Hey there, interstellar storytellers! 🚀 Ever found yourself adrift in tales of alien adventures, futuristic frolics, and parallel possibilities? Imagine if those vibrant visions could not only fuel your imagination but also feather your nest! Yep, it’s entirely possible to get paid to write science fiction, turning your cosmic tales into earthly earnings!
In this guide, we’re embarking on a journey through a universe teeming with opportunities, exploring platforms that are not only smitten with sci-fi but are also ready to pay for your imaginative exploits. So, strap in, space navigators, as we warp through each portal together, uncovering the secrets to get paid to write science fiction and monetizing your interstellar writing adventures! 🌟🚀
1. Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine
Welcome to Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine, the stellar junction where science fiction and fact have mingled since 1930! From the wings of Anne McCaffrey’s dragons to the sandy expanses of Dune, this magazine has been the launchpad for over 60 Hugo and Nebula award-winning stories. Expect a blend of imaginative tales, grounded in scientific accuracy, and articles that peek into the cutting edge of science research.
🔍 What’s in Their Sci-Fi Scope?
Analog is on a perpetual quest for standout material that leans heavily into merit. They’re scouting for stories where the removal of a future science or technology element would cause the narrative to collapse. Your characters must be believable, their activities plausible, and the science and technology elements integral.
✏️ Word Count and Formatting:
- Short Fiction: Up to ~20,000 words
- Serials: 40,000-80,000 words
- Fact Articles: About 4,000 words
Ensure your submissions adhere to the standard manuscript format and are submitted in .DOC, .DOCX, or .RTF format. William Shunn’s guide to Proper Manuscript Format might be your best pal here!
📬 Submission Details:
- Electronic Submissions: Preferred and should be made through their electronic submission system.
- Manual Submissions: If it’s a must, ensure manuscripts are computer-printed, double-spaced, on white paper, and printed on one side only. No emails, faxes, binders, or folders, please!
🤑 Show Me the Money:
- Short Fiction: 8-10 cents per word (up to $2,000 per story)
- Serials: 6 cents per word (up to $4,800 per story)
- Fact Articles: 9 cents/word
- Poetry: $1 per line
Payment is made upon acceptance of your stellar work!
❗ Important Note:
Analog has a zero-tolerance policy for submissions developed with AI writing tools like ChatGPT. Using these tools might get you blacklisted from future submissions!
⏱ Waiting Time:
Expect a response in about 2-3 months. If the stars don’t align and you don’t hear back within four months, shoot a query to analogsf@dellmagazines.com.
READ MORE ➤
2. Clarkesworld Magazine
Clarkesworld Magazine is a multi-award-winning destination for sci-fi and fantasy since 2006, where Hugo, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy awards adorn the virtual shelves. This monthly magazine, available in various formats, including print, ebook, and audio, is not just a publication but a vibrant realm where your innovative and imaginative sci-fi and fantasy tales can earn you not just recognition but also rewarding payment.
🎨 What Awaits in Clarkesworld:
- Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy (Note: dark SF/F is okay, but pure horror is a no-go)
- Word Limit: Strictly between 1,000 and 22,000 words
- Pay Rate: A whopping 12¢ per word (up to $2,640 per story!)
📬 Submission Guidelines:
- Language: English (translations welcomed)
- Rights: They claim first world electronic rights (text and audio), first print rights, and non-exclusive anthology rights
- AI Assistance: Strictly prohibited
🛠 Crafting Your Tale:
- Inclusivity: Prioritize well-written language and style
- Screen & Audio Friendly: Must be suitable for text and audio formats
- Genre Nuances: Some themes and elements might be a hard sell (e.g., zombies, sexy vampires, stories with a heavy political or religious agenda, etc.)
