The "Where can I send this story?" thread

Status
Not open for further replies.

Aislinn

Head down
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 19, 2013
Messages
461
Reaction score
40
Location
Sydney, Australia
Help! I have a 4250 word mystery/crime story that has so far only been to EQMM, where it got a second tier form rejection. I've revised it, strengthened it, but can't find anywhere else to send it.

The main restriction is that I can't afford postage to the US or UK, so I can only submit to markets that accept electronic submissions. Any suggestions?
 

JustSarah

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 6, 2012
Messages
1,980
Reaction score
35
Website
about.me
I'm not really sure where to send this one. After finishing it on the forth draft, I've reached about 4K. It is about four college students who leak top secret technology to experience an electronic dream-like state, where they encounter a sentient consciousness that wants to blackmail them in order to absorb their consciousness. For rating, I'm not real sure. I don't really have any cursing, but I do have suggestive (but not explicit) sexual themes.

The biggest problem is it crosses over between science fiction, contemporary fiction, and horror. Which makes it a bit difficult to place.
 

pdichellis

Murder! You want fries with that?
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Messages
553
Reaction score
63
Location
California, small beach city
Website
murderandfries.wordpress.com
Aislinn and JustSarah,

I’m wondering whether you subscribe to Duotrope, which could give you lots of options via its search function, including multi-genre info.

Submission Grinder is free, but isn’t as thorough: Not as many markets and you need to click each market’s guidelines to see its multi-genre info. Both let you screen for genre, electronic submissions, length, style, paying vs. non-paying, etc.

Best wishes,
Peter DiChellis
 

Aislinn

Head down
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 19, 2013
Messages
461
Reaction score
40
Location
Sydney, Australia
Aislinn and JustSarah,

I’m wondering whether you subscribe to Duotrope, which could give you lots of options via its search function, including multi-genre info.

Submission Grinder is free, but isn’t as thorough: Not as many markets and you need to click each market’s guidelines to see its multi-genre info. Both let you screen for genre, electronic submissions, length, style, paying vs. non-paying, etc.

Best wishes,
Peter DiChellis

Thanks, Peter, yes I've checked both Duotrope and the Grinder. I guess I'd be looking for a tip on a mainstream market or even a litmag that might publish a mystery.

Last night I thought to look in a recent 'America's Best Mystery' collection for the sources of the stories, so have collected a few more possibilities. Just not sure yet they will accept electronic submissions, or if my story will be the right fit.
 
Joined
Sep 3, 2008
Messages
85
Reaction score
3
Age
35
Location
AZ
I have a 1500 word chapter that can stand on its own for a short story.

It's about a girl, an Americanized Mexican who gets called "Coconut", but travels to Mexico and learns Spanish. It's kind of funny and dressed in magical realism.

Anyone know where it could get published?
 

EMaree

a demon for tea
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
4,655
Reaction score
839
Location
Scotland
Website
www.emmamaree.com
I'm not really sure where to send this one. After finishing it on the forth draft, I've reached about 4K. It is about four college students who leak top secret technology to experience an electronic dream-like state, where they encounter a sentient consciousness that wants to blackmail them in order to absorb their consciousness. For rating, I'm not real sure. I don't really have any cursing, but I do have suggestive (but not explicit) sexual themes.

The biggest problem is it crosses over between science fiction, contemporary fiction, and horror. Which makes it a bit difficult to place.

Could it fit any of Fox Spirit's Fox Pocket anthologies (I think Vol 5 onwards is still open for submissions)? They only pay a token advance but they're open to all genre fiction.
 

AuroClair

Aurora Clairmont
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 4, 2013
Messages
103
Reaction score
2
Location
Texas
Website
www.auroraclairmont.com
Greetings all! I have a 10k erotica without a HEA. It has series potential though, with a possible HEA if someone were interested in me fleshing it out.

I submitted to a place that seemed promising, but I wanted to see what other options may be open to me so I don't put my eggs all in one basket.
 

KAMielke

I'm clever, really.
Registered
Joined
Jan 7, 2012
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
Location
Ontario, Canada
Hiya. I have a 2600 word Christmas story with a few illustrations, and I have no idea what to do with it beyond hand it out to family and friends. An earlier draft without illustrations was published three years ago in a charity anthology. Is there any hope for the poor thing? Any agents or publishers that could make a tiny book out of it?
 

