The next update of Aswiebe's Market List will be after 6/15/2022. Permanent link to this newsletter in the archives: https://aswiebe.com/marketlist/may-2022/
Thoughts in Passing
This (theoretically May) update is going out a couple of days late, so it’s extra large. More new markets! More useful links! So the timing seems right to talk about extra large stories: novellas.
tldr; Be patient, keep an eye on current submission calls (YES, I will list novella calls in this market list when I see them), and consider the advantages and disadvantages of publishing in a magazine.
How long is a novella? A novella is 17,500 – 39,999 words long, as defined by the Nebula Award categories.
Selling a novella is hard. Here are some options for science fiction, fantasy, and horror novellas, both publishers and magazines. There are a few publishers known for publishing novellas, but their unagented submission windows tend to be very short and far between, and there’s a lot of competition. Other publishers who occasionally publish novellas will often have special novella calls, but information about their novella publishing schedule is not even listed on their website the rest of the time. There are several magazines who accept novella-length submissions, but although they are open to the idea, they do not publish many novellas, they don’t pay royalties, and your novella will only be distributed as part of that magazine’s issue. (Yes, self-publishing a novella is always an option–there are special challenges there too!–but this is about selling it to a publisher.)
Options:
PUBLISHERS – OPEN
Pressfuls Novellas wants fantasy, horror, adventure, romance, and crime/mystery, pays 35% royalties.
(Pressfuls Magazine appears defunct, but they’re still publishing longer works.) https://pressfuls.com/submit-a-story/
Midnight Bites ANTHOLOGY SERIES wants novelette and novella horror, 10k – 25k words themed and unthemed, pays $50 plus 25% royalties. Currently seeking carnie horror and medical horror. https://cronegirlspress.com/submissions/
PUBLISHERS – UPCOMING SUBMISSION CALLS
Neon Hemlock wants SF, fantasy, horror, weird fiction, and slipstream, especially queer. Pays royalties, or advance plus royalties. Award-winning. Open June 12th to 25th 2022 for trans women writers and writers of color. Open to all writers October 11th to 24th 2022. https://www.neonhemlock.com/submissions
United Faedom Publishing wants novelettes, novellas, and novels, pays $75 for novelettes and ? for others. OPENS JULY 2022. https://unitedfaedompublis.wixsite.com/unitedfaedompub/novelettes-and-novellas
Interstellar Flight Press has a one-time call for horror novellas including SF horror and fantasy horror, pays 30-40% royalties plus possible advance. Open to submissions 10/1/22 – 12/1/22. https://www.interstellarflightpress.com/submissions.html
PUBLISHERS – CURRENTLY CLOSED UNTIL ??
Tor.com (novellas) wants fantasy and SF, pays pro rates of advance + royalties or higher royalty-only rate. Award-winning. CURRENTLY CLOSED. Unclear if/when they will reopen for unagented novella submissions, but it’s been a couple of years. https://www.tor.com/fiction-submissions-guidelines/
Nightfire (Tor) wants horror novels and novellas, pays pro rates of advance + royalties or higher royalty-only rate. CURRENTLY CLOSED. Unclear if/when they will reopen for unagented novella submissions. https://tornightfire.com/nightfire-slush-submission-guidelines/
Uncanny (novellas) wants SF/F, pays $.10/word. Publishes 1 novella a year depending on funding. Award-winning. CURRENTLY CLOSED – LOOK FOR THEM TO OPEN NEXT YEAR. https://www.uncannymagazine.com/submissions/
Queen of Swords Press wants novels and novellas of around 40k words, set in fantastical worlds, especially with a queer focus. Pays royalties. CURRENTLY CLOSED. https://queenofswordspress.com/about-queen-of-swords-press/submissions/
Stelliform wants science fiction, fantasy, quiet horror and literary works with speculative elements, pays 2¢ CAD per word advance (up to $2000), plus royalties. CURRENTLY CLOSED. https://www.stelliform.press/index.php/submissions/
Wyldblood Press wants speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy or horror) novellas and novels, pays royalties. CURRENTLY CLOSED. https://wyldblood.com/guidance-submissions/
MAGAZINES
Magazines that accept short novellas (up to the 20-25K word range) include Asimov’s, Reckoning, Pulp Literature, Clarkesworld, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF), and sometimes Escape Pod (reprints only).
