Stygian Publications

Best of Necrotic Tissue Anthology Update 10/27/11

2011-10-27T08:49:00.000-05:00

I just mailed out all of the overseas contributor copies and subscriptions.

My bulk order should be here by next Wednesday, so I will be able to mail off all the US subscriptions the weekend of November 5th.

I'm still projecting to have issued all refunds for those with a remaining balances left on their subscriptions by the end of December.

The Anthology is now available in print on Amazon and B&N.com. In e format, it is available on Amazon and Smashwords. Due to some odd glitch, the Amazon print version shows the Malpractice Anthology cover when you click on the detail. It is only a glitch. If you order the Best Of Anthology from Amazon, I assure you it will come with the correct cover and I am working to get the right cover displayed in the link.

Necrotic Tissue: Best Of Anthology is out, come get some.

2011-10-19T08:09:00.000-05:00

Time for an update. Thank you all for your patience.

The print version is ready, but there is always a lag between the printer and Amazon of up to two weeks. When the print is available, I will post a link on the FB Stygian Publications page. The price for the print version is $11.95, with 32 stories and over 65,000 words of the best horror short fiction in the last three years.

The ebook version is already available on Amazon and Smashwords if you are into that for $2.99.

All US contributor copies have been mailed out. Overseas contributor copies will get mailed out in two weeks as well as subscriber copies. I'm treating this like the 15th issue for all those subscribers with copies still due.

After they are all mailed out, those of you that have copies still due to you will get refunds as previously described. I hope to issue all refunds by the end of the year. If you believe you are due a refund but haven't seen anything by Jan 31st 2012, let me know.

Congratulations again to all the writers that made it into this anthology.

If anyone is interested in a review copy, please let me know.

TOC for Best on NT

2011-09-24T09:30:00.002-05:00

The Best of NT Anthology is coming along. Final edits will be done next week and I will have a proof copy to review. Mid October is the estimate for release. I will be sending out contributor copies first and then putting the print version up for sale, then I will work on getting an ebook version on Amazon. This will be Stygian Publication's first ebook, so give me some time :)

The anthology weighs in at 65,000 words with 31 stories that will thrill, chill and entertain. Please join me in congratulating these writers for making it into the Anthology.

Aldrich Byrn, How to Make a Brain Souffle
Matthew Phoenix, Bless me Father
Jimmy M.F.ing Pudge, Bad Billy
David McAfee, Cardiac Episode
Nate Lambert, Camp-een
Cate Gardner's, The Scratch of an Old Record
Doug Murano, Chums
Jason Hardy, Crowley's Surprise
Robert C. Eccles, Spelling Bee for Exceptional Children
Robert Millard, Smoke
David Tallerman, Caretaker in the Garden of Dreams
Daniel I Russell, Blood Pit
Gregory L Hall, Love is the Answer
Jan Brady, Mumsy The Last Unicorn
Zombie Zak, Zombie Unicorns
Fred R Kane, Unicorn Poem
Natalie L. Sin, Losing Face in Kwai Chung
Roger Kilbourne, Special Needs
Natalie L. Sin, Miss Molly's Scarecrow
Matthew Ewald, From the Journal of Johnathan Harker
James Stafford, Lizard Pit
MontiLee Stormer, Flytrap
Mark Owens, Sigil
Jeffrey Rice, Choices Made Possible by Modern Science
AJ Brown, Picket Fences
D. Brian Hardin II, Five or Six Feet Away
Brendan P. Myers, Ohrwurm
Bryce Albertson, Last Waltz in Texas
Jaelithe Ingold, The Rules
John P. McCann, Dagon and Jill
Matthew Fryer, The Narcslaag

Best of Necrotic Tissue Anthology Update

2011-09-11T16:14:00.000-05:00

You already know we are behind, but we are making good progress. The draft layout is done and being edited and the cover is almost done. I hope to have a proof copy in my greedy hands by October 1st and to mail out contributor copies around October 15th.

Running late with Best of NT

2011-07-22T17:24:00.001-05:00

I am proud of the fact that for 14 issues, we were never late on our quarterly schedule. Unfortunately, we are running late with our Best of Necrotic Tissue anthology.

Instead of coming out in July, it looks more like mid August for a release date. Sorry everyone, but I am very happy with the selection of stories and hope you will feel it is worth the wait.

Closing Necrotic Tissue

2011-02-21T09:53:00.000-06:00

I've decided to shut down Necrotic Tissue. There are a lot of reasons, but the main one is financial. I've always known that NT would never be a huge moneymaker, but I did hope that I could at least make it self-sustaining. It hasn't, and I can't continue to take the loss.

Stygian Publications, which is my publishing company, will remain open and I still plan on doing one or two projects a year.

I want to thank everyone that has supported NT over the years by sending us stories and buying subscriptions. Despite the fact that I couldn't reach the financial goal, I don't feel that NT failed. It is an excellent product and I am immensely proud of the issues we've put out.

I've decided to end NT with the upcoming issue #14, coming out in April. All of the writers that submitted stories to us in January will be getting them back. I only made the decision last week, and I'm sorry I held on to those stories. I hope those writers will find other homes for them.

