Today’s post is a question for you who are reading this, if you submit to short story/novella markets, or plan to, or can imagine doing so.
How do you choose which market will first receive your submission? Which factor or combination of factors is most important to you?
The publication most suited to the story? The publication’s prestige? The one that pays the most? The one that will remain in print the longest? The publication with the highest degree of popularity, regardless of quality? The publication with the widest distribution? Other factors?
My answer is that I tend to submit first to the market that is most suited and that pays the most. Prestige is nice, but I have historically chosen pay rate over prestige (note than none of the anthologies to which I submitted paid enormous sums!). Wide distribution is also nice, but sometimes a niche market seems better to me. I don’t mind so much if the publication goes out of print, because then there is the opportunity for selling the story again as a reprint.
Buster Keaton is being thoughtful. Your thoughts?
Related posts:
Short Fiction FAQ: Part Three.
