Either read the below or watch the VOD or do both because there are some things mentioned in one but not the other and visa versa! It’s a lot of information so yes, it took a full hour, ya’ll!
When I realized Top in Fiction had completed a full year, 52 weeks, I knew I wanted (needed) to mark the occasion somehow. I could’ve just shared some fascinating (to me) facts and figures about how we’ve grown and what the fiction community built here has managed to do. But that seemed too boring. I’m sure I could do much more than that.
So I decided, why not share everything (and I mean everything) I’ve been planning behind the scenes since late last year and the entirety of this year. I have found that being transparent with one’s ideas, however big or small, is important.
TiF By the Numbers
I go into much more details on these numbers in the VOD.
587 different fiction writers featured.
1,227 Total # of stories featured!
Poetry 124
Micro/Flash Fiction 271
Short Story 472
Short Serial 92
Serial 251
Started Counting January 2025: Number of Recommendations
1,385 stories recommended in 26 weeks
Literary Fiction 338
Horror 221
Fantasy 220
Spec Fic 134
Sci-Fi 129
Poetry 79
Mystery 53
Romance 44
Historical Fiction 27
Comedy 23
Cli-Fi 7
Other 110
MEDALLIONS: 1,023 medallions!
144 Emails sent / 1,508 subscribers
Top In Fiction is read across 50 US states and 66 countries.
Now, let me explain my thinking and reasoning for all that I’m about to share in the hopes you’ll better understand why I’m about to do what I’m about to do.
Substack is great. Without it Top in Fiction would not exist. And while the reason for its existence is still very much needed, I feel Top in Fiction has, and should, outgrown its current home. There are more eyeballs and way more readers outside the garden wall of Substack than inside. In fact, I would argue, and you might agree, that Substack is a majority of writers all seeking the same thing; READERS. So, I propose expanding the horizons of TiF in the hopes of reaching more readers.
This process will take time and will require building a foundation and portfolio of work that is housed, created, and produced outside of Substack.
And so, today I am introducing TiF Press! The website is up and running right now: tifpress.com and you can check it out now. At present you will notice it’s missing a lot of things that other publishing sites have and that’s content. I have solutions to this problem that I’m going to share with you now.
But first, some things are transition away from Substack and moving onto TiF Press such as the TiF 100 list will now be found over on TiF Press. The FAQs, Calendar and also the Genre Resource pages. This will lighten the load of our Substack that will now just be exclusive to the weekly emails, the monthly Lives, and any important Notification emails that need to be sent.
TiF Press will be divided into three major areas:
Anthologies - taking events that happen via Substack and seeking to put those stories written into collections for sale directly on the website and other online retailers, with the royalties being split between the writers and TiF.
Genre-Specific Digital Magazines - Digital magazines that can be purchased and downloaded as PDFs that will contain stories of various lengths and form factors, that I hope will test the limits of storytelling.
Direct to Website Fiction - Fiction stories featured on Substack will be cross-posted on TiF Press. Stories featured weekly, with prior permission from the original writer to start with. Plans to expand to exclusive fiction in the future.
The way we are going to be implementing this:
Starting with the Eye See You Anthology! The winners of the contest will be contacted as well as some of those who just participated in the event to give an opportunity to be a part of this Anthology that will be available as a digital purchase directly on the website and later as a print book via online retailers.
Dead Paper is our first digital magazine featuring 100% horror fiction. An open call for submissions coming Fall 2025.
Starting in July, stories featured in our weekly and monthly issues (excluding Serials and Honorable Mentions) will be selected through a rigorous process and contacted for permission to cross-post their story directly on TiF Press.
But this is not all! Not by a long shot! Some other things at play here but with no definitive date:
Microzine Quarterly - a digital magazine dedicated to micro fiction from flash (1,000) to 6-word stories.
The Great TiF Tournament - a head-to-head battle between the best of the best fiction writers on substack to compete via a voting system on the best stories written each week with random challenges decided up on in advance. The brackets will go up and may the best fiction writer win!
TiF Subscriptions - Coming in 2026/2027 alongside the beginning of Anthologies and digital magazines. The Subscription will be done off of Substack, using a different system but will include packages of receiving the anthology, magazine, and other cool stuff.
Lastly! The TiF Summit 2026! Still being built and put together piece by piece but the tentative date for this 3-day event is January 16th - January 18th to coordinate with the release of the 2nd Annual TiF list on January 15th. More on this to come.
Phew! That was a lot to unload on you all, I know. I do want to point out that the emphasis going into 2026 is two-fold: growing readership for fiction writers and getting paid so that we can pay the writers who are entrusting us to promote their work to the world.
Moving away from Substack in this bold fashion is not going to be easy. I’m sure there will be many hiccups and bumps along the way but I have faith that this is the only and best move to make.
POETRY
**Banish…ed, I Am - 6/4/25 [Free Verse]
Hellhole - 6/22/25 [Free Verse]
*This Is A True Story - 6/16/25 [Literary Fiction]
MICRO/FLASH FICTION
Stitchboy - 6/2/25 [Horror]
*Drabbles of Body and Soul - 6/12/25 [Science Fiction]
*Vignette in F minor - 6/8/25
*Borrowed Humanity - 6/24/25 [Literary Fiction]
SHORT STORY
**The Black Dog of Grimmald Taer - 6/7/25 [Fantasy]
The Stray - 6/16/25 [Horror]
**The Bone Caster - 6/15/25 [Horror]
**God Doesn’t Attend the Auction - 6/22/25 [Literary Fiction]
*It’s Such a Beautiful Night - 6/2/25 [Literary Fiction]
*Amber Eyes - 6/20/25 [Horror]
*Dead mall euphony - 6/26/25 [Horror]
*Mycelium Eyes - 6/24/25 [Speculative Fiction]
*The House That Listens Back - 6/26/25 [Horror]
SHORT SERIAL
Brujas [Pt. 1] - 6/21/25 [Speculative Fiction]
SERIAL
*Weight of judgement [Valor in the Clouds, Chapter 1] - 6/13/25 [Science Fiction]
Looking for even more stories to read? Click below:
[DOWNLOAD YOUR MEDALLION HERE]
Want to know how to use your medallion? Click Here!
Share this post