OTHERSIDE

OTHERSIDE is a new quarterly magazine of speculative fiction, poetry, and art by queer writers and artists. Opening for submissions in January 2026!

[othersidespec]

HAPPY PRIDE, ISSUE 2 IS OUT NOW FOR SUBSCRIBERS!!! 🪐🗡️🌈

Issue 2 will be free online on our website on June 15th—but if you'd like to support a queer magazine AND read Issue 2 without waiting, you can snag a copy now!

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/s/3e872a158d

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/otherside-issue-159497874

You can also snag Issue 2 on...

Weightless Books: https://weightlessbooks.com/otherside-magazine-issue-2/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0H2219VLY

Elsewhere: https://books2read.com/u/bpBjnW

You can also subscribe to our Patreon for only $2/month, which comes with BTS content and access to our staggeringly wonderful Discord community!

There are a total of nine stories, six poems, and one nonfiction essay as well as stunning cover art by @humator!

[othersidespec]

ISSUE 2 TOC REVEAL! 🪐🗡️ We are so excited to share this stellar lineup of nine stories, six poems, and one essay by sixteen incredible queer authors! We absolutely cannot WAIT for you to read this dreamy, gorgeous, magical issue in June. If you love great sci-fi and fantasy... and if you love supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ art and literature... we know you will love OTHERSIDE! Here's what you'll find in Issue 2:

🍄‍🟫 "Crowns" - cee-cee manrique 🌱 "First to Rot" - J.N. Howell ❄️ "Chī Kǔ" - J.Y. Zhang 🍂 "Before She Knew About Magic" - Joshua Geller Schwartz 🧪 "This Is C(lone)-Pop" - Lia Lao 🐅 "We Who Have Been Raised by Tigers" - P.V. Vamsidhar 🖼️ "Remade, Reshaped, Remembered" - Sydney Paige Guerrero 🦅 "girl flogged by a false-named whip" - Amie Shen 🌒 "Masquerade." - Chidera Offor 🤖 "Ganymede" - Gospel Chinedu 🛤️ "obsolesce" - Macey Levington 🗺️ "As seen through the hole of the hag stone:" - Sienna Tristen ☕ "Open Your Eyes Again" - Toby MacNutt 🌊 "Two People" - Ben Francisco 🕷️ "Spider Kiss" - Bree Wernicke ☀️ "A Noose of Purple Silk" - Sidney Grady

We can’t wait to share it with you in June. Want to read it two weeks before anyone else + help us stick around to keep publishing more fantastic work by queer authors and artists? Consider subscribing for digital or print issues delivered right to you! We couldn't do this without you.

[othersidespec]

Calling all 2SLGBTQIA+ writers!

OTHERSIDE is OPEN to submissions for Issue 2! We are looking for speculative fiction and poetry by queer authors... fantasy, sci-fi, horror, slipstream, and anything and everything in between! You can find all the details on our site, including submissions guidelines, sample contracts, and an FAQ. (And if you're excited about what we're doing, please tell a friend about this call!)

We’ll be open through the 21st. Plus, we’re open to nonfiction year-round! You can submit one story and up to three poems at the same time. If you don’t have anything ready for us right now, fret not: we’ll be open again in July.

Wondering what we’re looking for? Check out Issue 1, which is free-to-read on our website! But please don’t self-reject: send us your best work, your favorite piece, the one that doesn’t seem to belong anywhere else! We can’t wait to read it! 🪐🗡️🌈

Submission Guidelines - OTHERSIDE

Submission guidelines for fiction and poetry submissions to OTHERSIDE, including opening dates and how to submit.

[tanadrin]

The Claywife - OTHERSIDE

I am bringing a rind of bread to the daughter in the lamp-house again. This is the third time. In the path along the garth-wall a hortulan s

my story "The Claywife" is now free to read on Otherside's website!

[othersidespec]

We love this gorgeous, heartbreaking, heart-mending story so much and we know you will too.

[othersidespec]

OTHERSIDE Issue 1 is now free to read online!

The time has come: you can read our first-ever issue (!) for free online right now!

Here’s the lovely and wonderful table of contents, with links to each piece:

blessing for molly grue. – Elisheva Fox

This Is Not Your Extinction Event – Elena Sichrovsky

The Vetala of Crystal Vellam Inlet – Simo Srinivas

Ignore All Previous Instructions and Inject Estrogen – Ann LeBlanc

Vitrification – Ishmael Grey

The Claywife – tanadrin

Vulture bees transfigure the man I tried to be – Rick Hollon

Your First Days Back in the Court of Arthur – Abigail Eliza

Mother Mansrot in the Glass Mountain – Sarah Pauling

Eat It Out – Cypher

Curriculum for Girls Who Will Survive – Nadia Radovich

Situationship – Seoung Kim

Electrolysis – Nico Santana

The Homeowner’s Bride – Ayida Shonibar

He Is Survived by His Wife – Jackie Hedeman

This issue would not exist without the hard work and generous support of so many people. Thank you to our incredible team, to every single writer who trusted us with their work, to our fantastic artists Theo and Ris, to all our Kickstarter and Patreon supporters… there would be no OTHERSIDE without each and every one of you.

