few of these magazines.

Chris Fielden
No problem Katherine, glad to hear you found the lists useful :-)

If your stories are under 3,000 words, Writers' Forum is a good magazine to try as they will publish any genre through their monthly competition - I've seen them publish all sorts of really interesting stuff.

John H
Dear Chris (and anyone else reading this). Great blog! I have a question which I hope you could help me with. I wonder if anyone could let me know which magazine would best suit the following short story I have: it's based in Staffordshire, so employs dialect, and has elements of fantasy (a man is transported to a fantasy world) but also deals with real world issues; unemployment, working men's culture, etc.

Any tips would be much appreciated!

Chris Fielden
Hi John. Thanks, I'm glad to hear you like the blog.

I often recommend Writers' Forum as a good starting point. They publish a wide variety of styles and genres and run a monthly competition with a £300 prize. They also offer reasonably priced terse critiques, which can be very helpful. InkTears also publish a wide variety of authors, so their annual competition is worth a look too.

Aside from that, I'd recommend researching fantasy publications. There are quite a few. The best bet is to order back issues and see which magazines / competitions best suit our style of writing.

I hope that’s helpful and wish you the best of luck with getting your work published.

Jerry V
Thanks. Great info.

Celine D
Hi there, I've just noticed that Reading Hour, the Indian magazine, has been discontinued.

I'm just sharing the news so the list can be updated.

Chris Fielden
Thanks, Celine - much appreciated.

I've updated the lists accordingly :-)

John H
Hi Chris, thanks for the message and apologies for my (very) late reply. Sorry to bother you further, but does the story become the magazine's property once they have it, or can you send it to different magazines at the same time? Thanks again.

Chris Fielden
Hi John. The copyright remains with you, so in theory you can do what you want with it.

But…

Most magazines and competitions ask you not to undertake simultaneous submissions and the vast majority want first publication rights. You’d have to look at the submission criteria for each market you intend to submit to. It’s best not to do anything that will get you blacklisted with a publisher. Personally, I do sometimes undertake simultaneous submissions (if turnaround times are slow or the financial payment is low/non-existent), but not when I’m dealing reputable or prestigious publishers, I respect their submission criteria and adhere to them.

Writers’ Forum is good as they have quick turnaround times. So even if they don’t allow simultaneous submissions, your story won’t be tied up in their submissions process for ages.

I hope that’s helpful.

Sobia
I have written a  story. The genre is a bit ambiguous. It has an echo of Edgar Allen Poe stories - supernatural and madness and such elements. Which magazine do you think is suitable to send it to? Mention some good magazines as I think my story is a good one.

Chris Fielden
Hi Sobia. It's impossible to say without conducting thorough market research I'm afraid. I'd recommend you do some research and see which publications would suit your style of writing. Order some back issues, read them and see if your story would fit. Also, read any submission guidelines that the magazines offer. They often tell you what they're looking for. You can then work out if the magazine is right for you.

I wish you the best of luck with getting your work published.

Joseph K
Dear friend, my Personal Computer crashed twice. I lost 60 files. I lost files of email IDs both local and foreign. I have no way to contact anyone. Kathakshetre is in Limbo. I lost materials collected for the KK.

Some technician put the PC on a ventilater. It is breathing. He asked me to use it for the minimum time possible as it is old and an outdated make. I do not know what to do. I need breathing time. I want to continue my literary works.

You are doing a wonderful service to the tribe of writers all over the world and many would benefit from your works. Please stay in touch with me. With good wishes and  regards JK

Chris Fielden
Hi JK. Really sorry to hear that.

Please let me know if you manage to get things up and running again.

Kam V
Dear Mr. Fielden. Thanks for the great site. It is people like you who make life easier. Can a person send the same short fiction or short-inspirational to 10-100 different publishers?

Cheers!

Chris Fielden
Hi Kam. It depends. Some publishers accept simultaneous submissions. Some do not. You’d have to review each publishers’ submission guidelines and see what they say.

Good luck with your writing and submitting :-)

Arunodaya C
I write in English but I write about India. There are no English publications in India which accept creative writing.

Chris Fielden
Hi Arunodaya. The only one I knew of was Katha Kshetre and Reading Hour.

But Reading Hour seems to be closed, and Katha Kshetre is in limbo.

If you hear of any others, please let me know and I'll add them to the lists :-)

Penny VH
Daily Science Fiction is an online subscription magazine. They accept stories 100-1500 words long and pay 8c per word. Really enjoying the stories but haven't yet submitted to them.

