You’re ready to write a short story to submit somewhere. But where? You’re familiar with the names of some magazines, but you know people who’ve been published in anthologies, too. Which route would be best for you?
Here’s some pros and cons about both options to consider.
MAGAZINES
The most prestigious magazines in the crime/mystery genre are Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. The pay is heads above all the others and they are both supremely difficult to crack. Being published in one of these two gives you bragging rights and gains you a bit of respect from other writers. Following those two are Mystery Magazine, Mystery Tribune, Black Cat Magazine, Yellow Mama Webzine, Tough, Hoosier Noir, and others ranging from three cents per word to nothing.
The Pros:
- A few top magazines pay quite well.
- Being published in one of the more prestigious magazines boosts your writer’s creds and may gain you added respect in the writing community—as well as with friends who likely are familiar with the big-name magazines that grace the shelves in Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.
- You’ll gain name recognition with editors as you submit multiple stories to their attention.
- You are free to write about anything as long as you follow their basic guidelines: no child abuse, no animal killings, etc.
The Cons:
- There aren’t as many magazines that feature crime/mystery short stories anymore, and the pay at most isn’t anything to gloat about. But that’s not why you’re writing in the first place, is it?
- There is a TON of competition for the top magazine slots. Some magazine slots are already filled by stories from invited writers, making it even more difficult to gain a toehold.
- Your story may have a lengthy park in an editor’s slush pile when they are open for submissions on a regular basis. The response rate for AHMM is currently about one year.
- It’s very difficult (at least for me) to try to figure out what these editors want. Second-guessing is not a fool-proof science. What they say they want and what they publish may be polar opposites. And there’s usually no “theme” to guide you.
- Magazines are usually only kept until the next issue comes out. They don’t have the same panache that a row of paperbacks in a bookcase does.
- Once your story is accepted, it may be months, or even years, before it appears in the publication, depending on their backlog.
ANTHOLOGIES
Calls for open submissions for anthologies abound. You just have to know where to look. And be prepared to receive zip to a token amount. But, the competition isn’t usually as steep as with most magazines.
The Pros:
- All those paperbacks or hard cover books look great on your shelf. Just looking at them in the morning can give you inspiration. They have a longer shelf-life than magazines.
- You can participate in book signings with an anthology.
- Most have a set theme, some more detailed than others, which can help you determine your story line quicker and narrow the scope of ideas you have to come up with.
- Your story is in an anthology with a group of other writers. You may develop relationships with other writers that can help you along the way in a career that can be lonely.
The Cons:
- You won’t earn a living writing for anthologies. (You probably won’t writing for magazines, either!) Many are put out by small presses. Most anthologies pay a minimal amount–$25 or $10; some may send you a free copy of the book, and some give you diddley squat—and then you have to buy your own copy! Some offer discounted copies, but many don’t.
- Some may include fifteen stories, but as many as eight of them are already filled with stories from invited writers.
- There may be hundreds of submissions.
- Often anthologies are one-time or are published rarely, so you don’t get a chance to build a relationship with the editor.
- The smaller presses don’t have the distribution channels that the more prestigious magazines do, so your story may not reach many readers’ hands.
- You have to search for open submission calls. There is only a small window of time that they are open for submissions. That may not suit your schedule.
- The theme might be such a niche that you’ll have a difficult time selling the story elsewhere if it doesn’t make it into the anthology you created it for.