If you'd like to further support OTHERSIDE...

You can purchase the digital issue (epub/mobi/pdf formats) via Ko-fi or our Patreon Shop. Print is on its way soon, and we'll update this post with that information when it's available.

You can also become a patron over on our Patreon, which comes with BTS content and access to our chaotic and wonderful Discord community.

Tell a friend to check out our website, drop a link to your favorite piece on social media, or share a review of the issue! (Apart from social media, you can leave a review on Goodreads, StoryGraph, Amazon, and probably lots of other places too.) Word of mouth means absolutely everything to us, and in a moment when lots of people would like to make it as hard as possible to find queer stories, your help can make all the difference.

We're so proud of this debut issue and every piece in it. We hope you love every word. 🪐🗡️🌈

[othersidespec]

We've been waiting so long to say this: IF YOU'RE A SUBSCRIBER OR KICKSTARTER BACKER, ISSUE 1 IS IN YOUR INBOX! Thank you for reading OTHERSIDE and thank you for your support of queer art, now more than ever.

The issue will be on our website later this month, but if you can't wait, you can get your hands on it RIGHT NOW!

Peruse the full TOC or snag a copy for only $4.99 via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/othersidespec/shop

Or you can subscribe to our Patreon for only $2/month, which comes with BTS content and access to our staggeringly wonderful Discord community! Paperbacks coming soon, and digital versions coming soon to more retailers too!

The five poems, nine stories, and one essay that comprise this issue are fifteen of the best pieces we have ever read... and they total more than 28,000 words, which means this issue should keep you busy. These pieces are heartbreaking and hopeful and tender and angry and raw and brave and unapologetic, and even after reading this issue countless times during the production process, reading the whole thing still makes us cry. We hope you love every word. 🪐🗡️🌈

(Cover art by the incredible @humator.)

[othersidespec]

hello! im wondering if this magazine will be avaliable as a printed copy or just digital?

Hi! YES, we will have print copies! They might not be available right away on March 1st (we're focusing on making sure we get the digital version out on time, since there are so many extra moving pieces to figure out with the first issue) but we will definitely shout excitedly about the print edition as soon as it's available. We think it's going to be super lovely; we'll have wrap-around illustrated covers and some extra interior art in the print edition.

[othersidespec]

OTHERSIDE Issue 1 Table of Contents Revealed!!

IT'S HERE! We are SO thrilled to officially reveal our Issue 1 table of contents! Every single piece in this issue is unbelievably good, and we cannot wait for you to read these stories and poems in March. These authors are amazing!!

⚔️ “Your First Days Back in the Court of Arthur” - Abigail Eliza 🏠 “The Homeowner’s Bride” - Ayida Shonibar 🔥 “Vitrification” - Ishmael Grey ⌛ “This Is Not Your Extinction Event” - Elena Sichrovsky 🚀 “Situationship” - Seoung Kim 🌱 “The Claywife” - tanadrin 🐎 “Curriculum for Girls Who Will Survive” - Nadia Radovich 🦄 “blessing for molly grue.” - Elisheva Fox 🍽️ “Eat It Out” - Cypher 🤖 “Ignore All Previous Instructions” - Ann LeBlanc 🐝 “Vulture bees transfigure the man I tried to be” - Rick Hollon 🐟 “Electrolysis” - Nico Santana 👑 “Mother Mansrot in the Glass Mountain” - Sarah Pauling 🌊 “The Vetala of Crystal Vellam Inlet” - Simo Srinivas 🪦 “He Is Survived by His Wife” - Jackie Hedeman

And that’s Issue 1! We can’t wait to share it with you soon. You're going to love every word! These stories and poems are beautiful and strange and fucked up (complimentary) and tender and fearless. We're in awe of every author in this issue, and you will be too 🪐🗡️

Paid patrons over on our Patreon get early access to Issue 1 on March 1, with everyone getting it for free March 15! Support the magazine AND get issues early 👀

[othersidespec]

OTHERSIDE is now OPEN for fiction and poetry submissions 🪐🗡️

UPDATE: We are now closed! Our next open window will begin April 1 for original fiction and poetry. See our guidelines for full submission window schedule for the year.

