Black Market Fiction publishes serial fiction and feature articles for readers who want stories with teeth. We're looking for psychological thrillers, dystopian fiction, speculative work, and contemporary narratives featuring characters who go their own way--consequences be damned.
If your protagonist operates outside the system and fights for what matters to them—we want to see it.
Before submitting, review our full Submission Guidelines for formatting requirements, rights information, and editorial standards.
Currently Open
Fiction
September 2026: Best Served Cold Revenge—patient, calculated, and served with precision. This issue wants stories about characters who don't forgive, don't forget, and make their enemies pay. Bonus points if food, cooking, or culinary culture plays a role.
November 2026: Family Secrets & Defying Legacy The family as trap, inheritance as curse, legacy as something to escape. This issue explores characters who refuse to become what their bloodlines demand—and uncover the secrets their families buried.
December 2026: The Art of the Con Grifters, con artists, heists, and long games. Stories about characters who survive by deception, who build elaborate schemes, and who understand that the real trick is making the mark feel smart. Our December print issue demands fiction as crafty as its protagonists.
View Monthly Fiction Guidelines
Nonfiction
July 2026: Cults & True Believers Essays examining why people believe, how groups capture minds, and what cult dynamics reveal about human psychology and social structures.
July 2026: Cults & True Believers Essays examining why people believe, how groups capture minds, and what cult dynamics reveal about human psychology and social structures.
August 2026: Forbidden Relationships Essays exploring transgressive desire in fiction and culture—why forbidden love captivates us, what these narratives reveal about social boundaries, and how the "forbidden" shifts across time and place.
September 2026: Best Served Cold (Revenge + Culinary) Essays on revenge narratives in fiction and culture, the culinary world as setting for drama, or the intersection of both. We want pieces that examine why revenge stories satisfy—and what they reveal about justice, patience, and grudges.
October 2026: Bargains with the Dark (Paranormal) Essays on supernatural fiction, folk horror, and the cultural role of the uncanny. We want pieces that explore why we're drawn to stories about crossing thresholds we shouldn't cross and paying prices we can't afford.
November 2026: Family Secrets & Defying Legacy Essays on family narratives in fiction, the psychology of inheritance and legacy, and why stories about escaping one's bloodline resonate so deeply.
December 2026: Art of the Con — Print Issue Essays on deception, con artistry, heist narratives, and the cultural fascination with elegant fraud. For our December print issue, we want pieces that examine why we love watching people lie brilliantly.
View Monthly Nonfiction Guidelines
How to Submit
Email staff@blackmarketfiction.com
Fiction: Subject line "FICTION SUBMISSION – [MONTH] – [Your Title]" Features: Subject line "FEATURE SUBMISSION – [MONTH] – [Your Title]"
Response time: 2–5 weeks. If you don't hear from us within 5 weeks, feel free to submit elsewhere.
Questions?
Email staff@blackmarketfiction.com with "SUBMISSION QUESTION" in the subject line.