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I'm going to subscribe to a short story anthology/magazine. I'm considering F&SF. Does anyone know any good ones? I want something with, oddly enough, fantasy and science fiction short stories... since that is what I write.
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Is there any reason one of those would be preferable to another? It seems F&SF is the only one that allows writing besides SciFi... Is there any difference as to the quality of writing in each?
Posts: 496 | Registered: May 2009
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Not sure how long Space and Time will last, but the other three are mainstays. Asimovs and Analog are published by the same company. Someone else should probably speak to each about submissions, as I have not submitted to them yet.
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The only ones I subscribe to on a monthly basis are Asimov's and IGMS. I get Polluto quarterly. Others I pick up here and there when it seems that there is something I may be interested in, but I do read alot online...I read at least one short story a day last year. Now I am down to a few a week.
I also very much enjoy EscapePod, PseudoPod, PodCaastle, and SteamPod. It is very convinient for me to download them and listen to them in the car or while I am doing mundane housework like washing the dishes. The best part is that they are free.
Sorry to ramble but I just wanted to interject how important it is to read lots of short stories when you are trying to write them. It teaches you alot and shows you what editors are buying.
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Analog, Asimov's, and F & SF are my three mainstays...not that I wouldn't submit beyond them, just that in this phase of my career I rarely do. Nearly everything I've turned out lately is SF (by my standards), so that let out Realms of Fantasy, at least in its previous incarnation. (Whatever happened to the recent incarnation of Weird Tales?)
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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You don't have to subscribe to Fantasy magazine, all the stuff is right there...I think Clarksworld's stuff is availble free too. Theres loads of free magazine of all types and levels online.
Posts: 2626 | Registered: Apr 2008
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I subscribe to F&SF, Asimov's, Analog, Realms of Fantasy, and regularly dip into IGMS, Clarkesworld, Fantasy, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies on line.
My impressions:
Analog is strictly sf; the science component must be important and handled believably.
Asimov's does sf and near-fantasy; entertaining and varied.
F&SF publishes mostly fantasy, and a fair amount of it I would describe as being on the "literary" end of the genre. Sometimes I'm not even sure what the fantasy element is supposed to be. There's some very good stories here, but also some that that don't do much for me.
Realms of Fantasy publishes fantasy of different times, including more of the secondary-world type fantasy I like.
IGMS does both fantasy and sf, and there's seldom anything overly self-conscious here; it's all easy to read. I occasionally trip onto something that seems a bit amateurish, though.
Clarkesworld is high quality; the stories are on the short side. Somewhere between F&SF and Realms of Fantasy in taste.
Fantasy Magazine I find (frankly) somewhat self-conscious and occasionally pretentious. I find most of their things more "experimental" than "engaging".
Beneath Ceaseless Skies publishes solid, readable secondary-world fantasy. I enjoy it quite a bit, although they are a new market and not everything there appeals.
For someone interested in both fantasy and science fiction, I'd recommend Asimov's, and then also shop around for a fantasy magazine that suits your taste.
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starweaver, if only you'd posted sooner! I went ahead and ordered F&SF because it seemed the best that had both genres... Oh well...
Posts: 496 | Registered: May 2009
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Starweaver, can you give an opinion on where contemporary fantasy fits into the magazines? I am guessing second-world type of fantasy that you reference is more "other environment where magic holds a place in society." Things like Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana, or Ursula Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea?
Since I read and write less in that genre, I wanted to understand first what you mean about second-world fantasy, but then also see your thoughts (or anyone's! I'm sure most people here are more well-read in fantasy than I am) about positioning of contemporary fantasy. That's a fantasy story set in some kind of current-day setting. Things like magic, fairies, etc. but in NYC or rural Ohio or coastal England, etc.
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I do have a simple rule for finding new markets...if I can find a copy of a magazine on the newsstands, here or in my twice-yearly travels, I'll consider it as a market. (Yes, I know this excludes the online stuff, but that's not what I'm driving for...)
Lately, however, I haven't seen anything but Asimov's, F & SF, and Analog, which I subscribe to, and Realms of Fantasy, which I don't.
Also...if what I were writing came in fairly short---it doesn't, lately---but if it did, say two-to-three thousand words, I might consider some of the skin magazines, Playboy, Penthouse, or whatever. I haven't submitted anything to any of them in a while...I don't know what their current submission policies are (or who's being published).
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