Pro SF/F mags for Oct 2021

[anghraine]

As before, this is a selection of the SFWA-qualifying mags that I personally find interesting, not all of them (you can find those on the SFWA's market report page).

Apex

Open: now
Format: Shunn Standard Manuscript Format (https://www.shunn.net/format/story/). Use .docx.
Cover letter: they want one (no guidelines)
Submissions: no simultaneous, no multiple
Length: 7,500 words max
Payment: $.08; minimum of $50
Preferences:

• “Mind-bending short fiction,” dark and spectacular
• Emphasizes top pros in field

Query: try to respond within 30 days

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Open: now, according to SFWA
Format: Standard Manuscript Format, with name, address, and email on the first page, and running header with last name, title, and pg # on every subsequent page. Attachment should NOT be .docx but .doc or .rtf. Paste the manuscript into the email if those don’t work. Send to submissions@beneath-ceaseless-skies.com with subject line Submission: [Title].
Cover letter: type cover letter into the body of email and mention title of story.
Submissions: no multiple; simultaneous is okay if you state it in the cover letter and withdraw if you get accepted/choose to go with another market.
Length: 15,000 words max
Payment: $.08
Preferences:

• Emphasizes new and/or unpublished writers
• Lots, but core: stories w/ a secondary world setting and some fantasy feel, with a literary approach
• Secondary world w/ qualities bearing on the setting + no urban fantasy or modern/futuristic tech
• Focus on characters
• “Literary but readable”
• Close/limited POV preferred
• Originality; don’t want familiar tropes
• Nothing beyond “R” and no sex/sadistic violence be acted upon children
• Fairy tales/fables don’t really work for them
• No famous people unless it’s really different
• Humor is hit and miss

Query: check slush updates

Brave New Worlds

Open: until 31 Dec
Format: attachment w/ the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for (i.e., Brave New Worlds), along with the title of the submission. The content of the email should also include the anthology. Manuscript format: double-spaced, 12 pt font, standard margins, numbered pages, Times New Roman, w/ the title, author’s name, address, email, word count, and pseudonym on the first page. Italics and bold should be marked by italics and bold.
Cover letter: ?
Submissions: multiple is fine (as many as you like), simultaneous—?
Length: no more than 7,500 words
Payment: .08/word advance + royalties
Preferences:

• Science fiction stories set along the pathway of us leaving Earth for the stars. Stories can be set during our departure from Earth, on the long journey to reach a new planet, or upon arrival at said planet. Generation ship or colony ship stories are allowed, as well as terraforming stories once the new planet is reached. Stories featuring the human element to these types of journeys will receive more attention than strictly plot-based stories. Be creative and come up with an unusual and unexpected take on this “pathway to the stars” story. They’re looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.

Query: ?

Clarkesworld

Open: now, according to SFWA
Format: Standard Manuscript Format. Send in .docx, .doc, .rtf.
Cover letter: http://neil-clarke.com/short-story-cover-letters/
Submissions: No simultaneous submissions
Length: 1,000-22,000 words, no exceptions
Payment: $.10/word (PayPal or check)
Preferences:

• SF/F, no horror
• No distinction between style / substance / story / writing, but it needs to be well-written (...obviously…)
• Avoid long paragraphs or typographical trickery bc of onscreen reading
• Suitable for audio
• Fantasy can be folkloric, contemporary, surreal, whatever; don’t like zombies, vampires, werewolves, witches, demonic children, gore, evil civilian government, takeover by whatever party/religion for good or evil, thou/thine, children discovering anything, RPG character’s adventures, puns, theme anthology stuff, “trunk stories” (...)

Query: ?

