TiF - Where Fiction Lives!
A "Start Here" Guide
Upd. 8/15/25
Hello Readers and Writers of Fiction!
You are here because, like me, you are looking for one of two things:
A place to find great fiction stories to read.
A place to share the fiction you’ve written/read with others.
In truth, those two statements encapsulate what Top in Fiction is all about!
We deal in 100% fiction and we keep it VERY simple!
As much as we love fiction writers and want to highlight them in more ways than just our curated weekly lists, we bow down to the other places you can go to get deeper insights into the large fiction community of writers (more on where those places are later).
Here at Top in Fiction you can expect the following:
A weekly post where we ask you, our subscribers, for recommendations on who should be featured. [FRIDAYS at 7am EST]
A weekly list (in category order) of fiction stories written from the previous week. [MONDAYS by 2pm EST]
A monthly recap that features stories already seen and new stories not featured before that are worth exploring from the previous month. [FIRST WEDNESDAYS]
The occasional TiF Disruptions to highlight any fiction collaboration or special event that will always revolve around bringing you even more fiction to read. [RANDOM]
That’s it! We guarantee it! But that’s not all! What compelled me to create Top in Fiction was a clear outcry from the fiction community looking for ways to reach more readers and grow their audience. This was a question that I felt Top in Fiction could solve but only with your help!
I’m from the school of thought that “if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself” and thus, Top in Fiction was born! But without you there would be no need for it. So, if you want to continue to receive amazing stories to read and writers to discover every week then we ask two things of you:
Subscribe if you haven’t already!
Share our publication whenever and wherever you can to help us grow. The more readers of fiction we have to tell us about great fiction they’ve read, the better!
THE SECTIONS DEFINED
We try to keep things as simple and helpful and informative as possible at Top in Fiction. And one thing you can rely upon is, if it’s not fiction then you won’t find it here. But, we also need to be as organized as possible as well. Here is an easy navigation guide for our Menu Bar:
📆 Weekly Issues - The Archive of every past week’s issues.
🗓️ Monthly Recap - The Archive of every past month’s issues.
💡 FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to all things Top in Fiction related.
🟢/🔴 Submissions - A dedicated page for all the submissions we currently have open. [ex. Our weekly Recommendations that opens every Friday at 7am EST]
📰 TiF Press - Finally, the time has come for Top in Fiction writers to take the next step in their writing career (if they want to) and as always, Top in Fiction is here to help. This is a place built outside the garden walls of Substack. It’s own website to feature fiction stories, the new TiF 100 List, articles helpful to readers and writers, a calendar of events, and so much more! Oh, and did I mention we’ll be publishing Anthologies as well as digital magazines? Come check us out and tell your friends!
💣 TiF Disruptions - You never know when a special event around the Substack fiction community is about to happen. And when it does, occasionally, the event coordinators will use Top in Fiction as another means of promoting their event that’s just happened. These only happen with permission from event coordinators and sometimes will involve a Live discussion about the event. It will always include an index of the amazing stories that came about because of the event.
About - All you need to know about our origin story.
OTHER FICTION COMMUNITIES
LUNAR AWARDS - Winston Malone
Recognizing and sharing the best fantasy and science fiction on Substack. Periodically posting essays, interviews and reviews.
STORYLETTER XPRESS PUBLISHING - Winston Malone
A place where readers, writers, artists, and creators can coexist. It’s a community-driven initiative that breaks away from traditional publishing norms to return attention to writers and their stories.
THE LIBRARY - Winston Malone
A free resource for finding original literature.
Fictionistas - Meg Oolders & J.E. Petersen
Fictionistas is a space for fiction writers to get to know each other. A place we can announce virtual meetups and discuss tips and tricks that worked for us. As we grow, we welcome ideas from all fiction writers on Substack on how we can best serve each other as a community.
Macabre Monday - Jeff Kinnard | The Chronicler | Shaina Read | John Coon | Jon T
Each and every Monday of the month you will be showered with the best horror/dark fiction content Substack has to offer from all kinds of terribly talented writers.
TaleStack News [Fiction Bulletin] - S.E. Reid
All the freshest happenings from around Substack's Fiction Neighborhood: announcements, contests, publishing updates, and more! *FIRST and THIRD Mondays* Send suggestions and announcements to: talestack.editor@gmail.com
SUM FLUX - Sandolore Sykes
Sum Flux is an experiment in collective creativity—a zine born from the convergence of diverse voices around shared prompts. Each theme is designed to evoke, provoke, and inspire, inviting writers to interpret it in their own distinct ways.
Thank you for making Top in Fiction such an amazing place of discovery and building up a community that is ALL ABOUT FICTION!
Any donations made will go towards the “tif fund” and other costs.
Thanks for giving Fictionistas a shout, Erica!! 💜