It's been a hectic week around here but I do have a bit of market news for you.
Pill Hill Press has added another contest and several more anthology calls to their submission page. http://www.pillhillpress.com/open-submissions.html
Blood Bound Books has also added a couple more anthology calls http://www.bloodboundbooks.net/submissions.html
Black Matrix Publications is still looking for submissions for their various print magazines. http://www.blackmatrixpub.com
Not One of Us print magazine has just published a new issue and is looking for subs for their next http://not-one-of-us.com/guidelines.php
The First Line print magazine has listed their first sentences for next years issues http://www.thefirstline.com
The above markets are paying markets but mostly at the low end of the pay scale.
PodCastle is looking for fantasy stories for their podcasts. They prefer reprints from paid markets, the pay here is $100 for shorts from 2000 - 6000 words and $20 for flash stories up to 1000 words. The group that does these podcasts also do EscapePod for sci-fi stories and PseudoPod for horror stories with the same pay. You can find the links to both of these sites along with PodCastle's guidelines here http://podcastle.org/guidelines
You can now pre-order issue six of Out of the Gutter here http://outoftheguttermagazine.blogspot.com
WellToldTales.com has closed to submissions due to a backlog of stories. This is a podcast site and their url is to the left if you'd like to check out their site and listen to some stories.
Big Ole Face Full of Monster has been declared dead by both Duotrope and Ralan. Also NVF Mag has closed due to lack of submissions. Both markets that I'd just posted a few months ago. I wish there was some way of knowing if a market was going to stick around or not.
And don't forget that tomorrow is Patti's Flash Challenge, so get your reading glasses ready, there'll be lots of good stories for your reading pleasure.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
How Purple is Your Prose?
You can blame this post on Patti Abbott http://pattinase.blogspot.com/ Why blame Patti? Because she was asking about dumbest toys ever made and I mentioned Click Clacks, which made me wonder how in the heck do you describe this toy to people who never saw it...them?
Two hard plastic balls on a string (and yes, the "Ding a Ling" song is strolling through my head) There was a ring on the string that you slid on your finger much like a yo-yo then you waved your hand up and down so the balls clicked and clacked above and below your hand. Stupid fad toy popular in the early seventies.
I worked in the toy department at Grants and they were a big seller, not to mention that everyone in the store had a set they played with when things were quiet. All through the store you could hear click - clack, click - clack, ow, ow, ow, damn! Everyone who played with them had bruised arms, sore wrists and even a black eye or two. This toy would never make it on the market today. And yet, we kept playing with them, click-clacking away trying to see how long we could keep them going. Maybe if the string had been elastic and prone to breaking like the paddle balls, we would have given up quicker.
And still the description doesn't do justice to the beautifully colored orbs or capture the obsessed click-clacking that went along with the toy.
And to bring this back to writing, click-clacks could be used as weapons, or a passing thought by a woman who'd like nothing more than to use her husbands balls like a set of click-clacks or turned into that popular seventies song "silver balls hanging on a string, I think it was my ding-a-ling". Sometimes I miss the "good old days".
Oh yes, and don't forget Patti's Wal-Mart flash challenge on Monday. If you'd like to join in on the fun you can check out the details here http://pattinase.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-flash-fiction-challenge.html And if you really want description woes Patti's Wal-Mart link is a humdinger http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ The written word cannot do these people justice, believe me, I've been struggling with it. You need a picture just to prove that you didn't make up some of those outfits.
So, how purpley do you allow your prose to get? Do you like using a lot of description when you're writing or do you just trim it down to the bone and let the reader's imagination do the work?
Two hard plastic balls on a string (and yes, the "Ding a Ling" song is strolling through my head) There was a ring on the string that you slid on your finger much like a yo-yo then you waved your hand up and down so the balls clicked and clacked above and below your hand. Stupid fad toy popular in the early seventies.
I worked in the toy department at Grants and they were a big seller, not to mention that everyone in the store had a set they played with when things were quiet. All through the store you could hear click - clack, click - clack, ow, ow, ow, damn! Everyone who played with them had bruised arms, sore wrists and even a black eye or two. This toy would never make it on the market today. And yet, we kept playing with them, click-clacking away trying to see how long we could keep them going. Maybe if the string had been elastic and prone to breaking like the paddle balls, we would have given up quicker.
And still the description doesn't do justice to the beautifully colored orbs or capture the obsessed click-clacking that went along with the toy.
And to bring this back to writing, click-clacks could be used as weapons, or a passing thought by a woman who'd like nothing more than to use her husbands balls like a set of click-clacks or turned into that popular seventies song "silver balls hanging on a string, I think it was my ding-a-ling". Sometimes I miss the "good old days".
Oh yes, and don't forget Patti's Wal-Mart flash challenge on Monday. If you'd like to join in on the fun you can check out the details here http://pattinase.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-flash-fiction-challenge.html And if you really want description woes Patti's Wal-Mart link is a humdinger http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ The written word cannot do these people justice, believe me, I've been struggling with it. You need a picture just to prove that you didn't make up some of those outfits.
