Places to Submit
I have searched for places to submit short stories and poems for a long time. If you are yourself in quest for magazines either online or in print which accept submissions, I can give you some hints on where to start.
Let's see...
The Vine Leaves Literary Journal is a good market for either prose or poetry, but they have to be short. They accept anything that fits into the «vignette» category, which they describe as "something that may be written on a vine-leaf" (see the guidelines here). They even have a separate feature for young emerging writers not older than 17. And, bonus, they accept photography and artwork too. The submissions are still free until August 31st 2016. Starting September 1st 2016, a $5 AUD will be charged. The good news is that they pay for accepted submissions. The bad news is that the response time is rather long, two months, maybe more.
Every Day Fiction is looking for stories up to 1000 words and they pay for it too (very little, but still). Maximum response time is 90 days. I know, that's a long time, but it's worth the pain. Take a look at what they’re asking for here.
100 Words Story is a good venue for micro-fiction and it offers a nice challenge. They post a Photo Prompt every month and chose a winner to be published. Not a paid market though. Here are the details.
Flash Fiction Online accepts prose 500 to 1,000 words in length and their response time ranges from 2 to 10 weeks. See the submission guidelines here. Payment is really nice, thus the standards are higher.
The Sick Lit Magazine is one of my favorites. Good market (although unpaid) for a wide range of artistic genres. And I mean wide. You can be a writer, painter, photographer, you name it, if they like what you send their way, they’ll publish it. Another brownie point, they «don’t stifle their artists’ creativity» in any way. All lengths and themes are accepted, although they offer a theme idea each month. If the submission doesn’t qualify for the theme you send it for, they offer alternatives. Here are the full guidelines. Response time is a week or two, sometimes even faster than that.
Oblong is an online magazine that publishes flash fiction. They like Vladimir Nabokov, so that gives you an idea about what they are looking for. They get back to you in one week or two. Unpaid. See details.
A Quiet Courage is also a nice venue for micro-fiction and poetry up to 100 words. See the guidelines here. Response time can be surprisingly quick, I got one the same day. They even accept pieces already published by another magazine or journal, so that’s a plus, most literary venues don’t. Also unpaid.
Wordhaus is an online home for fiction. They aren’t always open for submissions, but when they are, here is what the editors are asking for: 2500 words tops, romance, fantasy, sci-fi. Unfortunately unpaid. See details.
That’s pretty much what I have in mind right now. If anything else strikes it, I’ll let you know. Good luck and get those creative juices flowing!
P.S. : I have recently discovered some posts on a writer’s blog that helped me understand better this whole process of writing and publishing, either for fun or as a form of revenue. Alexis A. Hunter makes a lot of sense in what she writes there and I thought about sharing her advice with you. She has put these posts under the header «The Road to Publication». Go take a look! She might help you too.