Submissions are now closed!
Chosen authors for our Sleeping Beauty issue
have been announced on our blog March 1, 2025.
Issue launch: April 15, 2025.
Next submission opportunity: May 15-31
Submission Guidelines 2025
Guidelines and instructions were updated on March 24, 2025
The Fairy Tale Magazine is an online lit magazine that publishes twice per year. We seek fairy tale stories and poems from and about a wide range of backgrounds. Our issues are released online on April 15th and November 1st.
The Fairy Tale Magazine is NOT a children's publication. We understand young children may see our publication, but it is intended for teens (age 15+) and older.
No submissions will be considered or acknowledged if received outside of the windows stated.
Submission Windows:
Prose & Poetry Contest
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Our Fairy Tale Prose & Poetry Contest (fee based) is open May 15-31 (midnight to midnight EST). No specific theme requirements but must be fairy tale related. For our contest only: you may submit multiple works; each work must be accompanied by a $5 payment via PayPal. First Place Prose $50. First Place Poetry $50. Two Honorable Mentions of $25 each are awarded in both categories: prose and poetry.
Fall/Winter Issue Theme: Trolls
Seeking stories and poems including troll aspects, tales or lore for the second issue of 2025.
Submissions will be open August 15-21 (midnight to midnight EST). (no fee)
Guidelines:
The Fairy Tale Magazine accepts only previously unpublished work. We accept unsolicited submissions. No more than one piece per submission period. Please submit only in one category. If you were published in our latest issue, please sit one submission period out before submitting again. Use the following word counts for submissions:
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Short Stories (between 900-2,000 words): Fairy tales inspired by any aspect of the above-listed themes. (1 piece per submission period)
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Poetry (500 word limit): Poetry inspired by any aspect of the above-listed themes are welcome. (1 piece per submission period)
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We are not seeking art or nonfiction. We are not hiring. No inquiries please.
How to Format and Submit Your Work
Only submissions that follow these guidelines will be accepted
Submit by email only to this address: thefairytalemagazine@gmail.com. The subject line of your email must include: your last name, title of your work, the publication month and year you are submitting for.
< For example: Last Name--Spring/Summer 2025--Title of Piece >
In the body of your email:
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Paste your work in the body of the email. No attachments! Attachments will not be opened or considered
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Include the title
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Manuscripts should be single spaced with only one space between sentences. No fancy spacing or characters
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Do not indent for new paragraphs. Just include an extra return between them
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Include word count below your poem or prose
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Include a brief third-person bio (50-word max) in the body of the email below the story or poem. Even if you have been published in The Fairy Tale Magazine before, include your third-person bio every time.
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A PayPal address must be included. Without one, work will not be considered.
Important Notes
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Only works in English, please. Strive to use American English word forms and punctuation.
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We are happy to read and publish work from any country.
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The Fairy Tale Magazine seeks stories and poems that have a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
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Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but once we have accepted a story or poem for publication, we expect authors to withdraw their submissions from other publications. Please email thefairytalemagazine@gmail.com with WITHDRAW in the subject line to let us know if your work is accepted elsewhere.
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You must be 18 years old or older to submit work to The Fairy Tale Magazine
About Theme and Content
Stories and poems must have the theme in them, though it needn’t be a huge part of the story. Keep in mind that all fairy tale related fiction and poetry needs an element of the supernatural—as well as transformation / reversal of fortune. Mashups are welcome. You can take a lot of license with the work, but there must be a clear connection to the theme. Keep in mind that all fairy tale related fiction and poetry needs an element of the supernatural—as well as transformation. The essence of classic fairy tales should be maintained in stories and poems submitted here. We tend to prefer happy endings, but that's not absolutely essential.
We are open to the stories and poems focusing on seasonal holidays, like solstice celebrations, Halloween, Hanukkah, etc.
Absolutely none of the following for any submissions: sci-fi, time-travel, futuristic, space travel, high fantasy, erotica, stage magic, dystopian, extreme horror/gore, western, lengthy grossout descriptions of bodily functions or injuries, descriptions of people’s bodies through the objectifying eyes of the protagonist, excessive world building (a.k.a., info dumps) war or battle as a major plot device, love triangles and any form of romance that is not between humans or human-like creatures like fairies.
All content must be PG. Many children find our site even though it’s not a children's publication.
To see what we publish, read stories and poems that have been published here. People who don’t bother reading our content have virtually no chance of being published.
All things being equal, authors who support The Fairy Tale Magazine will get greater consideration of their work. The Fairy Tale Magazine depends on and deeply appreciates its fans. We are a community, not just a magazine. However, quality always takes precedence over all other considerations.
Notification of Success and Payment
Please read the following completely before submitting:
You will receive a response telling you we have received your submission. You will not receive a notice of rejection. Only emails of acceptance will be sent.
Chosen authors are announced on the blog at fairytalemagazine.com. Authors whose work will be featured in the spring/summer issue will be announced on the blog on or around March 1st. The authors whose work will be featured in the fall/winter issue will be announced on the site blog on or around October 1st. If your work is not chosen and announced on the site, you are free to submit it elsewhere.
No editorial feedback of any kind will be provided. We do not justify editorial decisions. We are a tiny staff and we receive well over one thousand submissions a year.
Payment for all works is $25--US dollars only. There will be a contract for you to sign.
RIGHTS
First and all electronic and digital rights are being sought, as are rights to use the work for promoting and to benefit The Fairy Tale Magazine (FTM) in perpetuity, although you will retain the right to withdraw consent for using your work in promotional efforts after one year from publication. We are also buying the first podcast, YouTube, and all potential digital media rights to your work. Media rights are not exclusive.
Once a work is published on this website, you are free to shop it elsewhere—meaning electronic and digital and electronic rights revert to you immediately after publishing, but FTM will continue to sell or publish your work as part of the magazine’s mission, on media platforms such as YouTube and on podcasts platforms indefinitely. FTM is not published anywhere but on this site.
To see what we have published before, browse our blog publications to find current samples of the type of work we publish. Or search for Throwback Thursday in our search bar to find more examples. Older works are archived at Enchanted Conversation, which you may search for a deeper connection to the fairy tale stories and poems we publish.