Publishing SFFH stories (2024)

At the start of 2024, I made a specific New Year's resolution: I will write (or translate) one short story a week until at least one story gets published. On January 11, I created a Chill Subs account and I submitted my first story on January 16. Previously, I had submitted a story in the context of the monthly Furious Fiction challenge.

Below, you can find a list of contests and magazines, along with information about stories I submitted. Note that every story that I wrote gets a number. It starts with either ENG for stories written in English or NDL for stories written in Dutch (Nederlands). It is followed by two digits that indicate the year I wrote the story's original version. Starting in 2024, the three digits after the hyphen indicate the chronological order in which the stories were written. Before 2024, the number reflects the alphabetical order of the titles of the stories written that year.

Results so far

• Different stories: 19
  1. ENG20-012: about 1,400 words
     1. Waiting for an opportunity to submit
  2. ENG20-008: about 1,100 words
     1. Waiting for an opportunity to submit
  3. ENG20-046: about 1,300 words
     1. Waiting for an opportunity to submit
  4. ENG24-011: about 800 words
     1. Waiting for an opportunity to submit
     2. 2024-02-04: Radon Journal—REJECTED 2024-02-18
  5. ENG24-002: about 6,600 words
     1. Waiting for an opportunity to submit
     2. 2024-02-16: Clarke's World—REJECTED 2024-02-17
     3. 2024-02-12: The Colored Lens—REJECTED 2024-02-13
     4. 2024-01-18: Apex Magazine—REJECTED 2024-02-12
     5. 2024-01-16: Asimov's—REJECTED 2024-01-18
  6. ENG24-014: about 3,600 words
     1. Waiting for an opportunity to submit
     2. 2024-02-17: Fusion Fragment—REJECTED 2024-02-22
     3. 2024-02-16: The Colored Lens—REJECTED 2024-02-17
     4. 2024-02-08: Asimov's—REJECTED 2024-02-10
  7. ENG24-005: about 400 words
     1. 2024-02-19: Theaker's Quarterly Fiction
     2. 2024-01-23: Tales from the Moonlit Path—REJECTED 2024-02-15
  8. ENG24-009: about 2,800 words
     1. 2024-02-19: Sans. PRESS
     2. 2024-02-17: The Colored Lens—REJECTED 2024-02-17
     3. 2024-02-07: Fusion Fragment—REJECTED 2024-02-16
     4. 2024-02-04: Clarke's World—REJECTED 2024-02-06
     5. 2024-02-01: Asimov's—REJECTED 2024-02-03
  9. ENG18-001: about 500 words
     1. 2024-02-15: Tales from the Moonlit Path
  10. ENG24-013: about 600 words
      1. 2024-02-06: The NoSleep Podcast
  11. ENG24-012: about 460 words
      1. 2024-02-05: Factor Four
  12. ENG24-008: about 2,200 words
      1. 2024-01-31: Infinite Worlds Magazine
      2. 2024-01-29: Asimov's—REJECTED 2024-01-31
  13. ENG24-007: about 1,150 words
      1. 2024-01-26: James Gunn's Ad Astra
  14. ENG24-006: about 1,900 words
      1. 2024-01-26: Infinite Horrors Magazine
      2. 2024-01-24: Asimov's—REJECTED 2024-01-26
  15. ENG20-005: about 1,500 words
      1. 2024-01-23; Cricket
  16. ENG24-003: about 2,400 words
      1. 2024-01-21: Analog Science Fiction & Fact
  17. ENG24-001: The Disaster Employee; about 500 words
      1. 2024-01-05: Furious Fiction—Longlist nomination
  18. ENG24-010: about 400 words
      1. 2024-02-02 in the Furious Fiction contest—Not nominated
  19. ENG24-004: about 300 words
      1. Will not submit again!
      2. 2024-01-24: Lightspeed—REJECTED 2024-01-25
      3. 2024-01-23: SciFi Lampoon—REJECTED 2024-01-24
• Magazine submissions: 27
  • Pending: 10
  • Rejections: 17
  • Accepted for publication: 0
• Contest submissions: 2
  • Nominations (but no publication): 1
  • No nomination: 1

Successful stories:

• ENG24-001: The Disaster Employee (about 500 words)
  • Furious Fiction: Submitted 2024-01-05 — 2024-01-26: the story made the longlist

Failures (will not submit again):

• ENG24-010: February Furious Fiction submission (about 400 words)
  • Not nominated
• ENG24-004: I'll worry about that yesterday (about 300 words)
  English version of NDL19-008. The Dutch version was published in the Flemish magazine Weirdo's (jrg. 36, nr. 4, December 2023)
  • Sci-Fi Lampoon Magazine: Submitted: 2024-01-23; Rejected: 2024-01-24
  • Lightspeed Magazine: Submitted 2024-01-24; Rejected: 2024-01-25

