The "Where can I send this story?" thread

J. Tanner said:

The problem arises as your writing improves and you still can't tell how close you are.

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I agree this can be a problem. I'm actually a pretty good judge of my writing most of the time, but that's because I have to be if I want clients to keep paying me. Fiction is different, very different (though we could arm wrestle about that after I've spent a day writing sales copy), but there are also some parallels that I think keep me pretty self-aware. I'm doubtless not the perfect judge, but I think because I've written for so long, I may be a little better prepared to judge my own writing than some others might be to judge their own.

Some writers, some very successful ones, say they can't judge whether something they write is good or bad. I don't doubt them, but I find that alarming and don't really understand it. Analyzing a story as if someone else wrote it isn't always easy, but I think it's great for writers to do it. How could I revise if I didn't know what was good and bad? I can see new writers being unsure, but I'm always surprised to hear pros say this, and I wonder if they're saying what I think they mean.

It's the longer road to the top rather than the shorter one. I'm just trying to help get as many writers get on the shorter road (or what I think is the shorter road) as possible.

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See, I'm just not convinced it's always going to be the shorter road, but you say that it is and that's your right, so we'll leave it at that.

I do realize that everything you've said seems to be in the spirit of being helpful, so if I seem like a smart ass, well, I may actually be one, but that hasn't been my intention here.

Shelley

BelmontHeir said:

This is exactly the thread I've been looking for! I've got a 1,500 word short story that would probably be considered "literary" but it's also "dark and edgy," with a surreal bent, i.e. a brief scene of the afterlife. Another problem: the characters are mostly teenagers but this is not YA. It's along the lines of something by Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho) or Dennis Cooper but with a more populist sense of humor.

It seems like lot of places looking for literary short fiction tend to spell out "no violence" or "no strong sexual references." I need a good home for dark, transgressive lit that still makes you (hopefully) laugh out loud. Any help is much appreciated!

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Elimae likes experimental, don't know their length limit. Pank - while I haven't read the mag - I've read stories by someone published in it, and they tend to be in the 'grotesque' vein, so they might be worth a look. Actually, the grotesque/ dark humor seems to be hot in some lit mags.

V1c said:

Elimae likes experimental, don't know their length limit. Pank - while I haven't read the mag - I've read stories by someone published in it, and they tend to be in the 'grotesque' vein, so they might be worth a look. Actually, the grotesque/ dark humor seems to be hot in some lit mags.

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Thank you. Both of those are really helpful. I sent out to Jersey Devil Press, Underground Voices, Blue Blood Books, Mary, and Dark Side Magazine.

I'm waiting to hear back from some of them before I submit to Thieves Jargon and Elimae since they don't accept simo subs.

Other places I was considering include Left Behind: A Journal of "Shock" Literature, The Medulla Review, Gertrude Press, and Keyhole. Most of these came up from searching Duotrope for venues that accept "dark" short stories.

shelleyo said:

Some writers, some very successful ones, say they can't judge whether something they write is good or bad. I don't doubt them, but I find that alarming and don't really understand it. Analyzing a story as if someone else wrote it isn't always easy, but I think it's great for writers to do it. How could I revise if I didn't know what was good and bad? I can see new writers being unsure, but I'm always surprised to hear pros say this, and I wonder if they're saying what I think they mean.

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My guess is them mean you can never tell what the external response from others will be, including editors no matter how far up the mountain you get. They're certainly making the story as good as they can make it. And pros generally have the basics covered--quality writing craft, and fundamental storytelling skill so they don't typically fail on those two counts where novices often do. But most pros still collect rejections. Still see their personal favorites not sell, or not sell to markets they think they'll sell to. And so they eventually admit to themselves they don't know which will be considered the "good" ones until others let them know.

V1c said:

Elimae likes experimental, don't know their length limit. Pank - while I haven't read the mag - I've read stories by someone published in it, and they tend to be in the 'grotesque' vein, so they might be worth a look. Actually, the grotesque/ dark humor seems to be hot in some lit mags.

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I read Pank pretty faithfully. That person's stories might have been grotesque, but Pank on the whole isn't--it's really quite a mix. A lot of experimental stuff, very much contemporary stories and sentiments, more shorter stuff than longer it seems.

Shelley

2,500 word science fiction piece with a little social commentary.
Rated R for language, violence and adult themes.

Most science fiction markets I've seen are specifically PG-13 or don't get specific about content, so I'm not sure where to send this more adult piece.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Viktor Night said:

2,500 word science fiction piece with a little social commentary.
Rated R for language, violence and adult themes.

Most science fiction markets I've seen are specifically PG-13 or don't get specific about content, so I'm not sure where to send this more adult piece.

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I don't see the taboos you note (barring explicit violence at Asimov's) at the major markets so I'd use my normal list for a SF story:

Fantasy and Science Fiction
Asimov's SF (unless the violence is explicit)
Analog SF
Clarkesworld
Strange Horizons

If you think your story is too extreme in regards to violence for Asimov's you might add this one:

Apex

shelleyo said:

I read Pank pretty faithfully. That person's stories might have been grotesque, but Pank on the whole isn't--it's really quite a mix. A lot of experimental stuff, very much contemporary stories and sentiments, more shorter stuff than longer it seems.

Shelley

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Yes. I just got my rejection from Pank today, heh. They said that stories about writers or featuring writers are "SO overdone."

BelmontHeir said:

Yes. I just got my rejection from Pank today, heh. They said that stories about writers or featuring writers are "SO overdone."

