On the Road to Publication

In honor of JJL's Rapid Fire Learning series, here are a few things I learned about the speculative short fiction market this past month:

• Most responsive market for short speculative fiction: Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. This pulpy sci-fi/fantasy magazine is published in Australia in both print and electronic forms. The pay is only semi-pro at the moment, but the response time and feedback levels are fantastic. Writers can watch their stories' progress through the slush pile on the submission tracker, updated several times each week, and the slush process is explained in significant detail. Like most other reputable markets, ASIM buys stories up to 18 months in advance, so you won't get into print any sooner than you will with anyone else, but you will get that initial "no" or "maybe" sooner than with other magazines. And you'll have the added benefit of knowing just how far your story made it in the submission process.


• Worst reality check regarding the fiction market: even if my current submission at ASIM is published, I will get paid at most $80 and might not be in print for up to a year and a half. Breaking into the writing business is a slow process, and in the beginning the rewards are few and far between. Stories are often purchased over a year in advance, which makes for a whole lot of waiting before that first thrill of seeing your name in print, and the pay for novices ranges from mediocre to lousy. Books and royalties are the only way to make a living in the long run, and these also take up to two years to start paying off. If you want to be a career author, be prepared for a long road ahead.


• The good news for prospective authors: there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and a clear path to reach it. Short stories, as little as they pay financially for a relatively unpublished writer, build a writer's reputation and publishing credits, which in turn helps pave the way for that first novel. Getting published in a reputable magazine proves several things to an agent and/or book publisher: it proves that you can write, that you can put together a coherent story, that you can present yourself in a professional manner, that you can persevere through the grueling lag times inherent to the publishing industry, and that you are serious about being a career author. Despite the low pay and the long wait times, getting those short stories published will ultimately help you sell that first book, which will launch you into a career that will ultimately pay off in a respectable salary as long as you keep producing decent work.

Long story short, don't give up. Don't be discouraged by the time it takes to get where you want to go. If you keep at it, you will get there.

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Author EM Sky eschewed a career in law in favor of her literary habit. She writes in the speculative fiction genre, both fantasy and science fiction, and she conscientiously maintains the many fine employees of the Peachtree City Starbucks in the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.