*ponders like a pondery thing*

[agilebrit]

According to Joni Labaqui at WotF, I am now free to sub the BearFic elsewhere. She also says that I should mention in my cover letter that it got an Honorable Mention in the contest, and that will increase its chances of publication

Comments

[lonfiction]

Personally, I would not mention anything below Finalist in a cover letter, and then only if that was the story I was currently submitting.

My own experience has led me to the position that anything in a cover letter beyond one or two relevant sales does more to make the submitter appear amateurish than even the lack of any credits at all would. Of course, Your Mileage May Vary.

P.S. Make sure you keep submitting to Writers of the Future! That experience is worth suffering through any number of rejections for.

[lonfiction]

To clarify one thing though: Just because I wouldn't mention less than a Finalist on a cover letter, do not think for a second you should not be thrilled, elated, ecstatic and totally jazzed to see your story placing a cut above the rest of the entrants.

Every improvement, step closer to your dreams and bit of validation deserve to be celebrated. This is certainly one to share with family, friends and other writer types--it's just more of a personal success than one I would recommend putting on business correspondence (aka cover letter/query letter/cold sales letter.)

[agilebrit]

Oh, believe me, I'm totally thrilled (although not as thrilled as the first time...or the second time. Hee). And I've made a resolution that I will enter every quarter of WotF until I'm either no longer eligible or win that puppy.

Winning three HM's might be worth putting in a bio on another story that's been published. Cover letter? The consensus at LTUE seemed to be "not so much."

Now, I've got two sales on my resume to small markets (Renard's Menagerie and Afterburn). I've also heard that the A list markets aren't necessarily impressed by something like that. On the other hand, it tells them that someone else was willing to pay me actual money for my words. So I vacillate there, too.

*whines* It shouldn't be this complicated.

[lonfiction]

LTUE sounds like a fun con. I hope to make it out there some day. I would no sooner put the WotF HM on my cover letter than I would list off all the other markets that thought about it for a minute and then said no. Might as well hand deliver the sub while bellowing "I coulda been a contender!" :D

*whines* It shouldn't be this complicated.

Write the best story you can and submit it to the best markets that publish that sort of thing. Repeat as necessary. What's so complicated about that? ;)

[lonfiction]

I am glad, though, that they changed the nomenclature from Quarter-Finalist. I remember one year being absolutely crushed when I found out that it did not mean a Finalist for the Quarter, but rather surviving the first round of cuts.

[agilebrit]

LOL It's not the writing and shipping the stuff out that's complicated, it's the tightrope of what to put in the cover letter. That's where I get all confuzzled. Is a (paid-for) story in something like Renard's Menagerie or Afterburn "relevant" to F&SF?

And LTUE is fabulous. I always come out of a Con energized and ready to write with new ideas popping out of my ears, but LTUE is particularly good for that. Also, I have a spare bedroom (with a single bed) if the cost of the hotel is what's stopping you from coming...

[lonfiction]

Thank you! I will keep that in mind. Thus far it has been the distance, a lot of real life changes and not being able to plan very far ahead. I only just started going to cons last year. I think things will settle down some in the future.

Here is the template I would recommend for a newer writer's cover letter:

Dear [Top Banana's Name], *

Thank you for taking the time to consider "I Have No Nose and I Must Sneeze" for OMGWTFBBQ Illustrated. Other work of mine has appeared in __Best Credit___ and/or __Next Best Credit____. ** I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Darlin' Ellison

*If it is a democraticy-style editorial collective, then Dear OMGWTFBBQ Illustrated Editors will do just fine

[agilebrit]

Ah, yes, it's the "once you have them" thing that's the rub. I've sold two stories, and one won't even appear until September. But I got paid a penny a word or more for both, so that's a good, right?

How do you find out how "reputable" a market is? I can't subscribe to everything, and even if I could I wouldn't have time to read it all. I know Locus is probably a good source for news-type stuff, but that seems like a lot of slogging and a lot of money for a magazine I might not even read...

Ah well. The major thing is to get the thing printed out and shipped off and let the details take care of themselves. I guess I shouldn't worry about whether JJA is going to go "LOLFURS" at the fact that I've been pubbed in Renard's Menagerie, because, dammit, we should all be in this together.

How do you find out how "reputable" a market is?

[lonfiction]

OK that is a slippery slope kind of question--there is nothing so nebulous and hard to define as "collectively, generally held esteem". The best we can get is a sense of what the most experienced and discriminating beacons within the market seem to think, when bounced off of lots of other people's perceptions as well. So bear in mind as you read this that "The code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules." Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Agilebrite

Re: How do you find out how "reputable" a market is?

[agilebrit]

Aha! Thanks very much, that helps tremendously. :)