Clarkesworld Magazine's year in slush

Clarkesworld Magazine has a fascinating post up detailing the last year of handling their slush pile. Here's the breakdown:

• Total Submissions 4269
• Days open 320
• Avg. Subs Per Day 13.3
• # of Authors 2721
• Highest # of Subs from a Single Author 25

Those numbers indicate the incredible hurdles emerging writers have to overcome to be published in a pro magazine. 2721 authors submitted 4269 stories in 2009 to Clarkesworld. Wow! Since Clarkesworld only publishes 48 24 stories each year (two per month), that means you have a 1% .5% chance of having your story accepted. Add in that half of the stories Clarkesworld publishes are set aside for "established" authors, and that lowers the odds even more for new writers.

Of course, the quality of your writing can dramatically change the odds. For example, somehow I suspect the author who submitted 25 stories to Clarkesworld in 2009 was not creating professional level stories. Still, new writers should keep these numbers in mind when they consider what it will take to become published.

UPDATE: Thanks to Jay Lake and Robert Laughlin for pointing out my mistaken math (both times). Duh on me. Obviously 2 x 12 is 24, not 48. Guess my brain wasn't working too well this morning. And as Robert pointed out, the actual percentage is .56%, which should be rounded to .6%, but I left it at .5 because I hate rounding.

Comments

[Robert Laughlin]

Your brain still is not working well. You put the decimal point in the wrong place; it should be .5%, not .05% (and, actually, the acceptance rate is closer to .6%).

[Jason Sanford]

Thanks for the catch, Robert. Not my finest day at math. But everything is now fixed.

[Robert Laughlin]

No, it isn't, Jason. My last name is Laughlin, not McLaughlin.

[Jason Sanford]

Sorry about that. Problem is I'm trying to multi-task while making corrections. Not the best way to fix stuff. Anyway, I corrected your name above.

BTW, I see you're now able to post here. Glad whatever the problem was is now resolved.

[T.W. Anderson]

It's an interesting number.

As someone who has spent the past 2 years working my way up through the journalism and content world writing digital content as a freelancer, but with an extreme interest in fiction, I've been doing a lot of research in the past month looking at the actual numbers behind some of the magazines focusing on spec-fic (that is, science fiction and fantasy as a whole; generalizing there a bit, but it simplifies things).

What I've found in my own work is that traditional publications are exceptionally hard to get published at because there are literally so many people submitting stories that it becomes a (nearly) impossible task. While your above scenario is just for one publication, you have to figure if the percentage is roughly the same for most publications focusing on that type of writing, and you figure that most places take 3-4 months to get back to a writer to let them know....even if you (the writer) are submitting two or three stories every single month to various publications (and that's suggesting you have a LOT of time to be writing consistently and putting out 2-3 short stories a month) you are looking at LOW single digit percentages when it comes to having a shot at actually getting your work published at one of these traditional places. That's a pretty discouraging number.

The other hurdle is the fact that most of these places only focus on "established" authors. What about the little guys who are just starting out? There doesn't really seem to be room for any of them these days, which is what brings me to my own unique situation.

I've been taking a roundabout route for my fiction work. I've had a couple of stories published for niche magazines on the 'net, but more specifically, I've been doing non-traditional fiction work. I spent 6 months last year working on a kids-to-teens fantasy RPG for an independent company, specifically writing storylines and quests. While it's not a "short story", persay, it's still fiction credit in the fantasy genre. The work there landed me other sales, and just last week I signed a contract with an MMO developer out of Dubai to write a 6-12k word short story regarding a science fiction MMORPG they are developing, with the potential for more work in the future writing additional storylines.

In the meantime, I contacted a couple of editors from previous publications and I'm actually funding and starting my own spec-fic e-zine and writer's workshop in 2010. Why? Because the market is saturated with places for "established" authors, but there are literally thousands of people out there who are trying to work their way into a market that refuses to even look at their work. Every place you go these days says "no unsolicited manuscripts", "no unsolicited queries", "closed for submissions", or some variation thereof. There are almost no places for non-established authors to have their work published.

