The Cantina Staring Back At You From The Abyss

Damoclian

Fragile Bunny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 4, 2015
Messages
1,217
Reaction score
260
Location
Canada
Yaknow whut Cantina??? I don't know where else to turn so I'mma come out and say IT since y'all were so helpful last time with your suggestions and lists and links and stuff: I plan on sending a short story to a beautiful little press/publisher/thingiewhatsit called Anotherealm .com (whom I have seen zero warnings against and like the look of). I saw a thing in the AW Archive that said the name behind AceTachyon had a story with them, and I think I found his story on their site, too... I found them through The (Submission) Grinder and they seem like the right starting point for the story I want to send them.

Anyway, this isn't about how legit they are. This is about how I should format my query to them. I honestly don't know what should be included. I've been googling how to write queries (it's been a while >.>) and I think I have that down. They seem minimalistic in what they ask for from writers, and my question is really just a "What do I put in the letter? Do they want a description of the short before the short? Do they want a thing about me?" and I'm only confused because I haven't done this before and I don't know if anything is taken for gratis or going unsaid. :s

Here is their FAQ link: http://anotherealm.org/FAQ/faq.php


Halp! :flag:
 

greendragon

Registered
Joined
Jan 20, 2015
Messages
4,217
Reaction score
475
Location
Beacon Falls, CT
Website
www.greendragonartist.com
I am no expert on queries, since I knew my publisher personally before I wrote anything to submit. However, everything I've read is be short, concise, and matter-of-fact. Have perfect grammar and punctuation. Be professional.
 

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Messages
16,441
Reaction score
1,529
Location
between rising apes and falling angels
Website
www.cranehanabooks.com
Dear Editor (use Editor Name if you know it):

Please consider my ____-word fantasy short story (Name of Story) for (Name of Magazine).

One or two lines about any relevant life experience, Nano, publishing, etc. But not necessary.

Your Real Name
Mailing Address
Phone number
Email
Website if you want
Twitter and/or Facebook if you want

***

Short story queries are simple, Dammy, no need to go fancy or get overstressed.
 
Last edited:

greendragon

Registered
Joined
Jan 20, 2015
Messages
4,217
Reaction score
475
Location
Beacon Falls, CT
Website
www.greendragonartist.com
Managed 2,800 words today. Going to try to squeeze in a few more before the end of the workday. I may or may not get some in this weekend. Normally I take weekends off writing, but sometimes I'm inspired. It feels like icing whenever I do :D

Tomorrow I've got a small local event on Saturday for four hours, a fall festival. Abbreviated tent setup, especially as it will be cloudy and 60 degrees. Not expecting a whole lot from it, but you never know.
 

JJ Litke

People are not wearing enough hats
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
7,997
Reaction score
4,475
Location
Austin
Website
www.jjlitke.com
Dear Editor (use Editor Name if you know it):

Please consider my ____-word fantasy short story (Name of Story) for (Name of Magazine).

One or two lines about any relevant life experience, Nano, publishing, etc. But not necessary.

Your Real Name
Mailing Address
Phone number
Email
Website if you want
Twitter and/or Facebook if you want

***

Short story queries are simple, Dammy, no need to go fancy or get overstressed.

Just like this.

And to get picky, when it's a short story, it's not a query because you're actually submitting the story (unlike with a novel where you query to see if they want to read your manuscript). The distinction is worth noting because when short story markets talk about queries, they mean when you email to ask about the status of a story you previously subbed to them.
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Jade, if you need another example of dialogue vs. chat room messaging in a book, you could check out Barry Lyga's "The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl" and "Goth Girl Rising". I know there's chat room formatting in the first; pretty sure it's also in the sequel.

Not sure if that's helpful, as you'd actually need a copy to send a specific example, but yeah... Those books are what sprang to mind when you posted. (They're YA and a little amusing, but mostly dramatic.)
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Nanna update: Seems that she had a bad reaction to some new medication. Seemed a lot better today. Not sure when they'll release her, though - probably not until Monday at the earliest, given the way these things tend to work on weekends.

In other news, I'm actually looking forward to NaNoWriMo this year. I haven't started writing again yet, but this time I have a specific goal in mind: Get that 50% discount for Scrivener. I've watched a few tutorial videos for Scrivener on ye olde YouTube, and I must say, I think it may actually be as good as people on AW have been saying for years. (Yes, I'm a late adopter. Of this, and virtually every other form of technological advancement. :))
 

Religion0

Cantina's Official Doggy Poster
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2015
Messages
2,158
Reaction score
239
Location
On that sandy little pile of darkness and seaweed
Thanks for hugs and thoughts, everybody. No news on Grandmother as of yet, the hospital is going to keep her until they figure it out, but hearing something about my aunt maybe coming over with her sons to visit her.
 

