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The Diverse Writers & Artists of Speculative Fiction
My Path to Publication
My Path to Publication
By Jane Lo
I’ve always loved to write stories. Prior to 2020, I had written a few short stories and personal essays – and when I was in high school, had even written a long, meandering tale I liked to think of as a ‘novella’ – but it wasn’t until January 2020 that I really began to take my writing seriously. This was when I took my first novel writing course, and when I began writing every day.
In some ways, it was an unlikely time for this to happen. 2020 was the start of a global pandemic. Our children were very young – 2 and 4 – and attending an exceedingly enthusiastic and responsible nursery, who felt they needed to provide them with an unending stream of online lessons and activities. Learning materials had to be picked up every two weeks so that our children would be able to continue doing science experiments, art projects, and of course, the usual Chinese, English, and mathematics worksheets.
I was also teaching full-time, so during the day when I wasn’t with the kids, I was in our bedroom teaching Zoom lessons. There was no real work/home division anymore, at least not during the day. It was busy – but strangely, with no daily commute, no going out on the weekends and in the evenings, and no social obligations of any kind – both my husband and I eventually realized that there was some time to spare in the evenings. He watched movies. I did at first, too. But eventually, I started writing in earnest.
I began writing for an hour every night. I poured myself into the story; through my characters, I explored love, cultural differences, familial obligations, motherhood, and this city I call home, Hong Kong. My usual time was 11PM to midnight, and this worked for me because I no longer had to wake up early to catch a bus to work; I could go directly from the breakfast table to my first Zoom lesson in our bedroom. I remember going into the office one day, finally, when we were allowed to again, and proudly announcing to my coworker, I’ve got 20,000 words! It was more than I had ever written.
That year, I kept sending chapters to a trusted writing mentor and she kept giving me encouragement and feedback. She helped me tremendously on my writing journey. I learned two important things about my writing self that year: 1) regular feedback is essential to my writing process and 2) I need small, achievable goals (5,000 words at a time is much more manageable than 70,000 all at once!).
I was so excited about having finished such a big project that I began querying agents and publishers almost immediately. Waiting to hear back was hard, especially as I received more and more rejections, but I kept taking writing courses on different topics, from romance writing to crime and thriller writing. I started a new novel and wrote short stories and flash fiction to keep my writing sharp. In hindsight, I recognise that my manuscript wasn’t quite ready for querying — I got just one full request from an American publisher, which became a rejection.
Disheartened but not ready to give up, I worked with a developmental editor who helped me improve the story and expand it from 60,000 words — too short for a novel, and perhaps one of the reasons why I got so few requests in my first round of queries — to just under 70,000 words.
During this process I kept learning more about the publishing industry. I learned that while an agent is very helpful — and absolutely vital if the goal is to be published by a big publisher — even with an agent, the process of being on submission can take a very long time for some authors, sometimes several years, and that some manuscripts never get sold at all. This seemed unthinkable to me — to finally find an agent, only to never see the book in print.
Happily, I also learned that there are many small and mid-sized presses willing to consider unagented submissions. It’s true that small presses might not be able to provide authors with a large advance (or any at all), and might not have a lot of money to promote the book — but at the same time, they might be more willing to take a chance on an unpublished writer, or a story with a more niche focus, and might be more open to the author’s views on aspects of the book like the cover, or which blurb goes on the back of the book. A local publisher might also be able to get my book into bookstores right here in my city, which was a big author dream of mine. With this in mind, during this second round of querying, apart from agents based in the UK and the US, I intentionally approached more small publishers, some of which are based in my part of the world — Hong Kong, China, Asia.
This time, my manuscript caught the eye of a publisher, Earnshaw Books, which specializes in books with a connection to China. Now, just eight months later, I have published my first novel, All I Ever Wanted. It has been a rather unusual and unlikely path to publication, but I am thankful I made it in the end.
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Bio: Jane Lo is a Chinese-Canadian writer and teacher who has lived and worked in Vancouver and Hong Kong. She now lives in Hong Kong with her husband, two children, and a leopard gecko. Her debut novel, All I Ever Wanted, was published with Earnshaw Books in April 2023.
Strap in and enter worlds of wonder in Chosen Realities: Summer 2020. The Journal contains a dazzling array of short stories, scripts, interviews, and more! Stroll through fantastical universes, rocket through science fiction landscapes, and muse on poetry in this jam-packed introductory volume of the Journal of Diverse Writers and Artists of Speculative Fiction. Entertainment and enlightenment await!
Strap in and enter worlds of wonder in Chosen Realities: Summer 2020. The Journal contains a dazzling array of short stories, scripts, interviews, and more! Stroll through fantastical universes, rocket through science fiction landscapes, and muse on poetry in this jam-packed introductory volume of the Journal of Diverse Writers and Artists of Speculative Fiction. Entertainment and enlightenment await!
You may be looking for some Afrofuturistic art for your project. Click the links to the artist and contact them on Deviant Art to collaborate!
SF/F Markets
SF/F Markets
We love the weird and wonderful world of speculative fiction! If you write fantasy, science fiction, horror or even just stories that feature imaginative, unreal elements, here are some great places to submit your work. And because prose writers shouldn’t have all the fun, we’ve made sure to include some outlets for speculative-themed poetry.
What’s great about speculative fiction outlets: many pay semi-pro to pro rates and have generous word limits (lots of options for your long-form stories and novellas). What’s not so great: most don’t allow simultaneous submissions.
To be included on our list, magazines needed to have reasonable response times (generally under three months) and charge no submission fees. In ranking, we took into account pay scale, response time and the quality of the publication.
