Now that we’ve all moved to online classes, I’ve found that no structure and not being on campus has moved all of my productivity away from school work and towards hobbies. I’ve gotten into reading and playing video games as if I’m back in middle school. With free time, as a creative writing major, I have time to write for non-school things and edit old pieces. As I edit more, I figured I might as well be slightly productive with all my free time and submit to online literary journals again to see if I can get published.
I’ve forgotten, though, how annoying it can be to find the right literary journal to submit to for a specific piece. Before submitting anywhere, research should be done to make sure it’s being submitted to a place where its content will fit with its theme. To help all of you from googling for hours for a variety of journals, here is a list of ten online literary journals that have open submissions.
Daily Science Fiction posts flash fiction that’s from 100 to 1,500 words, as well as artwork. They accept both Science Fiction and fantasy content. Honestly this is my favorite journal to read for it doesn’t require much commitment. They will pay authors eight cents per word for their work and artwork will be paid $75 per piece.
Accepting all genres, Flash Fiction Online wants flash fiction stories that range from 500 to 1000 words. They will pay eight centers per word for first publication rights and two cents per word for stories that have been published before.
Accepting both fiction, poetry, and non-fiction in all genres, The First Line has authors write a story based on first lines that they provide. Deadlines to submit by are given for each first line. If you like all of the first lines you can even write a four-part story with all the first lines in them. I do find that their first lines tend to be hit or miss for my creativity, so if you don’t like their first lines during one season, I do suggest coming back when they post new ones. Fiction stories can be from 300 to 5,000 words, and non-fiction can be from 500 to 800 words. Payment is $25 – $50 for fiction, $5 – $10 for poetry, and $25 for nonfiction. They don’t specify how they judge where you lie in the payment, but usually it’s decided by how long the piece is.
A new journal without any publications yet under their belt, Brown Bag is fairly interesting for it accepts all genres and forms, including visual arts, comics, and written word. It’s slightly a catch-all for pieces that you might not fully know where it belongs. The downside to submitting to a journal that is so new is that they don’t pay their contributors yet, and there’s nothing to look at to see what exactly the editors that you’re submitting to like. It also means that they could shut down at any point. Literary journals, unless they’re really popular, don’t often have a long shelf life. But the plus side is you won’t have as much of a competition, and if the journal becomes popular you can say you were published in it. To brag that you’ve been published, it really doesn’t matter how well known the place is, it only matters that your piece was good enough to be accepted.
More on the literary fiction side from 3,000 to 8,000 words, One Story will pay $500 per story. They do not accept previously published stories. I do suggest, like all other journals in this list, to look at what they’ve previously published for they do have a type and it tends to run through more straight forward narratives and realistic fiction.
Find yourself writing things that are way too long for the average person. If you have a Fantasy or Science Fiction novella from 5,000 to 25,000 words on your hands then Giganotosaurus wants to see it. They are willing to read anything in those two categories and will pay $100 if they accept it.
Publishing all genres in Fiction, non-fiction, and poetry Black Fox Literary has a sleek and elegant design. They also accept submissions for their journals cover art. They do not pay their writers as of now, but they do have a competition that you can pay $10 to enter where they will pay $150 to their first-place winner. I never recommend entering a competition though when their open submissions are free. Fiction can be 5,000 words or less and they don’t plainly state how long non-fiction can be. They also accept blog submissions if you wish to write about writing.
Is a Hugo award winning magazine that accepts science fiction and fantasy stories that range from 1,000 to 22,000 words. Before submitting, I do suggest looking at their long list of hard sells, for it will help show what they probably don’t wish to read. They will pay their writers 10 cents per word. If you’re looking for a fun read, I do suggest reading some of their stories even if you don’t wish to submit to them.
Timeless Tales Magazine has a specific theme for each of their issues that is about a specific fairy tale. They ask for writers to spin it on its head and tell the character in a new light. I’ve seen people write in a million different genres (in both fiction and poetry) that depict the old fairy tales in new ways, such as Puss In Boots as a war vet. Pieces can be up to 2,000 words, but under 1,500 words is preferred. They will pay $20 per piece.
Split Lip accepts poetry, flash fiction, fiction, memoir, and art work that showcase the human experience. They don’t accept genre fiction (scifi, mystery, and romance). Fiction should range from 1,000 to 2,500 words, Memoir 2,000 word max, flash fiction under 1,000, and poetry doesn’t have a word limit, but I would suggest keeping it under 2,000 for that seems like their range for most things. They will only accept one piece at a time and won’t accept already published work (which also means self published work). They will pay $5 per page with a minimum of $20. Certain months you’ll have to pay to submit (which I never suggest doing, and buying a subscription to their magazine could support them better), but December, February, April, June, August and October are all free submission months.