The current wildfire blog topic in SF/F short fiction circles has been very low-paying magazines and whether it’s worth it for an author to submit to them. One of the suggested benefits of submitting is for young authors to get publication credits, which they then can cite in their cover letters to other magazines in order to impress the editors.

I read a blog post by Ann Leckie, Associate Editor at Podcastle, which pretty much completely epitomizes what I feel about fiction credits in a cover letter when I read submissions for BCS.

I do glance at credits in cover letters, and they do have some impact on how much time or length I will give a story to let it impress me. But by far the most important thing is the quality of the story. By far.

And I share her admission that there are a very few credits that can have the opposite effect. They would never make me discount a great story, and they would never put me off on reading future submissions by that author. But on occasion, they can have a negative impact on how much time or length I will give that story to impress me.

So I share her admonition: write as well as you can. In the case of BCS, where I include comments in all rejection letters, perhaps spend a few moments thinking about why I said your story didn’t work for me or for BCS. Then please send me a better one.

I recently received word that my story “Excision,” which appeared in Weird Tales #347, has sold as an audio reprint to Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine. Woo!

Dunesteef isn’t as well-known yet as the top podcast ‘zines, like Podcastle etc., but they have very good production and an impressive back-catalog of stories by neo-pro writers whose work I’ve enjoyed (Ian Creasey, to name one). They stage their podcasts like an old-timey radio drama, with sound effects and different voices for each character, so it will be very cool to see what they do with “Excision.”

They also have an Author’s Notes segment after the story audio, where the author explains the inspiration for the story. I recorded that segment in my home studio and sent it to them. So even if you’ve already read the story, you can still check out the podcast to hear my reflections on what went into it.

I don’t know yet when they plan to release it–I’m guessing early next year. When I find out I will definitely post here.

One of the neatest things so far about running my magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies has been getting into steampunk.

I had never read much steampunk at all, but I’ve been sent lots of great steampunk stories. Check out “ Clockwork Heart, Clockwork Soul” by Kris Dikeman, or “Preservation” by Jonathan Wood, or “Kreisler’s Automata” by Matthew David Surridge. And we’ve got several more great ones on the way later this winter.

So when I set out looking for my next cover art for the magazine, I sought out Myke Amend‘s work. I had seen his steampunk airship artwork before, and I’m delighted to have one of those pieces, “Sabicu,” as our new cover art.

Now I need to chase down a steampunk anthology or two. And I think, later this winter, I may try my had at writing some steampunk of my own….

Jason Sanford, writer and editor of storySouth, has a comprehensive blog post on online F/SF magazines.  He gives an insightful overview, then lists the top pro- and semi-pro ‘zines.

He gives fine praise to Beneath Ceaseless Skies, saying that we deserve to be designated as a SFWA pro market.  Thanks very much!  We do meet all the qualifications, now that we’ve been publishing for a full year,  and recently I began the application process to have SFWA designate us thus.