Pickpik This September there are more than six dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always, every genre, style, and form is wanted, from short stories to poetry to essays.

I post upcoming calls for submissions shortly before the first day of every month. But as I am collecting them, I post them on my page, Calls for Submissions. You can get a jump on next month's calls for submissions by checking that page periodically throughout the month. (I only post paying markets.)

Also see Paying Markets for hundreds of paying markets arranged by form and genre.

Happy submitting!
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Bourbon Penn. Genre: "We are looking for highly imaginative stories with a healthy dose of the odd. Odd characters, odd experiences, odd realities. We’re looking for genre / speculative stories and are quite partial to slipstream, cross-genre, magic realism, absurdist, and the surreal." Length: 2000 - 7500 words. Payment: 4 cents/word. Deadline: Opens September 1, 2025.

IHRAM Publishes. Genre: Poetry, fiction, esssays, art. Theme: Enduring Voices: Life with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses. Payment: $50 for writing, $25 for art. Deadline: September 1, 2025.

Bog Matter. Genre: Fiction, poetry, and graphic shorts that could be described as science fiction, horror, fantasy, magical realism, slipstream, New Weird, utopian, dystopian, satirical, cross-genre, experimental, or exuding a general air of oddness. Payment: 2 cents/word. Deadline: September 1, 2025.

Affirm Press. Restrictions: Open to Australians only. Genre: All literary and genre fiction. For non-fiction, they are interested in most subjects that have a connection to Australia. authors or authors based in Australia, and only manuscripts that haven’t been previously published. They only accept submissions on the first Monday of each month. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 1, 2025.

The Forge Literary Magazine. Genre: Prose. They prefer stories under 3,000 words but will consider up to 5,000 words. Payment: $100. Deadline: Opens September 1, 2025. Free submissions open on the 1st of each month and close when cap is reached.

Solstitia. Genre: All genres and forms. Payment: $50. Deadline: September 1, 2025.

Philadelphia Stories. Restrictions: Open to authors living in, or originally from, Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey. Genre: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art. Payment: $50. Deadline: September 1, 2025.

Fourteen Poems Genre: Poems. "We want to represent all that's thrilling about the new wave of LGBT+ poets. If you’re a poet, even if you’ve never been published before, we want to read your work. Every issue we publish 14 of the best queer poems we’ve found, and we want to include you! We publish 4 times a year, but take submissions all year round. To be considered, email up to 5 poems, preferably in a pdf format, with a small paragraph about yourself." Payment: £30 for each poem published. Deadline: September 1, 2025.

Teach. Write. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction, flash fiction, poetry, CNF. "I prefer writing that is either written by composition teachers and writing students or about teaching and learning." Payment: $15. Deadline: September 1, 2025.

Ricochet Editions. Genre: Hybrid/Experimental work between 40 and 200 pages. "We are looking for purposeful experimentation with language and form that challenges or plays with convention." Payment: $500 and 50 copies of the perfect-bound book. Deadline: September 1, 2025. No submission fee for POC and Indigenous writers and writers facing financial hardship.

The Other Stories (Audio). Genre: Horror on themes. Payment: 15 GBT. Deadline: September 1, 2025. See themes.

Variety Pack. Genre: Fiction, flash fiction, poetry, CNF, art. Payment: $10 for poetry and visual art; $20 for prose. Deadline: Opens  September 1, 2025.

Red Wolf Editions. Genre: Poems on theme: “Recovering Greenness.” Payment: Royalties? Deadline: September 1, 2025. (?)

Toronto Journal. Genre: Short stories from anywhere in the world. No word limit. "We will also consider non-fiction pieces that are either set locally or explore some local history (Toronto, GTA, and surrounding)." Payment: $50 CAD per piece. All published writers will also receive two printed copies of the issue in which they appear. Deadline: September 1, 2025.

Phi Kappa Phi Forum. Genre: Poetry. See theme. Payment: $4/ line. Deadline: September 2, 2025.

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores. Genre: Speculative stories. Payment: 8 cents/word for original work. 2 cents/word for reprints. Deadline: September 2, 2025. Opens September 1.

Tyche Books. Genre: Speculative fiction. See theme. Payment: $20 CAD for poems, $50 CAD for short stories. Deadline: September 3, 2025.