I am considering putting out a Best of Necrotic Tissue later in the year. It isn't a done deal, but if the writers want to be a part of it, I would like to put it out.

Unlike other magazine closings I've seen in the past, all the writers will get paid and get their contributor copies. All of the subscribers are also going to get a refund for issues they haven't received. It may take me until May to get all the subscribers their money back, but they will all get refunds.

Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to share your stories and make something that brought me so much joy.

Scott…

Issue #13

2011-02-02T11:15:00.002-06:00

#13 has been out since January 21st, and at this point, everyone that was a contributor or is a subscriber should have it in their hands. The 21st of the month an issue is due is later than I prefer. January is tough because of the holidays, and we prepared accordingly. Still, there were more delays than normal, especially from the printer and I'm not happy to be so late.

I have friends that think I'm being too hard on myself, because most small press magazines are habitually late, assuming they don't fold before the issue is created. I understand this, but if I didn't hold myself to a high standard, I will slip. I push hard to get the issues out the door on time because I believe it means something. I believe I made a commitment when I took money from subscribers and I intend to do my best to honor that. Fortunately, I haven't yet failed to deliver an issue in the month it was promised, but this is the closest I've come and it bothered me.

Okay, enough about that, let's talk about the issue. The first thing you may notice is that IT IS HUGE! I didn't plan to make it this big when we opened up to submission for January's issue back in July. What happened, was that the volume of quality stories increased to the point where we all of the editors had full short lists. When we ranked them, a huge number received a rating from all four editors at or above our minimum level to be considered publishable.

I spent some time thinking about it. Most magazines are folding, shrinking, postponing or putting out reprints. I understand that. Times are tough and a lot of people are out of work. Worse, people are continuing to get laid off despite the nightly news trying to convince us that recovery is right around the corner. So money is tight and that means fewer people are subscribing and that means all publishers are hurting for cash. NT is no different. We've felt the pinch like everyone else and I have to tell you, it pisses me off.

I'm not saying I'm pissed off at people for not renewing subscriptions. Please, don't think I'm griping, because I appreciate any and all support you all have given. No, what I mean is that the situation pisses me off. All the people without jobs and all the companies that have closed pissed me off. I think we're all pissed, but it's became yesterday's news. The smart thing to do in these situations is to hunker down and play it safe. Spend as little as you can and above all things save the company.

Here's a little inside scoop. On demand printers have price break points for printing. That's common sense, but what most writers don’t know or think about, are the details. The break point for a small book, or in this case magazine, is 106 pages. There is a smaller break at 46 pages, but that's really small. For a magazine, anything less than 106 pages is a waste of money too, because you are paying the same price. Go over, and it changes from a flat rate to a formula that rises fast. The optimum number then is 106 pages. If you pick up a magazine from an on demand printer that is longer than this, the publisher is knowingly incurring more cost, not to mention paying for more stories to fill those pages.

I don’t begrudge magazines that have made this decision to go smaller or even scale back. I applaud them for continuing to exist in these tough times. I've said it before and I mean it, writers need viable markets. I salute all of the small press magazine and book publishers who are sticking it out. Most are losing money and continue because they believe in it, so thank you. My point is that I have strongly considered going down to 106 pages. It's an option that I have to consider and it may happen at some point in the future. Like I said though, the situation pisses me off. I've been adding content and striving to publish more writers, not less. Since we went to print with issue #7, here are the NT page counts:

#7=110, #8=118, #9=136, #10=130, #11=128 and #12=152.

At no time did we lower our standards and pick more stories just to make the book bigger. We used the same measuring stick each time and while not ever issue is an increase over the last, there has been a consistent increase in the number of great stories we have received. So when I looked at the huge pool of stories that were deemed publishable for January, I did the math and it came up to 65,000 words. 60,000 is the minimum number to be considered an anthology. I considered accepting a few for issue #14, just so I could take them all. Issue #12 had already got silly big, with 52,000 words of fiction and weighing in at 152 pages and I had to do the smart thing right? People loved issue #7 and it had 110 pages. They were a solid 110 and there is nothing wrong with that. As I said, we may need to tighten the reigns and move closer to the magic 106 pages in the future.

That's the future. As I have repeated several times, it pisses me off. We had a lot great stories and I wanted them all together, so I said screw it and put out issue #13 with 188 pages. Was it smart? No. Did it feel good? Hell yes.

I hope you all enjoy the issue and feel it is worth the money. I also hope you understand if future issues weigh in closer to 130 pages. It seems to be the sweet spot.

Issue #12 is almost here!

2010-09-29T16:39:00.002-05:00

October's issue is here and will be shipped within the week. Daniel Russell is the Editor for this issue and he did a fantastic job. We had more high quality stories over 3,000 words than normal, so while the TOC has only 18 stories (including three 100-Word Bites), the issue weighs in at 144 pages, almost twenty more than the last issue.

If you don’t have a subscription yet and are on the fence, pick up a copy of #12 from www.necrotictissue.com, Amazon or B&N.com and give it a try, you won't be sorry.