🚀 Embarking on Your Submission Journey:
- Online Submissions: Via their online system
- Manuscript Format: Standard, in .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX format
- Response Time: Typically under two days, but can be longer
📢 A Few Gentle Reminders:
- Simultaneous Submissions: Not allowed
- Revisions: Send only if requested
- Post-Rejection: Wait seven days before submitting another story and do not resubmit rejected stories
READ MORE ➤
3. Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine is a luminary in the sci-fi world since 1977, where groundbreaking stories from both seasoned and new writers have graced its pages. From the debut of iconic characters like Daenerys Targaryen to hosting award-winning tales, Asimov’s has been a cornerstone in the genre, earning accolades like the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards.
🎨 Embarking on the Asimov’s Adventure:
- Inclusivity: Open to all writers, from seasoned authors to fresh voices
- Character-Centric: Stories where characters, not just science, captivate readers
- Word Limit: Strictly between 1,000 and 20,000 words
- Pay Rate: 8-10 cents per word for short stories up to 7,500 words, and 8 cents per word beyond 7,500. Poetry is welcomed at $1 a line.
🛠 Crafting Your Sci-Fi/Fantasy Tale:
- Human-Centric: Illuminate aspects of human existence against a universal backdrop
- Genre Nuances: Dominantly SF, shades of fantasy welcomed, but certain themes may be a hard sell
📢 AI and Authenticity:
A gentle reminder: Asimov’s champions authentic human storytelling, thus AI-assisted submissions are not entertained.
🚀 Embarking on Your Submission Journey:
- Online Submissions: Via their online system
- Manuscript Format: Standard, in .DOC, .DOCX, or .RTF format
- Response Time: Typically about five weeks, but feel free to query after 45 days
📢 A Few Gentle Reminders:
- Simultaneous Submissions: Not allowed
- Revisions: Send only if requested
- Post-Rejection: Wait seven days before submitting another story and do not resubmit rejected stories
4. Apex Magazine
Welcome to Apex Magazine, a Hugo-nominated zine where the fantastical is celebrated in all its forms. Apex doesn’t just publish stories; it brings to life creations that are a blend of the strange, beautiful, and twisted, offering a platform where secret places and dreams are laid bare in the form of short stories, interviews, nonfiction essays, and a monthly podcast of narrated original fiction.
🎨 Navigating Through Apex Magazine:
- Inclusivity: A rich tapestry of diverse voices from all walks of life is welcomed and celebrated.
- AI Policy: Human creativity is paramount; AI-assisted submissions are not accepted.
🛠 Embarking on Your Story’s Journey:
Original Short Fiction Guidelines:
- Word Limit: Max 7,500 words
- Pay Rate: $.08 per word (up to $600 per story), plus an additional $.01 per word if podcasted
- Genres: Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror with a literary genre focus
- Rights: First world electronic (text and audio), first print, and non-exclusive anthology rights
- Submission: Via Moksha
Original Flash Fiction Guidelines:
- Word Limit: Strict 1,000 words max
- Pay Rate: $.08 per word (up to $80 per story)
- Genres & Themes: Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, adhering to the monthly theme
- Submission: Via Moksha
📢 A Few Gentle Reminders:
- Simultaneous Submissions: Not allowed
- Revisions: Send only if requested
- Post-Rejection: Wait seven days before submitting another story and do not resubmit rejected stories
🚀 Additional Opportunities:
- Snap Judgement: A free quarterly live-streamed critique show
- Patreon Fiction Policy: Stories published on Patreon are treated as reprints and paid at the reprint rate
🌟 Communicating with the Apex Stars:
- Supporting Apex: They strive to be writer/artist/translator-friendly and source from the slush pile
- Rights and Rules: Expect a response within 30 days, though it may take longer if your story is under further consideration
5. Daily Science Fiction
Daily Science Fiction is a speculative fiction magazine co-piloted by Michele-Lee Barasso and Jonathan Laden that brings forth a daily dose of science fiction, fantasy, and everything in between, straight to the inboxes of its subscribers. DSF, recognized for its commitment to presenting a variety of stories, is not just a magazine but a platform that provides a space for writers to share their imaginative creations with a dedicated audience, ensuring a rich tapestry of diverse voices.
