dr_phil_physics | Entries tagged with markets

A Light Period

Coming off the six-month 2011 sabbatical was always going to be a letdown. At least in terms of churning the Invenstory through submissions. Not much activity since January 1st, except for rejections and the odd sale. After a record high of 31 stories out at one time, coming into Spring Break I was down to a mere 11.

Some of this drop came from reviewing some of my longer submission times and discovering that two markets have dropped dead. You don't always hear from dead markets, though in this case there was some notice on their site or blog that all submissions were released. And the hope that maybe they might come back, though few do. A third market announced its indefinite suspension on Sunday. The three markets are Basement Stories, Darwin's Evolution (after it had already evolved from e-zine to anthology publication) and Brain Harvest.

So I've sent out 9 new submissions, including one involving an envelope and postage to Gordon Van Gelder at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. And one with a rapid turnaround which has already been rejected, leaving me with a grand total of 18 stories out tonight.

Lightspeed, by the way, has recently switched to a new online submission system, after being an early adopter of the Clarkesworld sub system. With the new system I was unable to upload my story as an RTF. Tried writing the RTF from three different programs -- same result. Finally sent a Word 2003 DOC file. I am told that they had file restrictions locked down too tight -- we'll see the next time I need to send something requiring John Joseph Adam's near lightspeed rejection. (grin)

I've also written two bios, updated my website dr-phil-physics.com slightly and gotten one of two sets of edits done for my two April publications. Not a lot of new writing, as I've also been busy this week working on my sister's accounts -- don't ask.

Ack! Another rejection just slunk in. Seventeen Dr. Phil stories out in the wild, Seventeen stories out, Take one down, Shop it around...

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: busy

This Is Interesting

From Ralan's I've learned that Lightspeed (SF) and Fantasy magazines are merging. John Joseph Adams, who used to read The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Science Fiction's slush for Gordon Van Gelder, edits both and recently bought them, becoming editor/publisher.

SF subs are still open, but fantasy subs are closed for the moment. Good news, JJA isn't changing the number of either SF or fantasy stories per month.

I'd heard about JJA becoming publisher, but not the merger. Ralan is great about updating us struggling authors. (grin) We'll see how this turns out.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: optimistic

Realms of Fantasy Closing

I've already written this obituary -- twice -- here and here. This has gotten convoluted enough that I missed posting about RoF's sale, though I did post about their impending (past tense) switch to e-subs.

Ian Randal Strock reports some details on SFScope today, announcing "The third death of Realms of Fantasy". He includes this posting from the latest owners:

When we purchased Realms of Fantasy last year we truly thought that we could succeed in publishing the magazine for the foreseeable future. We were unable to realize this goal, have been losing money, and we must regretfully announce the closure of the magazine.

During our time with the magazine we picked up without missing a single issue and were lucky enough to produce the 100th issue. We were able to introduce poetry and bring back the table top gaming column. We have been truly amazed at the positive feedback on the issues we have produced from all of the fans. This is what makes this decision so painful for us.

As we were considering closing the magazine we thought it was important for the October 2011 issue to be released in print for the fans. We did this knowing there would not be a return on the investment, but did it simply because we felt it was right. This does mean the October 2011 issue will be the last issue. The issue did go to newsstands and we have copies for those who are not active subscribers.

Since the October issue shipped late please allow until November 15th before contacting us about lost mailings. International subscribers please allow an additional two weeks.

We are currently trying to work with other magazines to assume the subscription list. This will ensure that subscribers get something for the portions of the subscriptions not fulfilled. This does mean that we will not be issuing refunds unless we are unable to secure a deal, at which point we will follow our posted refund policy. We will update you when we have more information.

If there is anyone interested in purchasing the magazine we will listen to all offers. Those interested should send an email to support [at] rofmag [dot] com.

We would like to thank Shawna McCarthy and Douglas Cohen for all of your support and help. You have both been wonderful to work with during the last year. We would also like to thank all of the remaining staff for the quality columns and attention to detail. Lastly, but definitely not least, we would like to thank all of the fans for your support and encouragement.

Please direct all further inquiries to support [at] rofmag [dot] com.

William and Kim Gilchrist
Damnation Books LLC

As the deja vu-ness of this all unfolds, we have farewell editorials (again) by Shawna McCarthy and Douglas Cohen, whose closing comments included:

There is of course that small voice in the back of my head, saying, “Maybe you’ll rise from the dead again!” Hey, maybe we will. But as I said to Shawna, “Each cancellation has felt a little more final than the last one. This one feels like the end of the road.”

If it is, we’ve had a final year we can be proud of. We’ve won a Nebula Award, and we were nominated for another one. Our longtime fiction editor, Shawna McCarthy, was honored at this year’s World Fantasy Convention as the Editorial Guest of Honor. Artwork we’ve published has received some wonderful honors. We reached issue 100, and with this latest issue we’ve managed to publish 600 stories in RoF’s lifetime. We published poetry for the first time, and in my admittedly biased opinion, the work our nonfiction columnists delivered was second to none. There’s a lot to be proud of in this final year, and I’m glad we and the magazine managed to have it. It makes for a fitting end. It’s time to move on, and I’m excited at what the future holds for me in this field.

As I said in January 2009 and October 2010, I'm not much of a fantasy writer, so it's not that this is a market that I submit to. But it's one I've read from time to time, and a lot of the writers I know DO write fantasy. So I know this will affect some people.