TOC:

Sandbox by David Dunwoody
Dead Man's Finger by Deborah Walker
Yes This Will Be On The Final by Dee Caudill
The Artist by Gerald Vincent
The Permanent Sabbatical by Mark Mills
Mr. Lean's Price by William Knight
Aw, Hell by Brian Kirk
The Pilgrimage by Justin A. Williams
High Definition by Robert C. Eccles
Nosophoros by Christine Lucas
Siberian Escape by Uri K.
Ventriloquist's Dummy by Danny Hill
Screaming Guitars by Paula Ray
Little Pieces by Matthew Piskun
'Til Death Do Us Part by Peggy Christie
Devil's Down by Megan Engelhardt
A Murder of Crows by Barlock
Picket Fences by AJ Brown (Editor's Pick!)

A reminder to all you writers out there, that NT is open to submission in October, January, April and July. Less than two days from now, the flood gates open, but we always have room for more.

Road Tripping

2010-09-08T10:39:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since NT went on a convention road trip. We can't go to all of the conventions, no matter how much we would like to, so my goal for 2010 and 2011 is to go to conventions NT has never attended before.

I'll starts with Horror Realm (formerly known as Zombie Fest), in Pittsburgh PA on September 17-19. It promises to be an action packed weekend, with not one, not two, but three movie reunions. There will be cast members in attendance from Basket Case, Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.

There are so many cool guests attending that I don’t have room on this post to name them all, so check out the link.

Greg Hall from Choate Road and The Funky Werepig will also be in attendance and has agreed to act as slave labor and assist me with running my table in the vendor room. Both Greg and I have a novel coming out through Belfire Press this year. Mine is called The White Faced Bear, and it is scheduled for release on October 31st. Greg's is At The End of Church Street and was released earlier this year and has already had several impressive reviews. Greg will be signing copies and busting my chops, so if you're not planning to go, change your mind! If you are going, please swing by the vendor room and keep us company.

I'll have six weeks to recover and then I will be attending Crypticon at the Sheraton in Bloomington MN on November 5-7. What's that you say? Isn't NT located in MN? You caught me, yes indeed Crypticon is in my own back yard, so this one isn't much of a road trip for me. However, someone is making a road trip to attend. The talented and beautiful Artist Samantha Ann Christianson is making a road trip from Winnipeg, Canada with her friend and, the equally lovely model GRACE LYNN. The Echo Effect Productions, to help me promote Necrotic Tissue. She will be doing a body painting exhibition at NT's table in the vendor room with Grace Lynn, and then offer her amazing skills to interested customers. Samantha doesn't just paint you, she transforms you.

2011 is just too far off to go into detail, but I am already confirmed for Visioncon in Springfield, MO Feb 18-20 2011, and the World Horror Convention in Austin, TX April 28-May 1st 2011.

Three Zombies & a Demon

2010-08-26T18:38:00.003-05:00

This is a collection of 4 One Act plays adapted by Roy C. Booth from four short stories originally published in Necrotic Tissue magazine. It is available for sale now at www.necrotictissue.com for $11.95 (plus S&H) and will soon be on Amazon and B&N.com

The original short stories are:

Bloodsuckers by Steve Barber (Issue #6)
How To Make a Brain Soufflé by Justin Pilon (Issue #7)
Tenure by Eric R. Lowther (Issue #7)
With Good Intentions by Nicky Drayden (Issue #7)

Here is what people are saying:

A playwright with a butcher knife, Roy C. Booth outwits the living in Three Zombies & a Demon. Cunning, brutal and wickedly amusing, even in the X Circle of Hell. - S.D. Hintz, author of Blood Orchard

...Mr. Booth has one sick sense of humor... The play-adapted stories in this collection will make you smile, and cringe.... Roy has taken the souls of these stories and melded his signature wit and dark humor seamlessly. - R. Thomas Riley, author of The Monster Within Idea

Douche Bag Alert

2010-07-24T21:40:00.001-05:00

I don’t make a habit of making public statements about others. I run NT with the goal of putting out a quality product while trying to help writers by offering them a stable paying market, fast turn around time and feedback on rejections. I occasionally get some negative reaction to feedback that is given, but a much larger number of people seem to appreciate the effort, even if they disagree with our opinions on their story.

I recently saw a post discussing a writer that had been submitting and selling stories under the guise of being previously unpublished. NT, like most markets doesn’t take reprints. Those that do, pay less for them. When I saw that the writer in question was perpetrating fraud, I searched our inbox and found a submission from this writer. A quick Google search uncovered that the story had been previously published back in 2008 in an online ezine. I have no idea how many other markets it appeared in. I thought I had dodged a bullet, but I was wrong. You see, back in April 2009, we had accepted a story and got a contract for 1^st North American Serial Rights. Now I find out that it had been published in an ezine three months before and then again five months after and who knows how many more times before and since.

Because of this illegal and unethical activity, I declare Lawrence R. Dagstine Douche Bag of the Year. I have never believed in Black Listing and still don’t. It is too easy to start adding people to a list for all kinds of indiscretions, and soon people can have their careers ruined over a personality conflict. I’m not suggesting anyone blacklist this scumbag, but I am warning others to beware and do business with him at your own risk. He has committed at least one confirmed case of fraud against NT and from what I’ve seen on the boards, at least a half dozen others.

