Forum / Duotrope goes subscription only

• 
  Jane Flett

  Dec 02, 11:11am

  $50 a year. Shit. I was donating $10-$20 a year, but $50 is a lot.

  See here: https://duotrope.com/notes_current.aspx

  What's a slightly-skint, bad-at-excel-spreadsheet girl to do?

• 
  Jane Flett

  Dec 02, 11:15am

  Of course, this is also going to mean that the statistics are made from a much smaller sample and that sample is made up of people who see their writing career worth an extra $50 a year. So...will you be joining?

• 
  Mathew Paust

  Dec 02, 11:53am

  Tax deductible, of course. They need the dough, just like the rest of us.

• 
  James Lloyd Davis

  Dec 02, 02:06pm

  It's a great industry, making money off writers who want to publish. Still, there are many free databases on the web where you can find submission data.

  Here's the one I used:

  http://www.newpages.com/literary-magazines/

  But if you want validation for your writing skills, without all the fuss and bother of submitting to literary magazines, just send me a check for $50.00 and I will send you a beautiful, personalized certificate, suitable for framing, that will praise absolutely anything you send to me for consideration.

  But that's not all!

  For an extra $75.99, I'll send you the cross shredded remains of your manuscript encapsulated in a clear plastic snowglobe with a hand painted bust of Charles Bukowski inside, warts and all.

  You'll feel so proud when you shake your snowglobe and see Bukowski smile with approval as your very own words spin about his head.

  Don't delay. This offer expires soon.
  Operators are standing by.

• 
  Dolemite

  Dec 02, 03:54pm

  I've been sending $10 - $20 a year too.

  It's a very valuable service that no one should be expected to provide for free/inadequate monies.

  But you're right, Jane, the stats will now be greatly...altered. Not that I ever reported my results... And the Response Page will now shrink to practically nothing from it's current hypnotically-pleasant read.

  I think $50 carries a bit of sticker-shock, though.

• 
  Dolemite

  Dec 02, 04:21pm

  Imo January is a very bad time to do this, what with Christmas/taxes. Ideally (if possible) I think they should have presented this in June/July, when people are feeling sunny(!)

  I hope they don't shoot themselves in the foot with this.

• 
  Mathew Paust

  Dec 02, 04:38pm

  More:

  http://pred-ed.com/pealsi.htm

  http://www.everywritersresource.com/topliterarymagazines.html

  http://suite101.com/article/paying-short-story-markets-a150588

  And, of course: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/

• 
  Dolemite

  Dec 02, 05:34pm

  I also think the mags should pay a fee for this service.

  Without Duotrope's how would anyone even know about them (the honestly little/fledglings--of course people know the Bigs)?

• 
  James Lloyd Davis

  Dec 02, 06:28pm

  Mags, as a rule, don't pay for content. Why would they support Duotrope? It's a miracle that Submittable (formerly Submishmash) hasn't decided to charge writers rather than the mags for access to their service. (Oooops. Shut my mouth for even saying that.)

• 
  Dolemite

  Dec 02, 06:30pm

  " Why would they support Duotrope?"

  I think that's where they get a lot of their (free) content, as that's where writers go to look for markets.

• 
  Sally Houtman

  Dec 02, 08:43pm

  Thanks, Jane. I hadn't seen that announcement.

  $50 US = $61 NZ

  Ouch. Sticker shock, for sure.

  I understand where they're coming from and it's a valuable service, but man...

• 
  Dolemite

  Dec 02, 09:03pm

  I think they were going for the lowest possible per-month charge: $5.

  But who's? going to do it this month, not that month...

  If you don't pay you still get access to basic site but not detailed reports and no services (search/favorites, etc.).

  I'm sure they're intelligent people and discussed every possible approach to this matter, but I think a $20/year for for everyone might have been the way to go.

• 
  Jane Hammons

  Dec 02, 09:40pm

  As someone who annually donated $20-25, the $50 is a shock. I think Duotrope provides a good service, but I don't know if I'll continue to use it. I like it mainly as a way of keeping track of submissions. It also provides a lot of things that New Pages and Submittable do not, like the stats on how long it typically takes to get a response. It's informative, but I guess I'll see how I get along without that information. I've survived 3 months without my subscription to a print newspaper after all :)

• 
  Marcus Speh

  Dec 02, 09:55pm

  jane, Did I hear you ask for advice? How about submitting less so that you don't need a spreadsheet. Even better: wait to be asked to submit. I'm serious. I think successful submitting is not a numbers game but, like careers in other areas, true love and great real estate, a matter of magical manifestation of unearthly, strongest desire.

  On an unrelated note of writerly neighbourhood feelings, I hope you can come to the launch of my book THANK YOU FOR YOUR SPERM in Berlin on 11 May at the Alte Kantine Wedding: http://bit.ly/TYFYS

• 
  David Ackley

  Dec 03, 02:39am

  Congratulations, Marcus. I'll be there in spirit absent plane fare.

  Poets and Writers magazine offers a lit mag data base/ search function on the lines of Duotrope, though with fewer functions. Still useful though.

• 
  Jane Flett

  Dec 03, 01:52pm

  Thanks everyone, for all your links, feedback and suggestions!

  And Marcus, congratulations! Remind me nearer the future, though, as my brain for such details is sievelike.

  This is more the reason I like a submission tracker. I wouldn't actually say I submit a lot; in my mind, I don't do it enough as it is so very boring compared to making up stories in the first place.

  However, however...I'm not sure I'm patient enough to wait for all the places I want to ask me. I am intrigued that you would suggest it, though. Is that what you do with your writing?

• Franklin Goodish

  Dec 04, 09:19pm

  It is driving me crazy that people keep saying this is $5 a month. I presume they are rounding up? It's MUCH less than $5 a month, which would be $60 a year, NOT $50. It's only $4.16666 a month. Now, we can all just chill about $4 a month. That's a cappucino at starbucks, and a tall one at that. Oh, and I'm not paying them a penny now and never will.

• 
  Dolemite

  Dec 04, 09:34pm

  "Full access to Duotrope is only USD $5 a month. If you commit to a full year, you get the discounted rate of $4.17 per month."

  --Duotropolis

  I imagine I'll see what the site looks like after the 1st and make my decision then (after saving my Favorites and Saved Searches).

  (but I DO like looking for visual patterns on the Response page...)

• You must log in to reply to this thread.