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores

Open: the 1st and second day of every month, 12 am (of first) to 12 am (of third), EST.
Format: Standard Manuscript format and .docx; only use letters and numbers in filenames
Cover letter: NO resume
Submissions: No simultaneous or multiple submissions
Length: at least 1,000 words
Payment: $.08/word
Preferences:

• Favors shorter pieces
• SF, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales(!), and eldritch stuff, both serious and humorous, soft and hard.
• Doesn’t care for vampires, werewolves, zombies, monsters, superheroes, Lovecraftian stuff, anthro, robots with feelings, despairing post-apocalyptic stuff, and doesn’t accept horror, hate, blood and guts, explicit language, violence, angsty romance, fanfic, sex, axe-grinding, super depressing stuff, or mockery of grief, suffering, and death.
• Don’t care whether you’re new or established, just about the story

Query: after 12 weeks

Cossmass Infinities

Open: Oct 1st-7th (everyone) and Nov 1st-7th for underrepresented authors
Format: .docx
Cover letter: ?
Submissions: no multiple but simultaneous are fine
Length: short stories (1,000-7,500 words) and novelettes (7,501-17,500 words)
Payment: $.08/word through Paypal
Preferences:

• Encourages new writers
• Original sf/f

Query: 3 months

• Submit in the underrepresented authors months (next is Nov 1st-7th)

Daily Science Fiction

Open: now, according to SFWA
Format: plain text via web form; do not put address, word count, title, name, or other info there. Write “End” at the end.
Cover letter: no need for a cover letter, but you should include your name, address, any letter you choose to include, title, and notes in the cover letter box (esp your name). Responses go to the email address used to log-in, not to the cover letter version.
Submissions: no simultaneous, no multiple
Length: 100 to 1,500 words
Payment: $.08/word
Preferences:

• Short is favored
• Well-written and ideally character-driven (though they aren’t always the latter); interesting, worthwhile
• No horror, erotica, military SF, iffy about humor

Query: after 4 weeks

• Read!

Fantasy and Science Fiction

Open: Yes
Format: Standard: https://www.sfwa.org/2008/11/07/manuscript-preparation/. Send in .doc, .docx, or .rtf. Include mailing address and PayPal on manuscript.
Cover letter: No summary of the story
Submissions: No simultaneous or multiple submissions.
Length: flash up to 25,000 words; give the actual count, not an estimation.
Payment: 8-12 cents per word
Preferences: https://fandsf.moksha.io/publication/fsf/guidelines
Query: 90 days

Flash Fiction Online

Open: 1 Oct-21 Oct
Format: double-spaced, 12 pt TNR or other serif font (not Courier) with 1” margins and black letters on an unadorned white background
Cover letter: do not include identifying information on the manuscript, not sure about cover letters (is there one?).
Submissions: you can submit one original and one reprint story at once, but not simultaneous submissions.
Length: 500- to 1000-word stories.
Payment: .08/word
Preferences:

• Crisp prose
• Well-developed characters
• Compelling plots
• Satisfying resolutions
• Engagement of minds and emotions
• Multiple genres are okay, esp speculative and literary.
• https://www.flashfictiononline.com/submission-guidelines-flash-fiction/what-were-looking-for-and-not/

Query: 8 weeks; email flashfictiononlineeditor@gmail.com w/ QUERY in the subject line for an update on its status. Do NOT submit this way.

khōréō

Open: 1 Oct-31 Oct
Format: manuscript should be in Shuff modern manuscript format, apart from mailing address; file ?
Cover letter: particularly welcomes people who are either immigrants or members of a diaspora, so they welcome a brief description of this identity in their cover letter. Any content warnings (relevant ones listed here) should appear both below the title and in the cover letter. Include the general genre of the piece in the cover letter.
Submissions: no multiple submissions; simultaneous is okay if you note it in the cover letter and withdraw if you get accepted elsewhere.
Length: must be under 5,000 and ideally is under 3,500.
Payment: .08/word
Preferences:

• Must be speculative
• They’re “especially interested in writing and art that explore some aspect of migration, whether explicitly (themes of immigration, colonialism, etc.), metaphorically, or with a sly nod and a wink.” This is not all they’re willing to publish, however.
• Don’t want uncritical bigotry (paraphrasing), fridging, gore.
• Otherwise, they advise against self-rejecting.

Query: ?