Wish I could help, but I really have no idea.
Unfortunately, in fiction selling, unless you're working with an agent for a novel, auctioning your story off to the highest bidder just doesn't work. (and as I understand it, most novels do not sell via auction where multiple houses bid on the work, but some do.)
It's not really clear from your message if you think you have active acceptances from four or five additional markets for the one story. If so, honestly you should go with the first market that accepted your story and quickly alert the other markets that you've already sold/been accepted for publication elsewhere. If you have other stories in inventory, that message would be a good opportunity to inform them of such.
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSION= Same story sent to multiple markets AT THE SAME TIME.
MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS=A few stories sent to the SAME MARKET at the SAME TIME.
Most markets don't like simultaneous submissions as the whittle down their subs until the get the 10 stories they want for the mag only to find the author has sold it to another mag the day before.
If the guidelines say you can do it, then fine, but if they don't and you do send it to lots of mags then you could become unpopular with editors. They may dismiss future stories on the basis that it is pointless to consider it because you have likely subbed it to a few places at the same time.
They also pay nothing ("No monetary payment. We do not list pay specifics. Check with the publisher for details"). Those last two sentences sort of make that a maybe.
A congratulations is in order, but for one that has submitted more than a few things, I can tell you that you are fortunate to receive an acceptance. Trust me, its a crapshoot out there. You reject your acceptance and nothing good can come from it and a lot of bad may be the result.
Thank your editor. If you were hoping for money you should have never submitted there in the first place. Withdrawing now would be insulting, and in my mind, a breach of an understanding when you submitted it.
Unless the publisher misled you on payment for acceptances, I feel you are obligated to allow them to publish your work.
And pay very very careful heed in future to what "simultaneous submissions" actually means. The short story market is NOT generally one where you send your work to multiple outlets all at once and wait for the best offer. You can do that with novels (depending on the circumstances), but not with shorts.
quote:
one more thing: even though there is no payment, this really is an ACTUAL publication, and i CAN put this under my bio in query letters and cover letters, right? How would i go about on putting it in a bio right now, since it is technically not in print yet?
You can. But since it's not a pro publication, it's really not going to impress an agent. Sorry.
http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx
It is true that pro-sales impress agents the most. But not all pro-markets are equal. A few semi-pro mags can carry more weight than something that pays a higher rate.
What matters the most is the quality of the writing, and you can hang your hat on the fact that someone liked your writing enough to want to put in their publication. What does that mean? It means at least one person out there thinks you have potential.
quote:
But not all pro-markets are equal. A few semi-pro mags can carry more weight than something that pays a higher rate.
Very interesting. Do you have a list of semi-pro that carry more weight than pro? How do you find these ones?
[This message has been edited by Brendan (edited September 19, 2010).]
For example, Eugie Fosters Nebula winning and Hugo nominated novelette (title is way too long) was printed in the semi-pro listed british publication Interzone. If you pick up a copy of any Best of Fantasy/Science Fiction anthology, you will see plenty of semi-pro publications in which they first appeared.
Interzone is considered to be on equal footing as Asimov, Analog, and Fantasy & Science Fiction in the speculative genre. Other publications that carry weight.
GUD (or Greatest Uncommon Denominator) pays 3 cents a word but does offer royalties
Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine is an Aussie publication. Their pay is on the low end of the Semi-pro scale but they have longevity. A story in there pages looks nice on a resume.
Panverse isn't even considered semi-pro. Their pay is a flat fee, which because of the large word count they accept, is considered token pay in the market(less than a penny a word). But they take Novella sized works (try finding a market that are willing to pay anything for them). They have published a few authors in the past few years that are making quite a name for themselves. Saying you have a work in their pages helps when you submit something to a SFWA bigshot.
One reason why these may mean more than newer pro-mags is because they have been around for quite awhile. The quality of what they print is consider high. I am in no way connected to know but I'm betting agents and publications have a good idea which editors know how to spot well-written proses and authors with talent.
Putting it in another industry's perspective with an amatuer testing ground...
Football and Basketball have a few athletes that make a comfortable living. They all got their start, and learned to play at a professional level, while at a college, and they played for free (sure they got scholarships and stuff they shouldn't have had but that's beside the point). The scouts for the pro teams know which university's have the best players, and know which coaches spotted their talent while they were still in high school.
Academically, their is little difference between a free scholarship from Florida University and Princeton but for some reason, you won't find a lot of Ivy league alumini's wearing pads on Sunday. But you'd be suprised how many Gators that do.
[This message has been edited by snapper (edited September 20, 2010).]
I am often surprised by the number of people who seem to be long-termers here on Hatrack but don't seem to have much knowledge of markets and the like. I would suggets that anyone who is serious about their writing should be using multiple sites rather than just one; you'll get a much better perspective of what's going on in the genre that way. Whether it's OWW, Critters, Absolute Write, Liberty Hall, Codex, livejournal, etc... having a presence on multiple sites is very helpful. You have to pick and choose to some extent - no-one is likely to be able to keep up with all the possibilities and actually find any time to write - but the value of networking cannot possibly be underestimated.
[This message has been edited by tchernabyelo (edited September 20, 2010).]
I am looking up a few right now, and I am about to join Critters Workshop, as a matter of fact.
quote:
I am often surprised by the number of people who seem to be long-termers here on Hatrack but don't seem to have much knowledge of markets and the like.
Not everyone is interested in the short story market. Some of us, are only working on novels.
XD3,
I haven't tried all of the forums, but I really like absolute write. It is a big forum and has a lot of published authors who regularly post. It is great for tips on writing and general information about publishing. You might want to check it out.
[This message has been edited by MAP (edited September 23, 2010).]
MAP, thank you for the suggestion. I think I will take a look at that workshop.