K.L Hallam

New kid, be gentle!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 14, 2011
Messages
122
Reaction score
7
Location
New York City
Website
karenleehallamwrites.blogspot.com
OK. I've got a 25K YA thriller w/ two brothers 15, and 13 lost in the woods -discovered by a bomb plotting terrorist? I wrote this two years ago. I have no idea what to do wit it. Suggestions, greatly appreciated. The search engines send me on a goose chase.
 

ssbittner

scientist, artist, writer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 27, 2014
Messages
357
Reaction score
23
Location
Arizona
Website
www.ssbittner.com
I have an urban fantasy short story. It's 3161 words. The problem is, it's a ghost story. I've been told that a lot of fantasy markets consider ghost stories to be horror automatically or don't publish them at all. It's not horror by any means. It's really about the relationship between a boy and a ghost trying to live vicariously through him. I'm not sure where to send it. I'd appreciate any suggestions.
 

Crail Speaker

Registered
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Houston, TX
I have a work of 20,000 words. Autobiographical fiction. It is hung on a notion that a brother, who died in 1969, can show up at my home. The interaction between the two characters occurs over a backdrop of one having Asberger's Syndrome and his struggle to grow and to fit into society. I have never sold a story and don't know what to do with this one.
 
Last edited:

Yorwick

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 19, 2014
Messages
81
Reaction score
7
Website
yorwickcastle.com
I'm working on a short story of around 5,000 words with strong fantasy elements. It is a feminist reinterpretation of a little-known Siberian fairytale. I am wondering if anyone knows of any markets that are specifically interested in fairytale re-imaginings, especially with unusual non-Western sources.

I actually want to do a series of stories with similar roots - would it be a better idea to pitch them to magazines individually or pitch them to a children's/YA publisher as a potential collection of stories?
 

Niccolo

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 19, 2012
Messages
513
Reaction score
49
I'm working on a short story of around 5,000 words with strong fantasy elements. It is a feminist reinterpretation of a little-known Siberian fairytale. I am wondering if anyone knows of any markets that are specifically interested in fairytale re-imaginings, especially with unusual non-Western sources.

I actually want to do a series of stories with similar roots - would it be a better idea to pitch them to magazines individually or pitch them to a children's/YA publisher as a potential collection of stories?

Definitely publish them separately. Collections are difficult to publish, especially for first-time or unknown authors. You have a better chance at it if you sell the stories individually first. They don't even have to be to the same market.

As for re-told fairy-tales, I would think that the majority of fantasy publishers would consider it.

Good luck :)
 

CathleenT

I write
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
5,097
Reaction score
1,981
Location
Northern California
So, here's my story. It's got 498 words (yes, I know it's a five hundred word story, but I was truly proud of coming in under 500; I've never managed it before). As an aside, do we include the title in that? If not, it's 496.

The story is about sexual abuse. And it has a talking cat (aargh). But the cat has to talk; it's really the linchpin of the whole story. And no other animal would be as believable in context. If I did it right, you'll wonder if the cat really talked at all, to echo the self questioning of the female protag, who is about to head into blame-the-victim hell.

Aside from the talking cat, the story has no other fantasy element.

And other than the fact that I'm proud of it and would like to publish, the main point of trying is to have something to say on the bio line when I send out queries for a novel. So I don't care if they pay me five bucks for it. Or even if I don't get paid at all, as long as it's not a publication which would do more harm than good on the bio line.

And I've basically been writing in a cave, and I read novels, so I don't know squat about the short fiction market. I used to read Asimov's and F & SF back in the eighties, and liked maybe half of the stories, but never kept the magazines longer than six months, (bookshelf space, you know, only the best can be kept).

I did an internet search and came up with Interzone, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Shimmer, and Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm basically starting from scratch here.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
 

MumblingSage

Inarticulate Herb
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2008
Messages
2,308
Reaction score
349
Location
in a certain state of mind
So, here's my story. It's got 498 words (yes, I know it's a five hundred word story, but I was truly proud of coming in under 500; I've never managed it before). As an aside, do we include the title in that? If not, it's 496.

The story is about sexual abuse. And it has a talking cat (aargh). But the cat has to talk; it's really the linchpin of the whole story. And no other animal would be as believable in context. If I did it right, you'll wonder if the cat really talked at all, to echo the self questioning of the female protag, who is about to head into blame-the-victim hell.

