This blog first appeared at our own H.E. Roulo’s personal blog and is being reprinted here at reader request.

Writers looking to be published often ask how they can find markets for their short stories.

The very best site I’ve found for learning about anthologies and other publishing opportunities is duotrope.com. There, they let you search, sort, and track markets. Speculative fiction writers can also use ralan.com. Horror writers might find the Library of the Living Dead forum useful, especially Other Publishers if you’re looking for a mix of opportunities.

Usually writers looking to publish are in one of two situations. Either you have a story and don’t know what to do with it, or you’re looking for ideas of what to write that someone will want. Duotrope.com will help you in both cases.

If you have an existing story you’re trying to get published then do a search on duotrope.com. You put in the genre, length, and what kind of payment level you’re looking for (from non-paying, token, through professional rates) and it will find fits. Then click on each match and use the link to the actual website. Find the market’s Submissions page to make sure your piece is a good fit with that market. Always follow the submission guidelines. I don’t say this to make you freak out, and possibly drive you to not submit at all. That is not the solution. Just pay attention to what they want, and the closer you match their needs the more likely you are to be selected.

If you are looking for interesting markets to write stories for, then I suggest looking at the calendar of themed magazines and anthologies on duotrope.com. I subscribe to Duotrope’s weekly email that lists these by the date they close. That way, I can see what’s coming up that I might like to submit to. I’ve found that anthologies give you the best odds of being selected for publication. You know precisely what they’re looking for and need right now.

Duotrope is also the site I use to track all my submissions. Using the information provided by all the other authors tracking their submissions, Duotrope creates metrics on numbers of submissions, how long it’s taking to get replies back, and what percent of submissions are being accepted. It makes me feel more in control than just waiting forever and hoping they’re actually going to reply at some point. Duotrope tells me if my wait is unusually longer than what other authors are suffering.

This is how I learned about the Live and Let Undead anthology looking for stories about working zombies. I already had a short story about zombies working outside the protective dome on a poisonous planet, but it was too long to meet their guidelines. Once I cut down the word count to fit, I knew I had a good shot at being selected. Now my story “The Killer with Eyes of Ice” is one of 18 stories in the anthology that just came out on Amazon.com.

I’ll also be in a couple other anthologies coming out this Spring. In addition to what Duotrope tracks, I’ve created a spreadsheet listing all my works and all my dream markets.

Once you know other people in the field and start making a name, it is easier to be invited to write. And wouldn’t we all like to have the work come to us for a change?

Would you like more tips on publishing? Indie writing? Kindle Publishing? Let us know in the comments whether this is what you’d like to see from Podioracket.com.

Heather Roulo is the co-host of Podioracket.com and the author of the podcast novel Fractured Horizon. She has stories scheduled to appear in three anthologies in 2012. Visit www.fracturedhorizonnovel.com for more tips on publishing from H.E. Roulo.

Michael J. Sullivan

Bio: Born in Detroit Michigan, Michael J. Sullivan has lived in Vermont, North Carolina and Virginia. He worked as a commercial artist and illustrator, founding his own advertising agency in 1996, which he closed in 2005 to pursue writing full-time. He currently resides in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife and three children.

Instead of a string of sequels, Michael’s six-book series: The Riyria Revelations was conceived as a single epic tale divided into individual episodes. All were written before the first was released so that plot elements are intertwined, yet each is self-contained and can be read independently from each other. They were released in six-month intervals and are now all available in three books from Orbit.


Website:  http://www.riyria.blogspot.com/
Email: michael.sullivan.dc@gmail.com
Twitter: @author_sullivan
Facebook (personal): www.facebook.com/michael.james.sullivan
Facebook (author): www.facebook.com/author.michael.sullivan
Facebook (riyria): www.facebook.com/riyria

Free short story The Viscount and the Witch from The Riyria Revelations By Michael J. Sullivan.
This short is currently free but we don’t know how long that will last to get your copy today in the Kindle book store.


The Riyria Revelations By Michael J. Sullivan
Theft of Swords (Riyria Revelations Omnibus #1 contains The Crown Consipracy & Avempartha)

Amazon


Rise of Empire (Riyria Revelations Omnibus #2 contains Nyphron Rising &The Emerald Storm)
Amazon

Heir of Novron (Riyria Revelations Omnibus #3 contains Wintertide & Percepliquis)
Amazon

Robin Sullivan

Robin Sullivan – founder, president of Ridan Publishing Robin Sullivan gives us the scoop on self publishing, indie publishing, and how she got her start in the publishing industry.



Ridan Publishing website: http://www.ridanpublishing.com

Ridan Publishing on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/RidanPublishing

Robins Blog: http://write2publish.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ridan_pub

Listen now
download and don’t forget to subscribe to Podioracket’s feed.

