The Short Order -- Volume One -- Number One -- September 1996 GREETINGS Welcome to the *Premiere Issue* of the SHORT ORDER. This is the official Newsletter of the fledgling, online organization, the SHORT MYSTERY FICTION SOCIETY(SMFS). In this issue you will find a number of articles of interest to readers and writers of mystery fiction in the short form. Here's a brief Table of Contents: THE BIRTH OF THE SMFS Kate Grilley introduces you to the SMFS and outlines the basics of the organization SHOOT--I MEAN, ASK AWAY Ask Jiro Kimura any nagging trivia questions about mystery fiction in general. VIRTUAL MURDER For those of you going to Bouchercon this year, Barbara Paul outlines a panel that she's been working on. FOR WHOM ARE YOU WRITING? Gail Hayden makes a few points about an author's relationship with the editor. SCAM ALERT Some important info for working authors collected by Kate Grilley. TEN COMMON ERRORS EDITORS FIND IN SHORT STORIES Vicki Cameron, a working editor, points out some common problems with short mystery fiction. SHORT FICTION MARKETS REPORT Here's a list of short fiction markets brought to you by Gail Hayden. SUNNYE'S FABLES A closing thought from Sunnye Tiedemann. We will be publishing the Newsletter on a quarterly basis to begin with. Look for the next issue in the middle of December 1996. We hope you'll join us again then. In the meantime, the Virtual Offices of the Short Mystery Fiction Society(SMFS) can be found at [http://members.aol.com/Mystfield/SMFS/index.html]. Here's to a good mystery! R.K.Foster Editor Please send Letters to the Editor at [rkfoster@ix.netcom.com]. -=+=- THE BIRTH OF THE SMFS by Kate Grilley You've heard it before...a group of people sit around talking, next thing you know they're organized. But on the Internet? Last January, Margo Power, the editor of Murderous Intent, set up a daily internet digest for discussion about short stories. In April the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS) was officially created and officers were elected in May. The purpose of SMFS is simply this: "The Short Mystery Fiction Society seeks to actively recognize writers and readers who promote and support the creative artform of short mysteries in the press, in other mystery organizations and through awards." Membership is free and presently limited to the internet. To join SMFS and receive the daily internet digest, send an e-mail message to: majordomo@teleport.com leave the subject line blank, in the body of the message type: subscribe shortmystery-l-digest (your name) You'll receive a confirmation message with instructions for response. After that, you're on the list and a member of SMFS. (NOTE: that's an "ell" not a "one" following the word shortmystery.) The SMFS can also be found on the web at: http://members.aol.com/Mystfield/SMFS/index.html The current officers of SMFS are: Margo Power, President Kate Grilley, Vice-President Debi Benoit, Secretary/Associate Newsletter Editor Bob Foster, Newsletter Editor/Web Designer Gail Hayden, Treasurer Jiro Kimura, Historian/Archivist Deborah Adams, Advisory Board Vicki Cameron, Advisory Board Liz Holliday, Advisory Board Steve Schaffer, Advisory Board J. Alec West, Advisory Board If you love the short story as we do, please join us! -=+=- SHOOT--I MEAN, ASK AWAY by Jiro Kimura Q&A on short mystery fiction. Please send easy questions to me at my e-mail address, indicating whether you wish your "reality" name to be public, and whether you permit the correspondence to be posted on the SMFS web site. QUESTION: What were the first issues of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine? ANSWER: FAMOUS FIRSTS... The first issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine is the Fall 1941 issue, edited by Ellery Queen (mainly by Fred Dannay), published by The American Mercury, Inc. All are reprints. Contents are: "Too Many Have Lived" by Dasheill Hammett (from The American Magazine, October 1932) "The Question Mark" by Margery Allingham (from Maclean's, 1938) "The Cablegram" by T. S. Stribling (from Adventure, November 1, 1932) "About the Perfect Crime of Mr. Digberry" by Anthony Abbott (from The Second Mystery Book, 1940) "Dime a Dance" by Cornell Woolrich (from Black Mask, February 1938) "Wild Onions" by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan "The Adventure of the Treasure Hunt" by Ellery Queen The first issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine is the December 1956 issue, published by H. S. D. Publications. In those days, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a TV program, was very