Five Awesome Semi-Pro Markets for Short Stories

A while back, I linked to 5 Awesome Top-Paying Online Fantasy & Sci-Fi Magazines. While it’s never a bad idea to submit to pro-paying markets, it goes without saying that the competition is very steep and it’s not uncommon for the more prestigious magazines to accept less than one percent of their unsolicited manuscripts. For new writers looking to nab a first acceptance letter, it can be very frustrating to receive nothing but rejection letters while going after the top names.

So what’s a new writer to do? Well, if earning top-dollar for a publication credit isn’t your top priority, there are couple of options. You could consider non-paying “for the love” markets, which I generally don’t recommend, token paying markets, which pay a small, fixed amount per story, or semi-professional publications, which pay anywhere from $.01-$.05 / word.

I’m certainly not against token-paying markets. I’ve been published in quite a few of them and even run one of my own. But for the sake of this post, I’d like to focus on the semi-pro markets. These are quality sites with acceptance rates little higher than pro markets, but a little lower than token-paying ones. In other words, if you’re hoping to make enough to pay for a couple of meals, give some of these a look.

So with that said, here are five of my favorite semi-professional markets accepting short stories.

1. Mythic Delirium is a quarterly online magazine accepting stories up to 4000 words. Pay is .02/word and they accept science fiction, fantasy, horror, interstitial and cross-genre.

2. SQ Mag is a quarterly online magazine based out of Australia, interested in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They pay .01/word up to $75.00 US, and also have periodic special issues and contests.

3. Hypnos Magazine publishes two issues each year in print. They are seeking more innovative forms that probe religious themes within the context of fantasy, science fiction, or horror, up to 10,000 words. Pay is .01/word.

4. Bourbon Penn is looking for looking for genre / speculative stories and are quite partial to slipstream, cross-genre, magic realism, absurdist, and the surreal. Pay is .01/word.

5. The Dark Magazine accepts accepts horror and dark fantasy up to 6000 words. They are a monthly ezine paying a nice rate of .03/word.

So that’s it. These are only five of many similar markets out there. Give these a look, and best of luck with your submissions.

What are some of your favorite semi-pro paying magazines, as a reader or a writer? Share them in the comments section!