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.