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- Market Notes & Terms Of Use - |
This site owned, written, animated & maintained by Ralan ©1996-2007
This web site has Pro, Paying, 4theLuv, Novels & Anthologies, Humor, & Dead markets. There's also writer-related links, my personal response time log, and a rundown of my own works. Ralan and Ralan.com try to keep the information as up to date and accurate as possible, but it's a fast moving business and things can change without my knowledge. Ralan and Ralan.com therefore cannot accept any responsibility for inaccurate information. All persons using this information agree to hold Ralan and Ralan.com blameless for any and all effects this might cause. If you intend to submit, you should snailmail, e-mail, or check the URL for the magazine's most current guidelines. Always include SASE for snailmail replies unless the listing indicates e-mail responses.The best way to find the right market is to read some issues. Most of these listings will sell a sample copy, or you can subscribe (best if you can afford it — support the hand that feeds us!). Libraries may have copies of some publications. Web or e- zines will have stories on the web or available electronically. Many print magazines now have web sites with sample stories.
Here's what a typical listing (only this one's made up, so don't submit to it) will look like:
MARKET NOTE: does not accept submissions dated on the 13th of any month
TALES OF THE SPITTOON - quarterly webzine; sf/f/h (fic/nonfic/poem/art). Pay: 1¢/word ($100 max.), poem=$5. Words: >25k words (50 lines). RT: 30 days. Reprints: query. E-subs: yes. Huck A. Lugee, Editor (QS).
Okay ... now excuse me if I'm being too basic, but I didn't know how much you do and don't understand, so I'm trying to hit all the bases.
The top line is very important. A "MARKET NOTE" or "UPDATE" at Ralan.com contains vital information about the current situation at the listed market. In this case a superstitious editor who won't read anything sent or dated on the 13th of any month!
The meat of the listing is this: "Tales of the Spittoon" is published every three months (quarterly) on the web (webzine). They are looking for works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror (sf/f/h). Between the parentheses it shows what kind of material they are interested in seeing, in this case fiction, nonfiction (articles, reviews, columns, etc), poetry and artwork. They pay one cent per word for stories, $5 per poem, of any length up to 25,000 (25k) words, or 50 lines of poetry. They also have a payment limit of $100 maximum, which means that if they do publish your 25,000 word story you won't get 1 cent a word ($250), you'll get $100 (or a little less than ½¢/word). Some other market listings will have a lower word limit on their range, like 2-6k (2,000 to 6,000 words). Some may say "no word limits given" meaning their range is wide open, or they may qualify it by saying "no word limits within reason" which means they are pretty much wide open, but probably won't publish your novel. In the RT (Response Time) they say they usually respond (think reject — acceptances almost always take longer) to submissions within 30 days. Remember that this is what the editor says, and editors are usually optimistic — it will probably take longer. A good rule of thumb is to add 30 days (or more) onto their stated RT before you query them about your story. You can find actual response times (how long it really takes them) to many publications on my "Market Responses" page and at http://critters.critique.org/blackholes (a part of The Critters Writers' Workshop, which you would do well to consider joining). Where it says, "Reprints: query," that means that if your story has been published before (even on your own web site!), this editor will still consider it, but only if you e-mail him a brief letter telling him about the story, and where and when it was published. Remember keep this brief — a half page (250 words) is more than enough. This line may also read "no," in which case you should never query, or submit a reprint to this editor; or it might read "yes," which means you can send the editor a reprint without querying first, BUT always, ALWAYS tell the editor that it is a reprint and where and when it has been published. The next point is, "E-subs: YES" (Note: if this is blue, click on it and more submission info will pop-up). This tells you that this publication will accept your submission by e-mail. Do not submit via e-mail if this reads no. And be sure you follow the editor's wishes about how to send the story (cut-&-pasted in the body of the e-mail, or attached as a certain type of file (.doc, .rtf, or .txt). Next to last is the name of the person you should address your submission to (Huck A. Lugee in this case) and his or her title (editor, publisher, etc.). Many of the listings the name is also an e-mail link and there may be special instructions embedded in that too — always click on that link and read those instructions. The (QS) means that the linked e-mail address can be used to send queries (Q) and/or submissions (S). If there's only a (Q), do not send submissions to that e-mail address — the editor may have another e-address for submissions (check the full guidelines for that), or might not accept e-mail submissions at all.
