Beneath Ceaseless Skies first issue was released on October 9, 2008 featuring stories by Chris Willrich and David D. Levine.[2] It was the runner-up for the 2008 Million Writers Award for the Best New Online Magazine, losing to Cha: An Asian Literary Journal.[3] In 2010 Beneath Ceaseless Skies became a SFWA qualifying venue for short fiction and on February 10 they released e-book anthology, entitled The Best of Beneath Ceaseless Skies Online Magazine, Year One, which contained 14 stories which had been previously published in the magazine.[4][5] Selected stories are also published as audio fiction podcasts.[6] Many of the stories featured in Beneath Ceaseless Skies have received praise and honourable mentions from reviewers such as Rich Horton and Lois Tilton.[2] Issue 24 featured "Father's Kill" by Christopher Green which won the 2009 Aurealis Award for best fantasy short story.[7]
Beneath Ceaseless Skies was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine each year from 2013 to 2022, after which editor-in-chief Scott H. Andrews recused the magazine from further nominations in that category.[8]