So, how purpley do you allow your prose to get? Do you like using a lot of description when you're writing or do you just trim it down to the bone and let the reader's imagination do the work?
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving Thoughts
I wonder do writers ever stop weaving stories? Sitting down with a table full of people always fills my mind with stories, their stories, my story, the story of families past and present and with the grandchildren, the future.
Traditions from my grandparents and parents were present at the table. Though we've dumped the sweet potatoes in favor of baked beans. I bake cottage cheese rolls every holiday and I wonder who'll keep that tradition alive after I'm gone or will they only be a memory like the marshmallow encrusted sweet potatoes. What new traditions will be brought to the table as the family grows?
As I looked around the table full of smiling faces and satisfied bellies, I saw love stories, stories of brothers and step-brothers, a toddler taking his first steps and soon, coming of age stories. And one shy little girl who might one day grow up to be the prom queen.
For all of this, I am thankful. Thankful for the love and caring that flows around my table, for the stories that will grow from this collection of people who share a gene pool, who love each other, but can still call each other names and pick fights. And in the end, that's what families are, an odd assortment of people who gather together in love.
I wish all of you peace and happiness on this Thanksgiving Day and all the beautiful stories and memories your mind and heart can hold.
Traditions from my grandparents and parents were present at the table. Though we've dumped the sweet potatoes in favor of baked beans. I bake cottage cheese rolls every holiday and I wonder who'll keep that tradition alive after I'm gone or will they only be a memory like the marshmallow encrusted sweet potatoes. What new traditions will be brought to the table as the family grows?
As I looked around the table full of smiling faces and satisfied bellies, I saw love stories, stories of brothers and step-brothers, a toddler taking his first steps and soon, coming of age stories. And one shy little girl who might one day grow up to be the prom queen.
For all of this, I am thankful. Thankful for the love and caring that flows around my table, for the stories that will grow from this collection of people who share a gene pool, who love each other, but can still call each other names and pick fights. And in the end, that's what families are, an odd assortment of people who gather together in love.
I wish all of you peace and happiness on this Thanksgiving Day and all the beautiful stories and memories your mind and heart can hold.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Reality Bites
Do you struggle with making things real in your fiction? I've been working on a story about a woman moving into a house that's been deserted for over twenty years. There's no electricity which means no running water so I gave her an artisan well in the back yard. Cool side fact - in the winter in PA, an artisan well can turn a back yard into a skating rink with a beautiful ice fountain in the center. She needs to heat the water to bathe so I gave her a cook stove in the kitchen. Now, some of this moves the story along but most of it is just keeping things "real".
I struggle with this practical side of myself when writing. I hate how people walk into deserted houses and the water magically works and the electric just flows with the flip of a switch. Hello....if no one is paying the electric bill, there's no lights and if you don't drain water pipes in an empty house in the winter, yeah, broken pipes.
What about you? Do you try to embrace the practical when you're writing, or do you just skim over the practicalities of a situation so your story will flow smoothly, or have you found a way to include them without sabotaging your story?
I think I may have mentioned Blood Bound Books before but they've added a few more anthology calls with 2010 deadlines. One, called Night Terrors is a contest with the winner receiving 5cents a word and runners up receiving a flat rate of $5 for their stories which is the going rate for all stories included in their assorted anthologies. You can find all the details here http://www.bloodboundbooks.net/submissions.html
And Jeff VanderMeer has written an essay about writer's despair that very neatly looks at what we all feel at one time or another when we're writing. http://booklifenow.com/2009/11/writer-despair-for-a-cheery-monday/#more-126
I struggle with this practical side of myself when writing. I hate how people walk into deserted houses and the water magically works and the electric just flows with the flip of a switch. Hello....if no one is paying the electric bill, there's no lights and if you don't drain water pipes in an empty house in the winter, yeah, broken pipes.
What about you? Do you try to embrace the practical when you're writing, or do you just skim over the practicalities of a situation so your story will flow smoothly, or have you found a way to include them without sabotaging your story?
I think I may have mentioned Blood Bound Books before but they've added a few more anthology calls with 2010 deadlines. One, called Night Terrors is a contest with the winner receiving 5cents a word and runners up receiving a flat rate of $5 for their stories which is the going rate for all stories included in their assorted anthologies. You can find all the details here http://www.bloodboundbooks.net/submissions.html
And Jeff VanderMeer has written an essay about writer's despair that very neatly looks at what we all feel at one time or another when we're writing. http://booklifenow.com/2009/11/writer-despair-for-a-cheery-monday/#more-126
Monday, November 23, 2009
On Writing and Zines and Zombies
I have a real mish-mash of links for you today. There's some interesting reading out there.