Magazines that accept full length novellas or have no wordcount limit include Analog, Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and ParSec. Be cautious about submitting to places that don’t list a maximum wordcount; they don’t always expect or accept novellas.
Keep an eye out for anthology calls with no word limit whose guidelines explicitly mention novellas, like Sovereign: An Anthology of Black Fantasy Fiction (2023), due 7/16/22.
June’s update will be shorter, and I’ll talk about where to sell flash fiction!
(Do you have a writing question? Send it to me, either by replying to this email or by using the contact form on my website, and it may get answered in the next newsletter.)
What I’ve been up to lately, writing-wise:
I’ve started work on a new novel, working title Desolation Station Salvage. I love this stage. Everything is shiny and new, and all kinds of fun random ideas are popping up as I write.
I’m looking forward to in-person convention 4th Street Fantasy in a couple of weeks, where I’ll be on panels discussing ambiguous endings and PoV.
Things Shiny or Useful
Archive of all shiny or useful links: https://aswiebe.com/marketlist/shiny-or-useful-writing-links/
The Indie Files: Make the Most of New Book Announcements: https://www.sfwa.org/2022/05/18/indie-files-new-book-announcements/
How to Write a Depressed Character That Won’t Depress Your Reader: https://horrortree.com/how-to-write-a-depressed-character-that-wont-depress-your-reader/
Work of Art: Business Skills for Artists Toolkit: https://springboardforthearts.org/professional-growth/work-of-art-program/
IngramSpark Academy’s How to Self-Publish: https://www.ingramspark.com/how-to-self-publish-course
IngramSpark Academy’s How to Build an Author Platform: https://www.ingramspark.com/author-platform-course-description
From Panic to Process: What Taking Criticism Actually Means: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/from-panic-to-process-what-taking-criticism-actually-means/
Three Agent Types to Avoid and the One You Won’t See Coming: https://nelsonagency.com/2021/02/three-agent-types-to-avoid-and-the-one-you-wont-see-coming/
All the Writing Talent in the World Won’t Save the Wrong Story: https://nelsonagency.com/2022/04/all-the-writing-talent-in-the-world-wont-save-the-wrong-story/
Upcoming Virtual Conventions/Workshops
(Any registration fees are noted.)
Cymera (£50), June 3-5, 2022: https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/
Westercon (?), July 1-4, 2022: http://westercon74.org/
ChiCon 8 / WorldCon ($30), Sept 1-5, 2022: https://chicon.org/
The Nebula Conference ($150) is over for 2022, but purchasing a membership now still gets access to recorded panels and year-round special events: https://membership.sfwa.org/event-4563942
Featured Market
Award-winning Neon Hemlock will be open for speculative fiction novella submissions June 12 – 25, 2022 for BIPOC and trans women authors, October 11 – 24, 2022 for all. Pays royalties, or advance plus royalties.
:Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural, Slipstream, & Weird. Hybrid work or difficult to categorize novellas are also welcome.
Standalone works, although they may be connected to other series or work.
We are particularly interested in work that explores some element of queer experience, broadly speaking.
Neon Hemlock
Basics: speculative fiction, 17,500-40,000 words, pay ?, no reprints, due 6/12/22-6/25/22 and 10/11/22-10/24/22.
