You Need to Know Duotrope

What if I told you that there is an easy-to-use electronic site that lists thousands of markets for fiction writers, that is well maintained, and is completely free of charge.

If you don't believe such a site exists, then you don't know about Duotrope's Digest. But you should.

After finding and then submitted dozens of pieces using conventional sources and means, I tried Duotrope. I was seeking a market for PG-rated humorous fiction. I found several using Duotrope. I submitted my piece electronically and within three weeks, I got my first acceptance to the Duck & Herring Company's Pocket Field Guide.

What exactly is Duotrope? Here's what one expert had to say:

Duotrope's Digest (duotrope.com) is a free database of markets for English-language poetry and fiction of all lengths. Besides a searchable database of more than 1400 publications, Duotrope offers a submissions tracker, a calendar of upcoming deadlines, and detailed statistical information about markets and submissions.

All services are free. Registration is also free.

The first thing you see when you enter the Duotrope.com website is the search form, which is what makes Duotrope such a valuable marketing research tool. From here, you can search the database for the fiction markets most suited to your work. The database is divided into categories for short fiction, novels and collections, and poetry. Within those divisions, you can search by attributes such as length, genre, pay scale, theme, submissions requirements, and publication type. Duotrope returns a report summarizing the markets that match your criteria, along with a second report that includes markets that may be close to what you need.

Clicking on the links take you to a more detailed summary of that publication's needs and requirements, including a summary of the editorial needs, a reproduction of the cover of a typical issue (if relevant), and a link to the publication's website. You also have access to statistics about the publication's acceptance rates and response times. Duotrope's database includes all genres, from Westerns to romance to literary fiction and experimental poetry. Several new titles are added every week. Markets range from online reviews and tiny poetry journals that offer no payment or only a token payment, to many major magazines including the New Yorker and all the major SF/F publications.

Duotrope's information is updated frequently and all links are checked regularly. Registered users of Duotrope's Digest. can use the submissions tracker to monitor where they have submitted manuscripts, how long the manuscripts have been under consideration, and whether it's time to send a follow-up query.

You can subscribe to a weekly mailing of updates for short stories, poetry, or novels/anthologies (which I do). The mailing details new markets added to the database in that area, upcoming deadlines for themed publications, and markets that have recently opened or closed to submissions. This last is especially useful for those submitting to literary journals that often don't read for part of the year.

Duotrope's biggest strength is its large, searchable database of frequently updated information. The search cuts research time significantly over scrolling through long listings. The listings are highly reliable, which reduces the time you need to spend validating and checking. The submissions and deadline tracking help you manage your deadlines and keep your stories out to their appropriate markets.

If you don't believe this fellow, read what others are saying about Duotrope here.

Or just try it for yourself.

Duotrope calculates your acceptance rate as you enter information. Thanks to Duotrope, mine currently stands at over 16%, which Dutrope tells me is better than average.