🎨 Submission Guidelines: Crafting Your Speculative Tale for DSF
- What They Seek: Speculative fiction stories that are short, powerful, and impactful, with a maximum length of 1,500 words.
- Payment: Professional rates of 8 cents per word for original work (up to $120 per story), with payment made upon acceptance.
- Submission Medium: Submissions are accepted through their online submission system.
- Rights: They buy First Serial Rights and Non-exclusive Worldwide Electronic Rights, with stories archived online but made free to view after initial email publication.
- Response Time: They aim to respond to submissions within a week, and if no response is received after a month, you may query using the submission system.
- Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: Not accepted, and only one story per author should be in the submission queue at a time.
📢 Additional Notes:
- Diversity Statement: DSF encourages submissions from writers of every race, religion, nationality, gender, and sexual orientation.
- What They Prefer Not to See: Stories that are cynical without resolution, previously published, and simultaneously submitted elsewhere.
🚀 Navigating Through Daily Science Fiction
DSF welcomes and encourages submissions from writers of all walks of life, reflecting the genre’s diversity as its strength. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or a new voyager in this universe, your stories are welcomed here, where they will be given the space to shine, to be seen and appreciated by fellow enthusiasts and explorers of the speculative genre.
6. Escape Pod
Escape Pod is a unique platform that transforms your science fiction stories into auditory experiences, traversing through realms from steampunk to space opera, and everything that imagines the unknown. With a penchant for bizarre, original tales that lean towards hopepunk and optimism, Escape Pod seeks stories that explore science, technology, future projections, and alternate history, impacting individuals and society.
🎨 Submission Guidelines: Navigating Through the Escape Pod Universe
- What to Submit: Short fiction within 1,500-6,000 words, exploring science fiction, technology, and alternate realities, with a particular interest in escapism, hopepunk, and optimism.
- Payment: Original fiction: USD $0.08 per word (up to $480 per story). Reprint fiction: USD $100 per story.
- Submission Method: Via the Moksha platform.
- Rights: First world electronic rights (text and audio), first print rights, and non-exclusive anthology rights.
- Response Time: Initial responses typically within 1 month, with queries regarding submission status after 3 months.
📢 Additional Points to Note:
- Diversity Statement: Encouraging submissions from writers of all backgrounds.
- Content Preferences: Clear, tight pacing, and high clarity stories, avoiding themes of sexual assault, rape, child abuse, animal cruelty, gore, or horror.
- Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: Not accepted.
- Resubmissions: Not accepted unless explicitly requested.
- Translations: Treated as original if first English publication rights are available; otherwise, as a reprint.
7. The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Embark on a journey with The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, steered by editor Sheree Renée Thomas, a cornerstone in speculative fiction since 1949. This magazine, which doesn’t adhere to a specific formula for fiction, is always on the lookout for stories that bring something new to the table through voice, character insights, plots, or prose, with a discernible speculative element ideally present from the get-go.
🎨 Submission Guidelines: Crafting Your Submission
- What to Submit: Original stories and speculative poetry that surprise and engage, across all speculative genres, with a word count up to 25,000 words.
- Payment: Rates are 8-12 cents per word (up to $3,000 per story), with payment via check (US writers) or PayPal (international writers).
- Submission Method: Electronically through their submission portal.
- Manuscript Guidelines: Real word count, standard manuscript format, double-spaced, one-inch margins, serif typeface, contact information on the manuscript, and formats accepted are .doc, .docx, and .rtf.
📢 Additional Points to Note:
- Diversity Statement: Encouraging submissions from diverse voices, classes, and perspectives worldwide, and welcomes translations.
- Content Preferences: Stories that capture the imagination and linger with the reader, with no acceptance of AI or bot-generated stories.
