Speculative fiction markets cheat sheet

[sarahbrand]

Mainly for my own reference, but I thought others might find it useful.  These are markets where I wouldn't mind submitting.  I'm not sure which of the smaller ones are considered semi-pro, but Rachel Swirsky provides further commentary on most of them in a comment on this post (it's about halfway down the page).

SF stands for speculative fiction (not science fiction).  SFWA-qualifying markets are denoted with an asterisk.  Let me know if I've made any mistakes, if something listed as open is actually closed, if I'm missing a really good market, or if one ought to be taken off the list.

Updated 6/24/2011 - The cheat sheet has moved again (new URL: http://www.sarahbrand.com/markets/), so I'll no longer be updating this version... change your bookmarks!

Abyss & Apex (guidelines)
Accepts: SF and flash of all varieties (not horror, though dark SF is okay) of up to 10,000 words
Open? Fiction reading periods are in February, May, August, and November (usually... they're closed for November 2010). Poetry reading periods are in March, June, September, and December.
Format: E-mail only
Pay rate: 5 cents a word up to 1500 words, $75 for anything longer
Response time: 2 months
Note: Also accepts SF poetry.

Analog (guidelines) *
Accepts: Hard science fiction - short stories, novelettes, and serials
Open? Yes
Format: Regular mail only
Pay rate: 6-8 cents per word up to 7500 words, $450-600 for stories between 7500 and 10,000 words, 5-6 cents per word for anything longer
Response time: Unknown (anyone have experience submitting here?)
Note: Also accepts science articles.

Apex (guidelines)
Accepts: "science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mash-ups of all three—the dark, weird stuff down at the bottom of your little literary heart."  Wordcount should be no more than 7500.
Open? Yes
Format: Email
Pay rate: 5 cents per word
Response time: 20-30 days (query after 60 days)

Asimov's (guidelines) *
Accepts: Character-oriented science fiction (borderline fantasy is okay) up to 15,000 words
Open? Yes
Format: Online submissions form
Pay rate: 6 cents per word up to 7500 words, 5 cents per word for stories longer than 12,500 words, and $450 for stories between those lengths
Response time: 5 weeks (resubmit after 3 months)

Beneath Ceaseless Skies (guidelines) *
Accepts: Secondary-world fantasy up to 10,000 words
Open? Yes
Format: E-mail only
Pay rate: 5 cents per word
Response time: 3-5 weeks on average

Cicada (guidelines / guidelines for young writers)
Accepts: All kinds of fiction of 5000 words or less, including fantasy and science fiction.  "Main protagonist should be age 14 or older; stories should have a genuine teen sensibility and be aimed at readers in high school or college."  They are particularly looking for humor.
Open? Yes, to submissions from writers aged 14-23
Format: Regular mail (or email, in the young writers' guidelines)
Pay rate: Up to 25 cents per word
Response time: Allow six months

Clarkesworld (guidelines) *
Accepts: SF of all varieties, 1000-8000 words ("preferred length is 4000")
Open? Yes
Format: Online submissions form
Pay rate: 10 cents per word up to 4000 words, 5 cents per word after
Response time: 2 days to 1 week (24 hours to 3 days in practice)
Note: Also accepts nonfiction and art.

Electric Velocipede (guidelines)
Accepts: "Unusual" SF (think Link, Goss, Duncan, Mieville) up to 10,000 words, prefers 3000-6000 words
Open? Yes
Format: Online submissions form
Pay rate: About 1 cent per word, $25 minimum
Response time: About 1 month, up to 2 months
Note: Also accepts poetry.

Escape Pod (guidelines)
Accepts: Science fiction stories of 2000-6000 words (3500-5000 words preferred)
Open? Yes
Format: E-mail
Pay rate: $100 per story
Response time: Unclear
Note: Prefers reprints.

Fantasy (guidelines) *
Accepts: All types of fantasy, 1000-6000 words
Open? Yes
Format: Online submissions system
Pay rate: 5 cents per word
Response time: 7 days maximum

Flash Fiction Online (guidelines) *
Accepts: Short stories of 500-1000 words.
Open? Yes ("may occasionally close to get caught up on the slush pile")
Format: E-mail
Pay rate: $50 per story
Response time: 6-10 weeks

Heliotrope (guidelines)
Accepts: Science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and horror of no more than 5000 words
Open? Currently closed to submissions
Format: E-mail only
Pay rate: 10 cents per word
Response time: Within 30 days

Ideomancer (guidelines)
Accepts: Boundary-pushing SF of 7000 words or less
Open? "We are open to submissions during December-January, March-April, June-July, September-October."
Format: E-mail only
Pay rate: 3 cents per word, $40 maximum
Response time: Query after 30 days

Intergalactic Medicine Show (guidelines)
Accepts: Science fiction, fantasy, supernatural horror (think Asimov, Niven, Tolkien, Yolen, and Hobb), any length
Open? Yes
Format: Online submission form
Pay rate: 6 cents per word up to 7500 words, 5 cents per word thereafter
Response time: 3 months

Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet (guidelines)
Accepts: Fiction (mostly speculative)
Open? Yes
Format: Regular mail only
Pay rate: "We do not pay much."
Response time: Query after 6 months
Note: Also accepts nonfiction, poetry, and B&W art.

