A Must Read for New Authors - How to get reviewed in the small press
Hey guys,
Music to write by: “Money Honey“ by State of Shock
I thought I’d bring your attention to an awesome little website for reviews. Tangent Online is a site devoted to reviewing the short story market. They review everything from independently produced anthologies like this one, to Asimov’s (probably the premier pro magazine out there for fantasy and sci-fi.
What’s really useful here is that Tangent Online also reviews semi-pro zines like DKA Magazine (where this writer got his start) and The Sword Review, both publications where the unpublished author stands a good chance of getting in.
What does this mean for you? One of the things any author thrives on is his/her quote sheet. Garnering (positive) quotes from independent reviewers is even better than getting published and looks great on a cover letter. Tangent Online also lifts the profile of the magazines it reviews, which means that your work is seen by that many more eyes. As far as exposure goes, getting reviewed here is a great start!
A few of the authors I know use Tangent Online to find new markets (check out the market list on the lower left side of Tangent’s home page), specifically to get reviewed. This isn’t a bad strategy. Being listed means that a market is at least semi-legitimate and your work won’t end up stuck at a single-issue magazine.
Another great venue for reviews is Locus Online, but we’ll be taking a look at their site in another blog post. Until then, ciao!
6 Comments(+Add)
Tangent is also a great place to add a few credits by reviewing. It is another good way to polish your craft, as it forces you to think about not only what is good and bad about each story, but why it is that way.
Absolutely. Getting your name out there is important, and a lot of people read those reviews. Reviewing is a special skill though, one I’ll be focussing on in a future post.
I shall eagerly await your post.
I might be interviewing you for that post, Howard, you’ve got oodles of experience at reviewing! I’ll lean on the experts whenever they’ll let me!
I came across this post just the other day. Great resource, and it keeps me up to date on some of the smaller items that come out of the small press markets. I’ve yet to pick up a book from their recommendations, but I certainly have a list of ones to go through.
Tangent is a super resource, and writing a review as Michael suggests is a great way to get exposure. Thanks to all the volunteers that make it a success!