Helen,

There's a whole range of ways magazines finance themselves now. Some do it by donations; some by advertising; some by both; others charge a nominal fee to download, some do that and advertise, etc. Curiously, the higher payers, like Clarkesworld, are often the free-to-read/donations type; so there must be a market there. Having said that, these models appear to work more in SF/Fantasy/Horror than anywhere else, which may be a reflection of the general supportiveness you get amongst fans and writers/artists in those genres. (I donate to quite a few SF mags/podcasts. I've never added it up but suspect that if I factored in overheads, etc, I probably pay more to online mags comparatively than to print ones.)

As for what they pay . . . there is no standard rate; it varies considerably. Many mags don't pay, or pay with copies, etc. The SFWA lists what it considers to be professional magazines; in general, ones that pay at least 5c per word. This is quite a drop on the past, i.e. it was about the same rate back in the 'Golden Age' of SF, in the 30s/40s. So, you wouldn't try to make a living exclusively writing short fiction now; but there are the other benefits I mentioned above. Besides, a 5000 word story at 5c per word is still $250 which is not bad - especially if you can write one in a day or so and don't have to pay an agent's fee; also, it's a direct fee so there's no possible come back from the publisher which you might have if your novel hasn't earned out its advance.

However, it's not entirely down to how much they pay. For instance, the 'big 4' SF/Fantasy print magazines don't pay as highly as a few online mags now do, but in general carry a lot of writing clout and probably still attract the most submissions. Having said that, mags like Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Clarkesworld are rapidly gaining very good reputations for quality.

After the pro level mags, there are quite a few that pay between 1-3c per word; and after that a lot that pay a token fee. However, it's not all about fees: some low-paying mags have very good reputations (e.g. Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet).

You can check out fees, genres, etc at duotrope: http://www.duotrope.com/

Terry



<Added>

Interestingly, just after I posted that, I got an email alert from the forum for the Odyssey Workshop I attended in 2006. It's from a writer who's just made her first short story sale. The story was one she'd put in to that workshop, and has re-written since. The mag pays $20 per story. Which at one level isn't much, especially after nearly 3 years. However, she spends most of her time on novels. She hasn't had any published yet but, although she didn't say it, I suspect selling a short story will probably help her novel-writing confidence no end. There is often a massive gap between starting as a novelist and selling that first novel - a gap that's getting harder to fill at all these days. At least with short stories there is more of a gradated scale, e.g. low-paying to higher-paying, and even the low-paying mags publish stories that can win SF awards.

Thank you Terry.
I can see that one couldn't make a living out of it but certainly the extra cash every now and the would be very nice indeed for those that have a talent for it - not me.
HB x

Gives you the chance to try out lots of voices, styles, characters, POVs, genres. A major problem I find with a lot of the new novel writers I work with is that they simply lack the flexibility and reach that comes with lots of practice - the kind you get from writing lots of short stories.

As I'm not a natural short story writer, this reason really covers it for me. I love the chance it gives me to experiment with ways of narrating that aren't the first things that spring to mind, without having to commit to something unfamiliar for the next 2- 5 years!

Well, my plans to write short fiction fell on their arse. I've finally managed to set my six year old laptop back to its factory settings - just before the CD drive completely failed. I've got Word only - no internet, no emails - but runs like shit off a stick. So I'm planning on starting a new active streak today (for the DWS followers ))

What happened to the old streak?

I'm on week 21 of mine: 120,000+ words so far; about 40,000 on the novel, the rest on short stories; not bad for 20 weeks.

On another note, got my fastest-ever rejection last week: Fantasy Magazine rejected a story 15 mins after I submitted it! (And since then, they've rejected another; this time in 80 mins.)

Terry

My streak started well, then went downhill when my laptop started acting up. I've done 38k since Boxing day, which is way below what I trying for (17k per month). During March I was revising, so my streak went down to 1,800 words for the whole month. That's just shit. I'm a total nerd, keeping all counts and totals in a spreadsheet. That way I can look at the gaps and see where I need to apply the excuses!

Colin

With regards to word count I find it a double edged sword I can write a thousand words an hour and average 20 thousand words a week, however, as soon as I start editing my work that drops like a rock.

That aside I've found this thread really interesting I've not dabbled into any kind of short fiction yet, I'm not even sure I can get a story told in 5,000 words but I'm certainly going to try it'll give me something to write in the lulls of writing my main book.

Phil

http://thewordsescapeme.blogspot.com/

Phil,

The idea of 'streaks' is something Dean Wesley Smith came up with: can be on a daily basis, e.g. 1,000 words, or weekly, e.g. 6,000 words, and for say 48 weeks out of the following 52. I'm pretty well-disciplined anyway, but have found keeping to a streak very useful. As you say, it's hard to keep it up when you're editing too; but that's the point, really: to have a regular, ongoing output of fresh work.

Incidentally, I highly recommend Dean's blog (http://deanwesleysmith.com/): full of terrific advice on writing and publishing, and all from direct experience.

Terry

Thank you Terry. This looks good.

Susannah