Submitting Short Stories

Submitting fiction is a craft of its own. The story matters most, but editors also notice whether a writer follows guidelines, writes a clean cover letter, and behaves professionally. None of it is difficult — it simply rewards patience and a little organization.

04  ·  Writing the Cover Letter

A cover letter is short, warm, and professional — three or four sentences. It does not explain or defend the story. A reliable template:

Do not: apologize, summarize the plot, list every credit you have, or address editors by the wrong journal name. Always double-check you have the right journal in the greeting.

Rights & What Editors Actually Buy

When a journal accepts a story, it does not own it forever. Most acquire First Serial Rights (often First North American Serial Rights) — the right to be the first to publish it. After publication, those rights return to you, and you keep the copyright throughout. You are then free to reprint the story in a collection or, once it counts as a reprint, submit it to venues that accept previously published work. Always read the acceptance note to confirm what rights are taken and when they revert.

“Published” Is Broader Than You Think

Nearly all journals want unpublished stories, and many define “published” to include your personal blog, a public social-media post, a contest anthology, or a piece posted in an online workshop. If a story has appeared anywhere public, treat it as a reprint and look specifically for journals that accept reprints. When in doubt, ask the editor before submitting.

Reading Fees — and the No-Fee Philosophy

Some journals charge a small fee (often $2–$3) to submit, usually to cover their submission platform. This is normal and not a scam. But you never need to pay to build a serious publication record: the majority of respected journals are free, and many paying journals offer fee waivers on request. Reserve paid submissions and contest fees for venues you genuinely want.

Avoiding Vanity Presses & Scams

Legitimate journals and contests never ask you to buy your way into print.

When unsure, look a venue up on Poets & Writers, check whether respected writers have published there, and search Writer Beware for warnings.

Payment: What to Expect

Short fiction pays a wide range. Many fine journals pay in contributor copies or a token amount; stronger-paying markets offer anywhere from $50 to several hundred dollars per story, and a few pay more. Publishing for little or no pay is normal early on; the value is in readership, credits, and building toward a collection or a novel.

Flash, Short, and the Path to a Collection

Most fiction writers build in stages. Place flash (usually under 1,000 words) and short stories in journals first. Over time those credits accumulate into a collection you can submit to contests and small presses, and they strengthen a query when you have a novel to sell. Every published story is a brick in that foundation.

Patience & Persistence

Response times commonly run one to six months, and rejection is the norm even for accomplished writers — acceptance rates at good journals are often under five percent. A “no” usually means the story didn’t fit that issue, not that it lacks worth. Keep a steady rhythm of submissions, celebrate personal notes from editors, and treat each rejection as one step closer to the right home for the story.

If you have never submitted a story before, this section is for you. It is a single evening’s work — start to finish — and it will teach your hands the whole choreography that carries a piece of fiction from your desk into the world. Do it once, and every submission after this becomes ordinary.

The whole walkthrough, done in one sitting, is the most valuable exercise in this guide. After tonight, submitting is no longer a threshold — it is a door you have already walked through.

These journals publish short fiction and either welcome emerging writers explicitly or keep barriers low. Most are free to submit to. Every venue was verified on its own website in July 2026 — always confirm current guidelines before submitting.

Flash-only markets are noted in the description. A few venues are cyclical or briefly paused — confirm the live status on each journal's own site before submitting.

Contests can bring larger prizes and visibility. Several below are reserved for writers without a book from a major press — a genuine advantage for newer writers. Deadlines rotate annually; the dates shown reflect the 2026 cycle unless noted.

A few 2026 deadlines have passed or were still showing a prior cycle at verification — they illustrate the annual pattern; check each site for the next opening. UK contests (Bath, Bristol) are priced in GBP.

Most of what returns from a submission is not an acceptance. Learning to read what you receive — and to answer it well, or not answer at all — is a working writer’s most useful skill. Rejections fall into three distinct categories, and each calls for a different response.