Rant over, I now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

2010-06-27T18:19:00.000-05:00

It’s hard to believe that it’s July 2010. A year ago, with out 7^th issue, NT went print and the response has been outstanding. Now, John Wilson took the reigns for issue #11and I am very impressed with the result. As editor for the issue, John was responsible for all of the non-fiction as well as making final decisions on stories and deciding on the TOC order and he did a great job.

Issue #11 has a few extra surprises too, including the unveiling of Vince, Stygian Publications necrotic poster boy, posing on the cover with our new motto “Winning Hearts and Minds, One Story at a Time.”

Doug Murano (who as we recently announced, is one of our new Associate Editors) won Editor’s pick for “Chums”, and our Special Guest Author is Andersen Prunty. I was fortunate to meet and speak with Andersen and Context last year and MoCon this year. Andersen is a great guy and a fantastic writer, and despite having met me, he was still eager to write a story for NT, or at the very least, get paid.

Before I sign off, I would like to say a word about favoritism. There are many names for it, most unflattering, but I have no doubt that some people will see Doug winning Editor’s pick and then see his name pop up as a new Associate Editor and assume that we are playing favorites. These people will either believe me or not, but I want to make it clear that the way I met John Wilson, Daniel I Russell and now Doug Murano, was after I had accepted a story from them. In all cases, either I reached out to them or saw them on one of the boards and started up a conversation. With Doug, he applied for the open position a few months after he was notified about being the Editor’s Pick and I had never spoken with him before. I realize that in this business, deals are sometimes made and favors done and I am not judging people that do, but the fact is that at NT, the friendships followed the acceptances and not the other way around.

I’m now doing bigger projects with both John and Daniel because I really like their writing and I have worked with them enough to trust them to deliver. I hope to make more friends in the business, whether or not they ever submit a story to NT, because I’ve found I have more in common with other writers that anybody else. So whether we are already friends or not, please know that if your story is accepted it will be on its own merits, and as I expand the scope of Stygian to take on other projects, it will be because I like the projects and think they will sell. Don’t worry, becoming my friend isn’t a requirement.

My Interview on The Funky Werepig

2010-05-24T09:08:00.002-05:00

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-funky-werepig/2010/05/24/tfw-r-scott-mccoy

I had a great time and you will to if you give it a listen.

Change, The Only Constant

2010-05-19T09:06:00.002-05:00

Please join me in welcoming our two new Associate Editors, Doug Murano and Jodi Lee. Doug has had two stories accepted by NT, the second time winning the Editor's Pick in issue #11, coming out this July and a solid editing background. Jodi Lee is well known in the industry as a writer and editor. She has been published twice in NT and has several years experience working for other markets until she launched New Bedlam in 2009 and Belfire Press in 2010. We are fortunate to have them both as NT Staph. Thanks to everyone that applied.

John Wilson has been the Technical Editor for NT since Issue # 3, back in 2008. In 2009, John picked up the additional duty as Associate Editor. Much of the reason for NT's success is due to John, and he will be sorely missed. John is taking a hiatus, but he is forever Staph and will hopefully be able to come back at some point in the future.

Daniel I Russell joined NT in 2009 with a solid background in editing, having worked on the magazine Dred for two years. His story, "Blood Pit", appeared in NT #1 and he also had a story in NT's first anthology, Malpractice. Daniel will continue in his role as Associate Editor and also pick up the additional duty of Technical Editor.

John took on the role of Editor-In-Chief for issue # 11, and Daniel is currently doing the same for issue #12. I took on the role of Associate Editor and of course deal with the mundane Publisher duties. Unlike some magazines, even as Editor-In-Chief, all of us read an equal number of submissions. Many magazines have what they call "Slush Readers". I dislike the term "Slush" and have said so in a previous NT rant, but my point is that the initial readers often do a lot of heavy lifting and float up the cream to the editors, who only read the short list to make final decisions. These readers rarely if ever get any credit. Since we give personal feedback instead of form rejection letters, we need to be able to articulate why we reject a story. It's a team effort, and everyone has a voice. Each of the Staph read the same number of stories and come up with a short list. The short lists are combined and everyone takes another week or so to read the other's lists. We then meet as a team and decide which stories make it into the issue. The additional duties for the Editor-In-Chief include making final decisions for the Table of Contents if there are disagreements and writing all of the non-fiction pieces.

I felt that my nonfiction pieces were getting stale and it was time for a change. I'm glad John and Daniel wanted the opportunity and I believe both of them found it to be a valuable experience. I will take back the reins for the next submission period in July, which will be used to fill issue #13, due out in January 2011. 13 issues are more than most small press magazine ever achieve, regardless of genre. We aren’t quite there yet, so I have no desire to jinx it, but I couldn't have reached issue #10 without the help of a lot of people, but most of all there would be no NT without Dan Barter. He was there from the beginning as we brainstormed on format and content. He built our website and still updates and maintains it. He did all of the art for the first several issue and the cover art for the first 7 issues. He does the entire layout for each issue and I don’t know what I would do without him, yet most people only know him as Remo, a name in the credits. We've been best friends since the 7th grade and while I've mentioned his contributions before, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank him for all he has done and will continue to do.