popular and somebody wanted a tie-in magazine. Contents are: "Return Trip" by Eugene Pawley "The Cellini Chalice" by Jim Thompson "Here Lies..." by C. L. Moore "The Strange Case of Mr. Pruyn" by William F. Nolan "Death of a Tramp" by J. W. Aaron "A Date with Jonathan" by Sam merwin, Jr. "A Soft Spot for Maddy" by Fletcher Flora "Wetback" by Murray Wolf "A Bottle of Wine" by Borden Deal "Six and two Make Nine" by Henry Petersen JIRO KIMURA is a mysterious writer-translator-critic-researcher-collector-whatever, currently holing up in the Far East. E-mail address: jkimura@nsknet.or.jp URL: http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~jkimura/ -=+=- VIRTUAL MURDER: WHAT'S ON THE INTERNET FOR MYSTERY BUFFS? by Barbara Paul Some news and information about one of the Bouchercon panels meeting at 6 p.m., Friday, October 11, 1996. When Dennis Armstrong asked me to put together a Bouchercon panel about the Internet, the first thing that occurred to me was that those attending such a panel wouldn't all be looking for the same thing. So I invited to participate five people who would represent five different fields of interest within the mystery field, all five of whom are knowledgeable in the ways of Cyberspace. We plan to distribute at the door a list of mystery-related web sites, mailing lists, and news groups...to make it easier for audience members to follow along as well as give them some new places to visit. But before we get into the fields of specialized interests, we're going to offer a mini-course in Cyberspace 101. There will be people attending the panel who won't know the difference between a mailing list and a web page; so for their benefit we're going to give a brief rundown of what they can expect when they hook up their first modems. Then on to the panel proper. The subtitle of the VIRTUAL MURDER panel is "What's on the Internet for mystery buffs?" (The complete title was voted on by members of the panel.) We'll have the use of a computer and a big screen so we can demonstrate what we're talking about. So, what we'll talk about is what the Internet has to offer for: FANS Curt Stratman is an experienced netsurfer who is also the Technical Director of the school system where he works. Curt is an avid collector of mystery first editions and knows all the good spots for mystery fans to seek out. Email: stratman@ncsa.uiuc.edu WRITERS Walter Sorrells is a mystery writer and the editor of THE MYSTERY ZONE, the first mystery magazine on the net. Walter is going to explain how writers can use web pages to publicize their works. Email: walter@mindspring.com THE MYSTERY ZONE can be found on the World Wide Web at: http://www.mindspring.com/~walter/mystzone.html NEW WRITERS Kate Grilley is not a new writer, but she's a new _mystery_ writer; Kate was also chair of the Sisters in Crime committee to investigate the best ways the organization could use the Internet. Kate will be talking about what's available to help new writers get started. Email: 71764.3206@compuserve.com PUBLISHERS Susan Randol is a Senior Editor at Random House with the Ballantine Group of mystery publications. Susan writes/edits MURDER ON THE INTERNET, which was the first mailing list to appear publicizing upcoming mystery releases. Susan will talk about how publishers can use resources of the net to help promote books. Email: srandol@randomhouse.com BOOKSELLERS Charles Stack is the president of Book Stacks, one of the first bookstores on the net and one of the best for making innovative use of a web site. Charles will be talking about ways booksellers can make books easily available to readers. Email: cstack@books.com BOOK STACKS can be found on the World Wide Web at: http://www.books.com LEFTOVERS That's me, I'm afraid (mystery writer, founder of the online chapter of Sisters in Crime). If there's time, I'll talk about research sources available on the web; but most likely my time on the panel will go to clearing up loose ends. Email: bpaul@genie.com Finally, we plan to leave some time at the end to answer questions from the audience. The Bouchercon panels are running 75 minutes this year, and it's a good thing; otherwise we'd never get all this in. Barbara Paul, Mystery writer, bpaul@genie.com Web page: http://www.eskimo.com/~bpaul Message board: http://www.lit-arts.com/bpaul/messages.htm -=+=- FOR WHOM ARE YOU WRITING? by Gail Hayden Sometimes the audience the writer must keep is mind is the editor. The third party in this triangle--the reader--comes last. Let's face it, if I were writing that title just for the reader, I'd write: Who Are You Writing For? But