The Great W1S1 Hey-Do-You-Know-About-This-Market Thread

Brandon M Johnson

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Just came on here to ask about Read Short Fiction and noticed Fi beat me to it... I fear this market may be dead. I'm going to query after 60 days and see.

That would be a shame. They were normally fast responders and paid pro, according to the guidelines.
 

Ty Schalter

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Anyone else sub to Fireside? I saw they already sent out some responses. I read some flash I really enjoyed there so I sent one of mine.

I subbed a 3.8K word urban-fantasy-type-thing yesterday. Fingers crossed.

Peace
Ty
 

Project Deadlight

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If I haven't heard by next I'm withdrawing from RSF. I've queried and not heard back yet. Seems lots of markets are being slow/late at the moment. Or maybe it's the absence of LS and NM at the moment filling my inbox on a regular basis... currently have an Ap3x Sub at 90 days and a Black Stat1c at 60 days.
 

Aislinn

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If I haven't heard by next I'm withdrawing from RSF. I've queried and not heard back yet.

That's really sad about RSF. They were a go-to market for me because of their real mix of genres & they seem like nice people too.

Has anyone else got a story held over from the last batch of Stupefying subs? I thought I might hear back before they opened up subs again but I didn't and now I'm up to 120-something days. Guess I will have to query soon.
 

Dani79

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There's a 123-day response on the Grinder for Stupefying yesterday, so it might be any day now. My last sub with them was in the same ballpark.
 

fihr

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Did you hear back? They are on my to do list to query. It sounds like our stories are around the same time.

No, I haven't heard back yet. I'm thinking I'll just submit elsewhere now. If they haven't posted a new monthly story on their website by the end of June, I'll assume they're dead. Looking back, this year, they've only posted three stories, despite being a monthly market originally. Not looking good.

When Stupefying have things go wrong, they are pretty considerate towards their authors and submitters, and post about it on their Facebook page. Personal and family illness have slowed them down this year, understandably. It would be good if other markets (RSF?) could also post some clues, even just one sentence on their submissions page.
 
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Melinda Moore

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No, I haven't heard back yet. I'm thinking I'll just submit elsewhere now. If they haven't posted a new monthly story on their website by the end of June, I'll assume they're dead. Looking back, this year, they've only posted three stories, despite being a monthly market originally. Not looking good.

When Stupefying have things go wrong, they are pretty considerate towards their authors and submitters, and post about it on their Facebook page. Personal and family illness have slowed them down this year, understandably. It would be good if other markets (RSF?) could also post some clues, even just one sentence on their submissions page.

Thanks Fihr. That's a bummer.
 

fihr

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Good news: Read Short Fiction is still alive.

They responded to my query today to say my story is still under consideration and I should hear soon. I checked Duotrope, and they've also sent several responses to stories that have been there a little bit longer than mine. :D
 

Melinda Moore

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Glad you're still under consideration! Did they give any reason to what had happened?
 

fihr

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Glad you're still under consideration! Did they give any reason to what had happened?

No. But it looks like they're responding to stories in the order they were received. I guess some kind of personal event or commitment stopped the queue. Since your story went in at a similar time to mine, I imagine we'll both hear back soon.
 
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Brandon M Johnson

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Good news: Read Short Fiction is still alive.

They responded to my query today to say my story is still under consideration and I should hear soon. I checked Duotrope, and they've also sent several responses to stories that have been there a little bit longer than mine. :D

I'm glad to hear that.
 

Dani79

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Huh. So I seem to recall DSF temporarily closing subs for longer stories not too long ago, but is this permanent now? Their guidelines, DT, Grinder, all list 1500 as the upper limit. Or has this been in place for ages, and everyone who isn't as terminally slow as me already knew?
 

Aislinn

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Huh. So I seem to recall DSF temporarily closing subs for longer stories not too long ago, but is this permanent now? Their guidelines, DT, Grinder, all list 1500 as the upper limit. Or has this been in place for ages, and everyone who isn't as terminally slow as me already knew?

Interesting. I certainly didn't know. Hard to tell without an announcement if this is permanent or if the guidelines are just supporting the temporary limit. (Though, wasn't the temporary limit 2K?)

Thankfully - because I didn't re-read the guidelines - the most recent thing I've sent them is flash.
 

Aislinn

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Here's that announcement we were waiting for - at the top of today's emailed story.

