One of the main topics of interest lately, at least for short-story writers, has been the sad decrease in the number of markets for short mystery fiction. To put it more simply, we no longer have as many places to sell our stories.
I'm still writing those mystery stories--I probably couldn't stop if I wanted to--and I'm still submitting them pretty regularly to those half-dozen good publications still available. But I also have, for the first time in a long time, a pile of completed mystery-story manuscripts sitting around waiting to be submitted. (The only other choice is to overload the submission queues of the few remaining markets, and I try not to do that.) Back in the old days, I never had to do that kind of stockpiling. I always sent those kids out into the world as soon as they graduated, to try to make something of themselves. Now my sad little story pages are hanging around home, aging like tobacco leaves.
So I'm making a few changes. One is, I'm writing some of my stories in other genres.
That kind of writing, especially SF/fantasy and Western, isn't new to me--I've always come up with those stories now and then, and so far I've managed to sell them all to places I like and respect. But I never took them very seriously. After each of those little joyrides, I've always found myself coming back to my greatest love, which will always be mystery/suspense. It's what I read most so it's what I write most.
Even so, I am now writing more SF/fantasy stories than ever before. I recently wrote and sold one within a few days, and I just finished another, a 12,000-word fantasy/horror story that was great fun to plot and put together. I also wrote two more Westerns last month, one shorter and one longer, and thanks to recent streaming series like The English, Godless, American Primeval, 1883, Bass Reeves, and The Abandons (I watched 'em all), I think there might now be more Western fans out there than was the case several years ago. A bonus, there, is that my Western short stories always include crimes, so they can rightly be considered cross-genre, and thus appeal to wider range of publications. More on cross-genre in a minute.
My point is, fiction is fiction, and all of us know there are a ton of science fiction fans out there in the world--far more of them than mystery fans. I'm one of them. As for fans of SF shorts--yes, I realize those fans are fewer in number, but there are still plenty of them as well. I think it's safe to say that anyone who likes those old episodes of Twilight Zone and One Step Beyond and Outer Limits will also like short stories in that genre. And who doesn't like Twilight Zone?
Think about it: While we mystery writers love to talk about the legacies of Ed Hoch, Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich, Agatha Christie, etc. (as we should), there were also some great SF-fantasy writers who write short: Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Isaac Asimov, Fredric Brown, and so on. My bookshelves are full of them.
On the subject of mixed- or cross-genre writers, I'll refer again (as I did two weeks ago, here) to Joe R. Lansdale. He writes wonderful mystery.fantasy novels and short stories, and I can think of a few of his that could be called mystery/fantasy/Western/horror. As for mystery/Western, just look at the recent success of the series Dark Winds.
Sometimes changing things up a bit can't hurt.
What about you? How do you feel about all this? If you're a writer, how often do you write in genres other than mystery/crime/suspense? Have you even tried writing SF, or fantasy, or Western, or romance, or horror? How about mixing them up?--cross-genre stories can be great fun to write. And even though I've probably mentioned this before, some mystery markets, few though they are, will surprise you: I've occasionally sold Westerns and SF stories to AHMM and to so-called crime anthologies as well. Just stick a crime in there and you're on solid ground.
More questions: What's your strategy/solution, on weathering this current downturn in the number of short mystery markets? Take a rest and wait for more anthology calls for crime stories? Write and stockpile your mystery stories as I mentioned earlier, so that when/if more markets emerge, you'll be ready? Self-publish your stories? Find publishers for story collections? Switch completely to other genres? Write cross-genre stories as a way to ease into that? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
Meanwhile, whatever it is that you write, whatever your approach is, keep at it. And good luck!
Well, my Crow Woman stories are cross-genre - supernatural/crime/mysteries. And one of my favorites "For Blood" (Black Cat Mystery Weekly #35, 5/1/22) is set in a sci-fi future where almost everyone is immortal, but there are enclaves of people who reject it, and a murder takes place. So I've done it - and I'll probably do it agian. I really need to write another one in my "For Blood" series.
ReplyDeleteEve, I love SF mysteries, and I well remember "For Blood." Unfortunately, Black Cat Mystery Magazine is one of those that's no longer around--but if you, as you said, write more stories in that series, maybe there'll be some science fiction markets that'll like them. And I hope we'll see more calls for SF anthologies soon.
DeleteI'm puzzled as to why short story markets are shrinking. I would've thought that shorter attention spans in the internet era would mean more interest in short stories. I'm sad this didn't turn out to be true.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it *will* turn out to be true, Leone, and maybe this current dearth of markets won't last. When I first started submitting stories, back in the mid-1990s, there were plenty of markets, and actually there were still a lot of them only a few years ago. And lately the attrition seems to be mostly the mystery/crime publications, but maybe it only appears that way to me because that's what I like to read, and write.
DeleteThanks for stopping in here at SS.
Yes, where have all the readers gone? John, I got my start in Fantasy and Sci-fi, I think with Marion Zimmer Bradley's mag and Distant Suns in the 90s, and then I wrote romances for Star Magazine and the tabloids! And yes, you've caught my dilemma perfectly. I switched to writing novels full time because the short story market was shrinking (I remember getting a kill fee from Moxie after they went under *before* publishing one of my fave stories, sob!) Trouble is, the novel market is shrinking too, for mystery. Boomers, the main market, are dying off, and the young folk - mainly women - are gravitating to Romantasy. I heard from my agent that none of the big five are looking for cozies anymore. I'm writing historical mystery at the moment, which is a niche market, smaller but loyal.
