--where oh where to go-- ||| home ... support/link to xenith ... about xenith ... press info ||| message boards ||| current issue ||| editorials ||| acropolis ... out-of-xenith ... great graffiti wall ... endlessly fascinating links ... photo gallery ||| guided by voices ||| headquarters ... submission guidelines ... wordplay ... between the lines ... serial stories ... shakespearean quotes ||| the fall of areithos ||| mediastore ... books ... reference ... music ... reader's choice ||| words work network ||| guestbook: sign it ||| guestbook: read it

xenith >> headquarters >> wordplay >> the art of getting published I

the art of getting published, part I by Kelly Joi Phelan I subtitled this column "The Art of Getting Published" because getting published is, in fact, an art. Nothing has brought on more anxiety and discouragement to writers than the stresses of trying to become a published author.         Let me point a few things out: Getting published has nothing to do with raw writing talent. You could be an incredibly gifted writer who can write the most beautiful prose in the world and still be rejected because Publishing is first and foremost a business. And like any other business, they’re in it to make a profit. Editors look for material they think will make money, and if they believe someone else’s poorly written story will make more money than your story with beautiful prose, guess which one they’ll buy? Editors are paid to know what the public likes, because if the public likes a certain kind of book or magazine, more copies are sold resulting in more profits for the publisher. (And the poor editor who doesn’t give the public what it wants soon finds herself out of a job.) Therefore, the trick to getting published is to give the editors what they want: a public-pleasing piece of writing that will sell!         This is actually not as hard as it sounds. There are several magazines out there with several different focuses from sci-fi to horror to fantasy and everything in between. My main goal for this column is to get you, my devoted Xenith readers, out into the mainstream and published. Editors prefer writers that are more well-known -- writers that people already know and love. But yet, one of the greatest fears in the publishing world is that an undiscovered writer with vast potential has been overlooked, so many magazines are actually quite eager to discover new talent. I have included the addresses of these kind of magazines (and yes, they all pay for contributions). This first address is for very new writers. It’s called Merlyn’s Pen and I’m sure many of you have heard of it before. Merlyn’s Pen publishes writing only of 6-12 graders. Web address: http://www.merlynspen.com Rates: Poems above 50 edited lines: $20; below 50 lines: $10. Fiction/nonfiction up to 1000 edited words: $10, over 1000 words: $25, over 3000 words: $50, over 5000 words: $125. Response time: 8-10 weeks. Requirements: All submissions need to have the official cover sheet which is available for download at their website or you can write to them and request one (be sure to enclose a SASE). Merlyn’s Pen Submissions P.O. Box 910 East Greenwich, RI 02818-0910 Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine is one of the most respected magazines in the speculative fiction industry (they receive over 800 submissions a month). They accept sci-fi, fantasy, and dark fantasy. Web address: http://www.asimovs.com Rates: 5-8 cents a word. Response time: 105 days (on average). Requirements: Up to 20,000 words. "Character oriented, literate, thoughtful stories," according to The Market List. Gardner Dozois, Editor 1270 Avenue of the Americas 10th Floor New York, NY 10020 Interzone is the acclaimed British magazine known for its unique and innovative stories. Rates: L30 to L35 per 1000 words. Response time: 75 days (on average). Requirements: 2,000 to 6,000 words. Interzone David Pringle, Editor 217 Preston Drive Brighton, BN1 6FL UK Indigenous Fiction is a magazine that publishes poetry and all types of fiction. Rates: "$5 for poems and short-shorts; $10-$20 + contributor's copy for fiction between 2000-8000 words," according to Inkspot. Response time: Less than 1 month (usually 1 week). Requirements: 2000-8000 words. Indigenous Fiction P.O. Box 2078 Redmond, WA 98073-2078         Publishers generally like writers to send their work typed on one side of the paper and double-spaced. Be sure to enclose a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with each submission, because editors will throw out a story without reading it if there’s no SASE. I highly recommend visiting websites when available to learn about a certain magazine’s requirements. Good luck, everyone!

YOUR E-MAIL:

Chief Blackbear's Literary-Banner-Exchange