Is this REALLY the end? Dunno. Lots of people tell me that the glossy physical magazine is dead in this e-world -- and "no one" has figured out how to make money in said e-world. Dunno about that either. Still, someone else might pony up and restart RoF again -- nothing would surprise me. And copy-and-paste is making this easier each time. (sad wry grin)

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: saddened

One Of The Older Titles Undergoes "Change"

Weird Tales is a venerable title, but it's seen a lot of changes even since I've been writing to markets. And somehow I've managed, with only two subs, to hit the transition points. (grin)

In more recent news, last month there was an announcement on the sudden sale and editorial change at Weird Tales. Ann VanderMeer, editor since early 2007 is finishing up an issue, but the new owner/editor Marvin Kaye will have an all new staff and new direction. Seems scary after VanderMeer's several Hugo nominations and one Hugo win. But that's free enterprise for ya.

Of course this news came just two weeks after I got around to making my second sub ever to Weird Tales and first-time to VanderMeer. I suppose this just goes to show that you need to keep after your Invenstory and markets -- or it doesn't actually mean anything. (grin)

So today there was an update on Facebook that Ralan's had a link to a notice freeing all the stories in Weird Tales's submission queue.

To all writers who have submitted work to us and not yet heard back. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your manuscript. Alas, this venerable magazine has recently been acquired by a new publisher. And therefore there will be a new Editor-in-Chief: Marvin Kaye. If you have a submission in the electronic submission portal at Weird Tales, your submission should be considered returned to you whether or not you have heard back. All stories sent via snail mail will be returned. Please check back to the website for updated information. (NOTE: currently closed to all submissions until further notice).

Win, Lose Or...

When I first started submitting stories to markets, I thought I'd track responses as wins and losses. But reality is more complicated than that. There are qualified "wins", such as WOTF Honorable Mentions or receiving an encouraging letter or nice critique which don't result in a sale or a publication. And then there's the category of NO CALLS. The very first story I sent out generated this, when the space station story contest I'd submitted to was canceled due to insufficient submissions.

Editorial changes and returning all subs? Outside of my writing skills -- no matter how good that story might be. (grin) This is my ninth NO CALL. Most of them are for markets closing or disappearing, but one was for a whole bin of WOTF submissions that got lost in the USPS system and another was from withdrawing a contest entry after I'd made a pro sale and no longer qualified. That last shows you that even a NO CALL can be a positive sign of progress.

Who knows what the new guidelines for Weird Tales will look like, or whether I'll have any stories suitable for them. We'll see.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: enduring

I'm Alive

That's official, by the way. Had the annual physical today and my doctor was pleased with some progress on some outstanding issues. (grin)

Two Thoughts on Writers and Writing

Three, actually if you count the nice piece I read the other day and failed to record the URL asking the question about whether you want to write or be a writer. (triple-word-score-grin)

Ken Schneyer talks about the mixed emotions we can have about the Jealousy - Envy - Regret of our writing and the success of others. In particular, he addressed the question of regret over not starting earlier. I think, though, that everyone's mileage is different. In my case:

I "could" have started submitting stories in 1976. Well, no I couldn't -- I had notes and ideas, but no writing.

I "could" have submitted stories in 1985, but they were pretty raw. In 1990 I started writing a novel -- that one isn't done but it spawned my 29th century and half my stories. In 1997 I started on a tear -- and when I discovered that writers were worried about word count, I checked and this second "novel" was three-quarters done... at 1.5 million words.

I started submitting with a 5000 word story in June 2002. It helped get me in Clarion and finally sold six years later on its 11th outing.

Yeah, I could've started earlier, but it wouldn't have been the same.

Then Tobias Buckell wrote on milestones versus goals. Or the difference over which things you can and cannot control.

If you're a writer -- or want to be -- you should read these two pieces.

Which Brings Us To...

Assuming my stats are right, my 388th submission today is my 300th commercial submission and the 30th in the month since my sabbatical began. All I can control is what I write and taking charge of sending it out.

Still have 24 stories out in the world tonight. Better than lottery tickets. (double-edged-grin)

And the Velveeta? That was lunch. The cheese, that is, in a tomato sandwich. Mmm... summer.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: accomplished

And Off To Market We Go

Thought I'd update about my writing since I last reported on my sabbatical.

From Friday July 29th to today Tuesday August 9th, I shipped 18 stories to 18 markets -- submissions #360 to #377. Two markets had fast turnarounds and have already rejected, plus the five I had out prior to the binge, means that I have 21 stories out in the wild right now

Well since I wrote the eleven days ago, we're up to submission #385 with 26 stories out there right now, including one new story for Redstone SF's Identity Crisis contest. That's amazing.

Of course there's no guarantee that I'll ever sell another story, but you can't sell if you aren't shoving things under the editor's nose. Most of the 26 markets are pro paying or close to it. Not that I'm "counting my money before the sale", but to indicate these are quality markets.

Now... back to new stories. (grin)

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: accomplished

Without Fanfare

So the Greek comic/SF newspaper supplement Εννέα (Nine) is dead. According to Douglas Smith's Foreign Market List they published their last issue back in June 2010 after ten years.

Εννέα (Nine) published two stories of mine and from my contributor's copies, they did a beautiful job.

7. "The Uranium Age" (translated into Greek) in Nine, Issue #421. (3 Sept. 2008)

10. "Your First Real Rocket Ship" (translated into Greek) in Nine, Issue #443. (11 Feb. 2009)

They were a funny market in today's world. No real website. No rejection letters. They just sent you an invoice to sign if they had already published your story. Sometimes way after the fact. (grin)

Alas, I cannot find an index of the stories they published. And neither of my stories has sold in English anywhere, though I keep trying.

