What is your dream sale?

[Dungeon Geek]

Mine would be Realms of Fantasy. That's #1 on my break-in list, but I write mostly fantasy.

[Glorium]

If I could sell my book to a hobo on the street for 5 dollars I'd be pretty happy.

[eyeblink]

I did sell twice to F & SF and twice to Interzone in the 1990s, but I've never sold to Asimov's nor anything to Ellen Datlow. The nearest I've got to the latter are honourable mentions.

It might help if I wrote more SF/F. Much of what I write these days is strange mainstream or near-mainstream or what could be called crime.

[bsolah]

Cemetery Dance hands down. It's the number one horror mag.

[Alan Yee]

My top ones would be Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, and Fantasy Magazine. Among other mags, I'd also love to get into Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, but I don't think any of my stories are weird enough to fit in with most of what they've published in the past.

[Manuel Royal]

For a short story, F&SF.

Now, if I could go back in time and sell to F&SF in the mid '70s, that would be great. (Might as well sell to Astounding in the '40s while I'm at it ....)

[Stellan]

Probably Strange Horizons. There are other markets I'd love to get into, but SH is my favourite to read, so it would be a special coup for me.

[blacbird]

And this thread gives yet another example of the complete domination of AW by writers of Fantasy.

caw

[Polenth]

Breaking into any professional market would be nice, but I'd particularly like to sell to Analog.

In the semi-pro world, Abyss & Apex and ASIM are high on the list.

[Dawn Hebein]

Mine would be Realms of Fantasy. That's #1 on my break-in list, but I write mostly fantasy.

Me too! In fact, they're on my five year plan. :D

[Bubastes]

And this thread gives yet another example of the complete domination of AW by writers of Fantasy.

caw

Ok, I'll break the trend. My dream markets are The New Yorker, Glimmer Train, and One Story.

[Jamesaritchie]

The New Yorker, only because I'd love to make that much money for a single short story sale, and because of the other opportunities such a sale can lead to.

[FOTSGreg]

Analog

F&SF and Asimov's are on the short list.

[Carolanne Patton]

Cemetery Dance, followed by Clarkesworld and then maybe Weird Tales.

[Dungeon Geek]

Cemetery Dance, followed by Clarksworld and then maybe Weird Tales.

I had a couple of subs end up under review at Clarkesworld (one for about 5 days), but lately all of my submissions just seem to come flying back at me as soon as they reach the top of the slush stack. But maybe that's the norm for rejections there and those two stories that ended up under review were the exceptions. Definitely a market high on my break-in list.

[Carolanne Patton]

The nice thing about Clarkesworld is that even though they are a top paying market they get back to you either way really fast, so it doesn't hurt anything to give them a try. It's not like some of these markets where if you submit something it's stuck in no mans land for months. I unfortunately have a couple subbed out that are in that situation.

[Shadow_Ferret]

Weird Tales.

I know they don't pay on the same scale as F&SF, or Realms of Fantasy, but to me, to be published in the same magazine (well, sure, after a 30+ year hiatus) as Robert E. Howard is a dream.

[Cybernaught]

The New Yorker. If I get one story in there I'll quit writing forever.

[Empress_Isis]

I don't even want to dream of selling to the New Yorker. That would just be beyond everything. So my number one aim is Glimmer Train.

[CoffeeLover]

The New Yorker. This has been a dream of mine for a long time, and a sure sign of success in my mind. Then I was informed my co-worker had TWO stories published in TNY and there she stood, next to me, a lowly bookseller at Barnes and Noble sorting out all the sticky magazines found in the bathroom. Sad.

[Jamesaritchie]

The New Yorker. This has been a dream of mine for a long time, and a sure sign of success in my mind. Then I was informed my co-worker had TWO stories published in TNY and there she stood, next to me, a lowly bookseller at Barnes and Noble sorting out all the sticky magazines found in the bathroom. Sad.


A lowly bookseller? I know people who would kill for that job.

[CoffeeLover]

Really? I was a lowly bookseller myself for over 7 years so I wasn't knocking her, just a crappy job. I did it for the love of books, but at the end of the day it's a job in retail and not worth harming anyone over. At the store where I was employed all you needed was an open schedule and the willingness to work for about eight bucks and hour. Many of my co-workers didn't even read and they were happy to repeat this all day. Sad sad stuff.

[Dungeon Geek]

A lowly bookseller? I know people who would kill for that job.

Why?

[Jamesaritchie]

Why?

Because it's in a bookstroe, and around books. This is the only reason many need. I've known people who turned down jobs making four to five times a smuch money, simply because they wanted to be around books all day, every day.

