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Author
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Comment
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Jess
Unregistered User
(4/15/02 8:07:41 pm)
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Short story publishing
Help! I know we recently had a topic with this thread and I can't find it. I am working on a short story that is a modern interpretation of Sleeping Beauty. I was wondering if any one knew the appropriate steps one should take before trying to get something published (i.e. should you register the copyright before hand?), are there places to have your work reviewed without it being considered published (any one here interested?) and who might be interested in publishing a short story on this topic?
It is approximately 10 pages and very adult in subject matter as it follows somewhat the original version of the story.
Thanks,
Jess
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alina
Registered User
(4/15/02 11:09:27 pm)
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Re: Short story publishing
Hello Jess,
I think that the thread you mentioned is -- Workshops: Any thoughts
from the published writers/artists?
The date it was last posted on was March 19, so it is on page
three of this list at the moment. By the way thanks to those of
you who answered my questions on that thread, I did not thank
you there like I should have.
As far as copyrights are concerned, from everything I've read
and heard you definitely do not need to register a copyright before
trying to get published. The written word is automatically copyrighted
and you would only call attention to your inexperience by doing
so. Any of the published authors out there correct me if I'm wrong!
Good luck with your story!
Alina
By the way, when I say your inexperience, I don't mean YOUR inexperience
Jess, that's just how I remember reading it!
Edited by: alina at: 4/15/02 11:17:00 pm
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(4/16/02 3:06:52 am)
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Copyrights
One of the reasons you don't copyright a story is that it shows your amatuerism.
A second is that if you copyright it now (2002) and it doesn't get pubbed until 2003 or later, it confuses everything.
That said, some publishers consider that a piece posted online, even in workshops, has been published and therefore won't touch it.
Jane
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Gregor9
Registered User
(4/16/02 5:05:12 am)
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Re: Reviews, Workshops, etc.
Jess,
Yes, I agree with Jane about not putting the story up online. That's more or less the kiss of death if you hope to publish it in any reputable print market. This is different from a teaser online. On my site, I have selections from stories of mine that are already in print, but this is a hopeful carrot to get people to go out and buy the magazine or book in which the story was published. And the point here is that the story IS already published. But we did cover much of this in the "Workshops" thread.
When you say you want the story "reviewed" before publication-- do you mean you're looking for a critique of it, someone to read and give you feedback? That's different from a review, which is generally of a book or magazine/collection of stories. Rare for one story to be reviewed on its own, but not before publication, no. So I'm assuming you're looking for critiques, in which case I'm sure you'd get offers from participants on this board to look at your story and give you feedback.
Best,
Greg
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Jess
Unregistered User
(4/16/02 6:39:16 am)
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Short story
Oh, thank you, Jane, Greg and Alina!
I love this board. I can't imagine where a person could find such generous support from such prestigious people and such great information.
Obviously, I am an amatuer here in the area of fiction writing. All the writing I have ever done was in professional journals by request, so I am basically clueless. I don't even use the right language, i.e. review v. critique.
Jane - your points are understood and I will definitely wait to register my copyrights. I also understand the importance of not posting on the internet.
Greg - yes, I do mean critique not review. I am not quite ready yet. I need to chew on it a little more, but I think this piece will be pretty good with some more going over. I also need some time to let it sit so that I can catch the more obvious errors, like dropped words, typos, huge grammatical errors and misspellings that I am sure I am famous for on this board. When I am ready, I would gladly share my work with you, or anyone else out there, for your critique.
Alina - the "Workshop" post was just one of the ones I
was thinking of. Thank you. I think maybe there is one other, but
I still can't find it. It is possible I made it up.
Thanks again, and any additional advice from any of you out there is appreciated more than you know.
Jess
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Terri
Registered User
(4/16/02 7:48:08 am)
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Re: Short story
Realms of Fantasy magazine and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction are the only markets I know of currently for fairy-tale based short fiction of an adult nature.
Don't worry about copyrights. The publisher takes care of that, not the author, even when it's registered in the author's name (as it should be).
