posted
I'm a starting writer and I was wondering if anybody knows of magazines or short story collections that are easier to get into. I've been published before, but it's been a while. If anybody has any good leads, it would be greatly appreciated.
I don't write much sci-fi, but I've got a few fantasy pieces. Mostly realistic and psychological fiction, though. Anything would be great.
posted
First of all, I highly recommend sending any manuxcript, no matter how little confidence you have in it, to the highest paying and most pr9ofessional markets first. When you receive rejections from them, as you probably will, you try the next level down, and the next, and the next. You will probably find a market for your story at some of the $5 and $10 per story markets if no where else (I don't recommend 4theluv, there's no point; not even in glory). But in the meantime, you will have assured yourself that you could not have done better for your story. I've never heard anyone disagree with this advice...start at the top and work your way down despite probably having to get your first publication in at the bottom and work yor way up.
That said, I have two excellent sites to help you find the best fit for your manuscript. My favorite is:
It has a search engine for helping you find the best match which is convenient. Another ecellent site that includes up-to-date information on whether or not the market is closed, overstocked, etc. is:
That last one will help you determine what kind of response time you're looking for for any given market. I tend not to send stories to markets that seem to be taking a year to get back to me, especially if they are not professional markets. I have a little more tolerance for pro markets but even among them you can usually get a swift return time. I often try Fantasy and Science Fiction first: two weeks flat, if that long. And you can gather something about your story by their response...albeit subtle. "Did not grab" means they didn't read very far in. "Did not hold" means they were hooked at first but fizzled out in the middle, and if it says something like "Did not meet our current needs" or something of the sort they actually did read the whole thing but in the end it wasn't as good as something else. It's nice that even in their form letters they give you some kind of hint.
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