Chris Fielden
Hi Penny. Thanks for letting me know about Daily Science Fiction - much appreciated. I've added them to my lists :-)

James L
Thanks for this list. Which are the best magazines for Young Adult fiction?

Chris Fielden
Hi James. I'm not familiar with any magazines that specifically look for YA fiction I'm afraid.

I'm sure there are some on the lists though. The best bet is to look at the submission criteria for the various mags and read back issues, to see what types of story they favour. Requires lots of research I'm afraid :-)

Kevin J
Hi! Thank you for this. I was wondering, does the payment section mean that that's how much we WILL make or how much we need TO PAY in order to enter?

Chris Fielden
Hi Kevin. The payment section gives details of how much the publisher pays the writer.

The vast majority of magazines won't expect you to pay to submit, but some do have a reading fee. Just check the submission guidelines of each publication for details.

David H
A great list - not only very useful for finding possible publishers but also gives a great picture of how alive and varied the scene is. Granta (on your list of  apparently dead magazines) actually seems very much alive but the submission page is difficult to find - it's at the bottom right of the 'about' page. My impression is that they seem to find most of what they publish on their own and don't really need unsolicited work so don't make it easy.

Chris Fielden
Hi David. Thanks for letting me know about Granta - much appreciated.

I've reinstated their listing and included a direct link to their submissions page in the notes.

Nigel J
Hi. If any of your subscribers come across a magazine called Crimewave, they should be wary. The magazine's 'current' issue is dated 2013. With such gaps, it would be unwise to subscribe, yet subscription is offered.

Chris Fielden
Hi Nigel. Thanks for sharing this. You're not the first person to raise concerns about Crimewave. I've added a link to your comment on the Crimewave listing so users are aware of the concerns surrounding the magazine.

Martin R
Hi Chris, thanks for the list, with fewer and fewer magazines in print now and even less taking submissions it is getting harder to find paying recipients. You have missed three big ones in the UK though: People's Friend, Weekly News, and Yours magazine. The latter is in the form of a readers short story comp. Take a break and Women's Weekly are no longer accepting unsolicited submissions sadly.

Chris Fielden
Hi Martin. Thanks for letting me know about the magazines.

I've added The People's Friend to the lists.

However, I can't find any submissions guidelines or details of the short stories accepted to The Weekly News or Yours magazine, so have been unable to create listings for them. Do you know where I can find these details online?

Martin R
Hi Chris, attached 2 pages (jpegs) of the rules for Yours magazine. Is a couple of years old but details are still valid - had one of mine in there issue 279 a couple of weeks ago. They pay £100 a story.

Weekly News, I couldn't either any more although they do still print 2 stories every issue, and I know it is email submission with a 'if you haven't heard anything in six weeks, consider it a no,' policy.

Hope this helps.

Chris Fielden
Thanks very much Martin.

That is helpful, but I only list mags if they have submission guidelines I can link to – that’s how the lists on my site work.

I’ll drop the mags in question a query email and see if they can point me in the right direction.

Thanks again – your help is much appreciated.

John H
Hi Christopher. You may like to know, so you can update your site, that on the part 'short story magazines UK' of your lists, the 'People's Friend' magazine do not accept submissions on line only by post. their own website is a bit ambiguous, but they answered my email telling me to post my submission.

Chris Fielden
Hi John. Thanks for letting me know about the People’s Friend – much appreciated.

I’ve updated the listing accordingly.

DT W
Does anyone know of any publications that accept longer short stories i.e. 15-25k words. I have a few dozen stories, the smallest of which is 15k, but there doesn\'t seem to be anywhere that publishes stories of this size. If I can't find one, I'll have no choice but to start my own.

Chris Fielden
Hi DT. That length of story could be serialised by some magazines, so worth looking at submission guidelines to see if they accept serials.

Or try novella competitions. There are some listed on my book and novel competition lists.

I hope that helps :-)

Bill M
Another great resource for writers looking to submit to literary magazines (and hopefully launch their writing careers) is Reedsy's directory of the best 100 literary magazines of 2018.

I like that you can filter by different things like circulation and genre!

Chris Fielden
Thanks for sharing this, Bill.

Have added a link to the 'other short story magazine lists' section of the page.

Jerry V
Thank you, Christopher.

Chris Fielden
No problem, Jerry :-)

Maxwell M
Very informative page. Liked it very much. Thanks.

