As another INK member noted earlier during a conversation, there are a lot of publications on hiatus right now as far as being open to submissions. That makes it a little tougher to submit, but not impossible. It may take a little longer to find a place to submit, especially if a story has made the rounds, but there are lots of fun places to publish that aren't on the main lists and it's just a matter of hunting around. Luckily I still have lots of options with my current story.
So here's a thought--what if a story has really been to every conceivable market and you're sure (based on unbiased reader and critique group feedback and gut feeling) that it's really a winner. What then? You can try contests.
Some writers, if a story has been published and the rights have reverted to the author (often after one or two years after a magazine publication) will post the story on their website as an example of their writing skills. I like that idea a lot, but before I put an unpublished story that's made the rounds up on my website I'd want to be extra, extra sure it was a good idea before I post it. After all, if a hundred publishers have seen the darned thing, unless there were a lot of personalized or glowing rejections, I'd have to wonder if it wasn't in fact flawed in some subtle way that makes the story good and yet not memorable or strong. I wouldn't want to advertise with anything except my very best.
2 comments:
Did you get that huge market list I sent out to INK a few months ago? I never heard one way or the other whether it was helpful or not, nor received even. There are at least 60+ markets you could send stuff to.
I did get it! Thanks! I've been using Duotrope's search engine and since I haven't run out of options there yet I haven't gone to your market list.
Someone in INK (probably me!) ought to subscribe to the Market Maven newsletter too to learn about the latest in market news. For right now, though, I'm still shopping the biggies.
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