INTERVIEWS

TM Nielsen on her Heku Series

T.M. Nielsen is the author of Amazon.com’s Bestselling books, the Heku Series. After spending a lifetime reading about the paranormal, and coming up short, she decided to fix the legends and came up with the heku.

The 8 book series is full of action, adventure, romance, humor, and drama.

Website : http://www.hekuseries.com

E-Mail : info@hekuseries.com

Twitter ID : http://twitter.com/#!/TheHekuSeries

Facebook Page :
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=hp#!/groups/140395936002360?ap=1

Seth Kenlon’s Private Property

Seth Kenlon is a multimedia artist, a Unix geek, and a
free software enthusiast. Sometimes, he
writes esoteric science fiction.

Official Book Site: http://aesdiopod.com/books

Author Site: http://straightedgelinux.com/seth

NEWS

Basil Sands Contest

Basil Sands is giving away a winners choice of either a new Kindle 3 or Kindle Touch eReader ($99 value) to a lucky winner who leaves a comment on the Amazon pages of his ebooks 65 Below, Karl’s Last Flight, Faithful Warrior, or Geeks Rule. If you have listened to the podcast novels and have an Amazon account, you can leave a comment too (without even having to buy the book) for any or all stories. Each comment left from July of this year until 12/23/11 gets one entry into the drawing.
Details on the drawing are at http://www.basilsands.com.
Visit Amazon.

John Mierau on Indigogo

John Mierau is raising money for his new book Enemy Lines. Here’s the his campaign as it’s listed on the site:

I’m an independant artist. I’ve never had an advance, a publicity budget or an editorial staff. I do everything myself or I have to find someone who can help.

To me, IndieGoGo feels like the best way to reach out to my readers to fund what I’m creating *for* them. I don’t believe I need a publisher to commission beautiful covers and pay for editng and printing costs. That just drives up the cost for you, and the profits for another company.

Check out indiegogo.com for all the details and a list of the perks he’s awarding to contributors.

Thanks!

Listen now

or download the episode or subscribe to our feed.

In Broad Daylight by Seth Harwood

Seth Harwood is now 13 episodes into a new crime novel on Podiobooks.com.

Blurb: FBI Agent Jess Harding always gets her man… or woman.
In this thriller, Harding returns to the scene of her first years as an FBI agent to track the still-at-large killer from her first case. Back in 2006, as a young, inexperienced agent, Harding chased leads across Alaska for a full summer without catching up with this killer. Now, after 5 years of honing her skills, she’s back and ready to try again.
But when she starts to see that the killer knows a little something about her, the heat turns up and Harding realizes she may not be the only one getting chased. Listen to it on Podiobooks.com for free. Due out in Febuary 2012 as an eBook.

Hit Seth up on his websites:  www.sethharwood.com and www.crimewave.com
Friend him on twitter and facebook, or join in the fan discusions on his website forum.

Giving an E-Reader for Christmas? Why not fill it with Harwood’s Crime Fiction.  Click the get them all link and fill’er up! The pricing is sweet and for under 25 bucks you can have them all!

Get them all!

Let’s kick off the show with a bit of Scott Sigler trivia: Our first guest shares his name with the main ship in one of Scott’s short story series. Is it BloodCast or The Crypt?

Listen now

or download the episode or subscribe to our feed.

INTERVIEWS

James Keeling’s Compensating Controls

Bio: James Keeling is a working author located in sometimes frozen tundra of Minnesota. The father of four daughters, he never ceases to be amazed by the magic of life around him. His role of both bedtime and fireside storyteller has led him inexorably into authorhood. His work has been published in the Flying Island Press’ Pirates Cove.

Synopsis:  Nicholas Edgwood rides a wave of good karma–a job he excels at, a new girlfriend, and a bright future. When he gets framed for a cyber-crime he did not commit, he must run for his life while his entire world crumbles around him.
Betrayal and murder replace peace and hope as he finds himself in unfamiliar territory. He may not be the biggest and baddest guy out there, but he has skills, the kind garnered from a career steeped in computers and code. Now he must leverage these skills to their fullest to stay above ground and breathing. It will take all of his talent, and courage he may not have, just to survive.

Get it on Amazon today! for only $3.99

For more information
Website: http://www.jameskeeling.com
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/search/synapticjam
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/SynapticJam
Google+:  Find him here.

Michael J. Parry’s Elanore and Gurt Tales:
Synopsis: Book one The Spiral Tattoo introduces the reader to Elanore, the eight-foot tall troll, and Gurt, the six-inch tall (don’t you dare call me a fairy) Eleinu, both guardsmen in the city of Delvenport, tackle their most baffling case yet. When they find a dead waitress, naked except for an intricate tattoo in a spiral across her body, they’re launched into an adventure in the seedier side of Delvenport, filled with rogue mages, prostitution, and narcotics. But can they solve the case before madness and riots take over the city?
and Book 2 The Oaks Grove is a fantasy country mystery.