E.F.B.

Stories, stories everywhere
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Messages
6,351
Reaction score
1,829
Location
Valinor
Website
www.etsy.com
Nanna update: Seems that she had a bad reaction to some new medication. Seemed a lot better today. Not sure when they'll release her, though - probably not until Monday at the earliest, given the way these things tend to work on weekends.

In other news, I'm actually looking forward to NaNoWriMo this year. I haven't started writing again yet, but this time I have a specific goal in mind: Get that 50% discount for Scrivener. I've watched a few tutorial videos for Scrivener on ye olde YouTube, and I must say, I think it may actually be as good as people on AW have been saying for years. (Yes, I'm a late adopter. Of this, and virtually every other form of technological advancement. :))
Glad your nanna is doing better. :)

I'm pretty happy with Word, myself, and have no interest in adopting Scrivner. What I want Nano to have (or at least Camp Nano since I'm not doing 50k words in one month) is another discount for the Litograghs site. I REALLY want one of those shirts.)

Morning Cantina. Still kinda waking up, but I intend to do the words and the Etsy listing today
 

Jade Rothwell

rolling dice
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2016
Messages
1,310
Reaction score
166
Age
30
Location
Ontario, Canada
Jade, if you need another example of dialogue vs. chat room messaging in a book, you could check out Barry Lyga's "The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl" and "Goth Girl Rising". I know there's chat room formatting in the first; pretty sure it's also in the sequel.

Not sure if that's helpful, as you'd actually need a copy to send a specific example, but yeah... Those books are what sprang to mind when you posted. (They're YA and a little amusing, but mostly dramatic.)

I'll check that out! thank you :D

I'm excited for NaNo too. my goal isn't going to be 50k, but daily writing. as much or as little as I can do. if I'll be rebelling by writing short stories anyway, I may as well go full rebel :cool:
 

Shadowflame

Gametrovert
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 19, 2010
Messages
3,873
Reaction score
543
Yaknow whut Cantina??? I don't know where else to turn so I'mma come out and say IT since y'all were so helpful last time with your suggestions and lists and links and stuff: I plan on sending a short story to a beautiful little press/publisher/thingiewhatsit called Anotherealm .com (whom I have seen zero warnings against and like the look of). I saw a thing in the AW Archive that said the name behind AceTachyon had a story with them, and I think I found his story on their site, too... I found them through The (Submission) Grinder and they seem like the right starting point for the story I want to send them.

Anyway, this isn't about how legit they are. This is about how I should format my query to them. I honestly don't know what should be included. I've been googling how to write queries (it's been a while >.>) and I think I have that down. They seem minimalistic in what they ask for from writers, and my question is really just a "What do I put in the letter? Do they want a description of the short before the short? Do they want a thing about me?" and I'm only confused because I haven't done this before and I don't know if anything is taken for gratis or going unsaid. :s

Here is their FAQ link: http://anotherealm.org/FAQ/faq.php
Halp! :flag:




IMO shorter is better. For instance mine goes like this:

Dear (Insert editors name)


Please consider my 6000 word science fiction story "Unleashed."




Bio:
When it comes to chaos, Sarah wears the crown--although a bit lopsided. She's an all around free-lancer who works as a personal assistant, publicist, author, editor and artist. She shares her crazy life with her husband and 2 boys and tries to keep the cats occupied.


You can find her work in "Hero of Ithtar" in Women in Practical Armor anthology by Evil Girlfriend Media, and "The Coin Whisperer" in The Best of Abyss & Apex Volume II.
RnNZfQn2o2xpggJQqefCOervMbPIci5mujDPJnvl43kv6Rtxjyh5gHN_JKVzeU-aaGz3pePFgxfoAAtZJZNx8mveVTc-11j98EfuAJVcumUenA=s0-d-e1-ft



Thank you
 

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Messages
16,441
Reaction score
1,529
Location
between rising apes and falling angels
Website
www.cranehanabooks.com
Oh hey, Cantina, I have good news to share!

Most important, my guy is responding really well to treatment. So well he's astonishing the nurses.

Second, I sold my high fantasy LGBTQIA Orpheus retelling 'The Purist' to NineStar Press today, who really really wants it. I think they'll do a good job with it. If it fizzles, the rights reversion is relatively painless.
 

Mary Love

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 26, 2015
Messages
1,586
Reaction score
642
Oh hey, Cantina, I have good news to share!

Most important, my guy is responding really well to treatment. So well he's astonishing the nurses.

