Ezines and online market newsletters

E-ZINES THAT PAY AND MARKET RESOURCES Three years ago (a century in Internet time) you could get published without too much pain if you accepted online exposure with no pay. Now the medium has become competitive. Think of that—no postage, follow-ups responded to by e-mail, and maybe even a check afterward. I am not discussing markets like The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, or Harper’s, though The New Yorker now accepts online submissions. I am betting the other two will eventually join the 21st century. A seemingly wealthy e-zine is www.narrativemagazine.com, whose editor, Tom Jenks, used to work at Esquire Magazine. The zine mounts an annual conference at Ft. Mason in San Francisco attended by the likes of Amy Tan and Tobias Wolff. The editors are as tough as those on any paper periodical but you get feedback. The zine features a $150 Story-of-the-Week winner. www.newmilleniumwriting.com is a print journal but accepts online submissions. They run contests throughout the year. www.danaliterary.com, a serious zine, wants your earnest, well-defined thoughts on any subject. www.goodgoshlmighty.com bills itself as a forum for determined individualists. They pay, but will keep your story or article fresh in their archives if you forego pay. www.conversely.com runs contests and is fun to read by itself. www.Pedestalmagazine.com, a handsome literary zine, also runs contests. Then there is www.literarycottage.com, somewhat new on the scene. www.fanstory.com promises a ream of markets once you join. The word “funky” fits www.anotherealm.com, which runs contests for short speculative fiction of the millennium, whatever that means. For clues, read the stories that have made it onto the site. The zine features discussion boards where contributors and readers can fight out their differences. Its extended cousin, www.anotherealm.com/prededitors, offers helpful resources on anything connected to our trade. A zine of stature that pays little, www.theroseandthornzine.com, has been alive for years. Traditional literary journals have come online. One of the most attractive is www.crazyhorse.cofc.edu, a long-standing review of College of Charleston, S.C., offering generous prizes for fiction and poetry. www.newletters.com accepts both USPS and online submissions. These two have broken away from the old-fashioned dreary round of postal-mail submissions to the traditional markets. Remember, you can always nudge this kind of periodical by e-mail, and get a reply in timely fashion. A site I haven’t fully explored yet is www.fundsforwriters, but it is surely intriguing. They offer a free newsletter and a $12/year newsletter. Once having accessed a market-resource newsletter, you may find your mailbox deluged by such newsletters. I have been receiving the free www.writing-world.com for at least 18 months, and find at least one market I can use every other newsletter. Other market newsletters, all worthwhile, are: www.worldwidefreelance.com, www.writingitreal.com, and www.winningwriters.com. Finally, a useful site, www.sfwa.org/BEWARE/agents.html, helps guide you through the minefield of acquiring agents. Go break a leg!