I’ve
been compiling monthly reports of new or open markets for the Los Angeles
chapter of Horror Writers Association for the past couple years.
Thought
it might be beneficial to widen the audience by sharing this information
publically for those who write fiction genre short stories, with a focus on
horror.
These
are some markets I find interesting, are currently open, and pay a minimum
professional rate of five (5) cents per word:
###
April,
2017 Market Listings/ Notes
###
Midas Clutch: Tales
of Opulent Horror (edited by Steve
Berman)
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 4,000 – 14,000
words
Deadline: January, 2018
Reprints?: Possibly (pay at 2
cents/ word)
Response: 4 months
Description: Weird and eerie
stories of people consumed by wealth. Each tale must be suffused with the
trappings of the well-to-do. Decadence should be paramount. However, we do not
want these tales to be moralistic; we're celebrating those who can buy the
finest things in life...they just happen to be the leads in a horror story. The
better stories will incorporate status and wealth as both character traits and
elements of the plot.
Unshattering (*New
Market)
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: up to 4,500 words
Deadline: None given
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown
Description: Primarily looking
for science fiction short stories that show us the way back to a livable
future. While I expect that most will be science fiction, I am open to fantasy
and literary fiction as well.
Fireside Fiction
Company
Payment: 12.5 cents a word
Story Length: up to 4,000 words
(flash fiction preferred)
Deadline: Open only April 16
– April 22, 2017
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown
Description: To publish great speculative
fiction storytelling, regardless of genre (ex. Neil Gaiman); unique voices.
Cicada Magazine YA
literary/comics magazine – Puppets & Dolls issue
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: flash fiction up to 9,000 words
Deadline: May 27, 2017 for current them; Open intermittently (and currently) for
other non-themed
Reprints?: No
Response: 3-6 months
Description: YA/teen stories about puppets/ dolls: Children’s toys, storytelling
props, decoration, conduits for the supernatural. How do we pull one another’s
strings to get what we want? How do we project our feelings onto one another?
How can this harm a relationship?
sub-Q Magazine
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000 – 5,000
words
Deadline: Currently open.
Intermittent dates.
Reprints?: No
Response: 90 days
Description: F/SF, horror,
mystery, romance, and mash-up interactive fiction. Submitted
works must include at least a detailed proposal for interactivity. We like
beautiful, moving prose, but we also like pulpy fun! Don’t self-reject. Let us
see what you’ve got!
Marion Zimmer
Bradley’s Sword & Sorceress, #32 (ed. Elisabeth Waters)
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: up to 9,000 words
Deadline: Open from: April
24 – May 14, 2017
Reprints?: No
Response: 1 week
Description: Stories should be the
type generally referred to as “sword and sorcery” and must have a strong female
protagonist whom the reader will care about!
***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of
the Month”
The Anatomy of
Monsters, Volume 2 (edited by Robert Teun)
Payment: $25 flat
Story Length: 3,000 – 10,000
words
Deadline: October 31, 2017
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: New takes on old
monsters! Zombies, vampires, werewolves, all OK. Also open to more folklore
horror, Witches! Baba Yaga! And many, many more! I prefer less splatter and
more scare.
