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The 10 Best Websites for Short Story Submissions

Mar 20 | Written by Ryan Law

Finding good short story markets is harder than it should be. Half the time you are not just looking for a place that publishes science fiction or fantasy, but a place that actually fits your kind of story, pays decently, and explains its rules clearly enough that you do not feel like you need a decoder ring before hitting submit.

So this guide focuses on websites that are genuinely useful to speculative fiction writers, especially if you write sci-fi, fantasy, dark fantasy, or adjacent weird fiction. I have put Ash Tales first, obviously, but after that I have leaned toward established genre markets that are worth bookmarking and checking regularly.

Submission windows change all the time, so treat open and closed statuses as a snapshot. All details below were checked on March 20, 2026.

1. Ash Tales

If you write apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, or dystopian fiction, Ash Tales is the most targeted fit on this list. It is narrower than the big general SF/F magazines, but that is also the advantage: if your story is about collapse, survival, fallout, flooded futures, or the long weird aftermath of the end of the world, you are already writing for the right room.

  • Best for: Post-apocalyptic, apocalyptic, and dystopian short fiction.
  • What they want: Complete, edited stories in those genres, up to 2,500 words.
  • Pay: No payment is currently listed on the submission page.
  • Guidelines snapshot: Previously published stories are accepted. Stories should be submitted in clean Markdown. Ash Tales takes non-exclusive digital publication rights, including website publication, podcast adaptation, and possible future anthology use, while the author retains rights.
  • Submission page: Ash Tales submissions

2. Strange Horizons

Strange Horizons is one of the strongest all-around speculative fiction markets online. It is broad in taste, pays well, and has the kind of editorial reputation that makes it worth trying even when the submission windows are brief and competitive.

  • Best for: Literary speculative fiction, smart genre-bending stories, and polished sci-fi or fantasy with a strong voice.
  • What they want: Speculative fiction broadly defined, up to 10,000 words, though they prefer under 5,000.
  • Pay: 10 cents per word, with a $60 minimum.
  • Guidelines snapshot: They buy first-printing world exclusive English-language rights, including audio, for six months. No simultaneous submissions, no multiple submissions, and no resubmissions. As of March 20, 2026, fiction submissions are closed; their January 2026 window ran from January 19 to January 21.
  • Submission page: Strange Horizons fiction guidelines

3. Uncanny Magazine

Uncanny is a dream market if your work is emotionally intense, imaginative, and unapologetically speculative. Their taste tends toward ambitious, voicey fiction that wants to do more than just execute a clever premise.

  • Best for: High-end speculative fiction with emotional force, inventive structure, or big thematic ambition.
  • What they want: Original, unpublished speculative fiction from 750 to 10,000 words.
  • Pay: 10 cents per word, including audio rights.
  • Guidelines snapshot: One story at a time, no resubmissions, manuscript in standard format, and they do not accept AI-assisted submissions. As of March 20, 2026, Uncanny is closed to all submissions.
  • Submission page: Uncanny submissions

4. Apex Magazine

Apex sits in a really nice spot for writers whose work leans strange, dark, literary, or unsettling without losing its speculative core. If your sci-fi or fantasy has teeth, atmosphere, or a bit of horror in its bloodstream, this is a market to keep close.

  • Best for: Dark, literary speculative fiction across science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
  • What they want: Original short fiction up to 9,000 words.
  • Pay: 8 cents per word, minimum $50, with an extra 1 cent per word if the story is podcasted.
  • Guidelines snapshot: Standard manuscript format, uploads through Moksha only, no AI-assisted work, and no email submissions. Apex says it is closed to general submissions during alternating months in 2026: February, April, June, August, October, and December.
  • Submission page: Apex Magazine submission guidelines

5. Beneath Ceaseless Skies

If you write secondary-world fantasy, Beneath Ceaseless Skies is still one of the most useful specialist markets around. It is especially attractive if your story is too long for many standard magazines but still firmly a short story rather than a novella.

  • Best for: Literary adventure fantasy and secondary-world fantasy.
  • What they want: Fantasy stories, strongly preferring work under 15,000 words.
  • Pay: 8 cents per word.
  • Guidelines snapshot: They buy first world serial rights, first world electronic rights, non-exclusive world audio rights, and non-exclusive world anthology reprint rights. BCS is particularly useful for longer fantasy short fiction that struggles to fit stricter word-count caps elsewhere.
  • Submission page: Beneath Ceaseless Skies submissions

6. PodCastle

PodCastle is one of the best fantasy markets for writers who like the idea of their work being heard as well as read. Because it is built around audio, stories with strong pacing, clean scene movement, and memorable voices have an edge here.

