We have received 82 submissions so far this quarter.
We have rejected 50, sent 1 back for rewrites, held 2 for voting, and accepted 3 (though we haven't contacted those authors yet).
We have 12 submissions before the editorial board right now, and 14 left in our inbox. We have not reviewed any submissions received after January 25th.
***
Our PDF subscriptions will be emailed out later today; we had some last minute additions to make and are proofreading the final draft.
FMM Staff
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Our January 31, 2009 Issue is now live!
We have six stories in this issue, featuring stories by: Stephanie Haefner, Gayla Chaney, Random de Shea, Fiona Glass, Paul Lewellan and Wayne Scheer. We also have an interview with J.C. Runolfson and a book review in this issue.
It’s the beginning of a new year, and here at Flash Me Magazine we strive to make each year better than the last. This year, that meant changing our guidelines, cutting down on the number of stories we publish each issue, changing the cover’s look, and updating some of the web pages. For more information on the changes we’ve made, see our “What’s New?” section of the magazine at http://www.wingedhalo.com/new.html
Also, it's not too late to purchase your copy of our 2008 Compilation CD. For a limited time we will throw in a year's subscription to Flash Me Magazine with every CD purchase! That's right. Order your 2008 Compilation CD before April 30th and you'll receive all four 2009 issues, as well! Visit http://www.wingedhalo.com/compilation.html for more information.
FMM Staff
It’s the beginning of a new year, and here at Flash Me Magazine we strive to make each year better than the last. This year, that meant changing our guidelines, cutting down on the number of stories we publish each issue, changing the cover’s look, and updating some of the web pages. For more information on the changes we’ve made, see our “What’s New?” section of the magazine at http://www.wingedhalo.com/new.html
Also, it's not too late to purchase your copy of our 2008 Compilation CD. For a limited time we will throw in a year's subscription to Flash Me Magazine with every CD purchase! That's right. Order your 2008 Compilation CD before April 30th and you'll receive all four 2009 issues, as well! Visit http://www.wingedhalo.com/compilation.html for more information.
FMM Staff
Monday, January 26, 2009
Slush Update
We have received 79 submissions so far this quarter.
We have rejected 40, sent 1 back for rewrites, held 1 for voting, and accepted 3 (though we haven't contacted those authors yet).
We have 10 submissions before the editorial board right now, and 13 left in our inbox. We have not reviewed any submissions received after January 20th.
***
Slush Pile Gripes:
Two things have happened recently: we received forwarded submissions (meaning the author didn't bother to send us a new email after submitting the story elsewhere) and we received two stories that weren't supposed to come to us. Both look unprofessional.
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
We have rejected 40, sent 1 back for rewrites, held 1 for voting, and accepted 3 (though we haven't contacted those authors yet).
We have 10 submissions before the editorial board right now, and 13 left in our inbox. We have not reviewed any submissions received after January 20th.
***
Slush Pile Gripes:
Two things have happened recently: we received forwarded submissions (meaning the author didn't bother to send us a new email after submitting the story elsewhere) and we received two stories that weren't supposed to come to us. Both look unprofessional.
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Working Hard
We have been working hard and getting submissions reviewed faster than ever before.
We have received 57 submissions so far this quarter.
We have rejected 26, sent 1 back for rewrites, and accepted 2 (though we haven't contacted those authors yet).
We have 12 submissions before the editorial board right now, and 15 left in our inbox. We have not reviewed any submissions received after January 17th.
FMM Staff
We have received 57 submissions so far this quarter.
We have rejected 26, sent 1 back for rewrites, and accepted 2 (though we haven't contacted those authors yet).
We have 12 submissions before the editorial board right now, and 15 left in our inbox. We have not reviewed any submissions received after January 17th.
FMM Staff
Monday, January 19, 2009
Slush Pile Update
We have received 48 submissions so far this quarter.
We have rejected 16, sent 1 back for rewrites, and accepted 1 (though we haven't contacted that author yet).