maybe I've submitted to this editor before and have gotten a terse comment about my grammar. Or, worse yet, I've sold her a piece or two and have seen the copy editing on my material. So, I'm not taking any chances this time. I don't want to be rejected or corrected again. Sometimes that's the way it goes. The writer doesn't always feel free enough to express exactly what he/she had in mind, for any number of reasons. Can that be true with fiction, you say? Most assuredly so--and the more you cultivate and work with particular editors, the more acutely you become aware of the editor's eccentricities. Editor X loves my writing, for which I am grateful. I call him once in a while, send a postcard commenting on his latest issues, and most importantly, write stories for him. But a few weeks ago, he was looking for a fairly long piece and I had something I thought I could tailor for him. "I'll send you something," I told him, figuring it would satisfy his acquisitions lust and I could get on with writing for another publication shortly thereafter. "It's sort of metaphysical." "I won't print anything that's too deep. My readers don't want it." Oh. (They always blame it on their readers, don't they?) Well, fine, but then when I finally sat down to write a story for him, I had to think, "Does this border on depth? Are there too many ideas here? I'd better trim the excess." I'm not writing for the reader, I assure you, and there's absolutely no way I can get beyond my effort to please my main market, the editor. It's an automatic process, and I'm not trying to tell other writers here how to avoid the clutches of the marketplace because I think that suiting the actual buyer is an inevitable pitfall. Stephen King was asked in an interview if his editors bother him a lot for changes. No, not any more, he answered. But when he first started, they would demand all sorts of revisions. The only way the short story writer can avoid the criticism/advice/suggestions of the editor to restructure or sidestep that simple, involuntary internalization of a particular editor's voice, in other words, is to be so enormously successful that no sane publication chief would challenge the creator of the piece. Anyone who's name is not John Grisham may be out of luck. I've written for a lot of taskmasters over the years--mostly within the business press. They've all, without exception, displayed their peculiarities. I wrote once for a man who could not stand the phrase "for example." The writer always had to say "for instance" for this editor. Another pet peeve of his was the "wasting" of space on a source's middle initial. His own middle initial, of course, was too elegant to drop from the masthead. Then there was the editor to whom I sold a short story based on an historical incident. She insisted on deleting Kit Carson's name and the possibly offensive phrase "Confederate soldier." What's a poor author to do, given the editor's vagaries? Take off in a huff, manuscript clutched in trembling fist? Or sell the story and aim for that "one fine day" upon which your star emerges or your ship comes in? Personally, I'd rather sell the story than walk out, unprofitable pride intact. Someday the editor will open an envelope of mine immediately as his/her eye falls upon my name in the return address position. My stories will no longer lie in the slush pile, catching pizza drippings from the editor's lunch. I'll be able to place my commas where they strike my own ear, not the editorial autocrat's. And, God willing, my stories will not suffer from the freedom I have demanded from the cosmos, and finally have won. (Gulp. Gosh, maybe editors do have some small place in the scheme of things.) Gail Hayden edits two health care newsletters. Her short stories have been published in Murderous Intent, Kracked Mirror Mysteries, Keen Science Fiction, The Tale Spinner, The Fifth Di..., and The Sixth Sense. Email: MaraWayne@aol.com -=+=- SCAM ALERT By Kate Grilley "A fool and his money are soon parted." Keep your wallets/checkbooks firmly shut when these folks come calling. Woodside Literary Agency Posts repeatedly on America On-Line even though it has been kicked off the air. Someone usually posts on Sunday. According to posts, Woodside was recently kicked off AOL, Prodigy, and MSN. The "agency" has a Long Island address and San Marcos Island, Florida address. Promises the moon, it's made of green cheese. Northwest Publishing Northwest is being sued by the Utah Attorney General (for mail fraud, according to one newspaper report). It's also in bankruptcy, and the Trustee has just