We try not to keep an article longer than 6 months to a year because, although we may like it, we feel it should have a chance in another market. Our hardest task is returning articles that we cannot use. We try to be honest in our replies, but it is not always possible to provide in-depth feedback. We evaluate all articles in light of the other articles we have on hand, when last we covered the subject, and our readers interest in the subject matter. We retain only about 1 out of every 50 articles we see and then must select again from this smaller group.
Money is always a challenging question.
We have evolved from a magazine that did not pay at all to one that now pays competitively with other small press magazines. This is a unique situation in the magazine business, but we like it this way. We also try to work with writers to meet their needs. We pay within the quarter of publication for one-time rights only. Upon publication, the rights to the printed article revert to the author.