http://io9.com/5409552/independent-publishers-who-are-reinventing-the-future This post looks at several small publishing houses, one of them Chizine which I mentioned in a previous post as being open to subs. There's no links to the houses themselves but some of them do publish short story collections and a google search would probably hook you up to their sites.
http://www.jasonsanford.com/jason/2009/11/circulation-of-online-genre-magazines.html Jason Sanford has some interesting facts and figures in this post about online zines. Most interesting is that hits and downloads on audio stories is on the rise.
http://storytellersunplugged.com/blog/2009/11/20/the-happy-death-of-genre-vs-literary-in-the-days-of-the-technorenaissance/ Not just another argument about genre vs literary, but a well thought out look at how the Internet is changing the face of this marketing device of tagging writing in order to sell it. Her last two lines give us all hope for the future. "The emphasis won't be on what genre. The emphasis will be on great storytelling."
http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2009/11/tired-of-same-old-formulas.html From thrillers to westerns each genre has a "formula" of sorts. John Ramsey Miller takes a look at these formulas and offers up some suggestions on how to write great stories within the confines of the genre formula.
For those of you who write Zombie stories there's a forum board that might interest you called Library of the Living Dead http://libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com/ There's all kinds of great stuff here but of special interest is the calls for submissions section. The library is a publisher of anthologies featuring zombies. Of interest to both horror and western writers is this new one The Zombist: Tales from the Undead West. http://libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com/2009/11/14/now-open-for-submissions-the-zombist-tales-from-th/page1
http://io9.com/5409552/independent-publishers-who-are-reinventing-the-future This post looks at several small publishing houses, one of them Chizine which I mentioned in a previous post as being open to subs. There's no links to the houses themselves but some of them do publish short story collections and a google search would probably hook you up to their sites.
http://www.jasonsanford.com/jason/2009/11/circulation-of-online-genre-magazines.html Jason Sanford has some interesting facts and figures in this post about online zines. Most interesting is that hits and downloads on audio stories is on the rise.
http://storytellersunplugged.com/blog/2009/11/20/the-happy-death-of-genre-vs-literary-in-the-days-of-the-technorenaissance/ Not just another argument about genre vs literary, but a well thought out look at how the Internet is changing the face of this marketing device of tagging writing in order to sell it. Her last two lines give us all hope for the future. "The emphasis won't be on what genre. The emphasis will be on great storytelling."
http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2009/11/tired-of-same-old-formulas.html From thrillers to westerns each genre has a "formula" of sorts. John Ramsey Miller takes a look at these formulas and offers up some suggestions on how to write great stories within the confines of the genre formula.
For those of you who write Zombie stories there's a forum board that might interest you called Library of the Living Dead http://libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com/ There's all kinds of great stuff here but of special interest is the calls for submissions section. The library is a publisher of anthologies featuring zombies. Of interest to both horror and western writers is this new one The Zombist: Tales from the Undead West. http://libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com/2009/11/14/now-open-for-submissions-the-zombist-tales-from-th/page1
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Oops
I almost forgot this one. Lightspeed Magazine has posted their guidelines. This is a new venue that opens to subs on January 1, 2010. This is a sci-fi market looking for stories 1000 to 7500 words in length but prefer less than 5000. The pay will be 5cents a word for original stories and 1cent a word for reprints. And there will be an online submission form. You can find all the details here http://www.darkfantasy.org/lightspeed/guidelines.html
A Bit of Everything
There's been a great many blog posts about the new Harlequin Horizons self-publishing venture. With a hat tip to Stephen Torres we have this link that pretty much sums it all up and makes all the details perfectly clear. http://www.jackiekessler.com/blog/2009/11/20/the-day-after-harlequin-blinks
Chizine Publications has opened for submissions of novels and short story collections up to 100,000 words in the dark fiction genre. There's no mention of payment so you'll have to check that out if you're interested in submitting. http://www.chizine.com/chizinepub/submission_guidelines.php
With another hat tip, this one to Charles Tan, I found this very cool site called "Letters of Note". They scan in original letters from famous people then the transcription below. You can find the site here http://www.lettersofnote.com but one I think will interest readers of this blog is the letter by Kurt Vonnegut http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/11/slaughterhouse-five.html I also saw a letter from Al Capone and one from Harry Houdini. Good stuff! And yes, you might even find the inspiration for a short story among the archives. Happy hunting.
Chizine Publications has opened for submissions of novels and short story collections up to 100,000 words in the dark fiction genre. There's no mention of payment so you'll have to check that out if you're interested in submitting. http://www.chizine.com/chizinepub/submission_guidelines.php
With another hat tip, this one to Charles Tan, I found this very cool site called "Letters of Note". They scan in original letters from famous people then the transcription below. You can find the site here http://www.lettersofnote.com but one I think will interest readers of this blog is the letter by Kurt Vonnegut http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/11/slaughterhouse-five.html I also saw a letter from Al Capone and one from Harry Houdini. Good stuff! And yes, you might even find the inspiration for a short story among the archives. Happy hunting.
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