6 Magazines Where You Can Submit Your Romance Stories!
Have you been itching to write something about love? Looking for a place to submit your love piece? Well, here are 6 magazines you can submit your romance writing right in time for the season of love: valentine’s day!
Since these magazines don’t solely focus on romantic love, I’m sure some could accept several types of love (such as romantic, queerplatonic, platonic, familial, topics, nature, etc.) as long as it’s written well.
Now, same as my horror magazine list, please, please, please read the entire guidelines for wherever you want to submit. They have those guidelines for a reason, and it’s to help them get through all the submissions with ease and in a timely manner. It makes everyone’s lives easier when the guidelines are followed. Plus, it shows that you’re really interested and invested in the publisher, and they’ll (hopefully) want to do the same for you.
If you’d like more information on how I update these magazine lists, or the importance of following guidelines, please read this post on what to keep in mind when submitting to magazines!
Unfortunately, the pay is a bit lower with these magazines. I’ve found it kinda difficult to find magazines that are exclusively about (or at least include) the romance genre. At least, outside of romance novella and novel publishers. Just something to keep in mind.
And that’s about it. Go out there and submit or write something about what you all love, and I wish everyone all the luck in the world!
Thanks for reading, and happy writing!
Submission Period:
Submissions are always open.
They’re looking for:
“You know that feeling when you have a lot to say about something and you just don’t know how to get it out but you know your words belong somewhere?”
“We want to be a home to those projects.”
“Whether you offer a short story you wrote about an anthropomorphized coffee maker falling in love in outer space, or that piece of prose poetry you’ve been working on about how your Amazon Prime orders increase significantly when you’re feeling depressed, or the zine you’re making about how the world seems like it’s on fire, we want to hear from you and help you share your story. Consider this a space to talk about your growth, your mental health, or a place for that bizarre piece of short fiction you think deserves to find a home.”
Pay:
Fiction: $0
Personal Essays: $25 (median pay is about $0.01 per word)
Poems, Playlists, and Art: $5
Categories:
Non-Fiction: under 4,500 words
Fiction: under 2,000 words
Poetry: No word/line count.
“As a general rule, we publish limited traditional poetry. We do, however, always consider prose poetry.”
Ideas for recurring columns are also accepted.
Submission Period:
Spring/Summer Issue: December 1st – January 8th
Fall/Winter Issue: June 1st – July 8th
In The Bleak Midwinter: October 1st – 31st
They’re looking for:
“Diet Milk Magazine is a biannual literary magazine devoted to Gothic prose, poetry, and art. Neatly genred or genre-bending, classically styled or modern, we want your prettiest, most pungent dread.”
“Give us withering romance, creatures that lurk and lure, families to be feared and houses that haunt; give us isolation and creeping, oppressive unwellness. Quietly thrill, terrify, and leave us wanting more.”
Please use trigger warnings as necessary when submitting.
Pay:
Poem: $15 per poem (e.g. 100 words = $0.15 per word, 500 = $0.03 per word)
Short Stories: $0.01 per word, with a $40 minimum. (max $50 per piece)
Flash Fiction: $5 per piece ($0.0125 [1.25 cents] – $0.005 [0.5 cents] per word)
Micro Fiction: $3 per piece (max $0.01 per word)
Art: $50 per piece
(paid via PayPal)
Categories:
Poetry: Up to 3 poems, any length.
Short Stories: Only 1 short story, up to 5,000 words.
Flash Fiction: Up to 3 pieces, between 400 – 1000 words each.
Micro Fiction: up to 3 pieces, less than 300 words each.
Art: Up to 2 pieces, any visual medium
Submission Period:
It says that submissions are open for the month of March 2022, but the submission form is still open?
So I suppose you can try to submit and see what happens.
“*Note: occasionally the inbox fills up and the submissions form will be temporarily closed, even during an ‘open’ period. Wait a week or two and try again.”
Graphic novels and illustrations you need to query first, and it seems poetry is always available for submitting.
They also have a variety of contests open throughout the year. Keep in mind that the contests have entry fees.
Give their contests page a look.
They’re looking for:
“We love genre. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, History, Thriller or Chiller: we read it all, as long as it’s well written.”
“We love literary fiction. Beautiful prose, soul-searching themes, and powerful and complex character development are all part of the stories we like.”
“We believe that genre fiction IS literary. Our goal is to publish writing that breaks out of the bookshelf boundaries, defies genre, surprises, and delights.”
“Because our title says ‘Pulp’ Literature, some authors assume we want guns and blood. The pulp in our title refers to cheap pulp paper of dimestore novels and digests of the past. We want our magazine to include a balance of all genres, including fantasy, romance, mystery, literary, etc.”
Pay:
“Note: the pay rate on [The Grinder’s] listing is based on converting their estimated pay rate from Canadian cents to US cents, although it’s not immediately obvious it’s a Canadian company. . . .”
I’m going to have the pay rates listed on PULP Literature’s website below, but keep The Grinder’s note in mind if you live in the U.S.
