Sean R. Robinson

In many of these posts, we will be referencing the guidelines of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) guidelines. For writers of SF/F, this is the industry standard. You can find this website online HERE. In other posts, we will talk about the professional organizations available to speculative fiction writers.

Short story markets are generally defined by SFWA on a number of criteria. One of these is the rate of pay each market offers. Professional-level pay rates are generally paid by the word. When submitting to a market, they will generally discuss what their pay rate is. Look at the guidelines prior to submitting.

Pro-Rate – 6 cents or more / word

Semi-Pro – 1 cent to 5 cents / word

Token – Less than 1 cent a word or offers a flat-rate

No Payment – No payment for a story. May offer contributor copies

Royalties – A percentage of each sale will be given to the contributor