Guidelines: https://www.neonhemlock.com/submissions
Market List Updates
To see all the details about these new listings and what they’re looking for, as well as hundreds of other listings, go to Aswiebe’s Market List and download the latest version of the spreadsheet. Note: going forward, limited demographic market listings will be italicized.
| Name | What they want | Pay Per Word USD (originals) | Flat Pay USD (originals) | Website | Notes |
| Uncanny | SF/F | $0.100 | https://uncannymagazine.com/submissions/ | Fast response time. ONE-TIME SUBMISSION CLOSURE UNTIL ? | |
| Worlds of Possibility (Julia Rios) | SF and fantasy, with a sense of hope | $0.100 | https://worldsofpossibility.moksha.io/publication/worlds-of-possibility/guidelines | ||
| Augur Magazine | Literary SF/F, fabulism, slipstream | $0.088 | http://www.augurmag.com/submissions/ | 80% Canadian. ONE-TIME SUBMISSION PERIOD: Opens 6/30/22 | |
| Metastellar | Fantasy, SF, and horror flash fiction | $0.080 | https://www.metastellar.com/write-for-us/flash-fiction-story-submission/ | ONE-TIME SUBMISSION WINDOW 10/1/22 – 10/31/22. NOTE: submission gives right of publication, even without a contract signing | |
| Pseudopod (Podcast) | Horror and dark fantasy | $0.080 | http://pseudopod.org/submissions/ | An Escape Artists publication. ONE-TIME SUBMISSION PERIODS: 3/1/22-7/31/22 (2022 anthologies and collections), 8/12/22-8/21/22 | |
| Gargantua (Air and Nothingness Press) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 12/1/22-1/31/23 | All genres, flash fiction, themed to massive engineering megastructures | $0.080 | http://aanpress.com/submissions.html | ||
| Monstrous Futures (Dark Matter Ink) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 6/1/22-6/30/22 | Near-future dark SF | $0.080 | https://darkmattermagazine.shop/pages/dark-matter-presents-monstrous-futures | ||
| World of Juno, The (Space Wizard Science Fantasy) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – PITCH DUE 6/1/22 | Shared world science fiction | $0.080 | https://spacewizardsciencefantasy.com/submissions/ | Note the 150-word story pitch is due 6/1/22. The story itself is due 7/14/22. | |
| Crack in the Code (Mocha Memoirs) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 9/30/22 | SF themed to robots, AI, or cyborgs going off-programming | $0.080 | https://mochamemoirspress.com/write-for-us/ | ||
| Asimov’s Science Fiction | Character-oriented SF, borderline fantasy, slipstream, surreal. No sword & sorcery. | $0.080 | http://www.asimovs.com/contact-us/writers-guidelines/ | ||
| Baffling Magazine (Neon Hemlock) | All speculative flash fiction | $0.080 | https://www.bafflingmag.com/submissions | ||
| Campfire Macabre Vol 2 (Cemetery Gates Media) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 6/1/22-8/15/22 | Horror flash fiction, themed to When We Were Getting High, My Last Trick ‘r Treat, Body Grotesquerie, Ominous Visitors from Deep Space, or Out in the Fields, Forests, and Lakes | $0.080 | https://cemeterygatesmedia.com/submissions/ | ||
| Solarpunk Magazine | Solarpunk | $0.080 | https://solarpunkmagazine.com/submissions/ | ONE-TIME 2022 Submission periods: 6/20-7/4/22 Solarpunk at Work, 9/1-9/14 and 11/1-11/14 general solarpunk. | |
| Cast of Wonders Podcast | Clean YA SF/F/H | $0.080 | http://www.castofwonders.org/submissions/ | ONE-TIME 2022 SUBMISSION PERIODS: 06/15/22 – 06/30/22 (Young Authors), 08/01/22 – 08/31/22 (Flash Fiction Contest) ### Query first for > 6,000 words. | |
| Constellation / Constelación Magazine | Spanish or English speculative fiction, themed | $0.080 | https://www.constellationmagazine.com/submissions | ONE-TIME CLOSURE until mid-September 2022 | |