This is an exciting time in small press horror. There are so many talented people creating more stories than there are markets. Thank you for supporting NT and through us, the writers.

Necrotic Tissue is looking for 2 Associate Editors

2010-04-22T11:59:00.002-05:00

Starting with the submission period in July, I have need of two people to help with submission for Necrotic Tissue. At NT, we have four submission periods each year (January, April, July & October). The current volume is approximately 500 submissions in that time frame. With the addition of these two people, we will have four people handling submission, so each would get about 125 over the month.

Our goal is to respond initially within two weeks to all writers with either a personal rejection (with at least one piece of feedback as to what could be improved), or a notification of making the Short List. At the end of the month, each associate editor is allowed only 12 stories in their short list. For the 15 days after submissions close, all associate editors read everyone else's short list and create a new revised list in order from best to worst in one of 4 categories (100-Word Bites, Flash up to 1,000 words, 1-3,000 and 3-5,000). We then meet on Skype for a BATTLE ROYAL CAGE MATCH. When the dust settles, we have chosen around 40,000 words of fiction and usually between 20-24 stories for the issue due out in 4.5 months (so the stories from July's reading period will be used to select stories for the issue coming out January 2011).
When stories come in, the Editor in Chief distributes them randomly so it is fare. Cronyism is not tolerated, so if you get a story from someone you know well, you should let the Editor know so someone else can read it.

For your hard work, you will get:
1. Credit as an Associate Editor
2. Invaluable experience that will help you as a writer and give you insight into the small press publishing world
3. A free subscription to NT (if you already have one, your subscription will get extended)
4. A discount on all NT products
5. The praise an admiration of your peers and family
6. And last but not least, a warm fuzzy feeling that comes with doing a great job and helping to put out a fantastic product.

Requirements:
1. Prior editing experience is preferred but not required
2. A great attitude and the ability to give actionable feedback
3. Skype
4. Must be reliable. I realize this isn't a paying gig, but if you agree to take the job, we expect you to be conscientious and complete your stories in the time allotted.

To apply, send me an email at rscottmccoy@necrotictissue.com . A resume and cover letter are not required and there is no "right" format, but please describe your writing and editing background and tell me why you are interested in the position and what you are looking to gain from the experience.

Issue #10 is out the door

2010-03-27T08:07:00.002-05:00

Oh the sweet ache of accomplishment. It's not secret that I'm not getting any younger and my back is reminding me of that this morning. It's a good ache because it means that last night I mailed out all of the contributor copies and all of the subscriptions, to include our newest subscriber, Mark Wholley (thank you Mark).

I watched the latest episode of Spartacus, then drove to the post office with my overburdened SUV. I go late so I'm not interrupted. It takes about fifteen minutes at my top speed to stuff all the envelopes in the big mouth blue receptacle. Now, to clean up the refuse of print label wrappers and packing material.

I will say that this is very early for us to be mailing out an issue. January ran late (though still in the month of January) due to issues at the printer and holidays. Our goal is to mail out the issues the first weekend of the month they are due so that most people will get them by that Friday, and most will except for Greg Hall. I send his on an intentionally long and indirect route, and he knows why.

Please stop by and let us know what you think of #10. Both my Staph and the writers would love some feedback. Now I'm off to get some Motrin.

April Update

2010-03-25T08:10:00.003-05:00

Big boxes of issue #10 are making their way to my house via pack mules. I know this because even a delivery truck that is restricted to 8 hours of travel per day could make the trip in half the time, so either they are using pack mules, or they are intentionally slowing down delivery in a vain attempt to make me pay for faster shipping. Foolish mortals! I'm aware of this slow transport and my Staph and I have worked it into our schedule. Not to worry, if you are a subscriber, your issue will be whisking its way to your door via half dead snails in about a week and you should have it in your hot little hands the first full week of April as predicted. If you're not a subscriber, now is the perfect time to join the Necrotic Tissue family (depending on your preference, I either will or won’t show up to your family reunions).

Some of you have been with NT from the very beginning and we thank you for your support. Many of you subscribed as soon as we went to print. I was cautious then, not wanting to over extend and be unable to deliver, so I only offered a one year subscription. Many other magazines have either gone out of business or switched to E versions, but NT print is going strong. Issue #10 marks are 4th print issue and the last for all of the people who started with our first print issue, #7 back in July, 2009. The good news, for all of you that fear NT withdrawal, is that we have updated our store and we now have 1, 2 and 3 year subscriptions available.

The price point between the US and Canada is low enough and I am physically close enough to Canada, that I am offering US and Canada subscriptions at the same rate. International subscriptions are a bit more, but radically less that many other US based magazines. Subscribing for multiple years reaps amazing savings. Bear in mind that these numbers might look larger than usual because most magazine only advertise the cover price, not tax and shipping. Unlike most magazines that look less expensive until you get nailed for shipping fees on the checkout page, I have it included those costs in the overall price, so what you see is what you get. US and Canada: Individual issues are $10 a piece. 1 Year (4 issues) = $30 a savings of $10 off the cover price. 2 Years (8 issues) = $55 for a savings of $25 off the cover price. 3 Years (12 issues) = $80 for a savings of $40 off the cover price. Once again, there are no additional charges when you hit the checkout page, tax and shipping is included. These prices are insane!

