So You’ve Written a Mystery Short Story — Now What?

You’ve just spent countless hours crafting a crime fiction short story that you’re proud of, and you’re dying to have other people read it, besides your spouse, your pals, and your creative writing prof. Where do you send it?

There are numerous magazines and journals, in print and online, hungry to read your story. After all, they exist to publish stories. But how do you know which are the best places? One of the reasons the Mystery Writers of America was founded was to make sure that authors got paid what they deserved for their work (thus our motto: “Crime doesn’t pay…enough”). To that end, the organization maintains an Approved Publisher list of venues that pay authors fairly.

Following is a list of Approved Publishers of short fiction and nonfiction that are currently accepting submissions.

But before you submit, please remember that these publishers are looking for professional work. And to be a professional, you:

1) Must show that you understand who you are sending your work to (i.e., Don’t send a profanity-ridden true crime story to Ellery Queen). Read at least a couple of issues of the market you are submitting to.
2) Must properly format your story. A single-spaced, typo-filled manuscript will earn disdain, not publication. For proper format, read William Shunn’s Guide to Proper Manuscript Format.

(Also, FYI, if you happen to be interested in winning an Edgar Award for your short story, it has to be published in one of the MWA’s Approved Publishers.)

* An in-flight magazine for American Airlines, American Way Magazine seeks destination pieces, and articles on food, sports, music, entertainment, and more. Contact the editor here.

* One of the oldest, continuously publishing literary magazines in the U.S., Antioch Review publishes fiction, essays, and poetry in print. No electronic submissions, and there are reading periods. Click here for guidelines.

* The Big Click, a fairly new bimonthly e-journal of crime fiction. Query first. Click here for guidelines.

* Big Pulp is an online journal featuring genre prose, poetry, photography, artwork. Their website is in the middle of an update, but you can find guidelines here.

* City Journal, a quarterly magazine of urban affairs managed by the Manhattan Institute, is looking for nonfiction articles. Click here to contact them.

* Criminal Element e-publishes original short crime fiction on a theme, via The Malfeasance Occasional feature. Click here for guidelines.

* Dell Magazines publishes the two stalwarts of crime fiction: Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Both now feature online submission systems. Many Edgar-award winning stories come from the pages of these printed magazines. Guidelines for AHMM are here, and guidelines for EQMM are here.

* The First Line is a print literary magazine. All stories must be written with the first line provided. For example, submissions for the latest first line—“Unfortunately, there is no mistake,” she said, closing the file.—are due February 1, 2016. Click for guidelines here.

* Forensic Examiner seeks nonfiction articles “from all areas of the forensic profession.” Click here for guidelines.

* Missouri Review is a literary magazine. Click here for guidelines.

* Mystery Scene Magazine seeks nonfiction about the crime fiction field—articles, interviews, book reviews, and essays. Click here for guidelines.

* Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine seeks fiction (reader­-solvable mysteries, crime stories, even the occasional conte cruel and ghost story), but they especially need nonfiction at the moment. Query the editor.

* Spinetingler Magazine “publishes stories that could, within the broadest definitions of genre possible, be categorized as crime, mystery, thriller, suspense or horror.” Click here for guidelines.

* Originally founded in 1891, Strand Magazine lives on and is interested in “mysteries, detective stories, tales of terror, and the supernatural.” Only snail mail submissions are accepted. Click here for mail contact info.

* Virginia Quarterly Review is a literary magazine that uses Submittable and has reading periods. Click here for guidelines.

* Woman’s World purchases short “solve-it-yourself” mysteries of 700 words—including the narrative and the solution. Stories should be cleverly plotted, entertaining cliffhangers that end with a challenge to the reader to figure out whodunnit or howdunnit. Email manuscripts here.

Now get to it—get your story off your desk and into an editor’s hands!

—Richie Narvaez