Thursday, September 10, 2009

Virgin Markets

Finding markets is always a chore but it's part of the business of being a writer. New markets are especially tricky. You don't know if it's just one person's whim to start a zine and they'll get bored with the process, or if they'll work their butts off and make a go of the zine. Without content they'll surely fail. Publishing is a two way street - writers need to trust the publisher and publishers need to get the best stories a writer can write. With that in mind, here are three new venues that are trying to get their zines launched.

Dark and Dreary Magazine is in blog format. They're looking for dark flash and short stories. They have stories up, so you can get an idea of what they're looking for. This is a non-paying market. http://darkanddrearymagazine.wordpress.com/submission-guidelines/

Black Matrix Publishing is getting ready to launch four new print magazines. They're looking for sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal and horror stories. The pay is token at 1/5cent per word. You can find the details of these magazines and their guidelines at http://www.blackmatrixpub.com

The last is a western venue, The Western Online. This is a beautiful looking website that shows the publisher has given a lot of thought to how he wants to showcase your work. They're looking for short stories up to 3000 words and non-fiction pieces up to 1000 words. And yes, there was crime in the Old West if you'd like to give it a try and still remain in your comfort zone of crime fiction. This is also a non-paying market. http://www.thewesternonline.com/index.html

8 comments:

David Cranmer said...

All three look promising and I especially agree with The Western Online. Aesthetically pleasing.

sandra seamans said...

I hope they make a go of it, David. I've been finding quite a few crime stories finding homes in the horror genre. And westerns seem a perfect venue for crime stories.

David Cranmer said...

The secret (my humblest opinion) is to take the best crime elements of those 1940's novels and transport them back sixty years in time and write a western. Now, you can't fake it and it requires brushing up on the times but the Sheas, Brazills, and Grays among us could set this genre on fire. No better example is your "Midnight Showdown" and Scott D. Parker's "You Don't Get Three Mistakes."

sandra seamans said...

My biggest problem with writing westerns is that I've never been farther west than Michegan when I was a kid. I've seen pictures on TV of the west but I don't know if I could ever capture the real essence of the west.

And you're right about the writers coming up, they could write some great westerns. I loved Scott's story and I keep waiting for another chapter with the characters he created in that story.

YA Sleuth said...

I only just discovered your blog, but am in awe of your knowledge of short story markets. Makes me excited to start submitting them again. Thanks!

sandra seamans said...

Welcome to the corner, Fleur! There's all kinds of markets out there and they're fun to find and post.

You'll find both paying and non-paying with a bit of every genre if you go back through the posts. Most of links on the left are for crime or horror shorts.

Matthew Pizzolato said...

Thank you for your kind words about my new zine, The Western Online. I hope to get it running well as soon as possible, could still use some submissions though. Thanks again.

sandra seamans said...

Welcome to The Corner, Matthew! It's always a pleasure to point writers towards new markets. Hopefully some of the western writers out there will find your zine. I'll keep plugging.