- Simultaneous and Multiple Submissions: Not accepted, with a 21-day cooldown period between submissions.
- Resubmissions: Not accepted unless explicitly requested.
- Response Time: Current median response time is about 15 days, with queries regarding submission status after 90 days.
WRITE FOR FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION ➜
8. Terraform
Terraform is a platform that seeks speculative fiction zooming in on tech, science, and future culture topics driving the zeitgeist. Particularly interested in nearer-future fiction, Terraform welcomes themes like sentient chatbots, climate-changed dystopias, and more, with a penchant for various storytelling forms, from classic SF short stories to experimental graphic narratives.
🎨 Submission Guidelines: Crafting Your Submission
- Word Count: Up to 2,000 words.
- Type of Work: Speculative fiction oriented towards nearer-future scenarios, welcoming various storytelling forms.
- Rate: $0.20 per word (up to $400 per story).
- Limit: One story per submission.
- Submission Email: Send submissions to terraform.motherboard@gmail.com.
- Response Time: If no response within four months, assume non-acceptance.
📢 Additional Notes:
- Include in Your Email: A brief description of the story, word count, and any relevant information about yourself or your publication history.
- Not Considering: Previously published works.
- Qualifying Market: Terraform is recognized by the Science Fiction Writers of America.
🚀 Embark on a Journey with Terraform
Terraform is open to the public for submissions and is eager to populate its platform with future fiction that is digestible in internet length and hones in on relevant tech, science, and future culture topics. They encourage submissions that explore nearer-future fiction and are open to various formats.
9. Lightspeed Magazine
Lightspeed Magazine is a digital sanctuary where science fiction and fantasy intertwine, celebrating stories from the near and far future to mystical and fantastical realms. Whether it’s sociological soft SF, star-spanning hard SF, or various shades of fantasy, Lightspeed is a beacon where diverse narratives find a home.
🎨 Submission Guidelines: Crafting Your Submission
- Submission Medium: Via their Moksha online submission portal only.
- Guidelines: Originality is paramount, with a welcome to all types of science fiction and fantasy. No simultaneous and multiple submissions.
- Format: Single-spaced text in Arial 14pt font, in .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX format.
- Word Count: 1500-10,000 words for short stories and novelettes, preference under 5000 words. Up to 1500 words for flash fiction.
- Pay Rate: 8 cents per word for original fiction (up to $800 per story). Additional payment for podcasted stories.
- Rights: First rights and certain non-exclusive rights. Detailed contract on their website.
- AI Policy: No submissions developed or assisted by AI tools like ChatGPT.
- Diversity Statement: Encourages submissions from writers of all backgrounds.
📢 Additional Notes:
- Translations: Considered “original” if not published in English.
- Sexual Themes: Acceptable, but not a market for erotica.
- Additional Submission Categories: Specific guidelines for reprints, nonfiction, art, review copies, and poetry are detailed on their website.
🚀 Embark on a Journey with Lightspeed Magazine
Edited and published by John Joseph Adams, Lightspeed Magazine, a SFWA-qualifying professional market, stands as a testament to the boundless possibilities of science fiction and fantasy. With a commitment to diversity, originality, and quality, it ensures that your stories are given a space to shine and be appreciated by enthusiasts and explorers of the speculative genre.
10. Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons is a weekly magazine that fervently celebrates speculative fiction in its myriad forms. This platform is not just a magazine but a universe where speculative fiction is celebrated, providing a space for stories that traverse different worlds, futures, and imaginative possibilities.
🌌 Submission Guidelines: Navigating Through Strange Horizons
- What They Seek: Speculative fiction up to 10,000 words, with a preference for under 5,000 words.
- Submission Medium: Via their Moksha submissions system only.
- File Format: RTF, DOC, or DOCX files, adhering closely to standard manuscript format.
- Payment: 10¢/word USD, with a minimum payment of $60 (up to $1,000 per story).
