These magazines pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They’re a mix of literary and genre magazines. They are open now, or will soon open for submissions.

Apex Magazine
This is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy magazine. They want horror, science fiction, fantasy, and slipstream. “We want dark, beautiful, boundary-pushing speculative fiction — stories filled with marrow and heart, twisted and strange. We especially seek work from marginalized and under-represented writers.” Submission is via their Moksha portal.
Deadline: 30 September 2026
Length: Up to 9,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here and here

(And, adventitious will open next month. “Adventitioushopes to be an intelligently mischievous literary magazine for the curious and unclassifiable. … We love speculative, surreal, and literary fiction.” You can read about them here, and the issues they have published are here. They publish stories from micro to novelette length, up to 17,000 words, and pay $0.08/word. They open on the 1^st of every alternate month and close when they reach their submission cap; they’ll open on 1^st October 2026. Details here and here.

— Neon Hemlock Press publishes queer speculative fiction; they’ll open for novellas from all writers during October, see here – scroll down.)

Gordon Square Review
This is a project of Literary Cleaveland. They accept fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; they also select writers for mentorships from the submissions received. “Selected writers will be asked to contribute a micro-essay about the process. Writers should indicate in their submission [1] if the they are interested in the editorial mentorship and [2] that the work being submitted is a work-in-progress.” Submission is via Submittable.
Deadline: 30 September 2026
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction; up to 1,000 words for nonfiction; one poem
Pay: $25
Details here.

(– And The Iowa Review is open, as well; they accept fiction, nonfiction, poetry, visual literature (i.e. if your fiction, nonfiction, or poetry has a visual component – graphic novel/memoir, drawings, collage, etc.), and translations. They charge for online submissions for non-subscribers, but it is free to submit by mail; the deadline is 1 October 2026 for fiction and poetry, 1 November 2026 for nonfiction and visual literature. Send up to 25 pages for prose, up to 8 pages for poetry, up to 10 pages for visual literature; they pay $0.08/word for prose, $1.50 per line for poetry, $40/page for visual literature; details here.

— The Paris Review will open for prose and poetry submissions via Submittable in October: “The Paris Review accepts unsolicited submissions of prose and poetryyear-round by mail (please see the instructions below). Submissions of prose are also accepted via Submittable in February, June, and October, and unsolicited submissions of poetry are accepted via Submittable in January, April, July, and October, until we reach capacity.” They pay. Details here.

— And Brick will open for submissions of literary nonfiction on October 1^st and close when they reach their submission cap. They accept pieces of 1,000 to 5,000 words, and pay $65–720. Details here.)

Cast of Wonders
This is a young adult speculative fiction online magazine and podcast from the Escape Artists suite of magazines, and they will open for submissions mid-September. They have detailed guidelines about the kind of work they want, including, “Stories that evoke a sense of wonder, have deep emotional resonance, and have something unreal about them. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending stories with wide appeal, and without gratuitous or explicit sex, violence or pervasive obscene language.” And, “We don’t exclusively define YA as stories featuring children or young adult characters, though they are very common. We would particularly like to receive more stories about older people having first experiences!” They also accept submissions from writers under the age of 18, as well as translations and reprints. Their Moksha portal will open for submissions during the reading period.
Reading period: 15-30 September 2026
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here (guidelines), here (schedule)

Orion’s Belt
They publish speculative fiction – micro and flash, as well as poetry. They accept translations, reviews, and art, as well. “All prose stories must contain significant speculative elements. This does not mean all sci-fi stories must have lasers and rockets. It just means a non-speculative story doesn’t become speculative if you include a single line clarifying the story takes place on Mars.

All forms and styles of poetry are welcome. We encourage boundary-pushing, experimental poetry. What we care about is subject matter. Speculative elements must be significant. What “literary” means in the context of poetry is more difficult to define than in prose, but the focus of submissions should be on emotion and experience, not explaining scientific formulas or displaying complex worldbuilding.” Submission is via Duosuma.
Deadline: 31 October 2026
Length: Up to 400 words for micro fiction, 401-1,000 words for flash, up to 5 poems
Pay: $0.08/word for fiction, $40/poem
Details here.

(Trollbreath, a magazine publishing speculative fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, also closes for submissions in October; they pay $0.04/word for stories up to 7,500 words, $25 for poetry, and $40 for nonfiction; the deadline is 31 October 2026, and submission is via a form; details here.)

Small Wonders
They‘re open now for original speculative fiction; “We’re looking for speculative fiction with elements not of this world: fantasy, science fiction, horror. Our very favorite stories are those that don’t rely on a twist or gotcha ending. We love stories with big feelings, and don’t necessarily mind set pieces with very little plot.” Other genres are closed currently.
Deadline: Open now
Length: Up to 1,000 words
Pay: $0.10/word
Details here.

Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.

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