Ralan and Ralan.com is not, and cannot be held, responsible for any action, or inaction, of any publisher/editor. Listings are not to be considered endorsements. Since some publishers decide not to be included in these listings for various reasons (most notably not wanting to deal with the increased level of submissions a listing on Ralan.com has proven to cause), the lack of a listing is not to be considered a slur, slander, defamation, or any other negative act. Ralan and Ralan.com reserve the right not to carry any publication that has proven itself to act contrary to any writer's (including my own) rights, or for any other reason Ralan and Ralan.com deem appropriate. All publishers and editors (in the publishers name) agree to this and to hold Ralan and Ralan.com blameless in the event a listing is removed.
Ralan and Ralan.com will not abide anything that has to do with any kind of forced sexual assault, or with sexual content dealing in or about underage persons whether forced or not. In some cases offending words or lines will be deleted from the listing. In other cases the entire listing may be deleted without notification.
Due to censoring by some ISPs and e-mail servers (who are mostly trying to stop spam pornographers) certain words may be coded or contain asterisks in place of letters. This is entirely up to the discretion of Ralan.com.
Ralan's SpecFic & Humor Webstravaganza endeavors to maintain a "PG" type rating and be open to all ages. However, the web site is for authors and due to the variety of markets listings, certain exceptions to that in some listings can be expected. Ralan and Ralan.com are not responsible for underage persons encountering words or phrases that may not be appropriate for them.
About Response Times (RTs):
The times quoted in my listings are taken from the guidelines or given to me by the editors. They represent the editor's own estimation of how long a response should take, not the actual averages. Ralan and Ralan.com also have several years of my own actual response times listed on my "Response Times" page. There's also a response time web site run by the Critters writing workshop, Submitting to the Black Hole where you can report your own RTs (Ralan and Ralan.com highly recommend that you do!) and check out what others have reported. The point is, the RTs in the market listings represent what the editors want writers to go by. Some like to give themselves a little leeway. It's like Scotty's old trick on the original Star Trek: tell the captain it will take twice as long to repair something, then you look like a genius when you finish faster. Others underestimate, for whatever reason. My recommendation is to add at least 30 days to what is listed before sending off a query.
The information provided on all my pages is provided in good faith with the belief it is correct, but Ralan and Ralan.com accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions. Each visitor assumes all risk associated with its use or misuse.
Ralan and Ralan.com get most of the leads for these listings from writers & editors (directly & from information left on bulletin boards), some from various magazines and publishing journals, more from various search engines (search: magazines, SF; etc.) & others. Ralan and Ralan.com then download the guidelines (if possible) and post them, with permission — or make detailed summaries. While Ralan and Ralan.com actively pursue "Pro" & "Paying" market listings — and welcome user recommendations — "4theLuv" & "Contest" markets are only added by editor/publisher request; no user recommendations are acted upon.
Abbreviations:
sf=science fiction; f=fantasy; h=horror; s&s=sword & sorcery; df=dark fantasy; mys=mystery; mil=military; rom=romance; mainstream=mnstrm; FNASR=First North American Serial Rights; FUKSR=First United Kingdom Serial Rights; POA=Pays On Acceptance; POP=Pays On Publication; GL4SASE=send self-addressed, stamped envelope for guidelines; SASE=self-addressed, stamped envelope; SASP=self-addressed, stamped postcard; SAE=self-addressed envelope (no stamp); RT=response time; sub=submission; multisub=multiple submissions; simsub=simultaneous submissions; reprints=previously published stories; IRC=International Reply Coupon, IBoE=In Body of E-mail, AF=Attached File, .rtf=Rich Text File, .doc=Microsoft Word File; Non-NA=non-North American
Ralan.com also has a page filled with categorized & alphabetized writer-related links. *All links were operational & 'as described' at the time Ralan.com added them and efforts are made to keep them updated and accurate. However, Ralan.com cannot in any way be held responsible for their present accuracy, ability to operate, loading time, contents, etc. Please let me know if you encounter any difficulties or disappointments. These listings (©1996-2006) may not be reprinted, posted, or otherwise circulated without permission.
Please let Ralan know if anything here is incorrect, out of date, or if you have a new listing.