Five Minute Rant

preston sounds like you're doing good and might be on your way. As frustrating as a number of personal rejections and HMs can be...I imagine. As I've heard over years that's the way it sometimes starts.

In the case of Analog, they're running way behind. If you check Duotrope I'm sure you'll see pretty long wait times right now.

Does that imply some people have gotten rejections since the new guy took over--sorry I forget his name.

No, I mean barely anyone has. The last Duotrope report came on September 7, and that was for a submission made July 23. I think all Analog submissions will have to keep sitting tight while Analog and Asimov's get fully staffed again.

So I'm coming here to rant about Story Star because I'm a little frustrated with how they're running their contest. I'm thrilled to be a finalist, but they made no indication when I entered that they would basically publish any stories they liked, even though only one wins the prize. Now, if I win then it's not as big of a deal, but if I don't then I feel like I lost a good story because they've already put it online for people to read.

I don't plan to seek them out for anything after this because now that they're active and showing their lack of professionalism (and their articles irritate me), I can tell they're definitely not right for me as a publisher.

Anyway, rant over. I had to tell people who would understand my frustration!

So I'm coming here to rant about Story Star because I'm a little frustrated with how they're running their contest. I'm thrilled to be a finalist, but they made no indication when I entered that they would basically publish any stories they liked, even though only one wins the prize. Now, if I win then it's not as big of a deal, but if I don't then I feel like I lost a good story because they've already put it online for people to read.

I don't plan to seek them out for anything after this because now that they're active and showing their lack of professionalism (and their articles irritate me), I can tell they're definitely not right for me as a publisher.

Anyway, rant over. I had to tell people who would understand my frustration!

I was unfamiliar with them, but reading their submission terms, it does indeed sound like submitting there is public to the world and hence counts as first publication. I am not a lawyer, but that's how I read it. Sorry.

Their submission terms are... amusing. They spend two paragraphs warning that stories may get low and "hurtful" ratings, and they disavow any responsibility for hurt feelings. Then they advise ways to avoid low ratings. They say the most important thing is to get proofreading and clean up your grammar. That amused me, because their agreement has a higher level of typos and grammar errors than I usually see when I review stories around here!

Agreed. They weren't as active before the contest so I didn't have as much to read by them, but I cringe when I come across most things they've written now. Where did you find their submission terms? The only ones I read were here: http://www.storystarpublishing.com/submissions/

At this point, I just want to win the money and run away.

Bummer, Dantzel.

Another similar system is Crowded magazine, but they prevent the stories (which are also to be judged by readers) from being publicly displayed, and thus published for free.

ETA: Seems I was on a different site. Yeah, that page lists nothing about publishing your story for free!

ETA: This was the site I had initially looked at: http://www.storystar.com/php/guidelines.php

Oh, so they didn't even pick a publishing name that was original. Great.

Yeah, I was looking at the wrong StoryStar. This one at least has decent grammar.

(Migrating this comment to here, so that the Jibber-Jabber thread remains in a more festive mood)

Oh, dear. I have the feeling I am the instigator of an anti-DF rebellion and the cause of much turmoil in the forum. Well, it wasn’t my intention.

I believe everyone is entitled to a little rant. This shouldn’t be seen as derogatory to the people that placed in the contest any more than a rant about being rejected by a magazine is derogatory to the people who were published in that magazine. We shouldn’t read more to a post than what is there. The most amazing thing in this forum is the camaraderie, and I hope that no one is willing to jeopardize that.

We should better wait until the first volume with stories judged by DF is published to see what his tastes are really like. There is still a chance that his writing tips are just writing tips and not absolute rules. It is great for a maths teacher to show his pupils the best and most efficient way to solve a problem. But when a student solves a problem in a way of his own devising, then the uptight teacher will reject the student while the really good teacher will accept that a perfect solution is a perfect solution by whatever means you reach it. Of course literature is not like maths and there is no perfect solution, but everything is subjective. Well, I think we all know that, so there’s no point of repeating it.

As for me, I always used to expect the best but prepare for the worst. This year I’ve changed my expectations. Now I expect the worst but prepare for the best. It’s almost the same but it’s not the same.