Prose (up to 7000 words): $0.05 – $0.08 per word (max $350 – $560 per piece)
Prose (between 7000 – 10000 words): $0.03 – $0.06 per word ($210 – $600 per piece)
Prose (over 10000 words): $0.02 – $0.04 per word (min $200 – $400 per piece)
Poetry: $25 – $50
Interior Illustrations: $25 – $50
Sequential Art (graphic novels and cartoons)/Illustrations: $25 to $75 per page
Reprints: Up to 50% of first publication rates
Categories:
Short Stories: While there’s no hard word count for anything, they prefer short stories under 3,000 words. If your work is longer than 10,000 words, please only send the first 10,000 words.
Novellas: 15,000 20,000 words. (They do accept novellas of 15-20,000 words, but that’s less likely to be accepted.)
Poetry: Up to 3 poems on no more than 5 pages.
Graphic Novels/Comics/Illustrations: “. . . black and white for interiors, colour for covers . . . .”
“We do not publish non-fiction, memoir, or young adult and children’s stories.”
Submission Period:
Check back on ocassion, ’cause the open submission period seems to be a bit sporadic.
“Submissions currently closed! Our publication schedule has been delayed. The next submissions window will be sometime in Spring 2022.”
Please add necessary trigger warnings in the cover letter.
No reading fee.
They’re looking for:
“From the Farther Trees is a bimonthly electronic magazine of fantasy fiction. We are open to original stories and poetry from all subgenres of fantasy, ranging from fairy tales to science fantasy, weird westerns to romantic fantasy, epic fantasy to urban fantasy, swords & sorcery to quiet character studies, and everything in between. Regardless of setting, stories should be centered on character and emotion (though the occasional thrilling adventure is welcome).”
They also have two recurring anthologies with separate guidelines that you should check out!
Queer Blades has “LGBTQIA+ stories set in adventure fantasy worlds, particularly stories of queer romance.”
And The Mesozoic Reader has “We feature only tales of prehistory and its denizens, whether we see humans traveling to the past, ancient creatures brought to the present, or strange tales that mingle the two.”
Pay:
$10 per piece ($0.01 – $0.0007 per word)
(paid via Venmo, PayPal, or by mail.)
Categories:
Prose: One story between 1,000 – 15,000 words
Poetry: Up to 3 poems, up to 100 lines
Submission Period:
There are several themed open submissions throughout the year. You’ll have to check out their Submittable page to see what current theme they’re looking for in each issue.
The current themes and deadlines available are:
Symbiosis – October 2nd, 2022
They’re looking for:
Again, since every issue has a different theme, look at the guidelines for each theme.
Symbiosis:
“Submit co-authored stories in any genre.”
“Also looking for non-fiction commentary and experiences with co-created projects.”
“Co-authoring is rising in popularity, both as a way to satiate the ravenous demand of readers more quickly, and to leverage team imaginative advantages. We’re curious about the pros and cons of this strategy.”
“Naturally, we also host a Devil’s Advocate column to whoever provides the best cautionary advice regarding cooperative labor.”
Pay:
Nonfiction: $0.08 per word ($16 – $96 per piece)
Creative Works: $0.04 per word, $75 max for short stories. ($20 – $75 per piece)
Cartoons & Graphic Panels: $15 per page(?)
They also have a contributor-exclusive affiliate program.
(paid via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, or check)
Categories:
Short Stories: 500 – 2,800 words
Nonfiction Articles: 200 – 1,200 words
Cartoons & Graphic Panels: Up to 8 pages in color (subject to change based on issue.)
6. Translunar Travelers Lounge
Submission Period:
They have two general open periods for anyone to submit, and two limited open periods for people of color.
Limited Demographic Submission Window:
- March 15 – March 21, 2022
- September 15 – September 21, 2022
General Submission Window:
- March 22 – April 15, 2022
- September 22 – October 15, 2022
They’re looking for:
“Your story must contain speculative elements: that means science fiction or fantasy.”
“Broadly defined, the type of fiction we are looking for is “fun”. Yes, that descriptor is highly subjective, and ultimately it comes down to the personal preferences of the editors. However, here are a few road signs to get you started on the path into our hearts.”
“A fun story, at its core, is one that works on the premise that things aren’t all bad; that ultimately, good wins out. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your story has to be silly or lighthearted (though it certainly can be). Joy can be made all the more powerful when juxtaposed against tragedy. In the end, though, there should be hope, and we want stories that are truly fun for as many different kinds of people as possible.”
“Swashbuckling adventure, deadly intrigue, and gleeful romance are some of the most obvious examples of what we’re looking for, but we won’t say no to more subtle or complicated topics, as long as they fit under the wider “fun” umbrella.”
Pay:
$0.03 per word with a $20 minimum (max $150 per piece).
Categories:
Prose: up to 5,000 words
Unintended Bonus Section?! AGAIN?!
Uh, so I have no idea what happened here, but it seems Serial Magazine is just . . . gone. I’ve been updating this post recently, and I can’t seem to find any information on them.
I have no idea what happened to it, the people who ran it, or all the issues that were available in their store.
I checked their Twitter, DuoTrope, and The Grinder.
There’s no update or reason why their website is down, or if they’ll ever come back.
It’s kinda sad.
If you’re interested, here are the issues I could find available on Amazon (they’re free if you use the Kindle app):
I’m not affiliated with Amazon, SERIAL Magazine, or any of the authors involved in those links; I just thought I’d leave a little, I dunno, memorial for them at the bottom of this post.
Thanks again for reading, and happy writing!
Mariah Brewer 