The W1S1 Check-in and Chill Lounge and Bar

alexshvartsman

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Got a note from Goldfish Grimm's this morning. Looks like Vessels for Destruction has made the second round. :)

@Lillie: That story is awesome!

Likewise, had a flash piece of mine advance to round 2. Hope we can both get in, for a 100% AW/W1S1 table of contents :)
 

mhaynes

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That would be cool. But we are both in the flash category so it's a little unlikely. ;)

Memo to self: Sub a non-flash piece next to GG. ;)

Though, if one of yours was in that "middling it" length of ~ 1500 words, they did say they reserved the right to put it in either category.
 

Sam K.

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I've been so worried about the fact I haven't had any proper, solid plot ideas in weeks; perhaps months. I've been really stressed, but apparently my brain has finally turned back on!

Hit inspiration this evening with a quote from a political economist that will hopefully be turned into a very intricately plotted speculative short story, I hope :D An unlikely source for the plot it has produced! Let us hope this is only the tip of much more brain-workery to come!
 

alexshvartsman

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Good luck, Aggy! Hopefully one of us will make it, at least :)

Sam: Those unexpected ideas are usually the best ones. I worried about coming up with plot ideas in the beginning, but lately I've had to keep a file of plot ideas for when I can eventually get to writing them down. You never know when the inspiration will strike you. Also, if you are having a bit of a hard time with plot ideas, try a themed anthology/contest. Prompts they provide will help you generate some ideas, even if you end up taking your story in another direction entirely. Both of my DSF stories originated that way.
 

PrincessofPersia

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Actually started a story today. Had to get over the wall again since it's been a while. I need to study for the LSAT and work on a research project, but I've had this itch to write some shorts that I need to get out of the way before I can make any kind of real progress on the other stuff.
 

Archerbird

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Congrats and good luck to you people up there^ .:)


Well, I managed to write a story at the beginning of this month, but haven't had the motivation to do anything with it.

I've been busy trying to make sure I get to keep my current job for another year (got a new contract, thankfully).

Ready to start afresh now, might fix the story I wrote and sub it next month, or just write something else.
 

defcon6000

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Actually started a story today. Had to get over the wall again since it's been a while. I need to study for the LSAT and work on a research project, but I've had this itch to write some shorts that I need to get out of the way before I can make any kind of real progress on the other stuff.

Well, I managed to write a story at the beginning of this month, but haven't had the motivation to do anything with it.
Awesome, keep up the writing guys. :)


Ah, so I have a question about contracts/rights the such. If the contract only says they retain non-exclusive rights now and into the future, but nothing about exclusive rights, that means if I wanted to, I could resell this story after it's been published. Correct?
 

alexshvartsman

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Ah, so I have a question about contracts/rights the such. If the contract only says they retain non-exclusive rights now and into the future, but nothing about exclusive rights, that means if I wanted to, I could resell this story after it's been published. Correct?

Yes. It just means they can reprint your story (or keep it up on their web site, or whatnot) whenever they want. But you can sell it to other markets that are willing to accept previously published material. If they're asking for First Rights, you can't sell it until AFTER it's been published by them. And a lot of places will also specify a period of exclusivity (say, 3-6 months, the longest I've been willing to sign is 18 months) -- and some will release the rights back to you immediately upon publication.

If you are uncertain about a contract I'd be happy to review it for you. I am NOT a lawyer, but I've signed hundreds of freelance contracts for my consulting work and have developed a good knack for catching the problem parts.
 

defcon6000

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Ah, thanks Alex. :) It doesn't mention anything about a period of exclusivity, which was what I was wondering. I thought most did, but guess not. Only talks about non-exclusive worldwide antho/print/electronic rights, using the story or part of it for promotional purposes and such.
 

Eva Lefoy

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Congrats and good luck to you people up there^ .:)


Well, I managed to write a story at the beginning of this month, but haven't had the motivation to do anything with it.

I've been busy trying to make sure I get to keep my current job for another year (got a new contract, thankfully).

Ready to start afresh now, might fix the story I wrote and sub it next month, or just write something else.

How long is it? If it's fairly short, you could send it to meeeeeeee


Mine is already out to the writing group, and I'm convinced it sucks, :) so I need something else to read

Of course, I could always start next month's story - if I could just figure out the plot gah
 

Izz

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Go Archerbird, and PoP. And i'm sure your story doesn't suck, Jarrah :)

I've just finished first edits on my novelette. I'd thought i could cut a whole lot of words (it was a touch over 9700 when i started edits), but it turns out i've added words instead and now it's closer to 9800 words. I may have trouble selling this one :) I also think i should leave it for a few more days and edit again, but i've got the new story itch and want to send it, send it, send it out into the world!
 

Aggy B.

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So, in a fit of madness I wrote a Twit fic this afternoon called Expectations. It's about penises. :ROFL:It may prove to be one of the unpublishable ones, but I subbed it to Nanoism so we'll see what happens.

I still need to write another story or two to catch up on the short story front. (Despite really only commiting to the one-a-month program I still feel the niggling urge to write one for every week.) Thank goodness for micro-fiction. :)
 

SmallThing

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Waiting for responses on the subs in red at Duotrope. Waiting for the stomach bug to hit me as it makes its rounds through the house. Waiting for a contract to come. All the waiting is making me lazy.

I've not managed to finish my January story. In part because I've been working on the novel instead, but also because it clearly needs to go into novelette territory, and I don't want to take it there. Pure laziness on my part.
 

GCU_Dramatic Exit

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hey, does anyone know of any good places where I can send a crime story? It's not about solving a crime but it does involve murder. It does have some amusing moments and has some suspense.
 

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Exit: I always tend to start with ellery queen - never gotten anywhere there, but just on general principal.

I've been on Hiatus more or less for the last month... although I've actually written quite a bit, both the novel challenge and short story challenge have not been going well. During christmas, my mother got pretty seriously ill, and although she is better now I just wasn't in the right place for submitting work / finishing novels during January.

Hope that Feb will be a new start :)
 

alexshvartsman

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GCU: I second the EQHH suggestion. They're the top banana in suspense, and they respond quickly enough where starting there is a no-brainer. I'm no expert on mystery markets otherwise. Michael Haynes writes/reads a lot of that genre and will probably have better suggestions.
 

alexshvartsman

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I've had a super productive couple of days. Over 1500 new words written, a lot of editing/revision/plotting work done besides, and over 14,000 words of friends' short fiction critiqued.

Ended up expanding a story I wrote in flash length to about 2250 words and am super pleased with it. Going to let it sit/get some more feedback for a short while, then off to F&SF it goes next week.
 

Lillie

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You could try Comets and Criminals.
 

Nathaniel Katz

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For those better versed in the Writers of the Future contest: I submitted a story on the twenty-ninth of June and still haven't heard anything. Have I been somehow lost in the shuffle?
 

mhaynes

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hey, does anyone know of any good places where I can send a crime story? It's not about solving a crime but it does involve murder. It does have some amusing moments and has some suspense.

GCU, as you noted in another post, there are few crime/mystery short fiction markets.

If it could be considered "noir"-ish, there's a publication called Noir Nation. They pay $100/story which is decent for all but particularly long shorts. BUT, they're currently temporarily closed for subs and I have no idea when they're reopening.

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine is out there. BUT, they take a very long time to respond and -- unless something has changed in the six months since I last sent them anything other than a contest entry -- they're paper subs only.

Someone suggested Comets & Criminals already; Stupefying Stories also takes crime/mystery stories.

And, really, that's about it.

I love mystery short fiction, but I'm trying to avoid spending too much energy on it because there are just so few markets out there.