Sigh.

Whoever wrote that article probably caught heck for it, while a copy-editor somewhere is wiping sweat off his/her brow, glad that the public doesn't really understand who writes headlines.

"Should I use a hyphen?"
"Nah. You're good."
"Cool. Cool." pic.twitter.com/RA7vpIvQP8

— John P. Lopez (@LopezOnSports) October 29, 2017

Really Bad Pie

(Driving to school.)

Ronan: What do you get if you make apricot pie without apricots and without the pie?

Me: A whole lot of nothing?

Ronan: Nope. Banana bread.

Me: I suspect you've been making apricot pie incorrectly.

Ronan: Hey, not my fault. Wikipedia has been known to be wrong sometimes.

Shoreline of Infinity calls for stories by women speculative fiction writers

Shoreline of Infinity -- a UK-based spec fiction magazine -- plans to have an all-women-authors edition for International Women's Day in March. They're seeking submissions from women only right now, with a Dec. 31 deadline.

Given that their usual submission pool is normally 80% men (they gripe about the imbalance in the page I've linked to), the odds of a new or emerging writer getting noticed are rarely going to be stronger than in this particular round. It's going to be a smaller pool.

I mention this because I hear at times from former students who have impostor syndrome and authorial promise in equal measure. They have stories, but aren't sending them anywhere. If you just thought, "Oh crap -- that's me," yeah, this window was pretty much made for you. In fact, Shoreline was already an entry-level-friendly, semi-pro market (paying 10 to 50 pounds, depending on length), so it's unlikely you're going to be competing with Ursula K LeGuin or N.K. Jemisin or Karen Russell either. The fledgling guys are out, and the established, pro women are submitting elsewhere.

Mostly what's left are undiscovered women. And of them, only the ones who see the announcement and then enter. 

Two other enticements, both very author-friendly:

1. They don't charge a submission fee. (Many literary journals charge fees, but most SF/spec don't.) Because they accept submissions through an online portal--no postage or trips to the post-office necessary--submitting to them costs nothing. Zilch.

2. They also permit simultaneous submissions. (Few genre mags permit sim-subs. This is normally a feature of literary journals.) A sim-sub policy means you can send your story to them, and, at the same time, send it to anyone else who also accepts simultaneous subs. First place to get back to you gets your story. As soon as one accepts your story, protocol is that you let the others know you're withdrawing the story from their pool so they don't waste their time on it. (There aren't many, but here are some other SF-friendly markets that do accept simultaneous submissions: Syntax & Salt, Metaphorosis, Space Squid [good for weird/funny], Devilfish Review, Breakroom Stories, Reckoning [good for environmental themes], GlitterShip [good for LGBTQ], Hypnos [good for weird/Lovecraftian].)

Relatively few markets have both of those policies. It's usually one or the other--free to submit or simultaneous submissions. A place that takes sim-subs and doesn't charge submission fees makes up a lot (in my books) for having only semi-pro payments. They may not be rich, but they care about writers, is what that says.

Duotrope lists their usual acceptance rate at around 11%, which is higher than most of the better-known markets (often themselves below 1%) but certainly nowhere near being a discussion board or vanity press. It's in that Goldilocks zone of moderately discerning but open to new voices.

I have some specific former students in mind who I am hoping will give this a go. You know who you are.