Some of you are familiar with Duotrope, the website that has searchable listings of writing markets and has a submission tracker, and is an excellent tool for writers sending their work out for possible publication. At the end of last year, after being free for several years and trying to survive on donations, Duotrope finally went to a paid subscription model. Unfortunately, a year’s subscription costs $50, and going from free to $50 was something of a shock – and since that can be a big chunk of one’s writing profits (especially if you’re just sending out short stories here and there), a lot of people either weren’t able to subscribe or chose not to.
So, there’s now a free alternative to Duotrope – the Grinder:
http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/
It’s set up in a similar way, and a lot of writers seem to have gone over there instead of subscribing to Duotrope. I haven’t registered there yet, but I’m planning to use both the Grinder and Duotrope for the next few months, and then decide whether it’s worth renewing my Duotrope subscription when it’s up in January. (If they’re smart, they’ll lower the subscription cost, but who knows…)