Submissions – Sci-fi, fantasy, horror etc.

Click here for the main mixed format submissions page, or for Children’s, Flash fiction & short stories, non-fiction, Novels, Poetry, Scripts or Opportunities on this blog.

Below is a list of some outlets welcoming submissions of sff, horror etc. (click here for other genres) – do let me know if you know of any others. Thank you.

Sci-fi / fantasy / horror specific

• Absolute Write, as well as having a literary community, is a great resource for information across the spectrum.
• Arabesques Editions is an Algerian-based magazine publisher but takes a variety of English language submissions.
• Astonishing Stories takes submissions of speculative (science-fiction, fantasy, horror etc) fiction up to 4,000 words. It can have been published already but should, of course, be high quality. They can’t pay yet “but we like to think we could”. 🙂
• Baen Books is after sff fiction but only 100,000-130,000 words and submitted via their online form.
• Blackbird welcomes poetry, fiction and non-fiction.
• Carina Press used to take a variety of books in a variety of genres but unfortunately they have ceased operation (July 2013). Past work remains on the website solely as an archive.
• The Chamber Magazine welcomes horror.
• Character i welcomes short stories, poetry and art in first person point of view (hence the ‘i’ :)).
• Clarksworld Magazine, a monthly online sci-fi / fantasy / horror mag. Each issue (currently no. 57) contains work from established authors and at least two pieces of original fiction, and annually printed in an anthology entitled ‘Realms’. Word count is 1,000-4,000 max. Payment is $0.10 per word. Response time c. 50 days. E-mail enquiries / submissions to clarkesfiction@gmail.com either within the body of the e-mail or as an .rtf file attachment. Include cover letter with contact details, publishing history and relevant personal info.
• Adele Cosgrove-Bray mentioned an opportunity for self-publishing comics and graphic novels via comiXology – see http://adelecosgrove-bray.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/self-publishing-comics-and-graphic.html.
• Crossed Genre take science-fiction and fantasy.
• New (March 2014) online literary journal, Crooked/Shift, is to be published quarterly. We are dedicated to horror, humor, the absurd, and the strange and are currently accepting works of flash fiction, short stories, prose, poetry, and essays, as well as film and book reviews. Was wondering if you could add us to the list of horror publishers. The website is: www.crooked-shift.org. Again, thanks for your time and the work that you do. Matt Rotman, Editor-in-Chief, Crooked/Shift.
• Curiosity Quills also welcomes comics and graphic novels – see http://curiosityquills.com/submission-guidelines/comic-submissions.
• Hong Kong-based Custom Books “publish fiction… historical, crime, thrillers, adult romance and erotica, sci-fi and selected books for teens, young adults and Kindi Corner. Occasionally non-fiction or a self-help book will take our eye. View our current books, read our author comments and if you wish to publish then read our Submission Guidelines.”
• Daily Science Fiction welcomes original science fiction and fantasy which is posted / emailed every weekday with shorter pieces Monday to Thursday then a longer piece on Fridays.
• damselfly press seeks fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
• Duotrope is one of the best resources for submission opportunities around.
• Empirical Magazine invites submissions of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, art and photographs.
• Escape Pod is “the premier science fiction podcast magazine. Every week we bring you short stories from some of today’s best science fiction stories, in convenient audio format for your computer or MP3 player. We pay our authors, but we will always be 100% free.” (they rely on donations and sponsorship). Their submission guidelines are on http://escapepod.org/guidelines.
• Fiction Magazine & Journal is calling for contributions: will publish work from leading writers, nationally and internationally, both established authors and first time writers.
• fourthirtythree is an audio magazine where authors read their own stories & you can just listen.
• The Grinder is a submission tracker and market database for writers of fiction (non-fiction and poetry coming soon!). Use our extensive and powerful search engine to find a home for your work. With new features being added weekly we hope to provide a permanent and stable home for your submission tracking. We believe the value of our product lies in its availability and as such The Grinder is and always will be free to all users for all features. If you have a feature suggestion or see a problem, please use the [Contact Us] link in the menu bar. We love your feedback! (on the ‘Recently Added Markets’ section from the home page hover over the circled letters to see what they mean – many are sci-fi, fantasy and horror opportunities)
• The Incongruous Quarterly “publishes the unpublishable” and is currently seeking submissions of fiction and poetry.
• Kasma Magazine invites original and intelligent science fiction of 500-4,000 words.
• The Leading Edge is a semi-professional speculative fiction magazine produced at Brigham Young University, (Utah, USA). You can submit <10,000 words, payment is 1 cent per word ($10 min) + 2 mag copies. They also accept sci-fi/fantasy poetry. Payment is $10 for the first 4 pages, $1.50 for each subsequent page of published poetry. Two contributor copies are also provided. They also buy illustrations.
• Literary Submission Helper does what it says on the tin: “we currently have 500 fiction and non-fiction submission opportunities, across all genres, 50 of which have been made available for free.”.  You get a sample for free but have to pay to see all 500+ across the genre range.
