Funicular Magazine publishes quality fiction and poetry that shocks, surprises, moves, and tickles us. Maybe all of those things in a single piece. We are a Canadian magazine and we want to publish Canadian voices, but don't be shy if you aren't Canadian. We love sharing international writers with our readers too.
General Guidelines
✅ Font: We don't care, just make sure we can read it or, y'know, we won't
✅ File Type: PDF, Word, Text file
✅ Simultaneous Submissions (please withdraw your piece if it is being published elsewhere)
✅ Multiple Submissions (see specific submission limits below)
❌ No previously published stories (in print or online). Self-published is fine.
❌ No genre fiction. There are places for genre fiction. One of those places is not here.
❌ Do not put your name anywhere in the document or filename. We read submissions blind.
What We Want
If we like your work, we will ask for online and/or serial publication rights.
Short Fiction Submissions Allowed Per Entry: 1
Julio Cortazar said that the novel wins by points, the short story by knockout. Think about that when sending us your work.
A short story can normally be read in one sitting, and if your sciatica is acting up you usually won't be sitting for very long. 3000 words max. You can go a little over the limit. Don't stress. Everything is going to be fine.
Poetry Submissions Allowed Per Entry: 3
William Carlos Williams, Ford Maddox Ford, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Henry David Thoreau, William Butler Yeats, Edward Estlin Cummings. These are the names of some poets we know with three names. If you are a poet with three names you should definitely send us some poetry. Only have one or two names? Send some anyway. Poetry will be the glue that keeps this whole magazine together.
We have no idea what we're looking for when it comes to poetry but we will know it when we see it.
Flash Fiction Submissions Allowed Per Entry: 3
What is Flash? Nobody knows for sure. Flash is brilliant. Flash is short. Flash doesn't have time to mess around. Flash can surprise. Flash can pulverize. Do whatever you want but make sure you make it count and make it short.
Short fiction under 1000 words is the general rule for flash fiction.
What You Get
We are committed to paying the writers we publish in print.
- Short story: $10/printed page (up to a maximum of $100)
- Flash: $25 per piece
- Poetry: $25 per piece
- We'll also throw in a contributor's copy so you can place it conspicuously on your coffee table to help convince your parents you are not wasting your life on this writing thing.
We do not currently pay for pieces accepted for online publication only.
This One's On Us
We get it, submission fees can stack up. We don't want to be a barrier to anyone submitting their work to us, so we make sure to leave some free spots open if you can't afford it. It's all on the honour system. We don't know if you're a rich Russian oligarch who also writes gorgeous prose because we aren't Facebook. So let's be cool about this.
Publishing Agreement
By submitting your work to Funicular, you agree to the following terms:
- You attest the work submitted is your own.
- You grant first serial publishing rights for the work to Funicular.
- You shall retain the copyright to your work upon publication.
- You will credit Funicular as the first publisher of the work in any subsequent publishing of this work either online or in print.
If your submission is selected for publication in print, Funicular will provide:
- Payment of $25 per work of flash fiction and poetry and $10 per printed page of short fiction (to a maximum of $100)
- One contributor copy of Funicular Magazine
We do not currently pay for submissions selected for online publication.
You're a Good Person
By selecting our 1-week response option, you're actually making three solid choices.
Helping Yourself
We're writers too! We know it's frustrating to wait months to hear back about your submissions. If you pay to submit your story or poem, we'll get back to you within one week. That's faster than most of your children, let's be real.
Helping Us
You hear it all the time, but it's true. It takes several bitcoins to run a literary magazine. By selecting this option, you help us pay for things like Submittable, our website, and other administrative costs. You're basically a Patron of the Arts. You can put that on your business card if you still use those.
Helping Other Writers
We want stories from everyone and everywhere, but we know submission fees can add up. If you can spare the change, please do so. Paid submissions allow us to accept submissions from writers who may not be able to afford to submit otherwise. We've been assured you can never have too many good vibes.
Publishing Agreement
By submitting your work to Funicular, you agree to the following terms:
- You attest the work submitted is your own.
- You grant first serial publishing rights for the work to Funicular.
- You shall retain the copyright to your work upon publication.
- You will credit Funicular as the first publisher of the work in any subsequent publishing of this work either online or in print.
If your submission is selected for publication in print, Funicular will provide:
- Payment of $25 per work of flash fiction and poetry and $10 per printed page of short fiction (to a maximum of $100)
- One contributor copy of Funicular Magazine
We do not currently pay for submissions selected for online publication.