Always open

• Analog Science Fiction & Fact: We publish science fiction stories in which some aspect of future science or technology is so integral to the plot that, if that aspect were removed, the story would collapse. Try to picture Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein without the science and you’ll see what I mean. No story! The science can be physical, sociological, or psychological. The technology can be anything from electronic engineering to biogenetic engineering. But the stories must be strong and realistic, with believable people (who needn’t be human) doing believable things–no matter how fantastic the background might be. Stories up to 80,000 words.
  • SUBMITTED #004 2024-01-21: ENG24-003
• Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine: In general, we’re looking for “character-oriented” stories, those in which the characters, rather than the science, provide the main focus for the reader’s interest. Serious, thoughtful, yet accessible fiction will constitute the majority of our purchases, but there’s always room for the humorous as well. SF dominates the fiction published in the magazine, but we also publish borderline fantasy, slipstream, and surreal fiction. No sword & Sorcery, please. Neither are we interested in explicit sex or violence. A good overview would be to consider that all fiction is written to examine or illuminate some aspect of human existence, but that in science fiction the backdrop you work against is the size of the Universe. Stories between 2,000 and 20,000 words.
  • My opinion:
    • Pro: high-profile, paying magazine; fast reply.
    • Contra: Even the English version of top stories that were published in anthologies by Dutch publishers were refused with the same standard reply.
    • Conclusion: NEGATIVE! Asimov's was my first choice to offer new stories, but after five failed attempts, I'll shift my preference to other magazines.
  • Submission attempts:
    • SUBMITTED #021 2024-02-08: ENG24-014 — REJECTED #008 2024-02-10 (2 days)
    • SUBMITTED #014 2024-02-01: ENG24-009 — REJECTED #006 2024-02-03 (2 days)
    • SUBMITTED #012 2024-01-29: ENG24-008 — REJECTED #005 2024-01-31 (2 days)
    • SUBMITTED #009 2024-01-24: ENG24-006 — REJECTED #004 2024-01-26 (2 days)
    • SUBMITTED #002 2024-01-16: ENG24-002 — REJECTED #001 2024-01-18 (2 days)
• Clarke's World: Science fiction need not be “hard” SF, but rigor is appreciated. Fantasy can be folkloric, contemporary, surreal, etc. However, no particular setting, theme, or plot is anathema to us. Stories between 1,000 and 22,000 words.
  • SUBMITTED #025 2024-02-16: ENG24-002 — REJECTED #014 2024-02-17 (1 day)
  • SUBMITTED #016 2024-02-04: ENG24-009 — REJECTED #007 2024-02-06 (2 days)
• The Colored Lens: The Colored Lens was created to showcase stories that shift our perspective on the world, through the far-reaching genre of speculative fiction.
  • SUBMITTED #026 2024-02-17: ENG24-009 — REJECTED #015 2024-02-17 (0 days)
  • SUBMITTED #024 2024-02-16: ENG24-014 — REJECTED #013 2024-02-17 (1 day)
  • SUBMITTED #022 2024-02-12: ENG24-002 — REJECTED #010 2024-02-13 (1 day)
• Cricket: Illustrated poetry, fiction, and literary nonfiction for ages 9 – 14. Stories between 1,200 and 1,800 words, but also between 600 and 900 words. Stories up to 6,000 words can be serialized.
  • SUBMITTED #006 2024-01-23: ENG20-005
• Factor Four Magazine: We publish flash fiction in the genres of speculative fiction, specifically science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, superhero, or any combination of these.  We are looking for stories that are engaging to our readers in such a short word count. (1,000 words or less.)
  • SUBMITTED #018 2024-02-04: ENG24-012
• Fusion Fragment: A Canadian-based magazine publishing science fiction and SF-tinged literary fiction stories and novelettes.
  • SUBMITTED #027 2024-02-17: ENG24-014 — REJECTED #017 2024-02-22 (5 days)
  • SUBMITTED #020 2024-02-07: ENG24-009 — REJECTED #012 2024-02-16 (9 days)
• Infinite Horrors Magazine: We are interested in printing new, unpublished horror stories between 1500–5000 words in length.
  • SUBMITTED #010 2024-01-26: ENG24-006
• Infinite Worlds Magazine: We are interested in printing new, unpublished science fiction stories between 1500–5000 words in length.
  • SUBMITTED #013 2024-01-31: ENG24-008
• James Gunn's Ad Astra: publishes mostly science fiction with some fantasy. Both genres are literature of discontinuity where there is a rupture between the depicted world and the one in which we live. Science fiction is further distinguished by one essential quality: we can trace a path from here to there. James Gunn notes that science fiction “incorporates a belief that the most important aspect of existence is a search for humanity’s origins, its purpose, and its ultimate fate.” Science fiction explores the human condition through the consequences of future changes in the world. We want to raise our eyes above the horizon and search from the near-reality to the far reaches of the what-if. Stories up to 7,500 words.
  • SUBMITTED #011 2024-01-26: ENG24-007
• Radon Journal: Triannual online journal publishing prose and poetry relating to science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, and dystopia. Radon is a semipro-paying market that publishes quality literature every January, May, and September.
  • SUBMITTED #017 2024-02-04: ENG24-011 — REJECTED #016 2024-02-18 (14 days)
• Sci-Fi Lampoon Magazine: We're a fantasy, sci-fi, & horror-themed humor magazine, featuring flash & short fiction. Flash: less than 1,000 words; Short fiction: less than 7,500 words.
  • SUBMITTED #007 2024-01-23: ENG24-004 — REJECTED #002 2024-01-24 (1 day)
• The NoSleep Podcast: we love nothing more than hearing from up-and-coming or seasoned horror writers who’d like to work with us. We want you to frighten us and mess with our heads, so we, in turn, can terrify our listeners.
  • SUBMITTED #019 2024-02-06: ENG24-013

