Mythaxis Magazine is currently closed to submissions. But that is soon to change!
We will reopen for submissions on 23rd October, 2026, with a particular interest in crime fiction and crime/spec-fic mashups for our end-of-year issue. We recommend following us on The Submissions Grinder, Duotrope, or Bluesky for notification of when we reopen.
REQUIREMENTS
When open, we seek the following:
- Flash fiction: 500–2,000 words (we do not receive enough flash submissions! Please send more!)
- Short fiction: 2,000–5,000 words (the sweet spot is 2k–4k)
Our overall upper and lower word counts are firm limits. Shorter or longer works are considered, but the further a story goes outside these bounds the more it will need to impress.
Compensation: $0.01 per word, with a $20 minimum / $50 maximum. Please be aware before submitting that payment is via PayPal only.
We seek speculative fiction (sf/f/h/weird/slipstream/…), crime (also including police procedural/detective/mystery/cosy/…), and mashups of the same. All genres are equally welcome in each submission window, but we are particularly interested in crime or crime-adjacent fiction!
We acquire First Print, Digital, and Audio rights with a six month period of exclusivity from the date of publication. We also ask permission to potentially include accepted pieces in future anthologies; in event of agreement, an additional compensation will be offered. All other rights remain entirely with the author. See here for an overview of our editorial process.
We do not accept multiple submissions. Please wait until your first submission to us has been rejected before submitting another work here.
Simultaneous submissions are not only accepted, they are encouraged. We do not require advance notification, we merely ask that you inform us of acceptance at another market as soon as possible. In the event that we accept first, we expect a positive and timely confirmation. Therefore, we recommend sim-subbing to markets of equivalent status – we won’t wait for someone else you’d like better to turn you down.
If a story has previously been rejected by Mythaxis, please do not resubmit or inquire regarding doing so, unless explicitly invited to by the editor during the original rejection.
Reprints: We do not invite reprint submissions.
All submissions must be the original work of the author. This is not a market for fan fiction. If your story is a retelling, pastiche, or homage to an existing work, please mention the source you are alluding to in the submission document.
Content note: We anticipate an adult readership in the sense of maturity, so reasonable depictions of violence, sexuality, philosophy, or bad language are acceptable. However, this is not a market for pornographic or offensively extreme content, categorisation of which is at the editor’s discretion. For additional notes regarding what we are and are not looking for in submissions, see here.
We welcome writers of any and all backgrounds and invite submissions exploring diverse perspectives and experiences, both cultural and personal, provided they do not seek to attack or demean those of others.
A NOTE ON ‘ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’
We do not invite submissions featuring prose created by generative “artificial intelligence”, algorithmic systems, large language models, or similar tools. We recognise the importance of authorial ownership when it comes to an individual’s rights. The questionable provenance of AI-derived content, and the uncertain legality of claiming “authorship” of the output of AI tools, means that knowingly signing a contract of sale for an AI-generated submission would be inappropriate. We hope that submitting authors will respect our position.
NOTE: In the early days of the AI boom, Mythaxis experimented with generative image tools. For a period, we also used data analytics to investigate the nature of the stories submitted to us. We documented these experiences in a number of editorials (see issue 28 for art, issues 31, 32, and 33 for data analysis, plus our final round up in issue 34). All data analysed was fully anonymised and never employed tools capable of producing derivative creative works.
Have a question?
Any queries can be addressed to the editor at MythaxisMagazine@gmail.com.