Over at Duotrope they have a theme calender http://www.duotrope.com/themecal.aspx that has a list of themes for anthologies and zines with deadlines that stretch into 2013. It's the perfect way to write for a specific market but you don't have to stop there.
Perhaps you don't like the market because it doesn't pay or its not high profile enough for you, yet you've come up with the perfect idea for a story. Write the story, then find your own market. Does that feel like cheating? Well, if the theme is for an anthology and they're only going to publish twelve stories, what do you think those other two hundred and eleven writers are going to do with the stories that weren't accepted? Yep, they'll find a new market. You're not tied to a market, only to your story.
Here's a sample of some of the themes:
Mushrooms
Mythpunk
Gardens and Gardening
Wake the Witch
Tattoos
Mother Goose
And you don't have to stick with just one theme, try combining them. I mean, what would happen if Mother Goose ate some of those magic mushrooms? Or perhaps the witch woke up with a new tattoo and no memory of where it came from. Or how about a mythpunk story set in the secret garden. Ideas are limited only by your imagination and how far you'd like to stretch it.
And a question. I have a twelve year old girl wearing a T-shirt with Winnie the Pooh on it in my story. Are there other characters or figures that a girl that age would prefer. I know boys (four grandsons) they like motorcycles, dragons, construction equipment and punk rockers - but girls? What do they favor these days?
2 comments:
My daughter was into Barbie for a while.
I hadn't thought of Barbie! I was trying to think of something that could show her innocence and yet not date the story, like using Sponge Bob or Justin Beiber :)
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