In the past, most of the stories I’ve sold have gone from sale to publication pretty quickly, but at the moment I’m in the unusual position of having three stories still pending: “The Winds Of The Mind”, “Eyes Of My Brother”, and “The Blade’s Bargain”. And the first of those should be coming out pretty soon…
“The Blade’s Bargain” is a heroic fantasy story with an introspective turn, and has been picked up by Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. It’s actually the most recent sale of these three, but it’s tentatively slated for Q2 of this year. Publication times are subject to change, of course, but there’s also a strong chance this one may receive the narrative treatment–so if audio fiction is your jive, this one may be up your alley.
Next up is “The Winds Of The Mind”, a sci-fi piece that was picked up by Abyss & Apex. A&A is a well-respected, Hugo-nominated semi-pro publication, and I was delighted to have them pick up my story! It’s been a long wait for this one to come out, as they have been thoroughly overstocked with wonderful fiction to release, but it’s due to roll out in Q4 of 2023.
Last, but not least, is “Eyes Of My Brother”, a dark-fantasy horror tale that was accepted by Kaleidotrope, with a view to publication by the end of 2024. Kaleidotrope is a semi-pro market with a well deserved reputation for quality in spec-fic circles, and having them pick this story up from me was my writing highlight of 2022.
I won’t try to pick between the three for which I’m most looking forward to seeing published, as each of them is exciting for different reasons–but I’ll post here when each of them comes out, so stay tuned.
That’s gotta be a horrific wait…the end of 2024?!? Congrats on the sales though. That’s solid.
It’s a bit surprising the first time it affects a story of yours, but magazines are all different–some buy and publish quickly, others like to have a good lead of stories ready to publish, and sometimes, publications and their editors are impacted by forces completely beyond their control that can skew even the best of publishing intentions. As it is, if all these stories publish exactly on schedule, then that late 2024 publication will only be my third-longest gap from acceptance to publication.