FMM Updates

First the Slush Pile info:


283 submissions received thus far.

We have rejected 240 submissions thus far, held 3 for voting, sent 6 back for suggested rewrites, and accepted 1.

We have 16 more submissions before the editorial board and we have 18 submissions waiting in our inbox for review.



General info:


Things have been a bit slow at the magazine because I have been ill. I handle the majority of our email accounts, as well as helping our solitary admin assistant with new submissions. I could use two more assistants, so if you're interested, please email me at info (at) wingedhalo.com - with me handling so much of the behind-the-scenes work, things slow down when I'm sick. I apologize to anyone who felt like they were sending emails into a black hole. I think I've responded to everyone, but if not, please resend your email and I'll respond asap.

The January issue is coming along nicely, though we'd like to get those six rewrite requests back so we can try to include those stories in the issue. We've been tougher in our decisions, so we have fewer stories to choose from so far. Hopefully we'll get some high-quality submissions before the end of the year.

Our next update probably won't be until January 10th, after we've finished reviewing all submissions and made final decisions on the January issue.

Here's wishing everyone a happy holiday season!

Jennifer Dawson
Editor-in-Chief

Up to date

208 submissions received thus far.

We have rejected 193 submissions thus far, held 2 for voting, sent 4 back for suggested rewrites, and accepted 1 (though I haven't notified the author yet).

We have 8 more submissions before the editorial board.

We have no submissions waiting in our inbox for review!

FMM Staff

All caught up!

We are finally all caught up with submissions!

Every submission received has been put before the editorial board. We have 25 that are still under consideration; everything else has been reviewed and a decision made. All those authors have been notified.

Here are the stats:

197 submissions received thus far.

We have rejected 169 submissions thus far, held 2 for voting, sent 1 back for suggested rewrites, and accepted 0.

We have 25 more submissions before the editorial board.

We have no submissions waiting in our inbox for review!

FMM Staff

Updated Submission Guidelines

I can't open .docx attachments, so I'm changing the submission guidelines to reflect that.

Thanks!
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief

FMM Raffle

I put all the donors' names into a hat, and had my daughter pull them out one by one as I went through the prizes. Notified all the people to get mailing addresses. I have about half of them packaged and ready to ship on Monday. I need to find/buy some boxes to ship the goodie bags to the two lucky winners, though.

I'm in need of more donated books now, as I'm down to two that weren't part of the raffle this time. I expect we'll do another fund drive/raffle again next year about the same time. If you have a book or two you'd like to donate - autographed ones are even better! - let me know. All of our books this time around are ones our staff reviewed.

And on that note, if we've published a story of yours in the past and you have a book published, we'd be happy to review it. For more information, visit our book review page at http://www.wingedhalo.com/reviews.html

JDawson
Editor-in-Chief

Getting Caught Up (and other news)

We are closer and closer to getting caught up. We've now posted all subs received by October 31st!

We have rejected 127 submissions thus far, held 2 for voting, sent 1 back for rewrites, and accepted 0.

We have 26 more submissions before the editorial board and we have not started reviewing any submissions received after October 31st, 2008.

We have 25 submissions still waiting in our inbox for review.

***

In other news, our 2008 Compilation CDs are now on sale through our website! Each CD contains all four 2008 issues in PDF format, as well as several extras. The $10 price includes shipping, so order your CD directly from FMM while you can. We accept PayPal, credit cards, and even bank withdrawals through PayPal. You can also email us for our mailing address if you prefer to send a check or money order.

We have a limited amount of these CDs available. When we sell out of them, the Compilation will only be available for purchase through our CafePress store, and they will charge additional shipping fees. The version for sale directly from FMM includes a slim CD jewel case and coverart.

Visit our website at http://www.wingedhalo.com/compilation.html for more information!

***

We are also considering having another themed issue next year, since our all-fantasy issue was such a success. We'd love to hear your thoughts about it. We can do another all-fantasy issue, or expand it to encompass both fantasy and science fiction. Feel free to email your thoughts to us at info@wingedhalo.com or comment here on our blog.

***

Finally, we still have several staff positions we're trying to fill. If you love flash and would like to be part of our team, you can learn more about our open positions at http://www.wingedhalo.com/positions.html


FMM Staff

Wading Through the Slush

All of our staff is working hard to get through our backlogged submissions... please bear with us while we catch up!

