Online Magazines

Many E-zones are genre specific. Sort out which genre yours fall into then Google the appropriate key words. READ a few to see if they represent the quality of writing you expect/want. Then read the guidelines.
BTW my comments in no way are comprehensive. This is how I would go about the first steps in looking for an E-ZINE
C

Ugawa said:

I was just thinking. Having short stories published in an online Magazine is a good way of gaining credentials. I have loads of short stories I could try to submit, the only problem is, I have no idea where to find these different online magazines to submit them to.

Does anyone know any? Or know a good source of information to find them.

Thank you

X

Click to expand...

duotrope.com and newpages.com both have a lot of information about online publications.

Good luck!

Ralans is another source.

There are resources in short story forum (and in flash fiction forum for those under 1K). I"m going to port this to short stories. Hang onto your hats...

I like to read Quantum Muse http://www.quantummuse.com/

I tried, I really tried, to bring out a quality ezine.

Unfortunately, I failed. That's the lesson a lot of people learn (and I have 15 years experience in online publishing).

The main problem you're going to see in the online 'zines is lack of quality control (a problem I had after I'd agreed to pick up a story then requested changes after I'd already contractually agreed to publish the thing and after which the author dropped completely out of sight), lack of decent response time (one of my other problems), and lak of submissions of material good enough for you to actually consider publishing (another of my problems - after about 3 months the submissions completely dried up - I haven't had a story submitted for consideration in about 9 months now).

My 'zine is currently suspended from publication due to the lack of submissions (and I was going to start paying folks - maybe I got some bad press somewhere, but I never heard of it or saw it).

Be very, very careful who you deal with online. If they don;t ask you to sign an SFWA-approved contract, run. Run very fast. That contract protects you and the publisher and makes their legitimacy much higher.

Ralan's and Duotrope are excellent places to look for story markets (and even for book markets). I advertised at Ralan's myself and Ralan has a great rep.

What genre are your short stories?
I second the recommendation of Ralan.com as a market listing for sf/f/h

It is certainly true that there are e-zines which would be great credentials if you sold short fiction to them, but the competition for somewhere like Strange Horizons or Fantasy Magazine is intense.

litmags.org has a good listing. I like the layout and organization of the site--very easy to use.

FOTSGreg said:

Be very, very careful who you deal with online. If they don;t ask you to sign an SFWA-approved contract, run. Run very fast. That contract protects you and the publisher and makes their legitimacy much higher.

Click to expand...

Just a question on why you say this? In your own bio you say:

//I've had 3 stories accepted by Bewildering Stories //

I know for a fact bewildering stories does not make you sign a contract. I think sometimes we preach a little more then we follow.

My suggestion is to use duotrope and ralan. There are tons of great quality zines out there - many who pay and they can also lead to other things like pushcart nominations or micro awards. Stuff like that helps get your name out a little

Ezine publication can be a great way to get your name out there. And depending on where you are accepted, it might make you a little money. Some great sites for finding places have been listed. I use duotropes most often, but honestly, I started by finding a few, narrowing it down to the ones that seemed most like my writing (which is a rather specific sub-genre) and then kind of followed links from authors and zines to other places, building up my roster of places that accept me. Authors who write similar stuff have links on their sites to other places they appeared.

I haven't gotten the novel published yet, in spite of my stack of published shorts, but I have developed something of a following. I haven't gotten rich off it, but that's because most of my work has come out in little ezines that don't make any money, let alone pay it. I'm okay with that. I never do get into the "Big" markets... either I don't write good enough or they don't like my style. I like to comfort myself by thinking it's the latter.

Best of luck, Ugawa!

caseyquinn, Guilty as charged, I guess. However, I researched BWS and Don & Jerry quite a bit before I submitted anything to them. I discovered that BWS is very highly regarded even among the Big 5. They don't ask for a contract, but they do give specifics as to the terms of publication with them very plainly on their website.

Over the last couple of years I've grown to trust Don & Jerry and have a very high degree of respect for them and what they do.

waylander, the premise for my 'zine was military science fiction and only military science fiction. I thought it was a good premise since there are no dedicated military SF 'zines out there, but I think most military SF writers are trying to get published over at Baen's.

I suppose I'd encourage people to submit from the top down. Start at the pro level, then semi-pro, then perhaps consider placing a story in an ezine. Of course, you want to submit stories which are appropriate for the particular zine/magazine, which is where the research comes in.

I'm always happy to give a story a home, but my problem with a lot of ezines (including some mentioned in this thread) is simply how awful they look. A lot of these sites look like something out of 1996, complete with terrible graphics and HTML. I understand that these are low-budget outfits who can't hire a web designer, but even unskilled people can generate some really clean, nice looking sites with something like Wordpress. The design of a site should never get in the way of its purpose, which--in this case--is to read great stories.

BiggerBoat said:

I suppose I'd encourage people to submit from the top down. Start at the pro level, then semi-pro, then perhaps consider placing a story in an ezine. Of course, you want to submit stories which are appropriate for the particular zine/magazine, which is where the research comes in.

Click to expand...

Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Fantasy Magazine and Chizine are online pro-paying markets that qualify for SFWA. Depending on what your story is, one of those ezines might be on the top of your top-down list. Clarkesworld pays 10c a word and publishes some of the greatest people and stories in speculative fiction.

Developing a publication list is good, but I am not convinced that a publication record actually helps sales. For sales, you have to have a great story and a great fit at the right time. My sale to Fantasy Mag did not help me get another sale at Fantasy Mag yet. Although it is certainly a nice credit to have on my cover letter.

Writer's Market (Novel and Short Story Version) now has listings for online markets.