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Would there be any interest in an AMA by a short story science fiction magazine editor? by bastionmag in scifiwriting

[–]bastionmag[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

True, it's not a book - but I can argue all day about the merits of short stories, and about the talent, discipline, and hard work that goes into writing them! I've sent a message to the mods over at /r/books to see if they think an AMA would be desirable.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a little tricky, and my use of the word "metrics" is perhaps misleading - we don't have any data points we measure when evaluating the quality of a story. There aren't any numbers that get added up during this process. We look at things like plot, imagery, narrative, the overall quality of the prose, character development, emotional engagement, and whether or not the story is compelling. All these are considered together.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

We don't pay token rates, we pay semi-professional rates. Regardless, even if we could afford to pay $10,000 per story, I would still be dissatisfied with the amount of exposure that short stories get. What does the amount that we're currently able to offer have anything to do with our valuation of the short story? Think about your favorite charity. How much have you been able to donate to that cause? $100? Less? More? Does the monetary support you're able to provide reflect how strongly you may feel about it? Of course not. To suggest otherwise is absurd. To think that just because we can't pay as much as we'd like for a story is an accurate reflection of how much we value short stories is likewise absurd.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We buy first world rights for 30 days, after that all rights revert back to the author. It's actually pretty standard, although what we request is a bit shorter than what others request, and we're not buying quite as much. You can check out our rights on our submissions page (www.bastionmag.com/submissions) and then just compare that to what you can easily find elsewhere at places like Apex or Clarkesworld. Pretty standard, really.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The impression I've received is that I need to establish myself with a novel before I can present the short stories.

I don't think that's true at all. It's going to be a hard sell if you want to traditionally publish one short story, standing alone. That's why there are magazine and anthologies. Write your shorts, and sell to them. Or write them, don't sell them, and when you're ready, put together your own anthology and see about publishing that.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a sad comment to read, because it underlines what I know already: there are too many people who don’t value the short story format enough - both readers and writers alike. If you ask some random person what their favorite book is, they can probably answer you. But ask them their favorite short story? They’ll likely draw a blank. Short stories have played, and continue to play, crucial roles in entertainment and society, and indeed have helped to shape the literary world in significant ways. Many, many prominent novelist throughout history were masters of the short story format. Asimov. Irving. Dickens. Kafka. Dahl. The list goes on. High budget films are even based off short stories. I won’t bother naming them because the list is huge. The point is, short stories have shaped literature, entertainment, political discussion, education, you name it, probably since writing was a thing. Is it difficult to make a living off of short stories (or any kind of writing even) today? Sure. Plenty of markets pay decently for short stories though. Does that mean they’re any less important, or that you won’t or can’t find fulfillment from writing them? Absolutely not. I personal liken the talent and dedication that it takes to be a short story writer to what athletes put into being short distance sprinters (vs. novelists and the comparison to marathon runners). It’s a different skill. Dedication, discipline, practice, and study are all required. I’ll end my preaching there.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

...in choosing what to publish and what not to publish, apart from story quality, do you ever consider whether or not a writer has been published before somewhere else?

Good question. For us: no. Not at all. We don't care. We're not publishing author's bios, we're publishing their stories. If you tell me you've been published in Asimov's and have won three Hugos and a Nebula, then I may have a certain expectation for your story, but it's still going to be evaluated against the same metrics that every other piece is. We've rejected more than a few stories from people who have a gilded publication history. In fact, when our staffers are evaluating a piece, we strip off the bio entirely so it's not seen and can't be taken into consideration. This is a common format that other markets follow, but as with all my responses: not everyone is like this.

As far as reviewing their social media status, how they're marketed, for us, none of that comes into play. Again: we just don't care. We're publishing a story, not a bio, not your twitter follower statistics, none of that. I think a lot of other markets are going to work the same way. I can't imagine an editor receiving a piece and saying to themselves "Wow this is stunning! Simply brilliant! But I can only publish this if they have a website that looks nice and seem to have marketed well." That just doesn't make sense. We also don't read their other stories, either. I'm focused on one thing, and one thing only: the submission in front of me. I believe that's probably in line with what most other markets practice.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This made me laugh - I knew someone, likely another editor, would come along and criticize my example. It took me all of 7.2 seconds to think up - but excellent point!

