Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine

About

Penumbric is an online magazine dedicated to riding that ever-changing edge of new and original fiction and art and sound and everything into tomorrow. To us, this edge is best exemplified by two things:
speculative works that look at our world (or other worlds) in new ways, whether that be peering into the future, a look sideways at an alternative or fantastic past or present, or a hard stare into the face of horror or madness (does that sound like old eps of The Twilight Zone? Well, if that's the comparison, I'm fine with that)
a diversity of viewpoints, representing not only multiple cultures but subcultures, exploring issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and orientation.

Submission Caps: They may close to submissions early if they reach their quota.

Country of Publication

United States

Publication Media & Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic Publication: Published 6 x per year
Print Publication Print Publication: Published 1 x per year

AI Policy

Unknown AI policy

276 members set this magazine as a Favorite.

Statistics Synopsis

Faster: Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine's overall average response time is faster than most magazines.
More Approachable: Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine's overall acceptance rate is higher than most magazines.
More Responsive: Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine's overall rate of non-response is lower than most magazines.

Learn more about our statistics

Collapse section Fiction Temp Closed

I would love to see submissions representing not only multiple cultures but subcultures, exploring issues of race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, and many things I haven't thought of. Does this mean you have to represent everybody and everything in 1000 words? Of course not. But be aware that we are creating a magazine that overall reaches and represents the true diversity of the world we live in. In terms of genre, I am looking for work that constitutes the ever-moving edge of its kind, as a place between light and dark, consciousness and un, today and tomorrow; work exhibiting the strange, the bizarre, that which is not of the world we know, but more of a twilight realm or even altogether alien place. Not necessarily science fiction, not necessarily fantasy, not necessarily horror, and not necessarily not these things. In short, ideally edgy. Maybe even idealistically edgy.

Dates:

Will be open to submissions from 15 December 2026* (approx. 90 days from now) through 15 March 2027.

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

Fantasy Open to all/most Subgenres
Horror Open to all/most Subgenres
Science Fiction Open to all/most Subgenres

Lengths:

Flash Fiction: Up to 1,000 words.
Short Story: 1,000 - 7,500 words.
Novelette: 7,500 - 10,000 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Token payment (under 1 US cent per word) to Professional payment (5 or more US cents per word) Occasionally pays royalties Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment. Occasionally pays royalties. Details: USD $10, plus royalties.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Temp Closed

Dates:

Will be open to submissions from 15 December 2026* (approx. 90 days from now) through 15 March 2027.

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

Fantasy Open to all/most Subgenres
Horror Open to all/most Subgenres
Science Fiction Open to all/most Subgenres

Lengths:

Poem: No line limits known; Up to 5 pieces.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Semi-pro payment (US$5-49 per poem) Occasionally pays royalties Semi-pro payment. Occasionally pays royalties. Details: USD $10, plus royalties.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Audio. Text.

Collapse section Visual Art Temp Closed

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Artwork: Up to 10 pieces.
Graphic Narrative: No page limits known.

Art Media:

Open to all/most Art Media, including...
Illustration.
Cartoon/Comic strip.

Art Styles:

Open to all/most Art Styles.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

Semi-pro payment (US$10-49 per piece) Occasionally pays royalties Semi-pro payment. Occasionally pays royalties. Details: USD $10, plus royalties.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Image.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.
* We do not know the time and/or timezone, so we cannot be more precise. Submit early to avoid disappointment.

Recent cover image or website screenshot for Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine

Go to publication's website

Report:
Submission/Response
Correction/Update
New Cover Art

Social:
Bluesky @penumbricmag.bsky.social
X (Twitter) @PenumbricMag

Support this Publisher:
Buy Book(s)

For the Editor(s):
Request Interview
Duosuma Submission Manager
Link to Duotrope

Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

Filter:

Group by submission

Include outliers

Accuracy

We have received 119 reports from 101 different members within the past 12 months, not including pending responses (see below). The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.

Days Reported

0 min | 30.0 mean avg | 31.0 median | 149 max days (54.4 std dev)

Responses

92.44 %

Acceptances:

15.97 % of submissions accepted (31.5 avg. days per acceptance) | 16.83 % of submitters accepted

Rejections:

76.47 % (30.3 avg. days per rejection) | 27.5 % personal, 55.0 % form, 17.6 % unspecified

Non-Responses

0.84 %

Lost/Returned:

0.84 % (51.0 avg. days before reporting submissions as lost or returned)

Never Responded:

Withdrawals

6.72 % (13.5 avg. days per withdrawal)

Pending

10 responses are pending (18 min | 31.4 mean avg | 26.0 median | 86 max days waiting | 568.9 std dev) from 10 different members

Other Information

The editors will try to make a decision within 28 days. (73.1 % of the responses reported to us for this listing have taken longer than 28 days.)
Submissions are acknowledged within 2 days on average.
Most recent response reported was received on 26 Aug 2026.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 31 Jul 2026.
Date compiled: 15 Sep 2026 02:30 UTC (7 hours, 18 minutes ago).
View report of recent responses from this project

Work submitted here was also submitted to...

This section is available to subscribers only. Sign up and start your free trial today!

Members accepted here also had work accepted by...

This section is available to subscribers only. Become a member and start your free trial today!

Your Submissions

This section is available to subscribers only. Join today!

Before Submitting

We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is correct. It is not unusual for publications to evolve or close without notice. We do our best to keep up, but it isn't always possible. Duotrope listings do not imply endorsement or recommendation of the project being listed. Before submitting, you should use your own judgment to determine whether the project meets your standards.

Always read the full guidelines provided by the publisher.
Try to read at least one previous publication to get a better idea of what the editor would like to see.
Unless the publisher's guidelines state otherwise, always use industry standard manuscript formatting.
Be professional, patient, and persistent.

Dates

Last Updated: 10 Sep 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.