As we approach our fourth anniversary, we have been nebula-gazing about who and what Daily Science Fiction is, and where it fits into the universe. We have been contemplating the concept of focusing an enterprise on its core strength. Frankly, we love to publish longer stories on Fridays and feel that we've been fortunate enough to be able to share many exceptional tales. Yet, our niche, our differentiated area of success, lies in the daily sharing of genre flash tales via email on a near-daily basis. Because that's what we do best, and are recognized for doing, the longer stories at Daily Science Fiction haven't always garnered the recognition they've deserved. And because we publish longer fiction, there has been some confusion about our other weekday offerings. By the end of this year if not a bit before, we will be intensifying our focus by limiting our story length to no more than 1,500 words. We hope to publish more story series as we move forward, and bring even more new voices to you in your inbox and on the web. Thank you very much for your support and readership over the past four years. We look forward to many more years to come.
-Michele and Jonathan
 

Brandon M Johnson

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Here's that announcement we were waiting for - at the top of today's emailed story.

As we approach our fourth anniversary, we have been nebula-gazing about who and what Daily Science Fiction is, and where it fits into the universe. We have been contemplating the concept of focusing an enterprise on its core strength. Frankly, we love to publish longer stories on Fridays and feel that we've been fortunate enough to be able to share many exceptional tales. Yet, our niche, our differentiated area of success, lies in the daily sharing of genre flash tales via email on a near-daily basis. Because that's what we do best, and are recognized for doing, the longer stories at Daily Science Fiction haven't always garnered the recognition they've deserved. And because we publish longer fiction, there has been some confusion about our other weekday offerings. By the end of this year if not a bit before, we will be intensifying our focus by limiting our story length to no more than 1,500 words. We hope to publish more story series as we move forward, and bring even more new voices to you in your inbox and on the web. Thank you very much for your support and readership over the past four years. We look forward to many more years to come.
-Michele and Jonathan

If it cuts down on costs and helps them stay free and functioning for longer, then it's for the best.
 

Hanson

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Here's that announcement we were waiting for - at the top of today's emailed story.

As we approach our fourth anniversary, we have been nebula-gazing about who and what Daily Science Fiction is, and where it fits into the universe. We have been contemplating the concept of focusing an enterprise on its core strength. Frankly, we love to publish longer stories on Fridays and feel that we've been fortunate enough to be able to share many exceptional tales. Yet, our niche, our differentiated area of success, lies in the daily sharing of genre flash tales via email on a near-daily basis. Because that's what we do best, and are recognized for doing, the longer stories at Daily Science Fiction haven't always garnered the recognition they've deserved. And because we publish longer fiction, there has been some confusion about our other weekday offerings. By the end of this year if not a bit before, we will be intensifying our focus by limiting our story length to no more than 1,500 words. We hope to publish more story series as we move forward, and bring even more new voices to you in your inbox and on the web. Thank you very much for your support and readership over the past four years. We look forward to many more years to come.
-Michele and Jonathan

Differentiation is to everyone's benefit imo.

It's ok to have two, maybe three publications of similar style, format etc, but more than that I think the market gets a bit confusing, for all concerned.
 

Little Ming

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Here's that announcement we were waiting for - at the top of today's emailed story.

As we approach our fourth anniversary, we have been nebula-gazing about who and what Daily Science Fiction is, and where it fits into the universe. We have been contemplating the concept of focusing an enterprise on its core strength. Frankly, we love to publish longer stories on Fridays and feel that we've been fortunate enough to be able to share many exceptional tales. Yet, our niche, our differentiated area of success, lies in the daily sharing of genre flash tales via email on a near-daily basis. Because that's what we do best, and are recognized for doing, the longer stories at Daily Science Fiction haven't always garnered the recognition they've deserved. And because we publish longer fiction, there has been some confusion about our other weekday offerings. By the end of this year if not a bit before, we will be intensifying our focus by limiting our story length to no more than 1,500 words. We hope to publish more story series as we move forward, and bring even more new voices to you in your inbox and on the web. Thank you very much for your support and readership over the past four years. We look forward to many more years to come.
-Michele and Jonathan

As a reader, I tend to read their shorter stories more than the longer ones. Not that I think their longer stories are worse, but if I'm looking for a longer short story, I usually go to Clarkesworld, or Strange Horizon, or Lightspeed. DSF just isn't the first place I think of when I'm looking for a longer read. A short read when I have a few minutes free, yes DSF. So as a reader I think this is the right decision.

As a writer, it's always a little bad when you feel like the market has narrowed a bit. At least in the short term. In the long term if this makes DSF stronger and differentiates them more from other publishers, then as a writer I think it's the right decision, too.