You can get book one in Ebook right now on Amazon for only $.99.

Bio:Fantasy mystery author writes fantasy and science fiction, mixed in with the occasional piece of contemporary fiction. He live on a small block of land in the Tararua district of New Zealand, where he and his partner grow trees and our children. To earn a crust he works in a University library as the Digital Initiatives Librarian. Michael loves social media, and uses it as a tool for the library he works in.
For more information
Website: http://michaeljparry.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Michael_J_Parry
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-J-Parry/177255755657054

NEWS

3 Podiobooks.com authors topped the charts on Amazon this last week and are still charting now.

Emerian Rich’s Night’s Knights [Kindle Edition]

Get it from Amazon for free today.

Hit #1 in both of these categories and is still at #1 Hit  #1 in Kindle, Store, Kindle eBooks, Fiction, Genre Fiction, Science Fiction

and #2 in KindleStore, Kindle eBooks, Fiction, GenreFiction, Horror, Ghosts


Seth Harwood’s Jack Palms in Triad Death Match (Jack Palms Crime) [Kindle Edition]

Get if from Amazon for free today!

Hit  #1 and is currently #3 in Kindle Store, Kindle eBooks,  Fiction, Genre Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers, Mystery, Hard-Boiled

We also have a special interview with Seth Harwood hitting the feed soon.


And our own Rhonda R Carpenter’s The Mark of a Druid [Kindle Edition]

Get it from Amazon for Free today!

Hit #1 in Kindle store, Kindle eBooks, Fiction, Historic, Fantasy and is currently #2 in Kindle Store, Kindle eBooks, Fiction, Fantasy,  Historical

If you hurry you can still get all 3 of these authors’ works for free at Amazon in the kindle store. That’s right for free!


PRP-Glimpses is Complete on Podiobooks.com
And the eBook is ready for your enjoyment.

 Get it at Amazon Today!

Podioracket Presents-Glimpses, the anthology from established Podiobooks.com authors that takes place in the worlds of their full-length novels, is now complete on Podiobooks.com. If you’ve already listened to these 12 stories from diverse genre, please leave a rating for others on Podiobooks.com or iTunes.

We’re proud of the stories you’ll find in PRP-Glimpses:

• Conclave – Mick Bordet
• Foretelling – Arlene Radasky
• The Interview – M. Darusha Wehm
• Appeasement – Gloria Oliver
• Good Luck – Casey S Townsend
• Fleeting Time – Keith Hughes
• Blind Curve – Dave Donelson
• Holy Rites – Emerian Rich
• The Siege – Katharina Maimer
• Wayward Spirits- A Prelude to The Dawning of Power – Brian Rathbone
• Future In Hand: A Rivenspace Story – H.E Roulo

Fireside Chat

If you haven’t listened to the Fireside Chats yet don’t miss out on some great Indie author information. Podioracket.com continues to release useful information for author and reader alike in our blog posts, including our 7-part audio series on good book creation, promotion, and the self-publishing industry. Make sure you begin with Part-1 and continue through this quick and informative series from fantasy author and indie publisher “White Wolf Press” Brian Rathbone’s.

We hope you all had a safe Thanksgiving! And you guys tell us, do you miss the New Release list and Now Complete list we used to put in the blog posts? We would like to hear from you.

Listen now

or download the episode or subscribe to our feed.

INTERVIEW

John Dodds novel Bone Machines

Bio: John Dodds was born on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. He has been a journalist, a publicist for arts and social housing organisations, a graphic designer and a person-centred counsellor.  Now a freelance writer and editor, he lives in Bulgaria with his wife, two dogs and
two cats.

Synopsis:

They suffer for his art.

When a number of women are reported missing in Glasgow, the spectre of a previous spate of unsolved disappearances in the city rears its head.

Journalist Ray Bissett is drawn into the case when his daughter joins the ranks of the missing. And ambitious police detective Tom Kendrick won’t let Ray forget a terrible incident from his past which resulted in the death of a young boy.

Damaged lives and dark secrets…

The streets of Glasgow haunted by the ghosts of the missing…

And an artist driven by a deadly inspiration.

For more information on John Dodd’s work visit his blog at http://bonemachines.wordpress.com

NEWS

PRP-Glimpses is Complete

Podioracket Presents-Glimpses, the anthology from established Podiobooks.com authors that takes place in the worlds of their full-length novels, is now complete on Podiobooks.com. If you’ve already listened to these 12 stories from diverse genre, please leave a rating for others on Podiobooks.com or iTunes.

