FIYAH is a quarterly speculative fiction magazine that features stories by and about Black people of the African Diaspora. This definition is globally inclusive (Black anywhere in the world) and also applies to mixed/biracial and Afro-appended people regardless of gender identity or orientation. It is open to unthemed submissions from Oct 1. Send your prose and poetry pieces to submissions@fiyahlitmag.com.
Fiction Guidelines
FIYAH accepts submissions of short fiction 2,000 – 7,000 words and novelettes up to 15,000 words. Its editors are looking for brave works of speculative short fiction by authors from the African continent and diaspora that reject regressive ideas of blackness, respectability politics, and stereotype. Please submit your bravest, blackest, most difficult to sell stories.
They want stories that are well written, of high quality, and generally easy to read on a screen. And they are open to receiving stories around many themes, but will immediately reject stories that feature any of the following:
- Graphic depictions of rape or sexual assault
- Needless brutalization of women and children
- Depictions of brutalization or abuse of people with disabilities
- Graphic abuse of animals
In addition:
- FIYAH only considers unpublished work, and its editors do not consider reprints (work that has been published in another magazine, blogs or social media) or fan fiction.
- It does not accept multiple submissions, so please wait until you have heard a response to a submission before submitting again.
- It does not accept simultaneous submissions.
- Please do not resubmit previously rejected stories in a new submission period. Resubmissions are by editorial solicitation only.
- The editors are only accepting submission from authors from the African diaspora and the African continent because #BlackWritersMatter. This is an intersectional definition of Blackness, and they strongly encourage submissions from women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and members from other underrepresented communities within the African diaspora.
Poetry Guidelines
What FIYAH wants in speculative poetry is verse that struggles, reveals, instructs, comforts, and fights back. Its editors are looking for weird, complex, honest and challenging work with a clear speculative element from Black authors. You can check out this post from its Poetry Editor for more on what we’d like to see in your poetry.
Submission Formatting
The team understands the use of a form may not be accessible to disabled users. If you require an alternative means of submission for your work, please contact FIYAH at team[@]fiyahlitmag.com and the team will arrange one for you.
- Click here to learn more about how to write a professional cover letter.
- Submissions should be submitted in proper short story manuscript format with your name, address, email address, and the story’s total word count on the first page. Click here for an example of a proper short story manuscript format.
- For poetry, you may submit up to four(4) separate poems, but they must all be in a single document. This is a change from its previous submission guidelines, so please make sure you’re up to date.
Payment + Rights
FIYAH’s payment schedule is as follows:
- Short stories (2,000 – 7,000 words): $150 USD
- Novelettes (<15,000 words): $300 USD
- Poetry: $50 USD
FIYAH will publish accepted stories in a quarterly ebook magazine format, as well as archiving them on its website. Thus, FIYAH will claim first world electronic rights, nonexclusive archival rights, and nonexclusive anthology rights to your story.
This means that the team is buying the rights to publish your story on FIYAH’s website and in electronic issues of the magazine. This also means that you can only publish your story as a reprint after it appears in FIYAH, and it cannot appear anywhere else online or in print prior to submission, or for 180 days after it is published. After that, it can be reprinted online, in a magazine, or in an anthology.
Response Times
Response time will vary by volume of submissions. You may query after 45 days using email submissions[at]fiyahlitmag.com. Do include the date that you submitted and the title of your story. The team encourages you to track your submission using Duotrope and The Submission Grinder.
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