1st Story Sold
Today I received notice that one of my stories has been accepted for publication. This will be the first story I've ever sold. I wrote it three years ago. It's not a pro market, but it is a paying market. I feel very strange. Can I call myself an author now? I just signed and sent off a contract. Or do I have to wait until it's actually published? I know someone quite close to me that only ever sold one story and the magazine killed it. Since they had bought all the rights, she was unable to sell it elsewhere and thus never got to see it in print. To a pro, it wouldn't have mattered that much as she got paid quite a lot for it, but it was her very first, and now, almost forty years later, it still hurts.