Semi-Pro/Second Tier Markets with Some Prestige?

Aurealis are a semi pro market, 2c per word I think. But they're also the biggest SFF mag in Australia and do respectable awards every year. They've taken my first short story (Deserted Lies the City).

Shimmer is semi pro, 5c a word. But very respected. Metaphorosis is pretty good and always gives great feedback (another 2c). There's quite a few, more than I can name. Lots more.

If you use submission grinder, do a search for markets that pay 0 (0 is a token amount) and you'll get everything that pays anything. If they don't pay at all they're generally not semi pro, as a very rough rule of thumb for sff.

Have you considered Nature Futures? I only mention it cause I somehow got a silly flash SF thing accepted by them recently. It is SWFA qualifying, appears in Nature (being a scientist this amuses me because it IS prestigious, just not because of the fiction), and has a high acceptance rate on the Grinder. They only take quirky ~900-word stories to fit on one page of the issue, but if you can satisfy that you might have a shot.
ETA: Also they pay ~$130. The most I'd ever been paid for a story before was $25.

One issue with semi-pros is they come and go. Here are a few more to try:

Lackington's has themed issues, so if you hit a theme you like, it might be possible. They do tend to like the speculative fiction at the more literary end. https://lackingtons.com/

Abyss & Apex has been around for some time. They were known for being slow to respond, especially for stories that got through the first read. But I haven't checked their response stats recently. http://www.abyssapexzine.com/

Andromeda Spaceways has been around awhile. They have anon slush readers, and I had a bad experience with an unprofessional rejection due to that. But a lot of people submit there, so it's your call. http://andromedaspaceways.com/

mafiaking1936 said:

Have you considered Nature Futures? I only mention it cause I somehow got a silly flash SF thing accepted by them recently. It is SWFA qualifying, appears in Nature (being a scientist this amuses me because it IS prestigious, just not because of the fiction), and has a high acceptance rate on the Grinder. They only take quirky ~900-word stories to fit on one page of the issue, but if you can satisfy that you might have a shot.
ETA: Also they pay ~$130. The most I'd ever been paid for a story before was $25.

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Nature is a pro market. Semi-pro markets wouldn't appear on the SWFA list, because they don't pay enough.

Polenth said:

Nature is a pro market. Semi-pro markets wouldn't appear on the SWFA list, because they don't pay enough.

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Oh. All the Hugo finalists for "Best Semiprozine" are SFWA, so I just figured. Andromeda Spaceways really pissed me off when they held on to my submission for like seven months before rejecting it. Don't believe I'll be sending them anything again.

mafiaking1936 said:

Oh. All the Hugo finalists for "Best Semiprozine" are SFWA, so I just figured.

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The confusion comes from who earns the money. For the Hugo, the staff have to be earning a set amount of money. For everyone else, the writers have to be earning a set amount of money. A lot of pro markets are staffed by volunteers, so they don't count as pro when it comes to the awards. But they would be pro in any other context.

Nature Futures would be pro under both definitions. The editor is paid by Nature and writers are paid pro rates.

Coincidentally I got an acceptance from Andromeda today, for a story I shelved and gave up on ages ago.

137 days, so almost as long as Aurealis lmao.

Harlequin said:

Aurealis are a semi pro market, 2c per word I think. But they're also the biggest SFF mag in Australia and do respectable awards every year. They've taken my first short story (Deserted Lies the City).

Shimmer is semi pro, 5c a word. But very respected. Metaphorosis is pretty good and always gives great feedback (another 2c). There's quite a few, more than I can name. Lots more.

If you use submission grinder, do a search for markets that pay 0 (0 is a token amount) and you'll get everything that pays anything. If they don't pay at all they're generally not semi pro, as a very rough rule of thumb for sff.

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I've been wondering this same thing. So many great leads here. Thank you.

I highly recommend submissions grinder. It’s an invaluable publishing tool.