Submission Guidelines
Submissions are currently OPEN
This isssue’s theme:
PERSIST
We are currently seeking beautiful speculative short fiction from New England writers. Flash or short stories should fit the issue’s theme. Send us your dark, dramatic, lithe, and lovely.
We love stories with rich atmosphere and compelling emotion in a range of speculative flavors: fantasy, gothic, fairy and folk tales, horror, and mystery. A literary and lyrical tone will perfectly suit.
Hard Sells
— Do not send homophobic / racist / misogynistic / ableist and otherwise prejudiced writing.
— Graphic sexual content.
— Gratuitously violent content.
— Hard Sci-fi.
— Darkness is welcome, especially gothic, psychological, slow-burn, and supernatural horror, but only when it serves something deeper. We’re drawn to stories with emotional resonance, a compelling voice, and richly crafted atmosphere, not shock for shock’s sake.
Work that was written by AI will not knowingly be published, and will not be accepted.
Do not send AI generated content to us.
New England literary magazine Speculative fiction magazine Submit short stories 2025 Call for submissions fantasy, horror, gothic Gothic short story magazine Literary magazines accepting submissions Dark literary fiction magazine Fairy tale fiction magazine Regional literary magazine New England
Flash Fiction
Send one (1) piece of flash fiction of up to 1000 words.
OR
For micro fiction of up to 250 words, you may send three (3) pieces. Please indicate in your cover letter whether the pieces are linked or separate—if linked, please submit pieces in the order you would like them to appear.
Short Stories
Send one (1) short story from 1001 to 5000 words.
If you have something longer than 5000 words that you think would be a great fit, please send a query including: your word count, a brief description of the work, and your opening sentence or paragraph.
If we like what we see, we will request the piece in full and if you wow us, we’ll publish it.
You do not need to query pieces from 1001 to 5000 words.
Please note: submissions that fit our usual guidelines are prioritized. We may not respond to queries regarding longer works until we have time to read them.
Submission Guidelines…
Please attach submissions in standard manuscript format as .doc, or .docx files and include a PDF version for reference if your work has specific layout needs. Please do not paste submissions into the body of your email. Please do not share files via Google Drive, OneDrive or the like.
Please include a brief third-person bio in your email and any relevant social media/website links. We don’t need a formal cover letter, but we would love to get to know you. If accepted, your bio can be updated at any time, just let us know.
If we have rejected a piece, only re-submit that piece if we have indicated we would be interested in seeing it again (if substantially edited). A request for a rewrite does not guarantee an acceptance unless explicitly stated.
A few other notes…
Simultaneous submissions are fine, just let us know if you need to withdraw your work from consideration as soon as possible.
Decisions will be sent out as soon as possible but if you’ve not heard back from us within 8 weeks, feel free to send a query.
We will consider previously published writing and while new work is preferred, if we love something we’ll reprint it.
As stated above, please do not send us AI-generated writing. We will not knowingly publish any work created using AI. If you suspect a piece on our site might be AI-generated, please let us know.
Submissions are free and always will be.
We’re currently not a paying market, but we hope to become one by 2026.
We receive no grants or outside funding. Fable and Fog is a volunteer-run, non-revenue generating digital magazine.
Send your submissions to
fableandfogmagazine [at] gmail [dot] com
Author Rights & Permissions
We want your story to shine its brightest. If your piece feels close to what we're looking for but not quite there yet, our editor-in-chief may offer gentle suggestions or request revisions before publication.
We ask for first electronic rights and the right to keep your work in our archives—but you always retain full copyright. We kindly request 30 days of exclusivity after publication. After that, you’re welcome to share or submit your piece elsewhere. If it finds a second home, we just ask that you credit Fable & Fog as the original publisher.
For reprints: Please ensure your work is no longer under exclusivity elsewhere before sending it our way.
We’re not currently a paying market, but our contracts include a clause for back payment. We’re actively working toward sustainability through donations, merchandise, and grants—and should we secure funding, we are committed to compensating all contributors, past and present. That said, we encourage you to prioritize submitting to paying venues first—we’ll be here when you’re ready.
In the future, we may reach out to request your permission to include your work in a print anthology or an audio feature (such as a podcast or accessibility initiative). You’ll always have the opportunity to opt out, and we’ll never use your work in these formats without your express consent.