15 “Fast Response” Literary Journals

For writers who hate to wait

Now that most journals are online, the days of waiting six months after posting your hard copy submission are long gone. Yet, a persistent “hangover perception” exists from when literary journals lived in a world of paper and print — that writers wait forever to hear whether their work is accepted or rejected from a journal.

Sure, there’s still journals with lengthy response times: The Sun is 6 months, Poetry Foundation is up to 9 months. A majority of journals take between six weeks and three months to respond — still enough to stretch some writer’s patience.

The good news for writers who hate to wait is a growing number of literary journals cite response times of a month or less. Some respond within 24 hours to a week.

Personally, any communication from journal editors is more motivating than months of eerie silence. Rejections can actually contain encouragement, and sometimes a request to see more work — at worst, it’s simply an indication to move on. I’ve also found including fast-response journals in one’s submitting strategy to be useful in a variety of ways.

Turbo-Charge Your Submission Goals with Fast-Response Journals

• Kickstart your submitting journey by using “fast response” journals to build momentum. (For more tips, go here.)
• Keep on track with monthly submission goals. The sooner the work is sent back (if not accepted), the sooner you can submit to another journal.
• If you’ve not been published in literary journals yet, or your publication credits are scant, acceptances from fast-response journals build publication credits more quickly than only choosing “long-wait” journals.
• Submitting the same selection of work simultaneously to a few “fast response” journals, may find them a home faster.
• Some fast-response journals allow writers to re-submit after a rejection within the same reading period.
• Receiving fast responses may equal fast acceptances!

Below is a curated list of 15 “fast response” journals. I’ve included some non-paying markets, as they often have higher acceptance rates. Consider submitting to a few, particularly if you’re just getting started — and those publication credits for your author bio are an added bonus.

Most journals are seeking new or unpublished work. Three will consider reprints (previously published work). For more on re-purposing already-published work on Medium, see here.

An asterisk * indicates journals I’ve submitted to— so I may include “insider” knowledge not on their website.

STT stands for submission turnaround time. Additionally, all of these are:

• NOT US-centric: Submissions accepted from writers worldwide
• Fee-free submissions

Let’s crush those submission goals and go get those acceptances — faster!

