Archive of the Odd

The vast majority of time as a submitting author is throwing things at publications and expecting rejections. I would know, as I am a short fiction author with maybe a 5% acceptance rate, who is confused and alarmed when I see “congratulations!” in an email where I expect “unfortunately.” This is, coincidentally, roughly the acceptance rate of Archive of the Odd, so I figured I ought to write something to explain what exactly a “congratulations” means from us.

Each section is divided into roughly one-month chunks. We’re still the new kids on the block and are getting used to the rhythm required of each issue—previously we’ve either rushed things or ended up with more hang time than we’d intended. Unfortunately, with such a small team, we are also often waylaid by personal circumstances. We are working to develop safety nets within our team to avoid rushing or delaying creators going forward.

Initial Acceptance (first month after closing)

1. We don’t actually say “congratulations” (sorry), but ask if a story is available. Since we allow simsubs and you can do whatever you want with your writing, there’s always a chance that a story has been published or is otherwise spoken for. Very cool! If that’s the case, you will get a “congratulations” and we’ll go on our merry ways.

2. If it is available, we’ll send a short list of information we’ll need for publication (payment information for contracts, bio, author’s note, etc.), only a couple points of which require a response before moving forward. If a story was sent in PDF or was otherwise formatted prior to submission, we’ll request a plain text version of it for copy editing. We will also ask if you would be interested in being paired with an illustrator. If you are, we will send your story to artists who have expressed interest in illustrating stories.

3. If you would like to discuss your story further before editing or formatting, please let us know! We’d be happy to set up a video or voice chat, or discuss further in the email thread before starting edits. Examples of things that may warrant further discussion are changes to accommodate the PDF or EPUB versions of the final magazine, general appearance, or handling of sensitive topics in editing. If you want to discuss, so do we!

Development (one to two months after receiving information)

4. Cormack handles copy edits. In general, longer pieces are done first to allow authors more time to respond before formatting begins. Preformatted pieces are either done last or accepted with errors if editing is not possible, as this is considered prior to sending the initial acceptance. Spelling conventions are based on where the piece is set (it wouldn’t make sense for an Australian document to use American spelling, etc.), although in general Chicago Manual of Style is used unless inappropriate for the format.

5. If additional changes are made after the first round of copy edits, a second round will be completed.

6. Contracts are sent out. Payment is based on word count rounded up to the nearest $0.50. In the case of significant difference between original and edited versions, the higher wordcount is used. Payment is made upon the return of a signed contract. For original pieces, first English electronic and print rights are requested, with no exclusivity or copyright transfer. For reprints, a license to publish electronically and in print is requested, again with no exclusivity or copyright transfer.

7. In the case of a piece with a single format (e.g. a blog), a format “menu” is put together and sent out. This menu includes different designs for the format. You can pick your favorite or mix and match elements from the different examples. In the case of multimedia stories (e.g. a mix of social media, letters, and ansible printouts), generally menus are not sent out unless one particular format dominates or is otherwise important to the look of the story. However, any formats may be changed upon request once a draft is presented.

8. The piece is fully formatted and sent for approval. If illustration is requested (we’ll get to that next), there may be empty areas for art to be put in afterwards. Changes are made upon request. This is also a good time for catching errors, as formatting may introduce them.

9. During editing, stories looking for illustration are sent to illustrators. Illustrators choose what piece they would like to work on. The author and illustrator are then connected in their own email thread to discuss different parts of the work.

Preparation for Publication (month following formatting)

10. We will put together marketing materials, usually designs with the title, blurb, and author for a piece. Sometimes this is a wide range, sometimes this is a few variations on a similar theme. If you have any ideas for designs, please let us know! We’d love to incorporate them.

11. This is generally when illustrations will be completed. After your approval, we will incorporate the illustration into the story, either internally or as a full-page illustration.

12. A final proof is sent to you and the artist.

And, 12 steps after that initial acceptance email, you’re almost done! After this is mostly behind-the-scenes work for us, like determining the order of the table of contents and compiling the final issue. From Issue 4 forward we intend to work on print copies concurrently, as opposed to after-the-fact, so you may also receive emails on their status. Every contributor gets a digital contributor’s copy prior to publication, and a physical contributor copy as soon as they are available. For non-US authors, we will send directly from Ingram. PLEASE let us know if it does not appear in a timely fashion. Sending from Ingram is out of our hands for the most part, so we want to troubleshoot everything we can.

Once the issue goes out, join the celebration! You earned it!