Short Story Submission Etiquette Questions

dgaughran · Aug 9, 2010

Hi,

I got some good news last night. I short story I submitted in April got accepted for publication by a small literary magazine in the UK. There is no payment involved, they barely break even, but it's the first story I wrote, and my first to be published, so I am delighted.

By coincidence, I dusted off the story last week (before I got my good news) and sent it out to a few magazines and entered it in a couple of competitions, so it was a strange feeling getting the email, and I had to double-check when I had originally sent it out.

I have two questions.

1. Does this count as a publishing credit that I could mention in my query letter (I am about to start submitting my novel again)? The reason I ask is because it is a small magazine. Now they have a selection process, it's real, they publish three times a year, 100 pages, a real cover, and people pay money for it. I think they publish through Lulu, but also have subscribers including galleries and libraries. But does it have to be well-known to be mentioned in a query letter?

2. Should I now immediately contact the other magazines I submitted to and the competitions I entered and withdraw my submission, or should I wait until the launch date is confirmed? Also, what counts as a story being "previously published" with regard to submissions/competitions?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, I haven't been in this position before.

Thanks

Dave

Maryn · Aug 9, 2010

Congratulations, Dave! That first sale will always be among the sweetest.

1. You bet this counts as publication. You'd mention it in your query letter, in the part where sales, awards, and your general awesomeness is covered.

2. Yes, you should immediately withdraw the story from all other venues where it's been submitted. If one of them reads it and wants to buy its first publication rights (the norm in the US, and probably elsewhere), those rights are not available because the literary magazine got them.

"Previously published" doesn't necessarily involve a paying publication. It means the story was made available to the public, in any form, from print to digital to posting on a display website.

Maryn, more than stupid enough to answer stupid questions

defyalllogic · Aug 9, 2010

http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx

that is a good website where you can look to see if some of the places you submitted accept reprints. if they do they maybe you can just contact them and let them know it's been accepted elsewhere and is now consider a reprint.

if it's accepted as a fist publication at two places but that's technically a lie, I'm not sure what happens but i doubt it's good for your reputation, particularity with that publisher. i don't know if there's some inner circle publishers black list.

Stijn Hommes · Aug 11, 2010

You should immediately contact the other places you submitted to. But don't withdraw it immediately. See if you can sell reprint rights. (Sometimes you have to wait a while until after your story is published to be able to sell reprints. Make sure you check with the one that published your story).

dgaughran · Aug 11, 2010

Thanks for the advice.

I have only received a short email from the editor saying he wants to publish it in the next issue (which I think is December). He said he would get in touch with the launch date etc.

Is this enough confirmation that it will be published?

Dave

pdr · Aug 11, 2010

Er...

if you have sold a story for 1st Rights (print) in the UK you still have 1st Rights to sell in New Zealand and Australia, South Africa, Canada and even the USA, providing you can find magazines which do not want unpublished stories.

If you sold All Rights to the lit mag you now have the reprint rights to sell.

dgaughran · Aug 12, 2010

Hi pdr,

There have been no mention of rights, just an informal email indicating he wants to publish the story in the next issue, but no mention of dates. I have sent an email asking for clarification as the website has no information on this.

Dave

Gray Rose · Aug 12, 2010

dgaughran said:
Hi pdr,

There have been no mention of rights, just an informal email indicating he wants to publish the story in the next issue, but no mention of dates. I have sent an email asking for clarification as the website has no information on this.

Dave

Congratulations on your sale.

I am not sure I understand your situation. Did you sim-sub to markets that accept sim-subs, or to markets that do not accept them? If a), look in the guidelines - most places ask to notify them at once if the story sells elsewhere. If b) same thing really - you need to withdraw your story from the other markets at once.

As Maryn said, a sale usually means you are granting first publication rights (whether money is involved is actually irrelevant). These first rights belong to the magazine that first published your story. I know venues that blacklisted authors who submitted stories as unpublished, while the pieces were, in fact, published elsewhere.