I have one good friend who turned down a 70K per year desk job to run a used bookstore that paid only 16K.

Lowly is doing a job you hate, and spending time in a place, and around people, you have nothing in common with.

[CoffeeLover]

That's not my definition of lowly.

It is a lowly position. Anyone who tells you anything else hasn't done it. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.

[Jamesaritchie]

That's not my definition of lowly.

It is a lowly position. Anyone who tells you anything else hasn't done it. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.

It sounds more like you've never done it.

[CoffeeLover]

Sadly I have, for years and years. I don't know anyone who would lie about working for 8 dollars an hour.

[Calypso]

Glimmer Train. I've been surprised lately by how many people actually seem to despise this publication, but I have always liked Glimmer Train. Sure, I'll occasionally read a story I can't stand in GT, but isn't that true of most journals? Anyway, I've read Glimmer Train off and on for years and I always liked the author child photos and the bio pages in the back.

I'd also love to be published someday by The Sun and One Story.

I don't dream about The New Yorker, to be honest. Not sure why.

[Calypso]

I have one good friend who turned down a 70K per year desk job to run a used bookstore that paid only 16K.

I wonder if there's just a disconnect here -- namely, the difference between "person who stocks books and runs the cashier at Border's for $8/hour" and "person following her lifelong dream of owning/managing/running her own independent bookstore." These are totally different things.

I've never worked in a bookstore, but I have worked in retail. Despite being surrounded by books all day, which would be nice, I could imagine working in a bookstore would be just as tedious, frustrating, and depressing as many other retail jobs. Maybe even worse, in some ways, if you're a writer and have to be confronted day in, day out with the fact that people are only buying Twilight, books based on popular blogs, Soduku books and DVDs instead of the type of books you write. (I mean no offense toward any of these things, just saying it could get sad after a while.)

Anyway, my answer is still Glimmer Train. Which is sold in, like, all the major bookstores, btw. :)

[Dolohov]

I'd love to see one of my pieces in The Strand. They don't pay much, but these are the folks who published Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle.

I mean, there are plenty of other markets I'd like to see my work in too, but that one would be really special.

[Lydia Sharp]

Currently trying to break into Asimov's. I'd also be quite tickled to get a slot in an anthology with some of my fave authors.

[myrmidon]

McSweeney's for me.

Some other hopes and dreams? The New Yorker (obviously), Glimmer Train, Tin House, One Story, Paris Review, and Zoetrope All-Story - which I actually came close on once...but you know, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, or however the saying goes...

[Jamesaritchie]

I wonder if there's just a disconnect here -- namely, the difference between "person who stocks books and runs the cashier at Border's for $8/hour" and "person following her lifelong dream of owning/managing/running her own independent bookstore." These are totally different things.

I've never worked in a bookstore, but I have worked in retail. Despite being surrounded by books all day, which would be nice, I could imagine working in a bookstore would be just as tedious, frustrating, and depressing as many other retail jobs. Maybe even worse, in some ways, if you're a writer and have to be confronted day in, day out with the fact that people are only buying Twilight, books based on popular blogs, Soduku books and DVDs instead of the type of books you write. (I mean no offense toward any of these things, just saying it could get sad after a while.)

Anyway, my answer is still Glimmer Train. Which is sold in, like, all the major bookstores, btw. :)

There may be a disconnect, but I know people who work in Borders and in B&N, and absolutely love it.

Readers aren't only buying the books you mention, they're buying everything. Books of all kinds are selling very, very well, and there's no indication this is ever going to stop.

[MagicPen]

Easy: The New Yorker. For the monies and prestige.

Ploughshares, One Story, Sewanee, Kenyon and Paris reviews I'd like as well. It's a dream sale right? I dream big!

[unicornjam]

Another vote for The New Yorker.

[SchalaofZeal]

I don't really see myself being a #1 selling author, but I sometimes like to imagine my literature being sold at Barnes and Noble, Borders -- being sold at the front of the store and being advertised as a best seller. Oh my, that would be great. :D

[williemeikle]

Mine would be Weird Tales, purely from the amount of history, and number of writers I grew up with who have been published in there.

[williemeikle]

Currently trying to break into Asimov's. I'd also be quite tickled to get a slot in an anthology with some of my fave authors.

I got a story in a SF mag in Romania (in Romanian), and was put alongside an Asimov story! To say I was smiling for a week would be an understatement :-)

[CoffeeLover]

There may be a disconnect, but I know people who work in Borders and in B&N, and absolutely love it.

Readers aren't only buying the books you mention, they're buying everything. Books of all kinds are selling very, very well, and there's no indication this is ever going to stop.

And now you can say you know of one who hated it.

