Top in Fiction was created in July 2024 out of a call from readers in search of fiction on the Substack platform and writers of fiction in search of readers for their work. Now, after nearly 3 years of proven results and a well built community on a solid foundation, Iâve decided to turn ON paid subscriptions. There are TWO added benefits being a paid subscriber gets you:
The satisfaction in knowing that your contribution directly pays writers for their exclusive work that will be featured on Top in Fiction.
Early access to featured fiction here on Top in Fiction.
$10/M â Click Here!
As a subscriber to Top in Fiction, here is what you can expect:
We ONLY feature fiction work from Substack publications.
We encourage self-promotion.
We ONLY share NEW work. Meaning the stories you read in our emails will never be more than one week old! Monthly Recaps & Quarterly Reviews are the only exceptions.
This list of recommendations are put together by the people who know what good fiction can be found here: YOU! We DO NOT use algorithms in any way shape or form to curate our lists. Nor are we influenced by audience size in our decisions.
WHAT EMAILS YOU WILL RECEIVE (AND WHEN)
WEEKLY ISSUES - Every Monday we feature ~10 stories from the following categories: Cartoon/Comic, Poetry, Micro/Flash Fiction, Short Story, Short Serial, & Serial. A majority of the selections come from our internal Submissions process.
MONTHLY RECAP - On the first Wednesday of every month we share stories that appeared in the previous 4-5 weeks and some new stories not previously featured but written within the last calendar month.
QUARTERLY REVIEWS - Every quarter a Guest Curator will select their favorite from each of the following 4 Categories (Poetry, Micro/Flash Fiction, Short Story, Serial) to write a short 2-3 sentence review.
TiF DISRUPTIONS - Every now and then there is an event that happens within the fiction community that brings writers together to write a story and release it either on the same day or in a succession of days. Some of these events might be organized by Top in Fiction but also by other groups whoâve entrusted TiF to help them get the word out. These events can happen at any time in a calendar year, hence why we like to call them a âdisruption.â
TiF NOTIFICATIONS - [For Writers] Receive a reminder email when our Submit a Story form opens on Fridays at 7am and a follow-up reminder up to 2hrs before the form closes on Sundays. This is also where any calls for submissions are happening for special TiF Disruption or annual events where writers might want to participate.
[Anything labeled For Writers is OPT-IN, meaning you must choose to receive these emails by going to Manage Subscriptions.]
WHAT WONâT INFLUENCE HOW A STORY GETS CHOSEN
Size doesnât matter here. We never look at your subscriber count (if itâs listed) or how long youâve been writing/sharing fiction.
DMing. In fact, this might be a double detractor. We encourage self-promotion within the Friday meet-up posts, but we wonât accept DMs from people asking me to include them in the next TiF issue (believe me, itâs already been happening more often than weâre willing to admit).
Restacking/Likes/Comments! We love when the issues are shared. Sharing is what helps TiF grow and growth increases the audience that the stories listed each week can reach. But itâs not a tit-for-tat situation. Just because youâre helping the community doesnât mean we owe you something in return.
AI/ChatGPT/etc. Use of AI to write fiction is not accepted. If we discover a story has been written by AI it will be removed. There is no statute of limitations on this rule.
So, whether youâre looking for a great story or perhaps youâve written one that you want more people to know about, thereâs room here for everyoneâs story!
REMINDER: We will never, ever, ever, not ever, include a non-fiction post in any of our weekly, monthly, or quarterly emails! However, we do acknowledge that many fiction writers we share may also write non-fiction within their own publications.
Youâre under no obligation to subscribe to our many recommended newsletters, we just ask that you give them a try! You never know, you may discover something/someone you never heard of before!
THE TiF LIBRARY
Looking for event more fiction? Just visit our library and youâll discover thousands of stories going all the way back to when we first started collection submissions and recommendations in the Summer of 2024! Be sure to visit our Issues page that lets you filter and search every single Weekly and Monthly issue weâve ever released. And our new Quarterly Reviews page now letâs you see our curated recommendations and reviews. Then thereâs our Submissions page which catelogs every submissions weâve ever received from writers and readers because we canât feature everyone we want a chance for everyone to be discovered by anyone who visits.
TESTIMONIALS