Stone's Throw. Genre: Noir, dark fiction, crime short stories. Length: between 1,000 and 2,000 words. See theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: September 4, 2025. Note: This is a monthly call.

University of Queensland Press. Restrictions: Open to Australian citizens or permanent residents. Genre: Nonfiction manuscripts. UQP is currently seeking adult non-fiction submissions that address environmental sustainability and the climate crisis. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 7, 2025.

Raconteur Press. Genre: Stories about monsters with a retro feel. Tales in the vein of Roger Corman, Harry Harryhausen, Christopher Lee, Bob Wilkins, and so on. Giant killer kaijus! Genetic experiments! A creature feature of tentacles, gill-men, and were-beasts! Are those skeletons walking around? Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 7, 2025.

Black Inc. Restrictions: Open to Australians. Genre: Full-length general, literary and commercial non-fiction – including history, current affairs, memoir and biography. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 7, 2025. This is a monthly call.

Trans Survivors Zine. Genre: Trans and nonbinary art. See theme. Payment: $25. Deadline: September 8, 2025.

Uncanny Magazine. Genre: Speculative fiction. Payment: 10 cents/word. Deadline: September 8, 2025.

Samjoko Magazine. Genre: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, play, screenplay. Payment: $20. Deadline: September 10, 2025.

Vellum Mortis. Genre: Horror. Length: 1000 words max. See theme. Payment: $5. Deadline: September 10, 2025.

Shenandoah. Genre: Fiction. Payment: $80 per 1000 words of prose up to $400. Deadline: Opens September 10, 2025, and closes when they reach capacity.

Book Worms. Genre: Horror: fiction, poetry, and essays. See theme. Length: Up to 1,500 words. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: September 10, 2025.

Quarter Press: Quarter(ly). Genre: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art. See themes. Payment: $5. Deadline: September 14, 2025. Closes when cap is reached.

Cast of Wonders. Genre: YA Speculative fiction. Podcast. See themes. Payment: $.08/word for original fiction up to 6,000 words. For reprints, a $100 flat rate for Short Fiction, and a $20 flat rate for Flash Fiction. Deadline: September 14, 2025.

Tin House. Genre: Debut Short Story Collections. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September14, 2025. Opens September 13.

Plott Hound. Genre: Speculative fiction starring animals. Payment: 8 cents/word. Deadline: September 15, 2025.

Sublimation. Genre: Speculative poetry and art. See theme. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 15, 2025.

Rat Bag. Genre: Fiction that crosses genres and blurs the lines between literary and genre. Payment: $1 - $10. Deadline: September 15, 2025. Closes when cap is reached.

Eye to the Telescope: Cyberpunk. Genre: Speculative poetry. Theme: Cyberpunk. Payment: $0.05/word (up to $25). Deadline: September 15, 2025.

Novellum. Genre: Short stories, poetry, novellas, art. Payment: "Competitive rates." Deadline: September 15, 2025.

Lonely Cryptid: Trans/Port: Trans Speculative Fiction for a Queer Future. Genre: Speculative fiction. "The title of this anthology is intentionally open to interpretation. Give us trans like transporting, transforming, translating, transmitting, transcendental, transistor (radio? Sure!), and of course transgender! Give us port like any port in a storm, jacking in, porting software, and like we’ve opened a portal to another (better?) world!" Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: September 15, 2025.

Kopi Break. Restrictions: Open to those affiliated with Singapore and the Singaporean diaspora. Genre: Poetry. Payment: $10. Deadline: September 15, 2025.

Philly Poetry Chapbook Review. Genre: Reviews of chapbooks coming soon or published in the past three years, essays on the crafts of poetry and chapbook making or publishing, and features about authors or publishers of chapbooks. Payment: $10. Deadline: September 15, 2025.

Penumbric. Genre: Speculative fiction, poetry, art, animation, and music. Payment: $10. Deadline: September 15, 2025.

Three-Lobed Burning Eye. Genre: Horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Payment: $0.08/word. Deadline: September 16, 2025.

Westerly. Genre: Short stories, poetry, memoir and creative non-fiction, essays and literary criticism. Payment: Poems: $250 for one poem or $300 for two or more poems; Prose: $500; Visual art/Intro essay: $620; Online Publication: $250. Deadline: September 17, 2025.

