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.

Hey guys,

Music to write by: “Tarantula” by The Smashing Pumpkins

Welcome to post 4 in the Markets for New Genre Writers series. If you missed it, the previous post was on the e-zine Electric Velocipede.

Next up: Prism Quarterly.

Background

Published by David M. Pitchford, late of Pitch Black Books (Lords of Swords, Sages & Swords), currently of Daybreak Press, Prism Quarterly bills itself as “the premiere literary review published quarterly by Poets & Writers Literary Forum of Springfield”. Bitter Hermit mentioned on SFReader.com that they’ve recently published Ed McFadden, Nathan Meyer, Christopher Heath, and Cheryl Peugh. Not super big names, but that’s sometimes a plus (cause your story doesn’t get bumped by some famous author’s flawed piece).

Why is the magazine attractive to you?

Prism Quarterly is a print magazine with a hefty subscription rate of $24.95 for 4 issues (well above the subscription rates of the competition. A subscription to Asimov’s will run you $32.97 for 12 issues). What does this mean? Well, from what I’ve heard (no firsthand experience, sorry), they have a quality product and are willing to put some effort into promoting it.

Bitter Hermit has also mentioned that the editors will sometimes comment on rejections, which is usually a plus. As a bonus, members of SFReader, which is free to join, get responded to with “preference and speed”, so long as it’s noted in the cover letter.

Genre

Any.

Payment

Prism Quarterly pays its contributors one copy (no cash) for works up to 5000 words for fiction. This is a promo only market.

Submission Guidelines are here.

Hey guys,

Music to write by: “See Right Through Me” by Mobile

Welcome to post 3 in the Markets for New Genre Writers series. If you missed it, the previous post was on the Space Opera e-zine AlienSkin Magazine.

Next up: Electric Velocipede.

Background

First published by John Klima in 2001, Electric Velocipede magazine focuses on Fantasy and Sci-fi. Klima mentions a few New Weird authors in the submission guidelines to give you an idea of what he’s looking for. A fine example of an author of the New Weird is Jeff Vandermeer . You can find an example of his short fiction in a recent issue of Clarkesworld.

Klima has this to say about what kind of fiction he’s looking for:

Science fiction is fine; I just don’t care for hardcore nuts and bolts. Fantasy is fine; I’m just not all that comfortable with elves, dwarves, unicorns, etc. Cross-genre is more than fine, and weird is just about perfect

Why is the magazine attractive to you?

In addition to the ‘zine format, Electric Velocipede also publishes chapbooks, so there’s an opportunity for double exposure. As a plus, some big names have been published in the ‘zine, so bragging opportunities abound.

A slight word of warning though. Klima recently posted a call for subscribers on the group blog “theinferior4+1″.  Here’s an excerpt:

Another thing that’s become clear to me is that this zine will not be able to grow, and most likely, will not be able to survive if I cannot grow my subscriber base. I do not want to stop making Electric Velocipede; I plan on making issues far far into the future. My hope is that the decision to stop is something I make of my own volition rather than something that’s made for me.

Now, I believe that Klima’s magazine won’t fold anytime soon, and I wouldn’t feel any hesitation in submitting to the zine myself, but you can read the whole article and make your own decision.

Payment

EV does pay its contributors 1 cent per word up to 10,000 words for fiction, well below pro rates, but still respectable.

Submission Guidelines are here.

Hey guys,

I’m taking a short (1 day) break from the New Markets for Genre Writers series to try out a Technorati experiment. The basic idea is for you to add me to your favourites list and I’ll add you back! This thing has already gone viral, so it’s hard to trace back to its roots, but it’s certainly going to be one of the bloggers in the following list.

For my list, I just picked the people that’ve given me the most “link love” since the blog started, as well as some of my favourites to read.

Here’s how it goes:
1. Click Here and Add me to your Technorati Favorites List
2. Leave a comment on this post that you’ve added me. Put YOUR Technorati Favorite URL in the comment so I can add you too.
3. I’ll add you to my Technorati Favorites list once I receive your comment.

Please copy the following section into your post. It’s easier to copy the links if you hit “View Source” under the “Page menu” of your browser, otherwise you have to reconnect the links manually.

***Start Copying Here***

Here are the rules:

1. Write a short introduction paragraph about how you found the list, including a link to the blog post that referred you to it.
2. Copy the rules and entire list below and post it on your blog. To avoid duplicate content and increase the number of keywords to each site, change up the titles of the blogs. Just don’t change the links.
3. Take the “My New Faves” and move them into “The Original Faves” list along with your site. Make sure all links are working properly.
4. Add 3 blogs to your Technorati Favorites and link them in the “My New Faves” section. Don’t forget to add the “Fave Me” link next to the new blogs (i.e. http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://www.yourfavesdomain.com)
5. Add Everyone on this list to your Technorati Favorites List by clicking on “Fave this Site.” Those who want good kharma will fave you back. If not, you will for sure get the benefits of faves from the bloggers who continue this list after you.

My New Faves

Whatever Fave this Site
Sheer Speculations Fave this Site
Tales From the Raven Fave this Site
Von Darkmoor’s Thoughts Fave this Site

The Original Faves

Programming Credits Fave this Site
Games games and more games Fave this Site
Steven Smethurst Fave this Site
Without Really Trying Fave this Site
Criticaloddness Fave this Site
Danny Dang Fave this Site
ReFormatThis Fave this Site
Little Money Fave this Site
MrGaryLee – Fave this Site
DoshDosh – Fave this Site
NateWhitehill – Fave this Site
MsDanielle – Fave this Site
JeffKee – Fave this Site
ScribbleOnTheWall – Fave this Site
JimiMorrisonsHead – Fave this Site
JonLee – Fave this Site
Samanathon – Fave this Site
EatDrinknBeMerry - Fave this Site
TheManOfSilver – Fave this Site
HannesJohnson – Fave this Site
MyDandelionPatch – Fave this Site
NathanDrach – Fave this Site
SiteLogic – Fave this Site
JuliesJournal – Fave this Site
TeaAndSlippers – Fave this Site
EdLau – Fave this Site
QMusings – Fave this Site
StephenFung – Fave this Site

***End Copying Here***

Hey guys,

Music to write by: “Bang Bang” by The Armchair Cynics

Welcome to post 2 in the Markets for New Genre Writers series. If you missed it, the previous post was on the Space Opera e-zine Raygun Revival.

Next up: AlienSkin Magazine. Warning: The home page has sound! May not be office friendly.

Background

Published by Froggy Bottom Press, a publishing company founded in May of 2002, AlienSkin magazine focuses on Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy short fiction. Staff includes K.A. Patterson, Kevin Hillman, Elaine Isaak, Rob Shelsky, and Phil Adams. Their goal is to “help fellow writers gain publication for stories that might have been overlooked by other editors, or that might’ve fallen through the cracks of this highly competitive market”. Of course, the site focuses on fiction, but the magazine also highlights writing resources through their non-fiction articles and writing related links.

Why is the magazine attractive to you?

AlienSkin magazine’s site is professional looking and has a great home page, one that your readers will appreciate. They have a growing reputation in the industry and a reliable publication schedule.

One of their best features is that, like Raygun Revival, they tend to offer a few sentences of feedback even on stories that they reject–a definite plus for the author that’s sick of form rejections.

Payment

AlienSkin does pay its contributors 1/2 cent per word up to 3500 words for fiction, well below pro rates, but still respectable.

Submission Guidelines are here.