Smart Search List of the Day Paying Short Stories

After Dinner Conversation is an independent nonprofit publisher. We believe in fostering meaningful discussions among friends, family, and students to enhance humanity through truth-seeking, reflection, and respectful debate. To achieve this, we publish philosophical and ethical short story fiction accompanied by discussion questions…
Genres:   Open to all/most genres, including: General.
Lengths: Short Story.
Payment: to Semi-pro to Professional. Details: USD $75.
Avg. Response: Average responder. 66.0 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 5.6% of fiction submissions accepted.

Betascape Magazine [is] an interactive digital literary journal dedicated to the raw anatomy of storytelling. We are an open-market publication welcoming everything from Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Action-Adventure to Mystery and Crime, Suspense and Thrillers, and General or Literary fiction. Our name comes from the landscape of beta reading—the critical, deeply analytical phase of development where a story is tested, refined, and shaped for the world…
Genres:       General, Action-Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery/Crime, Science Fiction, Suspense/Thriller.
Lengths: Short Story.
Payment: Semi-pro. Details: USD $50.
Avg. Response: Faster than average responder. 25.3 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 5.7% of fiction submissions accepted.

Founded in 2014, Cherry Tree: A National Literary Journal @ Washington College is an annual literary magazine featuring poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and literary shade by emerging and established writers from across the United States and all over the world. The name and ethos of Cherry Tree rest on the story of George Washington and his ax: the founding myth of the American national character…
Genres: General.
Lengths:   Flash Fiction, Short Story.
Payment: to Token to Professional. Free copy(ies). Details: USD $20 per contributor.
Avg. Response: Faster than average responder. 38.8 days.
Acceptances: Unknown. None reported yet in fiction.

Launched in 1941, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine is credited with setting the standard for the modern crime and mystery short story. The magazine has been cited as “the finest periodical of its kind” by The Readers Encyclopedia of American Literature and as “the best mystery magazine in the world, bar none” by author Stephen King…
Genres: Mystery/Crime.
Lengths:     Flash Fiction, Short Story, Novelette, Novella.
Payment: Professional. Details: USD $0.06-$0.08/word.
Avg. Response: Slower than average responder. 105.6 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 1.2% of fiction submissions accepted.

The purpose of The First Line is to jump start the imagination-to help writers break through the block that is the blank page. Each issue contains short stories that stem from a common first line; it also provides a forum for discussing favorite first lines in literature. The First Line is an exercise in creativity for writers and a chance for readers to see how many different directions we can take when we start from the same place. All stories must be written with the first line provided…
Genres:   Open to all/most genres, including: General.
Lengths:   Flash Fiction, Short Story.
Payment: Semi-pro. Details: USD $25-$50.
Avg. Response: Average responder. 53.5 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 5.3% of fiction submissions accepted.

Since the publication of its inaugural issue in 1996, Five Points has become one of this country’s best literary magazines. Published three times a year by the Georgia State University Department of English, each issue features poetry, fiction, essays, and interviews with the most compelling writers working today. Philip Levine called Five Points “A refreshing combination of the old and the new…
Genres:   Open to all/most genres, including: General.
Lengths:   Flash Fiction, Short Story.
Payment: Unknown.
Avg. Response: Average responder. 58.8 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 2.7% of fiction submissions accepted.

The Idaho Review seeks to share evocative, beautifully strange work. We publish an annual print issue of exceptional fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from established and emerging writers alike. Work from the Idaho Review has received the Pushcart Prize and the O. Henry Award, and has been included in the Best American Short Stories anthology.
Genres: General.
Lengths:    Flash Fiction, Short Story, Novel Excerpt.
Payment: Professional. Free copy(ies). Details: USD $300 per story; one story per year is awarded a $500 editor's prize.
Avg. Response: Slower than average responder. 91.5 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 0.8% of fiction submissions accepted.

No description available.
Genres: General.
Lengths:   Short Story, Novelette.
Winner's Prize: Professional. Free copy(ies). Details: USD $1,000 first prize.
Avg. Response: Average responder. 88.5 days.
Acceptances: Average. 3.3% of fiction submissions accepted.

Sally Port Magazine? What’s that? For that matter, what’s a Sally Port in the first place? Last question first: A Sally Port is a door. In the days of stone walled castles, it was a human sized door that allowed people to enter or exit without lowering a drawbridge or opening a main gate. Since then, the term’s been used for other kinds of doors as well. But, the purpose remains the same. A Sally Port is a door, a way to get to where you want to be. It grants access to opportunities…
Genres:   General, Fantasy.
Lengths:    Short Story, Novelette, Novella.
Payment: Professional. Details: USD $0.05/word.
Avg. Response: Slower than average responder. 123.3 days.
Acceptances: Average. 10.2% of fiction submissions accepted.