fosteronfilm went to see an advance screening of the new Pink Panther movie last night. I was planning on seeing it with him, but Hobkin sicked up his lunch yesterday, which made three meals in a row that he hadn’t held down, so I decided to stay home and see how he did with dinner.
Matthew gave the movie two reels in his Fosteronfilm review so I’m not all that disappointed to have missed it. (PSA/plug: fosteronfilm has begun doing giveaways of our spare advance screening tickets from his fosteronfilm.com site. Obviously, this is only of interest to locals, but if you’re in the Atlanta area, there are freebies to be had.)
Hobkin’s dinner went over (and stayed down) well. After a bit of minor post-meal chaos–mostly miscellaneous stomping and sporadic digging–Hobkin settled in my lap, fell asleep, and pinned me in my chair all night. I think he’s feeling better.
The prognosis on my back is less positive. My spine feels like one fused plank. Ow.
Writing Stuff
I did indeed sit on my muse (probably not what the doctor recommends for an unhappy back). Alas, the only thing I got out of her was a muffled “more weight.”
Just what I need, a cheeky muse.
Hence, I embarked upon much joyous cat-waxing. I went through my list of recently published works and picked a couple to send out to foreign markets for reprint consideration. I especially like submitting reprints this way ’cause I can sim sub like crazy as there’re no rights conflicts to fret about. Foreign markets buy their translation in their language, easy-schmeasy. It feels like such a luxury compared to the strict one-market-exclusive-consideration-no-matter-how-long-their-RL-is standard for first publication consideration. Sure, there are markets that will consider sim subs, but they’re few and far between, and it doesn’t do a sneeze worth of good if one market will look at sim subs but the other one you want to send it to won’t. It’s so not a writers’ market out there.
Received:
– Contract from Galaktika for the Hungarian reprint of “All in My Mind.”
– 2-day “very well written, but isn’t really a Baen’s Universe story” personal rejection from Baen’s Universe with lots of encouragement, an invite to submit again, and a better idea of what they’re looking for (more action).
– 30-day (!) rejection from GVG (!) of F&SF. Wowza. This is, by far, the longest response time I’ve ever had from F&SF. I thought for sure the ms had been eaten by the USPS. My perception of the world-as-I-know-it has been rocked.
New Words: 100 on “Honor is a Game Mortals Play.”
The end was so clear to me last week, so close I could almost taste it. But now I’m spinning my wheels. Wah!
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5,240 / 6,000
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So where do you discover what foreign markets exist and contact info for them?
I use Doug Smith’s Foreign Market List.
ok, I’ve got a related question: who handles the translation? I ask because I am looking about getting into French => English translation when I’ve got a bit more experience under my belt.
In my experience, the publication handles the translation. I’ve never done my own; I don’t have the foreign language proficiency to even make the attempt. I am utterly clueless as to whether these ‘zines typically outsource their translation work or if they have translators on staff.
Hey, it’s stupid question time.
I find it difficult to use the word count bars for my short stories, because I rarely have a good sense of how long they’ll turn out to be in advance. Now, this isn’t a big deal – I hardly need a word count bar to write – but is your sense of how long an unfinished story is planning to be something you’ve developed over time, or an instinct you’ve always had?
Not a stupid question at all. It’s definitely something I developed over time, and it’s still hit-and-miss, especially for the stories that don’t have rigid word count constraints–i.e. the ones I’m not writing for a particular market. My current WiP has a 6K limit because of the anthology I’m intending it for.
Wow. Sounds like you made it past the slush pile at F & SF. Nice going, that.
Thanks! Now if only I can write one that GVG actually wants to buy . . .
That is the trick, isn’t it? Of course, I’d be happy writing fiction that anybody wanted to buy.
Aww, so glad that Hobkin’s feeling better! :pets fuzzy skunk: But I wish you were! At least virtual hugs don’t hurt peoples’ backs. :hugs:
I know what you mean, about getting almost to the end and knowing exactly how it was going to end–and then getting there and discovering that it wasn’t that way at all! It’s very frustrating. Just be glad (I always am) that you’re getting frustrated about that instead of about some rush hour traffic on the way to some job you hate. 😉
“Just be glad (I always am) that you’re getting frustrated about that instead of about some rush hour traffic on the way to some job you hate.“
Very true! And I’d be utterly content with my lot in life if I was making as much from my writing and all it’s myriad frustrations as I did when I battled the rush hour traffic to and from my ex-day job. Sigh. Trade-offs. But it’s one I’m glad I made. I might feel differently in a couple years when I’m starving or can’t afford health insurance anymore, but for now, I’m pretty happy with the hand o’cards I’ve got. Thanks for the reminder, sweetie. It’s a good one.
:hugs: You’re welcome! Goodness knows, I need to be reminded myself, time after time. 🙂
Classic Double Take
I especially like submitting reprints this way ’cause I can sim sub like crazy as there’re no rights conflicts to fret about. Foreign markets buy their translation in their language, easy-schmeasy.
You can?! This I did not know!!
Re: Classic Double Take
It still depends on the market. Like I wouldn’t submit a manuscript to two French magazines that didn’t take sim subs, for instance, but as long as the language rights they’re buying are different (Polish v. Greek for e.g.), especially if they’re asking for them non-exclusively, there’s no contractual conflict.
In theory, you could submit a story to both a market buying First North American (English) Serial Rights and a market buying First (English) Anthology Rights without it being considered a sim sub, since the rights don’t technically overlap, but there’s always a fuzzy area that I fret about with “first” rights. I typically exclusive sub the first English rights regardless of whether the market is buying First Print, First Anthology, First Serial, First English Language or whatever. But once the exclusive “first” period is over, I sim sub reprints hand over fist as long as the rights don’t overlap.
Reprints in general are better about buying “non-exclusive” rights in the first place. Some reprint places want exclusive rights for a few months after publication, but the majority (in my experience) are fine with non-exclusive.
As a caveat: I’m not a lawyer. But this is my understanding as to how these contract things work.
Re: Classic Double Take
Sounds good to me!! :goes off to simsub her single reprint-able story like mad:
:hugs: I don’t know where I’d be without you, Eugie!
Re: Classic Double Take
Suhweeet! I got a question answered and didn’t have to ask it. Now off to simsub like it’s going out of style. 🙂
So glad Hobkin is better!
Glad the little hairball’s feeling better. 🙂