I’ve been doing a bit of research lately. Writing related, obviously, since I’m posting about it here. Pretty simple stuff, mostly – I’ve been searching for magazines and journals that will accept, and sometimes pay for, short stories and/or articles. The ones I’m going to share with you all tend to accept simultaneous submissions (meaning you can submit the same story to a variety of different magazines at the same time, instead of having to wait weeks at a time only to be rejected and move to the next one). This kind of submission is clearly the most efficient, unless you have ten or twelve stories you are able to submit.
I have not made a cover letter to send when I submit my writing, though I imagine having one would increase your chances of getting accepted – especially if the letter is tailored to the publication you’re interested in. An example would be “I know you publish blah-blah and I feel like I would be a great candidate for writing blah-blah because you publish blah-blah.”
Anyway, here are some publications that don’t pay, but will get a beginning writer started on a readership:
http://www.edifyfiction.com/submissions.html
I like Edify for several reasons: the simultaneous submissions, not limited to one particular genre of fiction, and it publishes mostly Christian articles.
http://3elementsreview.com/submission-guidelines
3Elements seems like a really good one, because it forces you to use three specific words in the prose you submit. It’d be a great challenge for any level of writer, I think.
http://www.neonmagazine.co.uk/guidelines/
The only problem I really have with Neon is how they push you to buy a subscription before submitting stories. I can understand how this would help writers know what kind of content Neon submits, but they could just be more specific in their submissions guidelines, too.
Alright, that’s enough of the ones that don’t pay, how about a couple that do?
https://agnionline.bu.edu/submit
AGNI definitely seems to be on more of the literary journal spectrum – that is, more professional and nonfiction oriented. However, it pays pretty well: 10 bucks per page of prose, and 20 bucks per page of poetry, up to 150 dollars.
https://thearcanist.io/a-call-for-submissions-244f646d25a4
The Arcanist is the one that excites me the most. It’s all about sci-fi and fantasy, but limited to 1,000 words. So not only is it in the genre I enjoy the most, it’ll be a challenge to stay within the word count because the science fiction genre is very dependent on world-building. I need to practice flash fiction anyway. Everything I write turns into a full-blown manuscript. Haha. Oh, and it’s 50 dollars per story. Seems like a great deal to me!
If you’re interested in finding more magazines than the ones I’ve listed, here’s a website that will list them for you!
https://www.pw.org/literary_magazines
You can limit your search to magazines that’ll accept simultaneous submissions, or poetry/whatever you write the most.
If you’re an aspiring writer, I’d recommend submitting everywhere you can. Even if you don’t get paid, you’ll get recognition and likely begin building a readership which will help you when you move on to publishing books and such.
Good luck to you all!
-WordTechnician
Word Technician 