17 Active Fiction Writing Publications on Medium

A curated list of active fiction writing publications on Medium

(Updated on August 13, 2021)

Who doesn’t like putting pen to paper and exploring the wildest depths of your crazy imagination? While I don’t publish fiction myself (outside of short humor), I do absolutely love the genre.

And Medium hosts plenty of absolutely fantastic fiction writers in this area too! Some of them might even be secretly famous and using a pen name…or was that sentence fiction too?

Either way, if you’re here, you probably want to see all of the major places to publish your fiction on Medium, so look no further!

Here’s the shortlist organized alphabetically. Note, not all of these pubs are purely for fiction writing, but most are. If you’re looking for instructions on how to submit, most publications will literally have a subheader titled “Submit” or “Submissions.”

If still in doubt, ask in the comments section or Google ‘publication name’ + ‘submit’.

Let’s begin!

Quick list of active fiction publications on Medium

1. Curiosity never killed the writer (70,000 followers) — “Collecting words, phrases, pops of poetry, and all things about writing.”
2. Illumination (92,000 followers)— “We curate and disseminate outstanding articles from diverse domains and disciplines to create fusion and synergy.”
3. Literally Literary (29,000 followers)— “We’ve Got a Story for You” — (Note: They are still very active but for some reason, their main page isn’t updated.)
4. MuddyUm ( 5,000 followers)— “Bootleg Humor Since 1720"
5. Prism & Pen (1,400 followers) — “Prism & Pen is a collective of LGBTQ and LGBTQ-allied writers. We are novelists, short story crafters, and poets. We subvert the ordinary and overturn the expected. Look around, choose a tale, and discover a new world!”
6. Scribe (26,000 followers)— “Far from the tumult of today’s society, Scribe invites you to take time, and just enjoy a moment of reading and writing. We’re here to bring to light stories that come from the heart and express a personal point of view.”
7. The Bad Influence (4,000 followers)— “We’re a Bad Influence because we INCITE change through inclusion, thought and creativity. We imagine a world where people can think critically, express themselves, and thumb their nose at the status quo, together.”
8. The Bigger Picture (18,000 followers) — “We combine life experiences with relevant topics to explore the deeper meaning of issues — “the bigger picture.” By sharing the lessons we’ve learned, we hope to connect with readers and start a much-needed conversation. We also have a unique sense of humor.” — (Note: They’re picky with any fiction they accept, and strongly prefer short-fiction over long. Points for highly moving/emotional pieces.)
9. The Coffeelicious —(211,000 followers) — “Home to some of e best stories on medium. Look around, relax and enjoy one with a sip of coffee.”
10. The Coil (73,000 followers) — “THE COIL is a weekday literary magazine that features essays, book reviews, interviews, shelfies, columns, articles, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, artwork, historical writing, literary recipes, booklists, soundbites, and more. We post at least one new piece per day every Monday through Friday, so follow us, and check back often. We welcome diverse and underrepresented voices and are an LGBTQ+ safe-space. *We pay token for all the pieces we accept, via paper check for U.S. authors and PayPal for foreign authors, about a month after publication. Pay varies, but is small.*”
11. The Creative Cafe (97,000 followers) — “Unlocking creativity through community. Dedicated to supporting and fostering the creative writing community. This is a place for compulsive creators, their work, and their stories. Prompts twice a month and stories published every day(ish). Brought to you by Likewise.”
12. The Junction (15,000 followers)— “The Junction is a digital crossroads devoted to stories, culture, and ideas. Our interests are legion.”
13. The Story Hall (9,000 followers) — “A gathering place for stories to be told, read and appreciated.”
14. The Weekly Knob (13,000 followers)— “A weekly publication dedicated to ‘prompting writers to write’. Hosting weekly writing challenges. Paying writers cash prizes for featured content.”
15. Microcosm Flash Fiction (1,000 followers) — “A place for tiny stories that capture something much larger. Single moments of a vast journey, a single frame of a moving picture.”

That’s it! If you have any others to add to the list — and they’re still active — please let me know in the comments!

Have a good one, Mediumites.

J.J. Pryor

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