Lightspeed (guidelines)
Accepts: All types of science fiction, 1000-7500 words (preferably <5000)
Open? Yes
Format: Online submissions system
Pay rate: 5 cents per word
Response time: Typically 48 hours, up to 2 weeks
Note: If your story was previously rejected from F&SF by John Joseph Adams (Lightspeed's editor), don't submit it here.

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (guidelines) *
Accepts: Fantasy and science fiction (try not to be too shocked) up to 25,000 words
Open? Yes
Format: Regular mail only
Pay rate: 6-9 cents per word
Response time: Allow 8 weeks (but in practice it's more like 2)

Nature Futures (guidelines) *
Accepts: Hard science fiction, 850-950 words
Open? Yes
Format: E-mail
Pay rate: $130 per story (going by one data point, so more info would be appreciated)
Response time: "Authors of suggestions who do not receive a reply within two weeks should assume that Nature does not wish to pursue the matter."

Pedestal (guidelines) *
Accepts: Literary, character-driven SF of up to 4200 words
Open? Depends on the date, check the submissions page
Format: Online submission form
Pay rate: 8 cents per word
Response time: 4-8 weeks

PodCastle (guidelines)
Accepts: Fantasy stories of 2000-6000 words or flash pieces of <1000 words
Open? Yes
Format: E-mail
Pay rate: $100 for short fiction, $20 for flash
Response time: About two months
Note: Prefers reprints.

Pseudopod (guidelines)
Accepts: Horror stories of 2000-6000 words (preferably <5000 words) or flash stories of fewer than 1500 words (ideally 500-1000 words)
Open? Yes
Format: E-mail
Pay rate: $100 for short fiction, $20 for flash
Response time: About two months

Realms of Fantasy (guidelines)
Accepts: Fantasy of 10,000 words or less
Open? Yes
Format? Regular mail
Pay rate: For new writers, 6 cents per word for the first 7500 words, 4 cents a word thereafter
Response time: 8-12 weeks

Shimmer (guidelines)
Accepts: Unusual contemporary fantasy ("but we'll read anything") of 5000 words or less (query for longer works)
Open? Yes
Format: E-mail only
Pay rate: 1 cent per word, minimum $10
Response time: 3 weeks

Strange Horizons (guidelines) *
Accepts: SF of up to 9000 words (5000 or less preferred)
Open? Yes
Format: Online submissions form (currently unavailable)
Pay rate: 7 cents per word, minimum $50
Response time: 1 month on average (query after 70 days)
Note: Also accepts art, articles, poetry, and reviews.

Tor.com (guidelines) *
Accepts: SF of 12,000 words or less (can make exceptions)
Open? Yes
Format: E-mail only
Pay rate: 25 cents a word for the first 5000 words, 15 cents a word for the next 5000 words, 10 cents a word thereafter
Response time: Unknown (based on very limited data, it could be as long as 6-9 months)

Weird Tales (guidelines)
Accepts: Dark SF of 10,000 words or less (query for longer works)
Open? Yes
Format: E-mail or regular mail
Pay rate: 3-4 cents per word
Response time: Allow 6-8 weeks

Comments

[From: midnightsmagic.livejournal.com]

Great list! I just keep all mine saved as favorites on Duotrope. This is much more comprehensive.

Possible additions: Weird Tales. I also throw things at Pedestal every once in a while, though I prefer the straight up spec fic venues. Escape Pod and PodCastle are awesome too, but they prefer reprints. There are also SF-friendly flash markets, like Flash Fiction Online.

Note: Fantasy Magazine has an online submissions form these days as well--it's the same one Clarkesworld uses.

[From: midnightsmagic.livejournal.com]

Also, I'm going to link this to some of my writer friends who are just starting out in the world of submitting to magazines. I think they'd find it very helpful.

[From: sarahbrand.livejournal.com]

Awesome. I'll add in the markets you mentioned tomorrow... thanks!

[From: gsconahan.livejournal.com]

Nice list! Bookmarked.

[From: sarahbrand.livejournal.com]

Glad you found it useful. :-)

[From: elanid.livejournal.com]

Awesome list! :) Uh, going off of personal experience/internet trawling, my impression is that Clarkesworld's current system typically results in a reply time more on the scale of 24hrs - 3 days; they're really really fast. (Their internal statistics (clarkesworld) say 1.49 days is average.)

Additions: Nature actually publishes sf stories in thier Nature Futures section; I know Cassie had something published there recently. (Which is Awesome with intentional bad capitalization!) And in terms of a more meta addition, have you considered putting pay rate on this?

[From: sarahbrand.livejournal.com]

Pay rate would be a very good thing to add. I'll go back and put it in once the Dells are over. And I had totally forgotten about Nature, so thank you for reminding me. :-)

[From: elanid.livejournal.com]

Also, what about Cicada? I think they publish some sff stuff, particularly darker or more literary stuff, although I'm not clear on the rules about age. (shivi might know more, I think she sold something there?)