- Rights: First-printing world exclusive English-language rights for six months.
- Cover Letters: Minimal, including recent/relevant publications or workshops and any relevant life experience.
- Diversity Statement: Keen interest in submissions from underrepresented perspectives and cultures.
- AI Policy: No submissions developed or assisted by AI tools like ChatGPT.
📢 Additional Notes:
- Translations: Encouraged to be submitted to their sister magazine, Samovar, first.
- Reprints: Not considered.
- Nonfiction: Assigned in-house, not open for submissions/queries.
- Art: Inquiries with an online gallery link can be sent to art@strangehorizons.com.
- Response Time: Autoresponder message sent for every submission. Query if not received within 24 hours.
- Withdrawal Policy: Strong preference against withdrawal after submission.
- Contact: Queries can be sent to fiction@strangehorizons.com with “QUERY:” at the start of the subject line.
11. The Drabblecast
Welcome to The Drabblecast, a unique speculative fiction magazine and podcast that delivers “Strange Stories for Strange Listeners.” This platform is a haven for stories that traverse the realms of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, with a particular penchant for tales that are humorous, bizarre, gross, disturbing, badass, interesting, and original. It seeks stories that not only resonate when read aloud but can also be transformed through full cast audio production.
🌌 Guidelines for Submission: Crafting Your Strange Story
- What They Seek: Short fiction (500 – 4,000 words), Drabbles (Exactly 100 words), Twabbles (Exactly 100 characters), and Episode Art.
- Payment: Original fiction at $.06/word (capped at $300.00); Reprint submissions at $.03/word (capped at $300.00). Stories under 500 words, Drabbles, and Twabbles are published pro bono.
- Submission Medium: Send stories to submissions@drabblecast.org.
- Email Guidelines: Include your name and story title in the subject, and in the body, include your bio, story word count, and publication history.
- Rights: First world electronic rights (text and audio), first print rights, and non-exclusive anthology rights.
- Response Time: Up to 3 months. Inquiries welcomed after 90 days.
- Simultaneous Submissions: Accepted with notification if another outlet accepts your submission first.
- Multiple Submissions: Not accepted unless requested or solicited by Drabblecast editorial staff.
📢 Additional Notes:
- Diversity Statement: Welcomes submissions from writers of every race, religion, nationality, gender, and sexual orientation.
- AI Statement: Machine-generated/AI-generated submissions will not be considered and may result in a submission ban.
READ MORE ➤
12. Your Own Science Fiction Blog
Ever dreamt of crafting your own universe, filled with bizarre creatures, futuristic technologies, and enthralling adventures? Launching your own Science Fiction blog could be the vessel that carries your imaginative tales into the cosmos of the internet, reaching fellow enthusiasts and explorers of the speculative genre.
🌌 Benefits of Starting Your Own SF Blog:
- Unlimited Creative Freedom: Your blog, your rules! Explore any sub-genre, theme, or concept without limitations.
- Build a Community: Connect with like-minded individuals, writers, and readers who share a passion for speculative fiction.
- Potential Earnings: Monetize your blog through various channels like advertisements, sponsored posts, merchandise, or memberships.
- Enhance Your Writing Skills: Regular blogging hones your writing and storytelling abilities, potentially opening doors to further opportunities in the writing world.
- Portfolio Building: Your blog serves as a portfolio, showcasing your writing to potential publishers, editors, or clients.
🚀 Embarking on Your Blogging Journey:
- Choose a Niche: While SF is the overarching theme, consider specializing in a sub-genre or topic to attract a dedicated audience.
- Design Your Universe: Select a blog design that resonates with your SF theme, ensuring it’s user-friendly and visually appealing.
- Consistent Content: Regularly publish stories, articles, or reviews to keep your audience engaged and attract new readers.
- Engage with Your Community: Respond to comments, visit fellow SF blogs, and participate in forums or social media groups.