Second, I sold my high fantasy LGBTQIA Orpheus retelling 'The Purist' to NineStar Press today, who really really wants it. I think they'll do a good job with it. If it fizzles, the rights reversion is relatively painless.
:hooray::snoopy::snoopy::snoopy:
 

Shoeless

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
2,308
Reaction score
295
Congratulations on the book, Filigree. That's great news!
 

E.F.B.

Stories, stories everywhere
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Messages
6,351
Reaction score
1,829
Location
Valinor
Website
www.etsy.com
Oh hey, Cantina, I have good news to share!

Most important, my guy is responding really well to treatment. So well he's astonishing the nurses.

Second, I sold my high fantasy LGBTQIA Orpheus retelling 'The Purist' to NineStar Press today, who really really wants it. I think they'll do a good job with it. If it fizzles, the rights reversion is relatively painless.

:PartySmil:banana::e2dance:
 

Jade Rothwell

rolling dice
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2016
Messages
1,310
Reaction score
166
Age
30
Location
Ontario, Canada
I haven't written that much this week but... I have a scary medical thing in a few days, so I'm trying not to be too hard on myself for not having inspiration. but also, I want to write. so :/

don't think I've talked about this here, but I have really blurry vision. seeing a specialist on Wednesday. but the blurriness is getting worse so of course I'm freaking out >< it's been blurry with varying intensity for like 5 years now. buuut no one was taking me seriously, so it took until now to get sent to an opthemologist.

anyway. I'm not going to rant. or freak out. I'm going to be cool and calm. (no I'm not)

Oh hey, Cantina, I have good news to share!

Most important, my guy is responding really well to treatment. So well he's astonishing the nurses.

Second, I sold my high fantasy LGBTQIA Orpheus retelling 'The Purist' to NineStar Press today, who really really wants it. I think they'll do a good job with it. If it fizzles, the rights reversion is relatively painless.

double the good news! :D
 
Last edited:

JJ Litke

People are not wearing enough hats
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
7,997
Reaction score
4,475
Location
Austin
Website
www.jjlitke.com
Cliff, I'm glad your grandmother is doing better, and I hope the same is true of yours, Rel.

Oh hey, Cantina, I have good news to share!

Most important, my guy is responding really well to treatment. So well he's astonishing the nurses.

Second, I sold my high fantasy LGBTQIA Orpheus retelling 'The Purist' to NineStar Press today, who really really wants it. I think they'll do a good job with it. If it fizzles, the rights reversion is relatively painless.

:hooray::hooray::hooray:
 

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Messages
16,441
Reaction score
1,529
Location
between rising apes and falling angels
Website
www.cranehanabooks.com
Thanks everyone. It's setting in now. I do feel like every good event in my life is immediately balanced by something awful, so I'm keeping a sense of hardened realism about this. On the one hand, I'm thrilled that more people than my poor beta readers liked this book. On the other, this is much closer to my heart and soul than my little M/M contemporary, or even my M/M space opera. Scary stuff. Opening the veins and showing my blood, kind of stuff.

The Mr continues to improve so we are cautiously optimistic.

To distract myself (which is usually how I jump on projects) I'm writing more on the Neolithic gay romance. Which is turning, of course, into a sweet friends-to-lovers tale with some heavy side issues like early parental death and indentured servitude. But boy are the characters talking to me again: 2650 words in 3 hours tonight. I think it's because the editor really really wants this one, too. I've got about 12K of it written so far, but estimate it needs about another 8 to 9K to be a complete story.

I outlined it in 2014, so all I'm doing is expanding one chapter per plot point. With whatever swerves and variations happen.

In case any of you ever want to burn your old stories or degauss the hard drives...don't. The 102K story that sold to NineStar today is the extension of a 6K short I wrote in '96 or '97, then trunked after too many people said 'It reads like an outline, show me the real story.' When I got back to it in 2013, I realized they'd been right.

The Neolithic romance is expanded from a 3K het romance short I wrote in 1989, and trunked until a romance call in 2014 made me think 'This would be a great M/M story'. The 4K version of that didn't sell, but I kept playing with it. The editor has hinted he'd like to contract it as soon as it's finished.
 
Last edited:

Religion0

Cantina's Official Doggy Poster
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2015
Messages
2,158
Reaction score
239
Location
On that sandy little pile of darkness and seaweed
The Cantina seems awesome as always.

Visited Grandmother in the hospital today. She seemed weak and sick, but also like she might be improving. I'm hopeful. The nurses seemed nice. Apparently she was roomed with a rude, angry woman yesterday but now she has a room of her own. Good for her, but also good for everyone that I wasn't there to throw an absolute fit at anyone treating my Grandmother like that, much less at an old sick woman.