If you don't like to subscribe but you still want your fix, you're in luck. NT is available on the US, Canadian and UK Amazon sites.

A quick reminder to all writers: We're on Duotrope, Ralan and list the dates on our own web page, but I realize that it is easy to have time sneak up on you. I also realize with great sadness that some of you (I'm not going to mention names) submit stories to other markets. We do allow simultaneous submissions as long as you let us know, so I guess we are enabling your cheating ways. Simultaneous and not, we are open to submission four times a year (January, April, July & October). April 1st is coming up fast, so if you are a writer and think you have a story we'd love to read, here is your reminder to send it our way soon.

But wait, what's that I hear? Someone out there is asking what they get for their hard earned coin and I'm here to tell you. Every issue has around 40,000 words of horror fiction, from our 100-Word Bites to 5,000 words of the best horror fiction from established and brand new writers. We choose the best stories not the names. Here are some interesting stats:

In the first ten issues, we had slots for 200 writers. Of those, 40 were women (that's 20%). I've heard that it is harder for women to get into some markets. I don't doubt this, but it isn't the case at NT. We pick what we feel are the best 20-26 stories to get to 40,000 words, regardless of what gender the writer is or what country they come from. US writers don't get an advantage, but we do get a larger percentage of US writers submitting. I'm also very proud to say that NT has been the first publishing credit for an astounding 31 writers. While it is our goal to help new writers improve their craft, we don't do charity work. Every writer that made it in NT earned their slot and competed against as many as 500 other submissions to do so.

If you've never tried Necrotic Tissue, now's the time. If you love NT, please help spread the word. In order to reach our goal of paying pro rates, we need more subscribers. I'd like to reach that goal in 2010. Just two hundred more people in the entire world would be enough, so whether you are a writer or a fan, please help us reach our goal, because when you treat writers well, the fiction can only get better.

R. Scott McCoy
Publisher/Editor
Necrotic Tissue

2010-03-14T20:28:00.002-05:00

It's that time again. Issue #10 will be released the first week of April, with stories from Jeff Strand, Colm Mc Geever, MontiLee Stormer, Bryce Albertson, Aaron Polson and many more. 40,000 words of yummy horror goodness, and best of all, it's low calorie.

January Update

2010-01-19T14:28:00.001-06:00

It's been awhile, so I thought I would send out an update on what's happening at Necrotic Tissue and Stygian Publications in general.

One of the writers that we accepted in Necrotic Tissue recommended we join the Mystery Writers of America. I applied and was just informed that we were accepted. There are currently only eleven periodicals approved and it’s nice to be listed among such magazines as Cemetery Dance, Strand and Sniplits. http://www.mysterywriters.org/?q=ApprovedPubList
This now means that any story published from now on is eligible for an Edgar award and also that stories published in Necrotic Tissue will qualify toward membership.

Issue #9 is coming out later and I would have liked due to the holidays and a few technical issues with the printer. When we were PDF, the issues were always ready on the 1st of the month, and even with the first two print issues, we had them in the mail by the 1st. All subscription and contributor copies will be mailed out by Saturday, January 23rd. We should be much closer to our usually timeline for April and beyond and while it is still being sent out during the month printed on the cover, I'm sorry for the delay.

Stygian Publications is coming out with three titles in 2010. The first is the Graphic Novel, "Bad Billy", written by John P. Wilson, and art by OD. The tentative release day is May 15th. The novel "Samhane" is coming out late summer from Daniel I Russell. It was previously released electronically, but will be out in trade paperback. The last confirmed project is an Anthology of stories set in the Abyss Walker World. This is dark fantasy and a bit of a departure from the horror projects we have focused on for the last three years. The emphasis is on the "Dark", as you have grown to expect from Stygian Publications.

I have been working diligently on NT for ten issues. Because I wanted to take a bit of a break and because I believe in developing people, whether it's writers or our own NT Staph, I have decided to let both of my associate editors take on the roll of Editor in Chief for an issue. John has already taken the reigns during the January submission window, which will be used to fill issue #11, coming out in July. Daniel will take over for the April window that will be used to complete issue #12, coming out in October. I will take over in October in preparation for issue #13, WOOT!!

Being Editor in Chief for an issue is more than just deciding the TOC. They will also be responsible for all the nonfiction, which includes the Editor's Crypt, The Help section, The Rant and the Final Words. If only I could find a way to get them to pay the writers for those issues, hmmmm………..

2010-01-01T11:37:00.002-06:00

It's that time again. Necrotic Tissue is open to submissions from January 1st to the 31st. The stories selected from this submission window will be used to fill Issue #11, coming out in July.

John P. Wilson is the Head Editor for this issue. He will write all of the non fiction pieces and make final decisions on acceptances and story order. Daniel I. Russell will be Head Editor for Issue #12 coming out in October 2010. Both men have a lot of experience in editing and writing and I wanted to give them this opportunity to control an issue of NT while simultaneously giving myself a little break. I've been at is stead for issue 1-10, and it will be nice to let someone else drive the train for awhile.

