JJA found himself ungrabbed by the mechanical ducks. They’re slated to go to Strange Horizons next, but I’m toying with the idea of sending them to Cricket, since they might work well as a children’s story. That would mean trimming the story down substantially, but I think I could make it work. Problem is, I don’t want to deal with the story while I’m doing JaNo, and I don’t like the idea of having it sit around for the next 3 weeks when it could be out somewhere.
Don’t trim it then. Send it, and if SH rejects it, then send it to Cricket. It’s a good one, someone will want it.
Hmm…good idea. And thanks for the encouragement :)
I’m going to object. I think MD (to give it an acronym) is a children’s story at heart. Send it to Cricket, I say.
~Tristan
Then again, if time is an issue, you may as well send it to Strange Horizons. But I would get out the shears at the end of the month :)
~Tristan
Yep. I certainly don’t have time to deal with trimming now, so I figure there’s no harm in sending it off to SH.
If you think it’s suitable for YA readers, you could also send it to Cicada – they accept long stories (up to novella-length), and their pay rate can be quite good (it’s something like up to 25 cents a word).
I’m not sure this particular story would fly with the YA crowd, but I’ll definitely have to keep that in mind for future stories. Thanks for the tip!
Cicada and Cricket are run by the same publisher. Sending to Cricket will get you automatically considered by Cicada. Cricket also pays a quarter a word.
So why not send to Strange Horizons and get to Cricket afterward? Cricket can take 9 months or so, I think.
Good idea, I think that’s what I’ll do.
Yep, this is the one that went through writing group. As it stands now, I don’t think it’s a children’s story, but I think it *could* become one with a bit of editing.
Thanks for suggesting Talebones, I’ve never submitted there before but I’ll have to have a look at it!
You’ve got a bunch more markets you can try before resorting to the children’s lit route. My mother submitted some poetry to Cricket (selling a couple), and they do take bloody forever. And it’s outrageously competitive–worse than SF.
So I’d suggest you keep sending poor little ducky out and write something new.
–David S.