Selling to your fiction is not so easy. There are hundreds of places that you can see your stories appear in pixels or in print. I think one goal that we all have is to sell to a professional market. Selling to a pro market let’s you call yourself a pro.

You can find a list of almost all the speculative fiction markets at Ralan.com. Ralan Conley keeps maintains this wonderful resource.

The pro markets are ones that you can use to join the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, SFWA. If you get in, you get invited to cool parties with other SFWA members and you get bragging rights. It takes three short story sales, but you can get in on one sale as an associate.

You can only get credit towards membership in the SFWA by getting 5¢ per word or better (US Dollars). You must make total more than $250 on three sales with no sale being less than $50. For the associate membership you need one sale at 5¢ per word or better at least $75. (This is as of 2006 – please check the sfwa.org site to be sure it hasn’t changed.)

Here is a list of the accepted venues. The names are from the SFWA.org rules and the links are mostly from Ralan. Check at www.ralan.com for changes.

• Analog Science Fiction and Fact
• Asimov’s Science Fiction
• Brutarian
• Cemetery Dance
• Chizine
• Dragon
• Interzone
• The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
• Realms of Fantasy
• Shadowed Realms (though applicants should note the $50 minimum sale requirement above)
• Strange Horizons
• The Third Alternative
• Writers of the Future Anthology (technically a contest)

When submitting a story, try to hit a few of the above markets first. Response time will vary so check the black hole for the latest return times. All of the markets are tough to crack.