Finding the Right Market

Not sure this is the best forum, so please move if necessary.

I recently wrote a short story which I am trying to sub. This is a different story for me and I'm struggling to figure out which markets to sub to.

Now, I normally use Ralan and Duotrope, but they aren't working out well for me this time.

The story has a Western bent, but has some mild speculative elements. I've received some great feedback and praise for the voice and atmosphere of the piece, but as the story is told in narrator style, it's not fitting the style of many spec magazines who want a closer POV.

So a Western flavored story with speculative elements that focuses on voice, narration, and atmosphere. Any ideas of pro markets I could send it to?

Polenth said:

What markets have you tried?

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So far, Lightspeed and Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Got a wonderful rejection from BCS - they are always great about discussing what worked and didn't work for them. I stopped there because I started to wonder if I was hitting the wrong markets with this one.

Polenth said:

From your original post, it sounds like the sort of story I'd send to speculative markets. If you'd run out of them, I could see wanting some other options... but you're not there yet. You're self-rejecting yourself from the other markets, rather than letting them decide. One market might find it distant and another will think it's just right.

If there's a mystery element, you could try Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. It doesn't have to be a murder investigation style mystery.

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Thanks. I'll keep trying, then. I just didn't know if I was submitting to the wrong market, and was wasting people's time. I'll keep trying the spec markets and see what happens.

blacbird said:

Comets and Criminals might be a good fit. They are open to a variety of unusual stuff that slithers into the cracks between the more rigidly-bounded "genre" publications.

caw

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I'll give them a look, thanks