I'm in a unique position in that I've been establishing a non-traditional name for myself, using my journalism, content writing, travel writing, short stories, and computer game writing as a combination. Personally, I don't have the time or the inclination to deal with archaic methods of doing things. I've been extremely successful in my freelance career in the past couple of years since I started, and using my success there I'm looking at expanding horizons into the fiction world on a more progressive level. Why deal with single digit percentages when you can generate your own success based upon new methods?

I actually came across your website when I was doing research for subscription numbers the other day, and I'll be reading more frequently from here on out :) This post in particular really interested me because I'm someone who has been taking the nontraditional route to making a name for myself in the fiction world because I can't tolerate the whole "established channels" that the big-name magazines require. I've written fiction for some fairly decent names in the gaming industry, but despite that I still struggle with getting my short stories published because I'm not an "established" name.

In any case...interesting numbers. I'll be staying in touch and looking forward towards what comes next :)

[Jason Sanford]

Thanks for the insightful comment. I agree with you that having an established name changes the submission dynamics. While it may not make earning a freelance living any easier, it does make magazines sit up and take more notice of your stories.

And mentioned in passing a very important issue when submitting--how long the magazine takes to respond. If a magazine sits on your story for nine months, then working the odds when they are as long as at Clarkesworld is a difficult thing. Thankfully, Clarkesworld gives a fast submission turn around of under 2 days, but other places don't.

[T.W. Anderson]

One thing I've noticed is that the indy mags get back to me within 3-4 weeks, at most. Most of the pro/semi-pro markets I've bothered to submit to take 4-6 months.

For example, I've had a submission in @ Black Gate since June. Still no word. Thankfully, I have a healthy freelance career going and I'm not relying on my fiction to pay the bills. Fiction is my "hobby" writing. I don't have the time or the inclination to wait 6-8 months or more for a publication to get back to me, regardless of how "credible" the publication is. My primary motivation for writing fiction is ultimately to build up a solid reputation, but at the very least I want my work out there being read. If I'm sitting around waiting 6-8 months on "big name" publications that only give me a .5 percent chance of my story ever being seen...sorry, but my answer is "screw that."

Meanwhile, I've published at a few indy mags who got back to me within 2-3 weeks. When I land fiction work on computer game projects it's always via queries...and it never takes longer than 2-3 weeks to hear back from the designers. The most recent case was within 48 hours...I queried, heard back, set up a phone interview, and signed the contract, all within 48 hours. For a pay rate nearly double what Asimov's pays their first-time authors. (10-12 cents a word depending on how long I take it)

I'm not selling everywhere I send, but no one does unless they are a major name in the industry. What I will say is I've noticed is that the indy publications--despite paying less--actually communicate with the writers because they aren't swarmed with submissions. My last three rejections were from the editors in chief of the publications in question, not the assistant editor, not the slush editor. I haven't gotten a form letter rejection for the last 4 submissions; rather, the editors are taking the time to write me personalized letters why exactly they didn't purchase the story in question, and where they feel it has strong points/weak points.

I don't get that kind of treatment from the "big name" publications because I'm still a "nobody" to them. At some point, as a writer, I have to ask myself the question...is it really worth wasting my time to be forced to sit on a story for 6-8 months for a .5 chance that it's going to get published when I can be sending it to an indy mag where I'll hear back in a few weeks, and my publication percentage is much, MUCH higher?

Kind of a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.

[Rachel Swirsky]

It seems like the below 1% figure for high-profile magazines has been pretty static since I started writing. I remember being really horrified the first time I found it recurring in writer's market. But I dunno, after looking at slush piles it seems less intimidating. If you're publishable, you're within the top 10% or less probably. So the "crap shoot" odds, the sheer, what if it really is luck? odds are better than 1%.