Haven Spec Magazine features stories and poems for a 21st century audience. We love stories with a sense of adventure, stories that teach us, that touch us, that leave us wanting more. We will publish twelve issues in 2026, two of which (the DRY Issue and the WET Issue) are focused exclusively on the climate crisis and themes of displacement (very broadly defined).
The crisis facing our planet is immediate and all-encompassing, and it will affect people of color, people living in poverty, and the working classes most of all. The popular metaphor is going over a cliff, but we prefer the tempest, the torrent, the flood. The waters are rising, but we can save ourselves.
It's not too late.
Deadline: August 31, 2026
Fiction Guidelines
We like stories that are subtle in their telling and stick with us long after we've finished, and we're more likely to buy stories that balance a sense of wonder with a bold plot and emotional depth. For our two issues focused on the climate crisis, we're particularly interested in publishing stories from people displaced by or threatened by the climate emergency (see our themes below). For our other four issues, we're open to a wide variety of stories across the SFF and weird spectra (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, speculative horror, and beyond).
- Pay: 8¢ per word for original fiction
- Word limit: 5000 words
- Language: English
- File type: .doc, .docx, .rtf
- Rights: We buy first serial print and electronic rights for publication of the story in the English language and throughout the world. We also buy non-exclusive archival rights for our website and non-exclusive anthology rights.
We welcome writers from around the world who are writing in the English language, and we're open to translations as long as the piece hasn't appeared in English before. While we've accepted a few reprints in the past, we are currently only looking for original, previously unpublished fiction. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please no multiple submissions. We also ask that you use the Shunn manuscript format and either .rtf, .doc, or .docx file types.
We try to respond to all submissions within ten weeks, so feel free to query by replying to your confirmation email if it has been longer than that. We also fully admit that sometimes it takes much longer, so we apologize in advance. If we hold a piece, please wait until you get our final decision to submit again. And if we publish your piece, we ask that you wait six months from the date of publication before you submit again. Finally, while we do publish both flash fiction and stories close to our word limit, our sweet spot is between 1000 and 4000 words.
Poetry Guidelines
We like poems that use complex fixed verse forms (think sestina, awdl gywydd, masnavi, etc) as well as free verse. Most important to us is vivid imagery, clever lyricism, and a strong emotional core. For our two issues focused on the climate crisis, we're particularly interested in publishing poems from people displaced by or threatened by the climate emergency (see our themes below). For our other four issues, we're open to a wide variety of poems across the SFF and weird spectra (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, speculative horror, and beyond).
- Pay: $20 per original poem
- Limit: Five poems, submitted in a single submission
- Language: English
- File type: .doc, .docx, .rtf
- Rights: We buy first serial print and electronic rights for publication of the story in the English language and throughout the world. We also buy non-exclusive archival rights for our website and non-exclusive anthology rights.
We welcome writers from around the world who are writing in the English language, and we're open to translations as long as the piece hasn't appeared in English before. While we've accepted a few reprints in the past, we are currently only looking for original, previously unpublished poetry. Both simultaneous and multiple submissions are fine, but please no more than five poems at a time, all included in a single file. We also ask that you use the Shunn manuscript format and either .rtf, .doc, or .docx file types.
We try to respond to all submissions within ten weeks, so feel free to query by replying to your confirmation email if it has been longer than that. We also fully admit that sometimes it takes much longer, so we apologize in advance. If we hold a piece, please wait until you get our final decision to submit again. And if we publish your piece, we ask that you wait six months from the date of publication before you submit again. Finally, while we do publish very short poems, our sweet spot is something longer than just three or four lines.
Non-Fiction Guidelines
Non-fiction submissions are currently closed.
Submit your work here.
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