What's the best way to get a science fiction short story published?

Question

It's my first story. Is there any point submitting to print magazines or should I just try to get it published in an online magazine right away? How much can I expect to be paid for a 5000 word short story?

Answer 1

Get Writer's Market and read how to submit a story and to who.

Go to a science fiction convention that has a Writer's Track. You will meet REAL authors and even some publishers.

Answer 2

There are basically 4 ways to sell short stories. To magazines, to e books, to anthologies and in contests.

In the first three ways you will find that pay for a story ranges from 5 bucks to about 25 bucks or between 1 and 5 cents a word. The reason for doing anthologies isn't to get rich, it is to get your name out there. Some pay nothing more than a copule copies of the book you're in.

Of course magazines like Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Esquire, GQ etc. pay a great deal more. However, they primarily deal with major authors and they hire them to write specific stories. Very rarely do major magazines accept a pitch from an unknown and tell them to go ahead with it.

As for contests, there are a few legit ones. Check with Absolute Write Water Cooler Bewares and Background Checks and Preditors and Editors. There are contests that pay 1,000 like Glimmer Train but they are very very hard to win. They are almost impossible to even sell a story to. Glimmer Train also charges a 35 dollar fee every time you enter a story.

Sorry but you will not be making thousands or even hundreds selling your stories. PJ M - a regular contributor here is a fairly well known anthology contributor. I have known him for several years now. I don't think he has ever gotten more than 50 bucks and a couple copies for a story. But it does get his name out there for the benefit of his longer works.

Hope that helps. Pax - C