Currently Open

• Apex Magazine: An online zine of fantastical fiction. We publish short stories filled with marrow and passion, works that are twisted, strange, and beautiful—creations where secret places and dreams are put on display. Flash: less than 1,000 words; Short fiction: less than 7,500 words.
  •  SUBMITTED #003 2024-01-18: ENG24-002 — REJECTED #009 2024-02-12 (25 days)
• Tales from the Moonlit Path: Horror, Dark Fiction, Speculative Fiction Online Magazine (stories no longer than 2000 words)
  • SUBMITTED #023 2024-02-15: ENG18-001
  • SUBMITTED #005 2024-01-23: ENG24-005 — REJECTED #011 2024-02-15 (23 days)

Currently Closed

• Lightspeed Magazine: Currently open for Flash Fiction (up to 1,500 words)
  • SUBMITTED #008 2024-01-24: ENG24-004 — REJECTED #003 2024-01-25 (1 day)

March 2024

• Weird Horror: OPENS: March 2, 2024 / CLOSES: March 15, 2024
• The Deeps: Fall 2024 issue
  The Deeps seeks to publish dark pieces of short fiction and narrative poetry that are particularly well-suited for traditional storytelling (the kind you do in groups). We believe that the best tales are meant for sharing, and for haunting, and for sharing again. We therefore intend The Deeps as your fireside companion in the ancient ritual of dark storytelling (500-6000 words).
• Aurealis: March only: looking for science fiction, fantasy or horror short stories between 2000 and 8000 words. All types of science fiction, fantasy and horror that are of a “speculative” nature will be considered, but we do not want stories that are derivative in nature. We do not publish horror without a supernatural element.
• Hexagon SF Magazine: open for submissions March 1st
• Silver Blade Magazine: March 1 through July 31 (For the August issue), except in May
• MetaStellar: Our next submission cycle opens March 1 and runs through March 31. Accepted authors will be notified by April 15.
• 22nd-24th: The Mollie Savage Memorial Writing Contest (formerly Three Cheers and a Tiger) is a 48-hour short story writing contest.
• 31st: Writers of the Future, Writer Contest 2nd Quarter

April 2024

• Daikaijuzine: We will be open to submissions April 1, 2024 through April 7, 2024 for the September 2024 release.
• Solarpunk Magazine: 2024 Submission Window Schedule: April 1-14 (theme: Colorful Roots)
• Theaker's Quarterly Fiction: April 30 is the deadline for UNSPLATTERPUNK! 7
  • SUBMITTED #031 2024-02-19
• April 1st: start of A Midsummer Tale Narrative Writing Contest

May 2024

• Apparition Lit: July issue theme: Anachronism (1000-5000 words)
• Allegory Magazine: Submission Period: May 1, 2024 - June 30, 2024; Publication Date: November 1, 2024
• Defenestration: Short Story Contest! opens May 1st

June 2024

• Space and Time Magazine: submissions open June 15
• Baffling Magazine: We’ll be open next in June, from the 1st to the 15th, reading on the theme of “monstrous” as well as unthemed submissions.

July 2024

• Diabolical plots: science fiction, fantasy, horror (everything must have a speculative element, even horror). Stories of 3,000 words or less.
• Flash Frog: ghost story submissions (1000 words or less)
• Kaleidotrope: open for fiction submissions
• Sci Phi Journal: The next call for submissions is foreseen for July 2024. 
• Solarpunk Magazine: 2024 Submission Window Schedule: July 1 - 14

August 2024

• Apparition Lit: October issue theme: Harbinger (1000-5000 words)

September 2024

October 2024

1. Solarpunk Magazine: 2024 Submission Window Schedule: October 1 - 14
2. Kaleidotrope: open for fiction submissions

November 2024

December 2024

January 2024

• Furious Fiction Challenge February:
  • SUBMITTED #001 2024-01-05 ENG24-001 — NOMINATED #001 2024-01-26

February 2024

• Furious Fiction Challenge February:
  • SUBMITTED #015 2024-02-02: ENG24-010 — NOT NOMINATED #001 2024-02-21 (19 days)
• Sans. PRESS: "Stranger" anthology. Submissions open from February 8 to March 12
  • SUBMITTED #030 2024-02-19 ENG24-009
• Apparition Lit: April issue theme: Mercurial (1000-5000 words)

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