Apr 30, 20152 min read

Publishing – List of Professional Markets that Publish Fantasy/Sci Fi Short Stories

I’ve done a ton of research to figure out what publishers to send my stories to. I’m all about that urban fantasy (sometimes with a heavy dose of romance) with a tiny bit of soft sci fi here or there, so that’s what’s on this list. I’ve got a handful of shorter stories I’m sending to publishers to try to get publications on a cover letter before I dive into the world of queries to agents and book publishers to find a home for my finished novels.

I have 2 novellas (20 – 30K words, they’re just going to have to go to an anthology call or an e-book publisher), 3 novelettes (I’m not sure where this word count officially starts and ends, but I think of it from 10 – 20K, and they’re going to the places that take longer works or possibly to shorter anthologies), and then 4 shorts (under 10K, which are more likely to get picked up by a magazine).

A great resource for finding publishers is the latest Writer’s Market book. I just read through that, marking off the ones my stories could fit, and supplemented it with my own internet research. So here’s my list of urban fantasy, sci fi, and paranormal romance publishers who take shorts. Obviously this is not exhaustive, so use this list as a jumping off point for your own research.

Magazines:

http://www.tor.com/page/submissions-guidelines#Fiction%20Submission%20Guidelines Prefer under 12K, nothing longer than 17,500. 25 cents for 5K, 15 for next 5K, 10 after.

https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/glines.htm Up to 25K. 7 – 12 cents.

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/submissions/ 1 – 8K, prefers 4K. 10 cents for first 4K then 7 cents after.

http://www.heliotropemag.com/submission-guidelines/ Under 5K mystery and fantasy. 10 cents. Closed for now.

http://buzzymag.com/submissions/ Clean fantasy, up to 10K. 10 cents/word. Not accepting right now.

http://www.strangehorizons.com/guidelines/fiction.php Up to 10K, under 5K preferred. Closed till 6/1/15.

https://urbanfantasymagazine.com/submission-guidelines/ Under 6K, prefers 4K. 6 cents.

http://www.apex-magazine.com/submission-guidelines/ Up to 7500. 6 cents

http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=content&article=submissions 17K max. Non-romance and clean. 6 cents.

https://www.fictionmagazines.com/submissions/ Magazines that do shorts (up to 10K?) in romance, sci fi and fantasy.

Sci Fi Only Magazines:

http://www.analogsf.com/information/submissions.shtml#manuscript Just sci fi where the science is integral part. Prefer lengths between 2,000 and 7,000 words for shorts, 10,000-20,000 words for novelettes/novellas, and 40,000-80,000 for serials.

http://www.asimovs.com/info/guidelines.shtml sci fi around 10K.

Magazines That Don’t Pay Pro Rates:

http://www.shimmerzine.com/guidelines/fiction-guidelines/ Contemporary fantasy, but not romance. Up to 7500, prefers 4K. 5 cents.

http://www.lore-online.com/index.php/submission-guidelines Up to 6K fantasy. 5 cents

http://www.fictionvortex.com/submissions/submit-a-short-story/ 7500 max.

http://fantasyscrollmag.com/submissions/ Under 5K.

http://www.fantasticstoriesoftheimagination.com/submission-guidelines/ Under 3K fantasy.

http://www.necrologyshorts.com/submission-guidelines/ Not paying now, but will soon.

Writing Contests:

http://www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest/ Under 17K.

http://www.baen.com/baenfantasyaward.asp Under 8K fantasy.

http://tclj.toasted-cheese.com/three-cheers-and-a-tiger/ Write story over weekend, small award. Mystery 3/20 and ScF/F 9/20.

E-Publishers:

https://www.samhainpublishing.com/static/write 12K word min. For science fiction, fantasy, and urban fantasy submissions, strong romantic themes some progression in the romantic arc as well as a satisfying ending for fans of romance.

http://www.jtaylorpublishing.com/submissions.html

http://redadeptpublishing.com/publishing-submission-guidelines/ Min 30K.

http://www.cinnabarsilk.com/publishing-submission-guidelines/ 20K min, erotic romance.

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/pages/Submissions.html all sub-genres of romance (HEA or HFN) and erotic romance, as well as some urban fantasy.

http://crescentmoonpress.com/submissions.html Fantasy, 20K to 40K.

http://www.karenafox.com/publishers.htm List of romance publishers.

http://www.blacklyonpublishing.com/guidelines.html Longer romance, but 20K novellas.

http://www.blushingbooks.com/index.php?l=page_view&p=submissions Romance, sci fi and fantasy. 22K min.

http://www.ekensingtonbooks.com/page.aspx/LyricalSubmissions Romance.

http://etopiapressblog.wordpress.com/submission-guidelines/ Romance.

http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=97 Romance and fantasy for 10K and up.

http://www.hartwoodpublishing.com/submissions/ Romance. 20K min.