Literary Magazines with Themes--Spring 2016

Here's my spring 2016 list of upcoming themes or prompts for literary magazines.  They're fun to write to, and you may also find that they match stories you've already written.  As always, read guidelines carefully.

Third Flatiron

Theme:  Keystones

Genres:  Speculative

Reading Period:  April 15-June 15, 2016

Word Count: 1500-3000

Pay: 3 cents / word

Guidelines:  http://www.thirdflatiron.com/liveSite/pages/submissions

Lackington's

Theme:  Animals (see more detailed description in guidelines)

Genres:  Speculative

Dates:  Opens May 10

Word Count:  1500-5000

Pay:  1 cent per word

Guidelines: http://lackingtons.com/submissions/

The First Line

First line must be:  "By the fifteenth month of the drought, the lake no longer held her secrets."

Deadline: May 1, 2016

Word Count:  up to 5000

Pay:  $25-50

Guidelines:  http://www.thefirstline.com/submission.htm

THEMA Literary Journal

Theme:  Second Thoughts

Deadline: July 1, 2016

Pay:  $25

Guidelines:  http://themaliterarysociety.com/submissions.html

Grey Wolfe Publishing

April Prompt:  "Every morning at 9:00 a.m. sharp, you get a call on your cell phone. The speaker says 'I know what you did' and then hangs up. This has been going on for two weeks straight. What did you do and how do you react to these calls?"

Deadline:  April 30, 2016

May Prompt:  You’re sitting at the breakfast table one morning, looking at the top news stories while drinking your coffee. The top story this morning is a crazy fan who was arrested for breaking into a local bookstore and stealing all of YOUR books! He’s quoted as saying “I just want to be their best friend!” Your first crazed fan. What do you do?

Deadline:  May 31, 2016

Word Count:  up to 2000

Pay:  $25 to contest winner

Guidelines:  http://greywolfepublishing.com/2016%20Monthly%20Contests.html

Enchanted Conversation

Theme:  Summer Solstice and Mid-Summer

Genre:  Fairy Tale

Reading Period:  May 1-May 30

Word Count:  700-3000 stories, poems of any length

Pay:  $30

Guidelines:  http://www.fairytalemagazine.com/p/blog-page_22.html

Infective Ink

Themes:  Dear Diary—due April 27, 2016

The End of the World—due May 28, 2016

Pay:  $10 for stories 1500 words and up

Guidelines:  http://infectiveink.com/guidelines.html

On the Premises

Next theme:  TBA

Word Count:  up to 5000

Pay: $60-220 

Guidelines:  http://onthepremises.com/current-contest/

Timeless Tales

Theme:  The Snow Queen

Genre:  retelling of fairy tales—various styles and genres, poetry

Word Count:  up to 2000, 1500 preferred

Pay:  $20

Guidelines:  http://www.timelesstalesmagazine.com/#!submissions/c1vmu

Story

Theme:  Identity

Genres:  Stories, essays, poems

Word Count: up to 2500 for prose

Pay: Unclear

Guidelines:  http://www.storymagazine.org/submit/

Melinda Brasher's first fiction sale was in THEMA, one of the magazines above.  She has other stories published in various magazines, including On the Premises.  Visit her online at www.melindabrasher.com