Fast-Response Journals

1. 34 Orchard DEADLINE: Rolling submission windows. Next opens July 1–15 ABOUT: A quarterly literary journal that “takes you to dark places”, they seek work that disturbs and unsettles. FORMS / GENRES: Poetry / Short Fiction 1–5K words SUBMIT: Via email. Send up to 3 poems / 1x story. Guidelines here. PAYMENT: $50 via Paypal STT: 1 month
2. Apparition Lit DEADLINE: Upcoming theme “Reclamation”. Submission window August 15–31 ABOUT: A quarterly speculative fiction and poetry magazine, embracing fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and literary fiction. “Send us your strange, misshapen stories”. They also run monthly flash fiction prompts on their website. FORMS / GENRES: Poetry & Fiction (1–5K words) SUBMIT: Via Moksha. Up to 5 poems / 1 story. Read guidelines here. PAYMENT: 05c / word. Minimum $50 per poem / story. STT: 1 week
3. Black Lipstick * DEADLINE: Open ABOUT: An edgy new project on Showcase, founder and former creative writing instructor at Catapult Mila Jaroniec describes it as “glamour-forward with a punk ethos”. She seeks a panoply of nonfiction forms including film and product reviews, interviews, and affecting personal essays. FORMS / GENRES: Reviews & Interviews / Personal Essays / Hybrids / CNF SUBMIT: Your pitch or piece via email. PAYMENT: Essays / CNF / Hybrid NF $150 / Reviews / Interviews $100 STT: 3–4 weeks
4. Chestnut Review DEADLINE: Rolling submission windows— opening July 1st ABOUT: A quarterly journal for “stubborn writers”, they seek “beautiful language, resonant images” and narrative. They also release a yearly anthology. FORMS / GENRES: Poetry, flash / short fiction, CNF, essays, art /photography SUBMIT: Via Submittable. Free submissions for up to 3 poems / flash, they charge otherwise. Check categories on Submittable for details. Note: fee-free “long prose” submissions for BIPOC authors. Guidelines here. PAYMENT: $120 (USD) STT: 30 days
5. Dawn Review DEADLINE: Rolling submissions ABOUT: Dawn Review seeks to publish “work that is striking and honest– that creates the truth by refracting it.” FORMS / GENRES: Prose / poetry / plays / hybrid/ art SUBMIT: Via website form. Send up to 5 poems or 3 prose pieces PAYMENT: No payment, but provides free feedback on request STT: 1 month
6. Ergot DEADLINE: Open ABOUT: Ergot is interested in furthering the innovative and experimental tradition in horror. They seek work that pays attention to atmosphere and mood over plot. FORMS / GENRES: Fiction up to 10K / Flash fiction / Hybrid work / Excerpts / Translations SUBMIT: Via email. Send 1 piece of long prose / 3x Flash Fics PAYMENT: $25 STT: 30 Days
7. Eunoia Review (Non-Paying)* DEADLINE: Always open ABOUT: Singapore-based journal with quality work. FORMS / GENRES: Poetry / Fiction / CNF (Creative Nonfiction)Accepts reprints. SUBMIT: Up to 10 poems. Fiction / CNF: up to 15K words STT: 24 hours
8. Flash Frog DEADLINE: Always open ABOUT: A quirky online journal dedicated to flash fiction, each story is accompanied by original artwork. They nominate for awards and run competitions. FORMS / GENRES: Flash Fiction — 1000 words or less SUBMIT: Via email PAYMENT: $25 (USD) STT: 1 week
9. Front Porch Review (Non-Paying) DEADLINE: Always open ABOUT: A quarterly journal publishing ”thougtful, provocative” work, they seek vivid images, resonating voice and rich language. Don’tsend avant-garde or overly experimental work. FORMS / GENRES: Fiction + Essays up to 5K words / Poetry / Visual media. Accepts reprints. SUBMIT: Via email. Guidelines here. STT: 1 month
10. Ghost Parachute (Non-Paying) DEADLINE: Always open ABOUT: A journal dedicated to “unapologetically bold” flash fiction, they appreciate vibrant imagery and surreal sensibilities. They nominate for awards and run an annual competition. FORMS / GENRES: Flash Fiction 1000 words or less SUBMIT: Via Submittable. 1 story / submission. Guidelines here. STT: 2 weeks
11. McSweeney’s Internet Tendency DEADLINE: Rolling submissions ABOUT: A Boston-based journal for the lighter side of literary fiction, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency has been delivering “almost-daily humor since 1998”. FORMS / GENRES: Open letters, topical features, listicles, food reviews. SUBMIT: Via email. Read guidelines. (NB: differs from their poetry journal Quarterly Concerns) PAYMENT: pay for most categories, see guidelines for details STT: 1 week
12. Metaphorosis DEADLINE: Always open ABOUT: A speculative fiction journal for “beautifully made” science fiction and fantasy. They seek stories with emphasis on striking language. FORMS / GENRES: Sci-fi / fantasy fiction 500-10K words. (2–6K preferred) SUBMIT: Via Moksha. 1 story per submisison. Guidelines here. PAYMENT: .01c/word (USD) STT: 24 hours to 2 weeks
13. One Art (Non-Paying)* DEADLINE: Rolling submissions ABOUT: One Art publishes thougtful, reflective poetry. FORMS / GENRES: Poetry — prefers free verse, but considers “formal poems that read in the manner of free verse”. Accepts some reprints, check guidelines for definition. SUBMIT: Via email. Send 1–5 poems. Guidelines here. STT: 1 week or less
14. Rattle-Poet’s Respond * DEADLINE: Always open, but poems should respond to events from the previous week as a rough guide. ABOUT: One of the most popular and well-paying poetry journals, Rattle has a dedicated online segment for responses to topical or current events. (NB: If you publish poetry to a blog or social media, these are now also considered.) FORMS / GENRES: Poetry — see guidelines SUBMIT: Multiple submissions acceptable. Click on the “submit” button in Submittable for the full-detail guidelines. PAYMENT: $100 (USD) STT: 1 week
15. SmokeLong Quarterly DEADLINE: Rolling submissions ABOUT: A long-running, well-paying flash fiction journal, whose title comes from the Chinese expression for flash fiction: “cigarette-long story”. They want “language that surprises and excites”. FORMS / GENRES: Flash fiction 1000 words or less SUBMIT: Via Submittable. 1 story / submission. Pieces published on personal website / blog considered. Guidelines here. PAYMENT: $100 (USD) STT: 1 month, but often sooner

Good luck, everyone! You can find my sub call round-ups, submitting tips & strategies from this curated list.

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Melissa Coffey is an Australian poet, writer and editor. Her fiction and poetry are published in various anthologies (The Mammoth Book series, Stringybark Stories) and literary journals (The Ekphrastic Review, Last Girls Club, The Aurora Journal, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, Not Very Quiet). She has work forthcoming in an Improbable Press anthology in 2024. Her work is often tinged with darkness.

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