Wallstrait: Fiction Submissions

Overview
Wallstrait is a magazine that publishes one standalone work of fiction every three weeks, positioning itself as a venue for writing that resists easy categorization. The editors explicitly state that they impose no limitations on genre, welcoming flash fiction, longer stories, hybrid forms, and experimental work that defies definition. This is not a themed issue or a contest with a singular prize; it is an ongoing editorial project with a steady, predictable rhythm. The magazine's curatorial stance is one of deliberate eclecticism—a refusal of narrow aesthetic allegiance in favor of work that keeps readers alert and unsettled. For the writer, the terms are transparent. Selected stories receive $100 via PayPal upon publication. The preferred word count is 500 to 3,000 words, with a maximum of 5,000. Microfiction under 500 words is not considered, not out of disdain but because the magazine's format—one story every three weeks—requires a certain standalone weight. Submissions are limited to one story at a time, a constraint that asks writers to choose their strongest single offering rather than a portfolio. The reading fee is $3, a modest but real barrier that signals a professional transaction rather than an open slush pile. The editorial vision is perhaps best understood through what it refuses: no genre ghettos, no house style, no preference for the merely competent. The magazine's home page reportedly offers a 'weirdly detailed' list of genres under consideration, but the point of that list is its ultimate irrelevance—the editors will consider pretty much anything that works. What they seek is fiction that justifies its own existence, whether it arrives as a traditional narrative, a hybrid text, or something that cannot be named. The rapid response time and the invitation to resubmit after a rejection suggest a genuine openness to ongoing dialogue with writers, not a one-way gatekeeping operation.