Havok. Genre: Flash fiction. See themes. Payment: $50 via PayPal for each story selected for an Anthology. No payment for online publication. Deadline: September 19, 2025.

Raconteur Press. Genre: Stories about mercenaries and their adventures. Think Black Company, Hammer’s Slammers, Strange Company, Jon Sable, Phule’s Company, some cranially-iffy guy named Roland, and so on. Mercenaries aren’t obligated to maintain the same moral/ethical standards a soldier is expected to. They may also be the only ones able to pull off a mission when the uniformed military is unable to do so. Not limited to a specific timeframe or setting. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 21, 2025.

Reckoning. Genre: Art, poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction up to 15,000 words in length. See theme. Payment: 10 cents per word (US) for prose, $50 per page for poetry and art. Deadline: September 22, 2025.

Tiny Ghost Press is looking for young adult novels written from a queer perspective. That is, stories featuring a queer protagonist or from a queer author. "We're interested in everything from contemporary romance, to dystopian adventures, and if your story dabbles in the spooky, the supernatural, or the paranormal, or has a speculative element even better! We're especially looking for stories featuring trans, BIPOC, and neurodivergent characters in lead roles written by authors from these communities."  Read submission guidelines  HERE. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 23, 2025.

The Ex-Puritan. Genres: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. Payment: $100 per nonfiction piece, $50 fiction, $15 per poem. Deadline: September 25, 2025.

The Book of Cardiff. Genre: Stories set in Cardiff. Payment: "Standard author fees." Deadline: September 26, 2025.

Gap Riot. Genre: Experimental, visual, innovative, and genre-blurring feminist poetry by primarily Canadian poets. Length: Short short chapbooks (absolute max 20 pages). Payment: Royalties, after first 20 copies have sold. Deadline: September 26, 2025.

Story Unlikely. Genre: Fiction and nonfiction up to 10,000 words. Payment: 8 cents a word for stories up to 2,500 words. Stories longer than this are capped at $200 payment. $75 max for reprints. Deadline: September 29, 2025. Accepts reprints.

Split Lip Magazine. Genre: Fiction (flash and short stories), memoirs, and poetry. with a pop-culture twist. Payment: $75 for poems, memoirs, flash, fiction, and art, $50 for interviews/reviews, and $25 for mini-reviews web issues. Deadline: September 30, 2025. Closes when they reach capacity, so submit early.

Toad Shade Zine. Genre: Horror on theme "We're all going to die." Payment: $20 for stories, $20 for art. Deadline: September 30th, 2025. 

Kenyon Review. Genre: Prose, drama, poetry, translations, excerpts. See theme. Payment: $0.08 per published word of prose (minimum $80, maximum $450) and $0.16 per published word of poetry (minimum $40, maximum $200). Deadline: September 30th, 2025. 

Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. Genre: Short stories and poetry. See themes. Payment: $50.00 USD for featured authors, or $20.00 USD for stories published on their &More page and $10.00 USD for poems. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Hearth Stories. Genre: Speculative fiction. "We publish fiction and poetry that explore connection, family, relationships, comfort, and the natural world. The stories often fall into a fantasy, science-fiction, or magical realism sort of “slice of life.” No non-vegan stories. Payment: 1¢ per word for accepted stories (with a minimum of $20 regardless of length. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Fifth Wheel Press: effervscent. Genre: Poetry, prose poetry, short prose (<1500 words), and other experimental writing by queer, trans, and gender variant writers. Visual components and hybrid formats are welcome. Payment: $5. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Inkd Publishing: Hidden Villains: Duos. Genre: Speculative Fiction, including Sci-Fi or Fantasy. See theme. Word Limit: 2,000 to 7,000 words. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Black Hare Press. Genre: Dark stories, in any genre. Length: 5,000 - 50,000 words. Payment: $20 - $50, depending on length. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

JMS Books. Genre: LGBTQ romance stories, 12,000 words minimum. See theme. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Harbor Review. Genre: Chapbook. Length: Chapbooks should be between 20-40 pages of poetry or 20-50 pages of prose. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2025. No submission fee for BIPOC writers.

