Where might I submit this story?

Sharon Mock · Mar 2, 2009

The idea for this thread is ~~stolen from~~ inspired by the defunct Rumor Mill, but seems especially appropriate here, where we're all dealing with the Weird Stuff. Have a story and can't figure out where to send it? Maybe the Interstitial Individualist Collective can help!

I'll start with the notorious gratuitous squid story, as an example as much as anything. It's a story about Apollo in the present day, ruining mortal lives in the way that only Greek gods can. The magic isn't really speculative; it's all taken at face value. 5400 words, R-rated for sex and language.

I've been sending it to SFnal markets--it's at Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet now--but I wonder if it might find a friendlier home at a more mainstream/literary market. Zoetrope? McSweeney's? Anybody know of any other likely suspects?

LaceWing · Mar 2, 2009

Maybe try GUD and Shimmer

BookStop · Mar 3, 2009

Have you run through Ralan listings to see if anything is a better fit?

Shweta · Mar 3, 2009

Pretty sure she has, and I know she's tried a number of different markets.

I like the idea of a thread for talking about odd places for odd pieces, but I think we'd need to assume the normal places are out. Maybe people should say where they've sent said pieces so commenters know?

Gray Rose · Mar 3, 2009

I think Redzilla may know. She knows lit markets very well. I'll try to lure her...

Red-Green · Mar 3, 2009

I'm lured, but I'm going to have to do a little research. There are a couple alt-history markets I know, one especially looking for pre-Christian stuff, but I'm not sure where they'll be on gods and "magic."

Gray Rose · Mar 3, 2009

Similar question.

I have a dark fantasy secondary world story about a mother and a disabled child. Poetic language. Was rejected by Clarkesworld and Chizine. I am hesitant to send it to Fantasy for many reasons, but if I do send it there they will reject it. Probably not right for Strange
Horizons. Where shall I send it next?

Red-Green · Mar 3, 2009

Okay, a suggestion for Sharon Mock first: Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I've got another one, but it's not coming to me.

Gray: Is this the story you sent me? If so, I'll have suggestions after I read it.

Gray Rose · Mar 3, 2009

Redzilla said:
Okay, a suggestion for Sharon Mock first: Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I've got another one, but it's not coming to me.

Gray: Is this the story you sent me? If so, I'll have suggestions after I read it.

BCS only takes secondary world fantasy, plus alt history. This is taking place in the present day, right Sharon?

Red: yes and thanks.

MumblingSage · Mar 3, 2009

Hmm...this might be the place to ask.

Dystopian, somewhat alternate history (the technology of the dystopia is a little behind the modern day but isn't explained much). It's character driven, about a marriage of convenience where the couple is trying to hide deviant sexual orientations. Obviously, LGBT, but I'm hesitant to send it somewhere like Expanded Horizons becuase it might seem too 'issue-oriented' for such a place. I'm trying to focus mostly on the character-drivenness, but the setting might be working against me. It's around 4800 words.

Gray Rose · Mar 3, 2009

MumblingSage said:
Hmm...this might be the place to ask.

Dystopian, somewhat alternate history (the technology of the dystopia is a little behind the modern day but isn't explained much). It's character driven, about a marriage of convenience where the couple is trying to hide deviant sexual orientations. Obviously, LGBT, but I'm hesitant to send it somewhere like Expanded Horizons becuase it might seem too 'issue-oriented' for such a place. I'm trying to focus mostly on the character-drivenness, but the setting might be working against me. It's around 4800 words.

For alternative history, try Tales of Moreauvia and Paradox.

Sharon Mock · Mar 4, 2009

So the squid story's been to Strange Horizons, F&SF, Fantasy Magazine, and two anthologies (Polyphony and Interfictions). I think I'm out of pro genre markets, given its length, sexual content, and general weird. It's at Lady Churchill's now; other possibilities on my mental list include Ideomancer, Sybil's Garage, perhaps Abyss and Apex, Coyote Wild, and (yes) GUD.

It's set in the present day so not Beyond Ceaseless Skies, which is a pity, because I'd like to have something to send them and right now I've got nothing. And I think of it as too explicit for Shimmer, but that might just be sampling error.

I'm terrified of submitting to McSweeney's--I have no idea what I'm doing, they will see me as a fraud--but this is probably silliness on my part.

Sharon Mock · Mar 4, 2009

MumblingSage said:
Hmm...this might be the place to ask.

Dystopian, somewhat alternate history (the technology of the dystopia is a little behind the modern day but isn't explained much). It's character driven, about a marriage of convenience where the couple is trying to hide deviant sexual orientations. Obviously, LGBT, but I'm hesitant to send it somewhere like Expanded Horizons becuase it might seem too 'issue-oriented' for such a place. I'm trying to focus mostly on the character-drivenness, but the setting might be working against me. It's around 4800 words.

Depending on the darkness of the story and the SFishness of the dystopia, maybe Apex Magazine?

Rose, I'm not ignoring you, I just don't have any suggestions yet.

Gray Rose · Mar 5, 2009

Sharon Mock said:
So the squid story's been to Strange Horizons, F&SF, Fantasy Magazine, and two anthologies (Polyphony and Interfictions). I think I'm out of pro genre markets, given its length, sexual content, and general weird. It's at Lady Churchill's now; other possibilities on my mental list include Ideomancer, Sybil's Garage, perhaps Abyss and Apex, Coyote Wild, and (yes) GUD.
...
I'm terrified of submitting to McSweeney's--I have no idea what I'm doing, they will see me as a fraud--but this is probably silliness on my part.

Sharon, why do you care about what they think at McSweeney's? What's the most horrible thing that can happen? You'll get a form rejection. I think you should definitely give them a try.

Sharon Mock said:
Rose, I'm not ignoring you, I just don't have any suggestions yet.

It got a "very very very close but not quite what we're looking for right now. Please send another?" from Fantasy. I feel pretty horrible right now.

Sharon Mock · Mar 5, 2009

Oh, bleh for the rejection. On the other hand--those are an awful lot of 'very's...

(digression for global benefit)

I have this theory. To get an acceptance, you have to send a) the right story to b) the right place at c) the right time.

The right story you have the most control over -- as much control as you have over your writing process. (Which, admittedly, is not always that much.)

The right place you have only imperfect control over. You can research markets, you can get a feel for what they like, but they are always likely to surprise you.

The right time is almost entirely out of your hands.

(end digression)

Sounds like you got the right story to the right place -- at the wrong time. Which is its own kind of frustration.

Ideomancer next, perhaps?

Gray Rose · Mar 5, 2009

Sharon - I think something might have been wrong with the story itself. I am going to give it another look-over.

Choosing between Shimmer and Ideomancer, where would you think I should send it first?

Sharon Mock · Mar 5, 2009

Ideomancer, definitely: they pay more.

Gray Rose · Mar 5, 2009

Err then I should maybe first send it to F&SF and SH? Or is it hopeless, you think?

MumblingSage · Mar 5, 2009

Gray Rose said:
Similar question.

I have a dark fantasy secondary world story about a mother and a disabled child. Poetic language. Was rejected by Clarkesworld and Chizine. I am hesitant to send it to Fantasy for many reasons, but if I do send it there they will reject it. Probably not right for Strange
Horizons. Where shall I send it next?

The Pedestal Magazine pays pro rates for fiction up to 6000 words, and to quote from their guidelines, "Genre fiction (such as science fiction, horror, mystery, and romance) is encouraged as long as it crosses or comments upon its genre and is both character-driven and psychologically acute. We are also interested in works that do not readily fall into one specific category."

Might be worth a shot.

Sharon Mock · Mar 5, 2009

Gray Rose said:
Err then I should maybe first send it to F&SF and SH? Or is it hopeless, you think?

Strange Horizons is worth a shot, especially given the rejection you got from Fantasy Magazine. The story's dark, yes, but I think you're using the dark in a way they might appreciate.

As for F&SF... I don't know. I almost always send stuff there first, because I'll get my rejection fast. On the other hand, talk about a market that's hard to crack.... Here's the question for you: if you submit it somewhere else and it gets accepted, will you wonder what might have happened if you'd sent it to F&SF?

And MumblingSage, I'm making a note of The Pedestal for myself.

MumblingSage · Apr 8, 2009

Kind of a bump to this thread, but I guess I'll also ask about this one:
I'd call it 'weird fiction,' because it seems to be in the tradition of Arthur Machen (who I was channeling semi-conciously by the end), only it's set in a secondary world: an officer at a military outpost in conquered territory find a forbidden book, reads it, and is seized by what amounts to be the setting's Fairy Folk. The real bugger is that the technology is about at a WWI, maybe even WWII level, which seems to rule out traditionally perceived fantasy and therefore several markets (like Beneath Ceaseless Skies) that I would normally consider. What sort of markets are there for mildly fantastic, secondary-world stories with near-modern technology levels?

Shweta · Apr 8, 2009

MumblingSage said:
The real bugger is that the technology is about at a WWI, maybe even WWII level, which seems to rule out traditionally perceived fantasy and therefore several markets (like Beneath Ceaseless Skies) that I would normally consider. What sort of markets are there for mildly fantastic, secondary-world stories with near-modern technology levels?

WWI or WWII tech still seems old enough to me to count as alt-history.

and as far as standard fantasy markets go, I suspect unusual alt-historical setting is a plus, and the minus is the "reading from a book unleashes magical nasties", which is a bit of a genre cliche.

DustyBooks · May 4, 2010

A WWI technology level might still count as steampunk, but I don't know where you could send that.

I think I've created a monster! It's not finished yet, but I have a short story that I've described to my friends as "seagoing P. G. Wodehouse." So, historical humor, British-style, involving the Royal Navy around 1800? Master and Commander meets Blandings Castle (with a touch of Monty Python, I suppose)? It'd be bad enough that it was historical without it being humor, and vice versa, but...it's both. And oddly enough given some of the ingredients, barely PG if that.

Sharon Mock · May 4, 2010

DustyBooks, if you are feeling both very brave and very patient, you might consider tor.com -- Patrick Nielsen Hayden has been known to like historical fantasy.

DustyBooks · May 5, 2010

It's not fantasy, though. Just extremely silly! Historical HUMOR. Or I hope it's humor.

Where might I submit this story?

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