Aside from the talking cat, the story has no other fantasy element.

And other than the fact that I'm proud of it and would like to publish, the main point of trying is to have something to say on the bio line when I send out queries for a novel. So I don't care if they pay me five bucks for it. Or even if I don't get paid at all, as long as it's not a publication which would do more harm than good on the bio line.

And I've basically been writing in a cave, and I read novels, so I don't know squat about the short fiction market. I used to read Asimov's and F & SF back in the eighties, and liked maybe half of the stories, but never kept the magazines longer than six months, (bookshelf space, you know, only the best can be kept).

I did an internet search and came up with Interzone, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Shimmer, and Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm basically starting from scratch here.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Flash Fiction Online comes to mind--it's an SFWA pro market and accepts all genres. Technically at 498 you come in slightly *below* their minimum wordcount, but you could add a descriptive 5-word sentence and try them out!

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is a bit more Swords-and-Sorcery than what you're describing, though. You might look at literary flash fiction markets. And here's Ralan's list of flash and poetry markets: http://ralan.com/m.flash.htm
 

lise8

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
315
Reaction score
32
Location
UK, Kent
Any recommendations for a short story of 2700 words about the choices that two women make when they find themselves at an abortion clinic at the same time. It's a delicate subject, but that is treated with much respect. Any suggestions?
 
Last edited:

MumblingSage

Inarticulate Herb
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2008
Messages
2,308
Reaction score
349
Location
in a certain state of mind
Any recommendations for a short story of 2700 words about the choices that two women make when they find themselves at an abortion clinic at the same time. It's a delicate subject, but that is treated with much respect. Any suggestions?

That sounds like a topic most literary magazines would be interested in--particularly if the story is written non-didactically. To narrow it down:

Room is a Canadian literary journal focused on women writers and women's issues: http://www.roommagazine.com/submit

Other literary magazines which seem to be seeking complex (and political, even borderline controversial) treatment of subjects include
the Kenyon Review (http://www.kenyonreview.org/submission/),
Virginia Quarterly Review (http://www.vqronline.org/about-vqr/submissions)
The Boston Review (http://www.bostonreview.net/writer-guidelines-submissions)
Granta (http://www.granta.com/Submissions)

*This is all according to my best guess; I welcome correction or corroboration from others more familiar with these markets
 

lise8

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
315
Reaction score
32
Location
UK, Kent
That sounds like a topic most literary magazines would be interested in--particularly if the story is written non-didactically.


I do hope so, on both count. Thank you so much for your suggestions, I am off to check them out now!
 

BrianJamesFreeman

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 3, 2011
Messages
105
Reaction score
5
Website
www.BrianJamesFreeman.com
I kind of love this thread for some reason... I think maybe because it reminds me of the old days when I was digging through the Novel & Short Story Writer's Market books in the '90s. There was no better feeling than seeing a new market that was looking for the type of stuff I wrote...!

Brian
 

DarkSongofErrin

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
321
Reaction score
23
Location
Who knows
Ok guys, I've got one. It's about 2k words. It's fantasy, it involves witches I suppose, but not magic potions and the like, only slight fantastical elements. A little humorous, I'd maybe call it a little quirky, but has a sad ending. Has a romantic element to it. I've sent it out to two markets and one of the rejections was "It's just a little bit too fairy tale for us" or something like that, so I guess it's a little bit like a fairy tale.

Any recommendations?
 

Niccolo

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 19, 2012
Messages
513
Reaction score
49
Ok guys, I've got one. It's about 2k words. It's fantasy, it involves witches I suppose, but not magic potions and the like, only slight fantastical elements. A little humorous, I'd maybe call it a little quirky, but has a sad ending. Has a romantic element to it. I've sent it out to two markets and one of the rejections was "It's just a little bit too fairy tale for us" or something like that, so I guess it's a little bit like a fairy tale.

Any recommendations?

Have you tried Shimmer? This sounds like something that might tickle their fancy.
 

DarkSongofErrin

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
321
Reaction score
23
Location
Who knows
Have you tried Shimmer? This sounds like something that might tickle their fancy.

Great minds think alike! Haha. Shimmer was the first market I tried as I thought the same. They said "It was interesting but it simply didn't cover enough new ground for us".

The other market I tried was Sockdolager.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.