applied to the Court to auction off the assets and wind up the company. The authors are, apparently, going to get their mss, disks, copyright, et al returned to them, since the Trustee is also asking the Court to approve cancellation of all contracts. Commonwealth Publications, Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada A vanity publisher masquerading as a bona fide house. Toss their "we love your book, we'll pay you 40% on a print run of 10,000.00 AFTER you PAY US..." letters in the trash. New Mystery Magazine Takes your subscription money, it's months and months before you see a copy of the magazine. The magazine exists, but is VERY slow on subscriptions and refunds to disgruntled subscribers. Know of any scams you want reported in future columns? Post me the details at 71764.3206@compuserve.com Kate Grilley's first short story, "Taking Prisoners", appeared in the Summer, 1996 issue of Murderous Intent. You can reach Kate by e-mail at 71764.3206@compuserve.com or on the web at http:/ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Kate_Grilley -=+=- TEN COMMON ERRORS EDITORS FIND IN SHORT STORIES by Vicki Cameron The editorial board for THE LADIES' KILLING CIRCLE read and edited over fifty short mystery stories in compiling our anthology. Our aim was to make each story the best it could be. Here are the ten most common problems we encountered on the editorial road to publication of our book. PRECIOUS WORDS The biggest problem was not in the stories. Our biggest headaches were caused by the unprofessional behavior of some writers. These writers read the editorial comments and yelled, cried, complained, and argued. They took all the criticism personally and did not want to change anything. The remaining nine problems were all in the stories. GLACIER START The writer sets up the scene with physical descriptions of the rooms, buildings and scenery; introduces all the characters with their resumes and pets' names; and gives the back story of all these people including whose parents were divorced and who had been scared of monsters under the bed as a child. We are on page ten before we find out what the story is about. DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE Story people act out of character because it fits the plot. The biggest baseball fan in the world is all set to watch the crucial ball game. Instead he decides to take his wife out to the opera because the author needs them to be away from the house for a while. THE WONDER WORDS Poor use of point of view. The author uses the wonder words -- felt, wondered, knew, thought, wished -- to show we are in a particular character's point of view, and then writes things the character would not have seen. "She wondered who had killed him as she ran away from the body, her long brown hair trailing in the wind and her shadow racing behind her trying to keep up." Does she see her shadow? THAT WOULD BE ILLOGICAL, CAPTAIN Even in an imaginary world, the rules of logic apply. The cat dies at home, so the heroine calls her ex-hubby at his apartment, asking permission to bury it. [How long would you keep a dead cat in the basement?] Four people are in a car accident. The two in the front seat are burned to a crisp. The two in the back seat regain consciousness scorch-free. THIRD PARTY CLUEING A walk-on character gets the most important information. A convenience store clerk says, "Oh, there was a murder near here yesterday and the cops are looking for a one-armed man who headed south on Easy Street and is presumed to be hiding in the trunk of a car in your driveway." Here the sleuth doesn't really sleuth, she just collects information others have sleuthed for her. Not to be confused with acceptable information-dropping, wherein a nameless character makes an off-hand remark, which the sleuth interprets. THE RED RIDING HOOD ENDING A brand new character rushes in at the last minute to save the heroine from certain death. A close relative of this problem is "It takes a man to save a woman." The main character who gets herself into a jam must get herself out of it. THE RIGHT ABOUT NOW NARRATOR The writer stops the story to tell the reader something. Right about now what Jenny didn't know was a big hungry cougar was standing on the ridge ahead of her, having been starved for three days by the one armed man and only recently released from the cage in the station wagon. DUMB DIALOGUE The writer uses dialogue to tell the reader something by having the characters tell each other stuff they already know. "Where is our 18 year old only daughter, the one with the mohawk hair and the