Open fiction calls you can submit to while the same piece is out elsewhere, checked against each publisher’s official guidelines.
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Fiction
Weird Lit Magazine seeks short stories under 3,000 words, or up to three flash pieces under 1,000 words each, with a strong voice and non-realist narratives across weird, horror, literary, magical realism, and speculative styles. Submissions are read blind and are open through November 5, 2026; it pays $20 per published story.
Fiction
Inscape Journal is Brigham Young University's literary magazine, publishing original fiction from emerging and established creators. This call takes one fiction piece under 4,000 words, or up to four flash pieces under 1,000 words each, in English, with no identifying information in the attachment; submissions for the Winter 2027 issue close November 6, 2026, and accepted general submissions are paid $20 per piece.
Fiction
Recommended Reading, Electric Literature's weekly fiction magazine, accepts previously unpublished fiction between 2,000 and 10,000 words and pays $300. It and The Commuter are open November 2-8, 2026, or until their submission caps are reached.
Fiction
Fugue's general submissions are open September 10 through November 15 and are accepted through Submittable only, with a $3.00 fee per submission and a fee-free option on request for financial hardship. Fiction submissions must not exceed 3,000 words, and pieces of 1,000 words or less should be sent to the flash prose call.
Fiction
Nenta Literary Journal publishes work exclusively from Ghanaian writers and accepts fiction submissions of fewer than 5,000 words, with submissions open from 1 February to 15 November. It charges no submission fee and pays writers a token of Gh¢150 for curated works.
Fiction
Ploughshares reads prose of up to 6,500 words during its June 1 to November 15 reading period and pays $45 per printed page, with a $90 minimum and $450 maximum. Online submissions carry a $3.75 service fee, waived for subscribers.
Fiction
Tension Literary publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, writing with an edge. Submissions for Issue VI: Winter Blues are open from October 15 to November 15, 2026, by email; fiction must be no longer than 6,000 words, submissions are free with an optional $5 donation, simultaneous submissions are accepted, only previously unpublished work is considered, and the journal does not currently pay writers.
Fiction
Variant Literature is reading for its Winter 2027 issue from October 10 to November 20, 2026. Its fiction call takes one literary fiction or speculative fiction piece of 1,200 to 5,500 words, and a separate flash prose category takes one piece of 750 to 1,200 words; it pays $25 per accepted longform story and $15 per flash piece, through Submittable.
Fiction
Another Chicago Magazine publishes fiction that is personal and political and had to be written now. This call takes one fiction piece at a time, up to 5,000 words, through Tally, with a deadline of December 1; a submission fee applies for some genres and is waived for BIPOC writers and for its Palestinian Voices and Ukrainian Voices series.
Fiction
Copper Nickel reads fiction with no length restrictions from August 15 to December 1 and January 15 to March 1, paying $30 per printed page with a $50 minimum and $250 maximum for prose. Fiction closes early once its submission cap is reached.
Fiction
AGNI reads fiction with no word limits from September 1 to December 15 and January 15 to May 31, charging a $3 fee for online submissions while mail submissions are free. It accepts simultaneous submissions but not previously published work or revisions of work already considered.
Fiction
Epiphany's general submissions for its Spring/Summer print issue are open November 1 through December 15, 2026, through Submittable. Fiction is capped at 7,500 words and pays $175 for print publication ($150 for online-only publication); a submission fee applies, with waivers available on request for financial hardship.
Fiction
Long River Review is open September 15 to December 15 for original, unpublished fiction up to 4,000 words (flash fiction submitted individually, up to 5 pieces), accepts simultaneous submissions, and gives contributors two copies of the issue with no payment.
Fiction
West Trade Review is a quarterly literary journal based in Charlotte, North Carolina, looking for original, unpublished fiction with a literary focus and psychological depth; it does not consider genre pieces. This call takes one prose piece of up to 5,000 words during its August 15 to December 15, 2026 reading period, for a $3 general submission fee, with free submissions on the first three days of each month.
Fiction
Speck Magazine is a Rune Press (Minnesota Science Fiction Society) magazine of science fiction and fantasy literature. Its Volume 2 call, themed Masks, seeks fiction of 2,500 words or less in English from writers aged 18 and over who reside in the United States, closing December 21, 2026; it pays $5 per page up to $50 and provides two print copies.
Prose
Radon Journal publishes short fiction and poetry with elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia and leftist social commentary; it does not publish fantasy. This prose call accepts flash fiction and short stories up to 5,000 words year-round through its no-fee Submittable page.
Regular Submissions
American Short Fiction seeks original, previously unpublished short fiction, with no set limits on content or length, during its September-through-December reading period. A $3 submission fee applies, simultaneous submissions are read, and writers are asked to wait at least eight months before following up.
Fiction
Northern Shadows Magazine is an online magazine of dark speculative fiction. Its current themed call, Where Dreams & Nightmares Collide, is open from October 1, 2026 through January 1, 2027 and takes original short stories of 500 to 5,000 words in dark fantasy, science fiction, and horror, submitted as anonymous manuscripts; it pays $10 per story for stories published in Issue #2 and forward.
Fiction
The Southern Review reads fiction from September 1 through January 1 and rarely publishes prose over 10,000 words, though longer work is considered. It charges a $4 service fee and pays $75 for the first printed page plus $25 per additional page, up to $300.
Fiction
The Fiction Desk is a short story publisher specialising in regular anthologies of new short fiction, and its winter call, which includes its annual ghost story call, is open until 31 January 2027. It publishes stories of 1,000 to 15,000 words, pays £25 per thousand words plus contributor copies, and charges a £5 submission fee per story.
Fiction
Uncertain Stories, a partner publisher of The Fiction Desk, publishes short stories with a light supernatural or speculative edge in anthologies, and submissions through The Fiction Desk's form are considered for both publishers. Its winter call is open until midnight UK time on January 31, 2027, for stories of 1,000 to 15,000 words; it pays £25 per thousand words plus six printed copies and charges a £5 fee per story.
Fiction
The Georgia Review publishes literary fiction of any length during its August 15 to May 15 reading window and pays $50 per printed page, up to $800. Online submissions carry a $3 processing fee, waived for subscribers, and simultaneous submissions are accepted.
Fiction
The Sewanee Review, the long-running literary quarterly published by Johns Hopkins University Press, accepts original fiction of up to 10,000 words from September 1 through May 31; reprint decisions are made ad hoc. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, a submission fee is required (amount not stated on the page checked), and manuscripts are read with the author's name visible.
Fiction
Alchemical is a literary journal of the speculative, publishing literary fiction delivered through science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Its short fiction call takes one piece of 1,000 to 5,000 words by email, year-round, with no submission fees and no payment to contributors; it aims to respond within 45 days.
Summaries come from each publication’s official guidelines. Read the guidelines before you submit. Please don’t copy the directory in bulk.