Inventing Reality Editing Service Blog

So you’ve written a science fiction short story. Where are you going to send it?

The good news is a lot of markets exist for your story – far more than if you’d written a western or a mystery tale. The bad news is that you probably won’t get paid much (if at all) for your story. In addition, science fiction magazines go in and out of print faster than Jupiter rotates on its axis, so sometimes a story gets sent back marked “We’re no longer taking submissions” or “Out of business.”

Whenever submitting to a magazine, there are some general rules to follow:

n Know your magazine - Reading a few copies of the magazine so you’re familiar with the editor’s tastes always is a sound strategy. After all, you don’t want to send a hard SF magazine a character-oriented story. You also don’t want to send an editor a story similar to one he’s just published.

n Follow manuscript form - One of the quickest routes to the rejection pile is sending a manuscript that makes an editor’s eyes go buggy: handwritten, type too small (or large), typed on both sides of the paper, lacking pages numbers … the list goes on and one. Here’s how your submitted manuscript should look.

n Send the whole manuscript - Editors actually do decide if your story is worth publishing by reading it in its entirety. Inundated with manuscripts, editors don’t have time to contact you to say, “I loved the first three pages - Send me the rest of your story.” (Or even “I loved the first three pages – please finish your story!”)

n Stick to the word count - There’s almost always a maximum word count and usually a lower boundary as well. As magazines only have so much paper (or bytes) available, they limit each story’s length as part of a formula to maximize the number of stories they print against their readers’ attention spans.

n Send it via postal mail unless noted - Some editors want a hardcopy of your story, others only want an electronic version. Each editor has his reasons. Don’t expect him to make exceptions.

n Include a SASE - If sending by postal mail, you may want your hardcopy sent back. If you do, include a large enough envelope and enough postage to cover the cost. At the very least, include a business envelope with a stamp affixed to it if you wish to be informed that your story has been rejected. If submitting the story to a magazine in another country, include an international reply coupon on envelope.

n Don’t send out simultaneous submissions - This means sending to more than one magazine at a time. It’s considered bad form, sort of like asking two girls out to the same dance.

n Send only one submission at a time - Editors aren’t likely to purchase multiple stories from you at a single time. With only a few spots available in their magazine, they’ll want to print a diverse range of authors to appeal to as many readers as possible.

n Don’t send outside of reading periods - Most magazines accept submissions 24/7, but a few limit to a few months the window you have to send your short story. This is because those editors are on vacation or working on other projects outside of the reading period.

n Don’t attempt to sell a reprint -A reprint is when your story has been published elsewhere and you’re seeking a second magazine to publish it again. Most magazines want new material, not...

Tags: getting published, manuscript form, sase, simultaneous submissions, submitting your story

| | del.icio.us

So you’ve written a science fiction short story. Where are you going to send it?

The good news is a lot of markets exist for your story – far more than if you’d written a western or a mystery tale. The bad news is that you probably won’t get paid much (if at all) for your story. In addition, science fiction magazines go in and out of print faster than Jupiter rotates on its axis, so sometimes a story gets sent back marked “We’re no longer taking submissions” or “Out of business.”

Whenever submitting to a magazine, there are some general rules to follow:

n Know your magazine - Reading a few copies of the magazine so you’re familiar with the editor’s tastes always is a sound strategy. After all, you don’t want to send a hard SF magazine a character-oriented story. You also don’t want to send an editor a story similar to one he’s just published.

n Follow manuscript form - One of the quickest routes to the rejection pile is sending a manuscript that makes an editor’s eyes go buggy: handwritten, type too small (or large), typed on both sides of the paper, lacking pages numbers … the list goes on and one. Here’s how your submitted manuscript should look.

n Send the whole manuscript - Editors actually do decide if your story is worth publishing by reading it in its entirety. Inundated with manuscripts, editors don’t have time to contact you to say, “I loved the first three pages - Send me the rest of your story.” (Or even “I loved the first three pages – please finish your story!”)

n Stick to the word count - There’s almost always a maximum word count and usually a lower boundary as well. As magazines only have so much paper (or bytes) available, they limit each story’s length as part of a formula to maximize the number of stories they print against their readers’ attention spans.

n Send it via postal mail unless noted - Some editors want a hardcopy of your story, others only want an electronic version. Each editor has his reasons. Don’t expect him to make exceptions.

n Include a SASE - If sending by postal mail, you may want your hardcopy sent back. If you do, include a large enough envelope and enough postage to cover the cost. At the very least, include a business envelope with a stamp affixed to it if you wish to be informed that your story has been rejected. If submitting the story to a magazine in another country, include an international reply coupon on envelope.

n Don’t send out simultaneous submissions - This means sending to more than one magazine at a time. It’s considered bad form, sort of like asking two girls out to the same dance.

n Send only one submission at a time - Editors aren’t likely to purchase multiple stories from you at a single time. With only a few spots available in their magazine, they’ll want to print a diverse range of authors to appeal to as many readers as possible.

n Don’t send outside of reading periods - Most magazines accept submissions 24/7, but a few limit to a few months the window you have to send your short story. This is because those editors are on vacation or working on other projects outside of the reading period.

n Don’t attempt to sell a reprint -A reprint is when your story has been published elsewhere and you’re seeking a second magazine to publish it again. Most magazines want new material, not...

Tags: fan fiction, getting published, manuscript form, reading period, reprint, sase, simultaneous submission, word count

| | del.icio.us

Given the many different ways of coming up with a story title – using a character’s name, using a line from the text or drawing from a conceptual object in the story, to name a few – just about any word or phrase would seem to serve as an adequate appellation.

Not so. In fact, you want to avoid writing an “adequate” title. You want something that stands out, something that grabs your readers, something that makes them wonder what the story is about and proceed to page one. While every reader has different tastes, some titles seem to appeal to the common elements of science fiction readers’ psyches and stand out: “I, Robot”, “The Stars My Destination”, “A Clockwork Orange”, “Fahrenheit 451”, “Lord of the Flies”, “Ringworld”.

To avoid creating an adequate (or even a god-awful) title, don’t use titles that are:

n Unpronounceable - Science fiction readers like to talk to one another about what they’ve read. But it’s difficult to talk about something that they can’t pronounce. Even worse, they might want to ask a book store clerk if that title is in stock.

n Embarrassing to say – Ditto.

n Difficult for others to spell - A number of book sales today are made online. But if you’re reader can’t spell the title at Amazon.com or in a search engine, the title may not be found. (Of course, “Fahrenheit 451” is one of those titles that is difficult to spell – almost no one knows how to spell “fahrenheit”. But the word is common enough that you shouldn’t let readers’ ignorance rob you of a truly memorable and apt title).

n Difficult to remember - If readers can’t even remember the title, forget about them asking a book seller or search engine to find it.

n Forgettable - Ditto.

Tags: gobbet title, style, titles

| | del.icio.us