Anthology Update – Our Reading Process

June 17, 2012

This is what happens to stories that are submitted for publication in Unidentified Funny Objects.

Round 1

I open all incoming mail and read the submissions first. At this stage I’m looking at a couple of things:

* Is the story well-written?

So far almost every submission I received clears this benchmark with ease. Then again, that’s because submissions have been open to SFWA and Codex members and you don’t get to join those without a considerable amount of skill. I’m also OK with some minor problems/issues that we can fix in editing.  You will never get rejected because of a typo or because of 1-2 awkward sentences. Of course, if the manuscript is riddled with both, that’s another story.

* Is there a coherent story arc and a good ending?

This is where many of the submissions fail for me. In some cases (often in flash stories) they’re a delivery system for a joke or a clever idea the author had. In other cases the setup is great and the story is interesting, but it peters out in the end. Endings are *hard* to do well and it’s disappointing to see a story which shows a lot of potential early fail to live up to that potential on the last page.

* Is the story funny?

In order to be considered for UFO, the story has to be humor, and not merely lighthearted. To paraphrase a comment one of the associate editors made on a recent submission: “A story with a bit of character-based humor isn’t a ‘humorous story’ no matter how much you want five cents per word.” A large percentage of submissions are rejected because, while they’re good, competently written stories, they aren’t particularly funny.

“But Alex,” you might say, “everyone’s sense of humor is different. What if it isn’t funny to you but hilarious to lots of other people?”

Or, to quote the submission guidelines from Daily Science Fiction, one of my favorite SF ‘zines: “one alien’s funny bone is located near another species’ sac of indifference.”

I’ve tried to solve this problem by utilizing a panel of readers.

Which brings us to:

 

Round 2

Stories that I like enough to consider publishable (including some that I don’t find very funny but suspect others might) are advanced into the second round of consideration.

I strip all author information from the document and pass them along, anonymously, to a panel of readers. Why, you ask? I want stories from unpublished authors to be given the same consideration as those from Nebula nominees. In fact, several submissions from actual Nebula nominees met an ignoble end in the second round thus far.

Each associate editor reads the story and sends me their vote and their comments. They can vote “No,” ‘Yes,” or “Maybe.” The “Maybe” vote is reserved for those stories where the reader thinks it might be good but its sense of humor doesn’t align with their own, or stories that someone is genuinely on the fence about. You’d be surprised at how often the “Maybe” vote is used.

Readers are encouraged (but not required) to provide a few sentences of comments on the submission, especially if their vote is a no.  If the story is rejected in the second round I provide some of that feedback to the author, so they may consider it (or not) for making possible changes before they send their story on to the next market.

So far we’ve kept stories in round 2 anywhere between two days and eight days. Everything is read quickly, but some are more difficult decisions than others. Occasionally there’s quite a lot of back and forth between us on a particular story. One of us might champion a specific submission that others didn’t like as much, and vise versa.

 

Round 3

Stories with a high percentage of “Yes” votes (and not a single one has been unanimous yet) are advanced into the third round of consideration and I e-mail the author a ‘Hold Request’ — asking permission to sit on their story until early September. At that time the remaining slots in the table of contents will be filled with these stories.

Why make people wait so long? Suppose an author submitted a good, funny story about time traveling to the 1950’s. The story advanced through the rounds and was held. But then, another author submitted a story that is absolutely brilliant, and it also happens to be a 1950’s time travel piece. We’re very unlikely to publish two similar stories, and so the former one has to be released.

Other considerations such as available space and variety (I want a mix of genres and styles) also come into play.

Not every story has to wait until September. On very few occasions the story is so amazing that I *know* I want to include it, no matter what.  These stories get accepted early and we begin work on the copy-editing and contract process.  Several acceptances have been sent out, and I hope to begin announcing them as early as this coming week

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Anthology Update – June 11

June 12, 2012

I enjoy writing humor. Many of my stories are the kind of fluffy, light fare that doesn’t take itself too seriously. And I run out of markets to submit them to all too quickly.

