Tag: short fiction

This is a review about one of my favorite short story anthologies and I want to disagree but they’re not wrong. But also, sometimes I need those stories that do show how fucked up we can be, and how we simply need to deal with that as well. I suppose there’s just a time when optimism feels like bullshit and there must be a counterbalance.

Anyway it’s a great anthology, I’d gift it to anyone 17 and up. And don’t take my word for it, here’s another review:

anonymousalchemist:

secularbakedgoods:

Amazon fucks everyone over again

some of you may recall Neil Clarke’s blog post on the deluge of AI-generated spam that has hit Clarkesworld Magazine’s submissions queue.

well, Clarkesworld and other short fiction magazines like it are about to get another swift kick in the dick: Amazon is discontinuing their magazine subscription service (and replacing it with a new service that pays creators much, much less). of the very little money made in the short fiction market, most of it was coming from Amazon.

as Clarke points out in his editorial on the subject, “While there are plenty of people happily reading, listening to, and writing short fiction, a very disappointingly small percentage of those same people are actively paying for it.”

short fiction is not dead. the existence of subreddits like r/NoSleep and blogs like @writing-prompt-s proves that. if you value these stories and you want to help writers get paid for their work, please consider checking out (and subscribing to) some of the following publications:

many of these publications charge less than $5 USD per month for subscriptions, so if you’ve just dropped Netflix and have an extra $10/month lying around, you can instead support two fiction magazines full of interesting, original, well-written stories.

(feel free to reblog with your own favorite publications!)

hi im short fictions number one weirdgirl (lie, this title goes to probably like idk kelly link or cat valente or something, im short fiction’s number 152 weirdgirl) and heres A GUIDE FOR WHICH MAGAZINE U MIGHT LIKE (based on what i read):

Analog and Asimovs: These are PRINT MAGAZINES! you can BUY THEM IN STORES! They go more Scifi scifi, regular ass scifi (appreciative). the Big Boys

F&SF: Also a print magazine!! as the name suggests – fantasy and science fiction! one of the Big Boys.

Clarkesworld: mostly science fiction, literary/experimentalist bent, lots of stories you read and go “well i suppose it is time to think about that forever now!” (think kij johnson, cat valente, sam j. miller, peter watts) – updates monthly, with podcasts, AND pays authors the most out of all the mags rn.

Apex: sf&f with kind of a gothy (appreciative) vibe, reminiscent of neil gaiman maybe? its good i prommy – also has podcasts!!!

Lightspeed: sf&f with a ??? bent – not particularly married to a style other than Weird and Interesting and Very Quality – lots of stuff that makes you go huh?? If you’re a fan of the weirder sort of fanfic (you know what im talking about, the one weird fic in the fandom that you cant stop thinking about) this is for you. I like it lots. also podcasts!!

Fantasy: Lightspeed’s sister magazine – just fantasy! not a ton to say here other than generally really enjoyable shit. (The EICs are so nice also)

Nightmare: HORROR! oops all horror! I don’t read this regularly but one of Lightspeed’s sister magazines. (and if you end up liking Nightmare – the Dark is also a good magazine)

Uncanny: mostly fantasy, some scifi (in my experience). Lots of big names in this one, so the work is usually very quality. believe they also do podcasts.

Escape Artists (Podcastle, Escape Pod, Pseudopod): this is a PODCAST NETWORK! If ur like audio THESE R FOR U. if you liked the magnus archives, fuckin peter lukas (aka: his va) DOES run these, fun fact. As name suggests – these are split into genres (fantasy, sf, horror).

and more specifically:

if you like DEATH, check out THE DEADLANDS !

if you want to support diaspora fiction, read KHOREO!

anyway not to be tumblr about this but rly, think about it like sending ur favorite fic writer a kofi, or donating to ao3.

all the magazines run on shoestring budgets but also produce some of the most interesting experimental shit on a tighter timeline than the novel publishing industry – and there’s a side benefit that if you support these magazines, you’re supporting essentially a sff incubator. a lot of the people writing short fiction at point x end up writing a crazy novel at point y. (taz muir is a good example of this)