I need help finding sci-fi publishers.

[Ramirez]

I've scoured the internet and found dozens of sci-fi magazines in which I've submitted work to over the last few months. It was no surprise that none of my short stories were accepted, as you all know that's just how things work. Meeting the guidelines of a lot of these magazines limits me to a select few short stories out of the many that I write. This is mostly due to their policies on violence, drug use, and swearing.

I'm continuing to search for more publishers. I know that members in this community have knowledge to share, which is the entire reason I decided to join this community.

Do any of you know of publishing companies that might be more open to my violent, foul mouthed, drug using brand of sci-fi?

 

[Susan Boulton]

This site lists publishers.

http://www.duotrope.com/

So does this site.

http://www.ralan.com/

Also suggest you subscribe to Locus Magazine.

http://www.locusmag.com/

 

[kmtolan]

Have you considered the fact that there might not be a market for foul-mouthed drug using SF right now?

I'm not being snarky - I am just pointing out that writing is as much a business as an art. It is all about demand and supply - no demand and it doesn't matter how high quality your work is. It won't sell if nobody wants it.

Look at the short stories that are selling. If you see a bunch of foul-mouthed drug using in these magazines then perhaps you can look beyond your subject matter to things like timing, writing quality, and how well your work stands out from the rest. Otherwise, you might want to put that business hat on and lean on that artist a bit.

Kerry

 

[Susan Boulton]

It depends on how well the foul-mouthed, drug taking SF is written and if the foul-mouthed drug taking sections serve the story or are they just there to shock. Same goes for blood, gore and sex. If the elements included in the story serve the story and the story is well-written it will find a market. It will take a lot of submissions and maybe a few re-writes but most stories can find a home, if they are well-written.

 

[PeteMC]

Foul-mouthed-ness, drug abuse, sex and violence certainly haven't held Richard Morgan back with his SF (or William Gibson before him, for that matter) so there must be a market out there.

Have you had feedback on any of your submissions to say that this is actually the reason you've been turned down? If so you might need to find some "edgier" publications to submit to.

 

[KatG]

A lot of the horror mags take SF and they usually don't have a problem with that sort of material.

 

[Ramirez]

Have you considered the fact that there might not be a market for foul-mouthed drug using SF right now?

I'm not being snarky - I am just pointing out that writing is as much a business as an art. It is all about demand and supply - no demand and it doesn't matter how high quality your work is. It won't sell if nobody wants it.

Look at the short stories that are selling. If you see a bunch of foul-mouthed drug using in these magazines then perhaps you can look beyond your subject matter to things like timing, writing quality, and how well your work stands out from the rest. Otherwise, you might want to put that business hat on and lean on that artist a bit.

Kerry

The foulness isn't the focal point of my stories, but more of a style I like to use. Thanks for the advice but I don't think I'll ever be in any condition to put on a business hat. It would be nice to make some money from writing but it's not the reason I write.

It depends on how well the foul-mouthed, drug taking SF is written and if the foul-mouthed drug taking sections serve the story or are they just there to shock. Same goes for blood, gore and sex. If the elements included in the story serve the story and the story is well-written it will find a market. It will take a lot of submissions and maybe a few re-writes but most stories can find a home, if they are well-written.

Everything serves the story. I write about assassins, politicians, soldiers, and street urchins. I try to portray them as they would truly be, and I don't imagine it would be without excessive swearing and drugs. I don't find any real shock value to it at all. In today's society, excessive swearing, drug use, chain smoking, and violence are traits of everyday people I see all around me. I know it's fiction, but I want to give it some grain of realism.

Foul-mouthed-ness, drug abuse, sex and violence certainly haven't held Richard Morgan back with his SF (or William Gibson before him, for that matter) so there must be a market out there.

Have you had feedback on any of your submissions to say that this is actually the reason you've been turned down? If so you might need to find some "edgier" publications to submit to.

So far I've refrained from submitting my edgier stories, as most publishers state in their guidelines that they won't accept any of the sort. I figure it would be a waste of my time to send anything like that their way. Thus, the work I've submitted is for the most part clean and I feel it's in a different, less talented style than my other work. I do need to find edgier publishers to submit to, which is the reason I started this thread.

 

[PeteMC]

So far I've refrained from submitting my edgier stories, as most publishers state in their guidelines that they won't accept any of the sort. I figure it would be a waste of my time to send anything like that their way. Thus, the work I've submitted is for the most part clean and I feel it's in a different, less talented style than my other work. I do need to find edgier publishers to submit to, which is the reason I started this thread.

Like KatG says, look at the horror/underground type publishers. I haven't tried them myself yet, but DF-Underground seem to be actively looking for this sort of thing. Good luck!

 

[Susan Boulton]

I do need to find edgier publishers to submit to, which is the reason I started this thread.

Which is why I gave the links to sites that list publications of all kinds in my first post. No easy way I am afraid. You need to go through the lists, check what the publications are looking for and submit stories that are a match.

 

[Silas]

Everything serves the story. I write about assassins, politicians, soldiers, and street urchins. I try to portray them as they would truly be, and I don't imagine it would be without excessive swearing and drugs. I don't find any real shock value to it at all. In today's society, excessive swearing, drug use, chain smoking, and violence are traits of everyday people I see all around me. I know it's fiction, but I want to give it some grain of realism..

I think violence and swearing are fine as long as they're used for realism. A Game of Thrones is very successful and it has plenty of "adult content", so there is probably a market for it as long as its done well. Don't expect it not to shock people of course, but shock value is sometimes a good thing.

 

[KatG]

A lot of the major magazines are a bit careful about it because a good chunk of their audience is teens and because they may have agreements, for the print ones, with their vendors on what type of material the vendors are willing to stock.

But there are quite a lot of magazines that have swearing and some harsh content. Black Gate is one, if you're doing the sort of fantasy they are looking for -- they have swearing and sexual content. There are a bunch of horror mags. There are mags that do military SF and fantasy. So check out that ralan link Holbrook gave you -- he's a good guy with a decent database, and peruse Locus as you are able. When it comes to book publishing, swearing, sexual content, etc., is not an issue. It might be for some anthologies but there are lots and lots of anthologies, so you just check out their guidelines.