Mysterion is kickstarting their second volume. The first volume was very good, and not what you might expect from a Christian-themed SFF anthology; my review is at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1742617394.
I don’t have anything to submit at the moment, but they’re not open yet, and something may yet come to me. If it does, I’ll be in good company.
Got confirmation this morning of my fifth pro short story sale, to Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores. My story “Conspiracy in Theory and Practice,” about two disparate psychic investigators looking into a mysterious sighting in a rural area, will appear by the end of this month.
This is my second sale to them. They have a paywall, but $12 gets you permanent access to a year of stories, which isn’t a bad deal.
I’ve been working mainly on novels for a while now, so the 700-word flash piece I wrote this morning was the first short story this year.
What I like about flash is that the whole story can come to you in, well, a flash, almost; that you can figure out the whole thing when you’re just about to fall asleep, which is what I did last night.
It’s called “Change the World,” but, in keeping with the 700-word length, the scope of the change is quite narrow.
This was my first semiprofessional sale, but the anthology I sold it to is no longer available, so I thought I’d put it up on my website.
It’s a mashup of Damon Runyon; detective noir; and sword and sorcery, three odd tastes that go oddly together. What originally sparked it off was reading (or partly reading, because I got bored and didn’t finish) a book about a dwarf noir detective that lacked the compelling voice of noir and instead plodded along in the manner of poorly-written epic fantasy. I thought, “I can do better than that!” and… well, this is the result.
I’ve since read Ari Marmell’s much better noir fae detective books. This story probably wouldn’t have existed if I’d read them first, because he does it right.
http://csidemedia.com/shortstories/axe-stone-dwarf-detective/
David Farland is a Writers of the Future judge.
(Advisory: small, fixed-size font on this website.)
Originally shared by David Farland
https://mystorydoctor.com/ten-reasons-why-ill-quickly-reject-your-story/
After some publication delays, my first professional sale, “Taking Pro,” is out in this anthology.
What happens when scientists who’ve taken their own pro-sociality treatment encounter a senator who’s only out for his own benefit?
The latest edition of Compelling Science Fiction features my story “Aspiration Value”. It’s near-future SF, sparked off by a YouTube lecture I saw from a futurist and entrepreneur where he suggested, in passing, that in future people might make money by having affiliate links visible to passers-by who could use them to buy the clothes they were wearing.
Anyone who’s ever tried to make money online (including by indie publishing) knows it’s not easy. So that’s where I started.
http://compellingsciencefiction.com/stories/aspirationvalue.html
Dammit, brain, I do not need an idea for another series, however good. I need an idea for a hilarious short story that I can finally sell to Unidentified Funny Objects.
Get on that, will you?
Want to write in a shared world for pro rates?
Originally shared by As If
Call For Contributors: Science-Fiction Anthology
As If Productions is currently seeking short story writers for a science-fiction/near-future anthology entitled “UbiquiCity”. All stories take place within a “Smart City” of the first world 100 years in the future, where ubiquitous computing has become commonplace. The project will be releasing both an anthology and a sourcebook for RPGs, based on the anthology material. Roleplaying or GMing experience is preferred, but not essential.
Details:
* This is a guided collaborative project. Authors will be working in a curated setting, using characters and plots of their own devising. Guided by this document and the project curator, authors will be encouraged to intertwine their contributions in interesting and logical ways.
* There will be three online meetings, to be held in the first week of Feb, Mar and Apr, respectively. Additional meetings may be called, either for the whole group or just for particular writers whose content interacts, depending on circumstances. Notes will be made available for anyone missing a meeting.
* Final deadline for stories will be Apr 15.
* I’ll be looking for around 5,000 words, on average.
* Expected Publication: Winter 2017.
* Terms: Seeking first world rights in English and exclusive right to publish in print and electronic format for six months after publication date, after which I retain nonexclusive right to continue to publish for the life of the anthology. In addition your characters will be statted for the sourcebook, which is (to that extent) a derivative work.
* Compensation: A paperback copy of the anthology and either $0.06/word on acceptance OR a perpetual share of revenue (based on price received) pro-rated by pagecount.
* Interested? Send a query and backgrounder to everyone@asifproductions.com and use “UbiquiCity” in the subject line. Writing samples may be linked or attached; science fiction preferred.
* Query deadline is 28 Jan 2017
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Looking forward to reading your work!
About the Anthologist: Tod Foley is the founder of As If Productions, specialists in interactive development and game design. He’s the creator of the “DayTrippers” RPG line (a surreal science-fiction reality-hopping RPG), and designer/writer of “Other Borders” (a narrativist game based on Robin Laws’ “DramaSystem”), “Watch the World Die” (a collaborative apocalypse-generation game), “CyberSpace” (an old-school cyberpunk RPG), as well as several roleplaying games and adventure modules for Iron Crown Enterprises. His website is http://asifproductions.com
Just sold a short story to Compelling Science Fiction for their March issue. That’s my fourth pro sale, and my first this year.
For context, I’ve had 144 rejections in five years, including six for this story.