“There aren’t enough humor markets” is the complaint commonly heard at conventions, on writing forums, and any other place where two or more writers happen to be at the time. There are great magazines that accept humorous stories, but when you compare their number to those looking to publish dark fantasy or horror, it isn’t close. I’ve grumbled about this enough times myself, until I realized that I can actually do something about it. And thus, an anthology of humor SF/F was born.

One of my goals in setting up this project was to avoid some of the frustrating issues that plague many of the fledgling markets. To that end, I’m doing the following:

* Full disclosure. My credentials, staff list, rights sought and all other details are spelled out in the submissions guidelines.  I will post regular updates here and on my Twitter account (@AShvartsman)

* High quality cover, professional typesetting and copy-editing. I want the final product to look as good as anything released by one of the big New York publishers.

* Treat the writers right. I’m paying $0.05 per word, and I’m paying it on acceptance so the authors don’t have to wait until winter to get their money.  I’ll strive to respond to submissions and queries quickly and keep authors abreast of what’s going on with their stories as they advance — or don’t — through three rounds of consideration (explained in the guidelines). Each contributor will get both an e-copy and a physical printed copy of the book upon release.

Thank you for the many awesome title suggestions. Ultimately I went with “Unidentified Funny Objects,” courtesy of Nathaniel Lee.  Things have been progressing nicely. Submission guidelines are posted and I’m getting ready to read your stories. In fact, I’ve been reading submissions already. I reached out to a number of excellent authors directly asking them to submit something. I also opened submissions early to members of SFWA and Codex Writers and have been reading furiously for over a week.

Sending out rejections is the worst part of the job. Having to reject friends, colleagues, people with whom I’ve been commiserating about other markets’ rejections and response times is especially brutal. But I’ve been doing it. So far I managed to get back to almost everyone within 24 hours with either a rejection or a note advancing their story to the second round. I also managed to provide at least some feedback with most rejections — a luxury I may not be able to afford once the general submissions open and the volume increases exponentially. But it’s all been worth it because of the stories I’m not rejecting.

There are several stories that I like a lot and am strongly considering for inclusion. I asked those authors for permission to hold on to their stories until the end of the submission period, to see if I can fit them into the Table of Contents.

There are also a couple of stories I absolutely loved and know I want to buy, right away. I’ll be sending those authors acceptance letters and contracts soon, and will be announcing their names here soon.

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

An Anthology of One Sentence Stories

June 4, 2012

After the success of a #1ss challenge on Twitter, Matt Bennardo announced that he’s going to publish an anthology of one sentence stories. And since he mentions it already on his blog, I can say here that my entry “One Thousand And First” will be included.

The wheels of publishing turn slowly, so it will be months yet until this anthology is released. Until then, you can read some of the other stories by following the links at the bottom of mine.

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Publication: “Nuclear Family” in Kasma SF

June 1, 2012

“Nuclear Family,” a dark post-apocalyptic  SF flash story, is now live at Kasma SF.

I originally wrote it in early December. When a friend told me that a certain pro-paying market was holding a Christmas contest, I had no intention of participating. Holiday-themed stories really aren’t my thing. But then an idea wormed its way into my head. Being a contrarian, if I was going to write a Christmas story then it was going to be the darkest, saddest Christmas story you’ve ever read! None of that happy, cuddly stuff for the holidays. And so, “Nuclear Family” was born.

Unfortunately the hosts of the contest dropped the ball. Instead of the advertised three winning stories they only ever published one, and they never responded to most of the entrants. By late January I ended up withdrawing my submission. But it all worked out in the end, and this story found a wonderful home at Kasma SF — a semi-pro market that has been quietly publishing some amazing fiction over the last few years, and where I’ve been submitting stories for some time now.

At 500 words exactly, “Nuclear Family” is one of my shortest published stories — but it packs a lot of punch into the word count, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it.

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Help Name An Anthology

May 29, 2012

In the coming months I’ll be editing an anthology of humorous SF/F stories.

