Issue Five Hundred Fifty Three – Authors Publish Magazine

5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in January 2024

S. Kalekar — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 14:39:33 +0000

These magazines pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They’re a mix of literary and genre magazines. Not all of them are open through the month.

Nightmare Magazine
This is an award-winning magazine of horror and dark fantasy; you can read more about them here. They publish fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. “We feature works spanning the broad spectrum of dark fiction, with an emphasis on fascinating characters and delicious prose. Our motto? Horror is for everyone!” Their website says, “We will be opening to all submission types in from January 14-20, 2024, with an extended submissions window for BIPOC-identifying writers running from January 21-27.”
Reading period: See above
Length: Up to 7,500 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here and here.

(And Cosmic Horror Monthly is open weird and cosmic fiction; they accept fiction up to 5,000 words, the deadline is 7 January 2024; nonfiction and art are open through the year; pay for prose is $0.03/word; details here.)

Augur Magazine
This is a Canadian magazine of fantasy fiction and poetry; they also accept translations. They are open for general submissions (from all writers) until end-January, and have an extended submission period for Canadian writers who are BIPOC, trans, and/or disabled during the first two weeks of February (see guidelines).
Deadline: 31 January 2024 for general submissions, submissions from Canadian underrepresented writers only from 1-14 February 2024
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction, up to 5 poems
Pay: CAD60/poem and CAD0.11/word for prose
Details here.

(And Tales & Feathers, Augur’s sibling magazine of cozy slice-of-life fantasy stories, is open for submissions from all writers until 31 January 2024, and have an extended submission period for writers who are BIPOC, trans, and/or disabled from all over the world, from 1^st to 14^th February (see guidelines). Pay is $0.08/word for stories up to 2,500 words; details here.)

The Paris Review
They opened for poetry submissions only on 1^st January, and will accept submissions via Submittable until they hit their submission cap, or 31 January, whichever is earlier. They will continue to accept postal submissions of poetry till 31 January (postmarked). Translations are welcome. They have listed their open reading periods for poetry and prose on the website. (Their reading period for prose is February – see guidelines).
Deadline: See above
Length: Up to 6 poems
Pay: Unspecified
Details here.

(Also, berlin lit, a journal of new poetry, is accepting poetry submissions until 16^th January 2024. Send up to 5 poems; they pay €20 per poem. Details here.

And Heartlines Spec wants speculative poetry from all writers; they want speculative fiction submissions and nonfiction queries from Canadian writers only. They publish work that focuses on relationships, both romantic and non. They pay CAD60/poem – send up to 5 poems, and $0.08/word for fiction of 1,000-3,500 words; the deadline is 15 January 2024. Details here, here, and here.)

Split Lip Magazine
Split Lip Magazine is a voice-driven literary journal with a pop culture twist. They publish online monthly and in print annually – memoir, flash fiction, short stories, poetry, and art, as well as interviews and reviews (for interviews and reviews, query first via webform – see guidelines). Fee-free submissions for all writers are open during certain months, including January; these can close earlier by category, if their Submittable cap is reached. Fee-free submissions for Black writers are open till mid-June.
Deadline: 31 January 2024, or until filled, for general fee-free submissions
Length: Up to 3,000 words for fiction; up to 2,000 words for memoir; one poem
Pay is $75 for web contributions, $5/page for print, $50 for interviews/reviews, and $25 for mini-reviews for their web issues
Details here and here.

Bennington Review
They publish fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, film writing, cross-genre work, and translations. They are affiliated with Bennington College. All work will be considered for the print journal; some work will additionally feature on the website. “We do not accept unsolicited reviews or interviews, though we are always happy to entertain queries about genres of work that fall outside the journal’s current scope.”
Deadline: 8 March 2024
Length: Up to 30 pages for fiction and creative nonfiction; 3-5 poems
Pay: $120 for prose of six typeset pages and under, $250 for prose of over six typeset pages, $25 per poem
Details here and here.

Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.

Android Press: Accepting Submissions

Emily Harstone — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 14:34:34 +0000

Android Press is a new small press based in Eugene, Oregon. This is how they describe their mission: “uplifting author and creator voices from marginalized communities and the Global South, Android Press publishes science fiction, fantasy, and light horror specializing in climate fiction and the various -punk subgenres. We love stories that are rooted in hope and optimism, as well as stories that hold up a mirror to our society, forcing us to reexamine our past and our values in order to move forward and build a better future.”

Android Press published their first book in August 2022. So they are on the newer end of presses we will review. But they have been steadily publishing books since then, as well as Solarpunk Magazine. They have also launched Imagitopia, a fantasy fiction digital zine and podcast. Solarpunk has used Kickstarters for funding, but I’m not sure the other projects have.

According to their submission guidelines they will remain open to submissions till they have filled their publishing schedule through 2024. They are asking for first world English, electronic, print, and audio rights. They pay royalties of 30% but do not specify if it is off gross or net. I could not find a distributor. Their covers are generally great.

If you are interested in submitting to them, please spend time with their editors manuscript wishlists, as well as their shop, and their submission guidelines.

They also add:

“We love climate fiction as well as rebellious and revolutionary -punk genres.

In addition, we would love to see the following in our submission inbox:

Stories written by Indigenous, BIPOC, womxn, immigrant, and LGBTQIA2+ authors that bring their valuable cultural perspectives and experiences to the science fiction and fantasy worlds, and to solutions for building a better world.
Stories that have protagonists from marginalized communities and plots that center those communities.
Stories that take place in non-Western geographic and cultural settings.
Stories of unlikely allies that have at least some focus on the complexities of that difficult relationship.
Stories set in far-flung, distant futures and/or set in space in which the characters are connected to Old Earth through myths or legends that are important to their communities and worlds.
Stories in which nature becomes a character in its own right.
Stories that center nonhumans and that depict humans learning to relate to nonhumans in ways not rooted in domination and power dynamics.”

Please only submit to them if you think your work is a good fit in terms of what they have previously published and expressed interest in. Also make sure you spend time with their list of hard no’s, which at the time of updating include:

First books in a series that don’t work as standalone stories.
Stories with solutions that are greenwashing, capitalist, or rooted in uncritical consumerism.
Stories depicting monarchies, colonialism, imperialism, fascism, or other forms of authoritarianism in an uncritical way.
Stories depicting racism, white supremacy, sexism, cis-heteronormativity, ableism, or fatphobia in an uncritical way.
Gratuitous violence, especially if is targeted against any marginalized group.
Gore. If it’s truly integral to plot or character and it only occurs sporadically, then we might consider it.
Porn or erotica. Eroticism and sex that is in service of the story is fine, but if it’s the focus of your manuscript or takes up an inordinate amount of space, there are other publishers out there who publish such work.
Picture books or Middle Grade novels. It’s not that we won’t ever publish these, but if we do, it’ll probably be by solicitation only.
Epic/Sword and Sorcery Fantasy. Again, it’s not that you won’t see books like this from us, but it’s not something we’ll take open submissions for.

They are currently open to query proposal submissions for novellas, novels, comic books, and graphic novels, and closed to submissions of short story anthologies and collections.

To learn more, please visit their submission guidelines here.

Please read their submission guidelines carefully before submitting and please follow all their guidelines.

Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2023 Guide to Manuscript Publishers. She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.

34 Orchard: Now Seeking Submissions

Ella Peary — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 14:30:50 +0000

34 Orchard is an online literary magazine that “takes you dark places.” They publish poetry and fiction that’s frightening, unnerving, or sad. They don’t focus on traditional dark genres such as horror; rather, they aim to publish anything that’s shadowy and intense. They especially like dark writing that brings the reader to deeper truths.

