How does online compare to print publishing?

I've never discriminated between online and print for my submissions, and my acceptances have been about 50/50 so far. I don't think it makes a big difference in prestige, since there are some online magazines that have better reputations than other print ones. I'd look at pay rate, award nominations, readership, and word-of-mouth.

It is, however, nice to see your name in print. Though online has its advantages too. I'd say shoot for both.

Nicole

It's more economical for publications to run ezines these days, it has little to do with their prestige. There's no shame in being published in an ezine, and as said above, some are even more prestigious than other print magazines.

If this is your first time submitting, I'd suggest reading the markets and getting familiar with the types of stories they run before submitting your own. You'll find this is generally easier with ezines, so if you're anything like me, you'll submit to more ezines than print publications.

As far as horror is concerned, I believe Cemetery Dance is the head honcho. You can pick up a copy at B&N for a few quid.

Good luck.

In one of my genres, there's still more status in print publication than online. And there's definitely more money, if you beat out the stiff competition. Short fiction has never paid very well in that genre, except for the two biggies. When print's five-bucks-plus-two-free-copies turned into a website's 30-day ezine subscription and no money, I no longer submitted to those markets. My choice, one I can live with just fine.

Since I don't do horror, I bow to the market knowledge of those who do. Perhaps the status of e-publication in a horror zine counts as much as print in the writer's resume.

Maryn, back online when she should be writing (darn you, AW, quit being so interesting!)

It's really up to you. I will say that I'm really looking forward to my horror short story "Cancelled" appearing the next issue of Murky Depths. In my opinion, Murky Depths is one of the best looking and highest quality horror mags around. I love it when magazines put artwork with my stories, and I love good print magazines in general. I'm also looking forward to one of my stories appearing in a new print magazine called M-Brane SF. Analog, Asmiov, F&SF, and Realms of Fantasy are all outstanding print magazines that I would like to land stories in. There are more. But many e-zines are also highly respectable and some pay professional rates. Your best bet to is match your story to a specific market. I cannot stress this enough! Don't send the story where it doesn't belong, or you're simply wasting your time. Read the magazines and then decide whether a print market or e-zine is the right way to go.

Robert E. Keller
http://www.scrollsofatlantis.com

Hi, Lan Chan. I write horror too, so I thought I'd send you to a couple of places on AW here where you can find out about horror markets. Here and here. I prefer the first one to the second, but that's all just personal preference. There are some great links and information there about horror markets.

Some publications (Like Cemetery Dance) have closed fiction submissions until 2010, but the information is as current as we know it to be. I don't see much difference in online or print, but it's up to you. Hope this helps a little bit.

Oh, and welcome to AW. (I know it's a bit late, but hey)

Peace & Love
~Ellen

The thing to remember...

is that once you've sold a story online then you will have great difficulty selling it in print form.

Selling online means that you put your story where anyone anywhere in the world can see it. That really means you've virtually sold world rights.

Try print first as there are online zines happy to take a story which has sold some 1st Rights and been seen in print. Although I notice how picky the zines are getting - All rights and no pay!

It's an interesting debate. Some horror writers I know have been blogging about it and lately I've discovered a heap of high quality horror fiction in online ezines, whether it be AHWA's Midnight Echo or the blog, 52 Stitches.

Sure there is a romantic attachment to seeing work in print as more credible, more real and official but some online fiction places are now growing in reputation and often do a print version so you can keep a copy for your collection.

And online fiction gets read. It's more accessible to all corners of the globe. Let's face it, most print short fiction is hard to find. You can barely find it in news agencies (at least in Australia) or bookstores and so in order to find fiction you almost need to be in the circle of people submitting. It's not a medium known to those who solely read.