Almost two years ago I made the resolution to submit stories only to magazines that pay pro rates (more than a nickel a word). I sorted the magazines by the speed in which they respond. Nearly two years later, the first story that I wrote in 2010 is still sitting in a slush pile somewhere and I have three other stories out. I write fewer stories now because I haven’t had any encouraging news in two years.

I sent out a story to Gordon Van Gelder at F&SF yesterday. F&SF is a dinosaur in that they require you send them Hard Copy. It costs almost $3 to submit a story to Gordon. On the plus side, you get a rejection in about 10 days. My first rejection from F&SF was in 1971. I used to spend my paper route money on SF magazines and in the early 1960s, F&SF was my favorite. Other magazines were good, but Analog was past its prime. As soon as I got a part time job I bought a two year subscription to F&SF and up until the early 70s, I bought and read every issue. My magazine collection was stolen in 1971 along with a bunch of stuff that I kept in my apartment in the Lower East Side of NYC. (My room mate, Paul, brought in people to rent the extra room we had and most of them were drug addicts, thieves or very very strange.)

I think it would be great to get a nice response from F&SF. Even a “Good Read” or “Nice Writing” would be nice. F&SF is my holy grail. Someday I will write a story that works its way out of the slush. I hope that the magazine stays in business long enough to publish it.