34 Orchard is published twice a year online, in April and November. The journal is available for free as a downloadable PDF. Each edition contains writing from about 25 contributors from around the world. They’ve published authors from Africa, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom, among other places.

34 Orchard holds two reading periods each year, from January 1 through January 15 for the April edition, and from July 1 through July 15 for the November edition. Submissions received in periods other than the first half of January and July will be deleted unread. They are currently open to submissions till January 15th.

Poets may submit up to three dark poems of any style or length. Authors of fiction may submit one dark story, 1,000 to 7,500 words. Manuscripts should use Shunn formatting, and should include a cover letter and third-person bio. Take care to follow the editor’s formatting requests under “How to Submit.” Submissions that do not follow these formatting guidelines will be deleted unread.

Submitting authors often receive a response within a few days, though the wait might be longer for submissions the editors are seriously considering. Authors can expect a response by February 28 for the April edition, and by August 31 for the November edition.

Authors published in 34 Orchard are paid $50. They can only pay via PayPal.

34 Orchard accepts submissions via email, not using an online submissions manager or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors withdraw work published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work.

34 Orchard only accepts submissions that follow the guidelines they’ve posted online. Please read these guidelines in full before submitting.

If you’d like to learn more or submit to 34 Orchard, please visit their website here. Please carefully follow their submission guidelines.

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.

Case Study: How Parental Death – The Ultimate Teen Guide Got Published

A Guest Author — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 14:10:00 +0000

By Michelle Shreeve

In 1993, I was nine years old and my mother died. There were hardly any books pertaining to the death of a mother to serve as a reference guide for me as a child to try and navigate my difficult loss. I had to try and navigate the death of my mother sort of alone, which embarked me on a journey of diving deep into researching about the topic in ways that worked best for me.

In my early 20s I pitched my own advice column to the local newspaper, as I wanted to try and help my community through the power of the written word. I wrote that column twice weekly for free for eight years. In the middle of that journey, I started writing for free again for a national up and coming website for another six years. People told me I was foolish for all the free writing I was doing, but I knew it was important to build a track record and portfolio and that I had to start at the bottom and work my way up.

I ended up finding a unique niche that flocked people to my page–writing author and publisher interviews to post online which in turn gave publishers and authors free marketing for their works. Authors and publishers started spreading the news about my column to where I never had an issue finding fresh content to write about. Among one of those publishers who reached out to me for a free marketing interview to post online was Scarecrow Publishing. A few of the authors caught wind of what I was doing and word got back to the editors at the publisher that I was marketing their authors. I did an interview for the publisher that was posted online.

While researching Scarecrow, I came across a young adult reference guide section that included helpful topics to guide youth with difficult life situations such as their parents divorcing, getting bullied at school, and more. I learned from other authors that to be successful I should write what I know, and so I pitched to the editor exactly that. I pitched a book to help teens cope with the death of their parent, after I researched their over 50 reference books in the series didn’t include that topic. I wanted to write the book I needed as a kid that wasn’t available.

I networked my way to the series editor who liked my pitch and then set up a long phone call with me to determine what level of passion and commitment I had going into the project. Within the next four years we worked together on perfecting my topic proposal to the committee review board who eventually accepted my proposal, offered me my first ever book contract, to where my book was published. I did all that while I successfully completed two master’s degrees at the same time.

After my first book, I pitched the same topic to a different editor of a different series within the same publishing company and landed a second contract with my second book published shortly after.

I have since signed a third book contract with the same publishing company and have had additional freelance writing opportunities stemming from all of this.

Looking back on this journey I don’t ever regret writing all those columns and articles for free. I feel like doing so led me to these other opportunities.

Bio Michelle Shreeve is the traditionally published author of Parental Death: The Ultimate Teen Guide and Coping with Parental Death: Insights and Tips for Teenagers. She has been a published local and national freelance writer since 2008. She holds two master’s degrees in English and creative writing and two undergraduate degrees in psychology.