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To be honest, it feels like serfdom, this.

 

'We can't be bothered doing proper recruitment, or finding good stories, and want them to magically appear in our laps.'

I applaud your utter lack of self-awareness.

 

Because if anything is analogous to a feudal state, it is being given the option of writing a short story.

Yeah, not sure serfdom is the right term for what he was going for and let's not make a big deal out of it. 

 

My take on it isn't that they need authors to fill a small mag with short stories, as I'm sure their stable of regulars could bang out enough words in the spare time, but rather giving some fans the chance to contribute to the setting in an official capacity. 

To be honest, it feels like serfdom, this.

 

'We can't be bothered doing proper recruitment, or finding good stories, and want them to magically appear in our laps.'

Ok, next you apply for a job, don't give them anything to prove your qualifications or skills and see how that works out.

 

Anyway, you clearly haven't read the advert. They want a short excerpt to be sent to them they pick the best ones and help you develop them onto full stories. You're not giving them anything for free.

 

To be honest, it feels like serfdom, this.

 

'We can't be bothered doing proper recruitment, or finding good stories, and want them to magically appear in our laps.'

Ok, next you apply for a job, don't give them anything to prove your qualifications or skills and see how that works out.

 

Er, they are not asking for any qualifications anywhere. They are expecting hundreds of pitches, which, besides a few winners, are then a trove of ideas to be mined for their other projects. Even if they don't (because let's be serious, 80% of entries in similar contests are crud anyway) it's still closer to a lottery and lucking into hitting the spot the judge will like, than any sort of merit or skill based contest. You can't show you're good at pacing or developing plot lines/characters in something so short. So, please.

 

Pencil is kinda right, gig based job 'contests' are a big part of what is wrong with economy these days, but that's not really a topic for this thread.

i am sure it has been said better, but coming up with ideas is not the difficult part, sitting down and writing a story is.

How else would you have something published if not by sending your work to publishers?

 

I think i'm getting there with my idea at the minute

 

 

To be honest, it feels like serfdom, this.

 

'We can't be bothered doing proper recruitment, or finding good stories, and want them to magically appear in our laps.'

Ok, next you apply for a job, don't give them anything to prove your qualifications or skills and see how that works out.

 

Er, they are not asking for any qualifications anywhere. 

 

 

Never said they were, check my post again. They want a submission to see whether you are a good enough writer for them to work with, in the same manner as a CV shows you are qualified for another job.

To be honest, it feels like serfdom, this.

 

'We can't be bothered doing proper recruitment, or finding good stories, and want them to magically appear in our laps.'

And exactly how many other fandoms offer the chance to add something to CANON?

 

Because if you are accepted and get a story published, that's exactly what your stuff will become. Canon.

 

Think about all the other sci-fi settings you enjoy. Now, in how many of those will you ever get a chance to contribute to the setting in a meaningful way.

 

Also worth noting is the fact that several Black Library authors have careers because they submitted something to one of these. Granted, you aren't guaranteed a book deal out of it, but getting a short story published in a magazine pits you light years ahead of most aspiring writers out there. When trying to land an agent it is something tangible you can show them.

 

 

 

You can't show you're good at pacing or developing plot lines/characters in something so short. So, please.

 

 

 

This is so wrong. I don't even know where to start.

ugh I know. I read, a lot. English has always been my strong suit (though my writing is out of practice, however, my insomnia is back, and I always write better on a lack of sleep, so I should really start practicing again). but I know good storytelling. I know good writing(as subjective as that statement is). Some of the very best fiction I've read have been short stories.

 

 

 

You can't show you're good at pacing or developing plot lines/characters in something so short. So, please.

 

 

 

This is so wrong. I don't even know where to start.

Umm. Yeah.

 

Most novelists HATE writing short stories because it's far more challenging to write a fully conceived and executed plot in 10,000 words than in a full length book.

 

If you can write a good short story, you are a skilled writer. You have to develop characters and plot in the space of what would be a single chapter in a full length book.

 

It. Is. Hard.

 

The submission they're asking for is 500 words out of any part of the whole story. Like the previews you often see at the end of a book. You don't HAVE to develop characters or pace it, because they are explicitly just asking for a 500 word sample.

I "love" the whole tinfoil hat "THEY ARE MINING US FOR OUR GROUNDBREAKING 40k NOVEL IDEAS TO STEAL THEM FOR THEMSELVES!".

Well, keep them to yourself, then. You have zero copyright to the setting, so what good will they do to you. Unless you want to another Twilight fanfic that will get reskinned into 50 Shades to sell, lol :biggrin.:

EDIT Also, bang on, 4000th post! Now to get 36000 more :v

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