Page 3 of posts filed: meta

The BULL SPEC dollar.

Posted on 2009-11-08 at 12:08 by montsamu

We've been getting some questions about our "donate what you like" model. So let's walk through a $10 donation to a typical BULL SPEC story:

1. If it's on SMASHWORDS, they take their cut (their servers host the files and their software makes multiple e-book versions possible for us) and the rest goes on to step 4.
2. If it's on our audiobook host (now TBD), they take their cut (their servers host the (large!) files) and the rest goes on to step 4.
3. If it's on the BULL SPEC site itself (through the story's dedicated

Posted in meta

Attachments, thanks, and stats.

Posted on 2009-11-08 at 03:03 by montsamu

Based on some feedback to our guidelines, we're considering accepting attachments. (We aren't yet but we're thinking about it.) The most likely ones for us are (1) .txt (2) .pdf (most likely to render the same for you and us) and (3) .odc (our internal document format). We have had problems with both .doc and .rtf rendering sanely across operating systems and client software in the past and aren't that interesting in putting our precious pennies into the latest and greatest commercial editors which use .doc

Posted in meta

Updated guidelines: open for works in Spanish and Chinese; longer form reprints.

Posted on 2009-11-07 at 18:14 by montsamu

We've made a few minor updates to our guidelines, clarifying some language around our publishing schedule and rights, and adding two fairly (we feel) important bits of information:

1. We are open to Spanish and Chinese (Mandarin) language submissions.
2. We are open to longer works of reprint fiction.

Posted in meta

First two submissions and updated guidelines.

Posted on 2009-11-07 at 11:35 by montsamu

Thanks SO much to the first two submissions we received last night. One we're still holding for consideration a little while longer, the other involved the hardest thing to do so far: reject a very, very good and fun story which just wasn't right for one of our first two selections.

On that note we updated our guidelines with a little extra direction on content and we apologize for not being more clear from the beginning--it wasn't until we were sitting with a good story at the edge of content we hope to

Posted in meta

How it works.

Posted on 2009-11-06 at 07:00 by montsamu

The following is a work of fiction depicting how we imagine this is going to work, in our folly of imperfect wisdom, clouded by ignorance:

1. A writer sends an awesome story to us.
2. We skim it, hopefully within 5-10 days, and either reject it for content, using unreadable attachments, etc., accept it immediately (skip to 4), or acknowledge the submission with a personal letter.
3. We fully read the available submissions and evaluate how many we'd like to and can accept at this time.  We grudgingly reject some of the

Posted in meta

BULL SPEC submissions guidelines

Posted on 2009-11-06 at 05:05 by montsamu

UPDATED: 2010-10-15 at 09:00 EST:

Note: These are old, out-of-date guidelines and rantings here for "historical" purposes. Please visit this link for up-to-date guidelines and status.

In short: send a story or poem (text, attachment, whatever) to: submissions at bullspec dot com and let me know: (1) where you are writing from as I try to keep some balance between local and global content; and (2) if it has been previously published and if so, where. I prefer to receive submissions in a standard manuscript

Posted in guidelines, meta

Welcome to BULL SPEC

Posted on 2009-11-06 at 05:00 by montsamu

Welcome to a new speculative fiction market, BULL SPEC, based in Durham, North Carolina, United States.

We're going to start slow and small and make sure we have things right and that we grow the right way if we're lucky enough to need it. We'll aim to start with quarterly stories, move to bimonthly, monthly, etc. when we can, with a yearly e-book and print anthology of the best of the best. But to be realistic that is months, maybe years, maybe never, away.

But we're going to start some things the right way

Posted in meta