First Published Pieces in the 51 Bad Short Stories Challenge

Two of my very short stories appear in this issue of Kyso Flash. Don't forget, my writer friends, that Kyso is a paying market.

http://www.kysoflash.com/ContentsIssue3.aspx

Where I Send My Work

Several fellow writers have asked me how I pick the markets for my stories in the 51 Bad Short Stories challenge. I start by seeking out as many paying markets as possible that seem a decent fit for the story. Then, if there aren't 20 of those, I move to non-paying markets that don't charge a fee to submit. (More and more journals seem to be charging a fee of $3-$5 just to submit a work. That can add up. My rule is to only pay a small fee if the market is a paying market. )

Where do I find markets? Here are some sources that I regularly use. Some have overlapping information:

http://www.thereviewreview.net/publishing-tips/show-me-literary-magazines-pay

http://www.authorspublish.com/10-literary-journals-that-pay-their-writers/

http://www.everywritersresource.com/literary-magazines-the-pay/

http://www.newpages.com/magazines/literary-magazines

http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/get-published-sell-my-work/get_inside_the_top_30_short_story_markets

http://www.thereviewreview.net/reviews

Post-Apocalyptic Short Story Featuring Disabled Character? Sure, No Problem

For the third story in my 51 Bad Short Story challenge - something different. Why not respond to a call for a specific type of story for an anthology that's been crowd-sourced and will pay writers for stories included? Given my penchant for the Apocalypse, this one seems a fun challenge. There's one deviation from my previously stated rules, though. This publisher says no simultaneous submissions, so this one won't go out to 20 markets right away.

The requirement is to write a 3,000-7,000 word short story featuring a post-apocalyptic world that includes a disabled character making his or her way through the crisis. Game on!

Interested in joining the fun? Here are the details:

http://defyingdoomsday.twelfthplanetpress.com/submissions/

Success! Second Story Accepted

I just received word that my second story in this project - a 1700 word short story set in Post-War Norway, has been accepted. For those keeping track, here are the statistics for "Hjemmelandet" -

Submitted to 20 markets
Rejected by 5 markets
Withdrawn from 15 markets

Here's the acceptance:

Dear Anniken

Thank you very much for your submission of "Hjemmelandet" to Halfway Down the Stairs.  We appreciate your interest and I apologize for the delay in our response.

The other fiction editors and I really liked this piece, and we would be keen to accept it for our upcoming issue (for publication on June 1)!  However, I'm aware some other 'zine may have snapped it up already?  Could you please let us know if so, or if you have any questions whatsover!

Kind regards

Alison Stedman
Senior Fiction Editor

Second Story Rejected with Request for More Stories

My second story for this project, a story set in Norway post-war, has been rejected. The rejection came with an invitation to submit more work. My readers know I am now behind schedule on story writing, but I will shortly catch up. Here's the rejection:

Dear Anniken,

Thank you for your submission "Hjemmelandet". We regret to inform you it is not what we are looking for at the moment. It came across as too dense and it read more like a novel outline rather than a complete short story.

What we really like is your writing style. We would be more than happy to read something else written by you.

It's a Numbers Game - Another Story Accepted

I just got word that my first story in the 51 Bad Short Stories challenge has been accepted for publication. Here are the submissions numbers:

Submitted to 22 markets
Rejected by 9 markets
Accepted by 1 market
Withdrawn before decision in 12 markets.

Here's the acceptance and a link to the journal for anyone interested in submitting:

Dear Anniken Davenport, 

"The Scoop" has been accepted. A link will be provided upon publication. Thank you for contributing to Crab Fat. 

Sincerely, 
EllaAnn Weaver 
Crab Fat Literary Magazine 
http://www.crabfatmagazine.com 

Getting Paid for Literary Fiction

Anyone who knows me knows I rail against the practice of literary journals not paying their writers. They surely pay the printer, the electric company, the web hosting company and so on, but they seldom pay their writers. And without those writers, there would be no journal. That never made sense to me.

The lack of pay was one reason I have been reluctant to send stories out. It simply irked me that I would be providing content without as much as a penny a word of pay. Too many of my fellow writers are so desperate for publication credits that they feel they have no choice but to give their stories away. So when I began this experiment, I concentrated on markets that pay something other than copies. And my first publication will be in a paying market. In fact, that publication, KYSO Flash, has already paid me for two stories that will appear in their June 2015 issue.

If you are looking for a paying market, check them out. The editor is great to work with, quick to respond and a genuinely nice person. And if you are feeling generous and would like to support a paying market, consider making a donation via their Paypal link. We need more paying markets, but we have to support those markets too - by reading the publications, spreading the word and making a donation when we can.

First Success!

I am happy to announce that I have had my first success. You may recall that my first week's story was rejected with an invitation to submit additional work through a special link. I submitted three stories last night and got a quick response offering to purchase two of the three. The editor suggested  a few edits, which were excellent and made the story better.

So my first literary short story publication is a paying market - which makes me quite happy on the principle that writers should be paid for their work. Here's the acceptance:

Dear Ms. Davenport,

Thanks so much for submitting three more stories for consideration! I very much enjoyed reading them and would be delighted and honored to publish two of them in the next issue of KYSO Flash: 

“The Lonely Ones” and 

“Bless the Sniper” 

I would like to suggest several small edits to "The Lonely Ones," simply as refinements here and there. Attached is a copy of your story, which includes my suggestions and comments highlighted in yellow.

After I hear from you in return, I’ll email you a publishing agreement which describes the rights we’re interested in for both stories, as well as payment details. Since Issue 3 is scheduled to launch online in 17 days, I hope you will be able to reply within the next day or two. 

I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks again! 

All best wishes,

--Clare 

Rejection with Kind Words and Plain Rejection

Another rejection, but with kind words to soothe the soul:
Dear Anniken:

Thank you for submitting "The Lonely Ones" to the Norwegian American Weekly. We gave the story careful consideration, and though we are not accepting it for publication, we hope you find a better fit for it elsewhere.

This was beautifully written, but it ultimately just didn't feel like a fit for this publication.

Thanks again for trusting us with your work.

Best,

Emily C. Skaftun
Editor-in-chief
Norwegian American Weekly

And plain old rejection:

Dear Anniken Davenport,

Thank you for sending us your work. Unfortunately, we are unable to use your manuscript at this time. Nonetheless, we are honored that you thought of us, and wish you the best in placing your work elsewhere. 

Sincerely,

The Editors of RHINO Poetry