The Three Kinds of Rejection

What a Personal “Please Send Again” Actually Means

When an editor takes fifteen minutes to write to you personally, they are telling you three things at once: they read the story carefully, they liked your writing, and they want to see more of your work. The invitation is real, not a courtesy. Treat it as an open door and walk through it.

Then do it. Submit another story within four to six weeks, through the normal channel, and reference this reply in your new cover letter: “[Editor] kindly wrote to me about ‘[Previous Story]’ earlier this year and asked me to send more work.” That single sentence lifts your submission out of the general pile.

When to Revise, When Not To

The Fifteen-Sub Rule

A working benchmark for emerging writers: if a story goes out to fifteen carefully chosen journals and comes back with only form rejections and no personal notes, retire that story to a folder and let it rest at least six months before revising. If it returns even one personal rejection along the way, keep sending — that story is finding its readers, just slowly.

Rejection is the ordinary weather of a working writer’s life. It is not a verdict. It is the room where the work gets stronger.

A story does not end when it appears in a journal. Once your rights have reverted — and they almost always do — the piece can be sent out again to journals and contests that accept previously published work. This second life is where a writer’s early credits become a working body of work.

What Counts as a Reprint

Once a story has appeared in print or online anywhere — a literary journal, an anthology, a Substack post, even your own website — most journals consider it published. If you send it out again without disclosing this, you are in violation of the guidelines, and acceptances have been rescinded on this basis. When submitting a reprint:

Where Reprints Are Welcome

These journals and contests explicitly accept previously published short fiction. All were verified on the venue’s own website on August 1, 2026 — always confirm current guidelines before submitting.

A note on candidates you may see elsewhere: some earlier reprint guides listed the Masters Review Reprint Prize and Longleaf Review as reprint-friendly. As of August 1, 2026, Masters Review’s live guidelines state reprints are not accepted, and Longleaf Review accepts reprints only in a narrow exception (work pulled due to harassment). Always check the venue’s current guidelines rather than an older list.

From Reprints to Collection

The purpose of placing reprints is not only to reach new readers, though that matters. It is also to grow the body of published stories that eventually becomes a collection. Small presses and contest judges routinely ask for evidence of prior publication when evaluating a story-collection manuscript; a set of ten or fifteen stories, each with a real credit, is a working writer’s clearest signal of readiness.

Every reprint acceptance is another brick in that foundation. Send the same story out three, four, five times over the years — into the reprint markets that welcome it — and it accumulates a life larger than any single publication.

A reprint is not a lesser publication. It is a story continuing to do its work.

On a budget? Submittable + Chill Subs (or the Submission Grinder) + Poets & Writers is a complete, no-cost toolkit.

The vocabulary editors use, in plain language.

Simultaneous submission

Sending the same story to more than one journal at once. Standard practice, but withdraw immediately anywhere it is accepted.

Multiple submission

Sending more than one separate story to the same journal in one reading period. Usually discouraged unless the journal allows it.

First Serial Rights

The right to be the first to publish a story. Reverts to you after publication; you keep the copyright.

Reprint

A story published before (including on a blog or social media). Only certain journals accept reprints — check first.

Flash fiction

Very short fiction, usually under 1,000 words; 'micro' is often under 300.

Reading period

The window when a journal accepts submissions. Many open only a few months or weeks a year, or close at a monthly cap.

Standard manuscript format

12-point serif, double-spaced, with a header carrying your name, title, and page number.

Cover letter

A brief, professional note accompanying your story — not a place to summarize the plot.

Contributor copies

Free copies of the issue your work appears in, often given in place of (or alongside) payment.

Slush pile

The stack of unsolicited submissions editors read through. Yours starts here — that's normal.

Fee waiver

A free pass around a submission fee, offered by many journals on request or for writers facing financial barriers.

Tiered / expedited response

An optional paid upgrade some journals offer for a faster reply. Never required.

If this feels like a lot, start here. This four-step rhythm will place you on a professional footing within a single afternoon.

Stories live when they find readers. Send them out, keep good records, and let each "no" move you toward the right "yes."