Inventing Reality Editing Service Blog

Publishing since 2007, each issue of Orion’s Child Magazine centers on a theme.

n Pay: Nonpaying market

n Word count (maximum): None given

n Seeks: Each issue is themed

n E-mail to: EditorOrionsChild@galadarn.com

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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Marginal Boundaries is a new quarterly online publication that doesn’t believe short stories need to be “short” to be good.

n Pay: $10 per story

n Word count (minimum): 5,000 words (on up to about 30,000 words)

n Seeks: Speculative fiction that is “is character-driven or is a breathtakingly and painstakingly created world that reverberates with unknown adventure.”

n Doesn’t want: Flash fiction; gratuitous violence, sex, or language

n Reading periods: Accepts submissions only during the months of January, April, July and October

n E-mail to: Send as .rtf

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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A new online publication, the first issue of Kasma came out at the end of 2009.

n Pay: Averages about $10 for fiction over 1000 words and $5 for flash fiction (under 1000)

n Word count (maximum): 5000 words

n E-mail to: Paste story in the body of the e-mail

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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In print since 1986, Not One of Us prints character-oriented stories from a variety of genres, not just science fiction.

n Pay: ¼¢ per word ($5 minimum)

n Word count (maximum): 7500 words (prefers 6000 words)

n Seeks: According to the zine’s Website: “Not One of Us is a hardcopy zine about people (or things) out of place in their surroundings, outsiders, social misfits, aliens in the sf sense — anyone excluded from society for whatever the reason. We want to explore ‘otherness’ from every possible angle.”

n Doesn’t want:Stories about vampires, alcoholic villains without any understanding of their motives, tales about writers, sword and sorcery, deals with the devil, and revenge stories that have no other point, especially if the punishment far exceeds the crime.

n Mail to: John Benson, Editor, 12 Curtis Road, Natick, MA 01760

n E-mail to: john@not-one-of-us.com

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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An online magazine of short science fiction and fantasy by emerging writers and illustrators, Planet Magazine has been publishing since 1994.

n Pay: No payment

n Word count (maximum): No maximum given

n Seeks: Hard SF, retro SF, weird SF, sword-and-sorcery, and weird fantasy

n Doesn’t want: Horror stories, fairy tales, magical realism, science fantasy, pornographic, gory, ultra-violent, perverse, or in violation of any copyrights.

n E-mail to: Send as plain, unformatted text-only file

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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A biannual print magazine, The Martian Wave primarily publishes stories about colonization of our solar system.

n Pay: ½ cent per word

n Word count (maximum): 7,500 words

n Seeks: “…works that center around the exploration and colonization of outer space, with an emphasis on our solar system” according to the magazine’s Web site.

n E-mail to: Send as .rtf or Word doc

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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A tri-annual e-zine, Electric Spec publishes science fiction, fantasy and macabre short stories.

n Pay: $20 per story (via Pay Pal)

n Word count (maximum): 250- 7000 words

n Seeks: Science fiction, fantasy, the macabre.

n Doesn’t want: Over-the-top sex or violence, serials, novels, fan fiction.

n E-mail to: Send .rtf submissions only

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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Published since 1980, the semiannual Leading Edge is produced at Brigham Young University.

n Pay: 1 cent per word, $10 minimum

n Word count (maximum): 10,000 words preferred (but up to 15,000 considered)

n Doesn’t want: “Stories with sex, profanity, excessive violence, or that belittle traditional family values or religion”

n Mail to: Leading Edge Magazine, Attn: Fiction Director, 4087 JKB, Provo, UT 84602

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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A bimonthly online fantasy and science fiction magazine, famed science fiction writer Orson Scott Card serves as publisher and executive editor of Intergalactic Medicine Show.

n Pay: 6 cents a word up to 7500 words and 5 cents a word thereafter

n Word count (maximum): No length set

n Seeks: According to the magazine’s web site, "‘Science fiction’ includes hard sf, sf adventure, alternate history, near-future, far-future, psi, alien, and any other kind of sf you can think of. ‘Fantasy’ includes heroic fantasy (based on any culture's mythology), fairy tales, contemporary fantasy, and "horror" in the sense of supernatural suspense … well-developed milieus and believable, engaging characters. We also look for clear, unaffected writing.” Editors like writings of Asimov, Niven, Tolkien Yolen, and Hobb.

n Doesn’t want: Blood and gore

n E-mail to: Use submission form at Web site

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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The bimonthly online AlienSkin Magazine publishes flash and micro fiction.

n Pay: $5 for flash fiction

n Word count (maximum): flash fiction, 500-1000 words; micro fiction, 150 words exactly

n Doesn’t want:Novel excerpts; serialized stories; excessive blood, gore, vulgarity; erotic elements; child abuse; inflammatory hate pieces

n E-mail to: Send as .txt or .rtf attachment or in body of email

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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An Iowa-based magazine, The Fifth Di… publishes science fiction and fantasy.

n Pay: $7 per story

n Word count (maximum): 7,500 words

n Doesn’t want: Horror, flash fiction

n E-mail to: Send as .rtf or Word doc attachment

Tags: fantasy, getting published, submitting your story

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A quarterly magazine, Aoife’s Kiss ("Aofie" is Irish for “Eve”) publishes science fiction, fantasy and horror.

