Now You See It, Now You Don't
May 3, 2000
7:09 a.m.
Not to open an old wound, but ... Steve Algieri of Pulp Eternity returned the rights to "The Last Heartstone" to me earlier this week. Life is a pain, he basically says in his letter, and it's a terrible shame that all our excellence hasn't been rewarded. Hmmmm ... The letter wasn't surprising. PE hasn't done much of anything in a long time. Steve's been really active in the electronic world--an indicator that the print version isn't getting all his energy. The letter was so unsurprising that, in fact, I almost didn't open it, having figured it was coming. I'll admit I'm a bit perturbed. Miffed. Flumoxed. Seriously peeved ... I can go on. But this is what happens when you deal with the small press. In a sense, this type of occurrence defines the small press. It lies at the root of why arguments rage among new writers across the globe anytime a conversation about them begins. "Should I submit to the small press?" Geeze. Yeah, I know. MZB folded. SF Age folded. But, I say, look at how they've done it. Both ran out their inventory. Both stopped accepting work once they knew they were going to fold. And, mostly, both paid on acceptance. That's the part that bugs me the most, really. I've met Steve Algieri. He's a dedicated man, a fine person. He's intelligent and witty. He smiles big. He's an idea person with a powerful presence and an energy level that can't help but build enthusiasm. But, if I had to do it all over again, there's no way I would give him one of my stories with a pay on publication agreement. To me, that's a big part of being "professional." SFWA can argue all the next millenium about pay rates and "show me you can jump this high" bits, and they'll all be important items to think about and include in a definition. But pay on publication approaches--as important as they might be to keep a publication afloat--when combined with the propensity to stockpile "hundreds of stories", is, well ... You can fill in the rest. This is my fault, though. As a slightly more than new writer, I knew the risk. I took it. I lost a story being on the market for well over a year. Probably two. Essentially, I gave a small press publisher a free two year option on my story in return for nothing more than the ability to list it under "future publications" on my bibliography, and it fell through. My mistake. I'll try not to make it again. But there's no promises, okay?  So, what's professional, eh? Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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