About Publishing - Genre and Lit

 I find a lot of useful, interesting material from Counter Craft, even if it is only to make me think. There is that and a bit more in Lit Mags and Money (or the Lack of It). As I am trying to get published, and I need money, practical information about publishing is important and useful. Details can be found in the article, as well as a video of an interview with Harlan Ellison (if you have not read Ellison, then you have missed a great short story writer), even if the conclusion is a bit of common wisdom.

Basically, not many people read literary magazines—of any genre—compared to decades past. When writers talk about the good old days of living on short fiction, well, those probably aren’t ever coming back. The reasons are pretty obvious. We can get our narrative fixes from a million other sources like video games and TV. Newsstands and bookstores rarely sell magazines anymore. Online subscriptions can’t make up the gap. And the big glossy magazines and newspapers that used to publish fiction are themselves failing left and right.

Of course, lots of excellent short fiction is still being written. Perhaps more of it than ever. And while magazines in any genre might not pay as well or have as many readers as decades past, there are likely more literary magazines and venues for fiction than ever before. There are endless stories at your laptop-touching fingertips, for free, right now. Anything you want, really. As readers, we’re living high on the hog. So if you care about short fiction, the best thing you can is find the magazines that put out work you love and then share and subscribe.

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