WRITERSoftheFUTURE.com

Hello everyone! I'm pleased to announce that I've created a small publishing company called Better Futures Press! Our first publication will be Black Ice: a speculative fiction / cyberpunk magazine, available through MagCloud and Amazon late February / early March, 2017. In it, you'll find 15 storie...

Had a story kicked up to Mr. Lapine at Fantastic Stories, but it ultimately got rejected.

It's nice to know, however, that I'm starting to get past the first stage. Was pretty hangdog that morning, but, as always, you just have to keep at it.

Specklit, woohoo! Are they based in the UK? Is this normal? Can I safely assume it made it past the slush pile, at least? The anticipation is killing me! They're in NYC, owned and operated by Dell Magazines. Good luck! I suppose a simple Google search would have worked, but my brain wasn't working ...

So, what's the usual over / under on the "Under Review" status for Asimov's? I've never lasted longer than 15 minutes in that stage, but I've had a story sitting there since around 9:30 last night. I figured it was late, readers went home, and fully expected a form rejection this morning, ...

I've been reading some short story collections from the 80s, namely Interzone, Synergy and Burning Chrome. All excellent, in my opinion.

Thanks for the kudos yall, congrats to everyone else! First pro sale is super sweet!

Congrats everyone!

I myself recently got published on 365Tomorrows and made my first paid sale on Theme of Absence for their November issue! I got a whole 3 dollars for it, which is a pittance--but I'll gladly trade beer for writing.

Sorry it's taken a while to get back with you. Sent you an email! Thanks!

Hey all! Been a while since I've been on these forums. In my absence I've gotten published a couple times in minor markets (like Aphelion) and almost got paid by Bastion before their magazine shut down. wotf002 wotf019 I've been writing a lot of flash- / shorter- fiction, and would like to exchange ...

I made an interesting observation about my own writing while I was on the train the other day: I don't know how to write a simple, entertaining story. I came to this conclusion after coming across Penumbra's Space Opera themed March issue (deadline is January 15th, eek!), and subsequently failing to...

Still, the way I feel about epic fantasy is that it's old hat and doesn't necessarily reflect our cultural values. I think Game of Thrones is so popular because it eventually transitions from the Tolkien-esque fantasy into a more modernized political drama. And if you want my honest opinion, I don't...

Got a personal rejection from Neon. "Well written but it didn't quite grab me."

Seems to be a reoccurring trend with me.

I did mine a few days ago. I'm willing to swap crits as well. :)

Thanks for the words of encouragement, everyone. I'll start doing rewrites today and flesh out what's missing. For now I'll be satisfied in knowing that I'm capable of writing a complete, well-paced short story in a day.

Edit: I forced myself to read the story start to finish. It's actually not too bad. I need a section of exposition to break up the narrative at one or two points in order to clarify a few things, but other than that I should be fine. Not sure why all the stress. Feel free to read what's below if you...

I love your metaphorical language: jaw creaking like an old piano leg, like a peach bloated in the sun, throwing firewood on the pile sounding like broken bones...such beautiful language and a great story! Congrats, John--and thank you for sharing. Thank you, you're too kind! :) I'm trying to get i...

Those are some good answers, and definitely clarified some things. I suppose, then, that it just boils down to common sense.

A while ago my short story, "The End," was published in issue 4 of Corvus Magazine. It's a free online publication, but at least someone's reading my work. :) Congratulations! Do you have a link? Thanks! :) Here's the link: http://corvusmagazine.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/issue-04fixed.pdf

A while ago my short story, "The End," was published in issue 4 of Corvus Magazine. It's a free online publication, but at least someone's reading my work. :)

I have a quick question: what does it mean exactly to write for a market? I've heard this a lot over the past few years, but what does that entail? Does it mean sacrificing your own (for lack of a less pretentious phrase) "artistic vision?" For instance, what does it mean to write for Anal...

Not strictly science fiction, but I just finished reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, which has some speculative elements. I'm also reading Naked Lunch and re-reading A Scanner Darkly. I'm getting annoyed lately by my seeming inability to enjoy fantasy. It's like I can neither write it no...

Hey, I'm sending you a message. Email me the story and I'll email you mine!

I really like s_c_baker's thread, but that's limited to the WoTF contest. I think it'd be helpful to have a similar thread for non-contest entries; they wouldn't be limited to science fiction, either. Here are the guidelines: 1: Is it well written? 2: Does it keep your interest? 3: Is the plot formi...

I'm glad he's recovering. Ender's Game really touched me in a personal way.

William Gibson's trilogy-esque steampunk world has become a recent favorite. Neuromancer is now one of my favorite books, as is Mona Lisa Overdrive . Haven't read the middle one ( Count Zero ) because it isn't in the library, but oh well. However, I don't really "get" his most recent works...

My library blitz has kind of tapered off in the past week or so (distractions distractions...), but I did manage to get through Anansi Boys, a very funny fantasy story; not exactly a complicated read but a fun one. I, as usual, forget the author. My memory is another thing that's been tapering off a...

Checked out a book called Matter from the library the other day. It's a massive 500 page sci-fi novel by the British author Iain M. Banks; apparently it's part of a larger group of novels that takes place in the same universe. Matter literally improved my diction just by reading it--I must have abou...