# Realistic Short-Story Markets for the New Writer



## Paul Va (Feb 22, 2016)

I'm a new writer, and I'm trying to publish short stories. 

I managed to publish one short story in an anthology that advertised for stories on the Horror Tree. However, I've been sending stories out to genre magazines, and I haven't had any luck. Looking at Duotrope, I see that most of the fiction magazines have acceptance rates below 2%, and many of them are below 1%. With this in mind, it seems that getting published in these magazines is almost akin to winning the lottery.

So, I'm wondering if there are more realistic markets I could target in order to develop my name as a writer.


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## Terry D (Feb 22, 2016)

Welcome to the reality of writing. The publishing business exists for the readers, not the writers. Editors are looking for good stories, well told, and most of what they get aren't good enough. Do you want to get published in a magazine with lower standards, or do you want to produce work that can't be ignored by those with high standards? Competition is fierce, but that's what makes us better writers.


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## LeeC (Feb 22, 2016)

To add to Terry's sage words ... 
There's an element of happenstance, but keep in mind that publishers are in the business of providing stories that "sell." Yes, they're subjective, but their focus is on reader's subjectivity. Being unknown in today's quagmire can be a handicap, but on the other hand it allows time to develop one's writing skills, and with that a writer's reputation. Those that don't make use of the time to improve are commonly the one's that never achieve any meaningful success ;-)


If you want a humbling experience, spend some time on social media where millions upon millions of "writers" are hawking their brilliant manuscripts.


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## dale (Feb 22, 2016)

go here and leave everything pretty much open except genre "horror", i guess. 

http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Search.aspx

the non-paying zines and websites would be the easiest. but i think that's the lowest
bar you can possibly set for yourself. if i happen to run across a list of zines that say..
"we accept anything, no matter how bad it sucks", i'll let you know.


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## krishan (Mar 4, 2016)

Duotrope used to have a list of markets with high acceptance rates - I believe they still do, although now you might have to pay to access it. For what it's worth, I'm not entirely certain of the value in being published in a magazine that accepts almost anything. They are likely to have few regular readers, and probably won't enhance your reputation. Although it's difficult to find publication in larger or more prestigious magazines it is worth the effort.


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