I’ll certainly keep entering the contest, though my dream isn’t winning it. I’m hooked to the contest because of this forum. That’s why a rejection from WOTF stings more than a rejection from another market; because we want gratification from forumites more. And the power of the forum is great; I really admire the way Tina and Marina, Q1 winners, are still here trying to help everyone and keep the forum from falling apart.

To sell a story to a professional market, however, is far more important to me than getting an HM, or being a semi-finalist, or even being a non-winning finalist. And I hope that no one will take offence of this statement, it’s just my personal opinion. And I say it having neither an HM or a professional sale yet.

Annie Bellett, a great writer, pro’d out of the contest frustrated that she never won it. If I pro out of the contest with only ever scoring R’s I’ll be thrilled. Because becoming a professional writer is my goal, my dream, and the only reason I have abandoned a quite successful writing career in Greece.

So I sincerely hope I will not keep submitting to the contest for a long time. Not because I’m planning to stop and not because I hope I'll win, but because I hope I’ll eventually pro out.

Winning would be cool, of course, flying to the US and meeting other forumites and all that. But I wouldn’t postpone pro’ing out in order to wait for it.

Awesome rant, George! I think I stuck around the contest for longer, due to the forum as well. My goal morphed into selling pro and I think that above all is the best goal. The fear should be in becoming a one-hit-wonder. I think if sights are set for higher than WOTF then you're less likely to have this happen. Winning along the way would just be a happy benefit, not a goal.

I think it was Annie who said something like, 'make your goals measurable and reachable.' We can't control who buys or approves of our stories, but we can control how much or what quality we produce.

Sigh. Got my rejection from IGMS today. Right on cue - in between the average 31 to 36 day wait mark. Why oh why can't I break free? Why must I always go with the flow!

Grr...and now when I just went to sumbit my story to Daily Science Fiction...I spent an hour fixing up the paragraphs. Then I click submit and it tells me to log in again. So I do...and I get sent right back to the submission page, and all that time fixing it up was for nothing. Never again am I going to try submitting there.

Grr...and now when I just went to sumbit my story to Daily Science Fiction...I spent an hour fixing up the paragraphs. Then I click submit and it tells me to log in again. So I do...and I get sent right back to the submission page, and all that time fixing it up was for nothing. Never again am I going to try submitting there.

Stephanie, DSF is one of the highest paying markets and at the same time one of the easiest professional markets to crack (at least according to the Duotrope stats). Don't discard it just for a minor glitch. You could fix your paragraphs in a txt file before copypasting them to the submission form.

I've got problems with submitting to IGMS instead. All my mails to them keep bouncing back. I'm going to try again in a little while, though, because I like IGMS (and I love OSC).

Grr...and now when I just went to sumbit my story to Daily Science Fiction...I spent an hour fixing up the paragraphs. Then I click submit and it tells me to log in again. So I do...and I get sent right back to the submission page, and all that time fixing it up was for nothing. Never again am I going to try submitting there.

Stephanie, DSF is one of the highest paying markets and at the same time one of the easiest professional markets to crack (at least according to the Duotrope stats). Don't discard it just for a minor glitch. You could fix your paragraphs in a txt file before copypasting them to the submission form.

I've got problems with submitting to IGMS instead. All my mails to them keep bouncing back. I'm going to try again in a little while, though, because I like IGMS (and I love OSC).

Really it is? Ok I guess I won't disregard all together. I already sent the story somewhere else, but I won't give up on DSF just yet. Saving it as a txt file did help, and it wasn't as difficult to fix the paragraphs, but my story is so long it's just really time consuming. I'm afraid I'm getting timed out or something, and every time I hit submit it's just going to continue making me log in.

Grr...and now when I just went to sumbit my story to Daily Science Fiction...I spent an hour fixing up the paragraphs. Then I click submit and it tells me to log in again. So I do...and I get sent right back to the submission page, and all that time fixing it up was for nothing. Never again am I going to try submitting there.

Stephanie, DSF is one of the highest paying markets and at the same time one of the easiest professional markets to crack (at least according to the Duotrope stats). Don't discard it just for a minor glitch. You could fix your paragraphs in a txt file before copypasting them to the submission form.

