Publishing your work is important. Even if you are giving a piece to some smaller publication for free, you will learn something about your writing. The editor will say something, friends will mention it. You will learn.
-Tim Cahill
A surprisingly accurate quote, considering he's not a writer but an Australian footballer.
For the last year I've been hammering as many writing groups, poetry nights, book launches, signings and social media events as I can. There are a lot of determined and talented people in Manchester who could go far with their grasp of the written word. Yet I've been amazed by how few of these people have heard of this vital writing resource...
http://duotrope.com/
Duotrope could be described as the Yellow Pages of fiction and poetry magazines. The site itself says it's a “free writers' resource listing over 3150 current Fiction and Poetry publications.”
Using this site is possibly the easiest way of getting your work into print.
Two types of people are going to benefit from this.
1) The Writer.
You've got a piece of writing. You love it. It's been workshopped, tweaked, formatted, slept on and polished. It's ready for print. Now you need Duotrope.
2) The Editor.
You're starting your own publication with the intention of getting as many fantastic stories as possible headed straight into your inbox. All you require, to get your mag known, is publicity. Now you need Duotrope.
The site is fairly straightforward and easy-to-use- or will be after a rummage. Among the three thousand-plus magazines you'll find nearly every genre of writing from Action Adventure to Zombie Horror. Listed are online publications, printed magazines, poetry anthologies, markets that pay, markets that don't, and a range- nay, a smorgasbord of styles and tastes. Like Gothic Fantasy of the absurdist style? There's a market for that. Got a Literary Historical Mystery piece? There are magazines looking for exactly what you have.
You can also choose how you submit your work. Email is quicker for all of us, but if you prefer to print and post your work, you can specify that in your search terms.
Duotrope is more than a search engine- it's almost a form of social media. The site offers a chance for writers to publicise their accepted work. Creating a profile will allow you to report acceptances to the site, which will in turn tell users how often the magazines accept submissions.
Along with that, Duotrope deliver a weekly email featuring changes in the marketplace- new magazines opening or ageing magazines closing to submissions, changes in pay scale or format, magazines looking for specifically-themed stories. This email also gives shout-outs to those who reported acceptances on the site. The more acceptances you get, the more you can report and the more the English-speaking lit-crowd see your name.
If you're a good writer, you'll find a home for your work here. If you're a good editor, contributors will be beating your door down.
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