Dear Reader, Issue 3, Volume 1
So much waiting, speculative publishers and becoming infamous.
Dear Reader:
You may have noticed a small change to my Substack with last week’s short story, I Am Bear, and now with this issue of Dear Reader. It’s a custom illustration, which is a “postcard” I include instead of an image from Unsplash or Pixabay. I attempted this when I initially launched but decided the style that I chose was not one I could replicate weekly. To my critical eyes it wasn’t very attractive either. I’m happy with the alternative.
Given my predilection toward consistency, I’m going back through archived fiction short stories and adding illustrations where there is a photo. The results have been satisfying, although I should let you be the judge as to the quality. Instead of making you hunt for what’s been replaced, I’ll include some of the illustrations here. As I add more, I will let you know so you can bask in their glowing radiance — or be revolted by their hideousness — whatever you fancy.
As far as Dear Reader, it will always be the same illustration with only the issue and volume changed. Corners need to be cut in order to save more time for writing. Another alternative would be to stop editing altogether. That’s not possible because firing my editor would make for an uncomfortable home life. She works for free and allows me to choose what we watch together when the kids are in bed.
The Waiting Game
The hardest thing for me about trying to get published is all the waiting. Rejection isn’t something that bothers me because it’s one step closer to success. If I can get feedback in the process, then that’s even better. Waiting for that rejection (or eventual acceptance) is what eats away at my resolve.
A typical wait from an established publication can last one to three months, which is brutal. While waiting recently, which involved browsing Twitter instead of writing, I came across a link to an article by AJ Cunder, Transparency in Slush: The Wizard Behind the Curtain - SFWA. This was seriously eye-opening, making me appreciate how difficult and time consuming it can be for editors to get through submissions. That’s only one part of their job.
Clarkesworld is on the list of examples, averaging 1100 submissions per month. That’s lots of terrible grammar, useless exposition, questionable characters, and an overabundance of adverbs that must inevitably be read carefully and diligently, sometimes bitterly and impatiently. Sending work to more than one paying publication for consideration can help increase the chances a story will resonate with a different editor. Not every magazine has that kind of volume.
Since many of you are writers, I thought it would be helpful to include a list of speculative publications that pay competitive rates. Right now, these are the only places where I will be sending my stories. There are a significant number of dark fantasy magazines, both print and online that I did not include. My voice would not fit their publication’s desired themes, so they aren’t included here.
The publications that I have listed here are in no particular order. My only requirement was that they pay a competitive industry rate, and that it costs nothing to submit.
I suspect it’s going to get harder to publish with Uncharted Magazine as they grow in popularity. The magazine runs several contests along with their typical publication schedule. My guess is they have quite a backlog. All of the short stories they publish are distinct and imaginative.
I don’t know how many stories they publish that are not from the contest. Anyone can submit without cost for publication consideration. I choose to pay a $10/month subscription because it allows me to submit as many stories as I like for consideration, it gets me into the contest that has a $3,000 first place prize and it supports new writers. They are genre agnostic.
Okay, this is technically horror of a mature nature. They do publish a good deal of what I would consider speculative, which on many occasions falls within the realm of PG-13. When I do submit it will be an audio drama script. I’m waiting for the right moment to strike.
This is another magazine that is absolutely top tier, where I would have to bring my A+ game. I read a tweet from an author that had a story accepted that won’t be published until 2023. That tells me they have plenty of submissions. The competition must be fierce at Interzone.
This is a new one I discovered recently that looks to be really promising with high quality stories that are free to read online. They are growing as well, with open positions for first readers and an editor (as of this posting).
Uncanny Magazine is very popular and well respected. While I’ve only read a few stories so far, there is no doubt that competition is plentiful. The pay rate is one of the higher I’ve seen at $.10 a word, even for novella length submissions.
It looks like DreamForge Magazine has a very small submission window. For the 2021 year it closed in November, leading me to believe it will open again this year in the Fall. Many, if not all stories, are free to read online.
As best I can tell they do close submissions, however, when they are open (like they are at the time of this posting), they pay a higher rate of $.11 a word. I had never heard of Factor Four Magazine until a tweet came across my feed. Now I’m glad I know because they publish fantastic short stories.
Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine
If I was ever published in Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, I don’t think you could wipe the smile off my face. Many, many years ago, I submitted an absolutely terrible short story for consideration — a truly laughable attempt. It was about an alien who visits earth, and his only way to stay hydrated in our atmosphere was to bathe in butter. I kid you not.
The aesthetic of Strange Horizons is gorgeous, not just for their website, but for their artwork submissions that accompany each short story. It’s only open in October, which might indicate they quickly fill up all slots for the next publishing year. It’s one of the very few that I wish had a full print run.
If you want to know what best represents modern science fiction and fantasy, then you can turn to Clarkesworld Magazine. As with Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, if I were ever published in Clarkesworld, it would be an accomplishment that would make me happy for a long time. They also pay $.12 per word, so there’s that as well!
Reaching Beyond Substack
One of my goals, along with getting published, is to put myself out there more into the writerverse. Trust me, that’s a word. That means interviews, videos, podcasts or even a writer’s fair in the future. Coincidentally, a popular culture news website put out a call for interviews on Twitter, which I answered.
The founder was kind enough to send me the questions, but he received what looked like 200-300 responses, many of them from established creatives in their respective fields. It would be amazing to be included among that talented bunch and I’ll let you know if it ends up making it to publication.
If you know of established websites or podcasts that focus on fantasy and science fiction, pop culture or otherwise, that also include interviews, please send them my way. The goal is to reach outside the sphere of writers into a group of people who generally enjoy science fiction and fantasy writing, movies and TV.
Your Notoriously Obscure Scribe,
Brian Reindel
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and ongoing experiences regarding publishing with us, Brian!
Your illustrations look great, Brian. Thanks for including the list of publications, and best wishes with your submissions!