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POETRY
When Will Cascadia Speak? by Hazel of Of Potatoes and Poets [Free Verse]
Consistently, over each year, after each small tremble, a single thought lines my fears: Is it finally happening? (First Line)
MICRO/FLASH FICTION
HOMESTEAD by Aaron Martinez of Whitfield Fahrenheit [Speculative Fiction]
His calloused hands feel the texture of the soil through the spade’s wooden handle. (Any Line)
The Fox and the Spider by Iridescent Ink - Jenni Wicks of Iridescent Ink [Fantasy]
The fox glanced back to make sure the strange spider-monstrosity was still following them. (Any Line)
Chance by Elisabeth Grace Foley of The Second Sentence [Historical Fiction]
We faced each other by the railroad tracks outside town, each with a knapsack on his shoulder and each as stubborn as the other. (First Line)
SHORT STORY
A Dove Looks for Food in the World We Left Behind by J. Lashley of J.’s Substack [Speculative Fiction]
Flying fast, and flying low, a dove dressed in her brilliant white would dive and flutter, eyes touching everything they could, for any food at all. (First Line)
The Confession by Ian Patterson of They Don't All Have To Be Good [Horror]
Pain was always so important to understanding Beethoven. (Any Line)
Game Street by Anastasiia Shafran of Anastasiia Shafran Writing [Speculative Fiction]
“Two bandits and a priest walk into Game Street,” Ryot said as he pushed the metal door open and held it for his two associates. (First Line)
Curated Lives by Rini Sinha of Rini Sinha [Literary Fiction]
Usually, memories of weekend chance meetings faded by Wednesday. (Any Line)
SHORT SERIAL
Prologue [Ashes of an Empire, Prologue] by Kaze Nguyen (Fiction) of Ashes of an Empire [Fantasy]
The kingdoms of old had fallen into silence, and from their ashes he could sow the seeds of empire anew. (Any Line)
Hey ya’ll,
Today is a VERY big day. HUGE! Top in Fiction has been going strong since 2024 with weekly issues and monthly recaps all along the way. One of the things I knew Top in Fiction needed was a system and a website that was much better than a Google Form and a Notion page. One that was automated, that you could search through, and would have Live updates of submitted fiction by up-and-coming writers. Well, the wait was long but the time is now!
Allow me to introduce The (BETA) TiF Library!
The site is very much still a work in progress, but I couldn’t wait to share it with you and I think it can hold up to what it’s meant to do. Here are just some of the benefits of having the library on its own site:
All featured stories, going back to the beginning from 2024 to today are now finally searchable by Type, Genre, Year, and Issue #. Know a Substack writers name (or want to search your own name) to see if they’ve been featured? You can do that too!
Now if you want to submit a story you won’t be directed to a Google Form. It asks the same questions and works exactly the same way as the Google Form did, just way better.
The Submit a Story form will now automatically open for submissions and close every single weekend. Which means you no longer have to wait for me on those days I forget to unlock the Google Form. And a new “Eligible Story Dates” will also auto-update to the right dates without my having to do anything manually anymore!
Updated Submissions view in real time! That means the moment you submit a story you should see it in the Submissions page.
At the moment, only 2026 submissions are available to search and filter in the same way that the main Issues page can. I’m working on adding all of the submissions from 2024 and 2025.
What WON’T change is the Weekly and Monthly emails. In fact, I’m hoping that this new streamlined workflow will help me get things done faster. I understand the importance of receiving a ping that your story has been featured in a Top in Fiction Weekly Issue. And to all the readers who open the emails to easily find stories to read from the previous week. That kind of community wasn’t built overnight and the communication will never go away.
Think of The TiF Library as that fantasy place I (and perhaps you) have always dreamed of or expected and now it’s real!
But I’m just getting started. Here are just a few updated features I’m looking to add to improve The TiF Library experience:
Clickable links for the Story Writer that points to their Substack Profile.
Adding 2024 and 2025 Submissions.
If you have any concerns, comments, praise, or maybe even some feature ideas I may have missed. Please do leave them in the comments. I can’t wait to hear what you think!
IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS
TiF Summit 2027 Sign-Up (June 15th to August 15th) - Would you like to join us and read your fiction on a Substack Live? You can rewatch many of those Voices here. The link to express interest and gain access to The (new and improved) Scheduler can be found here.
Right now I’m looking to fill 75 spots (a 50% increase). Don’t miss out!
SUBSCRIBER UPDATES
Consider becoming a MONTHLY subscriber and you’ll help us reach our goal of paying for exclusive short stories right here on Top in Fiction that you can read early before it is made available to everyone else.
Paid Monthly Subscribers will get early access to the TiF Story Story of the Month, for a period of two weeks, after which time the story will then be made available to all subscribers. Writers will be paid from the monthly subscribers.
- Erica Drayton, Editor-in-Chief 😈
If you enjoyed any of these stories, please consider sharing this post everywhere:
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Hey hey, thanks for featuring my story!
The TIF Library is just fabulous. So helpful. You have put a hell of a lot of work into this, Erica! Thanks so much.