Share the Joy

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Отзивче за The Kerezstury TVirs:

Popov's "The Keresztury Virus" is a new kind of cyberpunk that makes go looking for his other writing.

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В личния ми блог: Публикации: Love in the Time of Con Crud и Two Moons

Директна връзка към Two Moons

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PodCastle, personal rejection:

Dear Kalin,

Thank you for submitting "A Tale of Heroes and Villains" to PodCastle. It's an interesting story, but it didn't quite come together for us and we've decided to pass on it.

We appreciate your interest in our podcast; thanks again for giving us the chance to look at your story. We hope to see more of your work in the future.

Kind regards,

Emmalia Harrington
PodCastle
http://podcastle.org

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Jared Millet's Goodreads review of Compelling Science Fiction #15:

A great comeback for Compelling SF! A lot of good stories here, but my favorite is easily "Two Moons" by Elena Pavlova.

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Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, personal rejection:

Hi Kaloyan. Thanks for your submission. We liked a lot about it but it didn't entirely work for us.
It does have a fun YA feel to it, but it needs a bit more work yet. Some of the dialogue is repetitive, and the wise-cracking demon is a bit stereotypical. We never learn the boy's name; he is referred to throughout as "'the boy" We'd like to see his character developed a bit. If he is skilled enough to call up the ruler of hell then he should have a bit more character and ability to vocalize in an intelligent way. And although the joke is that he's called up the ruler of hell just to destroy his school, it doesn't come off that strongly as a joke. Something more creative and interesting would hold the reader more strongly. The setting is not described, leaving the action to take place in a void. A good setting could add a lot to the atmosphere. If the book the boy is using is so inadequate, how could it have been used for a successful summoning? The ending felt a bit flat, and left no satisfying resolution.

If you wanted to revise with these points in mind we would be happy to consider this story again in a future submissions round.

Hi Kalin. We are very glad to receive work from writers in other languages, and are happy you have sent Kaloyan's story to us. We understand that the writers you translate for may not be able to communicate in English. But to accept a translated story, we would need to receive an email from the writer themselves, in their own language, stating they are giving the person they name permission to submit their story for them. Their letter would also have to state what arrangement for payment they wish. They could include a translation into English of their email.

[Gev]

Thanks very much for sending this story to _Beneath Ceaseless Skies_.
I'm sorry it's not quite right for me. I liked the brooding feel that I
felt in the tone, and I liked the sense of detail of individual moments
and of the world; in most places, that sense of detail felt to me
balanced between giving some tactile or world information but not so
much that it slowed the pace, but in other places, things felt a bit
sparse to me or more quick or summary than I needed. I liked the
narrator's gumption and resourcefulness, although I had some moments of
confusion about the plot logic. I liked the escalation of suspense as
the narrator was trying to summon their wife and escape the sultan's
captivity, but the last paragraph felt to me more abrupt than I needed
in order for it to feel a satisfying conclusion, I think because it felt
to me like summary or incidental information rather than something that
had actually happened or not.

I appreciate your interest in our magazine. I hope you will feel free
to submit other work in the future.

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Escape Pod, personal rejection:

Dear Kalin,

Thank you for sending “Love in the Time of Con Crud” to Escape Pod. Unfortunately, this story wasn’t a good fit for us. Choosing stories is a subjective process, and we have to reject many well-written stories. Please note that we do not accept revised stories, but we wish you the best in finding this one a good home, and we look forward to your next submission.

We wouild also like to apologize for holding onto it for so long. We're still learning our new submissions software which meant a few stories got neglected this past spring.

This story was very well-received across our entire editorial team, and reached the final round of consideration. Very few submissions reach this stage, but we’re sad to say this piece wasn’t quite what we’re looking for right now.

Best Regards,
S.B. Divya & Mur Lafferty
Co-Editors, Escape Pod
http://escapepod.org

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Fantasy & Science Fiction, personal rejection:

Dear Kalin,

Thank you for giving me a chance to read "The Golden Demon" by Yancho Cholakov. The beginning of this grabbed me and I liked the quality of the prose, but I wanted another layer to the characters earlier in the text and the ending didn't quite hit the mark for me. I'm going to pass on this story for Fantasy & Science Fiction, but I wish you best of luck finding the right market for it and hope that you'll keep us in mind in the future.

In the meantime, we all hope you are staying safe and healthy.

Best regards,

Charlie
--
C.C. Finlay, Editor
Fantasy & Science Fiction
fandsf.com | @fandsf

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Departure Mirror Quarterly, personal rejection:

Dear Kalin,

Thank you for submitting "A Tale of Heroes and Villains" to Departure Mirror Quarterly. It's really beautifully told, but it's not a good fit here. Best of luck placing it elsewhere.