| Dark Matter Magazine | Science fiction and sci-fi horror | $0.080 | https://darkmattermagazine.com/submission-guidelines/ | NOTE: This is NOT the same publication as Dark Matter Zine. | |
| Podcastle (Podcast) | Fantasy fiction | $0.080 | http://podcastle.org/guidelines/ | An Escape Artists publication. Original fiction up to 6,000 words, reprints up to 17,000. ONE-TIME SUBMISSION THEME: Indigenous Magic (#ownvoices) 7/1/22 – 7/31/22 | |
| Librarian, The (Air and Nothingness Press) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 6/30/22 | Speculative fiction, themed to a helpful traveling librarian | $0.080 | http://aanpress.com/submissions.html | ||
| Galaxy’s Edge | SF and Fantasy | $0.070 | https://www.galaxysedge.com/submissions/ | Submissions open early on Mondays when they’re taking submissions, then close when they hit their quota. May be closed to submissions even if Moksha says they’re open, if there is no submission type to select. Long response time. | |
| Fiends in the Furrows III, The: Final Harvest ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/31/22 | Folk horror | $0.060 | https://www.nosetouchpress.com/call/ | ||
| Dracula Beyond Stoker | Horror inspired by Dracula, themed issues | $0.050 | https://www.dbspress.com/submissions | ||
| Planet Scumm | SF and weird fiction | $0.050 | https://www.planetscumm.space/submit | RIGHTS: Also takes audio rights. ONE-TIME SUBMISSION PERIOD: opens 7/8/22 | |
| Apparition Lit | Speculative fiction, themed. Separate monthly flash fiction contest. | $0.050 | https://apparitionlit.com/submissions/ | Submission periods: 2/15 – 2/28, 5/15 – 5/31, 8/15-08/31 (ONE-TIME 2022 THEME: Nostalgia), 11/15 – 11/30, with a 1-week extension each period for BIPOC. | |
| Story Unlikely | All genres, including bizarro and speculative fiction | $0.050 | https://www.storyunlikely.com/#submit | ||
| Old Moon Quarterly | Weird sword-and-sorcery | $0.050 | https://www.oldmoonpublishing.com/what-we-want | ||
| Hidden Villains: Arise (Inkd Publishing) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 6/1/22-8/31/22 | All speculative fiction, themed to the title | $0.050 | https://inkdpub.com/submissions/ | ||
| Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things | All genres for all age groups, especially children ages 10-18 | $0.020 | https://emberjournal.org/submission-guidelines/ | ||
| Utopia Science Fiction | SF, especially hard SF | $0.010 | https://www.utopiasciencefiction.com/submit | ||
| Dread Imaginings | Quiet horror | $0.010 | https://dreadimaginings.com/submissions/ | ||
| Tales to Terrify PODCAST | Horror and dark fantasy | $0.010 | https://talestoterrify.com/submissions/ | ||
| We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction (Neon Hemlock) ANNUAL ANTHOLOGY – DUE 12/31 | Queer speculative fiction published this year. | $0.010 | https://www.neonhemlock.com/submissions | Reprints only from the current year. | |
| Rakehell | Swashbuckling tales, all genres | $0.010 | https://rakehellmagazine.com/submissions/ | ||
| Reader Beware! (DarkLit Press) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 8/1/22 | YA horror themed to 80s-90s nostalgia | $0.010 | https://darklitpress.com/reader-beware/ | ||
| Cosmic Horror (Eerie River Publishing) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 9/15/22-11/15/22 | Cosmic horror themed | $0.008 | https://www.eerieriverpublishing.com/open-submission | ||
| Folk Horror (Eerie River Publishing) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/1/22 | Themed to folk horror | $0.008 | https://www.eerieriverpublishing.com/open-submission | ||
| It Calls From Below (Eerie River Publishing) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 8/1/22-9/1/22 | Horror themed to the underground | $0.008 | https://www.eerieriverpublishing.com/open-submission | ||