We have 11 submissions before the editorial board right now, and 19 left in our inbox.
FMM Staff
We have rejected 16, sent 1 back for rewrites, and accepted 1 (though we haven't contacted that author yet).
We have 11 submissions before the editorial board right now, and 19 left in our inbox.
FMM Staff
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
New Quarter Stats
The editors at FMM are back to work and have started going through the slush pile!
We have received 38 submissions so far and 8 are now before the editorial board.
***
Nits so far this quarter:
1) Failure to follow our submission guidelines. The big things here people are having the word SUBMISSION and your story's title in the subject line, and having your name, byline, bio, and story in the submission. That really shouldn't be too much to ask for, yet we keep rejecting submissions that fail to give this basic information.
2) Weird formatting in attachments. We're not going to reject a submission for this, but it still amazes me how many people send in unprofessional manuscripts. The biggest nit so far is strange fonts. It's one thing to use an eye-catching font, but quite another to use one that makes all of the document's text all caps. I had to change the font on one before I could send it before the editors. I can't understand why anyone would do that...
***
January Issue progress:
I have formatted all the stories for the online version of the magazine. We're going back to putting all of our regular issue stories online, and we'll be saving the other extras for the PDF subscriptions. It's more work for me, but posting only the Feature Story online didn't increase our subscriptions enough to warrant the change.
I am finalizing the coverart for this year, having gotten approval from our artist. Now it's just a matter of giving the covers a fresh look.
I still have to format the PDF version, which is the last thing I do after all the contributors have approved their stories.
It takes the most time, but subscription sales are what enables us to pay our contributors and I enjoy putting together a quality product.
That's it for now...
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
We have received 38 submissions so far and 8 are now before the editorial board.
***
Nits so far this quarter:
1) Failure to follow our submission guidelines. The big things here people are having the word SUBMISSION and your story's title in the subject line, and having your name, byline, bio, and story in the submission. That really shouldn't be too much to ask for, yet we keep rejecting submissions that fail to give this basic information.
2) Weird formatting in attachments. We're not going to reject a submission for this, but it still amazes me how many people send in unprofessional manuscripts. The biggest nit so far is strange fonts. It's one thing to use an eye-catching font, but quite another to use one that makes all of the document's text all caps. I had to change the font on one before I could send it before the editors. I can't understand why anyone would do that...
***
January Issue progress:
I have formatted all the stories for the online version of the magazine. We're going back to putting all of our regular issue stories online, and we'll be saving the other extras for the PDF subscriptions. It's more work for me, but posting only the Feature Story online didn't increase our subscriptions enough to warrant the change.
I am finalizing the coverart for this year, having gotten approval from our artist. Now it's just a matter of giving the covers a fresh look.
I still have to format the PDF version, which is the last thing I do after all the contributors have approved their stories.
It takes the most time, but subscription sales are what enables us to pay our contributors and I enjoy putting together a quality product.
That's it for now...
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
Monday, January 12, 2009
One Quarter Ends, Another Quarter Begins
I have finished sending out acceptance letters for our January 31, 2009 issue. If you submitted a story on or before December 31st and you haven't heard from us, please query.
The next three weeks will be dedicated to formatting the January issue, both online and in PDf format. Email responses may be slow during this time, so please bear with me.
We haven't started reviewing new submissions for the April 30, 2009 issue yet, but we've already received 37 correctly formatted submissions. I say "correctly formatted" because we started rejecting submissions that did not have the requested subject line information. We've sent back a great many submissions... hopefully those authors will make the appropriate corrections and resubmit.
As soon as we've started reviewing submissions, I'll post the slush pile status updates here.
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
The next three weeks will be dedicated to formatting the January issue, both online and in PDf format. Email responses may be slow during this time, so please bear with me.
