posted
My short story, Injected, is a success. With no rejections from it, it got accepted by Blood Moon Rising Magazine after the first two weeks of pending. I am rather pleased with myself. However, i have a question that i feel needs to be answered... firstly, on friday the 17th, i submitted Injected to about 4 or 5 magazines, while i sent it to BMRM about 2 weeks ago. there is no payment plan for BMRM, so i cannot find. since i do not have a contract yet, and i have 4 and 5 other offers pending, what should i do? should i wait for these others letters, at least a few of them, or should i let them know, even though i do not have an actual contract of anything yet? these other four have some sort of payment, which is why i ask now... if i could be offered a better deal, id much rather have that deal, but if it comes to it, i will settle for what i have. it doesnt matter to me. if i go with BMRM, my story will be in Blood Moon Rising Magazine in June 2011 next year, issue #45. Nevertheless, i feel super accomplished and happy, and shocked as heck. =)
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posted
Once your story has been accepted at a market, it is customary if you have simultaneously submitted it to other markets (which is not usually standard in short-story submissions) to immediately alert the other markets that your story is no longer available. If the rights the first market purchases are non-exclusive, you can offer the reprints or other rights to other markets, but this would be really unusual.
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.
posted
I hope you are checking the guidelines carefully and they say something along the lines of 'simultaneous submissions are acceptable'.
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.
posted
Thank you, all. =) Katie, sorry i was not clear in the message. it is difficult using my phone when on hatrack, which is what i am doing now.. i meant that i have 4 to 5 pending of the same story. also, why would it be good to go with the same offer? i would think that one would go with the best offer, if they so happened to slip into that situation. Skadder, All of the mags i submitted to said simultaneous submissions, i think. all but one.. or maybe two. i will go back and see, but i am pretty sure at least three said simultaneous. i had always thought that simultaneous subs were submissions sent mutlipe times, heavily revised, to that same editor. i had no idea id been wrong all this time. oh, and hopefully i do not become unpopular with editors. so, here is what i am thinking: what if i go with BMRM, and i just get rejected by the ones with no simultaneous s? what then? the editor would not really know i sent to others if he simply just rejects me, right? i do not know. so, ill just take this BMRM. so, how would i know if there is payment involved? these are sold online, so i would imagine payment would be involved... how would i find that part out? it does not seem to say on the website, not that it really matters if i get paid or not. i am just curious.
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posted
According to duotrope, Blood Moon Rising is a magazine that specialises in horror, particularly new authors ("We are also the aspiring writers and artists showcase. We are always looking for new talent for our Fiction, Poetry and Art Departments").
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.
posted
If you submitted it to the magazine in hopes of getting your work published, I would immediately withdraw your other submissions. Telling the magazine that you're waiting for a better offer tends to leave a bad taste in their mouth.
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.
posted
I'll echo that as well. If you don't actually have another offer on the table but are waiting, the orrect thing to do is thank the editor and notify the other markets that your work is no longer available.
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.
posted
Thank you, all, for the advice and answers to my questions. they really helped. snapper, no, i did not think at first they had a payment, but i was wondering if there were any, like, royalties from magazines sold or something. i do not mind Not getting pad for this one, considering it is my First story. but thank you all for the advice and helping me understand more about what i am doing so i do not screw up. 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?
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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.
posted
I can answer that. A professional publication pays 5 cents a word for short stories. A good place to check for which publications fit the bill, and good places to submit particular works, is Duotrope's Digest.
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.
posted
One thing to check is see who and what won major awards.
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).]
posted
(Side note: Panverse is actually pretty new, as these things go; longevity is not necessarily a factor though it rarely hurts. I'd not personally considered Panverse to be a particularly "useful" outlet in terms of getting noticed, though that may be because they explicitly don't want the stuff I mostly write).
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).]
posted
Tchernabyelo, which writers workshop, listed or not listed, and other than hatrack, would you say is one of the best? Or, at least, what "few" would you say are the best?
I am looking up a few right now, and I am about to join Critters Workshop, as a matter of fact.
posted
A group that works for one writer may not work for another which is why I deliberately listed some I don't use as well as some I do. My advice is to try one or two, see if you "fit in" and benefit. If so, all well and good; if not, move on to another.
Posts: 1469 | Registered: Jun 2005
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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).]
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