| Phantasmical Contraptions and More Errors (JayHenge Publishing) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/31/22 | Steampunk, dieselpunk, biopunk, etc. | $0.005 | http://www.jayhenge.com/callforstories.html | Still open to subs 1/9/22 | |
| Professor Feiff’s Compleat Pocket Guide to Xenobiology for the Galactic Traveller on the Move (JayHenge Publishing) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/31/21 | Themed to alien flora and fauna | $0.005 | http://www.jayhenge.com/callforstories.html | ||
| Sapiens Plurum & Future of Life Institute Short-Fiction Contest ANNUAL CONTEST – DUE 4/22 – 6/1 | SF, themed to optimistic SF. ONE-TIME 2022 THEME: Inventing Beautiful Futures | $1,000.00 | https://sapiensplurum.org/ | ||
| riddlebird | Literary fiction, including literary genre fiction | $100.00 | https://www.riddlebird.com/submission-guidelines | ||
| Etherea Magazine | All speculative fiction, especially F/SF. | $71.88 | https://ethereamagazine.com/submissions/ | Length: 500 – 1,000 words and 2,000 – 5,000 preferred | |
| Paranoid Tree | Flash fiction, all genres | $50.00 | https://www.paranoidtree.com/ | ||
| Taco Bell Quarterly | Literary, all genres, themed to Taco Bell | $50.00 | https://tacobellquarterly.org/submission-guidelines/ | ||
| Consultations of Sherlock Holmes, The (Belanger Books) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 9/15/22 | Mysteries themed to traditional Sherlock Holmes | $50.00 | https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDerrickBelanger/posts/3294508860834029 | ||
| Detective and the Clergyman, The (Belanger Books) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 10/15/22 | Mysteries themed to traditional Sherlock Holmes partnering with traditional Father Brown | $50.00 | https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDerrickBelanger/posts/3294508860834029 | ||
| Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.P. Lovecraft (Belanger Books) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 11/15/22 | Mysteries themed to traditional Sherlock Holmes in a Lovecraftian world | $50.00 | https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDerrickBelanger/posts/3294508860834029 | ||
| Horrifying Tales of Wonder (House Blackwood) PODCAST | Themed to weird fiction set in the 1880s-1940s | $50.00 | https://www.houseblackwood.net/horrifying-tales-of-wonder/ | ||
| Midnight Bites ANTHOLOGY SERIES | Novella and novelette horror, themed and unthemed | $50.00 | https://cronegirlspress.com/submissions/ | ONE-TIME THEMES OPEN UNTIL FULL: carnival horror, medical system horror | |
| Tales from Brackish Harbor (Quill and Crow Publishing) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 6/1/22 | Shared world Gothic cosmic horror | $40.00 | https://www.quillandcrowpublishinghouse.com/brackish-harbor | ||
| Extremely Bizarre (Planet Bizarro) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/1/22 | Extreme horror with bizarro elements or vice versa | $36.75 | https://www.planetbizarro.com/submissions | ||
| On the Premises Mini-Contest RECURRING CONTEST | Themed contests with very limited wordcounts. | $35.00 | https://onthepremises.com/current-contest/ | Mini-contest submission periods vary | |
| Along Harrowed Trails (Timber Ghost Press) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 8/31/22 | Horror set in the Old West | $35.00 | https://www.timberghostpress.com/along-harrowed-trails.html | ||
| Fear Forge Quarterly Anthology | Horror and dark fantasy, themed | $30.00 | https://www.horrorsmithediting.com/opencall | ONE-TIME WINTER QUARTER 2022 THEME OPEN UNTIL FULL: forges | |
