Taking Stock of the Markets

I don’t keep close track of freelance opportunities for selling crime-fiction short stories, so I am very pleased that Sandra Seamans does. In her blog, My Little Corner, she recently put together two posts looking at the current, fluctuating state of those markets.

Among the bits of bad news, she lists blogs and Web sites that appear to have shut down: “Powder Burn Flash, Darkest Before the Dawn, and Fires on the Plain haven’t posted any new stories in over a year. Thrillers, Killers ’n’ Chillers closed their doors. Burnt Bridge and Blood & Tacos have decided to focus on novellas instead of short stories. After two years The Malfeasance Occasional finally published their first issue ‘Girl Trouble,’ but haven’t reopened to submissions.”

She hastens to note, however, that the horizon does offer some good news as well. New prospects have opened up at Plan B (“a paying market, straight mysteries”), Thrills, Kills ’n’ Chaos (“This new flash ’zine stepped in when Thrillers, Killers, and Chillers closed their doors”), and the Akashic Books site (“Known for their Noir Series of anthologies, they now publish flash fiction three days a week on their Web site. While it’s non-paying, it’s a good way for the publisher to get to know your work”).

As hard as it is to maintain a handle on this field, I have updated the “Short Fiction/Poetry” section of The Rap Sheet’s links to reflect some of the changes Seamans identifies. Make My Little Corner a regular stop in your Web searching, if you want to learn more.