Chris Fielden
No problem, Maxwell - glad to hear your liked it :-)

Sarah N
I'm just beginning my research into where to submit a sci-fi story and am grateful for this list - thanks for sharing. Just wondering why you haven't included Asimov's?

Chris Fielden
Hi Sarah. Glad to hear you found the lists useful.

Most of the magazines listed have requested to be listed, which is how I become aware of them.

I hadn't heard of Asimov's, so thanks for making me aware of the magazine. I have added them to the lists.

Sarah N
Oh great. Glad to return the favour then!

Sue C
Hi Chris, what a brilliant page!

Can I add that Woman's Weekly is open to submissions again. Also I can't see any mention of Ellery Queen mystery magazine  or the Alfred Hitchcock magazine (both well known for crime).

Chris Fielden
Thanks, Sue - have added all of those to the lists!

Sue C
Hi Chris, I don't know whether you are aware but Woman's Weekly recently changed their contract to take ALL RIGHTS to published stories and dropped their payment as well (though it's still about £100 a story, I gather). There's a lot on Twitter about this at the moment.

Chris Fielden
Thanks for letting me know, Sue - much appreciated. I've updated their listing and linked to a blog about it.

Godfrey K
I'm so thrilled to have found your guidance for us writers. I'm sure that my career's going to be boosted from the information you provide.

Chris Fielden
Thanks very much, Godfrey. Good luck with your writing :-)

Anita F
The information does not seem helpful at all in terms of magazines that actually still exist that do take stories. If web pages have been removed then how do we (people in foreign countries) know that it is worth the effort to send a manuscript?

Chris Fielden
Hi Anita. Sorry to hear you're having trouble with this resource. Can you let me know which links you're having problems with please? Then I can fix them. I list thousands of opportunities on the website and it's very hard to stay on top of every publication.

That said, I do an overhaul once a year at the beginning of January, and that's not far away. So it will get fully updated soon. I would like to do it more often, but it's very time consuming...!

W.J.Q
Hi Chris, I come back and forth to the site regularly, as it's so genuinely useful. I salute the endeavour.

I'm just leaving a comment to suggest adding the Scottish publication, Gutter, to the list of short story magazines. They are a publication on the up, having received funding which permits a small payment to successful contributors.

Keep on keeping on!

Chris Fielden
Hi W.J. Thank you for the heads-up - very much appreciated.

Looks like a great mag - have added it to the lists.

W.J.Q
Hi Chris. You’re welcome! Thanks as always for the superb site.

Chris Fielden
No problem, thanks Will!

Gerald M
Nice research. Please help me find a suitable one that needs a weekly writer and that pays. If they want previously published work, I would share my published stories.

Chris Fielden
Hi Gerald. I don't know of any publications that need a weekly writer, sorry. You'll have to undertake some research and see what you can find.

Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck with your writing.

Shashi K
Hello Chris, thanks for listing our site ActiveMuse under the link short story magazines India.

Chris Fielden
No problem, Shashi - thank you for making me aware of it :)

Matt C
Hey Chris, thank you for such a great resource - wish I'd found it much sooner!

There is, however, one glaring omission that I feel I must rectify. There is a wonderful (US) magazine called The Arcanist which publishes flash fiction of up to 1,000 words. They love sci-fi and fantasy,  pay $50 per story and I was lucky enough to have a story published by them last year, so I know first-hand that the staff are lovely too. They have started branching out into essays on pop-culture ($25 per piece) as well as contests with respectable cash prizes (their first one just closed).

Keep up the great work!

Chris Fielden
Hi Matt. Thanks for letting me know about The Arcanist - much appreciated.

I have created a listing for them :-)

Steve B
Hi Chris. Great list and resource.

I would be particularly interested in knowing whether you know of, or take a view on The Fortnightly Review New Series, being a quality outlet for a short story. It doesn't seem to feature on many lists.

Really appreciated.

Chris Fielden
Hi Steve. Thanks for your message.

I haven't heard of The Fortnightly Review, hence it doesn't appear on the lists. I usually add mags if I receive a request from the editors or their PR team, or users who rate the magazine and think it should be listed. Do you have any experience with Fortnightly? If so, I can add it to the lists.

Muhammad K
There are several sites for writers guidance, but yours is unique very easy to surf. All the details are available at a glance.

What are your thoughts on sending a declined literary piece to the same magazine, journal or webpage again?

Chris Fielden
Hi Muhammad. Thank you for your comment.

