• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

Clarkesworld Magazine / Wyrm Publishing

Monomaniac

(o)
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 23, 2009
Messages
80
Reaction score
3
Anyone have any experiences with this magazine?

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/


10 cents a word sure beats Asimov's, Analog, and Fantasy & Science Fiction, and they have an electronic submission system.
 
Last edited:

Ineti

Purveyor of Prose
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Messages
429
Reaction score
26
Location
VA
Pretty good magazine. Quick turnaround for rejections. With just a couple stories published a month, they're very selective. I met Neil Clarke at Capclave a couple years ago and he was nice talking to and listening to on panels.
 

Mr. Anonymous

Just a guy with a pen & a delusion
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2008
Messages
2,781
Reaction score
668
I believe of the two stories they publish per month, one is from an established writer.
 

FOTSGreg

Today is your last day.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 5, 2007
Messages
7,760
Reaction score
947
Location
A land where FTL travel is possible and horrible t
Website
Www.fire-on-the-suns.com
Oh My God! That crap won a 2009 Nebula? It's virtually pornography with a little SF thrown on for icing. It's barely concealed bestiality (actually, I believe the definition would be miscegenation, but there's little indication the thing she's screwing is even sentient so bestiality might be appropriate).

There's hardly even a story in there anywhere that I could see.

Dear God, what a hash the Nebula has turned into. What trash.

Bob Heinlein must be spinning in his grave right now (among others).
 

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 26, 2005
Messages
23,708
Reaction score
10,657
Location
In a world of my own making
Website
shadowferret.wordpress.com
Oh My God! That crap won a 2009 Nebula? It's virtually pornography with a little SF thrown on for icing. It's barely concealed bestiality (actually, I believe the definition would be miscegenation, but there's little indication the thing she's screwing is even sentient so bestiality might be appropriate).

There's hardly even a story in there anywhere that I could see.

Dear God, what a hash the Nebula has turned into. What trash.

Bob Heinlein must be spinning in his grave right now (among others).

Yeah, that one surprised me. I read it back before the Nebula's streamed live online a few months back.

Stories like that piss me off. Those are the ones that I look at and think mine are at least that good and yet, here that gets nominated for a Nebula and I can't get past the slush pile.
 

FOTSGreg

Today is your last day.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 5, 2007
Messages
7,760
Reaction score
947
Location
A land where FTL travel is possible and horrible t
Website
Www.fire-on-the-suns.com
Shadow Ferret, it just goes to show that the people who are voting for the Nebula wouldn't know good SF or fantasy from their own ass if you gave 'em directions and a roadmap.

They like porn. They like stories in which nothing much happens (unless somebody comes or dues in misery or gazes at their own navel for extended periods of time).

What they don't like is story and good writing.

Dr. Clarke is having apoplexy right now regarding that comp,tee piece of garbage published by a magazine that bears his name and ostensibly bears his legacy.
 

Monomaniac

(o)
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 23, 2009
Messages
80
Reaction score
3
Dr. Clarke is having apoplexy right now regarding that comp,tee piece of garbage published by a magazine that bears his name and ostensibly bears his legacy.

I do not believe the magazine is named for Arthur C. Clarke. "Clarke" is the last name of the Owner and Editor, Neil Clarke.
 
Last edited:

Mr. Anonymous

Just a guy with a pen & a delusion
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2008
Messages
2,781
Reaction score
668
I certainly recognize the gut-reaction of "why is such and such published and my story isn't," and this really isn't the place to start a discussion on the topic, but let's not get too snotty here.

This piece was published, because it impressed a number of readers at Clarkesworld, including Neil Clarke, and was put up for the nebula and the Hugo, because it managed to impress a lot of people besides. It may not be your cup of tea, but let's not get insulting.

Personally, I found the story unique, provocative, and very well written (not a fan of the ending, but whatever.) I can easily see how, if you're reading hundreds of submissions every month this story would stick out from all the rest. And for the record, it is certainly not pornography. I'm not a specialist on the subject, granted, but I'm pretty sure, aliens aside, porn is written VERY differently from what we see here (and of course, with very different intentions.) Sex (if you want to call it sex) does not equal pornography.

I don't mean to get preachy, but I'll just throw this out there. This is something that's not easy to do, and it took me a while to learn to do this myself, and even so, I can't do it all the time. Still, try to, instead of looking at a piece of writing and thinking "I could do better," ask yourself, "What could I learn from this writer, this story? What does he/she manage to do well?" Because if you honestly believe that a writer does nothing well, that a story accomplishes nothing, then IMO you're not looking hard enough!
 
