Patti was asking about Orchard Press Mysteries in the comments of the last post and I have to admit that I'd forgotten about them as a market. Back about four or five years ago, OPM published a lot of short mysteries from SMFS writers, that's when I first heard about them. They were, I believe, a print paying market and also hosted contests. When they switched to zine format and stopped paying, nobody mentioned them as much and I completely forgot about them.
They're still a non-paying market but they do publish mysteries, poetry and other types of stories. But, you have to query first on their site query form. Probably the reason I forgot about them, because I hate to query short stories. First, I find it difficult to break a story down to one or two sentences and how can you explain a story without giving it away? But that's just me, for those who don't mind doing a query I'll post the market in the zine column. They've been around a long time and their stories are current so I'd say they're a viable market for those who are interested.
I also discovered that Mystery Dawg has moved Darkest Before the Dawn to a new format and a new url. Hat tip to Keith Rawson for the news. I was wondering why there'd been no new stories.
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend, I know I did. I spent today doing my taxes and have them all ready to pop in tomorrow's mail. I hate giving the government our money before I absolutely have to.
5 comments:
Think I may try these markets - thanks for the tips. I'm the same with my taxes - I tend to ignore them and have to do them all at the last moment.
I broke one down and it sounded ridiculous--more like a comedy than a crime story. So maybe I won't do it again either.
I'm waiting to the last sec on my mine also. We've allowed ourselves to be over taxed in this country. I'm heading back from Maine soon and will pass through at least nine toll boths in only three states! Insane.
Glad I'm not the only one who puts them off to the last minute!
Oh and being over-taxed really raises a red flag in our house, David. My husband is a smoker and paying four dollars in tax on a dollar pack of smokes drives him crazy.
I see now they're going to start in on the fat people by taxing junk food and soda pop. You've gotta love those insurance companies who are running the country. God bless their black little hearts as they take our money and never pay out if they can go bankrupt first.
I can understand having to break down a novel, Patti, but breaking down a short story for a query is just plain stupid because they're either going to like the story or not. I wonder sometimes if the query is just to get the better writers so they don't have to wade through a slush pile.
Orchard Press is back! And it's a paying market. The new Web site is www.OrchardPressMystery.com.
Post a Comment