A Difficult Decision

A few days ago I sent the email (felt more like the last nail in the coffin) to the editor of A Glitch in the Continuum, thanking him for his efforts in finding a new home for the book but declining to have my story included.  I put a lot of thought into this decision, but ultimately it just wasn't a deal I was comfortable with.

This was a very hard moment for me.  After drafting my email, I asked my husband to see how it sounded.  Up until that moment I'd intended to read it to him, but I suddenly realized that if I voiced the thoughts out loud, I would cry.  So he read it himself, and I cried anyway.

I know this sort of thing happens all the time in the publishing world, but it makes me sad that it happened so early on in my career--only my second acceptance.  I suppose there are people who have it happen to their first sale, and that's sad too.

This in no way changes my convictions toward professional authorship, it just sets me back a little.  It takes me so long to get stories resubbed these days (two boys take up a lot more time than one) that it's a little depressing to have to start over with one that was accepted.  I can only hope that it's previous rapid acceptance means it's good enough for others to want it as well.

Cheap Security or the Uncertain Promise of Something Greater?

Well, I've heard the definitive word on A Glitch in the Continuum.  And I don't know what I'm going to do.

Basically, what it boils down to is this:  I've been offered a quarter of the money I originally agreed to, plus a PDF copy of the book.  If I choose to buy a real copy, I can get it for 40% off the cover price.  So when you factor in the fact that yes, I would like a copy of the book my work appears in, I'd only be making a few bucks.  Token payment.

With the exception of a few pieces of flash that quickly ran out of markets, I never submit to token markets.  Semi-pro is my minimum.  So if Pandora's Time had never been contracted, I wouldn't even have blinked at a market with these terms.  But the fact of the matter is, it's already been accepted to Glitch.  If I don't expend any more energy on this piece, it can have a home in this anthology.

But on the other hand, I placed this story at the third market I submitted it to.  Normally I apply a top-down approach to my submissions:  I submit to pro paying markets first, and then start working through the semi-pros when I exhaust the pro options.  Pandora's Time, however, only went to one pro market.  The other two were both time-travel-themed anthologies, both of which were semi-pro payment, because I thought my odds of success were better in an anthology that fit my story's theme.  And it worked, it was accepted to the second anthology.

Not only that, it was basically accepted with honors.  What I mean by that is, after getting the acceptance, I stopped by the Twisted Library forums to say thanks and see how things were going.  Once there, I was flattered to learn that Pandora's Time was one of three stories that were accepted hands-down.  It took several more weeks (possibly longer, I don't remember the timeline) for the editor to finish sorting through the rest of the submissions.  So I know it was good enough, at least for that editor, to make it right away.  That gives me hope that it could fare well at other markets--particularly since there are several pro-paying markets it's never been to.

I like Pandora's Time, and I think it's one of my stronger pieces.  The Twisted Library even helped me figure out which ending was the best (I'd had trouble figuring out which of many endings to use at first) and I think it's now stronger than it was when I submitted it to Asimov's.

I don't really like the idea of giving my story to a press for so little money and not even getting a bound copy of the book in return.  But there's still the fact that, well...it's already been accepted.  Saying 'yes' to this new press would be a solid, guaranteed credit.  Saying 'no' and resubmitting it could get me more money in the long run, but on the other hand, it could just doom Pandora's Time to sit in slush pile limbo for several years.  As my husband put it, I can either say "No, I'm a professional writer and I deserve to get paid for my work and I will hold out for that," or I can say "Yes, I guess I'll give it away for almost free in order to get another credit and hopefully gain a little more exposure and clout."  This would never have been an issue if these were the original terms, because again, I never would have submitted to it.  But this is how my dilemma now stands.

I'm not asking anyone to tell me what to do, but I am curious what you all would do if placed in the same situation.  Which do you think is more important?

Sad Day for My Writing

I received an email this morning informing me that the Library of the Living Dead (the parent of Library of Science Fiction Press) is having financial difficulties.  They're putting all anthologies on hold for at least six months, and most are being cancelled entirely.  As it turns out, A Glitch in the Continuum, which was to hold my story Pandora's Time, didn't make the cut.

:(

The editor, Wayne Goodchild, has asked our permission to shop the anthology around for a month or so and see if another publisher would be willing to pick it up.  All the work (including formatting and cover art) is already done, so it seems possible that someone else might want an easy book to produce--but I don't know how that aspect of publishing works so I don't know how likely it is.

I've given my permission--I'd really like to see this anthology see the light of day, and on top of that, it takes me so long to get stories resubbed these days that it would probably be a month before I got it back out anyway.  The one thing I worry about, though, is how much payment I might receive.  It was contracted with The Library for $0.01 per word, but another press might not want to pay that much.  At this pay rate it's considered "semi-pro;" "pro" payment for stories is $0.05 per word or more.  Semi-pro is usually the minimum I sub to, unless a piece completely runs out of options.  Money IS supposed to flow towards the writer, after all.  I guess I've got to do some serious thinking about what minimum payment I'd be willing to receive.

Well, I can always duck out until I sign another contract.  I'm pretty proud of Pandora's Time and think it would have a fair shot elsewhere.  I'd like to see the antho stay together, but I also don't want to sell myself short.

This is very sad.  Only my second sale (though I have yet to be paid, and won't anymore) has fallen through.  I hope the book as a whole can find another home, but if not it's back to the slush...

*sigh*

A Glitch in the Continuum Cover!

In the chaos following having my second son, it took me over a week to get my contract for A Glitch in the Continuum signed and returned (oops.)  But it's in now, and I'm looking forward to receiving this next book.  In case you've forgotten (it's been a while,) Glitch will contain my story Pandora's Time.  I also recently received the cover art for the book, so here it is!

All rights will return to me if they don't get it published within two years, but I'm not expecting it to take nearly that long.  It'll probably be a few more months.

Table of Contents!

The Table of Contents has been posted for my next anthology!  It's been up for nearly two weeks, somehow I missed it, but at least I've got it now.

A Glitch in the Continuum:

Intervention – Patrick D’Orazio

Again the 10n – George Page

Experiments with Time - Jeremy Essex

The Third Law – Trent Roman

Tempus Fugit – Eric Steele

You Gotta Believe – William Thobaben

A Few Moments in Time – Mike Stevens

The Monster at the End of the World - Lee Zumpe

Pandora’s Time – Eileen Rhoadarmer

A Break in the Balance – Jason Thurston

The Healing Time – Kevin P. Kilburn

In The Beginning… - David R. Roberts

Congratulations to everyone on the list!

Pandora's Time Sale!!!!

Almost exactly six months after my first sale, I have made another one!

Pandora's Time will appear in the anthology A Glitch in the Continuum!  This is from the Library of Science Fiction and Fantasy Press, which is the same press that is publishing Doomology, where I made my first sale.

I'm really happy with this one.  This was only the third market I sent it to!  I've never placed anything this quickly before (although I can't say much in that regard since this is only my second sale.)  But to boost my ego even further, when I looked around the forums over at Library of the Living Dead, I saw that the editor is still reading a few of the submissions.  However, he decided to send out some acceptances that were in his "yes, definitely" pile--so he wanted mine straight off, he didn't even have to wait in case something better came along!  Yes, it's true, I'm flying high right now!