1. wonderland

    wonderland New Member

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    Short Story Avenues for short stories - with a view to getting published

    Discussion in 'Genre Discussions' started by wonderland, Jul 11, 2013.

    I'd like to cut my teeth on short genre fiction at some point (horror, YA).

    It would be nice to find places that publish such things but I haven't got a clue where to start looking. Magazines, but which ones?

    I'm based in the UK so they'd have to be UK mags or international ones (although that'll make in harder to get published).

    Not even sure if there are places online that publish but I'd want to find someone respectable to aim for rather than just any old web site.

    But I have no clue where to begin. Any help or suggestions would be grand.
     
  2. NigeTheHat

    NigeTheHat Contributor Contributor

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    TTA Press do a dark/horror magazine called Black Static. It's been a few issues since I've read it, but I remember it always having good stuff in.
     
  3. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    Perhaps look for writing competitions that offer publication as the prize - plenty offer to print the winning story as part of their anthology or something like that.

    Here's the link from Predators & Editors - a site that lists all the contests, agents etc and tells you if they're trustworthy.
    http://pred-ed.com/pubctst.htm
     
  4. wonderland

    wonderland New Member

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    Thanks a bunch for the suggestions folks, much appreciated.

    Any more ideas welcomed :)
     
  5. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Duotrope.com lists thousands of markets. It costs about $5 per month, but it's probably worth it.
     
  6. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    Or if you're looking for a free alternative, check out the Poets & Writers database.
     
  7. wonderland

    wonderland New Member

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    That Poets & Writers site is pretty good! Weird that they don't have a horror sub-section to search though but they have 'erotica'. I just word searched horror instead.

    Thanks :)
     
  8. AshleyFinn

    AshleyFinn New Member

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    This site looks ghetto. Is this from 1996?
     
    1 person likes this.
  9. Terok

    Terok New Member

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    The source code says its made with HTML 3.2 so it was made sometime after January 1997, 3.2 was replaced by html 4.0 in December the same year. Probably because it was so bad that you could only make website that looked like that one.
     
  10. u.v.ray

    u.v.ray New Member

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    There are hundreds in the UK alone. Especially webzines. I am a little perplexed as to why you're having trouble finding them. You don't need to pay for a listing. Just use google. Then visit the websites and choose those you feel publish the kind of work you write.
     
  11. wonderland

    wonderland New Member

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    Well, it's just that I'm totally new and wanted some recommended publications and sites. Don't even know where to begin finding uk short story magazines of the horror/ya type. And like I say, there are probably some easy avenues like mediocre web sites but I want to aim for something that's established and has some degree of respect - anyone can put up a web site.
     
  12. TWErvin2

    TWErvin2 Contributor Contributor

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    A place to find various markets (novel, short story--ezine/magazine/anthology) is Ralan's Webstravaganza. The focus there is on fantasy/sf/horror.
     
  13. wonderland

    wonderland New Member

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    Thanks. That looks worth a trawl through. Even lists pay rate for some places. Although another ghastly site design! (sorry, I'm a designer myself).
     
  14. u.v.ray

    u.v.ray New Member

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    >> And like I say, there are probably some easy avenues like mediocre web sites <<


    You have to start somewhere. Right at the top, or most likely anywhere near it, is rarely it for new writers.

    Whilst it's extremely rare for new writers to jump straight into the paid ranks one can take a look at the magazines and make a judgement call. Whilst I agree poor website design is off-putting and turns me away from submitting, there are a number of quality online platforms.

    3:AM Magazine, for instance (although they don't publish genre fiction) do not pay for contributions but has garnered huge respect in the literary world, atracting major attention from the high-brow newspapers, and has featured fiction and poetry by some world known writers and artists, including Henry Rollins, Patti Smith, Thurston Moore and... me. And countless others over the last ten years. They also have a print arm. Many of the better webzines do.

    I used to be quite snobby about webzines. But not anymore. Artistically I still prefer print and I'm glad my books are primarily in print. But some of these web based magazines attract far greater audiences and are utterly invaluable to new writers looking to gain a readership.

    As you say, it's easy to spot the poor ones based on their design alone. Just take a look around and use your judgement, look at their masthead, mission statements, the credentials of the editor.
     
  15. wonderland

    wonderland New Member

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    Yeah, those are some good points, ray. I am perhaps underestimating the validity of online platforms. Possibly because it costs pretty much nothing to publish online so I figured that if someone were picking out your work and going to the trouble of printing it, that would be validating.

    I also find it hard to imagine serious readers reading form a web page. Unless they tend to have downloadable PFS or epubs of their regular releases/features? It's all new to me.
     
  16. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    TOR.com is an online short story market. They pay something like 25 cents per word, which is really nice. They take horror.
     
  17. AshleyFinn

    AshleyFinn New Member

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    Nerd alert!

    Just kidding. I actually enjoy web development and learning new languages :)
     
  18. u.v.ray

    u.v.ray New Member

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    Beat To A Pulp is a good one. They published something of mine quite some time ago... they publish hard-boiled genre pulp fiction and horror. It's a U.S magazine based in NY.

    http://www.beattoapulp.com/


    They attract a wide readership and put out a yearly print edition. If you get a story on their site it won't do your reputation any harm.
     

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