So, Steve Goble ranted about what to do about markets that only respond to accepted submissions. I know Adbusters is such a market. Check out number 5 on their submission guidelines:

5. If we like your idea we will be in touch. It may take months, so be patient.

Read between the lines. They’re saying, “We’ll hold on to your work for an arbitrary amount of time and only contact you if we want it. Otherwise, keep waiting suckers!” 

This kind of policy is condescending in the extreme and disrepectful of writers. I mean, it takes all of perhaps 30 seconds to fill out a form rejection, probably less, and yet each of us labours weeks and months on our pieces. It boggles the mind how any magazine that treats its contributors this way can survive. The problem is that these magazines pay well, and therefore will always find a few willing victims.

I’ve heard a writers suggest a boycott. I (of course) have something more evil in mind.

SEND THEM EVERYTHING.

Yes, you heard me. Screw their “no simultaneous submissions policy”. Forget about their “no multiple submissions” (How could you know which pieces they’re still considering, right?). Who cares if it’s not in their genre? Make them waste the 30 seconds they saved by not responding to you in the first place. 

What if they respond and say the want to buy your work? If it’s still unsold, thank them, pocket their check, and keep going. If it’s sold, apologize and explain that you didn’t hear back so you thought they weren’t interested.

 These magazines don’t respect writers, why should we treat them any different?

* I think this idea has some legs. If these guys start getting overwhelmed by the slush, maybe they’ll change their ways. Please send this posting out to every writer you know and get them to blog about it. Maybe if we all work together we can actually convince these guys to change!

 Hey guys,

Music to write by: “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick

Welcome to post 8 in the Markets for New Writers series. If you missed it, the previous post was on the print and e-zine Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.

Next up: Anotherealm.

Background

Founded in 1999, Anotherealm magazine is a monthly webzine focusing on speculative fiction of all kinds. It is famous for hosting Preditors & Editors (the misspelling is intentional) which has been the focus of a previous article.**

Why is the magazine attractive to you?

 Let’s face it, a webzine that’s been around since 1999 has some cred. Unfortunately, because the site’s recently been hacked (and since restored), I couldn’t find many names of authors who’ve been published there, but I know this author had a flash fiction piece in their summer 2006 issue.

The fact that they host Preditors & Editors is also a Big Deal, since it guarantees the magazine gets a lot of traffic. They also host an annual Readers’ Poll which votes on which are the best online stories/magazines/etc.

Anotherealm is also responsible for awarding the Anotherealm Editors Choice Award, The Goldberg Horror Award, and the Annual Higney Award so if you get a story published here, you have the chance to win one of these resume boosters.

Genre

Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi. Hard Sci-Fi is always welcomed.

Max Word Count

5,000

Payment

$25

Submission Guidelines are here.

** As a quick note, I have to apologize for the lack of background information on some of these magazines. Basically, I rely on their “about” page, Google, and forums where the magazine is discussed, and if any one of these is missing you get a short article. I’ve taken to e-mailing editors, but sometimes response times can be a little slow.

Hey guys,

Music to write by: “Crazy” by Gnarles Barkeley

Welcome to post 7 in the Markets for New Genre Writers series. If you missed it, the previous post was on the print and e-zine DKA Magazine.

Next up: Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.

Background

Australian short fiction magazine Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine was founded with the goal of publishing stories that are light-hearted and ‘un-serious’.  They also focus on helping first-time authors get published, which is a big reason why they made this list.

It was difficult to track down any information on the magazine’s founding, but they’ve been in business since at least August of 2002, and in that time they’ve won several awards, including the “Tin Duck Award”, the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award (Ditmar), and the Aurealis Peter MacNamara Award for Publishing and Editing. The blog, 101 Reasons to Stop Writing, recently conducted an excellent three part interview with the slush readers. It gives a lot of insight into the process of reading slush, which, in itself, makes it a great resource.

Instead of listing all the names of the staff at this awesome little print magazine, I’ll just point you at their staff directory.

Why is the magazine attractive to you?

This magazine should be one of a new writer’s first stops for submissions. Here’s why:

• The magazine looks beautiful, as you can see from the above cover.
• They’re a paying market,
• They (sometimes) offer limited feedback on submissions.
• The magazine also publishes a Best-Of Anthology, so there’s a possibility of double exposure.
• Best of all, they submit all their stories to award committee, so if you’ve got a real gem, here’s where it’ll get noticed.