[sknipper]

My dream sale would have to be the New Yorker. Also, Ploughshares.

[Newguy1428]

Zoetrope. I just found it at the store. If they accept your story, you have to give them a year to decide whether to option it as a movie.

http://www.all-story.com/index.cgi

They have a short story writing contest also, it costs $15.00. I'll take my chances with the 12,000 regular submissions.

[Merc]

Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

(It's been one of the most consistent mags I read where I like almost all the stories. My other top pics are hit and miss, though I wouldn't turn any of them down. ;))

[MJRevell]

And this thread gives yet another example of the complete domination of AW by writers of Fantasy.

caw


Well, fantasy and sf have thriving short fiction markets.

[Jamesaritchie]

And now you can say you know of one who hated it.

Yep. I've had jobs I loathed that others loved. I've also had minimum wage jobs that I loved so much I didn't want to quit.

[defyalllogic]

Clarkesworld and The New Yorker. or anything i could just run up to at a news agent and open to show my friends "look that's me, available to the general non POP non niche public!"

[Camilla Delvalle]

And this thread gives yet another example of the complete domination of AW by writers of Fantasy.

They dominate all other writer's forums that I visit, so I'm not surprised. (I write some fantasy too.)

[Dave.C.Robinson]

Analog

No question.

[KyraDune]

F&SF, Fantasy Magazine, or Bewildering Stories

[Stijn Hommes]

My dream publications to get into would be Alfred Hitchock's Mystery Magazine or Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Let's start writing decent mysteries before I try it...

[Theresa]

Glimmertrain

They pay awesome rates and have a very good reputation, as far as I know. I would love to make it in there.

[Gray Rose]

Interesting question. I I'd like to sell to F&SF, but I don't write stuff they publish, and I almost never submit to them. Clarkesworld would be dreamy indeed - I think they publish some amazing stuff. Mostly I'd like to sell to Strange Horizons and Fantasy Magazine again (which involves sending stuff out, eep).

[Izz]

I'd like to sell a hard SF story to The New Yorker, through slush.

But right now, Clarkesworld, Asimov's and Strange Horizons are my trio of dream markets (with Weird Tales not far behind).

[Gray Rose]

I'd like to sell a hard SF story to The New Yorker, through slush.


I'd like to breed flying kosher pigs!

Best of luck to both of us in our endeavors ;)

[Izz]

I'd like to breed flying kosher pigs!

Best of luck to both of us in our endeavors ;)Hee!

I reckon your endeavour has more chance than mine...

[Gray Rose]

Hee!

I reckon your endeavour has more chance than mine...

I would be happy with just kosher pigs, so I guess you could compromise by selling an SF story through slush somewhere - and then your endeavor will definitely have more chance than mine!

Honestly, the only reason I don't list the New yorker is because I do not submit to them. It is useless.

[johnnysannie]

Forget the pigs - I'd be happy to crack The New Yorker. One of these days.....

[pangalactic]

For me, Weird Tales, Cemetery Dance, Subterranean, and any Ellen Datlow anthology. I'd also love to have a story appear in an anthology alongside Neil Gaiman.

[Gray Rose]

I'd also love to have a story appear in an anthology alongside Neil Gaiman.

It is a scary experience, in my experience. But then again, I have neuroses.

[pangalactic]

It is a scary experience, in my experience. But then again, I have neuroses.

If this means you've been in an anthology with Mr. G then I'm insanely jealous. Which was it?

EDIT: I just followed the link in your sig. That's a hell of an anthology to be in, well done!

[Port Iris]

Longest running dreams would be Analog or Asimov's.

But nowadays, I'd also love to get into Clarkesworld or Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

[blacbird]

My dead lawnmower, on EBay, for $50.

[Izz]

My dead lawnmower, on EBay, for $50.Yep, you're definitely dreaming (though if i didn't live on the opposite side of the world i'd buy it just to see your dream come true).

[defyalllogic]

Clarkesworld and The New Yorker. or anything i could just run up to at a news agent and open to show my friends "look that's me, available to the general non POP non niche public!"

now that I've been researching Tor.com would be a dream.

[dgaughran]

Oh any of the big boys. Glimmer Train would be tops, because of the editors. Two double-barrels of class.

[alexshvartsman]

My dream sale currently would be to Daily Science Fiction. Mostly because they began accepting submissions at about the same time I began writing fiction, earlier this year, they seem more accessible and less imposing than some of the big boys (Analog, F&SF), and I like a lot of the stuff they publish.

Among the dead-tree publications, I would have to say Analog.

Alex Shvartsman

[jaksen]

The next one. (Waiting on four submissions.)

Okay and Tin House. I am submitting a story to them.