| Bloodless (Sliced Up Press) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/31/22 | Horror, themed to no mention of blood | $30.00 | https://sliceduppress.com/submissions/ | ||
| Solarpunk Magazine Micro Fiction Contest – MONTHLY CONTEST | Solarpunk with a monthly theme | $25.00 | https://solarpunkmagazine.com/monthly-micro-fiction-contest/ | ONE-TIME 6/17/22-6/23/22 THEME: solarpunk, no special theme | |
| Dismember the Coop ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/1/22 – 8/31/22 | Horror themed to the music of Alice Cooper | $25.00 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/1030647144551138/posts/1030647424551110/ | Paid charity anthology. | |
| Short Reads (Black Hare Press) | Dark fiction | $25.00 | https://www.blackharepress.com/submissions/ | ||
| Space Horror (Ladies of the Fright) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE UNTIL FULL | SF horror | $25.00 | https://www.ladiesofthefright.com/blog/2022/5/4/space-horror-submission-guidelines | ||
| Et Sequitor Magazine | All genres, themed: continuing from the previous story | $25.00 | https://www.etseqmag.com/Submissions.php | ||
| Their Ghoulish Reputation (Dark Lake Publishing) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE UNTIL FULL | Folk horror | $25.00 | https://darklakepublishing.com/migrate/folk-horror-anthology-submission/ | ||
| Tales From the Ruins: A Post-Apocalyptic Anthology (Black Beacon Books) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/31/22 | Themed to Post-apocalyptic fiction | $21.31 | https://blackbeaconbooks.blogspot.com/p/submissions.html | ||
| Still of Winter (Unsettling Reads) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/1/22 OR UNTIL FULL | Creepy stories themed to a tree in winter | $20.00 | https://unsettlingreads.squarespace.com/submissions-stillofwinter | ||
| Sprawl Mag, The | Speculative fiction | $15.50 | https://www.thesprawlmag.ca/guidelines | ||
| Fall Into Fantasy (Cloaked Press) ANNUAL ANTHOLOGY – DUE 7/10 | Fantasy | $15.00 | https://www.cloakedpress.com/fallfantasy/ | ||
| Hexagon Magazine | All speculative fiction (SF/F/H) | $11.87 | https://hexagonmagazine.ca/submit/ | ||
| Framework of the Human Body (Bell Press Books) ONE-TIME ANTHOLOGY – DUE 6/15/22 | Literary, weird fiction, and speculative fiction, themed to the human body | $11.86 | https://bellpressbooks.com/submissions/ | ||
| Love Letters to Poe | Gothic flash fiction themed to Poe stories | $5.00 | https://loveletterstopoe.com/submit-a-story/ | ||
| Interstellar Flight Press Novellas | ONE-TIME THEME 10/1/22-12/1/22: Horror novellas | https://www.interstellarflightpress.com/submissions.html | |||
| Neon Hemlock Novellas | Science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, and weird, especially queer stories | https://www.neonhemlock.com/submissions | 2022 SUBMISSION PERIODS: June 2022 PoC and trans women, October 2022 all authors. | ||
| Valravn (Raven Canticle Press) ANNUAL ANTHOLOGY – DEAD MARKET | Fantasy, horror, SF, and espionage/thriller, especially with horror elements | $0.100 | https://www.ravencanticlepress.com/submissions/ | ||
| Lamplight – DEAD MARKET | Dark literary, horror, dark spec-fic, and noir | $0.060 | http://lamplightmagazine.com/submissions/ | ||
| Kanstellation Magazine – DEAD MARKET | General fiction and SF, themed | $30.00 | |||
| Fabled Journal – DEAD MARKET (no longer accepting submissions) | Myth, folklore, gothic, paranormal, and historical flash fiction. | $10.00 | https://www.fabledcollective.com/journal-submissions.html | ||
| Asylum Diaries, The – DEAD MARKET | Cosmic horror or body horror | $9.63 |
Keep writing, keep submitting, and good luck!
Abra Staffin-Wiebe, Compiler of Lists
Aswiebe’s Market List
Abra Staffin-Wiebe’s Author Website
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