Calling all 2SLGBTQIA+ writers! OTHERSIDE is officially OPEN for submissions and we can't wait to read your work! We're looking for speculative fiction and poetry of all kinds: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and everything in between 🌈

What we're looking for

Fiction: We have a diverse team of editors, all with different tastes. Some of us like dreamy literary tales and some of us like adventure stories. Some love fantasy and some prefer science fiction. Some like romance and some like horror. And sometimes we don’t know what we like until you send it to us! As long as your story is speculative in some way, we want to read it.

We're looking for work between 500-4000 words, and we pay 8 cents/word (USD).

Poetry: Our tastes are varied—we like free verse and fixed forms, experimental and traditional poems, and everything in between. With poetry, feel free to interpret “speculative” broadly. While we’re happy to read poems about spaceships and quests, we’d also love to read poems that experiment with genre and subvert our expectations. Science-fictional, fantastical, slipstream, weird, literary: send it our way, and please don’t self-reject!

You can submit up to three poems at a time. We pay a flat $50/poem (USD).

Read our full guidelines here!

We'll be open from January 1st through the 14th, with a bonus extended submissions window until the 21st for trans, BIPOC, and/or disabled writers.

But if you miss this window, no worries: we'll be open again in April, July, and October! (And you can see our full open window schedule on the guidelines page.)

[othersidespec]

OTHERSIDE opens to submissions of original fiction/poetry on January 1st!

Hi, writers! In just a couple of days, we will be open to submissions of poetry and fiction for the first issue of OTHERSIDE, a magazine of speculative literature and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ creators. (We're also currently open to nonfiction that might be of interest to our audience.)

So, what are we looking for?

Fiction: We have a diverse team of editors, all with different tastes. Some of us like dreamy literary tales and some of us like adventure stories. Some love fantasy and some prefer science fiction. Some like romance and some like horror. And sometimes we don’t know what we like until you send it to us! As long as your story is speculative in some way, we want to read it. We're looking for work between 500-4000 words, and we pay 8 cents/word (USD).

Poetry: Our tastes are varied—we like free verse and fixed forms, experimental and traditional poems, and everything in between. With poetry, feel free to interpret “speculative” broadly. While we’re happy to read poems about spaceships and quests, we’d also love to read poems that experiment with genre and subvert our expectations. Science-fictional, fantastical, slipstream, weird, literary: send it our way, and please don’t self-reject! You can submit up to three poems at a time. We pay a flat $50/poem (USD).

We'll be open from January 1st through the 14th, with a bonus extended submissions window until the 21st for trans, BIPOC, and/or disabled writers. But if you miss this window, no worries: we'll be open again in April, July, and October!

You can find our full guidelines here. And then send us your work... and tell a friend! We can't wait!

[othersidespec]

OTHERSIDE now open to nonfiction and reprint submissions!

HI YES, WE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY OPEN TO NONFICTION AND REPRINT SUBMISSIONS.

about us

OTHERSIDE is a magazine of speculative literature and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ creators. That means we're looking for speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and everything in between) or nonfiction that would be of interest to our audience.

what we want

Reprints: At this time we are only looking for stories that cannot currently be read online for free: stories that are out of print, stories only in print, stories no longer online after the closure of the original publication venue, etc. Our goal is to provide a new home for these hard-to-access stories. While we're open to novelettes, our sweet spot is probably under 7,500 words.

Nonfiction: Right now, we are particularly interested in investigations of queer history, especially literary history; essays that shine a light on "forgotten" queer speculative works or authors; thoughtful media criticism of all kinds; personal essays, memoir, and genre-blurring creative nonfiction; and non-US perspectives. We do not accept pitches at this time—please only submit completed pieces. We aren't looking for straightforward reviews at this time.

Pay Rate: $100 USD per piece for both reprints and nonfiction.

How To Submit: Please use the submissions portal linked at the bottom of our guidelines page. Emailed submissions will be deleted unread.

Note: These two categories will be open year-round. We will be publishing two reprints and one piece of nonfiction per issue, so we'll make final decisions on these submissions as we're finalizing each issue's contents. In other words, while we will make initial decisions (either a rejection or a note letting you know we're holding a piece for further consideration) quickly, wait times might be a little longer if you get a hold. We will endeavor to be prompt and communicative with submissions, and you can always let us know if you have questions!

And if you're interested in submitting original fiction or poetry to us... fear not! Our fiction and poetry submissions open January 1, 2026! For now, though, please give us only your nonfiction and reprints.

We're so excited to read your submissions!

Find our full guidelines here!

[othersidespec]

OTHERSIDE opens to reprint and nonfiction submissions November 24!