Clarkesworld has won Hugo, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy awards. Send in your sci-fi and fantasy stories of between 1,000 and 16,000 words to be considered for electronic, print and audio publication. They try to respond within two days. If you haven’t heard within two weeks, you can query. They pay 8-10 cents (US) per word.
Fantasy & Science Fiction has been around since 1949 and features work from emerging writers as well as heavy hitters like Stephen King. They publish 6 times per year in print and ebook formats. Send in your flash fiction and stories of up to 25,000 words, and if your work is accepted, they’ll pay 7-12 cents (US) per word. Allow 8 weeks for a response, but they often get back in less than one. Also a plus: they frequently take the time to send personalised rejections, which is the next best thing to an acceptance. They do not accept simultaneous submissions.
Asimov’s Science Fiction – established in 1977 under the editorship of the great man himself, ASF has won pretty much every major award in its category multiple times. As the name implies, they specialise in sci-fi, but also accept the occasional fantasy. They’re looking for poetry and fiction (between 1,000 and 20,000 words) and offer 8-10 cents (US) per word for fiction and $1 per line for poetry. The editors try to come to a decision within 35 days but ask that you allow at least 90 before querying. They do not accept simultaneous submissions.
Strange Horizons is an award-winning magazine that produces weekly digital and audio editions. Submit your stories (up to 10,000 words) and poetry every Monday and Tuesday. They try to respond within two weeks; query after 40 days for fiction and 4 months for poetry. Do not send them simultaneous submissions. They pay 8 cents (US) per word.
Factor Four Magazine publishes flash fiction (up to 1500 words) in quarterly print, ebook and online editions. They do not accept simultaneous submissions and they ask for 3 months to make a decision. The good news is they generally respond in less than one and they pay 8 cents (US) per word.
Uncanny: A Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy – this Hugo and Parsec award-winner accepts stories of 750-6,000 words and poetry. They publish a bi-monthly digital edition and host a monthly podcast featuring selected stories. They pay 8 cents (US) per word for fiction and $30 per poem. They ask for 30 days to respond but often take longer; you can query after 45 days. They are currently closed to submissions and do not accept simultaneous submissions.
Beneath Ceaseless Skies – this Hugo, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy award-winner publishes “literary adventure fantasy” twice a month online and produces audio versions of selected stories. They try to respond with 50 days but don’t always succeed. On the plus side, they pay 6 cents (US) per word, do accept simultaneous submissions and often send personalised rejections.
The Dark Magazine publishes fantasy and horror stories of 2,000-6,000 words in a monthly digital edition. They pay 6 cents (US) per word. The ask for 30 days to make a decision but usually respond in considerably less. No simultaneous submissions.
Apex Magazine accepts sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories of up to 7,500 words and occasionally poetry for specific issues. They publish monthly print and digital editions and professionally produced podcasts of some stories. They pay 6 cents per word for print and 1 cent per word for podcasts. They try to make a decision within 30 days but don’t always succeed, and they don’t accept simultaneous submissions.
Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show publishes an online edition every other month. They accept sci-fi, fantasy and supernatural suspense flash fiction and stories of up to 17,500 words. No simultaneous submissions. They pay 6 cents (US) per word. They ask for 90 days to make a decision and sometimes take longer.
Three-lobed Burning Eye is coming up on its 20-year anniversary. They accept horror, sci-fi and fantasy flash fiction and short stories (up to 7,000 words) for their biannual digital magazine, and they produce audio versions of selected stories in each issue and a print anthology every other year. No simultaneous submissions. Payment is $100 per story and $30 for flash fiction. They ask for 90 days to respond but generally respond in less.
The Arcanist is hosted on Medium and publishes a new work of sci-fi, fantasy or horror flash fiction each Friday. The won’t accept anything over 1,000 words and they pay $50 per piece upon acceptance. They need at least two months to respond and do accept simultaneous submissions.
Metaphorosis is looking for flash fiction and stories of up to 10,000 words with a sci-fi or fantasy setting. They publish online and produce an annual print edition. They pay 1 cent (US) per word. Allow two weeks for a response, although they often respond within one.
Asymmetry accepts all kinds of speculative fiction, as long as it’s under 3,000 words, for weekly publication online. They ask for a month to respond but generally get back within two weeks. They offer a token payment of $5 (US) per story.
MoonPark Review – this relative newcomer is looking for prose poetry and flash fiction (up to 750 words) for their online quarterly. They love speculative fiction but are open to general fiction that’s off the beaten track. They often respond in under a week and are friendly to unpublished writers.
Hypnos accepts sci-fi, fantasy and horror stories from 1,000 to 10,000 words. They produce a print edition twice a year. They aim to respond within 30 days but often get back sooner.
Interzone is the UK’s longest running sci-fi/fantasy magazine and is the winner of Hugo and British Fantasy awards. They’re looking for flash fiction and stories of up to 10,000 words for their bimonthly print edition. They generally respond within 2 months and do not accept simultaneous submissions.
Not One of Us – is interested in exploring “otherness” from every possible fictional angle: horror, sci-fi, fantasy, noir, you name it. They accept poetry of up to 40 lines and fiction of 1,000 to 7,500 words. They put out themed print editions 2 to 3 times per year and pay 1/4 cent per word. They generally respond within 30 days.
Ash Tales specializes in dystopian, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic stories of up to 2,000 words and will also consider standalone chapters of longer work. They publish regularly online and also produce a podcast featuring their favourite stories. They try to respond within two weeks.
365 Tomorrows has been publishing one story per day on their website since 2005. They’re on the hunt for sci-fi flash of up to 600 words. They aim to respond within 45 days and often get back within a week.
From the International Writers' Collective
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