Freefall. Restrictions: Open to Canadians. Genre: Short story and novel excerpts; non-fiction, writing-related or general-audience topics; creative non-fiction; plays; and postcard stories. Payment: $10 per page in the magazine (to a maximum of $100) and one copy of the issue your piece is published in. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Small Harbor Publishing. Genre: Chapbooks. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2025. All fees are waived for BIPOC identifying writers.

Midnight and Indigo. Genre: Personal essays. Payment: $150. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

University of Alberta Press. Genre: Poetry by Canadian citizens and landed immigrants. Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Manawaker Studio: 100 Word Project. Genre: Speculative fiction of exactly 100 words. See theme. Payment: $1. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Thalia Press: Cat Anthology. Genre: Stories that feature cats. Payment: $25. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Haven Speculative. Restrictions: Open to submissions by authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups. Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry. Payment: 8¢ per word for fiction and $20 for poetry. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Chestnut Review. Genre: Poetry, flash fiction, short fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, visual media (art/photography). Payment: $120. Deadline: September 30, 2025. Submit early in the month to avoid submission fee.

Aurealis. Restrictions: Australian and New Zealand writers. Genre: Science fiction, fantasy or horror short stories between 2000 and 8000 words. Payment: A$20 and A$60 per 1000 words. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

The Cincinnati Review. Genre: Literary nonfiction (up to 20 pages), fiction (up to 40 pages), poetry, poetry translations, drama, and art. Payment: $25/page for prose in the journal, $30/page for poetry, $25 for miCRo posts or special features. Deadline: September 30, 2025. Note: Opens on the first day of the month and closes once they hit the submissions cap.

Heartlines Spec. Restrictions: "Since Heartlines Spec is primarily a Canadian magazine, we're looking to feature writers identifying as being from Canada/Turtle Island. This includes expats, new immigrants, and people who refuse/resist Canadian Identity. Our goal for each issue is to publish at least 50% Canadian content." Genre: Short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. "We want stories and poetry with strong, confident relationships amid all the sci-fi/fantasy. We are especially interested in stories featuring queer platonic relationships, ace/aro love stories, and polycules." Payment: $0.08 CAD per word for short fiction and $80 CAD flat for poetry. Deadline: September 30, 2025. 

Black Hare Press. Genre: Dark stories, in any genre. Payment: 5,000 to 10,000 words  – $20 USD, 10,000 to 17,000 words– $30 USD. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

Home Constellations. Genre: Speculative fiction. Theme: Stories about the future which feature non-traditional families. Payment: Prose and poetry: 5$ + 1c/word over 500 (up to 5k) words + .2c/word over 5k words. Graphic Narrative Fiction: 5$/page. Cover Illustration: $100. Deadline: September 30, 2025. Reprints accepted.

Dragon Soul Press: Holiday Spirit. Genre: All Christmas-themed stories are welcome. All genres accepted.  Payment: Royalties. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

In the Words of a Flower. Genre: Fantasy stories that incorporate an aspect of floriography, the language of flowers. Payment: $50. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

The Bombay Literary Magazine. Genre: Fiction, poetry, translated fiction/poetry and graphic fiction. Payment: Indian rupees 5,000 (approx. $61) per contribution. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

The Big Book of Quantum Fiction. Genre: Short stories, poetry, art within one or more standard genres, but containing one or more “quantum” elements. See theme. Payment: $24. Deadline: September 30, 2025.

AND A FEW MORE...

IHRAM Press: Art, Action, Impact: Voices of 21st-century Activism. Genre: "This anthology will explore interventions that have sparked widespread change, highlighting protests and acts of resistance expressed through art, storytelling, and personal activism." Payment: $50. Deadline: October 1, 2025.

Gordon Square Review. Genre: Poetry, short stories, personal essays, and hybrid prose works. Payment: $25 per prose piece and $10 per poem. Deadline: October 1, 2025.

The Last Line. Genre: Fiction that ends with the last line provided. Payment: $20-$40. Deadline: October 1, 2025.

The Paris Review. Genres: Fiction, poetry. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: Opens October 1, 2025, and closes when they reach capacity.
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Sundog. Genre: Fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art. Payment: $50. Deadline: Opens October 1, 2025, and closes when they reach capacity.

Humour Me. Genre: Funny short stories with the theme ‘Autumn.’ Payment: £7.50. Deadline: October 1, 2025.