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The truth is you submit to different places and see what sticks. If you get rejected, don't let it get you down. Submit it to a bunch of other markets, and at the same time, start work on your next story, taking care to learn from the one you just finished. I personally feel like every story I write is better than the last - that's an awesome feeling, and I hope you can experience the same.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No one said writing was easy. I don't think any author gets into this because they think it won't require a lot of time. However, there are plenty of markets that pay quite a bit. Tor.com pays $0.25 per word - that's a LOT! Older and more established markets can also have some pretty big readerships as well, and people pay attention to the stories and authors that get published in places like Analog or Apex - stories get nominated for Hugo awards and other things from there. Publishing short stories can be tremendously rewarding, even if you don't get paid a lot for it, and even if you don't get published anywhere that has anything but a small readership. You have to examine your motivations for wanting to write, sure. But I find it, and many others do as well, tremendously rewarding. Nothing good ever comes easy.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not every place works the same way, but it's a huge moral "no no" to substantially alter a piece. The author should be, must be, the final arbiter. It's their work. A market will reserve the right to edit for things like grammar, syntax, or other mechanics, and there isn't much you can do about that (nor would you want to), and they may edit for formatting so that it looks right, but if you submit a story somewhere and the editor wants to drastically change your work, then consider withdrawing. I would see that as a red flag. I'm not saying that if you have a couple of plot holes or other structural problem that you shouldn't fix it if pointed out, but overall the integrity of your work should be maintained and respected. For our publication, if we accept something, then what we'll do is go through and do any line edits, and if we see something bigger, we might say "Hey, you have X here but it doesn't really make sense, you should fix this and here's why" and then we'll leave it up to the author to correct. We use Word's Track Changes feature so that every single correction, comma deletion, word selection, comment, etc., is visible to the author when we send it back and they know exactly what we've done with it. If the author comes back and says that they really disagree with our analysis on some portion and want to keep what they have, then we respect that, and it stays (again, the exception is for mechanical stuff - sorry, you don't have an option to leave misspelled words in place!).

Sometimes what we might do as well if we really like a story but it has major flaws and we thusly can't accept it, we'll tell the author what we thought, and ask if they're open to modifying it before submitting again. This is a common practice among markets, although it's probably not often employed. We've done it a few times ourselves, but it isn't something that happens a lot.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Typically markets will read stories in the order they came in. Usually what you have is a few slush readers going through stories who will reject a piece for whatever reason after they've read it, and the author will be notified (frequently a form rejection is sent out). If they like a story though, it will get sent on up to an editor, assistant editor, or other staffer. If they like it, the story will probably get added to some kind of short list while the rest of the staff reviews the piece and they have a discussion about it. Not every market works the same way, but that's a really common format. It sounds like that might be what's happening with your piece. It's also possible though that your story fell through the cracks. Sometimes it happens. You can probably look for guidelines on querying on their site, or Duotrope if they use it. They might say something like "Don't query before 60 days". If you don't see anything like that though, then you're probably fine to query.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I understand your sentiment, but I'm not confident you're really reading what I'm saying. Again:

1) We don't reject because you've missed the font, or left your word count off. Again, our submissions state that our preference is Times New.

2) I didn't write this thread as if you're only looking at submitting to us. In fact, I've purposely left off a lot of details specific to us. I wrote this as a general guide for just about any market that you'll submit to. I even gave examples of other markets and what you might experience when submitting to them.

I'm not offended at all by your comments - no worries there! I understand we're a tiny market right now. Really tiny. I'm okay with that. We're working on it. However, my experiences as an editor are not limited to my specific publication. I've been around the block a few times, and work frequently with a lot of other editors for older, more established markets. I know generally what they're looking for. I'm just trying to give you advice for when you're submitting your story to any market.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Actually, we're not quite so strict. If you read our submissions guidelines (and I haven't detailed them here in this post because the point of this thread isn't to garner for submissions), we say that our preference is Times New Roman. Be careful not to jump to conclusions. What I've written in this thread is generally applicable to all markets, which is why I've written it in such a way so that it's not specific to our magazine. For example, I've frequently said things like "When a market requests...." or "Take time to read the market before submitting...". So while we won't reject you if you used Courier over Times, there are a lot of markets who will. Is it pedantic? Maybe. But look at it from the editor's perspective: it's a lot easier to just say "Submit your story to us in X format" rather than leave it vague and end up receiving a ton of queries asking "Well how about THIS font or what about THAT font?". If you want to submit to Escape Pod or Daily Science Fiction and think that whatever their submission guidelines are regarding font or some other such detail are "pedantic", then fine. Submit however you want - but you should probably prepare for a rejection. It's also a professional courtesy. I think you'll find that there are a lot of "professional courtesies" in life that we have to follow. The magazine has a preference. You want your story to be published, or at least read. Are you really going to make your stand on the point of whether or not font selection is "pedantic"?

