Sunday, October 19, 2014

Sci-Phi Journal to publish "On a Spiritual Plain"

Signed my contract this morning for Sci-Phi Journal to publish "On a Spiritual Plain" and emailed it back to editor Jason Rennie. This is the story I started by typing in public at the GalaxyFest convention in Colorado Springs in Feb. 2013.

I did about three-quarters of it there, and finished it when I got back to Texas. I scanned the pages, ran them through optical character recognition software, and made up a Word file. After the usual editing and tweaking, I sent it off to Clarkeswold in March 2013. For some reason, it struck me as a story they would like.

They didn't take it, but it took them three weeks to reject it (if you've ever submitted to Clarkesworld, you know three days is average time for a rejection. That's the only time I received anything other than a standard rejection from them, because they said "your story was close".

So I always thought the story would find a home, and it will be published in Issue No. 2 of Sci-Phi Journal. The name indicates they like a little thoughtfulness and philosophical discussion in conjunction with their stories. Their guidelines state:

"We are looking for science fiction stories that explore a philosophical idea or have a philosophical hook. Stories must include a “food for thought” set of questions for readers along with the manuscript. Please include in your cover letter the philosophical themes explored in the story."

Which I thought would work great for "On a Spiritual Plain". Jason took the story after only a day or two, so I guess I hit the mark. And they look to be a class outfit, paying a nickel a word right from the start.

Highly recommended.

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