Issue #9 for January is almost ready. The printer is backed up due to the holidays, so I have yet to receive the proof. Once I do and assuming there are no major corrections, I will be mailing out issues around January 20th.

Thanks to all of you who support NT with your stories and by subscribing. I'm very happy with where NT is and believe we will only get better in 2010.

Necrotic Issue #8

2009-10-27T12:07:00.002-05:00

#8 is our second print issue. I thought that one thing this blog would be good for was soliciting feedback about the magazine. Please feel free to discuss what you like and don’t care for about the latest Necrotic Tissue. If you dislike a story, please be respectful and constructive with your criticism.

Overall formatting had few changes, except for the transition from stark white paper to cream. We think it's easier on the eyes. The cover art is from Patrick McWhorter, a regular contributing artist. It's also the story art for the Editor's Pick, Smoke by Robert Millard. We think it's a fantastic piece that captures the essence of the story.

There will always be disagreement as to which is the best story of the bunch. Only 100-Word Bites don't qualify, otherwise all other length stories are in the running. It occurred to me that since I pay professional rates for what I consider the best story of the issue, that there would be speculation that my favorite story is one with a lowest word count :). I could try to assure you that's not the case, but you will either believe me or not. Smoke is not a short piece, but it isn’t pushing our limit either. In January, the winner is a shorter story than Smoke. While it’s too early to tell, I think this trend will be broken for April's issue.

David Dunwoody's story, Ellie Elemental kicks off the issue and it doesn’t let up. I think every issue has been strong. Certainly, reading any one of them is worth the time. Having said that, as we have become better known, we have also had more stories to draw from. We received 100 stories during our first submission month two years ago, and our most recent window we received over 400. The hardest part about getting so many is having to reject so many publishable stories. I think the eighteen or so we took for issue #1 gave us a strong start. Now, we are still getting about 18% stories that are without a doubt good enough to get in, but we are only able to take about 6%. That's leaving a lot on the table, but the only other choice is to accept stories years in advance and then temp closing while we catch up. We prefer to stay open more often and have our writers wait less than five months to see their story in print.

There is also the usual non fiction peices. I need help with these most of all. While I have no desirte to take on reviews of books and movies and many other online and print markets do, I want tomake sure the non fiction is worthwhile.

Please reply to this post with any feedback, positive or constructive.

Thanks

Scott…

2009-10-15T12:20:00.000-05:00

Arcana 39, A Convention of the Dark Fantastic, is this weekend in St Paul.
It's held at the Best Western, 1010 Bandana Boulevard W, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 55108-5107
Phone: 651-647-1637 Fax: 651-647-0244 http://arcanacon.com/

The guest of honor is Kim Harrison, best Selling author of The Hollows series. http://www.kimharrison.net/

This is only the second year attending Arcana. It’s a small convention compared to some, but the only convention in the Twin Cities that is focused on dark fiction. Movies are a big component as well, but only to watch and appreciate them. I will also be going to Crypticon 3 the weekend of November 6th. It is much more focused on the generic horror fan and is focused on movies. It’s also much larger and has as many a dozen guest, almost all of which are actors or special effects artists.

Arcana has panels dealing with all dark media, but the guests seem to be mostly writers. Last year it was F. Paul Wilson and in 2007 it was George Clayton Johnson. So while the convention may be small as compared to others like Convergence, the guests of honor are never small time. The smaller size also makes it much more personal, which has its advantages and disadvantages. For someone who is naturally introverted like me showing up as the new guy, in a group of people that have known each other for more than a decade, is a challenge. I need to work at being more outgoing. It should be easier in a group like this since all of the attendees have similar interests.

At Context 22, I was able to visit with friends I had already made and meet some new ones. Some of the people I met online and some I had met the year before at the same convention. Breaking the ice is the hardest but once I have at least somebody I know, I open up. Luckily, Roy C. Booth is coming to Arcana this year, and while we don’t know each other that well, I will say we are becoming friends. He's a talented writer and we have some common background, not the least of which is that he currently lives in my home town of Bemidji.

For those of you that don’t know, Necrotic Tissue is the best horror magazine in Minnesota without a doubt. Sure, it's the only horror magazine, what's your point? My hope is that being the only horror magazine I can build a fan base here in my home state. I'm also one of the few horror writers in Minnesota. Compared to the east coast, we have relatively few. There may be some that I'm unaware of because they are not getting actively published, but even counting them, I estimate that no more than 100 horror writers live in Minnesota. There are more Sci Fi and Fantasy writers based on the attendance of participation at conventions like Convergence, but a fewer number of horror writers. There are only five listed as members of the HWA, and as for the membership of our local MinnSpec (Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers) group, I know of only five that claim to dabble in horror.

Skullvines Press is also located here in the Twin Cities. I know and like (don’t tell them) S.D. Hintz and Jerrod Balzer who are the owners. Skullvines prints all kinds of wonderful things. Since Minneapolis and St Paul are consistently ranked in the top ten of literate cities, you would think there would be oodles of horror fiction fans. I have yet to find them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t here. Marketing is not only my least favorite part of the job (yes, even less than self editing), I suck at it. The challenge with small business is that if you suck at marketing, then it's too bad, because there is not money to hire help.

