Friday, January 04, 2013

Disappointing news

Yesterday I had some disappointing news about a story I'd had accepted. I'd like to explain the situation to those I'd mentioned the story to, and why it isn't being published.

In November, I had a story accepted into a token paying market called Eschatology Journal. The editor told me the story would run on December 5th, but when that day arrived he emailed me to say they were having technical difficulties.

No problem, I said, even though I had some suspicions. WordPress isn't that difficult to maintain.

I checked in again around December 20th, and received another vague, but placating response. In the next few days, three new stories were published, which didn't jive with what I'd been told about the technical issues. And then yesterday I received an email that the journal was closing its doors and my story was being released back to me.

You know, these things happen. I don't know the editor's situation, and in the long run, he probably did me a favor. But I'm still disappointed I won't be able to share this story yet. I'm disappointed by the way the editor chose to handle communications. I'm disappointed that I could have been submitting that story elsewhere in the two+ months he held onto the story.

To put it in perspective, I stood to make $12.45 on this publication. As far as I can tell, this is why my story was released back to me.

So that happened, and there's not much point in dwelling on it. Just wanted to let you know why that *other* story I'd mentioned didn't go up.

Let's leave this on a positive note. If you're looking for a token market that behaves professionally and communicates respectfully with its authors, I wholeheartedly recommend Mad Scientist Journal.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Note to all writers:
Super-low rates like $12.45 are a BIG indication that you're working for a publisher who doesn't have any money. Please don't be surprised when they close ... especially after "Another Publisher Closes" is the most frequently used headline in writer/publisher trade magazines these days.

Here's hoping that in 2013 you'll either submit your good work to publications that actually pay or, if not accepted there, that you'll self-publish rather than accept scraps for your creative work. You have a blog ... you could publish your story in serial form if you really want it to get out there. Or, you could publish it through Amazon. The things is, writers no longer need the permission of publishers to get published ... so use that advantage!