We have rejected 108 submissions thus far, held 2 for voting, sent 1 back for rewrites, and accepted 0, out of the first 111 submissions we've reviewed so far.

We have 8 more submissions before the editorial board and we have not started reviewing any submissions received after October 9th, 2008.

We have 63 submissions still waiting in our inbox for review.

FMM Staff

Editor Positions

Flash Me Magazine is looking for a few more editors to join its staff. We're looking for people who enjoy reading a wide variety of fiction and who have the time to devote to the magazine. Editors must be opinionated yet tactful.

We are also looking for an administrative manager, admin assistants, a development staff, and contest administrators to join our team. We hire from within first, so there’s always the possibility of moving into another position. You may apply for more then one position, if you feel you'll have the time to devote to more than one.

All of our staff works on a volunteer basis and enthusiasm is more important than any experience.

If you're interested in any of the above positions, check out our website at http://www.wingedhalo.com/positions.html for more information!

JDawson
Editor-in-Chief

Slush Pile Update

186 submissions received thus far.

We have rejected 82 submissions thus far, held 1 for voting, and accepted 0, out of the first eighty-three submissions we've reviewed so far.

We have 12 more submissions before the editorial board and we have not started reviewing any submissions received after September 28th, 2008.

We have 81 submissions still waiting in our inbox for review.

FMM Staff

On Hiatus

Flash Me Magazine will be on hiatus until November 5th while we attend the World Fantasy Convention.

Submissions can still be submitted but it may take a bit longer to receive a receipt email while we're out of town.

Once we get back from Calgary, we'll hold our raffle and ship out prizes to the lucky winners. We'll also send out 2008 Compilation CDs to those contributors/donors who qualified for one. We will then add the compilation CD to our CafePress store for sale to the general public! And then we'll work double-time to get submissions caught up before the holidays.

Thanks for your patience as we slowly wade through the back-logged submissions!

FMM Staff

Update

137 submissions received thus far.

We have rejected 71 submissions thus far, held 1 for voting, and accepted 0, out of the first seventy-two submissions we've reviewed so far.

We have 12 more submissions before the editorial board and we have not started reviewing any submissions received after September 19th, 2008.

We have 54 submissions still waiting in our inbox for review.

FMM Staff

World Fantasy Convention

In case you haven't already heard, Flash Me Magazine will be attending the WFC in Calgary the lat weekend in October. We will have a table in the dealer room.

If you'll be at the convention, enter the dealer room, take a right and head towards the wall. Flash Me Magazine's table will be right there. We'll have tee-shirts, bags, a few teddy bears, the 2008 Compilation CDs, and we'll also be selling raffle tickets for goodie bags filled with everything listed above. We'll also be giving out FMM magnets with every purchase til we run out. We'll also take orders for subscriptions, single issues, and other merchandise.

Pre-registration has ended, but you can still purchase memberships at the door. Come join the fun and stop by to see us!

JDawson
Editor-in-Chief

Slush Pile Update

131 submissions received thus far.

We have rejected 59 submissions thus far, held 1 for voting, and accepted 0, out of the first sixty submissions we've reviewed so far.

We have 11 more submissions before the editorial board and we have not started reviewing any submissions received after September 10th, 2008.

We have 60 submissions still waiting in our inbox for review.

FMM Staff

Slush Update

110 submissions received thus far.

We have rejected 54 submissions thus far, held 2 for voting, and accepted 0, out of the first fifty-six submissions we've reviewed so far.

We have 12 more submissions before the editorial board and we have not started reviewing any submissions received after September 7th, 2008.

We have 42 submissions still waiting in our inbox for review.

***

Things to think about when submitting to any market via email:

Is your email address professional?

goodietwoshoes49@yahoo.com, gimmieyourluv@gmail, foxybabie@hotmail.com, and other descriptive email address names aren't professional. In this digital age, most markets, agents, and publishing houses accept submissions via email. Will having an unprofessional email address get your stories rejected? No, but everyone should be careful how they are presenting themselves in the writing world. If you have an email account that isn't professional, why not open a new one specifically for your writing.

So your email address is professional enough... excellent! But what name shows up in an editor's inbox? Is your email account name professional?

Most of the submissions we've received this quarter have been professional - the author's first and last names, capitalized. A few of the names are lowercase. Not a real issue, but I have to wonder why. Is it that hard to capitalize your name? Aren't you a proper noun? About an eighth of the submissions have the author's email address listed instead of their name. That works, as well, but again, why not list your name? Wouldn't you rather be known as John Doe instead of john_doe49@hotmail.com?

