8 Magazines That Pay Fiction Writers $300+ For Short Stories
Get paid to write fiction — short stories, poetry, and creative essays
Last week, I binge-watched Season 4 of Stranger Things, a dark, thrilling, mind-blowing series that left me teary-eyed and waiting impatiently for the next part. And a day later, I found that my own creative senses were tingling with ideas for a brilliant fiction piece.
I set out to find the best magazines and websites that pay for short stories and fiction(and also compile the ones I already know of). So if you’re also a fiction writer looking for magazines that pay $300 or more for submissions, here’s a list.
1. One Story
One Story is a magazine available on print and Kindle. They publish short stories and aim to unite people through reading, writing, and short fiction.
They seek literary fiction stories of length 3000 to 8000 words. The subject and style can be anything as long as it matches the quality they’re looking for.
‘We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone.’
The stories submitted should be previously unpublished(with some exceptions).
Authors of accepted stories get paid $500(plus 25 contributor copies) and all rights revert to the authors after publication.
One Story receives around 200 submissions every week, so they don’t have the time to comment on each individual story. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, as long as the story is withdrawn in case it is accepted elsewhere.
You can read more of their submission guidelines here.
2. The Sun Magazine
The Sun is a reader-supported magazine, free of ads. Publishing here puts your words in front of thousands of engaged readers and pays handsomely for each piece.
They publish personal essays, poetry, and fiction. Personal stories about cultural and political issues are welcome here. They don’t have a specific word count — there is no minimum length and the maximum is usually 7000 words.
As their submission page says,
‘Surprise us; we often don’t know what we’ll like until we read it.’
The pay is as follows —
Personal Essays: $300 to $2000
Fiction: $300 to $2000
Poetry: $100 to $250
You can read sample essays and more on how to submit here.
3. The Threepenny Review
The Threepenny Review is a general literary publication that accepts submissions from Jan 1st to April 30th. Their response times can range from 2 days to 2 months. They accept —
- Critical articles [1200 to 2500 words] — Topics should be books, films, theatre performances, and art exhibits. The pay is $400 for an accepted piece.
- Stories and memoirs[4000 words or less] — $400 per story
- Poetry[100 lines or less] — $200 per poem
‘Remember that The Threepenny Review is quarterly and national (and in some respects international); therefore each “review” should actually be an essay, broader than the specific event it covers and of interest to people who cannot see the event.’
Read more of their submission guidelines here.
4. AGNI
AGNI is a literary magazine looking for writing that “catches experience before the crusts of habit form”.
‘….poetry and prose that resist ideas about what a certain kind of writing “should do.” We seek out writers who tell their truths in their own words and convince us as we read that we’ve found something no one else could have written.’
Their submissions are open from September 1st to December 15th and again from February 15th to May 31st. AGNI magazine encourages submissions from writers of all identities and locations, whether they’ve been published before or not.
The pay for accepted pieces is $20 per printed page for prose and $40 per page for poetry, with a maximum of $300.
You can read more about submitting to AGNI here.
5. Clarkesworld Magazine
Clarkesworld Magazine is an award-winning Sci-Fi magazine that publishes short stories, articles, and audio fiction. Your short story submissions must be in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. Horror is not accepted, but dark Sci-Fi is. The word limit is 1000 to 22,000 words, with no exceptions.
They pay 12 cents per word and the payment is via Paypal, checks, or wire transfers.
The main guidelines are that stories must be —
- Well-written with a good command of the English language.
- Convenient for on-screen reading with adequate white spaces and paragraph breaks.
- Suitable for audio
Read more about Clarkesworld submission guidelines here.
6. CRICKET Magazine
CRICKET(by Cricket Media) is a magazine for enthusiastic young readers(ages 9 to 14) and they look for high-quality fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction. They are particularly interested in stories that explore the themes of identity(gender, ethnicity, beliefs, and traditions), culture, and the creative spirit.
General submissions are always open, but they have themed submission calls on their website as well. When it comes to fiction, CRICKET welcomes realistic contemporary fiction, historical fiction, Sci-Fi, humor, and more. Similarly, they publish both serious and humorous poetry.
Here are their rates —
Stories and articles: up to 25¢ per word
Poems: up to $3.00 per line; $25.00 minimum
Activities and recipes: $75.00 flat rate
Go through their detailed submission guidelines before writing your story for CRICKET Magazine.
7. Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons is a weekly magazine about speculative fiction. They publish fiction, poetry, essays, and interviews.
[As of 29/5/22, they are closed for submissions, but as mentioned on the site, they will reopen soon and update their page.]
They typically look for good speculative fiction(broadly defined), up to 10,000 words(below 5000 preferred). They love stories about diverse perspectives and/or from underrepresented groups.
They pay 10 cents per word, which means you could get paid up to $1000 for an accepted 10,000-word story.
You can read more about their acceptance criteria and samples here.
8. Fantasy & Science Fiction
As you already get from the name, Fantasy & Science Fiction is a major magazine in the Sci-Fi genre.
‘Fantasy & Science Fiction has no formula for fiction, but we like to be surprised by stories, either by the character insights, ideas, plots, or prose.’
They prefer character-oriented stories in all accepted genres — fantasy, science fiction, horror, humor, or any other. Writes are asked to submit their entire manuscripts[up to 25,000 words in length].
This magazine pays 8 to 12 cents per word for an accepted story and takes up to 8 weeks for a response.
You can read more of their crisp submission guidelines here.
I hope this list helps you in your journey as a fiction writer. A couple of points to remember —
- Read each magazine’s submission guidelines thoroughly before submitting a story. This way, you maximize your chances of acceptance and your efforts pay off.
- Study other stories in the magazines to get a stronger understanding of the stories they publish — the style, tone, themes, and dialect.
Whether you’re writing a ‘Stranger Things’-inspired series or a one-page poem, there are plenty of ways to make money from your words — from magazines, platforms, and direct audiences.
Experiment with your creativity and have fun writing!
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