We haven't started reviewing new submissions for the April 30, 2009 issue yet, but we've already received 37 correctly formatted submissions. I say "correctly formatted" because we started rejecting submissions that did not have the requested subject line information. We've sent back a great many submissions... hopefully those authors will make the appropriate corrections and resubmit.
As soon as we've started reviewing submissions, I'll post the slush pile status updates here.
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
News
Today is the first day that we will be strictly enforcing our submission guidelines... We sent back one submission already, for lack of a story's title in the subject line, and for not including a short bio.
Today is also the day that we're sending out our last batch of rejection letters for last quarter. We are holding voting now, and should have our final selections for the January issue within the week. If you haven't heard from us by Friday the 9th, please query.
And finally, we notified authors from FMM that are on the P&E poll this year, then we sent out letters to our Pushcart Prize nominees. We also sent out the letter to our solo Micro Award nominee. Nine letters filled with good news:) The nominees will be announced in our January issue on the 31st.
FMM Staff
Today is also the day that we're sending out our last batch of rejection letters for last quarter. We are holding voting now, and should have our final selections for the January issue within the week. If you haven't heard from us by Friday the 9th, please query.
And finally, we notified authors from FMM that are on the P&E poll this year, then we sent out letters to our Pushcart Prize nominees. We also sent out the letter to our solo Micro Award nominee. Nine letters filled with good news:) The nominees will be announced in our January issue on the 31st.
FMM Staff
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Please Vote!
Every year Preditors and Editors hosts a poll for the best of the previous year. Flash Me Magazine has been on the polls for many years, for the magazine itself, for its coverart, for the editor, and for our authors.
Last year we placed #7 for 2007 with Elizabeth Tomcheck's coverart for Issue 16 in the Magazine/Ezine Art category.
Voting ends January 14th, so if you have some time, please go vote. It doesn't take much time but it's a fun annual poll to celebrate what we all do!
***
Also, Help Defend P&E:
Unfortunately, there are those who do not like P&E or its editor because we give out information that they would prefer remain hidden from writers. Usually, they slink away, but not this time. P&E is being sued and we are asking for donations to mount a legal defense in court. Please click here and give if you can to help protect P&E so it can continue to defend writers as it has for the past eleven years.
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
Last year we placed #7 for 2007 with Elizabeth Tomcheck's coverart for Issue 16 in the Magazine/Ezine Art category.
Voting ends January 14th, so if you have some time, please go vote. It doesn't take much time but it's a fun annual poll to celebrate what we all do!
***
Also, Help Defend P&E:
Unfortunately, there are those who do not like P&E or its editor because we give out information that they would prefer remain hidden from writers. Usually, they slink away, but not this time. P&E is being sued and we are asking for donations to mount a legal defense in court. Please click here and give if you can to help protect P&E so it can continue to defend writers as it has for the past eleven years.
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
Friday, January 2, 2009
Quarter End
We just finished sending all new submissions before the editors, so things are wrapping up quickly.
We have received 358 submissions this quarter and our inbox is empty!
We have accepted 1 outright story so far, held 5 for voting, and sent 7 back for rewrites
We have rejected 282 submissions so far, and we still have 63 before the editors.
We will have everything wrapped up by January 11th and will notify all authors before January 17th.
***
In other news:
While you’re waiting to hear from us regarding your submission, you can order a copy of our new 2008 Compilation CD, which has all four of our 2008 issues as well as some great behind-the-scenes information. They're only $10 and if you order one before April 30th we'll throw in a year's subscription to Flash Me Magazine as well!
***
Editor's nits and gripes:
I've been saving up my list of complaints for a few weeks now and I can safely say that the quality of submission procedures has gone down hill. I hope it's just a year-end rush to get things submitted and not a wave of laziness overcoming authors.
We received TONS of submissions without the story's title in the subject line, which makes sending out rejection letters a real pain. I'm going to start sending back submissions without the title in the subject, both to save myself some time and aggravation, and to get the point across that we have submission guidelines for a reason and we expect authors to read them (and follow them!) when sending us their work. As far as guidelines go, we're not very picky, and putting the story's title in the subject line isn't very difficult.
