The Great W1S1 Hey-Do-You-Know-About-This-Market Thread

[Dani79]

Looks like Kazka Press is shutting up shop soon. They were the first place to publish one of my stories, so this makes me sad.

There's still time to get a submission in for their "Writer's Life" issue, then the month after they're doing their only unthemed flash call. But then that's it.

 

[ACFantasy]

Note on The Dark Magazine: they seem to have two 'submission guidelines' pages. On one of them, they say they pay 5c/word for new stories, and 1c/word for reprints. On the other, they say they pay 3c/word for new stories and do not accept reprints.

I'm guessing the second is the 'correct' one, since it's on their magazine's site as opposed to on their wordpress blog. But it's something to keep in mind.

Batspan: thanks. It's been just under a week since I subbed to them, so I guess I'll give it a little longer and query. I'll likely query, if I haven't heard anything, a day or two before the submissions period closes, so if something did go wrong I can resubmit the story.

 

[renard79]

Looks like Kazka Press is shutting up shop soon. They were the first place to publish one of my stories, so this makes me sad.

There's still time to get a submission in for their "Writer's Life" issue, then the month after they're doing their only unthemed flash call. But then that's it.

That's stinky! I was in their At Year's End anthology.

 

[Batspan]

Dani -- Thanks for the heads-up, and sorry to hear about Kazka.

AC -- You're welcome. That's a good plan.

BTW, I'm on day 6 at Phobos. According to Grinder, the Rs were running 0 to 7 days and there was a 15 day acceptance. They haven't responded to anything since March 8, so I suspect they're still working their way through subs for Emergence.

If you're really worried, you might query sooner than the last day or two. Response times to emails vary. You might already know this, but just in case: some markets have a separate address for queries, and it's also helpful to use a clear email title, such as Query - title - author, or whatever the GLs ask for.

Just for perspective, I've done more than 80 short story subs to pro markets since the end of last May and only one story got eaten. It was a server glitch and my sub was one of only a few that went down the great beast's gullet. When I queried, it was too late.

 

[Hapax Legomenon]

I found a new flash fiction blog on my twitter feed today that's accepting submissions. It's not a paying market but it doesn't demand first publication rights.

 

[Izz]

I found a new flash fiction blog on my twitter feed today that's accepting submissions. It's not a paying market but it doesn't demand first publication rights.

By default, if you sell a piece that hasn't been published before someplace, they're buying first publication rights. If you try to sell the piece later, then you're selling it as a reprint, and can only sell it to places that accept such. This blog/zine is no different (they even acknowledge this by asking that if the story is published elsewhere credit be given them as first publisher).

Copyright should always remain with the author. Publishing rights (audio, anthology, etc) are different to copyright. Publishers don't buy the copyright to your story. They buy the right to publish the story in a particular format(s), sometimes exclusively for a period of time. You remain the story's owner.

 

[Hapax Legomenon]

They say in their guidelines:

We don’t demand that this is previously unpublished work.

I know a decent number of people who publish their work elsewhere, like on blogs, or Wattpad, or Amazon, if they go through enough markets and it doesn't sell, which means you can't try to sell to publications that want first publication rights anymore. So, this place is different, at least from most of the places I've submitted to before. I thought that part of their terms was interesting to note.

 

[Little Ming]

They say in their guidelines:

We don’t demand that this is previously unpublished work.

I know a decent number of people who publish their work elsewhere, like on blogs, or Wattpad, or Amazon, if they go through enough markets and it doesn't sell, which means you can't try to sell to publications that want first publication rights anymore. So, this place is different, at least from most of the places I've submitted to before. I thought that part of their terms was interesting to note.

That's just saying they take reprints. Some markets do (usually for a lower pay rate), some don't. It's not that "different."

I found a new flash fiction blog on my twitter feed today that's accepting submissions. It's not a paying market but it doesn't demand first publication rights.

I think the confusion in the way you phrased this is, if this is the first place you are publishing your piece, they are taking first publication rights. They might not "demand" first rights, but they do take them.

 

[Izz]

They say in their guidelines:

We don’t demand that this is previously unpublished work.

I know a decent number of people who publish their work elsewhere, like on blogs, or Wattpad, or Amazon, if they go through enough markets and it doesn't sell, which means you can't try to sell to publications that want first publication rights anymore. So, this place is different, at least from most of the places I've submitted to before. I thought that part of their terms was interesting to note.

