Literary Magazines to Submit Your Short Stories To
Our 2020 writing goals are all about finishing projects and taking our passion for writing seriously. Although it may sound intimidating to submit your work to literary magazines, it’s imperative to the writing and publishing process. Not only will submitting your work help you to actually finish your short stories, but it will also help build your confidence. Keep in mind that rejection is part of the writing experience and your work might not be the right fit for every place you send it out to. But that doesn’t mean you should stop trying. Here is a list of literary magazines with open submission periods that you can submit your short fiction to today.
Crazy Horse
Crazyhorse has been publishing the best established and emerging writers for over 50 years., including many of the finest voices in literature such as John Updike, Raymond Carver, Jorie Graham, John Ashbery, Robert Bly, Ha Jin, Lee K. Abbott and Philip F. Deaver. Crazyhorse welcomes general submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from September 1st through May 31st. They as that submissions of fiction and nonfiction are between 2,500 and 8,500 words in length.
AGNI
AGNI is a literary magazine housed at Boston University and known “among readers around the world,” as the writer’s group PEN put it, “for publishing important new writers early in their careers, many of them translated into English for the first time.” In an effort to cherish differences as much as the verities they share, they are drawn to writers of every creed, race, orientation, gender, ethnicity, culture, national origin, age, and experience. The print magazine appears twice yearly, in late April and late October. AGNI’s reading period is between September 1st and May 31st.
The Atlantic
With an ongoing submission period, The Atlantic is always interested in great nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. A general familiarity with what they have published in the past is the best guide to what they are looking for.
Black Warrior Review
Established in 1974 by graduate students in the MFA Program in Creative Writing, Black Warrior Review is named for the river that borders the campus of The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. BWR publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and art twice a year. Contributors include Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners alongside emerging writers. Black Warrior Review reads general fiction, nonfiction, and poetry submissions from December 1 – March 1 and June 1 – September 1.
The Sun
The Sun is a reader-supported ad-free magazine. They’ve been described in many ways: celebratory, fierce, unflinching, thoughtful, truthful, dark, darkly funny, tender. Writing from The Sun has won the Pushcart Prize and been selected for the Best American Essays and Best American Short Stories anthologies. They publish personal essays, fiction, and poetry. And they pay! “Writing is a solitary act, but when what you’ve written goes out to our loyal subscribers, it can feel a little less so.”
Virginia Quarterly
Each issue of Virginia Quarterly has contained work both moving and memorable; each has sought to provide the best that contemporary literature can offer. While they have a long history of publishing accomplished and award-winning authors, they also seek and support emerging writers. They accept short story submissions between 3,500–8,000 words. For short fiction, they generally pay $1,000 and above.
Vestal Review
Launched in March of 2000, Vestal Review is the world’s oldest magazine dedicated exclusively to flash fiction. Stories published in Vestal Review have been reprinted in numerous anthologies such as Best of the Net, Sudden Flash Youth and You have Time for This and their stories have been selected for Wigleaf Top 50 multiple times. Vestal Review is an eclectic magazine, open to all genres except children’s stories and hard science fiction.
Pank
Founded in 2006 by M. Bartley Seigel and Roxane Gay, PANK Magazine is a literary magazine fostering access to innovative poetry and prose, publishing the brightest and most promising writers for the most adventurous readers. They are looking for short stories that are sharp, honest, strange and beautiful.
Boulevard Magazine
Boulevard strives to publish only the finest in fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. While they frequently publish writers with previous credits, they are very interested in less experienced or unpublished writers with exceptional promise. If you have practiced your craft and your work is the best it can be, send it to Boulevard. Their reading period is between October 1st - May 1st.
The Threepenny Review
Adam Zagajewski says, “The Threepenny Review is one of the most original literary magazines not only in the U.S. but also on the entire planet.” At present The Threepenny Review is paying $400 per story or article.
One Story
One Story Inc. is an award-winning, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit literary publisher committed to supporting the art form of the short story and the authors who write them—through One Story, One Teen Story, education, community, and mentorship. One Story is seeking literary fiction, between 3,000 and 8,000 words. They can be any style and on any subject as long as they are good.
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About Kailey Brennan
Write or Die Tribe was created by Kailey Brennan, a freelance writer, blogger and content creator based in Plymouth, MA.
She currently writes for Read Poetry and a handful of other online platforms.
