Honorable Mention

Chrisla · Nov 26, 2014

I just received notice from the Saturday Evening Post that the short story I entered in their contest received "honorary mention." They tell me they will not publish it in the magazine, but want to do a one time e-book anthology, and possibly a print one, using the winning story, the runners up and the honorable mentions. There's no monetary award. I'm new to this; is this a good idea? I'm unpublished, and would like the exposure, but don't know how much I'd get from this, at the cost of a good story. I'd like your thoughts. Thanks.

Susie · Nov 26, 2014

First, congrats, Chrisia. SEP is a big deal to get an 'honorable mention' in their magazine and second, it is a good idea to let them publish it. That's great credit when you need a bio for your other writing. You might want to check if they take all rights. That wouldn't be good, so write and ask them if you've a mind to. imho.

Jamesaritchie · Nov 27, 2014

Generally speaking, no pay is bad, but there are cases where pay doesn't matter. This is one of those cases. Sometimes prestige counts for as much as pay, so, yes, this is a big deal. Take full advantage of it,

Do not sit on your laurels. When something like this happens, double your writing efforts, and mention this at every possible opportunity.

Chrisla · Dec 1, 2014

Thanks, everybody. I wasn't sure about this, so I'm grateful for your input. My writers' group told me much the same thing when I ran it by them. I checked, and I do retain my world rights to the story. They will send me a contract I can look over, so it looks very promising. Thanks again for the guidance.

T Robinson · Dec 1, 2014

Congratulations. Keep it up.

Honorable Mention

Chrisla

practical experience, FTW

Susie

Thanks, special friend for my avi!

Jamesaritchie

Chrisla

practical experience, FTW

T Robinson

Born long ago, in a different era