Publications

Wondering where to send your latest short SFF masterpiece?

• First of all, don't sleep on Fission, the BSFA's own brand new fiction publication, ed. Allen Stroud. Fission is planned as an annual publication, and our next submissions window will be in late 2020 or early 2021.
• Ralan.com is a fantastic resource. Don't be misled by that gorgeous 90s decor: it's regularly and reliably updated (never change, Ralan!).
• Locus is also a great source of industry news, and contains a lot of reviews of short SFF that might give you ideas of where to explore further. Locus also does a regular year-in-review of major SFF magazines.
• Submission Grinder is a sort of crowdsourced tool where writers can collectively keep track of publication response times. Duotrope is the other big market listing / submission tracker.
• This Facebook group is devoted to posting calls for submissions.
• You might also be interested in the Science Fiction Writers' Association's list of "qualifying markets". There's a note that this list is slated to change in format soon. Qualifying markets must have circulations of 1000+ and pay 8c/word, and meet some other criteria.
• And for just a few quick ideas, here's a recent-ish listicle by Annie Neugebauer, '20 Places to Submit Your Speculative Short Stories.'

Crit circles, workshops, courses, retreats

Looking to be part of a community of writers and develop your craft?

• The BSFA runs the Orbiter writing groups, a series of online workshops, free to BSFA members.
• "Milford is a gathering of authors who write speculative fiction (in its widest sense).  It is not a school for beginners; there are no "teachers" or "students". It is not an elitist in-group. Invitations are extended to any SF author — from relative newcomers to those may only dimly recall what rejection slips look like." Founded in 1956 or 1972, depending how you count it. Elsewhere, of course, there's also Clarion West and Clarion, the Milfords of the USA.
• Arvon residential writing courses and retreats
• Odyssey writing workshops
• And of course the BSFA publishes Focus, our magazine for writers, which is a kind of community in itself
• The Science Fiction Foundation Masterclass is an intensive short course on writing criticism (although of great interest to fiction writers too)
• Nottingham Writers Studio

Local groups

• Birmingham SF Group
• Glasgow Writers' Circle
• Northwrite
• Bristol Writers Group
• North Bristol Writers
• Clockhouse London Writers

There are of course many more. If you've got a special group you'd like to mention, please comment (or email and we'll add it).