Too bad. Nice publication.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: sad

Sabbatical 1.31 Report -- July 2011 (and into August)

A six-month sabbatical should have six months in it, but I didn't actually know that July was the first month until very late -- Tuesday 26 July 2011 to be exact. And no sooner had I officially started my self-imposed sabbatical, then I had to spend a lot of time in a chair with my left leg propped up. Great. Today, in fact, is the first time I've been in my office since the 26th.

Now from the title of this post, I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking that I think that writing and submitting is a competitive action. Editors are going to buy what editors are going to buy. They may be buying from people they know, they may be buying stories that resonate with what they want for their publication and this particular issue. Rejection is just part of the game. I recently had a novella rejected in part because the market already had a couple of novellas bought and didn't need another one. Had I submitted at a different time, who knows? So I'm not really competing against "you".

But I have been productive.

Being Prepared

Knowing that I'd be doing a lot of sitting, and not planning to spend 7-10 days just watching TV, I updated my flash drives from my main Sony at home, then brought out SUMMER, the tiny Fujitsu U810 UMPC (Ultra Miniature PC), USB numeric keypad and Microsoft LED travel mouse.

SUMMER (Fujitsu U810) versus WINTER (Fujitsu 1510D) -- same specs, different size

Once I'd downloaded a couple hundred meg and got connected to the wireless HP Deskjet 6980, I was in business. Mostly.

See, as a Very Large Person, I don't have a lap, so I can't sit with a laptop balanced on said nonexistent lap. I could put a laptop on the "arm table" next to me, but not with my leg propped up. So, it's hold the U810 in my left hand and type with one finger on the small keyboard. Needless to say, I was not writing much in the way of new stories, but with a mouse and an arrow keypad, I could do cover letters, editing, etc.

You Can't Sell Stories Unless You Submit

From Friday July 29th to today Tuesday August 9th, I shipped 18 stories to 18 markets -- submissions #360 to #377. Two markets had fast turnarounds and have already rejected, plus the five I had out prior to the binge, means that I have 21 stories out in the wild right now.

That should be a record. I think once I had 19 stories out at once.

In addition, the two recently rejected markets have 7 day delays before next submissions built in, which will soon be expiring. I've got one window closing on the 15th if I can get a new story written in time -- and I should be able to start devoting some real Time In Chair on that project Real Soon Now -- another closing on the 31st, and a couple of markets opening up on the 1st. So I'm not done yet.

To put this in perspective, I have 71 stories in my Invenstory which have shipped a total of 377 times now. 15 have been published, with 1 reprint. 21 of 56 stories means that 37.5% of my Invenstory is out to market right now. And of the 25 remaining stories, well, 3 are tied up with an outfit that may or may not ever get around to publishing them -- see The Lost Stories -- and some of the rest either are awaiting a rewrite or aren't worth rewriting.

So I'm pretty happy with all the productivity. And as markets reject (or buy) and reopen, the stories will churn through all the places they need to go.

But having some time to sit down and plot this out, reject all the market submission guidelines and get the stories in order, this has been golden. It would've been done eventually, but this has sped up the process immensely. Go me.

Oh, and for the record. Of the 18 submissions I've just made, exactly two of them have been mailed. All the rest have been e-subs.

Dr. Phil

Welcome to Fantasy Island

LocusOnline had a link to say that Realms of Fantasy is going to all-electronic submissions. Yet another genre print magazine is going e-sub.

Actually, what the announcement from Douglas Cohen says is:

... that on September 1st Realms of Fantasy will be closing to fiction submissions. This closure is part of our plan to switch over to electronic submissions. When we reopen, RoF will begin accepting electronic submissions for both fiction and poetry. Please note that we’ll be letting the fiction p.o. box expire. The last day it will be open is August 31st. So if you send us a submission with a postmark of August 31st, it won’t reach us. It needs to make it to the p.o. box by no later than August 31st. Please take this into account when submitting your work to us in August. Also, no, I’m afraid we don’t have an exact date yet for when you might expect us to open to electronic subs. When I have more information on this front, I’ll be sure to share it. When we reopen and begin accepting electronic subs, if someone should still need to send us a snail mail submission for some reason, we will have a plan in place to accommodate you (though I imagine most of you will elect to take advantage of the electronic option).

So if you're sending them stuff, take note.

The Changing Reality

I've sent twenty subs out so far this year, a little under my average rate but that's okay. Thing is, nineteen of them have been e-subs. I've only sent one snail mail sub all year. In fact, you have to go back to October 2010 to find my previous postal submission. There was a time, and for me this starts in June of 2002 so we're not talking prehistory here, that all my subs were postal. That it was the odd market or SF contest which took email subs or had some sort of web submission system. Now I have to scramble to find envelopes, stamps, SASEs, etc., I do it so rarely.

There's no question that we're in a different world. Whether it's the future, I can't say. And while we haven't achieved the paperless office by a long shot, I have only had to fire up the HP LaserJet 4ML once this year to print out a disposable manuscript. (grin)

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: busy

Not Quite Dead Yet, But...