Genre

Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Light-hearted only.

Max Word Count

10,000. Query for longer.

Payment

1.25c / word AU. Min $20 per piece.

Submission Guidelines are here.

Hey guys,

Music to write by: “Judith” by A Perfect Circle

Welcome to post 6 in the Markets for New Genre Writers series. If you missed it, the previous post was on the ezine, Bewildering Stories.

Next up: DKA Magazine.

Background

Founded in 1999 by Rebecca Shelley, DKA magazine walks a fine line. Like other Double-Edged Publishing‘s ezines, they believe in offering speculative fiction with a Christian slant, but they also aim to appeal to a broad market. The full name of the zine is “Dragons, Knight, and Angels Magazine” and that’s what they want to see. In their DKA Vision section, they clarify:

The powerful, mystical dragon, traditionally representing evil or the thing feared or the threat to the land. Also standing for that wide-open land populated by astounding creatures of imagination.

The knight, traditional hero, the rescuer, the Messiah-figure, the undaunted human facing enormous challenges and carrying on with faltering or hardy faith, flawed or virtuous, always intrepid and often blessed.

And the angel, the messenger of God, the spiritual being that guards and intervenes and fills its space with holy light and power, who lets us know we are not alone and that we ought not be afraid, for God is with us.

Despite the tone of the above page, DKA magazine isn’t in-your-face about their Christianity. They are interested in stories with Christian morality with great storytelling. Period.

EDIT: Mir, assistant editor at DKA magazine, commented in record time. She wanted to clarify what kind of fiction they are looking for. She writes:

A couple of clarifications (as the one who wrote up that vision statement):

We aren’t looking for 1. dragons, 2. knights, and 3. angels. We will look at stories with those elements, but we use those elements as symbols (hence the “stands for” and “represents”). The elements are symbolic, ergo we take science fiction, but don’t have to be.

I say this to hold back a slew of dragon stories, knight stories, or angel stories. We take all types of speculative fiction and poetry that FITS the vision. And we are a “Magazine of Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy”, which is more narrow than the other DEP imprints. We actually call ourselves a “Christian” magazine, whereas they do not.

What we seek, above all, is quality and surprise. We don’t want a typical story rehasing the same old knight/dragon scenarios. If you use these archetypical elements, use them in a fresh way or we will not be bouncing over it.

Why is the magazine attractive to you?

DKA magazine is available online and also in a new printed format, which offers the potential for double exposure. They are open to new authors (it’s the magazine where this author got his start), and even reserve a special slot in every issue for student contributors.

In my experience, Double-Edged Publishing works very closely with new authors to help them develop their careers. You see many authors being published again and again in any of their five publications. My own work has appeared in Raygun Revival, DKA  magazine, and is upcoming in The Sword Review.  This philosophy gives you the potential to really get your name out there in the Christian Speculative market (which judging from DEP’s pageviews is quite large) as well as opening the door to multiple sales to their other magazines.

Genre

Fantasy, but open to Sci-Fi and Horror. A family market, so no cursing.

Payment

1/2c per word up to $25.  Asks for First North American Rights.

Max Word Count

3000, but will accept exceptional works up to 5000 words.

Submission Guidelines are here.

Hey guys,

Music to write by: “Butterfly” by Crazy Town

Welcome to post 5 in the Markets for New Genre Writers series. If you missed it, the previous post was on the print magazine Prism Quarterly.

Next up: Bewildering Stories.

Background

Founded in “Jaugustuly” of 2002 by Don Webb and Jerry Wright, Bewildering Stories aims to be a meeting place for new writers as well as a fiction ‘zine. The magazine is published in an aggresive weekly format (they’re at issue 249 as of this “printing”). They boast an impressively well attended and active forum, as well keeping links to an array of writer’s resources.

Why is the magazine attractive to you?

One of the biggest reasons you should submit here is their weekly format. Your story is not likely to languish in the slush pile for too long. Because they’re a donation only site, you also won’t have competition from snobs that only submit to paying magazines. The site also recently started up Bewildering Press which publishes anthos and books, so it’s possible to double-dip and get your story published twice (there’s talk of a Best-Of antho).

Genre

Any. Really.

Payment

Exposure, but only asks for one-time non-exclusive electronic rights. Works up to 9,000 words are accepted but longer pieces may be serialized.

Submission Guidelines are here.