Sincerely,
Art Tracy

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Writers of the Future, Honorable Mention for Elena Pavlova's "Scalpel Flowers":

Dear Writer,

Congratulations! Your story has been judged and is an Honorable Mention for the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest 4th quarter (entries received between July and September).

PLEASE READ FURTHER. WE ARE CHANGING OR NORMAL ROUTINE.

I will be sending a certificate to everyone UNLESS you write to me that you don't want it.

THE ONLY OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE THAT YOU SHOULD WRITE TO ME IS IF YOUR ADDRESS HAS CHANGED SINCE YOU SENT IN YOUR SUBMISSION.

Otherwise, DO NOT RESPOND, you will get a cert.



This hopefully gives you the incentive to submit for this current quarter. The more often you enter, the better chance you have of winning.

I hope you are already working on that all-important "next story."

If you have not taken advantage of the tools that we have developed to help you become a professional writer, I urge you to do so now. We have a blog, a forum, podcasts, and the new Online Writers Workshop – all free and all designed to help you. They are all accessible right on the site.

If you have started it but not yet completed the workshop, please do! The entire workshop is 10 to 15 hours total, and it is a "go at your own pace."

Our site address is http://www.writersofthefuture.com.

Happy Writing!

Best regards,

Joni Labaqui

This is Ele's second Honorable Mention.

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The Fiddlehead, personal rejection of "The Last Story":

Dear Kalin,

Thank you for submitting to The Fiddlehead. Unfortunately, we will not be publishing your short fiction. The language used in this piece is very impressive, however.

All the best with your writing,

Amanda Dawson



We at The Fiddlehead love hearing your feedback, but unfortunately, given the volume of submissions we get, we can’t respond to further emails or inquiries. And please remember that you can only submit once a year! —The Editors

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Distant Shore Publishing, acceptance:

Hi Kalin,

Apologies for the very long delay in getting back to you. Thank you for submitting Kaloyan Zahariev’s story ‘Aspiring Magician’. I’m delighted to tell you it’s been accepted for publication.

Our schedule for December is now full, so his story will most likely be published next year, but I will let you know the exact date in advance.

We will need Kaloyan’s address to put on to the contract before we send it.

Let me know if you need anything else and thank you again for your patience.


Best wishes,

Libby
Submissions Moderator

W: http://www.distantshorepublishing.com

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Asimov's Magazine, personal rejection:

Dear Elena,

Thank you for letting me see "A Winter Census of Vampires." The story is very well done, but I’m afraid it’s not right for Asimov's. I look forward to your next submission.

All best,

Sheila Williams, editor
Pronouns: she, her
Asimov’s Science Fiction
http://www.asimovs.com

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Отзиви за англоезичния превод на романа „ЕНИА“:

Thank you for sending me your query for ENIA. I thoroughly enjoyed the voice of your characters and overall vision for this book. However, I am not currently looking for science fiction projects like this and must pass. I wish you the best of luck in finding the right home for this project.

I didn't want to stop reading, but life calls. So far, ENIA is the most entertaingly original story I've read on Inkshares since I joined in 2015. Lekov's lively, flowing writing swept me along on the promise of a journey I've never even imagined.

(Благодаря на Виктор, автора на романа, че ми ги препрати.)

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Writers of the Future, Honorable Mention for Elena Pavlova's "Renting to Killers":

Dear Writer,

Congratulations! Your story has been judged and is an Honorable Mention for the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest 1st quarter (entries received between October and December).

PLEASE READ FURTHER. WE ARE CHANGING OR NORMAL ROUTINE.

I will be sending a certificate to everyone UNLESS you write to me that you don't want it.

THE ONLY OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE THAT YOU SHOULD WRITE TO ME IS IF YOUR ADDRESS HAS CHANGED SINCE YOU SENT IN YOUR SUBMISSION.

Otherwise, DO NOT RESPOND, you will get a cert.



This hopefully gives you the incentive to submit for this current quarter. The more often you enter, the better chance you have of winning.

I hope you are already working on that all-important "next story".

If you have not taken advantage of the tools that we have developed to help you as a writer, I urge you to do so now. We have a blog, a forum, podcasts, and the new Online Writers Workshop – all free and all designed to help you. They are all accessible right on the site.

If you have started it but not yet completed the workshop, please do! The entire workshop is 10 to 15 hours total, and it is a "go at your own pace."

Our site address is http://www.writersofthefuture.com.

Happy Writing!

Best regards,

Joni Labaqui

This is Ele's third Honorable Mention.