Just got an email from Aberrant Dreams, which is also posted on their website:

Closed Until Further Notice
by JoeDickerson on Sun, 01/16/2011 - 15:51

Hi All,

By now, many of you are wondering exactly what is going on at Aberrant Dreams, and why there has been little word from anyone regarding the status of things around here. To be honest, the lack of updates and communication can be attributed to one thing only: everyday life got in the way. Because of many factors, the priorities have constantly been shifting, and while I love Aberrant Dreams, and wish wholeheartedly for things to run smoothly and timely, updates to the web (and worse, the authors) have kept sliding out of control. Way out of control! The health issues I've mentioned in the past have kept me from focusing any of my free time I do have into Aberrant Dreams. And to be honest, there appears to be no change in this situation in sight.

It is because of this that I have finally made the decision (rather late, I know) to suspend Aberrant Dreams' online publishing until further notice. This does not mean that Aberrant Dreams is a dead market, but rather I am placing it on an undetermined hiatus until such a time that things become more level, and I can put the appropriate amount of time and attention to making it a great place for readers and authors.

I'll keep this message fairly short. To all of the authors with stories currently in queue for our online publication, I am releasing those stories back to the respective authors involved. I wish all of you luck finding a more stable home for them than I can offer here, and I hope that when we are finally able to return that I'll see all of you here again!

Sincerely,

Joe Dickerson

Ralan's had "MARKET NOTE - 28Oct10: behind on the slush pile; could be a long wait; temporarily closed to submissions". In Aberrant Dreams's Forum at the website is a plaintive posting from July titled "Hello?", saying there'd been no content updates since March, and which has 13 replies except they aren't displaying in either Firefox or Chrome. In any event, I'd submitted a story back in March 2010 and checked on their Submission system every month or so to check on its status -- that story is now released and recorded as a No Call in my scoring system. Darn -- I thought that story might be a good fit there.

I wish the people at Aberrant Dreams better fortunes and hope that someday they can come back.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: sad

A Novel Contest Which Might Be A Little Too Novel

This is burning up on a number of sites, including John Scalzi's Whatever, and these two blogs

Anyway, First One Publishing is holding a contest for first novels of up to 65,000 words for digital publishing. No genre restrictions. An open call for new writers. What could be so bad about this? Well, I see four red flags off the bat:

(1) The contest fee is $149 per entry. $149!

Sure, there are contests with entry fees. But this one is steep and the thought is that they only need to get 34 entries to cover the $5000 Grand Prize award. After that, the contest becomes "profitable" to them.

(2) The contest rules include some rights grabbing language -- sounds like ALL entries become the property of the publisher to do with as they wish. Wait, you mean if you DON'T win, they STILL get to keep your story? How's that work again?

(3) Other people have noted some other details -- or in some cases lack of details -- regarding how much of a publisher or how much experience this operation has. In other words, they say they're offering a great opportunity to non-professional writers, but we just have to trust them? Um-mmm, no. Legitimate operations don't work this way.

Also they don't guarantee that anyone will actually win the Grand Prize. This is supposed to be an example of quality control, one thinks, but it also makes things worse for those who enter.

(4) Then the publisher, Karen Hunter, showed up on Absolute Write to defend First One Publishing's contest and didn't do a great job of explaining the rationale for the problematic aspects of the contest or a real understanding of what professional writers and people in the publishing business were objecting to.

Whatever is telling you that something is amiss, is lying to you. And we accept your apology because you are wrong as it relates to the contest. To judge a book before you've read it is unfair. Let us launch the contest (Feb. 11). Join it. And if you have a problem, then you have a right to criticize. But it's not even officially launched yet.

Since when is quoting the relevant sections of the rules and pointing out what the language is saying tantamount to lying? And accepting an apology for said lies when they weren't lies and those who have objections are not apologizing? What kind of fantasy world does this person live in?

And to say that the contest hasn't even started yet and to hold off objections until February 11th is pure nonsense IMHO -- because you put the contest announcement on the Internet a month ahead of the contest opening so that you will have people working on their manuscripts to have something to submit. A month from now is NOT the time to start a discussion about whether you should have wasted your time on such a project or not.

All In All...

... at best this person is very naive about how publishing, contests and contracts should work, in which case one would be advised to stay away and not invest $149 in an unprofessional operation OR it really is a rights grabbing, money sucking scam operation, in which one would surely be advised to stay the hell away from it. At the very, very least this contest does not pass the smell test today.

We shall see how this develops. But for now I'd strongly recommend staying away from First One Publishing's contest. Money is supposed to flow to the writer -- schemes where the money flows the other way (with the exception of the option of reasonable entry fees) are either scams, vanity presses or both.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: concerned

Oh This Is Interesting

On Saturday I got a letter from an editor which was pretty much a rewrite request. Yay! This story might finally be happening. Can't, or at least won't, give any details right now, but I am pleased. And all the comments are reasonable.

Meanwhile, we will still have to wait for early 2011 for my next publication to show up. But it's not like nothing is happening with my SF writing. (grin)

Meanwhile, Back In Australia

I was doing one of my period Google searches on myself when I ran across a webpage for back print issues of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. As you may recall, in 2009 I had two SF stories published Down Under: "Machine" appeared in ASIM Issue #38 and "In The Blink Of An Eye" appeared in ASIM Issue #39.

I am very proud of both stories -- plus "Machine" got an awesome illustration to boot, to say nothing of being inspired by a Pink Floyd song. But ASIM doesn't have a huge distribution, and while there was a brief period you could buy the issues as PDF downloads, while they still have copies in print, you might want to take this opportunity to snag a copy, read some Dr. Phil stories and support this marvelous SF co-op from Australia.