I've got problems with submitting to IGMS instead. All my mails to them keep bouncing back. I'm going to try again in a little while, though, because I like IGMS (and I love OSC).

Really it is? Ok I guess I won't disregard all together. I already sent the story somewhere else, but I won't give up on DSF just yet. Saving it as a txt file did help, and it wasn't as difficult to fix the paragraphs, but my story is so long it's just really time consuming. I'm afraid I'm getting timed out or something, and every time I hit submit it's just going to continue making me log in.

If you think you might have timed out, select and copy your text so if it does time out, all you have to do is paste it back in after you re-log in.

Wow thanks, I never would have thought to do that!

I just set up the paragraphs (with breaks between) in the text file. When I copy it over to DSF it's all ready to go.

I use the replace tool in word. Replace one paragraph mark with two paragraph marks. Sooooo much easier. Then just copy/paste it into the box.

I use the replace tool in word. Replace one paragraph mark with two paragraph marks. Sooooo much easier. Then just copy/paste it into the box.

I "like" this! Thanks!

I use the replace tool in word. Replace one paragraph mark with two paragraph marks. Sooooo much easier. Then just copy/paste it into the box.

Exactly what I do. Just make sure your paragraphs aren't indented and there is an extra space between each one. Find and replace works wonders for submission formatting.

I just set up the paragraphs (with breaks between) in the text file. When I copy it over to DSF it's all ready to go.

Me too. I've actually set up MS files with a "for web posting" version already set up with the breaks and such, so when I come across those markets, I'm ready!

I use the replace tool in word. Replace one paragraph mark with two paragraph marks. Sooooo much easier. Then just copy/paste it into the box.

Ok I feel stupid for not knowing, but how do you do this? Can someone give me like a step by step guide? Right now my story is in courier new, 12 font, double spaced and is a .rtf file. So how would I go from that format, to putting it on Daily Science Fiction?

I use the replace tool in word. Replace one paragraph mark with two paragraph marks. Sooooo much easier. Then just copy/paste it into the box.

Ok I feel stupid for not knowing, but how do you do this? Can someone give me like a step by step guide? Right now my story is in courier new, 12 font, double spaced and is a .rtf file. So how would I go from that format, to putting it on Daily Science Fiction?

Stephanie, what software are you using?

It was the free program that came with my computer called Microsoft Word Starter 2010.

Assuming that has the same ribbons as regular Microsoft Word 2010:

Click on the "Home" tab. On the far right (probably) you'll see a part of the ribbon called editing. Click on the part that says "Replace."

Put your cursor in the "Find" box. Then click on the button on the bottom that says "More."

At the bottom of that you'll see a button that says "Special." Click it.

Select "Paragraph Mark" (not "Paragraph Character," I tried that and it did not help.)

Next, put your cursor in the "Replace with" box.

Repeat all the steps up to "Paragraph Mark." Click "Paragraph Mark" twice instead of once.

Then hit "Replace All."

That should do it!

Awesome Rebecca it worked! I pasted it in to DSF and it still looks like I'll need to indent the paragraphs but I like how each paragraph is already spaced so it's easier to go through and fix them. I'll be saving your instructions for future use. Thanks so much!

Awesome Rebecca it worked! I pasted it in to DSF and it still looks like I'll need to indent the paragraphs but I like how each paragraph is already spaced so it's easier to go through and fix them. I'll be saving your instructions for future use. Thanks so much!

I don't think that I have ever indented when submitting to DSF. My understanding is that if the paragraphs are separated by a line (for online reading) that you don't need to indent? Anybody else have thoughts on this?

Oh well if you don't have to indent that's even better, since most of the paragraphs were spaced the right way. I've never submitted there, so it's good to know all these things before hand!

I've don't indent for DSF. Imo, block format (spaces between paragraphs) shouldn't be indented, but I'm sure it doesn't matter either way. If they like the story, DSF's editors will come back to you for any formatting issues.

RANT! RANT! RANT! RANT! RANT!

Off to Duotrope!