Literary Fiction is Alive and Well Linkbucket

by guest blogger Erin Fitzgerald

There's much more to revolution and innovation in literature than the Kindle. To find some, all you have to do is open your browser.

Duotrope is the Google of online literary magazines. Print ones have listings as well. Over 2800 listings are here overall, all searchable, and each includes tons of writer-reported information. If you register with Duotrope, you can contribute to the data collection -- and take advantage of Duotrope's very robust Submissions Tracker. The "What's New" page is a great place to watch for new publications, and to see which publications are currently making decisions. Litlist is a newer kid on the litmag indexing block, and one where editors and writers both can participate.

NewPages is a great stop for more traditional browsing of new media. There's lots of other things going at NewPages, too -- reviews of print and online litmags and books, regularly updated calls for submission and contest entries, bookstore listings, and plenty more. If you only have time for a little bit each day, there's also the NewPages blog.

If you like the blog approach, Emerging Writers Network is definitely one to bookmark, as is PANKblog. Both have merit of their own -- the former is affiliated with Dzanc Books and the latter with PANK magazine. Both have strong fingers on the pulse of independent online literature.

If you appreciate awards, then visits to the Million Writers Award and the Wigleaf 50 are in order. Both projects celebrate online fiction in the previous calendar year, as does Dzanc Books' Best of the Web in a print edition. These are all great places to find exciting work.

Once you've read some of what's out there, it's time to read the commentary. HTMLGiant and BIG OTHER both offer it many times daily, each with their own aesthetic, priorities, and sets of contributors. Comments sections are always open, and often fascinating. Lurk a little, and decide which place is for you. (I like them both, for different reasons.)

Fictionaut is where the Internet does things for writers that the meatspace world really never could. Fictionaut users can post their work online -- privately, to groups, or publicly -- and receive feedback. The front page shows you the most recent additions, and the current favorites. It's a great place for writers to see or be seen. Everyone can read, and participation is by invitation from a member. Fictionaut also has its share of interviews and updates. That includes Luna Digest, a regular news feature put together by yet another favorite site, Luna Park.

Twitter and Facebook are as ubiquitous in the online literature world as they are everywhere else. Friending and following writers and publications is a great way to find out about the next big things, and to be part of a vibrant community.

These links are just the beginning. The Internet is full of hard-working, talented writers and readers who are changing the world. Jump in, and don't look back.

Guest blogger Erin Fitzgerald is a writer and the editor of the Northville Review. She blogs at Rarely Likable: a litblog for dilettantes the home of frequent literary linkbuckets -- a great source for those attempting to keep up with the conversation about literature and writing that is happening on the web. See recent posts for a brief review of some of her short fiction available online.