Last edited:

Monomaniac

(o)
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 23, 2009
Messages
80
Reaction score
3
I personally liked it and I think the reason it won is because the imagery is unforgettable.
 

Port Iris

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2009
Messages
67
Reaction score
7
Location
South Carolina
Website
www.portiris.com
Mr. Anonymous, well stated.

As to the topic of the thread. I've had no personal experience with this magazine yet aside from chatting with Neil Clarke on twitter. However, I've been reading it for some time now, and I'll be submitting to it once I have something that I think fits.
 

Monomaniac

(o)
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 23, 2009
Messages
80
Reaction score
3
Well, my first submission to Clarkesworld is in the hopper and awaits judgment. I must say that the electronic submission is simultaneously awesome and evil. It actually displays where you are in line. This has made me extremely obsessive compulsive about checking my place in line. I started at 106 and day by day have been moving closer and closer to my stories fate. I just hope that they can't see how many times I've checked on the status because it would probably be quite embarrassing. Right now I'm number 15 in line and my finger hurts. Refresh, refresh, refresh...

On a side note: "Spar" is even better when hearing it read to you by the lovely voice of Kate Baker.

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/audio_10_09/
 

defyalllogic

i'm a girl. (i have tendonitis)
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Messages
1,431
Reaction score
135
Location
Massachusetts
i like that they don JUST publish science fiction (and fantasy?). there's an element of weirdness and futurism and "you can't do that", the kind of would your really won't find just anywhere.

I really hope that they don't face the same struggles that many magazines face (going under because people prefer free rather than carefully crafted niche and don't think an organized tomb is worth paying for.) <-not a gripe
 

Jamiekswriter

USA Today Bestselling Author
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Messages
1,227
Reaction score
152
Website
www.jkschmidt.com
Good luck Monomaniac! I've submitted several stories to them. All rejections, but I really like knowing that the story isn't in some cyber void. I also like the "waiting in line" aspect of their review process.

Kij's story (the one that won the HUGO) IMHO was OK.
I loved her novel "Fox Woman" and I had the pleasure of being in a workshop she ran on writing at GenCon a few years back.

I thought the ending of the short story was too simple and I wanted to see what the alien was/the reason the alien was doing what it was doing -- if it even was intercourse. I think what made it ping for the voters was the imagery and that it was so different than most stories out there.
 

michael_b

So many ideas, never enough time.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
705
Reaction score
54
Location
Colorado, or Anime Tokyo, take your pick
Website
www.michaelbarnette.com
Kij's story (the one that won the HUGO) IMHO was OK.

I loved her novel "Fox Woman" and I had the pleasure of being in a workshop she ran on writing at GenCon a few years back.

I thought the ending of the short story was too simple and I wanted to see what the alien was/the reason the alien was doing what it was doing -- if it even was intercourse. I think what made it ping for the voters was the imagery and that it was so different than most stories out there.

I don't know why everyone was so up in arms over the 'tentacle sex' since it's been a steady feature of many hentai anime (Japanese porn anime) for decades. I didn't see that it deserved a Hugo. To me it was same ol' same ol', ie. not that original.
 
Last edited:

DeskBoundTeaDrinker

Friendly to small woodland creatures
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
585
Reaction score
82
Location
In ur tea bag, sniffin ur leaves
Website
artfullawyer.blogspot.com
I don't know why everyone was so up in arms over the 'tentacle sex' since it's been a steady feature of many hentai anime (Japanese porn anime) for decades. I didn't see that it deserved a Hugo. To me it was same ol' same ol', ie. not that original.


Tentacle sex is old news, at least to me, and I live in the 'burbs and work in an office (so I can't even imagine how la-di-dah it is to the truly cutting-edge).
 

defyalllogic

i'm a girl. (i have tendonitis)
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Messages
1,431
Reaction score
135
Location
Massachusetts
has anyone else been in their slush for much longer than usual (usual for them is about a week or less)?
 

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
19,527
Reaction score
22,757
Location
Aotearoa
Does anyone know if they take non-fic subs? I wasn't able to figure it out from their guidelines.
 

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
19,527
Reaction score
22,757
Location
Aotearoa
Thanks! I don't know how I managed to miss that ::hangs head in shame::
 

chekzchevov

soup
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
165
Reaction score
9
Location
Princeton
Wyrm Publishing

Does anyone know about this publisher, like what kind of sales they have or if they're even worth submitting to? I recently submitted a short story to Clarkes World Magazine, which I think is owned by Wyrm or vice versa, and they do pretty well for themselves.

Just wondering if anyone had any info on them, considering I couldn't find a thread about them.