We also received dozens of blank emails with attachments. Is it really that hard to put something in the email? Your name, perhaps? Your bio? A hello? We don't require cover letters, but this is the perfect place to give us the information we DO require. It really shouldn't be on the manuscript...
Email addresses that either don't work or require some sort of special process to prove we're not spam are both annoying. I avoid the aggravation by deleting the submission. Afterall, if I can't send you a receipt email, how am I going to send you an acceptance letter? If you're sending us an email and your spam filters are out of control, add our email address to the filter list. It's for your benefit, not ours.
The lack of professional manuscripts attached has also been surprising. We don't really care how the story is formatted, so long as it's legible. It still amazes me, though, how many manuscripts cover to us looking like third grade English papers, with only a title and the story, if we're lucky. I opened a few that didn't even have the title on the document! We're lax about formatting, but it wouldn't hurt authors to format every story in a standard way with your contact info, the title, your name as you want it published, and the story.
I suppose that's enough to gripe about for now:)
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
We have received 358 submissions this quarter and our inbox is empty!
We have accepted 1 outright story so far, held 5 for voting, and sent 7 back for rewrites
We have rejected 282 submissions so far, and we still have 63 before the editors.
We will have everything wrapped up by January 11th and will notify all authors before January 17th.
***
In other news:
While you’re waiting to hear from us regarding your submission, you can order a copy of our new 2008 Compilation CD, which has all four of our 2008 issues as well as some great behind-the-scenes information. They're only $10 and if you order one before April 30th we'll throw in a year's subscription to Flash Me Magazine as well!
***
Editor's nits and gripes:
I've been saving up my list of complaints for a few weeks now and I can safely say that the quality of submission procedures has gone down hill. I hope it's just a year-end rush to get things submitted and not a wave of laziness overcoming authors.
We received TONS of submissions without the story's title in the subject line, which makes sending out rejection letters a real pain. I'm going to start sending back submissions without the title in the subject, both to save myself some time and aggravation, and to get the point across that we have submission guidelines for a reason and we expect authors to read them (and follow them!) when sending us their work. As far as guidelines go, we're not very picky, and putting the story's title in the subject line isn't very difficult.
We also received dozens of blank emails with attachments. Is it really that hard to put something in the email? Your name, perhaps? Your bio? A hello? We don't require cover letters, but this is the perfect place to give us the information we DO require. It really shouldn't be on the manuscript...
Email addresses that either don't work or require some sort of special process to prove we're not spam are both annoying. I avoid the aggravation by deleting the submission. Afterall, if I can't send you a receipt email, how am I going to send you an acceptance letter? If you're sending us an email and your spam filters are out of control, add our email address to the filter list. It's for your benefit, not ours.
The lack of professional manuscripts attached has also been surprising. We don't really care how the story is formatted, so long as it's legible. It still amazes me, though, how many manuscripts cover to us looking like third grade English papers, with only a title and the story, if we're lucky. I opened a few that didn't even have the title on the document! We're lax about formatting, but it wouldn't hurt authors to format every story in a standard way with your contact info, the title, your name as you want it published, and the story.
I suppose that's enough to gripe about for now:)
JDawson
Editor-in-Chief
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Changes Anyone?
It is the beginning of a near year and the staff of Flash Me Magazine is contemplating possible changes. If you have any suggestions for us, now is the time to voice them!
You can email us at info (at) wingedhalo.com with any suggestions you might have.
We will take all suggestions into consideration, but we will not reply unless we need clarification from you.
Thank you for your support and have a Happy New Year!
FMM Staff
You can email us at info (at) wingedhalo.com with any suggestions you might have.
We will take all suggestions into consideration, but we will not reply unless we need clarification from you.
Thank you for your support and have a Happy New Year!
FMM Staff
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
