Tag: sale

The best reason to query overdue responses

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 6 Comments

I was sitting at my computer, procrastinating my bedtime, and decided to query Every Day Fiction about a story I’d had out to them for 77 days.  In my experience, queries usually grease the wheels of rejection and free up stories for other markets.  I originally thought EDF would likely buy this story (especially since I’ve never taken the steps to collect payment from them on the first story they bought), but I’ve given up on overconfidence.  So I queried.

Apparently the story had already been accepted and my response was lost in cyberspace (probably blocked by a spam filter that couldn’t prevent a boatload of canned meat from docking in my inbox).  Moreover, the story hits the web tomorrow!  (That’s probably today by this point!)

Yes, friends, “Drake’s Eye” will be EDF’s story of the day on May 6th.  (If you missed it, it’ll be up for a while.)

That is what I call a well timed query.  I could have missed my own publication.  Whew.

So now I need to share this info with the world before said world wakes tomorrow and misses my mini-glory.  Consider yourself informed.

Little sale, big relief

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

The first short story I ever wrote sold to the first market I sent it to (The Fifth Di… I think).  I attribute that luck to good market research and a charitable editorial staff.  Since that inaugural publication, no story has sold to its first market.  Until today.

Big thanks to Jordan Lapp and his staff at Every Day Fiction.  They picked up “How Quickly We Forget” without it being rejected by anyone else first.  The story was inspired by a prompt from Jordan.

Being a friend, Jordan didn’t want to look at it without knowing his editors’ opinions first.  Fortunately they liked it, too.  No word yet on whn the massive three-dollar chec will arrive.  They still have “A Game of Telephone” in their queue, the story I wrote for the CoolStuff4Writers.com all-dialogue contest in May.  Maybe they’ll like that, too.

It’s always good to make a sale, no matter the size of the check.  It’s even better when it’s the firsttime selling to a market.  It’s an added bonus it’s Jordan’s zine.

-Oso