[Community] Queer Sci Fi

If you're not one of the top three, but you're one of the 117 others, you're agreeing that you're giving them your story as a For-the-Love freebie. You've already given away your First Rights, and there's a one-year exclusivity, after which you can shop it to someone else as a paid reprint. But because some reprint markets don't like paying for things that are available for free elsewhere, they're giving you heads-up that they're reserving the right to leave it on the website for an additional two years, and then take it down.

So basically, it's a charity market, and the charity is themselves. If you're cool with sending them a story to support them, you send it in--- and if you happen to be one of the top three, that's just sprinkles on the sundae. But if it's not a charity that you want to give your work away in support of, there are plenty of other markets with similar subject matter that pay.

I wouldn't submit to this as most people aren't being paid and they're asking for rights on submission. That said, the one year exclusive is pretty usual for an anthology. The three year date is how long the anthology will be available, not the exclusive period.

The majority of anthologies I've been in did not have a time limit on how long they'd be on sale. The one that did was the one nobody read, because anthologies often take a few years to really get any traction. Unsurprisingly, the anthologies from the previous years of this contest have very few reviews and ratings. By the time people notice they exist, they're gone.

Ah, good catch. I had been interpreting "take down the work" as removing sample stories that are sometimes given away for free on websites to encourage you to buy the whole anthology, but yes, it sounds like it means that the anthology will only be in publication for three years, and it won't be resurrected.

I haven't been participating in other people's anthologies for very long--- but I don't think any of mine have gone out of print yet, and the oldest ones are going on five years now. I think it only costs me $12/year to keep a physical title alive through Lightning Source. So it's actually a little surprising that they only plan to keep their title alive for such a limited amount of time... especially since it seems to be ebook only.

I'm seeing that the submissions have a max of 300 words. Most small-market spec-fic calls-for-submission in that wordcount range are generally $5-$10, though some markets pay more. So there's a big difference between giving away 300 words vs giving away 15,000 words. But ultimately, it always comes down to a matter of "I'd like to participate" or "I prefer to pass." Whether it's not feeling the organization, not feeling the topic, not feeling the pay rate, not feeling the cover art, not feeling the terms and conditions... if you don't feel it, keep on shopping until you find a market that makes you want to play in their sandbox.

Seems reasonable to me, but not sure what the appeal is if you aren't a fan wanting to support the site. It's basically an in kind donation.