Imagine being the guy running Intergalactic Medicine Show who gets to decide what does and doesn't get published. Imagine thinking, "Wow, lucky me. All these great stories and I get the honour of presenting them to thousands of people."
Except.
How long before that story would get published? Months. Compared to the other magazines, the time between receiving and publishing those great stories is huge. Or at least it seems that way. Am I wrong?
Anyway, this time differential is the downfall of IGMS, IMO.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
From what I understand, most magazines have stories purchased for issues many, many months in advance.
Analog, for example, has so many novellas and novelettes already purchased right now, they've asked for about the last six months that people send them more regular short stories instead.
And Asimov's has been known to hold stories for months even after the editor's read them, while they decide whether or not they have a space for it.
IGMS can actually do the opposite--I think "Pretty Boy" was up within a few days of OSC finishing it. The movie reviews also come out shortly after the release of the movies--fast responses you wouldn't get in a print magazine.
And from what I've read, none of the stories for the next issue of IGMS were purchased before the start of July. Which means it will be less than three months from purchase to publication if the magazine does come out next month. I'd be shocked to hear that, say, the stories in this month's Realms of Fantasy were purchased less than six months ago.
But I could be wrong. Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
There are several sites around that will give you the average wait times on most of the mags. IGMS is reportedly around two month, IIRC. Which is pretty good, as I understand it.
But the second half of doc's post is irrelevant, because columnists and OSC himself do not fall in the category of unsolicited submissions.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
You want to talk about irrelevant, JT? Cherios isn't talking about wait times--he's talking about the time between purchase and publication.
And as for the "last half"--I only talk about columnists and OSC in one sentence.
Sorry if I'm in a snarky mood this morning . . . nothing personal Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
He says the time between 'receiving and publishing', not 'purchasing and publishing'.
Since, presumably, the US mail doesn't take 2-3 months to deliver the story, much of that wait is indeed 'wait time'. But it seems that time also encompasses purchase -> publication time.
I didn't count up sentences. You attempt to make two points, and the second is the one I said is irrelevant.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
Okay, fine. Let's parse words.
He didn't say imagine you were a writer, he said, imagine you were an editor. He didn't say to imagine sending off a story for publication. He said to imagine finding a great story in the slush pile.
So it seems he's not talking about "receiving" in the sense of "arrived in my mailbox," but in the sense of "getting it in your hands." Cheiros is apparently considering the terms "receiving" and "purchasing" to be synonymous--one of the reasons why I mentioned that Asimovs holds stories even after reading them.
I'm sorry--I know I'm being a jerk and splitting hairs. I should probably log off for a while . . .
Posted by cheiros do ender (Member # 8849) on :
docmagik gets what I mean. It's "receiving and publishing" for "the guy running Intergalactic Medicine Show". Sorry if I didn't make that clear enough in my first post, El JT de Spang.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Apologies all around, then. I assumed cheiros was waiting to hear on a story of his, and was thus inquiring about wait times (as several hatrackers have).
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