Places to shop dark fiction (horror, fantasy, SF, noir)

[RichardThomas]

As much as I don't need ANY more competition from you guys, I figure most of you are probably already hitting these guys ANYWAY, so why not post up a master list of dark magazines and online journals so we know where to submit? Most of this comes from Duotrope.com as well as my own experience shopping stories. This is in no particular order. There is a wide range of stuff here from professional paying slick magazines to no-paying micro-fiction. Just some ideas. I've submitted to every place on this list. Feel free to post up your suggestions.

Print:
Cemetery Dance
Grave Tales
ChiZine (Chiaroscuro)
BULL SPEC
Apex
Clarkesworld
F&SF
Dark Discoveries
One Buck Horror
Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show
Shock Totem
Shroud
Shimmer
Tor.com
Weird Tales
Aurealis
Black Static
GUD
Camera Obscura
Spinetingler
Hayden's Ferry Review
Criminal Element
Crimefactory
Opium
Nefarious Muse
Dirty Noir
Rotten Leaves
Blink-Ink
Shotgun Honey

What are your favorites? Your white whales? Post them up.

Good luck all!

[ozmosis7]

Clarkesworld is a very tough market. I think they only have room for a few stories every year, and receive tons. I've tried them, Shock Totem, F&SF a couple of times. I really need to take the time and come up with some new shorts soon and bug them all again. There are a couple more I sent to in there, but don't remember which ones. Could find out on Duotrope for sure though I guess. I know I sent something into Dark Discoveries once and it was there for almost a year. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

[Draven Ames]

Duotrope.

[RichardThomas]

Good thoughts, oz. I know some of these are VERY tough. I mentioned that these were from Duotrope, Draven, but I wanted to not just list horror rags, but places that I personally like and am chasing. There are a ton of crummy horror, SF, fantasy and crime rags/sites out there, so this is more like a testimonial as well as a place to start shopping for those that haven't done a ton of submitting.

[Draven Ames]

Good thoughts, oz. I know some of these are VERY tough. I mentioned that these were from Duotrope, Draven, but I wanted to not just list horror rags, but places that I personally like and am chasing. There are a ton of crummy horror, SF, fantasy and crime rags/sites out there, so this is more like a testimonial as well as a place to start shopping for those that haven't done a ton of submitting.

Very good list you made, Richard.

[RichardThomas]

thanks - there really aren't THAT many professional paying horror magazines, or even professional paying anything magazines

[ozmosis7]

thanks - there really aren't THAT many professional paying horror magazines, or even professional paying anything magazines

I agree. Far too few indeed. There are, however, millions of For The Love places to send to. Many of those don't even offer a copy of the book in exchange for the story. It is a quick way to get your name out there for sure, but I try to only offer a story in that manner to be people I know well--and usually in anticipation of them paying in future projects.

This is also why getting in the HWA at the professional rates level is so difficult too.

[RichardThomas]

I agree. Far too few indeed. There are, however, millions of For The Love places to send to. Many of those don't even offer a copy of the book in exchange for the story. It is a quick way to get your name out there for sure, but I try to only offer a story in that manner to be people I know well--and usually in anticipation of them paying in future projects.

This is also why getting in the HWA at the professional rates level is so difficult too.

True, there are a lot of great places that don't pay much, or at all. Heck, MOST of the "literary journals" pay a copy or two and that's it - very tricky

[peteOcha]

Very nice list, I'll be sure to check some of these places out.

[Randy D. Rubin]

Thanks guys for the list and the info. I'm submitting stories as fast as I can.

[RJK1981]

Thanks for that list, will come in handy down the road

[ozmosis7]

It would be interesting to form a list of just the professional markets, and the odds they currently had of getting into them. I would imagine they are inundated with stories over the vast realm between good and poor. Their readers must sometimes feel like stabbing their eyes out with a spoon LOL. But I would expect they are all under a 2% acceptance rate. So you really have to strike a theme they are working on, or a mood, or several chords in order to see print in their magazines/books. I believe that at least three separate professional markets (including the one hosting this competition) were viewing these stories was a great opportunity to showcase your stuff.

I also wonder if there is anywhere that might have interviewed any of the professional markets? That would be interesting to check out.

I'm not saying I would only send to professional markets, but I think that is the end goal. You could even separate them out into categories of different levels. All of that would be very cool. I wish Duotrope had more of this functionality.

[Nik Houser]

But I would expect they are all under a 2% acceptance rate. So you really have to strike a theme they are working on, or a mood, or several chords in order to see print in their magazines/books.

Yeah, I've been having the most success recently by finding a place with a specific style or theme and writing on assignment, as it were- trying to do a custom story for them, rather than what I'm prone to do, which is to find something I've already written to fit a certain magazine's taste. I submitted several stories to Weird Tales before I sat down and thought "All right, here's what they seem to publish: stories with an off-center view of reality that prompts a sense of wonder or unease in the reader, centered around an idea that seems fresh and new, but not overly complicated. Let's see if I can cook that stew." And that's the story that they took. Of course, I've got the feeling that I could try that same recipe another three dozen times and get rejected. It was just one of those things where everything coalesced and fit with what they were looking for. Same for my story in the contest. I'd had the idea for a while, but never sat down to write it until the contest came up, at which point I tried to set the tone and character of the story to fit this market, and then spent a dizzying couple of days getting in on paper and hacking it to bits to fit the word limit! This is all a very long-winded way of saying "Ditto."

Anybody else here write with specific places in mind, or do you write a story, then hope to find a market for it? Or both?

[RJK1981]

I believe that at least three separate professional markets (including the one hosting this competition) were viewing these stories was a great opportunity to showcase your stuff.

I know of at least 1 other publisher outside of CD that could be doing that, which I am sure is one you are likely talking about, not sure who else though. I hope that all of these professional markets are maybe even looking for people who they think could write something they want to publish, even if it isn't the story posted here.

[RichardThomas]

Great advice, Nik. That's really what we should all be doing. I wrote one specifically for Hobart, but also thought PANK might take it. PANK took it. It was a neo-noir "choose your own path" story like read as kids. It was called "Splintered"

As for professional paying horror markets, with pro pay being ".05 cents a word or up" there is a pretty short list via Duotrope:

Market / accetance rate (i rounded up)
BULL SPEC 5%
Apex <1%
Buzzy Mag (new) unknown
ChiZine (Chiaroscuro) not sure (If guessing, <5%)
Clarkesworld <1%
Dark Discoveries <1%
F&SF <1%
Grave Tales unknown (probably less than 5%)
Mothman Files Anthology unknown
One Buck Horror 5%
OSC's Intergalactic Medicine Show <1%
Pedestal Magazine <1%
Poe Little Thing 69% (what a weird place, this high an acceptance rate, pays pro rates too...) website looks dead?
Shock Totem 1%
Tor.com <1%
Weird Tales 1%

there are another 18 that are semi-pro TO pro rates - i've found that the TOP markets are <1% and the good places are usually <5% on average