What are the top three places you would suggest starting with to market short stories?
Hey Chewie! It’s tough to answer your question without a little bit more information. Where are you at in the process and what do you mean by “places” to market short stories?
Do you presently have short stories for sale somewhere? Free downloads? How would someone presently obtain your short stories?
Or are you asking about how to get a short story published?
Hey Chewie. Unfortunately, I do not have a list like that.
Finding an outlet to publish a short story takes a lot of time and effort, and it’s all about finding the right fit. There are hundreds of “good” publishers of short stories, the question is finding one with an audience that is going to love the story you’d like to sell.
If anything, you want a bigger list, not a shorter one! 🙂 The best way to vet a potential publisher is to look at their track record. Are they consistently publishing work of exceptional quality? Is their production process professional? Do their materials look and feel great, as well as have great content?
You can always submit to The Pearl (pearlmag.co). That’s a fairly eclectic collection, and I think we do a great job.
Other than that, you may want to check out Duotrope. There’s a small fee to become a member, but it’s a pretty massive list of publishing opportunities.
I hope that helps!
I stumbled across thewritelife.com and they have a list of 30+ magazines and literary journals that publish short stories. I was wondering if you had a similar (but much shorter) list that you would recommend?