I got a collection of short stories that I've been putting together. I was just wondering, does anyone know of any good websites where you can publish your short stories online for everyone to read. I did have a list of good sights to use, but (sods law) I seem to have deleted them from my bookmarks now.

Just so you know, my short stories are gonna be a mix of science-fiction/fantasy type stories, each based either on my dreams or a story that I started some time ago but never really finished.

If anyone can recommend any then that would be great.

Dwriter,
check out Duotrope. They have a very comprehensive list of markets, including details of what each one pays and approximate response times.
Alex x

Alex, Duotrope is indeed a great source for fiction markets. Ralan.com, too, for speculative fiction. But I think Daniel wants to know where there are sites he can simply post his stories.

Which raises a question for me, Daniel: why don't you first try selling your short fiction to paying markets? This will give you a quality target to aim for, so you can measure your improving skills. It will also give you genuine pleasure, hard-earned, when you make a sale. Perhaps crucially, it will also ensure that anyone who's thinking of reading one of your stories will know it's been through a quality filter, and not just posted willy-nilly.

Terry

Hi Terry

That's some good advice. Indeed I know there are some websites that do pay you whenever your stories are read. Can you recommend the best kind of areas that I can look to or any websites that might be worth a look?

What my stories are (to give you an idea of what they are) are stories all set within the same fantasy universe as the novel I have out. Obviously they are all standalone stories and you won't need to know the novel to understand the world (as long as I write them in the correct way) but I just had a lot of ideas for characters and stories that I think would translate well into short story form.

Is there a good website or anywhere else you can recommend?

<Added>

I know I said originally that the short stories would be based on my dreams, but I kinda abandoned that idea - namely because a lot of them came out a little too - er - weird. Also I wasn't able to mix a strong enough narrative, but the other idea I just mentioned sounded quite good.

Daniel,

I suspect the answer to your question might start in a different place!

The short answer to finding venues to your stories is to go to Duotrope, enter 'Fantasy', 'Short Story' and 'Pro payment', then send your stories to those magazines, one at a time. But, clearly, you need to know if your stories will stand a chance at that level. Bearing in mind that the pro-paying magazines reject literally hundreds of stories for each one they buy, this is an important consideration; otherwise, you'll just be wasting your time.

You could aim lower, of course, but then the question arises of whether or not it's worth getting published in magazines that pay little or nothing. It depends why you're writing. If you're happy just to see your name in print, and tell all your friends about your 'success', then fine. But if you want to be improving all the time, and reach professional level, it's probably better not to aim low even at the start: better, I think, to struggle against the best than be top of the league of the average.

So, the first question may actually be, how do you find out what level your writing is at then improve it? And the short answer to that, I'd say, is get involved. Join a good writing group (not one that celebrates mediocrity); one that provides regular feed-back. Go on courses/workshops, e.g. if you can attend one of the 6-week US speculative fiction workshops, that will move your writing on in a way that would normally take years. Find someone with real skill and knowledge who's willing to teach you, and pay them if that's what's required. Read books that will teach you technique. And so on.

And it goes without saying that you need to read lots of short fiction: subscribe to the best magazines and/or read their online stories and/or listen to their podcast stories. But listen as a writer, not a reader; which means splitting your mind in two: one part enjoying the story for what it is, the other part analysing how the writer did it.

Terry

Hey Terry

That's given me a lot to think about. Thanks for that information. I'll chew it over and see what I decide. Personally, I don't mind if it's paid or not (I have a novel and a job that helps me out there) so this is really kinda like an extra ciricular activity. But I will certainly bare in mind what you said and go from there.