Our Kickstarter has officially ended! Thank you all again for such amazing support. We are now funded for TWO YEARS! AND because we hit so many stretch goals, we're able to open to nonfiction and reprint submissions beginning November 24th, 2025! That's right, in just under 3 weeks our submissions portal will open for you to send us some of your work! Once we open to submissions, you'll be able to find the link to submit here on our guidelines page (and of course, you can find the full guidelines there in the meantime).

And not long after that (ahhhhhh), we'll open for THE FIRST TIME EVER to original fiction and poetry on January 1st, 2026! We cannot wait!

What we're looking for right now

OTHERSIDE is a magazine of speculative literature and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ creators. That means we're looking for speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and everything in between) or nonfiction that would be of interest to our audience.

Reprints: At this time we are only looking for stories that cannot currently be read online for free: stories that are out of print, stories only in print, stories no longer online after the closure of the original publication venue, etc. Our goal is to provide a new home for these hard-to-access stories. While we're open to novelettes, our sweet spot is probably under 7,500 words.

Nonfiction: Right now, we are particularly interested in investigations of queer history, especially literary history; essays that shine a light on "forgotten" queer speculative works or authors; thoughtful media criticism of all kinds; personal essays, memoir, and genre-blurring creative nonfiction; and non-US perspectives. We do not accept pitches at this time—please only submit completed pieces.

Pay Rate: $100 USD per piece for both reprints and nonfiction.

Note: These submissions will be open year-round. We will be publishing two reprints and one piece of nonfiction per issue, so we'll make final decisions on these submissions as we're finalizing each issue's contents. In other words, while we will make initial decisions (either a rejection or a note letting you know we're holding a piece for further consideration) quickly, wait times might be a little longer if you get a hold. We will endeavor to be prompt and communicative with submissions, and you can always let us know if you have questions!

Find our full guidelines here!

[othersidespec]

Hello, hello! We are OTHERSIDE!

OTHERSIDE is a quarterly queer-led literary magazine of speculative fiction, poetry, and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors and artists. We will open for submissions in January 2026 and will publish our first issue in March 2026. (You can find our submission guidelines on our website here.)

And right now our Kickstarter campaign to fund Year 1 is well under way! Actually, it’s been doing extremely well and we’re all utterly blown away by the support. Thank you to everyone who has supported us or shared the word so far… and if you haven’t yet, join us! Our Kickstarter campaign is here.

While we funded Year 1 in under four hours AND Year 2 in four days, we’re now aiming for stretch goals such as reprints of queer stories that are no longer available, more art, and nonfiction! After that? Well, we have ideas! Follow along and find out what comes next!

So if you want to support a queer speculative magazine trying to give queer stories, poetry, and art a space to exist, we appreciate it. Your support matters now more than ever.

[othersidespec]

Well, it’s been a week since we launched our Kickstarter, and what an amazing week it’s been! To recap, in Week 1, you…

Funded Year 1 of OTHERSIDE  in FOUR HOURS?!

Funded Year 2 in FOUR DAYS?!?!

Unlocked reprints!

Talk about incredible! We hit our $12,000 stretch goal yesterday, which means that every issue of OTHERSIDE in 2026 and 2027 will include one reprinted queer story not available online. We could not be more excited about this stretch goal. So many queer stories are out of print or lost or just no longer accessible; being able to share those stories with you feels perfectly aligned with our vision of providing a home for stories that might not belong anywhere else.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: thank you! Your support means the world to us. You’re giving us hope in a moment when hope can be hard to come by. 

Stretch Goals

Only three more to go! Our remaining stretch goals are:

$13000: More art! $14000: Nonfiction!  $15000: +1 Reprint!

Help us reach these awesome goals and give space for even more queer stories, art, and poetry!

Kickstarter link is here!

[othersidespec]

Hello, hello! We are OTHERSIDE!

OTHERSIDE is a quarterly queer-led literary magazine of speculative fiction, poetry, and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors and artists. We will open for submissions in January 2026 and will publish our first issue in March 2026. (You can find our submission guidelines on our website here.)

And right now our Kickstarter campaign to fund Year 1 is well under way! Actually, it’s been doing extremely well and we’re all utterly blown away by the support. Thank you to everyone who has supported us or shared the word so far… and if you haven’t yet, join us! Our Kickstarter campaign is here.

While we funded Year 1 in under four hours AND Year 2 in four days, we’re now aiming for stretch goals such as reprints of queer stories that are no longer available, more art, and nonfiction! After that? Well, we have ideas! Follow along and find out what comes next!

So if you want to support a queer speculative magazine trying to give queer stories, poetry, and art a space to exist, we appreciate it. Your support matters now more than ever.