Below is a list of active short fiction publishers (in alphabetical order).
Amazing Stories was the first science fiction magazine in the world, started in 1926 by Hugo Gernsback. Its goal is to feature works from writers who are passionate about inspiring readers with both real science and real people, looking for stories that not only entertain but also encourage readers to reflect on and critique contemporary society.
Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine is an established market for science fiction stories generally looking for character-oriented stories. However, it has also published borderline fantasy, slipstream, and surreal fiction.
Bridge House Publishing is an independent publishing house that specialises in fiction which is a little bit different, focusing mainly on short story collections.
Comma Press has an international reputation for excellent and ground-breaking commissioning. Its interdisciplinary commissions celebrate the short story’s ability to take deep dives into cutting-edge research, and their ‘Futures Past‘ series has delivered ground-breaking anthologies of science fiction from Palestine, Iraq, Kurdistan and elsewhere.
Crannóg is a magazine with a mission to publish the work of Irish writers alongside the best available worldwide and to show how well such writing sits with the best available internationally. This has a dual effect of giving writers a world platform to have their work read in print and also brings work of an international standard to the attention of an Irish audience.
Fairlight Books publishes just a small number of books each year to give each book and its author the care and attention they deserve but since its inception in 2017 its authors have won and been longlisted for a variety of literary prizes. The publishing house is home to innovative contemporary fiction, set around the world, as well as a small range of non-fiction titles, including the ‘How to…’ Modern Living series.
Granta magazine and Granta Books share a remit to discover and publish the best in new literary fiction, memoir, reportage and poetry from around the world, and has overall published thirty-one Nobel Prize laureates. It is most celebrated for its ‘Best of Young’ issues, which introduce the most important voices of each generation – in Britain, America, Brazil and Spain – defining the contours of the literary landscape.
Indie Bites is a not-for-profit imprint of Silver Sun Books. It is a quarterly indie fantasy anthology, created to promote the work of indie authors. It features short fantasy fiction (prose and poetry) from self-published, hybrid and unpublished authors, together with author interviews.
Litro publishes thought-provoking content across literature, arts, and innovative technology, connecting with readers in London, New York, Miami to Accra, and offering both print and digital platforms.
Microtextualidades International Journal of Microfiction and Short Stories is a biannual electronic journal that publishes scientific contributions from national and international specialists in the field of microfiction and short stories. The journal accepts scientific papers, written in Spanish or English, that are the result of original and unpublished research, that are not being considered by other journals and that have not been published or will not be published elsewhere.
One Story, as its name suggests, is a magazine that publishes one great short story at a time. Its innovative idea of mailing one short story at a time to subscribers, like a letter from a friend, draws the readers’ attention to emerging authors in the face of short stories disappearing from high-profile print publications and smaller literary magazines.
Popshot Quarterly is an illustrated literary magazine that publishes short stories, flash fiction, and poetry from the literary new blood.
Smokelong Quarterly is a magazine dedicated to bringing the best flash narratives to the web quarterly, whether written by widely published authors or those new to the craft.
The Fiction Desk publishes short stories by new and established writers, from the UK and around the world. Most of the short stories it publishes might loosely be considered ‘general’ or ‘literary’ fiction, but it also regularly features ghost stories and some science fiction.
The Pomegranate London is a biannual printed art and literary magazine featuring short stories, poems and essays on artists. Founded in July 2020, The Pomegranate London seeks to publish and promote innovative, fresh and experimental new work from established and emerging writers and artists from the UK and internationally.
The Short Story (TSS Publishing) aims to publish the best contemporary short stories, flash fiction and creative non-fiction in the English language, as well as critical discussion of craft including reviews, interviews and essays.
Zoetrope All-Story is a quarterly print magazine of short fiction, one-act plays, and essays on film. Among the most celebrated literary periodicals in the world, it has won every major story award, including four National Magazine Awards for Fiction.