I’m not going to go into a lot of detail yet. I’ll write a much longer post on the subject when I’m ready to make an official announcement. For now, suffice is to say that it will pay professional rates ($0.05 per word) and will be released as both an e-book and a physical book. And if it’s very successful, it might become an annual thing.

What I need right now is the name. I want something really catchy and easy to identify as speculative humor. And, of course, it can’t be a title that was used by somebody else previously. If you have any good ideas, please post them in the comments (or e-mail me directly through the contact form). If I end up using your title there’s a signed physical copy of the anthology in it for you 🙂

I will also be looking for all sorts of other help, down the line. Slush readers, illustrators, someone to create a promotional YouTube video, etc. Feel free to reach out if you want to get involved. And, of course, if you write light/humorous speculative fiction, you may want to start getting those submissions ready!

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

One Sentence Stories

May 28, 2012

You never know what’s going to happen when you hang out with a bunch of crazy writers.

I’m chilling on Twitter last Friday evening while I’m beta-reading a SF story by Anatoly Belilovsky. The story is excellent, but at one point has a run-on sentence that is, literally, 90 words long (I checked in MS Word). So I send the following Tweet to Anatoly:

@loldoc Dude there is a 90-word sentence in your story. I had to go find a snack in the middle so that I could get through it! 🙂

And then I write in the comment field of his document: “This is an enormous run on were-sentence that makes me want to go out and find stakes, and garlic, and whatever else kills were-run-on sentences. ” Followed by a few suggestions about breaking this sentence into three. Anatoly likes my were-sentence comment and Tweets it, and then a discussion begins about long sentences with more and more of our writerly friends chiming in.

I point out that a famous Russian author Victor Pelevin wrote a one-sentence short story that went on for several pages. Anatoly replies that Gogol is known for some page-long sentences, and Jake Kerr chimes in that so is Henry James.

And then this happens:

Ken Liu ‏@kyliu99

@AShvartsman @jakedfw @loldoc This would seem to be a good challenge to take up. Shall we all try to write a one-sentence story?

Challenge accepted, Mr. Liu, challenge accepted.

Before we know it, half a dozen authors want in on this. I hesitate about posting our perfectly good (if short) stories publicly on our blogs, and Matthew Bennardo offers to pay $5 to see each story. He is forced to hastily withdraw this offer as the number of participants snowballs. By the end of the evening we have a Twitter hashtag #1ss (One Sentence Story) and an impressive array of authors (all the way from people who write award-nominated stories like Ken and Jake and to people who read award-nominated stories like me) who all agree to write the longest, most interesting one sentence story they can, no later than Wednesday night.

The following is my one sentence story:

ONE THOUSAND AND FIRST

…this will be the last story I ever tell you, my sultan, and so I humbly beseech you to listen and to delight in it, and to keep your promise of allowing me to finish this very last sentence, uninterrupted, even as the sun is already rising from beyond the Eastern dunes and the executioner sharpens his scimitar; I have told you a thousand stories — tales of flying carpets and bottled jinn, bold sailors and treacherous viziers, magic and wonder and all manner of things beyond the mundane – but this last story is about an ordinary young woman, a woman who caught the eye of her sultan and who managed to survive their wedding night, and a thousand nights afterward, using no weapon and no magic but her imagination alone; the sultan was mesmerized by her wondrous fables at first, always eager for  another, but as the years went by she found it more and more difficult to keep his attention until, finally, he had had enough and wanted to hear no more stories – but being a kind and generous ruler he graciously consented to allow the girl to finish speaking before the guards would take her away (everyone knows that the sultan’s word is his bond) and the poor girl swallowed her tears, drew in a big breath and began her tale thus:

this will be the last story I ever tell you, my sultan, and so I humbly beseech you…

The above story is 243 words, which is a tiny sliver compared to some of the epic sentences composed by others. However, *my* story is an a loop. Which means it is, in fact, infinite words long. That totally means I win, right? Right?