Edited by: Terri at: 4/16/02 7:49:37 am
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Marsha
Sisolak
Registered User
(4/16/02 11:25:46 am)
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Re: Short story
Jess,
Strange Horizons (a
'zine, but now considered a pro market for SFWA) also has taken
fairytale fiction -- although what I've seen there does not have
a traditional feel to it. Ruth
Nestvold's story, Princes and Priscilla is up there now.
There are semi-pro markets to consider also -- Ideomancer,
for one.
I'd check out markets at ralan.com
too.
Marsha
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Gregor9
Registered User
(4/16/02 11:37:11 am)
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Re: Short story
All true, what Marsha said. But as a greedy capitalistic writer, my advice is, find out who pays the most money and begin there, and work your way down the list in descending order of remuneration to the semi-pro-zines that pay. And stop there.
Greg
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Marsha
Sisolak
Registered User
(4/16/02 1:39:52 pm)
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Re: Short story
D'oh! And I strongly second Greg's advice, Jess. The other thing
you may want to take into account are the times for submission responses.
If you haven't submitted to specfic markets yet, try
Submitting to the Black Hole for response times. Also sff.writing.response-times
is another good place to check, as is The
Rumor Mill.
Marsha
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Richard Parks
Unregistered User
(4/16/02 2:53:56 pm)
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Story Inventory
I'll second what Gregory said about going as far as the semi-pros and stopping there. In fact, I wouldn't even go past the first few really GOOD semi-pro venues.
Stories don't always find the right market the first time around. Most of the time, frankly, because the story isn't that good, but also because short story markets are limited and the right market doesn't exist...YET. When a story of mine has gone to all the likely places, rather than keep working my way down through poorer and poorer markets, I put it aside and just don't look at it for a while. Weeks or months. Then I'll reread it and decide 1) it needs work or 2) yes, it's as good as I thought it was. In both cases I hold onto it. In the first for when I can see clearly how to fix it, in the second I'll wait for the right market to appear. It always does, eventually. A new magazine appears, an anthology opens, and the story is good to go. The method does require patience, though.
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Jess
Unregistered User
(4/17/02 6:13:56 am)
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Wow!
Thank you, everyone. I am almost speechless. There is so much information here to think about. Richard, I promise to set aside my work for a bit before trying to get it published just to make sure it is as good as I feel about it and to be patient. Oh, I am very excited and plan to investigate every bit of information here.
Thank you all!
Jess
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Gregor9
Registered User
(4/17/02 11:35:34 am)
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Re: Wow!
Jess,
Often setting it aside and coming back to it after a few weeks or months can give you a clearer take on a story that hasn't sold, too. You have enough distance then to see what might be wrong.
One of mine that I wrote way back in college I would take out every now and then, dust off and try to attack again. It was a difficult story and didn't want to give up its secrets. And it only took me, um, 22 years to finally finish and sell it.
And it's true, sometimes the market isn't there for such a tale, and you have to look or wait for the right one to appear. That's a hard thing to know.
Greg
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Jed
Unregistered User
(4/17/02 11:57:55 pm)
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Re: Short Story
Thanks for the plug, Marsha! For those who don't know me, I'm an
editor at Strange Horizons (we're like those creatures in
folktales who appear when you mention their names, or in our case
when you link to us); figured I'd provide a couple of other specific
suggestions, and a little more info about us.
First, re Greg's note: the magazine that pays the most (by far)
is Ellen Datlow's SCI
FICTION -- see the submission-guidelines link from that
page for information on how to submit.
At the other end of the pay scale (semipro rates), but potentially
a better fit for a fairytale retelling, there's Megan Powell's
Fables, which publishes
all sorts of fantasy and science fiction but contains an area specifically
devoted to folktale retellings.
And somewhere in the middle, we at Strange Horizons are
indeed fond of good fairytale and folktale retellings; for a sampling
of things we've published in that broad category, see the folktale
category of our archives.
For other potential markets, including contact info for the magazines
Terri mentioned, I second Marsha's recommendation of Ralan
Conley's market list.
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Jess
Unregistered User
(4/18/02 11:57:36 am)
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Thanks some more
Jed, Greg, Richard, Terri, Marsha and anyone else I have yet to
thank, a big thank you! Spending the day looking at the various
sites trying to find a fit. I also find it interesting to discover
those of you out there lurking without posts, and when do decide
to post.
Jess
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