ReplyDeleteMelodie, I too had a story (only one) in Star Magazine, long ago, but never in MZB or Distant Suns--I tried and failed at MZB and didn't know about Distant Suns. My romances have only been in Woman's World, and a few in anthologies.
DeleteKill fees!! I wonder if publications even offer kill fees anymore. I too have received some of those. (Guess the only good thing about them is that you get paid for a story that remains unpublished, so you can still sell first rights elsewhere.)
I'm afraid I didn't realize that the mystery-novel market is shrinking as well, though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by it. I would think, and hope, that the humor you build into so many of your novels will keep them more marketable than some.
Best thing is, you seem to be able to adapt to these constant changes more than many writers are. Multi-talented is a good thing!
Very up to date and current post, John.
ReplyDeleteWe live in such interesting (and frustrating) times, don't we?
I've pulled out two stories I wrote 20 years ago (If you're a writer, never throw ANYTHING away) that aren't crime/mystery and sold one of them a few weeks ago. I don't expect to hear about the other for several more weeks, but it's always been one of my favorites. About half my current submissions are to markets I've never tried before.
I've never tried a western, but I have sold a few ghost or supernatural stories and have a couple of others out in submission limbo even as we speak. Evolution is everything.
When life gives you lemons, open a used car lot.
Hey Steve. Yep--interesting *and* frustrating.
DeleteGood for you, for raiding those old files and finding revisable and marketable stories! I've done that also. I agree with you--keep everything you write; one never knows.
And I LOVE supernatural stories. In fact, most of my so-called fantasy stories aren't sword/dragon/castle stories--they're just otherworldly or time-travel or alternate-history or last-person-on-Earth kinds of stories, often not scary enough to be called horror. I was serious when I said I loved Twilight Zone and One Step Beyond. Those episodes were rarely horror or Harry-Potter-like or even SF stories. But they were all supernatural/otherworldly.
And you ought to try Westerns sometime. They're addictive.
May you sell lots of used cars . . .
John, That's interesting about westerns. I actually thought there were fewer markets for westerns than for mysteries.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, John, I didn't mean to mislead you, there. There *are* fewer markets for Westerns. But, as I think I've mentioned in the past, just about every Western movie or novel I can think of (except maybe Old Yeller) has a crime at the center of the plot, so I think Western stories can honestly be called cross-genre, and as such can be sold to mystery markets AND other-than-mystery markets. So I still write some of those, and always manage to get them published.
DeleteI do long for the days when they were a LOT of markets out there of all kinds, just waiting for us. Maybe there'll be a comeback--but I'm not counting any chickens.
Thank you as always!
Several years ago, I wrote what I thought was going to be a historical fiction western. It turned out to be that plus a crime plus a romance plus a mystery. Only one pub accepted it as a western and said they did so just for the novelty of it. I always seem to have some bit of romance and mystery in anything I write, long or short. Nice article, John. (Marilyn aka cj)
ReplyDeleteHi Marilyn! Here's a thought: All Westerns are historical fiction. Well, not really. But you know what I mean.
DeleteAnd I know just what YOU mean, about including things like mystery and romance into almost any story. I do that also. It makes sense: that kind of thing makes stories *better*. Two weeks ago our family watched an old movie that's one of our favorites--The Man from Snow River--and it occurred to me that it's an Australian/Western/adventure/romance story. A great one, too.
Keep doing what you're doing!
Both AHMM + EQMM have published horror/sci-fi/mystery crossover stories from me (a werewolf story, the devil corrupting people in a Dublin pub, a time-travel paradox story, etc.), so I like writing those also, but I'm totally out of sync with today's sci-fi markets. I grew up reading Bradbury + Harlan Ellison, and I'm not sure either of those writers fit today's market. But I hear you about trying to expand the markets you can write for.
ReplyDeleteI had to learn patience with my writing long ago. The first story of mine EQMM published sat in a drawer for 10 years before I sold it. These days I write what I want to write (mostly crime + mystery stories) and if I need to stick them away for a while, that's fine. It has the benefit of giving me a chance to review it later and do some polishing before submitting it. Over the years I've emptied the drawer, and now I'm filling it up again.
About Westerns--15 years ago Ed Gorman and I put out a collection of Western noir stories with some real corkers from some very talented crime/mystery writers, including from Bill Crider, Jon Breen, Ken Bruen, and Bentley Little. Ed's story in this one is dazzling. A lot of Westerns tend to be crime fiction, just from a different time and place.
Dave, I too have published those crossover/mixed-genre stories at AHMM, but I admit I've never yet published one at EQMM. All my EQ stories have been straight mystery/crime/suspense, even though several have been heavy on humor. It's good, and encouraging, to hear you say that you've had success with those at EQMM. That proves, I think, that the main thing to remember, with both AH and EQ, is that they want good stories, period. Other things don't matter much--and as long as there's a crime involved, it's fair game, right?
DeleteAs for patience, it is indeed a virtue, and I usually don't have enough of it. I do continue to send stories to AHMM despite their more-than-a-year turnaround time for a response, but I have a hard time making myself put finished stories aside and wait a while before submitting them. (Except, of course, when I MUST, as has happened recently.) I think you're exactly right, though, that sticking stories away for a while can sometimes result in changes that make them better.
I have not read that Western-noir collection of yours and Gorman's! I'm gonna look for it! And yes, I agree completely that Westerns are also crime stories, as was mentioned earlier. Why NOT write 'em?
Thank you as always, for the thoughts.