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Reckoning, personal rejection:

Dear Elena and Kalin,

Thank you very much for submitting, but I'm sorry to say I can't accept "A Winter Census of Vampires" for Reckoning. While I adored the exploration of a fungus infecting vampires in a similar manner as pathogens currently infect and destroy bat colonies, and the idea that vampires, like other animals, might be necessary predators in an ecosystem that is profoundly negatively changed by their absence, as well as the little procedural details giving this a nice air of verisimilitude, overall the pacing lags in parts and the characters' motivations were sometimes opaque or confusing to me. I believe both could be addressed by a judicious amount of cutting, and if you were at all interested in resubmitting something closer to 10-12K, I'd be very interested in taking another look.

Sincerely,

Gabriela Santiago

Reckoning Editorial Staff

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Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, personal rejection of "Virgil and the Water":

Hi Kain. Thanks for your submission. We enjoyed it but it didn’t completely work for us. As requested here is some unedited feedback from our first readers; it is not meant as diplomatic critique, it is only written to help the editors as they consider the story:

-- This story is a SF/Historical Fiction piece that re-imagines Virgil as an alien biorobot preoccupied with aqueducts and Roman downfall.

-- It's... thick. The prose is heavy with metaphor and simile to the point I feel like it gets in the way of the text. For example, there's a 153-word sentence inside a 416-word introductory sentence.

-- There is a story here, but I think it probably could be 1/2 the length and get it across far better. Overall, a decent story, but way too wordy to be accessible.

-- Well written, but mostly historical fiction rather than fantasy or science fiction.

-- The epilogue explains the story, but the story should explain itself.

[Mokidi]

Похвал.
След двегодишна борба (понеже съм тъпа и упорита, и не се отказвам лесно) и опити с различни проекти и разкази, най-сетне успех:
Получих грант за Diverse Worlds на Speculative Literature Foundation за проекта за "Животът и приключенията на котката Хълмерия".
От нюзлетъра им:
The winner of the 2021 Diverse Worlds Grant is Elena Pavlova for "The Life and Adventures of
Hillmeria Cat." Elena Pavlova (she/her) lives in Montana, Bulgaria. She has Asperger's syndrome and
is agender. Her short stories in Bulgarian have appeared in various Bulgarian anthologies and
magazines, winning awards from national competitions.

https://speculativeliterature.org/wp-co ... letter.pdf

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The Fiddlehead, a personal rejection of "The End of Historical Man, Part One":

Dear Kalin,

Thank you for submitting to The Fiddlehead. Unfortunately we will not be publishing your piece. The writing is excellent, but it just isn't a good fit for the journal. All the best with your writing.

Sarah H

We at The Fiddlehead love hearing your feedback, but unfortunately, given the volume of submissions we get, we can’t respond to further emails or inquiries. And please remember that you can only submit once a year! —The Editors

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Analog, acceptance:

Hi Valentin,

This is just a quick note to say that I like your “Biosignatures” piece,
and I’m going to take it for ANALOG sans any significant edits. You can
expect the contract via email in the next couple of weeks.

Best,
Trevor

Trevor Quachri,
Editor, ANALOG

Това е научнопопулярна статия, не разказ, но да се
надяваме, че ще помогне за такива работи като name
recognition и branding.

Лелееееее! :)))

Това ни е ПЪРВАТА продажба на голямо списание...

Е, сега вече ще ми трябва втори таван за удари с гъза ми.

Чобик)))

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"A Tale of Heroes and Villains":

(...) I did,
however, finally get a chance to read the story you sent me. It's
beautiful! I loved the sense of epic it had and the gentleness that was
woven through it. I was crying by the end of it and I can think of no
greater compliment than that. :D Thank you so much for sharing. I hope
you can find a good home for it. It really deserves to be read by
people. It's exactly the type of story I hope we get to see more of. :D

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Writers of the Future, Honorable Mention for Elena Pavlova's "A Pilgrimage to Memories Tattooed":

Dear Writer,

Congratulations! Your story has been judged and is an Honorable Mention for the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest 4th quarter (entries received between July and September of 2021).

If you would like a certificate, please respond to this email with the following:

1) The name of your story
2) Your name exactly as you would like it to appear on the certificate
3) The address that you would like me to send it to
4) Your legal name for mailing (one that the post office will recognize)

You will not get a certificate unless you provide the above information.

If you have not taken advantage of the tools that we have developed to help you become a professional writer, I urge you to do so. We have a blog, a forum, and podcasts all designed to help you, and you can access all of them right on our site.

We also have our free online writers workshop available. It is our gift to you at no charge to help you. Go at your own pace and take advantage of this unique offer.

I look forward to your next story entry! The next deadline is 31 December at 11:59 pm Pacific Time.

Have a wonderful holiday season.

Best regards,

Joni Labaqui
Contest Director

This is Ele's fourth Honorable Mention.