• Mad Hatters’ Review is looking for poems, flash fiction, short interviews, reviews etc. especially writing that’s “edgy, risky, gutsy…”.
• Calling all horror writers: “Massacre Magazine is a new horror fiction magazine, aiming to launch its first edition December 2013. We are currently looking for general submissions – short horror fiction 1000-5000 words, winter solstice themed fiction, and we are also running a photo prompted flash fiction contest, with a small prize of a £10 Amazon voucher. All information can be found on our website: http://www.massacrepublishing.com.&#8221;
• Mighty Creatives: job opportunities based in the Midlands area, UK.
• Mindflights usually welcome submissions of science-fiction / fantasy fiction, reviews, essays, other non-fiction stories, poetry and artwork but is currently closed for submissions until 1st January 2014. Do keep checking.
• A brilliant resource is My Perfect Pitch.com which has a page of publishers currently accepting book submissions.
• New Pages list of literary magazines and their Classifieds/calls page lists a variety of opportunities in varying genres.
• Open Pen is London’s first ‘open literature’ magazine, completely comprised of reader-submitted creative writing.
• Open to Interpretation seeks themed poetry, fiction or non-fiction.
• Planet Magazine welcomes short stories, poems and proposals for articles and reviews.
• Plasma Frequency is after speculative fiction from 100 to 7,500 words (<5,000 words preferred, unless it “shines”).
• July 2013: I am contacting you from Popcorn Horror. We are a small company based in Glasgow who support independent horror film makers. Currently we are running a creative writing competition with the aim of encouraging more writers to become involved in the horror community. We are looking for Horror Stories told in 100 words or less. These can fall under any sub-genre, or take the form of poetry. The best 30 entries will be compiled into a Popcorn Horror eBook, and the writers behind them will have their work promoted to Popcorn Horror’s active and loyal following. There is also a mystery ‘best of short horror’ prize package for our favourite overall entry. All of the information can be found at http://popcornhorror.com/events, and entries can be emailed to cara@popcornhorror.com. Please contact me if you need any more information. Thanks. Cara, Popcorn Horror. It’s a competition but maybe worth contacting them anyway. 🙂
• Salt Publishing imprint Proxima is dedicated to science-fiction, fantasy and horror.
• Rune Wright welcomes SF, fantasy, horror and paranormal.
• Rusty Nail is a new magazine taking submissions of prose (<3,000 words), poetry, book reviews and artwork.
• Salon Futura is an online and eBook magazine dedicated to speculative fiction.
• Scintilla Press welcomes fiction, non-fiction, poetry and book reviews.
• Sentinel Literary Quarterly seeks poetry, short stories, essays, plays, reviews and interviews.
• Shroud Magazine prefers fiction (<5,000 words) but will consider non-fiction in horror, dark mystery, dark fantasy and suspense.
• Slice Magazine welcome short fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
• Online poetry and short story magazine Sparkbright is for international writers and welcome submissions.
• Static Movement specialises in dark / horror anthologies and welcome submissions. 🙂
• Still Crazy has opportunities for writers aged 50+.
• The Subterranean Literary Journal welcomes prose (short stories), essays, reviews, poetry, art and illustrations… and “everything else, we love to be surprised and we’ll consider publishing almost anything”. 🙂
• Theurgy Magazine is a journal specialising in speculative fiction, fantasy, and science fiction.
• The Tiny Globule seeks short stories for a new series of sci-fi, horror and fantasy anthologies. 3,000 words max.
• Other sci-fi, fantasy and / or horror opportunities include Darwin’s Evolution, Dragon Dreamz, SFX, Trembles Magazine.
• Weave Magazine seeks poetry, fiction, non-fiction.
• What The Dickens magazine is “always looking for submissions of not only fiction and poetry but also non-fiction and articles. I even accept artwork, photos, book reviews, film reviews and so on. I do set a theme for each issue though can be flexible around the non-fiction side of things. There are also competitions and give-aways which are all free to enter”. 🙂
• Womagwriter’s blog http://womagwriter.blogspot.com is one of the best places I know for women’s magazine guidelines including short stories and articles (“fillers”). Take a Break for example has a ‘spine chillers’ section in their monthly Fiction Feast.
• http://writersguidelines.blogspot.com does what it says on the tin; is packed with submission info.
• WritersReadersDirect welcomes fiction and non-fiction in a variety of formats.
• www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/services/opportunities is a great list of opportunities.
• Xenith is open to “most forms and genres of writing: poetry (5 max per submission), fiction (max 8000 words), flash fiction (5-500 words), plays, creative nonfiction, graphic novels, comics and comic strips, unsent letters, experimental, sci-fi, literary mainstream, whatever”. Essays, articles and columns also welcome. Submit by email (no attachments) to patrick.nathan@gmail.com.
• Other mixed opportunities include The Beat, Bust, Cezanne’s Carrot, The Corner Club Press, Dead Drunk Dublin, The Literary Bohemian, The Long & The Short of It, New Orleans Review, New Welsh Review, Novel Magazine, The Ofi Press, Pentimento Magazine, Persimmon Tree, The Pygmy Giant, The Shine Journal, Splinter Generation, Step Away, The Waiting Room, Wet Ink, WritingRaw.

Do let me know if you know of any others. Thank you.