M/T/S Short Story Publications?

Momento Mori · Nov 29, 2006

I throw myself on the mercy of the Mods if there is already a Thread dealing with this subject.

I've been working on a number of crime/mystery short stories that are getting to a stage where I can think about submitting them for publication. The problem is finding a market for them.

I already know of the following crime magazines that accept submissions from first time writers:

- Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

http://www.themysteryplace.com/ahmm/guidelines/

- Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

http://www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm/guidelines/

- Crime Wave

http://www.ttapress.com/

and am looking for others. Is there a crime/mystery/thriller/suspense equivalent to Ralan? Alternatively, does anyone know of any other publications that they could recommend?

Ta muchly.

MM

Linda Adams · Nov 29, 2006

The Novel & Short Story Writer's Market should be able to help you out with names of magazines. However, there aren't a lot of high level ones like EQ--you may have trouble finding one that pays for the story. A lot of the online ones are likely to tell you they can't pay but will post a link to your Web site.

As for thrillers, there are few magazines that take it at all. Those that do only seem to take crime thrillers, and not all the other subgenres. So anyone looking to do short stories for non-crime thrillers probably isn't going to have a lot of luck.

Momento Mori · Nov 29, 2006

Thanks muchly, Linda Adams! Will go and check out Novel & Short Story Writer's Market.

It's strange that the market for crime and thriller novels should be so strong, but there's so little going on in the magazine/short story publication front.

Linda Adams · Nov 29, 2006

No surprise there--the short story market is almost dead. For whatever reason, people just aren't reading many of them any more. You can still find literary magazines, but genre fiction in particular seems to be suffering from this.

Lee_OC · Dec 9, 2006

I've been submitting to noir/crime fiction mags (print and online), and most of them don't pay. Or they pay in t-shirts or contributor copies.

Here's a new one called Murdaland that looks interesting.

If you have a noir-ish story, there's also Out of the Gutter, a new print magazine that is also considering submissions. (It's in my signature; I have a story coming out in issue 1)

CrimeSpree Magazine is print - no pay

Over My Dead Body is an online mag, and I think they pay.

JasonChirevas · Dec 9, 2006

Hardboiled is another option. Their guidelines are in the Writer's Market.

As the name suggests, they don't do cozies.

-Jason

M.A.Gardener · Jan 17, 2007

Has anyone actually submitted to any of these? Any feedback on them?

Jamesaritchie · Jan 18, 2007

Stories

Try duotrope and put in Mystery. http://www.duotrope.com/

There aren't very many mystery markets, but short story markets have always come and gone. There's nothing dead about the short story market overall, however, and the number of markets out there is pretty darned good, if you look around.

And new, paying internet markets pop up with some regularity.

BJ Bourg · Jan 18, 2007

Mouth Full of Bullets

I own/operate a free quarterly online mystery magazine called Mouth Full of Bullets, where I publish mystery stories of all types -- as long as it involves a crime and I like it, I'll publish it. Pay is nominal ($2.00 to $5.00) and, since I'm paying out of pocket, I'm limited to accepting about fifteen original pieces per issue (5 short stories, 5 flash pieces, 5 poems). I don't pay for reprints, but I'm open to them and I usually accept between five and seven per issue. I publish in March, June, September and December. I'm closed to submissions in the months of January, April, July and October. All stories will be edited by Jack Hardway.

In addition to stories and poems, there are columns by Kevin R. Tipple and Dorothy Francis, book reviews by Kevin R. Tipple, and author interviews by yours truly. I also have links to online and print magazines with which I've had personal experience.

Now, I must warn anyone who might consider submitting a story or poem -- all the slots for original work (never-before-published) are taken all the way through to the last issue of this year, with the exception of five slots for flash stories (from 500 to 1,000 words) in the December 2007 issue. There are still slots open for reprint stories/poems for the September and December issues, but people submitting original work will have to wait until 2008 to see their work "live".

In the first two issues, I've published over fifty stories/poems by thirty-eight different writers. If anyone is interested in seeing what's going on over at MFOB, visit the "Current Issue" and "Archive" links at www.mouthfullofbullets.com.

Take it easy,

bjb

Kate Thornton · Jan 31, 2007

BJ has been kind enough to reprint a couple of my mysteries. I hope to send him more!

M/T/S Short Story Publications?

Momento Mori

Tired and Disillusioned

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

Momento Mori

Tired and Disillusioned

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

Lee_OC

JasonChirevas

M.A.Gardener

Jamesaritchie

BJ Bourg

Flash Bang Mysteries

Kate Thornton

Still Happy to be Here. Or Anywhere