Education

Thanks to Shannon for this item:
So, we have some new writers, and Rachel was asking about submitting short stories, I thought I’d throw out some general information. Not comprehensive, but somewhere to start.

First, there are a huge number of people out there trying to scam authors. There used to be a site called “Predators and Editors,” but they seem to be on hiatus. I did find this on the SFWA website. https://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/

Also QueryTracker.net has publisher information and active forums. https://querytracker.net

As far as places to get your work published, I don’t know as much about that. However:

Googling “Short fiction markets” might find some answers. You might want to add the keyword pay or paying to that. Some only offer two copies of the magazine as payment.

There is a book called “Writer’s Market.” Before the internet, they were the best source to find places to submit. They come out with a new edition each year, and the common consensus is the book is worth reading in Barnes and Noble or the library, but not worth the price tag. (Though I see it now sells for $20. I think it used to be much higher.)

As far as how to submit, I like Robert J Sawyer’s Manuscript Checklist https://sfwriter.com/mschklst.htm and sample manuscript https://sfwriter.com/ms.pdf They are a little antiquated now; for instance, “Disposable Copy” isn’t really necessary anymore as most submissions are electronic and Times and Calibri are more expected than Courier typeface now, but it gets across what professionals expect. Some editors/agents do ask for very specific things to weed out those who aren’t serious, so it never hurts to check their website for guidelines. Usually they expect Word Docx format, as the industry kind of runs on Word, but some will take or even prefer PDFs.

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Aime got a website writing job. She posted a review of a movie.

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