Hi,

I'm fed up with only thinking I write stuff that is publishable... so I want to send a few short-stories around so that I can get proof that I am making the grade whilst I continue to finish my WIP.

Although vanity and ego are obviously factors, I am hoping to find places that actually pay money... even if it's buttons... so that I can honestly say I have been published.

So... this thread is a call for suggestions of possible homes for short-stories with a slightly intense / darkish edge. The specific piece I have in mind (at the moment) is set in a courtroom but I have been known to write slightly-absurdist or fantasy pieces too...

In other words, I am trying to compile a list of places that accept (and pay for) short-stories that your average women's magazine or easy-listening radio station would run a mile from!

Any suggestions gratefully accepted!

G

This is one database I know of, though there are others which others know of:

http://www.duotrope.com/

Paying is the tricky bit. But being paid isn't the only criterion for what counts as a publication credit. At the literary end of things there are small but respectable places which do no harm at all to your covering letter. You could look for 'calls for submission' in the back of Mslexia, for example.

Good luck

Emma

Thanks Emma, that's great!
(Although I feel somewhat over endowed and under qualified for "MsLexia" vis a vis what I keep in my trousers, I will silence my qualms for the few minutes it takes to browse the site... )

www.theshortstory.org.uk may also prove useful?..

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Litro is also worth a go.

Do be prepared to consider submitting to the US - their short story market is much more vibrant than ours! Zoetrope All-Story is a biggie, as is Glimmer Train (which accepts online submissions). And, of course, there are quite a few excellent university publications, too...

Goo dluck!

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That is to say, Good luck

Gaius, yes, I know. But the listings are gender-neutral, for the most part.

Emma

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The Short Review, of which WW's own Titania, aka Tania Hershmann, is the leading light, would also be a good place to truffle about in.

I was happy to go with goo dluck which, I understand, is delicious when spread thickly on crusty bread.



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PS: Thanks Emma, will probably snuffle for truffles rather than truffle for snuffles, however.

If you're going to write SF/Fantasy/Horror, www.ralan.com is also very good.

Terry

And don't discount submitting your work to some of the top short fiction awards. National newspapers, Bridport, Radios 4 & 3, Commonwealth BC and many others run big profile awards with very good writers coming up through them, so they are taken seriously. And if you win, many pay far more in prize money than any print publication in the UK.

Tania Hershman has just compiled a list of UK based lit mags.It's up on her blog TaniaWrites.
It's comprehensive and of the scores of mags, only five pay. I've been published in three of them and know the the "pay" is about £10 a story, so don't hold your breath. (This list doesn't include women's mags such as those Jem writes for, who do pay proper rates for work.)
USA has a much healthier set up so it's worth checking out their mags, though the best are fiercely competitive and even top Uk writers don't get a look in.

The US magazine fiction market is very competitive. Fantasy magazine, for example, says that it receives 4-500 submissions per month and takes just 4-5. And if you factor out the stories they've asked for from well known names, and submissions from well-established writers, the odds are even longer for a new writer. But there's still a lot to be said for submitting - not just to the top mags, but the semi-pros with good reputations, too. Unlike with novels, you can get a lot of different stuff out there; responses on the whole are quicker (although varied - Fantasy Mag can get back in literally minutes, while others can take several months); and on the whole you get the feeling that if you've written a great story, it will stand a fair chance, whereas with novels you're always up against a lot of ancillary factors you often don't know about.

I started sending out short fiction a couple of years or so back. So far I've sold eleven stories, some to pro mags, the rest to semi-pros. It's hard work: you have to keep a lot of stories out there, but it's fun. And you get bonuses, like the editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies asking me to read a story for their audio slot, because he wanted a British accent (not sure he had mine in mind, however).

But the biggest benefit, which I've banged on about before, is that it greatly improves your writing skills. You get the chance to try out lots of different POVs, voices, settings, etc, all of which great practice for novels.

Terry

Thanks, am I the only one getting innumerable notifications of posts to this thread only to find them deleted by the time I log on?

Clearly a magnet for self-serving commercialism that is utterly unacceptable. (Unless from an author attempting to get published! )

G