[john parker]

Hello everybodies

Does anyone know what are the best magazines to approach with short stories with the idea of being published? What are they likely to pay? And what are the chances of being published?

I would very much like to know

[Spacejock]

I sent stories to F&SF and Asimov's. Analog is apparently limited to hard SF, which isn't my forte.

The chances of getting accepted? I don't want to put you off, but they apparently get 800 stories a month and they print something like 8 or 10. Your story has to be better than 90% of the rest. Pay particular attention to advice like that found on the neverworlds submission page at http://www.neverworlds.com/ (Just click 'Guidelines') They list all the overdone plots you should avoid and tell you why they reject stories.
http://www.speculations.com/slush.htm is a funny look at how first readers reduce their workload. Worth a read, along with all the other articles on http://www.speculations.com/readme.htm

Don't be disappointed if you get a rejection letter - just put the next story in the mail to the same mag. (You DID write something else while you were waiting for the reply, didn't you?)

Cheers
Simon http://www.spacejock.com

[Xayn]

A huge list of magazines & e-zines (fan (no payment), semi-pro (i.e. payment < US$ 0.03 per word), and pro (payment >= US$ 0.03 per word) can be found with Spicy Green Iguana (http://www.spicygreeniguana.com).
Considering the amount of entries, the information given there is as up-to-date as the people who run the site can make it be.
You'll find excerpts from the various zines' guidelines there, what exactly they are looking for, and how much they pay.

[KATS]

I prefer the book “2001 Novel & Short story Writer’s Market”. It’s available at or through just about any bookstore. However, like Spacejock said, most magazines are very particular about the stories they publish. A rejection can mean that the story needs more work or simply that it doesn’t fit what the editor wants for that magazine or both.

Good luck.

[john parker]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have half a dozen or so short stories on this site under the name Ashley Parker and I am trying to write a sci fi book at the moment but have very little time to do so which is a bit frustrating for me. (Half the time I am too tired to do anything as I work full time etc.)

The reason I was asking about the mags etc. was that it is difficult to find somewhere to print your story (or stories) AND no matter how many stories you do, how do you know they are any good or not if no one else reads them? It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation isn't it?

But thanks again for the replies though and I will check them out

cheers
John