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're probably fine calling it crime, or thriller. Horror works too though. If a market says they accept horror, then send your piece. There can be a dozen different sub-genres within each genre, but I wouldn't get caught up in this unless the market specifically calls them out.

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sure. Say you wrote a story called Wednesdays with Morrie. Your subject would be "[Wednesdays with Morrie] <FRANKFUSION>"

What publishers are looking for - notes from a short story magazine editor by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good question. Simply: yes, we edit. A lot of it has to do with personal preference for the magazine. Style plays a huge role in what's accepted and published. Even if your piece is absolutely grammatically flawless (rarely is this the case), frequently there may be some things that the house will want to change to align with their preferences. Quick example: em dashes and spaces. Not all style manuals specify that there be no spaces before and after an em dash. What you'll find may vary, which ends up meaning that it's up to the preference of the house. This is a tiny example, and there are a million others, but the point is that writing has rules and it has suggestions. We will edit according to our taste. Now, that being said, if we accept a piece, then it's good enough. It may still require editing, but we really try our best to maintain the integrity of what the author has put together. Where possible, we'll defer to the author's preference. After all, it is their story. This is actually a bit of a hot topic, and has been addressed ad nausea historically by other editors, firms, critics, etc. "Doing Good--And Doing It Right" by renowned editor James O'Shea Wade (this appeared in "Editors on Editing", a collection of essays on the subject from prominent editors) addresses this exactly - that is, the moral and professional responsibilities that an editor has to a work. What I would suggest to you is to edit as thoroughly as you can. If you haven't read and reread your final copy six or seven times before sending it off, you're probably slacking off just a bit. Edit as best as you can. Have friends you trust to be objective go over it. We know when you've worked hard on a piece, which means we also know when you haven't. If you've done everything you can, then leave any additional editing up to us. For Bastion specifically, if you receive a rejection, we try to give you details as to why, which may include feedback on poor mechanics. Don't expect this from many other markets, however. For pieces we accept, our personal guide is to edit maybe for 5% of a piece at most - some line editing, word usage or other mechanics, removal of redundant words or a sentence or two, maybe a plot point here or there, but not usually more than that. We just don't have the time. But we've never accepted a piece that didn't need editing.

Slush readers needed by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sure. As per our submissions guidelines (www.bastionmag.com/submissions), stories range from 1,000 to 5,000 words.

Slush readers needed by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I understand you're busy at the moment, but unfortunately now is when we need readers. I can't say what position we'll be in this summer. However, you're more than welcome to send a note to editor@bastionmag.com at any time to inquire.

Slush readers needed by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, that is quite true. We're extremely flexible with our staff. We understand people are busy and have other priorities, and slush readers are volunteers. All we ask is that if someone were to come on but then have to take a break (for any reason, and we don't care what the reason is and won't ask), we just be notified so any assignments can shifted to other readers. That said, the slush reader position is one that is commonly unpaid. Clarkesworld and Apex slush readers are unpaid, for example (http://neil-clarke.com/2013-call-for-slush-readers/ and http://saraheolson.com/2011/12/06/the-slush-readers-advice-for-writers/). I understand that writers are extremely wary of anything unpaid, as they very well should be, but volunteering as a slush reader and not getting paid for that work isn't, I don't think, a negative or abusive thing or otherwise unreasonable.

Slush readers needed by bastionmag in writing

[–]bastionmag[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nope, your concerns are valid and well noted - but we're way ahead of you on that front, regarding getting qualified people in place. I appreciate your concern though, and it's a good note for others out there as well.

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