- Monetization: Explore various monetization strategies, such as affiliate marketing, selling e-books, or offering premium content to subscribers.
📢 Ready to Launch Your SF Blog?
Starting a blog might seem like venturing into an unknown galaxy, but worry not! I have the perfect guide to help you build your own blog from scratch and potentially earn a full-time income. It’s crafted meticulously for beginners, ensuring you have a smooth takeoff into the blogging universe. From setting up your blog, crafting compelling content, to exploring monetization avenues, this guide is your co-pilot in this exciting journey.
🚀 Embark on Your Blogging Adventure
Your words have the power to illuminate the speculative universe, reaching audiences who share a penchant for the strange and the futuristic. Ready to launch your stories into the digital cosmos? Start building your own Science Fiction blog now and may your words traverse the endless expanses of the internet, captivating readers across the digital universe!
START A BLOG & EARN A FULLTIME INCOME ➜
Final Thoughts
Hey Sci-Fi scribblers! We’ve zoomed through a universe of places ready to pay for your sci-fi tales. It’s a vast space out there, and your stories? Well, they’re the rockets zooming into the unknown.
🚀 Your Stories? Stellar!
Your tales, whether they’re about alternate worlds or funky aliens, are adventures waiting to be shared. They’re not just stories; they’re your ticket to exciting new worlds.
🌌 Endless Adventures Await:
The sci-fi universe is always expanding with new opportunities popping up like stars in the night sky. Every submission, hit or miss, is a step forward in your writing journey.
📘 Bookmark This Launchpad:
Keep this guide handy! It’s your launchpad to new opportunities in the sci-fi world where you can get paid to write science fiction. And yes, we’ll keep adding new spots for your stories to land.
🚀 Write, Launch, Repeat:
Every story is a new journey. Keep writing, keep launching, and keep exploring the endless “what-ifs” and “imagine-thats” of the genre.
🌟 Your Path is Yours Alone:
Whether in magazines, your blog, or new platforms, your journey is uniquely yours. Embrace every part of it – the highs, the lows, and everything in between.
In this boundless cosmos of speculative fiction, your stories light up the dark, sparking imaginations and creating new worlds and possibilities. May your words continue to shine, captivating readers across the universe, and hey, getting you paid to write science fiction.
🚀 See You Soon, Space Voyager:
Embark, explore, and remember to swing back here for new worlds where your stories can land. The universe is boundless, and your stories are ready to explore it.
Keep it light, keep it fun, and keep those stories coming, space voyagers! 🚀🌟
Are There More Sites That Pay Me To Write?
You betcha! The universe of writing opportunities is vast, and I’ve got the scoop on a bunch of them. Whether you’re into crafting tales of distant worlds or sharing your earthly experiences, there’s a spot for your words (and a little cash for your wallet)!
🚀 Poets, Gather Round: If you can turn a phrase that makes our hearts flutter or our minds race, check out these spots that will pay for your poetry. Dive into the poetic universe here.
🌍 Travel Writers, Pack Your Bags: If you’ve got tales of adventures, cultures, and breathtaking spots, your stories can land safely (and lucratively) in the realm of travel writing. Start your journey here.
🌱 Green Thumbs, Let’s Grow: If you can share the secrets of the soil and the tales of your tulips, there are platforms ready to pay for your gardening wisdom. Plant your words here.
💌 Heartfelt Message Makers, Send Your Best: If you can craft a message that tugs at the heartstrings, your words can find a home (and some cash) in the world of greeting cards. Send your words here.
👨👩👧👦 Parenting Pros, Share Your Wisdom: If you’ve got parenting tales, tips, or advice, there are spots ready to pay for your parental ponderings. Share your parenting tales here.
Your words have power and value, and there are loads of places out there ready to showcase them (and pay you for them)! So, explore, submit, and let’s get your words out into the universe. And hey, keep this spot bookmarked – I’ll keep updating it with new opportunities! 🚀📝
