On Markets
From time to time, I scope out Ralan’s website, looking for markets for new work, the novel, and occasionally, reprints. I know my observation is far from anything new – namely that there are so few professional (or even semi-professional) markets nowadays for horror fiction. So few, in fact, that the poor editors at these pubs are overworked trying to get through the volumes of submissions they receive. We’ve hit something of a bottleneck.

We have only a handful of places to send our work to IF we expect fair treatment, prompt payment, and reputable placement. And I’d like to say up front that I’m grateful to them that they exist and persist through the slush. I wish there were more out there like them.

Of the markets listed on Ralan that do accept horror and pay at least $.03/word consistently to contributors, we have about 50, give or take a few (depending on where you draw the line with maximum payments, etc.). Now, I know that there are plenty of non-genre magazines that accept work which has horror themes, and many of these pay far better than most genre magazines. But having no concrete guidelines in front of me, let’s for the sake of this entry just look at Ralan.

So out of 50, 1 is now believed dead. Another 6 are backlogged or overbooked (although, to be fair, still accepting submissions). So now we’re down to about 43.

Of those 43, 20 markets are currently closed to submissions for various and sundry reasons, or are on indefinite hiatus. Yup, that’s right.

Of the remaining 23, 5 of the markets have very specific needs or conditions which may or may not exclude the average short story writer. Another 5 only marginally take horror or accept horror themes.

We’re essentially left with 13, maybe 19 (if you count the swamped-but-still-accepting-subs group) markets left to submit to. And so you, me, and nearly every other writer out there are all doing just that.

Why bring this up? After all, we all know that it is the rare writer that makes a living (or anything even close to a living) off writing short fiction.

Aside from the obvious fact that sometimes that short story money makes all the difference toward a bill that gets paid or something I need to buy Adam for school….

I guess I bring it up because there had been a piece of wisdom when I first started writing that said to submit short stories first, build a reputation based on those short story sales, and then write and sell novels. The key phrase, of course, is “build a reputation.” Frankly, I think we see the limited number of reputable markets and it does make us want to be better writers – cleaner, leaner, striving for that meaning, that moment, that effect. Because improving our craft is the only way to get into these publications. And publication with them works, over time, in our favor. It helps establish us as pros.

Short story sales can only pave so much of the way, true. But short story sales to any place that does not pay, does not have readership, and does nothing to bolster your career in the eyes of agents, editors, and publishers, pave even less. In fact, they may be potholes in one’s road to success.

I think it’s worth noting here that the results provide a good argument for not self-publishing stories or giving them away to freebie places. Of those remaining 13, only nine will even consider reprints. And eight admit it is a rare thing, a tough sell, and that they usually won’t buy them. That leaves one market you can try with your previously published material without querying first. One.

I can’t speak for other genres (although my understanding is that with the exception of science fiction and fantasy there is little or no real genre small press), but for horror, I see so many earnest, enthusiastic people who love the genre and want to help writers get their work out to readers. They want to encourage new and seasoned writers alike and bring to the world the darkly beautiful, the thrillingly terrifying, the essentially horrific. And it’s absolutely a noble cause. But I have one suggestion, humbly offered, which these people may take or leave as they wish.

Have a plan.

That’s it. Just have a plan. Have a marketing system, research distribution channels, learn the ins and outs of subscriptions. Ask other successful publications for advice. Make sure you have sufficient staff to handle submissions. Have a schedule, both in-house and for publication. And please, please, have a budget. Account for expenses, not the least of which should be paying hardworking writers for quality fiction (which makes you look good). If you’re really so altrustic that you want to help writers Build a Reputation, then have a plan.

Not all the publications who are now overstocked or closed to submissions have (had) no plan or are (were) underprepared; quite the contrary. Several that I’ve mentioned (most, in fact), have been in business for years, have stellar reputations, and are some of the all-around best places to publish in. They are successful precisely because they DID have a plan, and because they have proved that they are worth working for. Because they’ve stood the test of time in a dwindling marketplace, they’re overstocked now. Many of the defunct markets that bloomed and died before taking root left writers wary of branching out, and we returned to those we know we can trust. People without a plan make us nervous.

Bring it on! Give us more markets for short fiction, because God knows, we need them. But be discerning; make us work for it. And be worth working for.