Photo by Jean Marie Ward
Alex Shvartsman is a writer, anthologist, translator, and game designer. His adventures so far have included traveling to over 30 countries, playing a card game for a living, and building a successful business. Alex resides in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and son.
Since 2010, Alex sold over 100 short stories to a variety of magazines and anthologies. His fiction has appeared in Nature, Daily Science Fiction, InterGalactic Medicine Show, Galaxy’s Edge, and many others. Click here for the complete bibliography.
Alex won the WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction in 2014 and was a finalist for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction in 2015, and again in 2017.
Alex edits Unidentified Funny Objects — an annual anthology series of humorous science fiction and fantasy short stories. He’s also the editor of The Cackle of Cthulhu, Humanity 2.0, Coffee, Dark Expanse and Funny Science Fiction anthologies.
Hi. Thanks to Lavie Tidhar, I’ve preordered a copy of UFO.
As the founder of a small publishing company myself, I have a question for you: What are professional rates for science fiction stories these days? And — more importantly for my publishing plans — do you know what the rates are for reprints?
Thank you,
Larry Yudelson
Editorial Director
Ben Yehuda Press
larry@yudel.com
Dear Larry,
First of all, thank you very much for supporting our Kickstarter campaign and pre-ordering the book!
The current pro rates are 5c/word for original fiction (as defined by SFWA.org)
Although there are no “official” pro rates for reprints, pro markets that accept and publish reprints typically pay 1c/word.
There are lots of markets out there that pay less, as well. Anything at 1c+ for original short stories is considered “semi-pro.” Which is to say that there are still not a lot of money in our industry.
If you plan on publishing SF/F related material and have any questions, I’ll be happy to offer my advice and (limited) expertise, should you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Alex