It's the other names that boggle my mind, though. Just the first name? Hello, John... am I supposed to know you? Which John are you again? Oh, I have to open your email to find out? I'll let my administrative assistant handle you. First and last names thrown together like some kind of hybrid? johndoe? That screams of laziness to me. The worst offenders are animals. Fox, hound, fish, pup, kitty, etc. My dog doesn't know how to email, fortunately, but I'd hate to think she took over my email account and changed my name from Jennifer to dog. Even if your last name is Fox, it's not professional to send email from Fox. Or fox.

The point of this fun little rant? It's not difficult to change the name that appears in people's inboxes. So take a look at yours and think about how professional yours is before sending in a submission.

JDawson
Editor-in-Chief

Slush Pile Update

98 submissions received thus far.

We have rejected 45 submissions thus far, held 1 for voting, and accepted 0, out of the first forty-six submissions we've reviewed so far.

We have 10 more submissions before the editorial board and we have not started reviewing any submissions received after August 28th, 2008.

We have 43 submissions still waiting in our inbox for review.

***

In other news, our fund drive overdrive ends Wednesday, October 1st so send those donations today! We're giving away lots of instant prizes, and every donor is entered into our end of fund drive raffle. For more information, check out our fund drive page at www.wingedhalo.com/fundraisers.html

FMM Staff

Slush Pile Update

88 submissions received thus far.

We have rejected 25 submissions thus far, held 1 for voting, and accepted 0, out of the first twenty-six submissions we've reviewed so far.

We have 19 more submissions before the editorial board and we have not started reviewing any submissions received after August 20th, 2008.

We have 43 submissions still waiting in our inbox for review.


Pet Peeves for today:

Emails that do not include the requested information: I shouldn't have to open the attachments to log the necessary information. Worse yet, every email should tell me who the submission is from. I don't need a full letter, but the basics would be nice.

Being addressed as Jennifer Michaels: I haven't been Jennifer Michaels in over two years. Of course that's still preferably to being called Dave Clapper. He's a great guy and a respected editor, but he's not on my staff - never has been. I suspect it's a matter of copying a previous submission email and pasting it into a new email, but it's still annoying. It's always safer to just say "Dear Editor" or "Dear Editors" if you're not certain who to address. "Dear Flash Me Magazine" works, too. I wasn't impressed with the "Hey Guys!" though.

Strange text colors: We received one attachment that was all red, underlined text. Other emails had variety of colors sprinkled in them. Just like pen ink, black or blue are acceptable; reds, purples, and other strange colors don't belong in a submission.

Title mistakes: All submissions should have a title, only one title, and shouldn't have typos in the title. I have one submission with two titles.

Explanations: I don't need to know how long you've been using a computer, that you write for money only, that this isn't your strongest story, your age, etc, unless it's in the bio you want published. Other random information not pertaining to the story, publishing credits, or bio just muddles the submission.

JDawson
Editor-in-Chief

Slush Count as of 9-18-08

We have received 86 submissions between July 31 and September 18 and just started reviewing submissions after a brief hiatus.

We have rejected 13 submissions thus far, held 0 for voting, and accepted 0. 

Right now we have 13 more submissions before the editorial board and have not started reviewing any submissions received after August 5, 2008. We have 60 submissions still waiting in our inbox to be reviewed.

We will go through submissions as quickly as possible, in the order they were received.

Please remember if you do not receive a receipt email from us within two days of sending us a submission, please resend. All submissions should have the word "SUBMISSION" in the subject line, as well as your story's title. One submission per email. Please review our submission guidelines at www.wingedhalo.com/guidelines.html.

Thank you,

FMM Staff

New Blog

I've been posting random FMM news on my own blog for a while now, and decided it would be easier to have one set up specifically for this purpose.

The main goal will be to discuss the slush pile at the magazine, but I will also post any news and such I feel authors will be interested in.

News:

*Right now we're accepting submissions for the January 31, 2009 issue. 

*Our Fund Drive is in overdrive, with lots of prizes awarded to those who donate before October 1st.

*We will have a dealer table at the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary Oct 30th-Nov 2nd. If you'll be there, come see us!

*Our 2008 Compilation CDs will go on sale October 30th for only $10.

*We are looking for books to review in 2009. If interested, check out our Review Page.

*We have several open positions. Click here for more information.

JDawson

Editor-in-Chief