On the heels of Eastern Standard Crime closing its doors, there's news that print magazine, "Necrography", is closing shop due to lack of funds. There's an interesting post here http://nithska.blogspot.com/2009/10/necrography-is-dead.html about the closing and what we as readers/writers can do to keep our markets growing. While not everyone can afford subscriptions, spreading the word about a market or pointing to great stories in a zine is great advertising for publications and can drive readers to the sites.
Also closed is Orchard Press Mysteries, no reason here, just disappeared into the ether.
And Flash Fire 500 closed early in the summer with a promise to reopen in the fall. I've been dropping by their site since September and yesterday found a note that they're still closed with no hint of when they might reopen.
All very depressing news but I really hate leaving you on that sad note, so here's a new market, and a paying one. "Strangetastic" has one and a half issues up so you can get an idea of the type of story they're looking for. According to the guidelines they want supernatural fiction in the 1000 to 6000 word range with a flat pay rate of $25. You can check them out here http://strangetastic.com/
5 comments:
I'm wondering if there is a shift going on away from crime and toward fantasy and such? Perhaps we need escape and not reminders of the times.
Thanks for the link!
Pattinase,
It's hard all over. Coming from the SF&F side of things, we've seen zines both small and large failing. But, it may be an opportunity for strong players in 'new' formats like pdf zines and ebook subscriptions.
Interesting time.
:)
B
Sandra, thanks for the news. Perhaps as times are still tight financially for people, this is the reason the sites are closing. It's difficult to pay people for stories if your own livelihood goes down the drain. Writers can hope while visiting those places that still publish.
I don't think there's a shift, Patti. The mystery zines, for the most part, are still there, but I'm finding more opportunities for short stories in the fantasy genre. Jim Bucher is a great example of mixing fantasy and crime.
Crime can be worked into any genre out there because it's the basis of most of the conflict in the world and in stories.
Welcome to the corner Nithska! I agree with you about the opportunities and with podcsst and hand-held readers publishing is going to change. It will have to in order to keep up.
I don't think it's just the money, Barbara. I think the people publishing zines just run out of steam, and either don't want to ask for help or just can't find anyone to help.
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