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Out Out Damned Spot!
Wednesday, 7 February 2007 13:27Quick Update:
Yes, it is still cold. No, the snow has not gone away, though it has greatly stopped falling -- indeed here in Kalamazoo there was sun and blue sky earlier. The roads are borderline between drivable and treacherous, as the temps are too low for salts to do much about melting the ice. So some parts of the freeway are navigable at 65 mph, but still in 4WD to keep the front end from slipping 'round at speed. Other stretches best done at 35-40 mph. Grand Rapids is using sand for traction on the roads for the first time in many years -- no doubt that will clog the storm sewers when it runs off when the melt comes.
Typoes (sic)
There's no way to avoid all typos in real life. You just have to hope to catch them. I was reviewing one of my stories which is out in the field, and caught a real Freudian. In a conversation with a balding man described as wearing glasses and a white lab coat, he is mentioned at one point as "the balding mad." Sigh. Surely that's a Freudian for "mad scientist -- he IS wearing a white lab coat after all. Where it sits on the page, it is real noticeable. So I checked, and the typo goes all the way back to version 1.00.0 from nearly two years ago. And it went through how many readings, edit sessions? (grin)
Guess the best thing to say is that if no one's caught it, perhaps readers including myself are too involved with the story and the brain pulls a fill-in-the-blank correction automatically.
ASIM
One of my favorite "young" SF markets is Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine out of Australia. They run some good stories, like "Marie and the Mathematicians" by Matthew Kressel in issue #26 and the brilliant "Nomenculture" by Ayne Terceira in issue #25 -- the latter may be the most inventive story I read in all of 2006, an interesting retake on cultural diversity. And as I've said previously, they get reviewed all over, even if they can't afford to pay very much.
I'd sent them a 10,800 word story on 16 January 2007, as they came out of their annual hiatus. In case you're wondering -- yes the guidelines have a 10,000 word limit, but it is raised "up to 20,000 words ... from subscribers and from authors resident in Australia and New Zealand." Woo-hoo, for a writer who writes LONG like me, extra benefits for subscribers!
We Love Computers Because They Make Everything So EASY!
ASIM does a nice job of keeping its writers apprised of where they are in the slush cycle. But after a week, I still hadn't gotten a confirmation. The link to the submissions tracking page had changed and there was a notice that people were reporting problems with submitting... so I sent again on 29 January 2007. Still nada. Rechecked things and found there was a new e-mail for submissions. (strikes-hand-to-forehead) I was SURE I'd checked that the e-mail was the same -- I have procedures to follow before submitting anything anywhere! Off it went for the third time.
This time I got a very nice note basically telling me that no, I was not losing my mind -- at least not on this issue -- that the new e-mail was added 1 February 2007 because of the ones which got lost in the ether, including mine. So my story now is submission #7196 and it's already in Round two of the submission system.
And there's this annoying typo with "the balding mad" on page 5. (Sigh)
So... if you're submitting to Andromeda Spaceways or have a new 2007 submission pending, check the revised guidelines and use the new web addresses.
Dr. Phil
Yes, it is still cold. No, the snow has not gone away, though it has greatly stopped falling -- indeed here in Kalamazoo there was sun and blue sky earlier. The roads are borderline between drivable and treacherous, as the temps are too low for salts to do much about melting the ice. So some parts of the freeway are navigable at 65 mph, but still in 4WD to keep the front end from slipping 'round at speed. Other stretches best done at 35-40 mph. Grand Rapids is using sand for traction on the roads for the first time in many years -- no doubt that will clog the storm sewers when it runs off when the melt comes.
Typoes (sic)
There's no way to avoid all typos in real life. You just have to hope to catch them. I was reviewing one of my stories which is out in the field, and caught a real Freudian. In a conversation with a balding man described as wearing glasses and a white lab coat, he is mentioned at one point as "the balding mad." Sigh. Surely that's a Freudian for "mad scientist -- he IS wearing a white lab coat after all. Where it sits on the page, it is real noticeable. So I checked, and the typo goes all the way back to version 1.00.0 from nearly two years ago. And it went through how many readings, edit sessions? (grin)
Guess the best thing to say is that if no one's caught it, perhaps readers including myself are too involved with the story and the brain pulls a fill-in-the-blank correction automatically.
ASIM
One of my favorite "young" SF markets is Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine out of Australia. They run some good stories, like "Marie and the Mathematicians" by Matthew Kressel in issue #26 and the brilliant "Nomenculture" by Ayne Terceira in issue #25 -- the latter may be the most inventive story I read in all of 2006, an interesting retake on cultural diversity. And as I've said previously, they get reviewed all over, even if they can't afford to pay very much.
I'd sent them a 10,800 word story on 16 January 2007, as they came out of their annual hiatus. In case you're wondering -- yes the guidelines have a 10,000 word limit, but it is raised "up to 20,000 words ... from subscribers and from authors resident in Australia and New Zealand." Woo-hoo, for a writer who writes LONG like me, extra benefits for subscribers!
We Love Computers Because They Make Everything So EASY!
ASIM does a nice job of keeping its writers apprised of where they are in the slush cycle. But after a week, I still hadn't gotten a confirmation. The link to the submissions tracking page had changed and there was a notice that people were reporting problems with submitting... so I sent again on 29 January 2007. Still nada. Rechecked things and found there was a new e-mail for submissions. (strikes-hand-to-forehead) I was SURE I'd checked that the e-mail was the same -- I have procedures to follow before submitting anything anywhere! Off it went for the third time.
This time I got a very nice note basically telling me that no, I was not losing my mind -- at least not on this issue -- that the new e-mail was added 1 February 2007 because of the ones which got lost in the ether, including mine. So my story now is submission #7196 and it's already in Round two of the submission system.
And there's this annoying typo with "the balding mad" on page 5. (Sigh)
So... if you're submitting to Andromeda Spaceways or have a new 2007 submission pending, check the revised guidelines and use the new web addresses.
Dr. Phil
