Short Story Publishing?

[breezeshadow]

Hello everyone. So I've been a writer for ages, and today, after showing one of my friends my writing and having her like it, I started to consider whether I may actually be good enough to get into publishing. There's just a few concerns about this.

First off, I don't know if I'm actually good enough. I have stuff posted on my DW (here, here, and here are the recent ones), and on my dA are edited/more complete versions of those three stories, along with other things (dA here.). But I know my friends saying I'm good enough to publish does not necessarily mean I am, and I don't want to get ahead of myself. You don't need to read every one, or any, or give any extensive critique if you don't want to; I just want to make sure I'm not jumping the gun.

Second, I am a fantasy writer. As far as I could tell, there are very few publishing venues that are interested in short stories of the fantasy variety. Does anyone here have any experience with magazines, online and off, that accept fantasy submissions? Or know of any? I could write realistic stories, but they aren't my preference.

Also any advice about this would be fantastic. I've never tried submitting anything before, so I don't really know how it goes. Thus, any comments at all would be fantastic.

Thank you! Sorry for not replying much here; don't have much time to think about DW this semester.

Comments

[holyschist]

I haven't published any fiction, but there are a fair number of publications (mostly online) that take short fantasy fiction and pay. Most of them don't pay much, but short fiction in general doesn't pay much. There's also the anthology market.

Off the top of my head, there's

Strange Horizons (http://www.strangehorizons.com)
Expanded Horizons (http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/)
Crossed Genres (http://crossedgenres.com/)
Fantasy Magazine (http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/)
Abyss & Apex (http://www.abyssapexzine.com/)
Apex Magazine (http://apex-magazine.com/)
Fantastique Unfettered (http://www.fantastique-unfettered.com/)
Lightspeed (science fiction only, http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/)
Clarkesworld (http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/)

Realms of Fantasy (print, currently not accepting submissions, http://www.rofmag.com/)
Cricket Magazine publishes short fantasy for younger readers if you do that; Cicada publishes short YA fantasy. They pay pretty well and are very competitive.

There are quite a few others! All of them have different tones/genre preferences/focus.

Tor.com publishes short fiction sometimes (http://www.tor.com/page/submissions-guidelines).

I'd suggest picking up a copy of Novel and Short Story Writer's Market (or checking one out of the library--doesn't have to be the current edition). You can also subscribe to it online. The Science Fiction Writers of America (http://www.sfwa.org/) is another good resource. This page in particular has resources you might find helpful, including some market listings. One good way to find paying SFF markets is to check the websites of your favorite SFF authors and note down magazines and anthologies they've been published in. Some anthologies are recurring; others aren't, but the publishers may be good to watch for future submissions calls.

[ex_pippin880]

Duotrope can help you find plenty of short fantasy markets!

[analect]

Yup - what they said! There are lots of good avenues for finding markets - Duotrope is definitely a very useful site, and books that give listings for authors are great, but you always want to check websites etc. for the most up-to-date submission guidelines.

The only other thing I would add to what's been said is not to be nervous. It does take some nerve to start throwing things out there but, until you do, you won't know. ;) It's only through dipping a toe into different avenues that you learn what works where and for whom, so just take a few days to do the necessary research, then grab your most polished pieces and do it!

As holyschist says, short fiction doesn't pay much (though digital publishing has gone some way to redressing that balance, as short stories can be sold singly for Kindle etc., so you're no longer restricted solely to magazines and anthologies), but it is a great way to familiarise yourself with different places and markets.

Also, thanks for the links to those stories. I shall attempt to snatch some time to have a proper read this evening.

[fannyfae]

I know of a few fantasy articles who have, with the help of a good beta reader or editor, been able to publish their own works vie ePublishing. I am sort of surprised no one else has mentioned the incredible disparity between what legacy and other publishing houses pay vs. the absolute game changer, Amazon, paying authors 70% of list price for titles priced between 2099 and 9.99. Legacy publishers, you are lucky if you 1) get published at all 2) get an advance for more then $1,500 and 3) get more than between 17.5% - 25% (if you are very lucky. And if you get all those things, you still have to pay back that advance - which in previous years was much higher, but hey, the industry is hurting. Rare is the author that will get more than that unless they have a proven track record.

I am going to suggest three blogs to be read if you are serious about being published.

http://www.thepassivevoice.com - this guy is an attorney turned full time author. I read him every morning and every day I learn something new.

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com - Dean Wesley Smith is an action / mystery writer that is able to support himself with his writng. He is fairly prolific and has a lot of good info, too.

http://www.kriswrites.com - This is Dean's wifw, Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She writse fantasy books and she is also self supporting with her own work.

The world of writing and publishing has changed and there is no reason whatsoever that writers need to subject themselves to abuse and rates of return that does not respect their craft. All you need to do is make the effort. You learn along the way and you are looking after your own best interest in a way that no publisher, editor or agent ever could.

[prisoner_24601]

The duotrope and ralan suggestions are really good ones. And since you write fantasy and are looking for markets, I thought I'd specifically mention The Writers of the Future Contest, which is a really tough market to crack, but one that's specifically tailored to new writers, has a pretty nice cash payout if you make it, plus they fly you out on their dime to a lavish award ceremony where you attend workshops given by well known pro writers. It's a pretty sweet deal for the twelve writers a year who make it.

The contest is quarterly and you can enter four times a year which is nice because it provides a deadline and even if you get rejected, you have four stories you can shop somewhere else. A lot of people submit continuously for years until they either pro out or win. Plus even though there's thousands of stories as your competition each quarter, they have an honorable mention system which lets you know how you're doing as a writer (if you get an honorable mention, you know if you're probably in the top 10%, and then on up for the other tiers), which you almost never get from other markets. If you get high enough (I think semi-finalist) you get an actual critique from the judge.