Hi all,
Wishing all of you A Happy & Healthy New Year!
Would anyone of you be so kind to share the benefits of submitting short story to any magazine, journal etc.
How does the copyright works?
What kind of payment to expect?
What doors will it open?
Many Thanks.
Kind regards,
Melinda
Many thanks. Excellent comments, very much appreciated.
Yes Jimmy - great tip - ALCS. I know nothing about - will check it out - learning more and more ... Bravo!
2 good answers! I just came on to thank Lorraine for the ALCS tip.
Many women's mags will no longer take fiction from anyone who isn't already one of their stable of authors. Editors simply haven't the time to read so many submissions and have stopped taking them. This is better than stopping fiction altogether, which has happened to several titles in the last few years. There may not be a dedicated fiction editor at all any more - just someone wearing two or three hats at once.
If you submit to any journal and they accept the story for print, they will probably demand that it does not then appear anywhere else, even though the copyright remains with you as author. Payment varies but is rarely great - and some mags expect you as a novice to be prepared to agree to no fee, just the joy of seeing your name in print (though this then goes on your writer's CV, so it may have some future benefit).
Will being mag-published open any doors for you? Only if you are prolific in your output, and get your name in lots of places - that writer's CV again. It is almost impossible to make a living out of this, if that's what you mean.
You have to be persistent and submit everywhere that's suitable, as often as you can. That's not to say you should ignore any response (and you may get none at all) that says they aren't accepting new writers; annoying the editor won't help. Check all submission rules on the intended recipient's website, and obey them to the letter.
NB: I anyone does manage to get a story/article/letter published in a print form - not online - even if you weren't paid for it, you should register with ALCS, and that body will gather all fees due to you for lending of the magazine to libraries and so forth. Check their rules too.
Good luck - and happy writing in 2017.
Lorraine