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The SFFH Short Story Market (virtual) with Charlotte Ashley

SFFH (science fiction, fantasy, and horror) short story magazines have some of the best payment rates in the industry, but getting a story accepted by them can feel impossible. In this workshop, we will look at the three tiers of SFFH markets (professional, semi-pro, and token), how to submit to them, and how to get an acceptance! We will also cover submission etiquette; helpful writing communities; tracking submissions; how to sell reprints; rights and contracts; how to target the best market for your work; and tips on leveling up your stories to get over the “almost there” hump.

About the instructor: Charlotte Ashley is a writer, book historian, and the owner of Trident Booksellers & Cafe in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her short stories have been published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, PodCastle, The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, and The Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction. She has been nominated for both the Aurora and the Sunburst awards, is the former administrator of the Friends of the Merrill Short Story Prize, and is reviewer & reprints editor at Apex Magazine. In the spring of 2026, she will be Chairing the Trident Conference of Speculative Fiction, or TriCon.

Recommended experience level: Writers of all experience levels are welcome (About recommended experience levels)

Participant cap: 12

Location: Zoom

Date of 1-night workshop: Monday, Nov 17, 2025 (7:00pm to 9:00pm Atlantic)

Registration for 2025 General Members: $59

Registration for non-members: $89 (includes discounted fall 2025 General Membership in WFNS)

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Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children and young adults, and others) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the above definitions. A workshop’s participants should usually have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. 

For “intensive” and “masterclass” workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca