Rejectomancy

[alexshvartsman]

Do any of you actually know what the pay rates for Washington Pastime are? It's not made clear anywhere on their site or Duotrope, and because of this I've only been submitting reprints to them.

[mhaynes]

Rs today from Daily Science Fiction & Journal of Compressed Creative Arts (ultra-fast on that one as someone else mentioned recently).

Good news is that I've hit a new high in number of pieces out for submission.

[defcon6000]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

Do any of you actually know what the pay rates for Washington Pastime are? It's not made clear anywhere on their site or Duotrope, and because of this I've only been submitting reprints to them.

On their site, it says:

Pay Rate: Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment (5 US cents per word) for fiction. Payment will be made through The Washington Pastime PAYPAL account, with no exceptions.

I'm assuming it depends on what you send. If it's unpublished, then you probably get the pro-rate. If a reprint, token payment. But yeah, they should make it clearer.

[Izz]

Originally Posted by defcon6000

On their site, it says:

Pay Rate: Pay ranges from Token payment to Professional payment (5 US cents per word) for fiction. Payment will be made through The Washington Pastime PAYPAL account, with no exceptions.

I'm assuming it depends on what you send. If it's unpublished, then you probably get the pro-rate. If a reprint, token payment. But yeah, they should make it clearer.

That basically means they can offer what they want.

ETA: Gah! Hit post too quick.

It could be that they reserve pro payment for writers they solicit fiction from. Or it might mean they pay on what they feel the merit of the piece is. Or it could mean something else entirely.

[defcon6000]

Originally Posted by Izz

That basically means they can offer what they want.

ETA: Gah! Hit post too quick.

It could be that they reserve pro payment for writers they solicit fiction from. Or it might mean they pay on what they feel the merit of the piece is. Or it could mean something else entirely.

Really? That kinda...sucks. : /

I wonder if anyone around here has been published by them would be able to shed some light on this.

[Izz]

Originally Posted by defcon6000

Really? That kinda...sucks. : /

I'm not saying that's what they do (though it kinda sounded that way, didn't it?). They might have a typical price per word they pay. But the lack of clarity means it gets confusing.

I know they're not a lit mag, but a lot of lit mags don't state upfront what they pay.

I wonder if anyone around here has been published by them would be able to shed some light on this.

We'd need a case study of at least five, the not-very-good statistician in me thinks.

[defcon6000]

Originally Posted by Izz

I'm not saying that's what they do (though it kinda sounded that way, didn't it?). They might have a typical price per word they pay. But the lack of clarity means it gets confusing.

I understood what you meant. But if it's true (and it may very well be false) that they pay what they want, well... that would suck.

We'd need a case study of at least five, the not-very-good statistician in me thinks.

A dozen or so would be best.

[katsincommand]

I'm dizzy... I've had 9 rejections in the past 16 days, one of which included a note that they'd like to see if again if I rewrite it. Nice feedback, but I really need my other subs to stay out for a little while so I can use my writing time to um.. you know, write?

[Pemako]

Originally Posted by katsincommand

I'm dizzy... I've had 9 rejections in the past 16 days, one of which included a note that they'd like to see if again if I rewrite it. Nice feedback, but I really need my other subs to stay out for a little while so I can use my writing time to um.. you know, write?

Sorry about the Rs! Yeah, I was thinking about this last night.. Got an R, reread the story, then of course needed to do some tweaking, then needed to reformat everything again, and write a new cover letter - so, whew, took an hour or two to send it out again. Would like to have crickets for a while, but I'm sure I'm going to get at least one R tomorrow. Oh well.

Good luck with the rewrite (if you do it)!

[alexshvartsman]

Originally Posted by defcon6000

I understood what you meant. But if it's true (and it may very well be false) that they pay what they want, well... that would suck.

This is precisely why I'm holding off on subbing unpublished stories to those guys. I don't want to get an acceptance and $5.

[alexshvartsman]

I got my first official rejection of 2012! (As in, for a story submitted in 2012). Goldfish Grimm rejected "Those Who Can't Do" in 24 hours. I figured they might have enjoyed a story that had a bit about a goldfish in it, but they didn't enjoy it enough to buy.

Rummaging through my stories for something else to ship their way. I love 24-hour response times!

[Lillie]

((((((Alex))))))

Quick turnaround, though.

[katsincommand]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

I got my first official rejection of 2012! (As in, for a story submitted in 2012). Goldfish Grimm rejected "Those Who Can't Do" in 24 hours. I figured they might have enjoyed a story that had a bit about a goldfish in it, but they didn't enjoy it enough to buy.

Rummaging through my stories for something else to ship their way. I love 24-hour response times!

Goldfish. heh. love it.

[mhaynes]

The downside of having a lot of stories out there floating around...

6 Rs in the last 48 hours. Oof.

[alexshvartsman]

Gah, sorry Michael. Shake it off!

Any word from Stupefying?

[Project Deadlight]

I know that feeling Michael. Chin up everyone... Just remember, every rejection makes the next acceptance that bit sweeter. Or something...

[mhaynes]

Thanks, Alex and Deadlight. I knew that when the dam burst it wasn't going to be pretty. Going to spend some time this morning getting stories back out to markets.

Alex, no word yet from Stupefying.

[bdwilson]

My first R for 2012 came in from Cezanne’s Carrot yesterday.

But I had my last outstanding piece for 2011 accepted at Liquid Imagination the day before, so my week has balanced out

[alexshvartsman]

Originally Posted by bdwilson

My first R for 2012 came in from Cezanne’s Carrot yesterday.

But I had my last outstanding piece for 2011 accepted at Liquid Imagination the day before, so my week has balanced out

Congratulations on the sale! But take it to the Braggage thread, you're diluting our misery Seriously though, well done.

[bdwilson]

Originally Posted by alexshvartsman

But take it to the Braggage thread, you're diluting our misery

*LOL* Yeah, wasn't sure if dilution was acceptable. I'll keep it in mind for the future

[mhaynes]

Originally Posted by mhaynes

Going to spend some time this morning getting stories back out to markets.

So, I did this. I got everything I have in submission-ready shape back out the door. Even printed out the hardcopy submission for this month's AHMM contest.

And I got to spend, oh, maybe half an hour in this blissful state of having everything on sub...

Before another R came in the door!

Sometimes you've just got to...

[Lillie]

(((((Michael)))))

That's harsh!

[bdwilson]

Originally Posted by mhaynes

So, I did this. I got everything I have in submission-ready shape back out the door. Even printed out the hardcopy submission for this month's AHMM contest.

And I got to spend, oh, maybe half an hour in this blissful state of having everything on sub...

Before another R came in the door!

Sometimes you've just got to...

Ouch on the timing

[mhaynes]

Originally Posted by Lillie

That's harsh!

Indeed.

Fortunately, I knew right where I was going to send that particular piece next so it was in and out the door lickety-split.

Still... The timing.

[GCU_Dramatic Exit]

it's like the editors are conspiring against us, just waiting for the perfect time to send out rejections