Do you write short stories belonging to the romance genre?
Have you just completed a story that you want to get published?
Continue reading to learn about 17 top romance short story publishers.
1. Black Fox Literary Magazine
Established in 2011, Black Fox Literary Magazine is a print and online publication that features poetry, non-fiction, fiction, art, and photography. As a biannual publication, they launch two issues each year—one in the summer and another during winter—and they accept submissions all year round.
Black Fox welcomes short story submissions from all genres, including romance, YA, mystery, drama, etc. Short stories must be 5,000 words or less and must be sent through their online submission manager. They also ask that all submissions adhere to their formatting guidelines which can be found here. For general inquiries, feel free to contact one of Black Fox’s editors via email.
2. SERIAL Magazine
SERIAL is a new pulp fiction magazine that specializes in genre fiction—fantasy, romance, horror, action-adventure, thrillers, science fiction, and mystery. New issues are published each week, and they welcome submissions on a rolling basis. They are most interested in stories that are entertaining and fun—stories that will encourage readers to grab the next issue. Short story submissions must be within 500 and 10,000 words and must be appropriate for young adult readers. Stories that contain explicit sex scenes and offensive slurs will automatically be rejected.
If you are interested in submitting your romance short story to SERIAL, make sure you go through their submission guidelines. Once you’re ready to submit, you can send your story as a Word attachment via email.
3. Interlude Press
Interlude Press is an award-winning publisher that specializes in LGBTQ romance and general fiction. They publish novels, novellas, and anthologies that feature well-written LGBTQ characters. The books they have published over the years have received recognition from Lambda Literary, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Foreword Reviews, and more.
Although they primarily publish novels and long-form fiction, Interlude Press also regularly publishes short story anthologies. Open calls for short stories are posted on their website, so feel free to check their submissions page to find out if they are currently looking for short stories for their next anthology. If you have any questions for the Interlude Press team, you can contact them via email.
4. The Lascaux Review
The Lascaux Review is an online literary magazine that showcases art, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction from new and established artists and writers. They publish work across various genres—including romance, mystery, horror, science fiction, and more—as long as the writing is of literary quality. In particular, they are after writing that celebrates language and provides insight on the human condition.
Submissions are always welcome. If you are interested in submitting your work to The Lascaux Review, you can check out their submission guidelines before heading to their Submittable page. In addition to accepting submissions on a rolling basis, they also hold annual contests in flash fiction, short fiction, and creative non-fiction. The deadline for this year’s Short Fiction Prize is on December 31.
5. Literally Stories
Founded in 2014, Literally Stories is—quite literally—all about short stories. They publish a new story each day and are constantly looking for new work to feature. They are most interested in the following genres: romance, fantasy, historical, horror, science fiction, humor, and general fiction.
They currently welcome short stories between 500 and 3000 words. If you would like your work to appear on Literally Stories, you can start by getting familiar with the kind of stories they usually feature, and don’t forget to check their submission guidelines. As soon as you are ready, you can submit your story the editors via email. It usually takes them up to 3 weeks to respond to submissions.
6. The Fiction Pool
The Fiction Pool is an online journal that features short stories and flash fiction. They also feature poetry on occasion. Founder and editor Jo Simmonds started The Fiction Pool to widen the gate for writers who struggle to get their work noticed, particularly LGBT writers, disabled writers, and writers of color. The stories they publish span different genres—including romance, drama, mystery, suspense, and more—but they specifically seek stories that are bold, daring, and rebellious.
They accept short stories under 3000 words and flash fiction under 1000 words, and you may submit 1 short story or 3 flash fiction pieces at a time. You can learn more about their submission guidelines here. For other questions, you may reach Jo Simmonds via email.
7. One Story
Based in New York, One Story is an award-winning, non-profit publisher that specializes in short stories. As their name implies, they publish one issue per month, and each issue only contains one story. Because of this format, they are looking for stories that are strong enough to stand alone and still leave readers satisfied.
One Story has two reading periods each year—one from January to May and another from September to November. All genres are welcome, but submitted stories must be between 3000 and 8000 words. Interested writers can submit their work through One Story’s submission manager after checking out the submission guidelines. Featured writers will receive $500, as well as 25 contributor copies.
8. Silver Blade Magazine
Silver Blade Magazine is a quarterly journal that publishes short stories, flash fiction, novellas, and poetry. They primarily publish work that falls under the fantasy genre, including science fiction, modern fantasy, and slipstream, but they also welcome romance stories that have strong fantasy elements. At the moment, Silver Blade welcomes short story submissions between 1000 and 7500 words.
If you wish to get your work published by Silver Blade Magazine, you can send them your story through their submission manager. Before you do, make sure you check out the submission guidelines on their website. Should you have any questions about their submission process or the status of your submission, you can reach Silver Blade’s editorial team via email.
