There are many worthwhile web sites of great value to writers and readers. A few that stand out are Ralan's Webstravaganza, Duotrope's Digest, Critters Workshop, and Liberty Hall Writers.

Ralan Webstravaganza offers up-to-date marketing information, particularly for periodical and annual publications, categorized in several ways, including anthologies, pro/semi-pro, paying, 4theLuv, humor and others. It seems that many magazines depend on Ralan to announce their submission/reading periods. Both readers and writers can search out periodicals of which they weren't aware. (I didn't know there was a magazine for me...a left-handed goth.)

Duotrope has a similar mission to Ralan--providing detailed marketing information to writers. They add a powerful search facility, which gives readers and writers a great tool for finding publications meeting a variety of criteria.

Critters Workshop and Liberty Hall Writers both offer peer critiquing of which writers at any level of experience can take advantage. Since these are private, password-protected sites, writers can safely post their entire story without losing publication rights. Liberty Hall emphasizes writing challenges as a learning tool; Flash Fiction Online is currently sponsoring a contest now at LH, which may lead to publication in FFO. Critters Workshop has their Submitting to the Black Hole feature, which is a godsend to research the response times of many publications. (So I can sub these three pubs in the same time this one takes to respond....) Their data comes from the actual experience of writers.

If you'd like to donate to these sites, this is a good time: Ralan, Duotrope, Critters, and Liberty Hall (Mike doesn't have a donations page, but accepts bottles of 12-year-old Bunnahabhain single-malt).