Right, so they accept previously unpublished stories and reprints. Which doesn't change any of what i said above If they accept a story off you that hasn't been published before, they are taking your first publication rights, by default, whether they think they are or not (but in this case, they're not taking exclusivity). If they accept a story that has appeared elsewhere (even on your blog, etc), they aren't taking first pub. rights because those are already gone.

As an aside, there are plenty of venues that accept reprints (and pay for them). Some of these venues accept reprints exclusively, while others accept them along with new fiction. While many of those don't accept work that has been published on blogs, etc, some do, so it always pays to check guidelines

 

[Hapax Legomenon]

I think the confusion in the way you phrased this is, if this is the first place you are publishing your piece, they are taking first publication rights. They might not "demand" first rights, but they do take them.

That's exactly what I meant. Demand =/= take. I'm sorry if there was any confusion @_@

 

[ACFantasy]

Angela Benedetti's monthly anthology post is out.

 

[ACFantasy]

Crossed Genres announced some news today.

First, the background: Crossed Genres is doing Flash Fiction this month. They want stories from 300-1000 words, instead of their usual 1000-6000. They are also allowing authors to submit up to 3 stories; their usual limit is 2. Submissions for this month are due 3/31, and there is no other theme.

Now, the news:

* Crossed Genres is now a SFWA qualifying market. Your sales there count towards SFWA eligibility.
* This month, instead of their usual 5c/word rate, accepted stories are bought for a flat $50. For stories of less than 1000 words, this is more money. This also means that sales for this month's submissions also count towards SFWA qualifications.

 

[madgirl]

* This month, instead of their usual 5c/word rate, accepted stories are bought for a flat $50. For stories of less than 1000 words, this is more money. This also means that sales for this month's submissions also count towards SFWA qualifications.

I heard the news about SFWA for them - yay! Though I didn't realize they were at 5c/word - I thought that SFWA rules had gone up to 6c/word?

 

[ACFantasy]

The 6c/word requirement doesn't go into effect until July 1, I believe.

 

[Batspan]

AC -- Thanks for the report. Noticed a 2-day R from Phobos on Grinder today, so they're starting to respond. I'm at day 14.

 

[ACFantasy]

Batspan: glad to hear they're starting to respond. I'm at 14 days as well.

***

In market news, Unidentified Funny Objects 3, the humor SF/F anthology, has a slush update. They've received 245 slush submissions, of which 7 have been bumped to round 3 (the "hold till the end" round) and 6 have been bumped to round 2 and are still being considered there.

 

[Kaitlin Brianna]

For those of you that have submitted to escape pod, do you usually get an acknowledgement email or anything after you send it?

 

[Izz]

For those of you that have submitted to escape pod, do you usually get an acknowledgement email or anything after you send it?

I never have

 

[Kaitlin Brianna]

OK cool, I won't be paranoid then.

I never have

 

[Melinda Moore]

So I got back from vacation where I did not obsessively check on the status of my stories. The status of my DSF story was "unreviewed" which seems to be the very first step. Now it's "in the queue for review." Is "new slush" next? This is a lot of steps for obsessive authors to keep track of

 

[Batspan]

Melinda -- I think I saw a post by PD that the slush status comes in the middle, before the "in the queue for review." So mine's in review (subbed March 15). Not watching the pot or anything. I suspect the slush status is where they weed out stuff that won't be reviewed, but I don't have any inside info. That V word again!

 

[Melinda Moore]

Thanks Batspan. I guess decoding everything is part of the fun

 

[ACFantasy]

I queried Phobos a couple days ago to make sure if they got my story (since it had been longer than The Grinder said their usual response period was, and if they didn't get it, I wanted to find out in time to send it in again--their deadline is March 31st). Just got a response from them saying that they're scrambling with all the entries coming in as the deadline approaches, but they will start sending out responses soon.

 

[williemeikle]

I've got a second rounder at DSF - they said the decision would be by the end of the month - so I'm at the nail-biting stage.

 

[Batspan]

Melinda -- Yes, we have to keep a sense of play with this.

AC -- Thanks for the update on Ph*bos. There hasn't been much on Grinder so I figured they were still in process. Now you don't have to worry that yours got eaten.

Willie -- I'll hope to see the good word in Braggage.