Inventing Reality: A Guide to Writing Science Fiction

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 someone else’s retreads. The exception would be a translation of a story published in a foreign country.

n Don’t send fan fiction - Never mind that it lacks originality (you didn’t create the universe or the characters, after all), the magazine probably can’t publish it because it’d violate copyright laws. The only magazines that fan fiction should be sent to are fanzines.

n Do not send revisions to a submission - This is considered unprofessional. After all, if the story wasn’t good enough to send out in the first place, then why did you send it?

n Don’t send a revised version of a story to a magazine that rejected it - If a magazine wants you to revise and resend, its editors will invite you to do just that.

Be aware that “magazines” increasingly are becoming online products only. Some writers have a problem with this, believing they’re really only published when they appear on paper.

A side note: Don’t respond to rejection with a nasty note. It’ll get you nowhere. Accept the fact that there is a lot of competition for an extremely small number of spots in a magazine. Because of that, a lot of good science fiction simply doesn’t get published, especially on its first submission.

Each of the magazine entries below observes the rules listed above; if a magazines breaks from them, it will noted. In addition, only magazines that accept fiction are listed. PLEASE NOTE: The entries and links for each listed magazine are a work in progress.

n Albedo
n AlienSkin Magazine
n Analog Science Fiction and Fact
n Aofie's Kiss
n Apex Magazine
n Asimov’s Science Fiction
n Clarkesworld Magazine
n Continuum Science Fiction
n Electric Spec
n Fantasy and Science Fiction
n Intergalactic Medicine Show
n Laser and Sword
n Leading Edge
n Not One of Us
n NOVA Science Fiction
n Planet Magazine
n Shimmer
n Strange Horizons 
n The Fifth Di... 
n The Martian Wave