You’ve written a science fiction story and decide it’s time to let the world see it and your genius. You’re now on your way to the mailbox to send off that piece.
Whoa, mister!
Before sending any piece, make sure you’ve done more than just write the piece. Revising almost always is a key step on the way to publication.
When writers are so eager to submit their story for publication that the work isn’t revised, they suffer from “get-it-in-the-mail syndrome”. This term was coined by CSFW’s Sari Boren. It’s a term that sometimes pops up during critiques of science fiction works.
A special form of this syndrome is the “grouper effect,” in which participants in a writer’s workshop do not adequately revise their work because they’re eager to submit to the group for review. CFSW’s Alan Jablokov coined this term. You want to revise your work, however. The competition for the limited magazine spots and novels that will be published is high. Often perfectly good stories are passed over. To give yourself the edge, you want to make your story as perfect as possible. That doesn’t mean you never submit your piece because it’s always in the state of being rewritten, but it does mean that you shouldn’t just rip off a piece and ship it off to an editor. It’s a rare story, indeed, that is perfect after the first draft.
You Do It
Look at one of the pieces you’ve written for a previous “You Do It” section that you are particularly proud of. Reread the piece, editing it for the obvious spelling, punctuation and capitalization mistakes but also for weak descriptions, superfluous wording and other pitfalls we’ve discussed so far in this blog. Visit my
Web site about writing science fiction, Inventing Reality.
(c) 2008 Rob Bignell
Tags:
publication, revising, submissions
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When submitting a story to a magazine or a book publisher, your story should appear in a specific format.
Following this format is important for a number of reasons. First, the format makes reading easier for an editor. You certainly would rather want an editor to spend more time enjoying your writing then trying to figure out what words you’ve written. In addition, using a manuscript format is a sign of professionalism. After all, if you can’t make the effort to present your story in a readable form, then an editor probably is wondering if you’ve taken the time to write a quality story. Here are some manuscript basics to follow:
n Paper – Use white 8.5 x 11 bond; 20 pound is sufficient. This is the standard letter-sized paper that you’d put in a photocopy machine or a printer. Do not use erasable paper.
n Margins - Leave 1 inch of blank space on each side of the paper.
n Typeface – 12 pt. Courier monospace is preferred among most science fiction editors, but Times also will do. Don’t use boldface or italics; instead, underline words when you intend for italics to be used in the text. n Alignment - Run the text ragged right (aka justified left). n Double space - No extra space should appear between the paragraphs, however. n Indentation – Indent the first line of each paragraph by 3-5 spaces. n Printing - Type on only one side of the paper. n First page of short stories - Place your name, address, phone number and the word count on the first page. Science fiction practice is not to place the “rights offered” on the first page, as is the case in other genres. Center your title about 15 lines from the top, then put “by” and your name beneath it. Use the name you want to be published under at this point in the manuscript. n Headers - For the second and subsequent page, an inch from the top in the upper right corner of each page type your name, story title and the page number. n Ending - At the story’s end, center “END” in capital letters two lines below the last line. n Printer quality - Use fresh toner or ribbon. Don’t send “draft-quality dot matrix” copies (yes, some people still are using those printers). While the manuscript basics presented here are fairly standard across the industry, always read the magazine’s or publisher’s writer’s guidelines to see if they have some unique requirement that breaks these guidelines. This is particularly true for e-magazines, which also are concerned about the ease of posting your accepted story onto a Web site.
You Do It
Format one of the short stories you've written. Rename this file on your computer so you have atemplate for future stories.
Visit my Web site about writing science fiction, Inventing Reality.
(c) 2008 Rob Bignell
Tags:
manuscripts, publishing, submissions
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