ASIM #38 Print

Edited by Zara Baxter and Sue Bursztynski

With original fiction by Ingrid Banwell, Gitte Christensen, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, K.V. Johansen, Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon, E.M. Sky, and Katherine Sparrow, and an interview with Pamela Freeman.

ASIM #39 Print

Edited by Andrew Finch

With original fiction by Joanne Anderton, Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon, Paul Kennebeck, Rob Shearman, Linda Steele, and James Targett.

Each issue is A$8.00 plus shipping. (They were A$8.95 earlier -- so save, save, save.)

I suppose you could even say it's a Christmas present. (evil-grinchy-grin)

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: accomplished

Realms of Fantasy Closing

Didn't I already write this obituary? Apparently yes. But from multiple sources, I got the link to Warren Lapine's farewell.

As I said in January 2009, I'm not much of a fantasy writer, so it's not that this is a market that I submit to. But it's one I've read from time to time, and a lot of the writers I know DO write fantasy. So I know this will affect some people.

I wasn't quite sure if Warren was the right person to run RoF, but he had it and there were some signs of life -- including writing checks to people -- and there was even some controversy about covers and such. So at least RoF was splashing around noisily in the pool and not being a wallflower. But still.

Intriguing Postscript

Towards the end of Warren's post, he did mention the following:

Should there be any interest in purchasing the magazine I will gladly sell Realms to a responsible party for $1.00 and give them the finished files for the December issue.

Does this represent true love for RoF? Or a quick way to pass on a magazine's debt load for a buck? Or does it even matter? If anyone really wanted to keep RoF going, if Warren is good to his word, then he would not be an impediment. It will be interesting to see if anyone takes him up on this.

Of course Nick Mamatas

nihilistic_kid pointed out that "I'm tempted. A shame this wasn't announced last month, when an enterprising person could have had the December issue out for World Fantasy as a pick-up."

Alas, if Real Estate is all about location, then Publishing is all about timing.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: saddened

Pro Markets

According to SFWA, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, the pro rate for a short story market is 5 cents/word or higher, minimum $50. While this isn't going to get you rich, because there aren't a lot of pro paying markets and they can buy only so many of your stories, the sad truth is that many publications pay less -- often a lot less. And periodically, we lose another pro paying market. So you can imagine that new pro paying markets are of great interest to SF/F/H writers.

Alas, there may be a dog in sheep's clothing out there.

j_cheney and Absolute Write yesterday mentioned a new operation, which is coming out with not one, but several new pro paying markets -- or so it seems on the surface.

Who Is Astra Publications?

Hmm... looks hazy, try again. Those who spent some time digging seemed to find a website advertising all these new publications, asking for donations or sales without detailing tables of contents, and possible connections between all the names which are mentioned. Plus stories which are already in the public domain.

To me, though, I worried about the name "Astra". There's already a Canadian con called Ad Astra, and Ad Astra is a publication of the National Space Society. You can call yourselves anything you want, but if you're after confusing people, picking something which might sound like something else might do it.

Like "Readshift" for "Redshift" or "LightSpeed SF" vs. John Joseph Adam's "Lightspeed".

This seems like someone intends to poach on Google searches for other sites. Uh-huh, real classy.

First Bad Signs

I'm not putting the link to this outfit, because I think they may be a scam, but you be the judge. Because when I went to the website, I got the following warning.

From ZoneAlarm/Checkpoint:

This Web site is suspicious. Leave now unless you are sure this site is safe.

Okay...

And even when you get there, the HTML is poorly coded. Blanks on the left side marked "Banner Ads", without any, say, banner ads.

Ten Brand New Publications All At Once?

Admittedly they may be annuals or other periods longer than monthly, but starting up with 10 publications, 7 of 10 at pro rates? Look at this:

nth Dimension - Short Science Fiction - 500-7000 words - 5.5 cents per word.
Desert Rose Fiction - Short Mainstream Fiction - 1000-5000 words - 5 cents per word.
Atomic Chipmunk - Short Speculative Fiction - 750-6000 words - 6 cents per word.
Pulp Fic Press - Short Fantasy, Science Fiction, Crime, Adventure, Romance, Horror - 100-4000 words - 6 cents per word.
ReadShiftSF - Short Science Fiction - 1000-6000 words - 6 cents per word.
Fragment Fiction - Short Fiction - 250-6000 words - 5 cents per word.
LightSpeed SF - Short Speculative Fiction - 500-5000 words - 5.5 cents per word.
Futura Machine - Short Speculative Fiction - 250-5000 words - 2.5 cents per word.
The Written Word - Mainstream - 250-4500 words - 2.5 cents per word.
Athena's Flower - Mainstream - 250 - 10000 words - 2 cents per word.

A few years ago a friend of mine tried to start up a pro paying e-zine. Even with buying only two stories an issue, there were problems and eventually it got to be too much and too expensive up front, and he folded it after a couple of issues. And that was a sincere effort.

I fear that this is an attempt to get money for publishing someone and their friends' trunk stories, plus raise money via donations to keep these valuable pro markets going... without actually being a valuable pro market. I mean, it looks like it's something but you print your own stuff and reject all other submissions -- what a business plan!

Unless someone comes forward and successfully argues that this outfit is legitimate, I'm not wasting any time sending to any of these so-called pro markets. As a professional SF writer, it is my obligation to do due diligence on places I submit to, and this outfit doesn't pass the smell tests.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: annoyed

John Joseph Adams' New Magazine Guidelines

As I mentioned back in October, there's a new pro paying market coming out in June 2010, John Joseph Adams' Lightspeed. The Submission Guidelines are now online.

