Fireside Fiction Company / Fireside Magazine

slhuang · Mar 16, 2015

When I searched, what I'm pretty sure is a different company came up, so I thought I'd start a new thread. Here's the website:

http://www.firesidefiction.com/

They seem to run successful Kickstarters and have a high advertised pay rate, and they have a call open for flash fiction right now.

(h/t to Little Ming for pointing them out to me)

eta: Chuck Wendig speaks highly of them here.

Filigree · Mar 17, 2015

This is the one I subbed to a month or so back. I'll let you know what happens.

Fiender · Jun 14, 2018

They will be open to submissions in August, according to their twitter: https://twitter.com/FiresideFiction/status/1007269992755355648
Has anyone had experience with these guys?

Woollybear · Jun 14, 2018

They had an open sub for short stories in April and i decided to not submit but asked general questions about it here:

https://absolutewrite.com/forums/sh...-in-Science-Fiction-Fantasy&highlight=torture

Here is a list of things that we do not want to see at Fireside:

Sensationalized or graphic depictions of rape or sexual assault.
Child molestation or brutalization of children.
Graphic brutalization of women, people of color, LGBTQIA people, disabled people, or any other marginalized people.
Graphic torture, or gruesome horror just for the sake of being gruesome.
Animal abuse.
Plagiarism (which is terrible and we hate) and fanfiction (which is often great, but not for this magazine)
Stories that promote fascism, racism, bigotry, and hate. We have an antifascist fiction club. We care about inclusivity and decolonization and acceptance and compassion. Obviously we don’t want to read things that promote bigotry and hate.

This is not saying stories cannot touch on, address, or talk about these issues. But we don’t want these acts illustrated in detail (or worse, glorified) in Fireside. If we see stories that cross these lines in ways that our staff find personally upsetting, we may choose not to consider further submissions from you. This is out of respect for our staff who work hard, and whose feelings we respect. If you worked for us, we wouldn’t want to make you read these things either!

I saw the call on twitter too, and I don't see the same guidelines explicitly stated for the novella and novel sub. OTOH, I doubt their philosophy is wildly different now than it was two months ago, so I would bet (don't know) that there is some of the same sensibility, perhaps ... FWIW.

That's my experience, Fiender. I'm thinking of submitting.

Woollybear · Jun 14, 2018

I see that you can read excerpts from some of their past books at their link.

I'll definitely submit.

Rysanthemums · Jul 1, 2018

I've submitted short stories to them once or twice before, though I wasn't a good fit for them.

Filigree · Jul 1, 2018

Same here. A good market. I just can't seem to write for it.

mrsmig · Oct 10, 2019

Red flags are flying over at Fireside. Apparently they've reneged on some contracts, angered some authors and attracted the attention of the publishing watchdog community.

From publisher Pablo Defendini.

Writer Beware's Twitter response, with a link to one of the wronged author's Twitter stream.

Don't believe I'll be submitting there anytime soon.

NinjaFingers · Oct 10, 2019

They also sent out hold requests to everyone who submitted short fiction in their last (very short) open reading period. I wasn't able to submit because I was out of the country and am now somewhat glad of the fact.

The claimed reason is because they're behind on reading slush, but they used their shortlist form to tell people...instead of spending a couple of minutes writing one which says "We're behind, be patient."

I'm seeing the kind of patterns that come before a publisher declares bankruptcy here.

Filigree · Oct 10, 2019

Not a good sign. Time to be very careful about submitting there, until the publisher either straightens up or implodes.

Corvid · Oct 10, 2019

NinjaFingers said:
They also sent out hold requests to everyone who submitted short fiction in their last (very short) open reading period. I wasn't able to submit because I was out of the country and am now somewhat glad of the fact.

The claimed reason is because they're behind on reading slush, but they used their shortlist form to tell people...instead of spending a couple of minutes writing one which says "We're behind, be patient."

I'm seeing the kind of patterns that come before a publisher declares bankruptcy here.

Are you serious?! My brother got this form and he was really excited! I told him it sounded like they were considering his story. So you're seriously telling me they sent this out to everyone? Why in god's green earth didn't they just send a mass email saying they were behind?

shadowsminder · Oct 10, 2019

Corvid, I also received the form notice for the last submission. It must have gone out to all of us, because no one has reported a rejection for that period.

The mishanding of the book contracts is making the unexplained wait especially uncomfortable. An acceptance isn't going to feel good if Fireside doesn't figure out how to show its more trustworthy than it's been acting.

Thedrellum · Oct 12, 2019

I received that form, too. A Facebook submission group I belong to had a thread start with someone very excited, and then a number of people joined to say they'd received the form as well. The excitement was quickly tempered.

slhuang · Oct 29, 2019

Writer Beware post on Fireside:

https://accrispin.blogspot.com/2019/10/fireside-press-cancels-multiple.html

E.F.B. · Jun 17, 2020

Any updated news/thoughts on Fireside, specifically the magazine? I just saw their current call for flash fic and short stories, which ends in 2 days, but after reading this thread I'm hesitant to try it.

Goshawk31 · Jun 17, 2020

Very interesting thread as I'm thinking of submitting to them. Does anyone have a read on their current reputation?

E.F.B. · Aug 25, 2020

I'd forgotten I looked at this thread before and was looking at Fireside again and found this in their contract: (As of the date of this posting, the webpage currently says, "This boilerplate was last updated on March 20, 2019.")

On occasion or for special events, Fireside may wish to promote Author, the Story and Fireside Magazine. In that event and provided that Fireside informs Author with reasonable notice, Author will cooperate in good faith with Fireside in promoting Author, the Story and Fireside Magazine by participating in promotional activities such as, but not only, writing blog posts, appearing on podcasts, granting interviews and making appearances at events.

Am I totally misunderstanding, or does that sound like, if they decide they want you to do any of the above, you're expected to do it as long as they tell you you're doing it within a reasonable amount of time? That seems to my (very) limited experience and knowledge like an odd expectation for a short story/flash fic publisher to have, not to mention I've seen nothing like this in other ezine's contracts that were available to read before submission.

Fireside Fiction Company / Fireside Magazine

slhuang

Inappropriately math-oriented.

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

Fiender

Woollybear

Woollybear

Rysanthemums

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

NinjaFingers

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

Corvid

~

shadowsminder

writing in the shadows

Thedrellum

Grr. Argh.

slhuang

Inappropriately math-oriented.

E.F.B.

Stories, stories everywhere

Goshawk31

E.F.B.

Stories, stories everywhere