  • Best for: Fantasy stories that read cleanly aloud and land well in audio.
  • What they want: Fantasy short fiction up to 6,000 words. They especially like stories in the 3,000 to 4,000 word range.
  • Pay: 8 cents per word for originals, $100 flat for most reprints, and $20 flat for flash reprints.
  • Guidelines snapshot: Reprints are welcome, simultaneous submissions are allowed if disclosed, and they ask for 4 months of text and audio exclusivity for original stories. As of March 20, 2026, PodCastle is open to general submissions until midnight BST on May 1, 2026.
  • Submission page: PodCastle submission guidelines

7. Escape Pod

If your work lands more on the science fiction side than the fantasy side, Escape Pod is one of the clearest, most writer-friendly markets to study. They are explicit about tone, hard limits, and what does and does not fit the publication, which saves everyone time.

  • Best for: Science fiction with clarity, momentum, accessibility, and often a hopeful or adventurous streak.
  • What they want: Original short fiction from 1,500 to 6,000 words, with a sweet spot around 2,000 to 4,000.
  • Pay: 8 cents per word for originals and $100 per reprint story.
  • Guidelines snapshot: Anonymous submissions preferred, content warnings appreciated, simultaneous submissions allowed if declared, and they buy one-time plus archival electronic and audio rights. They are not looking for horror, gore-heavy work, or fiction built around cruelty as thought experiment.
  • Submission page: Escape Pod short fiction guidelines

8. FIYAH

FIYAH is one of the most important speculative fiction markets in the field, with a clear editorial identity and a real commitment to publishing Black speculative fiction on its own terms. If you are eligible and your story matches their mission, this should be near the top of your list.

  • Best for: Black speculative fiction by writers from the African continent and diaspora.
  • What they want: Short fiction from 2,000 to 7,000 words and novelettes up to 15,000 words.
  • Pay: 8 cents per word for short stories and novelettes.
  • Guidelines snapshot: FIYAH only accepts unpublished work and does not take simultaneous submissions or reprints. They claim first world electronic rights, plus non-exclusive archival and anthology rights, with a 180-day exclusivity period after publication.
  • Submission page: FIYAH submissions

9. khoreo

khoreo is a great option if your speculative fiction is tied to migration, diaspora, or questions of belonging. It is a more specific fit than the broad SF/F markets, but for the right story that specificity is exactly what makes it valuable.

  • Best for: Speculative fiction by immigrant and diaspora writers, especially stories engaging with migration in direct or metaphorical ways.
  • What they want: Speculative fiction under 5,000 words, with a stated preference for stories under 3,500.
  • Pay: SFWA pro rates, listed as 10 cents per word.
  • Guidelines snapshot: Writers may submit one flash piece and one short story each submission period. No reprints, no multiple submissions within a category, and no AI-generated work. khoreo also limits submissions to writers who identify as immigrants or members of a diaspora.
  • Submission page: khoreo fiction submissions

10. The Dark

Strictly speaking, The Dark is a horror and dark fantasy market rather than a broad SF/F one, but it earns a place here because so many speculative writers have stories that live right on that border. If your fantasy is eerie, uncanny, or psychologically shadowed, it is worth a look.

  • Best for: Horror and dark fantasy with atmosphere, restraint, and a strong sense of mood.
  • What they want: Fiction from 2,000 to 6,000 words.
  • Pay: 5 cents per word for original fiction, and 1 cent per word for reprints.
  • Guidelines snapshot: Email submissions only, standard manuscript format preferred, no multiple or simultaneous submissions, and they buy first world rights for original fiction. They explicitly say they are not a market for graphic, violent horror.
  • Submission page: The Dark submission guidelines

Which of these are best?

If you want the short version, here is how I would break it down.

  • Best niche fit for apocalypse fiction: Ash Tales
  • Best prestige SF/F market: Strange Horizons or Uncanny
  • Best dark speculative market: Apex
  • Best pure fantasy audio market: PodCastle
  • Best pure science fiction audio market: Escape Pod
  • Best long fantasy short story market: Beneath Ceaseless Skies
  • Best mission-driven niche markets: FIYAH and khoreo

The biggest mistake most writers make is submitting by reputation instead of fit. A smaller market that clearly wants your exact kind of story is usually better than a famous one that only sort of does.

If you are writing post-apocalyptic fiction specifically, start with Ash Tales. If you are writing broad science fiction or fantasy and want to build a submission ladder, I would pair one ambitious reach market like Strange Horizons or Uncanny with one or two tighter-fit markets like Apex, PodCastle, Escape Pod, or Beneath Ceaseless Skies depending on the story.