earring in her nose?" "She's gone out in the 1996 red Corvette you bought her for her recent birthday even though you told her she was grounded for getting a speeding ticket on her maiden voyage when you sent her to pick up a case of beer for Grandma." THE TRANSPARENT PLOT Guy 1 is a jerk; Guy 2 hates him. There is no one else in the story. Those were the most common short story problems we found. All of them were fixable. Except, as it turns out, the first. Vicki has two non-fiction books published, DON'T TELL ANYONE, BUT.... UFO EXPERIENCES IN CANADA; and FROM HEEL TO FINISH - THE SYSTEM OF GHENT FOR THE NINETIES. She was co-editor of and contributor to THE LADIES' KILLING CIRCLE, a mystery anthology. She is a partner in OUT OF THE WOODS, a writing and editing service. Email: vcameron@fox.nstn.ca -=+=- SHORT FICTION MARKETS REPORT by Gail Hayden Market and marketing suggestions for the short mystery story writer. Now That It's Written... Soon after I enthusiastically began to write short mystery stories, I had a sudden, enlightening realization. Few markets seemed to accept mystery submissions. Oh. Well, darn. I wanted to write mystery/crime stories, however, and after a couple of submissions to the leading magazines and long, highly charged waits for replies (rejections), I decided something. I was going to write mystery/crime stories and frame them in other genre formats in order to get them published. In the meantime, a friend gave me an announcement of the genesis of a new mystery magazine--Murderous Intent. Well, I had a murderous character on my hands and so I popped her in the mail to Margo Power. Margo didn't keep me waiting the way those other two magazines had and she was open to newcomers. Briskly, and all editorial professionalism, Margo announced that she would accept my story for publication if I wanted to make a certain revision. Taking a look at the story again, I agreed that Margo's suggested change would improve the piece, and we were in business. I quickly received a check for my first paid mystery sale. I didn't know whether to frame Margo's check or cash it, but eventually realized it was money, not art. I was a mystery author. However, there was still a dearth of mystery genre magazines and I proceeded to write a number of science fiction stories and a western. My western, To Catch a Thief, is featured in the current Tale Spinner and centers around the murder of a trading post clerk and the theft of some money. Yes, I had published another mystery. Then, too, I had one of my stories about the demi-human crimebuster and bounty hunter Gookie accepted by a science fiction magazine. Not long after, Debbie Gish at Kracked Mirror Mysteries also accepted a science fiction crime piece from me. I had discovered a way to write mystery/crime stories and get published too, by expanding the markets to which I submitted. I recommend that the mystery writer consider adding additional magazines to a submissions list. Although most of the small press publications don't pay much and some may die while your manuscript is in their hands, it's a viable option for gaining mystery writing credentials. To that end, the SMFS newsletter will offer a regular, quarterly column on markets. Here's the first batch of suggestions of mystery and general publications to which a writer may send mystery stories. Margo Power Murderous Intent Madison Publishing Company P.O. Box 5947 Vancouver, WA 98668-5947 Sandy Raschke Fiction Editor Calliope P.O. Box 466 Moraga, CA 94556-0466 Pays in two copies. Up to 2,500 words: Joe Glasgow Tale Spinner P.O. Box 336 Bedford, IN 47421 To 4,000 words P. Carman Dogwood Tales magazine Box 172068 Memphis, TN 38187 To 3,000 words. For the whole family. Bayard Happy Suite 11A 240 E. 35th St. NY, NY 10016 To 5,000 words. He doesn't want slick. pays $5 Steve Schaffer President Newfront Communications http://www.newfront.com sschaffer@newfront.com tel 415-776-6683; fax 415-776-6672 San Francisco, CA The Case is looking for a specialized type of short-short story. Ask Steve for the details. Whispering Willow's Mystery Magazine 2517 South Central P.O. Box 890294 Oklahoma City, OK 73189-0294 500-2,500 words. Debbie Gish Kracked Mirror Mysteries 370 E. Woodlawn Le Center, MN 56057 Literary Fragments P.O. Box 751 Beaverton, OR 97075-0751 aom@cedarbay.com Willow Bay, Editor A quarterly anthology of short stories and poetry, announces an upcoming theme for the fall 1997 issue: The Art of Murder. Open to short stories 5,000 words or less: classic English cozy, Gothic mystery, hardboiled, romantic suspense, whodunit. Send