The literary magazines/journals listed below are recently established or considered to be “fledgling” on Duotrope. All offer some form of payment and are currently open to submissions. Fledging journals are a great way to cut your teeth if you’ve never been published, often have faster response times, and may be more personable to work with. Their readership is often lower than more established magazines, but if you like the overall style of the magazine, why not support it and start what may continue to be an ongoing partnership? Several lit mags promote and share work of their previous authors, feature writers they particularly like, and nominate for awards such as Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. Take a look at the list I’ve provided below, read the submission guidelines carefully, and select pieces to send that you think best fit their aesthetic.

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The 3288 Review

DEADLINE: January 15, 2016 (for next issue, always open)

SUBMISSION FEE: None

NOTES: “While we accept work from anywhere, our stated editorial goal is to publish works created by authors and artists who live in or have some connection to West Michigan. Where we must make a choice, these works will be given precedence.”

FORMS: poetry, prose, photography, reviews

PAYMENT: 1-5 poems published – $25.00; 6-10 poems published – $50.00; Prose 1,000 to 2,500 words – $25.00; Prose between 2,500 and 7,500 words – $50.00; Prose 7,500  to 15,000 words – $75.00; Collections of Photography, Illustration or Artwork (up to 5 pieces) – $25.00; Collections of Photography, Illustration or Artwork (6 to 10 pieces) – $50.00

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17811

concīs

DEADLINE: Always open

SUBMISSION FEE: None

NOTES: “Submissions of previously published work is accepted if it was previously published in print or in an online venue that is no longer available.” Offers an option for the writer payment to be donated, see below.

FORMS: “poems, prose poems, flash fictions, micro-essays, reviews in miniature, sudden fictions, haiku, tanka, American Sentences, insights, epigrams, the unclassifiable…they’re all good.”

PAYMENT: concīs pays $10 per piece for publication on the web site and as part of a seasonal collection/ebook/PDF (possibly in multiple e-reading formats). Upon acceptance, authors will be given an option to donate their payments to Room to Read (a 4-star charity promoting literacy and gender equality in education across Asia and Africa). Donations will be matched by concīs.

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17571

Devolution Z

DEADLINE: Always open

SUBMISSION FEE: None

NOTES: “Short fiction or poetry based on zombies or any other horror subgenre.”

FORMS: Short fiction or poetry

PAYMENT: Token to semi-pro (per Duotrope)

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17482

Duckbill Anthology

DEADLINE: Rolling deadlines

SUBMISSION FEE: None

NOTES: “We accept simultaneous submissions and will consider previously published work, however preference will be given to unpublished material. Please include all publication information where applicable.”

FORMS: flash fiction and poetry

PAYMENT: “We currently pay a flat fee of $5 for any published piece”

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17614

Impressment Gang 

DEADLINE: Always open

SUBMISSION FEE: None

FORMS: Poetry, fiction, non-fiction (reviews are also accepted, but are not paid)

PAYMENT: “We pay our contributors the sum of $25. We are working hard to increase this drastically to what we think they deserve. But right now, it’s all we got. Contributors also receive two copies of their featured issue.”

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17504

The Indianola Review

DEADLINE: Always open

SUBMISSION FEE: None

NOTES: They offer a 48 hour fiction response for $7.50 submission fee. All other submissions are free, except for contests and tip jar submissions.

FORMS:  fiction, poetry, nonfiction, miscellaneous, artwork

PAYMENT: “For now, our rates are decidedly “token” but will grow with our readership.”

FICTION: $20.00 for stories between 2,500 and 6,000 words. $10.00 for stories under 2,500 words
POETRY: $5.00 per printed page

NONFICTION: $20.00 for work between 2,500 and 5,000 words.
$10.00 for work under 2,500 words.
MISCELLANEOUS: $5.00 per printed page

ARTWORK: $25.00 for cover art

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17483

Outlook Springs

DEADLINE: January 20, 2016

SUBMISSION FEE: None

NOTES: “Outlook Springs is a magazine devoted to your PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED fiction, poetry, and non-fiction tinged with the strange.”

FORMS: poetry, fiction, nonfiction

PAYMENT: “For fiction and non-fiction, contributors will be paid $25 in addition to a contributor’s copy. Poets will be paid $10 per poem in addition to one contributor’s copy total.”

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17862

Quatrain.Fish

DEADLINE: Submissions are rolling – always free, always open.

SUBMISSION FEE: None

NOTES: “All poems are of four lines or fewer.”

FORMS:  poetry, some art (non-paying)

PAYMENT: “Quatrain.Fish is a paying publisher. And for our one measly dollar (twenty-five cents a line!), we’re buying neverending nonexclusive web rights.”

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17191

Sub-saharan Magazine

DEADLINE: Always open

SUBMISSION FEE: None

NOTES: “We prefer our poems dark, speculative, and humorous. Please no romantic poems, unless it’s about a date with a murderous alien on a poisonous planet where you end up dying by either throttling or sheer asphyxiation before you could write the poem.”

FORMS: short story, flash fiction, poetry, artwork

PAYMENT: “We pay $5 flat for each accepted poem.

For Nigerian authors, we pay N2 per word for up to 1000 words, N2000 flat for stories above that, and N1000 for anything below 500 words.

For authors from the rest of the world, we pay 1¢ per word for up to 1000 words, $10 flat for stories above that, and $5 for any piece below 500 words.

We pay on publication via PayPal or with Amazon Gift Cards for foreign authors. For Nigerian authors, we pay via bank transfer or MTN/Airtel/Etisalat recharge vouchers.”

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17712

Whiteside Review

DEADLINE: Always open

SUBMISSION FEE: None

NOTES: “A new publication that explores the probable, as well as the possible through speculative fiction, art, and the occasional poem as humankind colonizes the solar system. Suggested themes: colonizing planets in the solar system, evolution/devolution of humanity on other planets (physical/cultural/etymological/ideological), first contact with other species, etc.”

FORMS:  poetry, fiction, art

PAYMENT: “Payment upon publication is a flat fee of $5 USD. Payment will be made exclusively through Paypal. All rights to published work revert back to the author upon publication.”

DUOTROPE: https://duotrope.com/listing/17785