Ploughshares has published quality literature since 1971 and has been based at Emerson College in downtown Boston since 1989. They welcome unsolicited submissions of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction during their Regular Reading Period. Ploughshares is published four times a year: blended poetry and prose issues in the winter and spring, a prose issue in the summer, and a special longform prose issue in the fall. They accept up to 6,500 words of prose, and 1-5 pages of poetry. If you are submitting to their Fall Longform issue, they accept up to 15,000 words. According to their guidelines, they pay $45/printed page, $90 minimum per title, and $450 maximum per author. To learn more, refer to this page.
Bennington Review is a national biannual print journal of innovative, intelligent, and moving poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and film writing, housed at Bennington College. They are not always open to submissions, and during their last reading period, they were open for poetry and fiction submissions only. According to their guidelines, they pay contributors $120 for prose of six typeset pages and under, $250 for prose of over six typeset pages, and $25 per poem. To learn more, refer to this page.
Escape Pod is a science fiction podcast magazine. They are fairly flexible on what counts as science and are interested in exploring the range of the genre. They want stories that center science, technology, future projections, and/or alternate history, and how any or all of these things impact individuals and society. Short stories for original fiction should be between 1,500-6,000 words. According to their guidelines, they pay USD $0.08 per word for original fiction and USD $100 per story for reprint fiction, and cover any transaction fees. To learn more, refer to this page.
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine publishes all kinds of mystery short stories. The preferred length of their stories is 2,500 to 8,000 words. However, they sometimes use stories of up to 12,000 words and feature one or two short novels (of up to 20,000 words) every year. They also consider shorter stories that are as little as 250 words. According to their guidelines, they pay 6 to 8 cents per word and at times more to established writers. To find out more, refer to their writer's guidelines.
The Dark is an online magazine published every month. They publish horror and dark fantasy pieces of 2,000 to 6,000 words. They ask their writers to not “be afraid to experiment or to deviate from the ordinary.” It is important to remember that despite its name, The Dark is not a magazine for “graphic, violent horror.” According to their guidelines, they pay 5 cents per word for original fiction of up to 6,000 words and 1 cent per word for reprint fiction of up to 6,000 words. For further information, refer to their submission guidelines.
Consequence is a literary magazine that focuses on the “culture and consequences of war.” They publish fiction, non-fiction, poetry, reviews, and translations. Fiction and non-fiction should not be longer than 5,000 words. Poems can be of any length. Translations are also accepted if the permission has been granted by the author. According to their guidelines, they pay $30 (1-4 pps), $40 (5-10 pps), and $50 (11+ pps) for print and $50/piece for online features. For poetry, they pay $20/piece for print and $50/piece for online features. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.
Pedestal Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine which features poetry, fiction and non-fiction. They also accept reviews of full-length poetry collections. There are no restrictions on theme, style, length, or genre, and you must submit up to 5 poems. According to their guidelines, they pay $50 per poem. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.
Highlights Magazine is a general interest magazine for kids ages 6 to 12. It is published monthly and has a circulation of approximately 1.2 million. They do not accept work from writers who are younger than 16. They previously indicated to pay $175 and up for fiction and nonfiction, but current pay rates are not clear. They are not always open to submissions. To learn more, refer to this page.
Drabblecast is an award-winning podcast that publishes stories “at the far side of weird.” They accept submissions for short stories via email and have specific guidelines for submitting. They are looking for powerful stories that are simultaneously relatable and a good degree off the beaten path. Pieces should be 500 – 4,000 words. According to their guidelines, they pay $.06/word for original fiction, with a cap of $300.00. They accept reprint submissions at a pay rate of $.03/word, also with a cap of $300.00. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.
Nightmare magazine is an online horror and dark fantasy magazine edited by bestselling anthologist John Joseph Adams. They accept all types of horror and dark fantasy and are looking for poetry, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction. According to their guidelines, for ''The Horror Lab,'' they pay $40 for a poem and 8 cents a word for prose (including nonfiction and flash fiction); for short fiction, they pay 8 cents a word for original short stories; for nonfiction, they pay $75 per essay. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.