n Pay: ¼ cent per word with a minimum of $8; $4 for flash fiction (less than 1000 words)

n Word count (maximum): 10,000 words (query if longer)

n Doesn’t want: Blood and gore

n Mail to: Tyree Campbell, P.O. Box 782, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406-0782

n E-mail to: Send as rtf or Word doc; this is editor’s preferred method of submission

Tags: fantasy, getting published, horror, submitting your story

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Publishing since 2005, the monthly Apex is self-described as “where science fiction and horror collide.”

n Pay: .05 cents per word

n Word count (maximum): 5,000 words

n Seeks: Dark/horror/thriller SF

n E-mail to: Microsoft Word Doc or RTF file sent by e-mail only

Tags: getting published, horror, submitting your story

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A print magazine published about three times a year, Continuum emulates the great storytelling of science fiction’s golden age.

n Pay: ½ cents per word ($25 maximum)

n Word count (maximum): 2,000-12,000 words

n Seeks: Adventure, interstellar settings, Earth in the far future, contact with other intelligent species, stories that deal exclusively with other species

n Doesn’t want: Fantasy, sex bordering on pornography, sadistic violence, thinly disguised political rants

n E-mail to: Submit only in .rft format via e-mail, but query first.

Tags: getting published, golden age of science fiction, submitting your story

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Looking for science fiction with a Christian-bent, NOVA doesn’t accept unsolicited manuscripts; writers must first query – and in the query must indicate you’ve been published, attended Clarion Workshop or meet other requirements.

n Pay: Half a penny per word

n Word count (maximum): 7,000 words

n Seeks: Space travel, time travel, alternate history with a Christian bent; family-safe fiction

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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The Dublin-based magazine Albedo focuses on Irish and other European science fiction.

n Pay: 3 euro per 1000 words

n Word count (maximum): 2,500 and 8,000 words

n Seeks: According to Albedo’s web site: “thoughtful, well written fiction. Our definition of what constitutes SF, horror and fantasy is extremely broad and we love to see material which pushes at the boundaries.”

n Mail to: Albedo One, 2 Post Road, Lusk, Co. Dublin, Ireland

n E-mail to: E-mail submissions accepted but stories should not be sent as attachments.

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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An online quarterly, Laser and Sword publishes episodic short fiction involving traditional heroes.

n Pay: $10 per story

n Word count (maximum): None given

n Seeks: Episodic short fiction involving traditional heroes. Editors hold to a “Christian worldview”; according to the Laser Web site, “This does not mean that a story will not ruffle someone’s theological feathers or that all the characters are Saints. But rather, we believe in a right and wrong and absolute truth, and absolute good and evil. That will be reflected in the stories we tell.” Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Adventure/Action Hero serial fiction.

n Doesn’t want: Omniscient narrators; Tom Swifties; post-modern heroes.

n Reading periods: Deadlines for issues are the 15th of February, May, August, and November.

n E-mail to: E-Query first with an outline for a series of at least three short stories.

Tags: getting published, hero, submitting your story

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A quarterly that publishes speculative fiction, Shimmer focuses on material that is dark, humorous or strange. First published in June 2005, Shimmer is available in both digest format and downloadable PDF.

n Pay: 1 cent per word, minimum $10

n Word count (maximum): 5000 words

n Seeks: According to the Shimmer web site: “Unusual and beautifully-written speculative fiction stories with full plots and strong characters. … We’re most drawn to contemporary fantasy, and seek out stories with a strong emotional core. We like unusual stories with a fluid and distinctive voice, with specific and original images. Send us your odd unclassifiable stories–though we prefer traditional storytelling mechanics to experimental approaches.”

n Doesn’t want: Hard SF, space opera, paranormal romance

n E-mail to: Email as an attachment (.doc or .rtf only; no .DOCX). Make sure the subject line begins with Submission and has the title of your story. Example: “Submission: Attack of the Evil Robot Monkeys.”

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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Strange Horizons is a weekly web-based magazine of and about speculative fiction. It first published in Sept. 2000.

n Pay: 5 cents/word, with a minimum payment of $50

n Word count (maximum): 5000 words; but will consider up to 9000 words

n Seeks: According to the magazine’s Web site: “We want stories that have some literary depth but aren't boring; styles that are unusual yet readable; structures that balance inventiveness with traditional narrative … characters we can care about … settings and cultures that we don't see all the time in speculative fiction … stories that address political issues in complex and sensitive ways.” Interested in hypertext stories.

n Doesn’t want: Horror (especially stories in which the main goal is to evoke feelings of fear, terror, or revulsion in the reader); stories that explain a scientific or technological phenomenon in great detail; stories with twist endings

n Mail to: No email; upload a file in Rich Text Format using their submission form.

