We’re back after the holiday break! There are only three new stories, but the first one is long. They’re all well worth the read, so be sure to check out the new issue.

If you feel like submitting stuff but haven’t made up your mind yet, now is the time – despite the break, we are still running low on content for the next issue. (We got a lot of submissions, but most of them are not really publishable.) Yes, we also take nonfiction and art – we could also use a few interesting reviews…

This list was compiled by Ada Hoffmann and posted in the comments, but it’s worth making a separate entry for it. Thank you Ada! This is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for.

I’ve added some formatting, and I should probably take the time to add links to the magazine names as well…

So far the list only includes English-language markets that also publish speculative fiction. (Are there any markets that do not buy spec fic but buy spec fic reviews? I don’t know of any offhand, and they are not in Duotrope.)

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Aoife’s Kiss: 0-2000 words. No horror. Pays $7.
Basement Stories: 0-3000 words. Pays 3 cents/word.
Beyond Centauri: Ages 10 and up. 0-1500 words. Pays $7.
Big Pulp: 0-2500 words. Pays 1 cent/word. Takes “non-fiction”; unclear if this includes reviews.
Breath & Shadow: 0-3000 words (pieces up to 5000 may be considered). Must be written by a person with a disability and be related to people with disabilities.
Dark Discoveries: 500-6500 words. Horror/dark only. Pays 5 cents/word. *Appears* to take reviews (it takes “non-fiction”, and many reviews are posted from a variety of reviewers) but doesn’t specifically say so.
Eternal Haunted Summer: No clear word limit. Pays $5. Material reviewed must have a pagan focus or otherwise be of interest to a pagan readership.
Expanded Horizons: Reviews and essays related to underrepresented groups in spec fic. Pays $30.
The Future Fire: 500-1500 words. Pay unclear and may not exist; they do pay $20 for stories and don’t mention anything about review pay.
the.gloaming: 0-2500 words. Pays 1 cent/word. Takes “non-fiction”; unclear if this includes reviews.
Hungur: 0-2000 words. Pays $7. Vampire stories only.
Kaleidotrope: No clear word limit. Pays 1 cent/word.
NewMyths: 0-10,000 words. Pays $40.
The Pedestal: 850-1000 words. Pays 2 cents/word.
Phantasmacore: No clear word limit. Pays $1.
Plutonian Times: No clear word limit. Pays $1.
Port Iris: Length and payment negotiable on query.
The Rejected Quarterly: 0-8000 words. Pays $20.
Shroud Magazine: 0-3000 words. Horror/dark only. Pays $25. Accepts reviews on a case by case basis.
Something Wicked: 800-1500 words. Pays $50.
Sounds of the Night: 0-2000 words. Pays $7.
Strange Horizons: 1000+ words. Prefers 1500-2000 words. Pays $20.
Sybil’s Garage: Length and payment negotiable on query.
Witches & Pagans: Review guidelines available on request. Focused on pagan issues, obviously.

I’ve posted about the project to increase diversity in SF award voting (…I think it needs a catchier name, any ideas?), and now it’s your turn! What you, dear reader, can do right now to help – it’s really easy and does not take up much of your time

Comment and tell us about:

* Speculative fiction related to underrepresented/marginalized people, social justice, etc. that you liked (For award voting/submissions, only recent works count, but I’m personally interested in hearing about everything that falls under this heading, recommend me your favorite stories, novels, comics, etc.!)

* Authors we should pay attention to (feel free to include authors with few to no English translations – some of us speak other languages too, stuff might get translated to English eventually, etc.)

* Publishers which offer advance reader copies for reviewers

* Magazines/ezines/etc. which are interested in buying spec fic reviews (the diversity aspect need not be specifically emphasized)

* Venues with which some sort of cooperation/cross-promotion/etc. might be possible

I will start compiling a list here and then we can move it elsewhere if it grows really big… every small one-line recommendation helps!

If you like this small checklist, feel free to post it on your blog/LJ/etc., and then link me there. Share it with your friends!

This is mostly a summary of stuff that came up elsewhere, in order to move the discussion to a location where the owner does not get overburdened with comments. I have time for comments right now and I’m OK with organizing things BTW if you prefer, I can try to set up OpenID on my blog so you can just log in with your LJ accounts.

I tried to sort stuff into headings…

Recommendations and finding them

Rose Lemberg had the idea that we should set up a recommendation depository and/or a book exchange as part of the Hugo project, and I wholeheartedly agree, because I keep on worrying about missing out on something. I know I find stuff which makes me go “how did I ever manage to miss this?! For years?!” all the time.

There is also the question of actually obtaining content. AFAIK, last year’s Worldcon membership came with ebooks of the shortlist, but that doesn’t solve the problem of what to nominate. So we will need to take a look at which publishers offer advance reviewer copies (or can be talked into some special deal) and in which formats. I can maintain the list, or we can set up some sort of CMS – a group blog, a wiki, anything you think would be a good idea.

Reviews, cooperation with other venues

I think we should also try to write reviews not only on our blogs, but hopefully in already established venues as well. I’ve already had a Hungarian online magazine show interest in response to my previous blog post, but we should also look for English-language venues – magazines, group blogs, etc., the more the merrier! I have experience writing book reviews in a variety of formats (from “one paragraph per book” to lengthy essays), but it’s quite hard to find markets for this sort of content, at least it’s been that way for me. Duotrope only shows fiction and poetry, and many magazines only have in-house reviews.

In addition to the extra publicity offered by other venues, there is also the financial aspect – I’m OK with doing some work as a volunteer, especially when something is close to my heart, but from time to time I like to receive compensation I think this is also true for pretty much everyone else, especially members of underrepresented groups!

I’m not trying to say that everyone should rush to buy our reviews, I’m totally OK with sending queries and then getting rejected etc., so basically just going through the regular process of publication – but what I could really use is a list of places actively looking for reviews. I know Expanded Horizons is constantly on the lookout for reviews of spec fic related to underrepresented groups (payment is a flat fee of $30), but surely there are more magazines, we just need to find them. They need not be specifically diversity-oriented as long as they take reviews of spec fic.

What rubs me the wrong way is markets that pay less for reviews than fiction which then protest they do not get enough reviews, or that the reviewer pool is not sufficiently diverse. I can only speak for myself, but I have a limited amount of time and energy to spend on free time writing (as opposed to writing that pays my bills ), I’m not very rich either – especially compared to the average American -, and thus I tend to optimize for money. If a market pays the most for poetry, I’ll send them poetry. If they pay the most for fiction, I’ll send them fiction. Etc.

What people can do to help right now

I decided to split this off into a separate blog post…