We’re proud of the stories you’ll find in PRP-Glimpses:

• Conclave – Mick Bordet
• Foretelling – Arlene Radasky
• The Interview – M. Darusha Wehm
• Appeasement – Gloria Oliver
• Good Luck – Casey S Townsend
• Fleeting Time – Keith Hughes
• Blind Curve – Dave Donelson
• Holy Rites – Emerian Rich
• The Siege – Katharina Maimer
• Wayward Spirits- A Prelude to The Dawning of Power – Brian Rathbone
• Future In Hand: A Rivenspace Story – H.E Roulo

Watch for the eBook release as we make the book available on Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.

. . . And What You Missed

During our break, Podioracket.com continued to release blog posts, including our 7-part audio series on good book creation, promotion, and the self-publishing industry. Make sure you begin with Part-1 and continue through this quick and informative series we like to call Brian Rathbone’s Fireside Chats.

Community Service Volunteers will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2012. The author recalls his experiences as a volunteer in the early days of the organization, working at a halfway house for ex-prisoners in Rutland and a closed unit for teen offenders in Bristol. Following his volunteer experience, the author worked for a charitable organization at a halfway house for the mentally ill in Kent.

A Hole Without Sides explores what happens when an individual steps off the conventional path, ignores all ‘sensible’ advice and embarks on a voyage of self-discovery. A book for those who believe that they can and should micromanage their futures.

A Hole Without Sides is available in paperback, Kindle, Nook and ePub formats at a number of online websites including Amazon.com (including Amazon UK), Barnesandnoble.com and Goodreads.com.

Murdo Morrison is a writer who lives in southern New Jersey, USA. His previous book, Roses of Winter, an historical novel set in World War 2 Glasgow, Scotland was released in September, 2011.

Listen now

download the episode or subscribe to our feed.

In Summary

Rathbone dropped technical tips, shared links to freeware that he’s used to publish, and shared his experiences.

Listen to the entire Fireside podcast at Fireside Writer’s Workshop but be warned, it’s 2.5 hours long. You can also visit Brian at his New Fantasy Fiction web page and while you’re there download The Dawning of Power Trilogy and The Balance of Power Trilogy.

Brian Rathbone has just released Regent! Regent, Book One of The Balance of Power Trilogy, is the much anticipated continuation of the World of Godsland fantasy series, which began with The Dawning of Power Trilogy. Buy Regent now from Amazon.

Brian’s Link List:

Twitter Anyone? Follow Brian: http://twitter.com/brianrathbone

His Website: http://brianrathbone.com/fantasy-fiction-regent.html

EPub Editor: http://code.google.com/p/sigil/

EPub Manager: http://calibre-ebook.com/

Auto Recorder and Editor: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ (use BETA 1.3.12 or later)

Spoken Word Normalizer (sorta) Evens out voices at different volume levels
http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator

Transfer Files to Webservers: http://filezilla-project.org/

Can’t Afford Photoshop? Try gimp: http://www.gimp.org/

Record Skype Audio Calls: http://scribie.com/free-skype-recorder MP3 Converter

Run Report to see how well you target terms. Run one free report a day or $80.00 Month
http://www.seomoz.org/

Brian uses the free Rank Checker and SEO for Firefox add-ons. Track search rank, page rank, backlinks, etc from within Firefox. http://www.seobook.com/

Track usage of your website and blogs. More powerful and useful that you might imagine
http://www.google.com/analytics/

Shorten links for Twitter with the added benefit of tracking how many clicks the link gets
http://bit.ly/

Get his Ebooks on Amazon the first two free and the conclusion for only .99 cents.

Heather’s “Future in Hand” is a follow-up to her Podiobooks.com novel Fractured Horizon, a Rivenspace novel, which was a Parsec Finalist in 2009.

About the story: The future isn’t ready for Katherine Downs when she awakens after another long hibernation. At the wild borderlands of space, she’s excited to continue her secret journey. But is keeping her secret worth losing people’s lives?

Podioracket Presents-Glimpses is now available on Podiobooks.com.

Previous stories:

Mike Luoma’s short story “Alibi Jones:Blind Eye”, from the Alibi Jones universe, is episode #10 and is an adaptation of a comic book.

Katharina Maimers short story is “The Siege” is from the universe of Wiener Blut and is episode #9.


Emerian Rich’s short story “Holy Rites” is from the universe of Night’s Knights and is episode #8.

Our Fireside Chat–about all things publishing related–continues as Brian Rathbone delivers the sixth part of the series.

Listen now

download the episode or subscribe to our feed.

In the 6th part of the series Brian continues his discussion of editing, publishing, GoodReads, people to make contact with, and print on demand.

Get his Ebooks on Amazon the first two free and the conclusion for only .99 cents.