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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A monthly online magazine, Clarkesworld published its first issue in Oct. 2006. It was a 2009 Hugo and World Fantasy Award nominee.

n Pay: 10¢ a word

n Word count (maximum): 1000-8000 words (4000 words preferred)

n Seeks: Need not be hard SF but scientific rigor is appreciated

n Doesn’t want: Adaptations of unfunded films or plays; a lengthy list of science fiction clichés is given at Web site

n Mail to: No email; send using submission form

Tags: getting published, hugo, submitting your story

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Looking for a place to publish your science fiction story? Here's a good one, though perhaps not for novice and unpublished writers. One of the top SF magazine markets, the award-winning Fantasy and Science Fiction was founded in 1949. It is the original publisher of Stephen King's “Dark Tower”, Daniel Keyes's “Flowers for Algernon” and Walter M. Miller's “A Canticle for Leibowitz”.

n Pay: 6 cents per word to 9 cents per word on acceptance

n Word count (maximum): 25,000 words

n Seeks: Character-oriented stories

n Mail to: Gordon Van Gelder, Fantasy & Science Fiction, P.O. Box 3447, Hoboken, NJ 07030.

Tags: getting published, submitting your story

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Looking for a place to submit your science fiction short story or novella? Analog generally is considered one of the two best science fiction magazines in which to be published.

n Pay: 6 cents per word to 8 cents per word for short stories up to 7,500 words, $450-600 for stories between 7,500 and 10,000 words; and 5 cents per word to 6 cents per word for longer material

n Word count (maximum): 2,000 and 7,000 words for shorts, 10,000-20,000 words for novelettes, and 40,000-80,000 for serials

n Seeks: The writers’ guidelines says the magazine open to any brand of science fiction, but Analog really is known for its hard SF. The writers’ guidelines hint at this when noting that the magazine wants “stories in which some aspect of future science or technology is so integral to the plot that, if that aspect were removed, the story would collapse.” The magazine is known for specializing in hard SF.

n Mail to: Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Dell Magazines, Stanley Schmidt, Editor, 267 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10007-2352

Tags: getting published, hard sf, submitting your story

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Looking for a magazine to send your science fiction story? Generally considered one of the two best science fiction magazines in which to be published, Asimov’s Science Fiction began in spring 1977 as a quarterly.

n Pay: Beginners get 6 cents a word to 7,500 words, 5 cents a word for stories longer than 12,500 words, and $450 for stories between those lengths.

n Word count (maximum): 15,000

n Seeks: Character stories; “all fiction is written to examine or illuminate some aspect of human existence, but that in science fiction the backdrop you work against is the size of the Universe”, according the magazine’s writers guidelines.

n Doesn’t want: Sword & sorcery, explicit sex or violence, serialized novels

n Mail to: Asimov’s Science Fiction, Sheila Williams, Editor, 475 Park Ave. South, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016

Tags: getting published, isaac asimov, submitting your story

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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

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Getting published requires a lot of hard work and self-discipline. A long road runs between having an idea for a story and actually seeing it on a bookstore shelf or within a magazine’s covers.

Science fiction great Robert Heinlein said writers only needed to follow five simple steps to ensure they were published authors. These steps since have been coined “Heinlein’s Rules”. Heinlein often joked that he had no qualms about sharing these “secret” steps as most people lacked the self-discipline to actually work through each one.

The rules are:

n Rule One - You Must Write

n Rule Two - Finish What Your Start

n Rule Three - You Must Refrain From Rewriting, Except to Editorial Order

n Rule Four - You Must Put Your Story on the Market

n Rule Five - You Must Keep it on the Market until it has Sold

Hugo winner Robert J. Sawyer once wrote that if you started with a hundred people who wanted to be published, fully half of them would give up writing at each step. By the time you got through Rule Five, that would leave just three of the original hundred still writing!

The moral is if you want to become published, you must stick it through the entire process. Don’t give up – that, after all, is the quickest way to remain unpublished.

Tags: getting published, revising, submitting your story

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When you’re deciding where to send your story for publication, pay close attention to the directions about word counts. Editors have only so much space for a story, and if your story goes over the word count, it won’t fit the space and so likely will be rejected. It’s a rare story in a rare situation that exceeds word counts and is accepted for publication.

Determining word count is not quite as easy as hitting a button on your word processor. While that word count method is satisfactory for submitting your story, remember that editors and publishers traditionally count words in a different way. A word processing program counts a word as a set of letters with spaces around them. Because of that, your word processing program would say that the first sentence of this entry contains 19 words. In the past, however, a “word” was every five characters, regardless of where the spaces were. This gave a count that better matched the amount of physical space available on a page. By that method, this entry’s first sentence contains 20 words.

One word isn’t much of a difference. But over a 10 typed pages, the difference can cost you a paragraph. So be prepared to be edited for length.

Another quick note: when determining word counts, do not include what appears in your manuscript’s headers, only the actual text from the first to the last word of the story.

You Do It
Write a 100-word piece describing an alien landscape. Use your word processor to determine when you’ve hit 100 words. Do not go over this word count and do not go under it by more than five words. Now do a character count (not counting spaces) of your piece. Divide the number of characters by five for a new word count. If your word count is more than 100, edit your piece to get it below 100 words.

Visit my Web site about writing science fiction, Inventing Reality.
(c) 2008 Rob Bignell

Tags: know your markets, manuscript basics, submitting your story

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