If a story has been rejected, then I would not recommend sending it to the same publication again. It is likely to annoy the editors. However, some magazines accept reworked / edited new versions of stories they have read previously.

You will have to read the terms and conditions for each individual magazine to see if they accept submissions of this nature. If they don't stipulate any guidance, then you would have to contact them and ask.

In my experience, it is best not to send a story to the same magazine twice unless you have been invited to rework the story by the editor.

I hope that is helpful :-)

Muhammad K
Thank you, that much care is amazing. I am from Pakistan.

Chris Fielden
No Problem :-)

Kabir H
I have come to know about some short story magazines from the list above. But I couldn't find one to which I can send my story. Please tell the name of a magazine so that I can be helped to submit my story. Thank you so much.

Chris Fielden
Hi Kabir. Most the magazines listed accept submissions from writers living anywhere in the world. You will have to research each magazine and see which ones fit your writing style. Check out the submission guidelines on each magazine's website.

I wish you the best of luck with your submissions.

B.B. F
Just got an email. Sad news. Conjunctions is closing. Thanks for your work here, Christopher.

Chris Fielden
Hi B.B. Thank you for your message and for letting me know - very much appreciated.

That is sad news. A casualty of the pandemic by the sounds of it. Regretfully, I have removed their listing.

All the best to you :-)

Susan M
Hi, Chris. I can tell you that the fee structure for The People's Friend is £90 for each of your first six stories, £100 for each of your next six and £110 thereafter. Not to be sniffed at!

Chris Fielden
Thanks for letting me know, Susan - very much appreciated. Have you been published by The People's Friend? I just wondered how you knew :-)

I've added that info to the listing. All the best to you, and thanks again.

Susan M
Yes, I have been published by them. I've just hit the top rate. You get paid more for writing serials but it's a flipping slow process.

Chris Fielden
Brilliant, thanks for letting me know Sue. All the best, and congratulations on having all those stories published by them :-)

Arukwe A
Great Job. Keep it up.

Chris Fielden
Thanks Arukwe, will do :)

Andreas S
Chris, do you know whether Storgy is still operating? I had a story published with them a few years ago and always thought they were an interesting online magazine. Their archive seems to have disappeared too.

Chris Fielden
Hi Andreas, thanks for your message - much appreciated.

I've just had a look and the Storgy website seems to have disappeared, but their Submittable page is still live. And their social media profiles have some recent(ish) activity - Twitter within the last month.

I've emailed the contacts I have (there have been a few different ones over the last 10 years or so) and also contacted them via Twitter to see if I can get a reply. I'll let you know if I hear back from them. In the meantime, I've retired the listing on my site because their website isn't live, so it does look like they might have closed.

All the best to you, and thanks for pointing this out. It's really helpful :)

Chris Fielden
Hi again Andreas. I heard back from Storgy via Twitter. They said:

Hi Chris. Unfortunately, yes, we are closed for single short story submissions. Although the website is currently offline, you can still order our books and anthologies on Amazon. Thank you for supporting us as we’ve supported independent writers using STORGY as our platform. Kind regards, The STORGY Team

I hope that helps, Andreas. All the best, Chris

Andreas S
Chris, thanks for that. It's a shame they're no longer active. Thanks for your website, which I've used many times in the search for submission opportunities. Best wishes, Andreas

Chris Fielden
Thank you, Andreas, very much appreciated :-) All the best to you.

Andreas S
Dear Chris, I think Ambit may have ceased publication. Best wishes, Andreas

Chris Fielden
Dear Andreas, thank you for your message, it's greatly appreciated. I've had a look and you are correct, Ambit has closed down, which is a great shame - it's been running for many years. I have retired the listing. I have also added the message from their website below, in case it disappears in the future. All the best to you, and thanks again :-)

The message on the Ambit website after it closed down: "Ambit was a quarterly literary periodical published in the United Kingdom between 1959 and 2023. The magazine was founded by Martin Bax, a London-based novelist and consultant paediatrician. Uniting art, fiction, poetry and reviews, and distributed internationally, the magazine was in continuous publication until going on indefinite hiatus in April 2023. During this time, Ambit was the proud publisher of thousands of poets, fiction writers and artists. Despite this, the magazine remained a small enterprise with many volunteers and sparse resources but with an intense commitment to the work. Due to unwelcome financing factors including the loss of its archive sale and the death of a major patron, Ambit had to close its doors in April 2023."