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Well, that's lovely but they said nothing about the content, just the subject matter? har, well, there are plenty of other places to look into, I like seeing what they have online (as most do) and gauging from there. Best with the next place to send it off too!

oh, story time I got an R from a place who said the peice came really close, but was an ultimate no. Only they worded it, "it came really close, but, wow" or something like that (it had very straightforward dialogue about incest) Onward and upward!

J. Tanner said:

I don't see the taboos you note (barring explicit violence at Asimov's) at the major markets...

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It was the violence that made me really unsure since most sites don't seem to list any restrictions on content. I guess I should just take that to mean they don't have any.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I received a rejection from Underground Voices today. It seems to be increasingly difficult (to me) to find a venue for "dark" stories that aren't necessarily abstract. I'm getting this sense that my work is too bleak/nihilistic for the mainstream, but too conversational in tone and broad in humor for the underground. Or maybe it's all in my head.

Romantic-comedy

Hi there,

Still trying to find my way around the board.
I am looking forward to sell my very first short-story, and I really appreciate the thread with the links to the markets, but I almost fell off my chair seeing how many there were!
In one hand, it's great that there's so many options and possibilities, on the other, by the time I get to look through all of them, I'll be 95 years old and unpublished.

So I came to this thread. Sounds just what I was looking for.
I have a romantic-comedy that I believe targets the motherhood audience. However it does have explicit sex, or rather, explicit almost-sex. (It doesn't actually happen.) I have no idea what rating it would get, but lets say R to play it safe.
Does anyone know of a women's interest/motherhood mag or venue where I could publish this despite the somewhat explicit sexual content?

Also, since I'm still a bit lost, ANY suggestions in what a newbie writer should do once the story is completed, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Sorcha

What would be a good publication for a very dark story that has no supernatural/speculative fiction elements but wouldn't really be classed as horror either? Its about a group of serial killers, but focuses much more on the characters themselves and how they became what they were than on gore or suspense (though the climax is very violent). It strikes me much more as a drama (almost edging into action at the end) than horror, but I don't think its really right for straight literary markets either.

Asha Leu said:

What would be a good publication for a very dark story that has no supernatural/speculative fiction elements but wouldn't really be classed as horror either? Its about a group of serial killers, but focuses much more on the characters themselves and how they became what they were than on gore or suspense (though the climax is very violent). It strikes me much more as a drama (almost edging into action at the end) than horror, but I don't think its really right for straight literary markets either.

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I would think that a crime/suspense/mystery market is the way to go. Maybe some of the neo-pulp mags would be open to this. Out of the Gutter springs to mind. There are bound to be others.

Thanks for the advice, found a few markets that look suitable.

You are welcome.

My puzzler is a 7,500 word piece about colonial troops in the Dutch East Indies in the 1850s battling rebellious natives and an evil wizard. It's kind of a colonial shoot-'em-up with magic. I think it might be too weird for most fantasy markets and too long for a lot of neo-pulp ones.

I think that would be appropriate for most Fantasy/SpecFic markets. Most just require a clear speculative fiction element - the likes of Clarkesworld, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Strange Horizons and Apex would be good starting points (Apex likes darker stories though, so keep that in mind).

Check the guidelines of wherever your submitting - as long as they're looking for fantasy or speculative fiction and have no rules against historical settings, you should be fine. Weird is never a bad thing; most markets want stories that are unique and original anyway.

J. Tanner said:

The problem arises as your writing improves and you still can't tell how close you are.

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There is no "close". This is a binary system: Something either is accepted or it isn't.

caw

Dave, I recently read that Weird Tales had just accepted a couple of S&S tales. I think they're under new editorial guidance, so they might be open to it. I think the upper word count is 8K, so you'd be good on that front.

Literary flash fiction (988 words).
It is set in a human made (as opposed to religious) purgatory. The story follows a conversation of a man, who died after a successful suicide, and a clone of his, who’s only concern is to find out what led the man to suicide (a dystopian sci-fi setting is therefore implied).
I’m having trouble with this one as sci-fi ‘zines are reluctant to pick this one up due to it being quite different from the material they usually publish. As of literary markets – I’ve subbed to two of them and am yet to receive a reply.
What I’m looking for is a market that pays token and up (as free markets aren’t considered good credits by most agents/editors).
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

@Deizelcore: I don't really see an issue with this premise being acceptable to sci-fi zines. I think it's less likely to sell to a non-genre though.

alexshvartsman said:

@Deizelcore: I don't really see an issue with this premise being acceptable to sci-fi zines. I think it's less likely to sell to a non-genre though.

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Yeah, that's why I targeted it to sci-fi zines from the start. Any ideas on who I could send this story to? The one's I tried responded with "it's too different from what we usually publish".

Deizelcore said:

Yeah, that's why I targeted it to sci-fi zines from the start. Any ideas on who I could send this story to? The one's I tried responded with "it's too different from what we usually publish".

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Hard to say without reading the story. Sounds fairly dark, so you might try places that accept dark flash fiction, like Apex and Shock Totem. DSF accepts a very wide range of flash, including dark, also.

Hard to say without reading the story. Sounds fairly dark, so you might try places that accept dark flash fiction, like Apex and Shock Totem. DSF accepts a very wide range of flash, including dark, also.

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Thanks a bunch, I'm horrid at narrowing down my search.

I doubt you'll have the time, but if you are willing to take a few minutes out of your schedule and give it a read, I could email you the piece if you'd send me your email in a PM.

Regardless, thanks for clarifying the type of market I should submit to.

Deizelcore said:

Yeah, that's why I targeted it to sci-fi zines from the start. Any ideas on who I could send this story to? The one's I tried responded with "it's too different from what we usually publish".

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Which one did you try? We could suggest ones that publish different stuff to that one.