Lightspeed Guidelines

Guidelines for Original Fiction
Lightspeed is open for submissions beginning January 1, 2010. A link to the online submission system will be added to the site at that time.

Lightspeed is seeking original science fiction stories of 1000-7500 words. Stories of 5000 words or less are preferred. We pay 5¢/word for original fiction, on acceptance. To see which rights we're seeking, please view our contract template for original fiction.

All types of science fiction are welcome, from near-future, sociological soft sf, to far-future, star-spanning hard sf, and anything and everything in between. No subject should be considered off-limits, and we encourage writers to take chances with their fiction and push the envelope.

We believe that the science fiction genre's diversity is its greatest strength, and we wish that viewpoint to be reflected in our story content and our submission queues; we welcome submissions from writers of every race, religion, nationality, gender, and sexual orientation.

Guidelines for Reprints
Lightspeed will be publishing two reprints each month, but it is primarily a market for original fiction; a majority of our reprints will be directly solicited, but you may submit a reprint for consideration if you wish. For reprints, we are offering 1¢/word, on acceptance. To see which rights we're seeking, please view our contract template for reprinted fiction.

Rejections
Be aware that every month we expect to receive several hundred submissions. As such, we cannot offer personalized feedback on each story. If we say, "Send more," it does mean that we hope to see something else from you. Most rejections will be sent out in 48 hours or less, while stories being seriously considered may be held for up to two weeks.

Summary
Stories should be science fiction between 1000 and 7500 words long. Stories of 5000 words or less are preferred.

Payment for original fiction is 5¢/word, on acceptance. To see which rights we're seeking, please view our contract template for original fiction.

Payment for reprinted fiction is 1¢/word, on acceptance. To see which rights we're seeking, please view our contract template for reprinted fiction.

Response time: Most rejections will be sent out in 48 hours or less, while stories being seriously considered may be held for up to two weeks.

Submission Procedures
All fiction submissions must be submitted through our online submission system. A link to the online submission system will be added to the site by January 1, 2010.

Our submissions form asks for your name, email address, cover letter, story title, and story. Your cover letter should contain the length of your story, your publishing history, and any other relevant information (e.g, if you send us a hard sf story about black hole clusters and your doctoral dissertation was on black hole clusters, mention that). All stories should be in standard manuscript format and can be submitted in either .RTF or .DOC format. If you are unable to use our online submission system, please e-mail your story as an attachment to john@lightspeedmagazine.com. All questions about fiction and fiction related e-mails should go to john@lightspeedmagazine.com.

After you have submitted your story, a tracking number will be displayed and an automated email confirmation containing this information will be sent to you. If you have not received this email us. Your tracking number will allow you to monitor the status of your submission through our website, so please make note of it.

NOTE: Be sure to add john@lightspeedmagazine.com to your address book (or your email client's spam white list), and check your spam folder before querying if we have received your story.

Additional Notes
Lightspeed is not a market for fantasy fiction. Please submit fantasy stories to our sister publication, Fantasy Magazine.

Sexual themes and stories with strong sexual content are acceptable, but Lightspeed is not a market for erotica.

Lightspeed is not a market for media-based fiction (i.e., stories set in the Star Wars or Star Trek universes, etc.), or any kind of fan fiction.

Lightspeed is not a market for poetry.

We do not accept simultaneous submissions or multiple submissions.

Do not query for fiction. If you're not sure if your story is suitable, please simply submit it and let our editors decide.

If editor John Joseph Adams has previously rejected your story, please do not submit it to Lightspeed, unless it was rejected as being unsuitable for the market (due to theme, etc.) or unless it has been significantly revised to the extent that it is no longer the same story. (emphasis mine)

Please do not respond to rejection letters, even just to say "Thanks for the quick turnaround" etc. We appreciate the thought, but it is unnecessary and will just clutter up our editorial inbox.

Why The Big Deal

Well, for one thing we're always lamenting the loss of markets, especially paying markets. To have a new SF market coming out, one paying SFWA pro rates, is news to SF writers. Especially in light of the recent "Rate Fail" discussion -- a new market paying 0.1¢ a word -- which I'll probably blog about soon. Second, JJA has until recently been the Assistant Editor at The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and reading Gordon Van Gelder's slush pile for all the years I've been submitting to markets. And JJA's been editing some pretty nifty anthologies recently. Not that he's been buying my work. (grin) -- See italic emphasis in Guidelines above. -- Yet. (big-grin)

So, if you're a SF writer, you might want to read the above and think about some submissions. And if you're an SF reader, well, we'll just have to wait til June 2010 to see if all this fuss is worth it.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: anxious

New SF Market

Was zipping by LocusOnline just now and saw that John Joseph Adams will be the fiction editor for a new SF online magazine called Lightspeed:

Press Release
Prime Books Announces Lightspeed, a New Science Fiction Magazine

ROCKVILLE, MD, OCT. 16 -- Prime Books, the award-winning independent press and publisher of Fantasy Magazine, announced today that in June 2010 it will launch a new online magazine called Lightspeed (www.lightspeedmagazine.com), which will publish four science fiction short stories every month, along with an assortment of non-fiction features. Lightspeed will be edited by John Joseph Adams, the bestselling editor of anthologies such as Wastelands and The Living Dead, and Andrea Kail, a writer, critic, and television producer who worked for thirteen years on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Adams will select and edit the fiction, while Kail will handle the non-fiction.