You can read some of the other entries and decide for yourself. Damien Walters Grintalis and Ken Liu both opted to keep their entries off the Internets because they’re awesome writers who can sell their grocery lists to magazines. And if they can sell their grocery lists then surely they can also sell their one sentence stories. Some of the other authors opted to post theirs publicly and I’m going to link all the ones I know about below (and will update the links as more stories are posted, so watch this space!):

“The Bloodline Is Only as Strong as Its Last Generation” by Jake Kerr

“A Vos Souhaits” by M. Bennardo

“Good Thing I Did Not Tell Them About the Dirty Knife” by Anatoly Belilovsky (Anatoly wrote several entries, check his blog!)

“Inevitable” by Carrie Cuinn

Untitled by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley

“Mr. Fix-It” by Don Pizarro

“The Ghost and the Machine” by Suzanne Palmer

“Tommy Hopper and The Future” by Spencer Ellsworth

“And Yes” by S. R. Mastrantone

“Glork” By Amanda C. Davis

“Object of My Affection” by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley

“Dear Kyle” by Brenda Stokes Barron

“Great-Uncle’s Visit” by Michael Haynes

If you wish to play along, post a link to your one-sentence story in the comments or follow us on Twitter under the hashtag #1ss.

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

BaltiCon and a New Sale

May 23, 2012

I will be attending BaltiCon, a science fiction convention in Maryland over the Memorial Day weekend.

There is a plethora of firsts in this for me:

This will be the first non-gaming science fiction convention I attend on my own. Anatoly Belilovsky was kind enough to bring me along on a day trip to LunaCon a few months back (which I enjoyed a lot) — but this will  be the first time I attend on my own and stay overnight.

The main reason for my trip is to attend the launch of “Galactic Creatures,” an anthology from Dark Quest Books’ Sparkito imprint, managed and edited by Elektra Hammond. This was the first anthology project I was directly invited to participate it, and will be the first physical, printed *book* that I’m in. I’ve been published in e-book anthos and printed magazines, but never in an actual book. .

I owe many thanks to Elektra Hammond, who not only had enough faith in me to invite me to this project, but also kindly encouraged me to come out to this convention. I’m still a little anxious because I know practically no one there, but she managed to convince me that I should go, and now I’m super excited and can’t wait for the weekend.

And, on top of everything else, I will get to do a brief reading from “The Dragon Ships of Tycho,” my “Galactic Creatures” story.

I’ve done a fair amount of public speaking in the gaming industry and have no fear of it. However, while I can speak well guided by a handful of bullet points, I’m *terrible* at reading aloud from the page. I realize that this is a weakness I have to correct if I’m to take writing seriously. If I’m successful at writing, it’ll come with more public reading opportunities in the future, and I have to prepare. So I’ve decided to practice.

I read the beginning of “The Dragon Ships of Tycho” out loud several times so far, using a timer so that I could figure out where to stop without going over my allotted five minutes of infamy.  My first reading was pretty awful, but it got a little better with each pass.  Reading an article about reading aloud by Mary Robinette Kowal posted on the SFWA web site was also very helpful.  I’ll continue to practice until the weekend and, hopefully, manage to put on a decent performance on Sunday.

If you are attending BaltiCon, I hope you’ll consider stopping by the Dark Quest Book launch party, which is scheduled for 7-9pm on Sunday in the Garden Room. And if you see me wondering the convention halls at any point during the weekend, please do say hello. There’s only a small chance I’ll then follow you around like a lost puppy, I promise.

###

When I set out to write science fiction, I imagined that most of my stories would be in the genre I love to read most — space opera. But it turned out that most of my stories fit into other sub-genres. “The Dragon Ships of Tycho” is one of the handful of true space operas with lots of alien races, galaxy-wide conflict and grandiose scale. Another such story is “Price of Allegiance.”