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DreamForge, story held for consideration:

Your submission to DreamForge "Love in the Time of Con Crud" has moved to our "Under Consideration" category. That means you're well within the top 10% and we loved your story. From there it's all about story mix and budget, what fits best, and how things compare when we winnow submissions down to the finest stories we have - because we still won't be able to publish all the ones we'd like. Give us about 30 days to get back to you on this. We received over 500 stories and we've worked our way through about half that at this point. We wish you the best of luck, congratulate you on such good work, and thank you for submitting to DreamForge.

Scot Noel
DreamForge

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Вальо с няколко поетични пробива в Illumen:

Dear Dr. Ivanov,
I apologize for the very late response...somehow I missed this earlier, and found it only in going back over the submissions.
I'm accepting "Haunted Stars" for the April 2022 Illumen, and you'll receive a contributor's copy. I do need to know how to pay you. Paypal works best, but I'd need your Paypal e-mail address for it. Other suggestions are welcome...
All Best, and Happy New Year!
Tyree Campbell
Managing Editor
http://www.hiraethsffh.com

Dear Dr. Ivanov,
I'm accepting the SETI Sonnet as well for the April 2022 Illumen. Please see my earlier remark about payment. If you have any questions, please ask.
Regards,
Tyree Campbell
Managing Editor
http://www.hiraethsffh.com

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Dream Forge, acceptance:

Kalin,

I’d like to make an offer to publish Elena Pavlova’s “Love in the Time of Con Crud” in DreamForge.

As a reprint, our rate is $0.03/word for a total of $78 USD

What I will need from you to prepare a contract are the answers to a few questions.

To whom or to what entity is the contract made out?
Please provide documentation on your legal ability to represent Elena and (if it is the case), to take payment in her name.
How should the story be credited? i.e. – by Elena Pavlova, Translated by Kalin Nenov ?
How will payment be made? (We typically use PayPal for overseas)

Answer a few questions and feel free to make any suggestions if you believe we’re not asking all the right questions.

Thanks

Scot Noel
DreamForge

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Adi Magazine, personal rejection of "Uprising":

Hi again Kalin,

Many thanks for submitting Valentina’s story to Adi’s open call for short fiction. Though it wasn’t ultimately selected, the piece made it onto our shortlist of 15 (out of more than 300 submissions) and our team really enjoyed it. Thanks for considering Adi and do be in touch about future work/translations — there may very well be opportunities down the line. Thanks again, and all best,

Meara Sharma
editor-in-chief, Adi magazine

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The Best of World SF, Vol. 3, acceptance:

Hi Elena and Kalin,

I had a chance to read "Two Moons" (on Compelling SF, as it happens!) and really loved the story and the world-building. So I would like to indeed take it for The Best of World SF: Volume 3, for 2023 publication.

Payment will be around 5c/word, for non-exclusive anthology reprint rights, with a further option on foreign language anthology rights (paid at an additional rate if/when one happens). I can offer the same fee for the translator (in this case, I guess it's up to you how you split it?).

If this is acceptable, I just need an author and translator bios, 1-2 paragraphs each, up to date to 2023.

Once I deliver the anthology to the publisher, their rights person will be in touch to handle paperwork and payments.

Let me know? And many thanks!

Lavie.

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DreamForge just published "Love in the Time of Con Crud":

https://dreamforge.mywebportal.app/drea ... alin-nenov

Spoiler

(And Opera still can't access the story content.)

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DreamForge Anvil Issue 7 is Online Now

DreamForge Anvil #7 is FREE ONLINE, with 8 great stories and essays on writing, science as fiction, and the meaning of life.

When you see the words “The Meaning of Life,” does it call to mind the purpose of humans in the universe? Was there a meaning for Homo habilis? Is there one for the hyacinth in our backyard? For the populations of chemolithotrophic bacteria found in deep sea hydrothermal vents? Is the meaning of life to further the existence of life itself?

Enjoy our new issue and great illustrations too!

Free Online - at https://bit.ly/DF-Anvil-7

(...)

Love in the Time of Con Crud, by Elena Pavlova, Translated from the Bulgarian by Elena Pavlova and Kalin M. Nenov

Love looks on the past with different eyes. If it could, it would reach back in time to ease the suffering of its love, to make the days of pain be known for joy instead. Time travel stories are often about changing future outcomes, but journeys in time can also find the roots of endearment and compassion.

(...)

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(Valyo doesn't share. Sooo...)

Списание Analog SF, в броя за юли/август 2022: We also have a fact “short” about the problems with fictional bio-scanners—you know: as in “Scanning the planet for life-forms, captain!”—from Valentin D. Ivanov, in “Biosignatures: the Second Biggest Blunder of SF.”

Пълното съдържание на броя може да се види тук.