Publishing

I'm going to get a short science fiction story published in a respected trade magazine. I used the list of magazines where the last few Hugo Finalists were published to figure out where to seek to submit my work. There's also the Nebula Award, but the information page for that one doesn't list the publisher.
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Clarkesworld Magazine Submission Guidelines
Word Limit: 1,000-8,000 words (preferred length is 4,000)
Pay Rate: 10¢ per word up to 4000 words, 5¢ per word after
Rights:

First world electronic rights (text and audio)
First print rights (willing to sign 100+ chapbooks)
Non-exclusive anthology rights

Submit online: 2 day average response, but wait 2 weeks to query.
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Analog Submissions
Word Limit: 2,000-7,000 words for shorts
Pay Rate: 6-8¢ per word up to 7,500 words,
Format Notes:

Manuscripts must be computer-printed or typed,
double-spaced, on white paper, one side of the
sheet only. Please avoid unusual or very small
typefaces. Indent paragraphs but do not leave extra
space between them. Author's name and address
should be on the first page of the manuscript.

Rights:

Not detailed.

Address

Dell Magazines
Stanley Schmidt, Editor
267 Broadway, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10007-2352
E-mail: analog@dellmagazines.com

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Strange Horizens Fiction Submission Guidelines
Word Limit: 1,000-9,000 words (preferred length is under 5,000)
Pay Rate: 5¢ per word
Format Notes:

Follow the Standard Manuscripts Format guidelines.

Rights:

First-printing world exclusive English-language rights for two months.

Submit online: 35 day average response, but wait 70 days to query.
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Asimov's Science Fiction Manuscript Guidelines
Word Limit: Nothing longer than 20,000
Pay Rate: 6¢ for under 7,500, $450 for between 7,500 words and 12,500 words, and 5¢ for more than 12,500
Format Notes:

Follow the William Shunn’s guide to Proper Manuscript Format.

Rights:

First English language serial rights plus certain non-exclusive rights explained in our contract.

Submit online: 5 week average response, but wait 90 days to query to asimovs@dellmagazines.com.
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Fantasy & Science Fiction Writer's Guidelines
Word Limit: 25,000 words is the upper limit
Pay Rate: 6-9¢ per word
Format Notes:

Follow the SFWA Manuscript Preparation guidelines

Rights:

We buy first North American and foreign serial rights and an option on anthology rights.

Address

Gordon Van Gelder
Fantasy & Science Fiction
P.O. Box 3447
Hoboken, NJ 07030
8 week response, and query after that with SASE.

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I also found publishers who accept Novel Submissions.
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Baen Submission Page
Word Limit: 100,000 to 130,000 words
Pay Rate: Very competitive.
Format Notes:

Minimal formatting, please.

Rights:

First English language serial rights plus certain non-exclusive rights explained in our contract.

Submit online: Allow 9 to 12 Months for a response.
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Hadley Rille Books
Query to subs@hadleyrillebooks.com in November or December 2010.

Topless

Some places in North America permit females to be topless (a.k.a. topfree) in public on an equal basis to males, and limit indecent exposure laws to exposure of genitals. States which permit toplessness for both sexes include the California coast, including Black's Beach and Santa Cruz, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

More information is available on Wikipedia's TopFreedom Page.

There's a strong argument at www.gotopless.org which outlines how toplessness isn't about sexuality. I imagine if it was more common to see women in public walking around with bare breasts that the allure of seeing "naked titties" would diminish and men would quickly learn to act more mature about their own sexual natures.

Music

From time to time, I like to reflect on what the my favorite music of all time is. I composed this list over the course of a week in January 2008. There's no special reasoning behind the order, but these are effectively my favorite ten songs. Obviously there is a strong bias towards Rock. There is also I bias towards 90s music.

Notable bands that I really like (Led Zep, Blink-182, Weezer) don't make the cut. I have only seen 3 of the 10 songs performed live. I don't even think half of these bands are even still around.

• Bush - Glycerine
• Filter - Trip Like I Do
• Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench
• Green Day - Welcome to Paradise
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
• Rush - Tom Sawyer
• Smashing Pumpkins - Landslide
• Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
• Temple of the Dog - Hungerstrike
• The Who - Teenage Wasteland

Do people agree/disagree with any of these selections?

Inquiry to the Fed

I submitted a brief letter to the Federal Reserve this afternoon:

Ben Bernanke and the Board of the Federal Reserve,

We need more money in this country. We need food to cost more. We need entertainment prices to increase. At the same time, we need to find someway to keep housing prices and health care costs in check.

Is this possible?

Thank you,
Robert Van Dyk

Of course, no matter how much the supply of money increases, they can keep housing prices in check by increasing interest rates (i.e. if EVERYBODY'S income doubled tomorrow, mortgage interest rates of 11.6% would be sustainable ($100,000 costs $500/month over 30 years went loaned at 4.4% (the current rate) versus $1,000/month when loaned at 11.6%... I have done the math).

Numbers

Lots of people know that my favorite number is 37.
Fewer people know that I also greatly enjoy the number 19.

Note: Beware of the mp3 at the bottom of the 19 link, if you click it.

Of course, 3 (Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky) and 7 (for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone) are also popular. But that's just an elaborate way of writing 3-7 or 3/7 or July 3rd (whatever your preference is). Add in 9 (for Mortal Men doomed to die) and 1 (for the Dark Lord on his dark throne) and you've got the transposition (91) of the Dark Tower number.

Anyway, the point of this post is to illustrate a recent realization about the number 19. Through the Dark Tower the author draws attention to names and numbers that "add up" to 19. There are so many coincidences, it's almost as like the mischievous author is doing it on purpose. For example, the pastor from Salem's Lot who makes a guest appearance in Wolves of the Calla is named "Donald Frank Callahan". Count up the letters in that name and you get 19. My realization today was that this trick works for my name as well. Robert William Van Dyk. I'm sure I've noticed this in the past, but somehow it struck my tonight and I decided to write about it.