Lightspeed will focus exclusively on science fiction. It will feature all types of sf, from near-future, sociological soft sf, to far-future, star-spanning hard sf, and anything and everything in between. No subject will be considered off-limits, and writers will be encouraged to take chances with their fiction and push the envelope. New content will be posted twice a week, including one piece of fiction, and one piece of non-fiction. The fiction selections each month will consist of two original stories and two reprints, except for the debut issue, which will feature four original pieces of fiction. All of the non-fiction will be original.

Lightspeed will open to fiction submissions and non-fiction queries on January 1, 2010. Guidelines for fiction and non-fiction will be available on Lightspeed's website, www.lightspeedmagazine.com, by December 1, 2009.

About John Joseph Adams
John Joseph Adams (www.johnjosephadams.com) is the bestselling editor of many anthologies, such as By Blood We Live, Federations, The Living Dead (a World Fantasy Award finalist), and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. He has been called "the reigning king of the anthology world" by Barnes & Noble's Unabashedly Bookish blog and his anthology The Living Dead was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly. In addition to his editorial work, he is also currently a reviewer for Audible.com, a blogger for Tor.com, and the co-host of the podcast The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy.

About Andrea Kail
Andrea Kail (www.andreakail.com) is a graduate of the Dramatic Writing Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has spent the last two decades working from one end of New York's television spectrum to the other: HBO, MTV, A&E, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, as well as thirteen years at NBC's Emmy Award-winning Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Her fiction has appeared in Fantasy Magazine, and her novella, "The Sun God at Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom," was a first-place winner in the Writers of the Future contest and appeared in Writers of the Future Vol. XXIII. Since 2005, Andrea has also been writing lively film criticism for such venues as Paradox Magazine and CinemaSpy.

About Prime Books
Prime Books (www.prime-books.com), edited and published by Hugo Award-nominee and World Fantasy Award-winner Sean Wallace, is an award-winning independent publishing house specializing in a mix of anthologies, collections, novels, and magazines. Some of its established and new authors/editors include John Joseph Adams, KJ Bishop, Philip K. Dick, Theodora Goss, Rich Horton, Nick Mamatas, Sarah Monette, Holly Phillips, Tim Pratt, Ekaterina Sedia, Catherynne M. Valente, and Jeff VanderMeer.

Contacts
Sean Wallace, publisher, sean@lightspeedmagazine.com
John Joseph Adams, fiction editor, john@lightspeedmagazine.com
Andrea Kail, non-fiction editor, andrea@lightspeedmagazine.com

JJA has been editing anthologies besides being The Slush God at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. And I've always liked Lightspeed as a word. Will be interested in checking out their guidelines when they get them up.

For all the markets that close, so far there's always been someone willing to open up a new one. We shall see what we shall see.

Dr. Phil

UPDATE: I asked JJA if Lightspeed was going to be a pro-paying market.

Hi Phil,

Yes, it’ll be a pro-paying market.

John Joseph Adams wrote on October 18th, 2009 at 7:43 pm

Current Mood: hopeful

Just Happening

Ralan's is reporting that Analog and Asimov's, both published by Dell Magazines, has editorial/submission address changes. The date on Ralan's for the tip was August 19th, so this is recent.

It's a funny thing. I've got files with submission guidelines for both from February 2003 -- and submitted to both in March 2003. Asimov's got updated, because of an editorial change. But the real thing is that I check guidelines websites on a regular basis -- less often from ones I submit to often -- and cruise Ralan's on a regular basis. Don't assume that addresses stay the same or that markets stay open. Recheck and verify.

By The Way

September is Ralan's donation drive month. If you use this resource, and you can spare some PayPal, send it his way. Because as bad as it is for markets to close, having resource sites close would make things really difficult.

Just sayin'.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: awake

Another SF Market Closing

Word is spreading around that Jim Baen's Universe is closing. While the most impact it has on me is that I will have no more submissions to JBU -- and will never appear on its webpages -- the fact is they are announcing this "early" and will continue e-publishing through the April 2010 issue. All the stories they currently have contracted for will be published and paid.

I'm sure that many SF writers will comment, as I did above, about losing another market to sell their stories. Of course, one of the arguments against short fiction markets is that too many of those interested in them are interested in SELLING to them and not BUYING. A lot of people hoped that JBU had found a model that would work in today's marketplace, and after being open for a couple of years, perhaps people got complacent that a successful business model had been found. It is ironic that JBU's announcement comes on the heals of SFWA's announcement that the Tor.com website will count as a SFWA pro market.

I met Eric Flint and Mike Resnick at Windycon two years, at a talk about JBU. They were both very concerned with both getting quality SF out there, and of giving a chance to the next generation of writers. Multiple people read through the slush piles, and they also used Baen's Bar as a way to help new writers wring out the problems of their stories. Though I never got a chance to meet Jim Baen himself before his passing the other year, I kind of hoped that JBU would be able to stand as part of his legacy. Alas, twas not to be.

Finally, I'd let to send out a Thank You to

nancyfulda Nancy Fulda, who was one of the slush readers for JBU and mostly the assistant editor who sent me my rejections. JBU had a fast turnaround time and a wide word count range, so nearly all of my stories could be routed through them -- and Nancy saw most of them. I used to joke to my friends that "Nancy Fulda hates me", but that's not true. Editors are rejecting the story, not the writer -- send them another one, write more, write more better. (grin) Another assistant editor who stands out is Sam Hidaka, who I know comments on the WOTF Forum, again helping out new writers.