complete nonreturnable electronic ms with cover letter (include bio and credits) and SASE for response. Electronic submission in DOS text only. Accepts 8-15 mss/anthology. Reports on queries in 2-4 weeks; on mss in 2-6 weeks. Comments on mss. Simultaneous submission OK. SASE for guidelines. Payment: Pays up to 25% of net profits for the volume in which the writer's work appears for the lifetime of the publication, payable annually. Terms: Buys nonexclusive world rights. A Brief Glossary: slick: calculated and commercial. SASE: Self Addressed Stamped Envelope. We try to make our market suggestions as accurate as possible, but there is not always a means of verifying the integrity of the editors/publishers of any publications. Please send any mystery market information to MaraWayne@aol.com--the email address for Gail Hayden. Gail Hayden writes and is published in several genres. -=+=- SUNNYE'S FABLES by Sunnye Tiedemann Modern fables about publishing foibles -- true tales with a tail. Not so very long ago an ambitious New Writer had been enjoying her byline in print for a while, not a long while, but long enough that she no longer rushed for the paper to read every published word. One afternoon Ms. NewWriter attended a party with her non-writer friends. Now this writer worked very very hard to learn her craft and seldom attended parties. It seemed there was always too much writing to do, or a deadline coming up at the City Newspaper, for which she often wrote features as a freelancer. On this particular day, all dressed and in a party mood, Ms. NewWriter was happily chatting and catching up on neighborhood news when her friend, Mrs. Reader, took her aside. "My dear," said Mrs. Reader, "I just have to ask you," here Mrs. Reader cast several furtive glances at various people standing nearby, obviously to see if they were listening, for she lowered her voice to a whisper. "What was that last article of yours about? You know, the one in Sunday's City Newspaper." Here Mrs. Reader at least had the good grace to look embarrassed, but she continued, "I just couldn't make sense out of such gibberish." Ms. NewWriter, thoroughly baffled, could only look at Mrs. Reader in confusion. "I...I have no idea," she said with as much confidence as she could muster. "But I will certainly find out." "I never figured it out," Mrs. Reader said, patting Ms. NewWriter gently on the arm. "But I sent it to my nephew at Harvard. He's smart. He'll tell me." Thoroughly baffled, and with a deepening sense of alarm, Ms. NewWriter hastened home where she launched an intense search for last Sunday's City Newspaper. When she found it, and read it, she was appalled. She telephoned the editor immediately. "What happened to my piece?" she tried to sound cheerful and curious; to keep it light and make a joke of it. But frustration, anger and embarrassment burned in the back of her throat like bile. Now Ms. NewWriter had seen a typo in her articles now and then. There were times when a paragraph had been misplaced and once, even, the ending had been chopped off ("all the news that fits, we print," she had thought) but she had accepted these without question or criticism, thinking anyone could make a mistake. But this was different. The article was mangled; it was unreadable and as Mrs. Reader had said, it was "gibberish." The editor knew immediately what she meant. "I don't know what happened," he said, his voice deepening with the apology. "Nothing like that has ever happened before. We make mistakes, but not like this." "But people will think it's me...that I write like that. What are you going to do?" "I'm truly sorry, Ms. NewWriter. I apologize. What would you like me to do about it?" Ms. NewWriter thought a minute and then, "I know what you can do, Mr. Editor," she said with a chuckle. "You can publish every article I send you from now on. As restitution." His laughter rang through the telephone lines. "You got it, Ms. NewWriter. I'll do it." And he has. The tail to this tale is: When a publication mangles your story and makes mincemeat of your work, gently and politely help them eat your words. Ruth Sunnye Tiedemann can be reached at 74650.323@compuserve.com -=+=- MASTHEAD EDITOR -- Robert K. Foster [rkfoster@ix.netcom.com] ASSOCIATE EDITOR -- Debi Benoit [d.benoit2@genie.com] ADVISOR -- Margo Power [madison@teleport.com] The Virtual Offices of the Short Mystery Fiction Society(SMFS) http://members.aol.com/Mystfield/SMFS/index.html The Text-only, All-in-one Version of this Short Order Newsletter http://members.aol.com/Mystfield/SMFS/newsletter/v01n01/all_text.html ######