I would strongly advise against sim-subbing when it is not explicitly allowed in the guidelines.

Yes, this is a publication credit you can mention in the cover letters.

The fact that one place liked the story enough to offer publication does not guarantee warm reception elsewhere.

Good luck!

Port Iris · Aug 14, 2010

pdr said:
if you have sold a story for 1st Rights (print) in the UK you still have 1st Rights to sell in New Zealand and Australia, South Africa, Canada and even the USA, providing you can find magazines which do not want unpublished stories.

If you sold All Rights to the lit mag you now have the reprint rights to sell.

Which rights you're selling will all depend on your contract. The rights being sold will most likely be for the country of market origin or world rights.

1) As it is a nonpaying pub, it will not likely be considered as a professional sale. Using it in your query letter is up to you, but would mostly depend on the reputation of the market you were accepted by.

2) You should absolutely contact the other markets you've submitted to, although you may mar your own reputations if the other markets clearly stated that they do not accept simultaneous submissions. I would suggest merely stating that you are withdrawing the story and not notifying them that it was submitted elsewhere.

night-flyer · Aug 15, 2010

This seems to be a good place to ask this question?

I wrote two short/short stories-1300 words and 1500 words. I was going to submit them to a Writer's Digest contest. Short stories are not my thing, but I need to get something published before my novel is done.
The contest fee is $20 dollars per entry, is that standard? Or are there free contests to enter that will publish your work if you win?

Izz · Aug 15, 2010

night-flyer said:
This seems to be a good place to ask this question?

I wrote two short/short stories-1300 words and 1500 words. I was going to submit them to a Writer's Digest contest. Short stories are not my thing, but I need to get something published before my novel is done.
The contest fee is $20 dollars per entry, is that standard? Or are there free contests to enter that will publish your work if you win?

Hi, night-flyer.

You might find this thread from a couple weeks back interesting: How do you feel about fees? (and super long waits)

Polenth · Aug 15, 2010

night-flyer said:
This seems to be a good place to ask this question?

I wrote two short/short stories-1300 words and 1500 words. I was going to submit them to a Writer's Digest contest. Short stories are not my thing, but I need to get something published before my novel is done.
The contest fee is $20 dollars per entry, is that standard? Or are there free contests to enter that will publish your work if you win?

As well as what Izz said, you can also visit Duotrope to find markets to send your work (submitting to markets is free).

http://www.duotrope.com

night-flyer · Aug 15, 2010

Thank you, Polenth and Izz.

These helped me my make my decision. I was sure it had already been discussed, just couldn't find the threads.
Thanx again

dgaughran · Sep 1, 2010

Magazine with story came out today!!!

Sorry for being so late in getting back to this thread - I have been moving house to another country and have been without internet.

The only places I submitted to accepted simultaneous subs.

The editor of the magazine confirmed about 2 weeks ago that the story would be included in the next issue, so I immediately withdrew the story from consideration from everywhere except for one UK competition that didn't mind if it was previously published.

I received some nice messages in response from the editors. None seemed to mind, and all thanked me for informing them. Interestingly, Zoetrope said that, if I wanted, they would keep the story under consideration for their contest as their rules stated that it stories must only be unpublished "at the time of submission", which it was, so that's great.

Thanks for all the advice above. I'm very excited, the magazine came out today. It's called The Delinquent, and based in the UK http://www.thedelinquent.co.uk/

Dave

Short Story Submission Etiquette Questions

dgaughran

Maryn

I Tried

defyalllogic

i'm a girl. (i have tendonitis)

Stijn Hommes

Know what you write...

dgaughran

pdr

dgaughran

Gray Rose

Beware of the Thorns!

Port Iris

night-flyer

roasting cows

Izz

Doing the Space Operatic

Polenth

Mushroom

night-flyer

roasting cows

dgaughran