Jim Baen's Universe and its dead tree offspring The Best of... will be missed. But not yet. They're still running until the April 2010 issue. And that's still a lot of SF stories to read. Just not mine.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: disappointed

My Story In Greek From Last Year

Back in November I found out that my story "The Uranium Age" had been published in Greek by Εννέα (Nine). At the time I only had rough guidelines via

nihilistic_kid Nick Mamatas. But today I received an e-mail from Εννέα with new guidelines:

Dear SF writers,

Despite the international economic crisis we decided to move our Comics & SF supplement, the "9" magazine, from Wednesday to Saturday, a day with much bigger (almost double) printrun and better sales. We also added 16 more pages (from 32 to 48). So now we need longer SF stories. Stories from 3.500 words up to 5.500 words.

We would be obliged if you could "spread" the following submission guidelines to your fellow writers any way possible.

Looking forward to read your stories

Best regards

Angelos Mastorakis
Chief Editor of "9"
The Comics & SF magazine

Well, yessir! Longer stories? I can do that! (grin)

"9" - NEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES - 2009

"9" is a weekly Comics & Science Fiction supplement (50 pages, full colour) of ELEFTHEROTYPIA, a major Greek daily newspaper (print run 100.000). Every week we publish an SF story 3.500 to 5.500 words long. We publish only Science Fiction, not Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery or Horror. We are always interested in good stories, whether published before or not. Not counting the Greek SF stories, we have already published stories written by famous American, Australian, Austrian, Brazilian, Bulgarian, Canadian, Croatian, Cuban, English, French, German, Italian, Serbian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese and Rumanian authors.

LANGUAGE: We accept stories in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish & Serbocroatian.

RATES: for the one-time non exclusive publication rights (first Greek language serial rights) plus the first option for a possible future anthology = 0,03 EURO (3 EURO cents - approximately 4 US cents) per word. We pay after publication. We keep the exclusive Greek translation rights. (That means if you sell your story again in Greece and the second publishers use our translation they have to pay us otherwise they will have to use a new translation) Of course if we decide to include your story in an anthology we make a specific agreement.

CONTRACT: We do not (REPEAT-WE DO NOT) make contracts. To make one contract every week is too much paperwork for us. We do not have time, we have to meet a 50 page deadline every week (52 times a year)!

PAYMENT: We send you an invoice by e-mail that you have to fill, print, sign and send back to us by ordinary mail. (BEWARE: As we cover for you a 20% state tax the amount mentioned on the invoice is not the amount that you are going to receive - it is your fee plus the 20% tax rounded to the nearest 5 EURO amount). In 4-6 weeks we transfer the money in a bank account that you specify. (Unfortunately we had to discontinue the payments by personal cheque). We send you also 3 complimentary copies.

SUBMISSIONS: .RTF or .DOC files by e-mail to ennea.sf@enet.gr (BEWARE: This is a new e-mail account created especially for submissions). Also disposable typewritten or word-processed manuscripts (with your name address & e-mail, on one side of paper, with numbered pages, indented paragraphs, enough spacing between lines and wide margins) to the following address:

Mr. ANGELOS MASTORAKIS
CH. K. TEGOPOULOS EDITIONS S.A.
ELEFTHEROTYPIA - "9"
10-16 MINOOS STREET
GR 117 43 ATHENS
GREECE

NOTICE: A short biography and the following facts about the story must be included in your submission (when it was written, first publication data, any awards, etc.)

We cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage to your submission. Do not send submissions by recorded delivery or registered post.

By submitting a story you agree for its publication under the abovementioned conditions

You're welcome.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: busy

Realms of Fantasy

RoF announced a quick demise -- one so fast that the editor hadn't been contacted before the news got out -- and it's roaring about the blogosphere. So I thought I'd mention it here. Just in the last couple of days

slushmaster was reminding people about submissions for the Halloween 2009 issue, etc. But he confirms the story here as of fifty minutes ago. Main notice is here at SFScope -- and at LocusOnline. I daresay the staff has been caught flatfooted on this one.

I don't write much fantasy, but had a couple of stories which had been slowly percolating along and I always figured I'd submit to RoF. A sudden drop in newstand sales was cited. I've actually bought RoF at Schuler's, but I haven't been to a book store in the last two months due to weather, not economics. Given that there's been bad weather everywhere, I wonder how much of this is a knee jerk bean counter response to the wrong problem? Alas...

This is the second big hit that fantasy has taken, what with the earlier cancelation of The Year's Best in Fantasy & Horror.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: saddened

Profile

dr_phil_physics

April 2016

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30

________________

Email: drphil at

dr-phil-physics.com

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Base style: Modular by branchandroot
Theme: Labors Won by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Sunday, 13 July 2025 15:25

Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

Those Who Lie In Wait, Dream Deep

Entries tagged with markets

Spring Break Updating

The Magazine of Fantasy & Lightspeed?

Another Market Bites The Dust... Again.. Again...

A Weird Tale

Nuts and Bolts and Writing

Going All In

I Guess Nine Is Gone

Getting a Leg Up On the Competition

Whoops There Goes Another to E-Subs

Real Life Intrudes On Another Market

Yikes! Another Vile Writing Contest

While You're Waiting For New Dr. Phil Stories

Another Market Bites The Dust... Again

When Pro Markets Are Maybe Not

Lightspeed Guidelines Are Up

Oh This Should Be Interesting

Dell Magazines Address Changes

Going Out With Some Style

9 Guidelines Update

Another Market Bites The Dust