9. Edify Fiction
Edify Fiction is a Christian-managed literary magazine that publishes short stories, flash fiction, poetry, photography, and digital art. They welcome all writers—whether you’ve been published by other magazines and journals, or you’ve just written your first story. Edify Fiction’s story selection isn’t bound by genre. They are interested in romance, comedy, historical fiction, science fiction, mystery, and suspense. But they are particular about one thing: all the stories they publish are inspiring, motivational, and uplifting.
Edify Fiction is currently closed for submissions, but they will reopen as soon as they catch up on reading their current queue. You can visit their Submittable page for announcements. In the meantime, check out their submission guidelines to learn more about the kind of stories they are looking for.
10. Short Fiction Journal
Short Fiction is an online journal that publishes short stories. Although they are based in the UK, they publish stories from writers around the globe. They regularly feature both emerging and established writers. Because their editors have such a wide taste range, they welcome stories across various topics and genres—including romance, crime, suspense, drama, and more—as long as it qualifies as fiction.
Submissions are currently open, and they are accepting previously unpublished short stories between 500 and 5000 words. Submissions must be sent via email as an attachment and must follow the formatting guidelines listed here. Only one story can be submitted at a time, and you need to wait for a response before sending in a new submission.
11. Scribble
Scribble is another short story magazine based in the UK. For more than 20 years, Scribble has been publishing short stories across various genres, such as crime, horror, romance science fiction, and more. They are interested in stories that gripping, fresh, and have sympathetic characters. It is recommended that you browse through their previous issues to get an idea of what they usually publish.
Scribble currently welcomes submissions under 3000 words, and all submissions must meet their formatting requirements. You can find more information about their submission guidelines and mailing instructions here. In addition to regular submissions, interested writers can also join Scribble’s Annual Short Story Competition. Learn more about the competition’s rules here.
12. Brain Drip
Brain Drip is an Australian literary magazine that publishes short stories, essays, and poetry by local writers. They publish stories from nearly all genres—including romance, crime, mystery, horror, and more—but they are especially fond of stories that grip and transport readers to another time and place. If that sounds like the kind of stories you enjoy writing, you should submit your work for Brain Drip’s consideration.
Brain Drip welcomes short story submissions between 1000 and 8000 words. For more information about submitting your work, you can check out their submission guidelines here. if you have any questions or concerns prior to submitting, you can contact Brain Drip here.
13. Spineless Wonders
Spineless Wonders is another publisher that specializes in short fiction written by Australian writers. They seek short fiction of different lengths—from traditional short stories to experimental micro-literature to novellas. All genres are welcome at Spineless Wonders—romance, crime, mystery, steam punk, black comedy, psychological, speculative, and genres yet to be named. In addition to publishing collections by individual authors, they also publish anthologies in print and digital formats.
You can check out their Submittable page to see all their current calls for submissions. That is also where you can find the submission guidelines for each open call. If you have any questions for the Spineless Wonders team, you can reach them via email.
14. Neon Literary Magazine
One of UK’s longest running literary magazines, Neon publishes two issues a year, both in print and in digital formats. They publish poems, short stories, and flash fiction from different genres—romance included—but they are particularly fond of stories that have surreal and speculative elements to them. That said, they also love being surprised, so feel free to submit work outside those realms.
Submissions are currently open, and you can find their submission guidelines here. All submissions must be sent via email and must include a 50-word biography and a cover letter. If it’s your first time submitting your work to an online magazine, you should also check out Neon’s handy guide for new writers.
15. LitMag
LitMag is a literary journal that features poetry, fiction, and non-fiction from emerging, established, and unknown writers. In addition to their annual print journal, LitMag also publishes web exclusives throughout the year. Genre plays a very small role in their selection process—they are more particular about how the story makes them feel. For this reason, they welcome submissions from all genres as long as the work moves and amazes them.
LitMag is currently accepting fiction, non-fiction, and poetry submissions. Several LitMag writing contests are also open at the moment. For more information on general submissions and contest rules, you can check out LitMag’s submission guidelines here. If you have additional questions for the LitMag team, you can reach them through their online inquiry form.
16. Fairlight Books
Fairlight Books is a UK-based publisher with a single aim: to celebrate extraordinary writing and promote the best of contemporary fiction. As part of their goal to make good writing accessible to more people, they came up with Fairlight Shorts, an online portal that features short stories from new and established writers. There’s room for every genre at Fairlight, but they are most keen on stories that have depth. While they do welcome well-written romance stories, they are not fond of erotica.
Short story submissions must be under 10,000 words, and each writer may submit up to 3 stories in a single submission. Get more information about their submission guidelines here.
17. The Puritan
Founded in Toronto in 2006, The Puritan is one of Canada’s leading literary journals. They publish their issues on a quarterly basis, and they feature the best in poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews—from both Canada and abroad. They are always looking for new writers to publish, and they pay the writers they feature. Check out their submission guidelines if you would like your work to appear in The Puritan.
All submissions should be sent via The Puritan’s Submittable page. If you have any questions for The Puritan’s editorial team, you can get in touch with them via email.
Are there any other romance short story publishers that should be on this list? Please tell us about them in the comments box below!
Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of Writing Tips Oasis.