“Price of Allegiance” was among the first stories I wrote, back in 2010. The original iteration was unpublishable — it was poorly structured, featured a ton of exposition and suffered from most other faults that afflict the beginner writers. But the idea behind it was good — good enough that I didn’t want to give up on this story. I kept rewriting it, and each iteration became a little better. I had to eliminate some of my favorite lines and even scenes in the story, but those painful cuts improved it overall. I changed lots of things about it, until finally I felt like the story was good enough to be published.

 

Around the same time, Penumbra Magazine announced the upcoming lineup of issues which included a politics-themed one. “Price of Allegiance” is all about the interspecies politics on the galactic scale. The fit seemed perfect. So much so that I not only held the story until the submission window opened up, but trimmed it even further in order to make it fit within Penumbra’s length guidelines. The wait and those painful cuts of the extra few hundred words were worth it. After several close-call round 2 rejections for other issues, Penumbra has accepted “Price of Allegiance” for inclusion in its July issue!

I very much look forward to appearing in Penumbra, and this latest story sale is timely in that, along with last week’s Nature publication, it provides a much-needed confidence boost for my trip to BaltiCon. I hope to see a few familiar faces there, and especially look forward to making new friends.

 

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Publication: “Ravages of Time” in Nature Magazine

May 17, 2012

 

This week’s issue (May 17) of the venerable Nature Magazine includes my SF story “Ravages of Time.”

This is a flash fiction story about love, relationships, and faster than light travel.  It was initially written for a Codex Writers 5-week long flash fiction contest. Nature was the first place I sent it and I was very happy to have them accept.

Not only is my writing now printed in one of the most relevant scientific journals in the world, but they also make it available to be read online for free. What’s more, they create original artwork for each published story, and the image designed for “Ravages” doesn’t disappoint:

Click here to read “Ravages of Time” online.

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Podcast: “In Service of a Greater Cause” in Smoke & Mirrors

April 28, 2012

One of my stories has been podcast, for the first time ever.

Listening to your own words interpreted by somebody else was a strange experience.  But the Smoke & Mirrors Podcast team rose to the challenge — host Dennis Miller and reader Cynthia Colby produced the story beautifully. “In Service of a Greater Cause” was originally published in the inaugural issue of Schroedinger’s Mouse magazine, in early 2011. Schroedinger’s Mouse just released their second issue after a long hiatus, so stop by and give them a read!

My story begins at the 14 minute mark and is about 9 minutes long, but you should listen to the entire 30 minute podcast if you can.

Click here to listen.

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Galactic Creatures Anthology Announced

April 25, 2012

A few months ago I announced the sale of “The Dragon Ships of Tycho” to an upcoming anthology.  Today I’m thrilled to be able to post some additional details about it. The anthology is called “Galactic Creatures” and is forthcoming from the Sparkito imprint of Dark Quest Books in late May.

“Galactic Creatures” editor Elektra Hammond posted the cover art (above) and the table of contents on her blog yesterday. The anthology will be published in trade paperback format ($14.95) and as an e-book, and will debut at BaltiCon on Memorial Day weekend.

“Galactic Creatures” was the first project I’ve been directly invited to participate in. It is what’s called a “private anthology.” While some editors call for public submissions and wade through hundreds of slush stories to find a few gems, oftentimes editors contact a handful of authors whose work they’ve enjoyed in the past directly and ask them to write something that fits the theme. Such an invitation is not a guarantee of publication — write a dud and you’ll end up rejected just as quickly as you might from anywhere else. But, once invited, your odds are very good indeed.

Mrs. Hammond copy-edited another story of mine, for another publication. She liked it enough to offer me a chance to write something for her upcoming project, and I was happy to oblige. Since then I’ve been invited to two other anthologies (and let me tell you, the VIP ride past the slush pile NEVER gets old!) — but it’s always the first such opportunity that is the most memorable.

As we get closer to the release date I will blog more about this anthology, revealing its theme and other details when they become available from Dark Quest Books (wouldn’t want to spoil any info ahead of the publisher!). I’m also hoping to attend the launch party at BaltiCon, schedule permitting.

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

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