So why did I start writing this blog post? Great question, I think I've lost the stream. I know I wanted to let people know that Stygian Publications will be at Arcana and will have a vendor table. I will be sharing the table with myself, R. Scott McCoy, horror writer but not self publisher. Even I get confused when I have a vendor table with my writing on one half (mostly through Shroud Publishing, so some people think I'm from Shroud), and Necrotic Tissue magazines and our Malpractice Anthology on the other half. I do have plenty of copies of my new novella, Feast that I am happy to sign and of course, sell for the low, low price of $7.00 dollars. Copies of NT go for $5.00 and Malpractice goes for $15.00. This mean I will need to pick up some change and hope that I will need it.

If you are in the Twin Cities area this weekend, come on down to the Marriot and have some Dark fun. If not, try to make it out to Crypticon in November. http://www.crypticonminneapolis.com/

Behind the curtain....

2009-10-11T07:57:00.000-05:00

I thought it might be helpful for writers to get a peak behind the curtain at our process for selecting stories. For those of you who are soooooo bored that you actually read my publisher's rants in NT, you may already know that I don't like the word "slush". I'm not a crusader against the use of the term, I'm not foolish enough to believe that editors will ever stop using it. I do think that it has very negative connotations, and as such, predisposes the editors mindset toward negativity as well as an over inflated feeling of superiority. I've seen editorials where the editor describes the process as reaching into the filth and muck, searching for that one story that doesn't completely suck. I've seen them describe the process in a way that they clearly feel they are doing something heroic, and expect all of us lowly writers to apologize for our unworthy submissions that they were forced to endure.

I can't change their opinions as an editor, but as a writer, I can choose not to submit to them. Without writers there would be no magazines, and while some editors lament the submission process, no one forced them. I will admit that I do get tired by the end of a submission period, but I signed up for this. The day I can't take it anymore is the day I need to quit and focus only on my writing, or get extra help and just be the publisher and not an editor.

All of the NT Staph that read submissions, are writers. By writers, because opinions vary, I mean people who are actively working on improving their craft and regularly submit work in hopes of publication. We also remember how awful our first stories were, how much we have learned and how it feels to get a rejection. This is important, because rejections will happen. I see no reason to make a person feel bad by sending them a snotty or derisive rejection. Some people will take it that way no matter what we write, but we try to focus on the majority of people who are reasonable.

The fact is that in each issue, we can only take around 21 stories. Sometimes it will be 19 and sometimes 22, because I'm aiming for a word count of 35,000 and we take everything from 100-Word Bites through flash, all the way up to 5,000 word stories. We are now getting a little over 400 submissions during a submission window. That means we are going to send out around 380 rejections. We have to take what we feel are the best stories. That doesn't mean that all the stories we reject aren't worthy of acceptance. What it means is that we need to pick stories that work well together in style, length and premise. Since we want a balanced issue with a variety of story lengths, we will most likely take only around 5 stories between 3,000 and 5,000 words. The bulk of the stories will be between 1,000 and 3,000 with a smattering of flash and 100-Word Bites.

From a simple mathematical perspective, you will increase your chances of acceptance by sending in a story around 2,500 words. That doesn't mean you should hold back if you think you have the best 5,000 story out there. I really hope you don't, since we need and want them. I just want you to know how we select stories and how many of each we take.

As for the process, our submission months have been well thought out. We open only during January, April, July and October, the same months we put out an issue since we are done working on the last issue and have had a break of at least a couple of weeks. We should be going through submission right now, but we are temporarily closed. This is my fault for not having a good process in place. It's a work in progress, and we've learned over the last couple of years. Our new process is to only accept the stories for the next open issue. Before, we sent out acceptances and tried to "plan" each issue up to a year in advance. It didn't work and only caused us more effort and I believe, irritated some writers who had to wait up to a year to see their story published. Because of this, we got too far ahead and now have complete issues through April, 2010.

Our new process will be to open in January for submission and fill July 2010's issue. Then April's submission window will fill October and so on, so everyone that get's an acceptance will only have to wait six months to see their story in print. Actually, they might be only waiting around four and a half months since we would put out acceptances the month after our submission window closes.

This brings me to the mechanics of our submission period. The deep dark inner secrets of how we divide work and select stories. There are currently three of us reading submissions. I am grateful for the help of our associate editors, John P. Wilson and Daniel I Russell. Instead of taking advantage of their assistance and dumping all the work on them, we each take 1/3 of all the stories that come in as they come in. We each have a folder in the email box and as the stories stream in, I drop them in each folder in the order they arrive. If we have a close friend that submits and we get their story through this random process, we ask someone else to take it. Otherwise it is completely random. Each of us get to choose fifteen stories for our short list for a total of 45 stories that survive the closing of the submission month. We all know the split and try to have a balance of long, medium, flash and 100-word stories in our short list. Then the battle begins. First we decide which 100-word stories to take. We usually take around 5. Then we "discuss" which flash fiction pieces to keep and so on. Luckily, we don't all agree on which stories to accept. I say luckily, because we know that tastes vary quite a bit and we doubt everyone will like every story. We try to provide a variety of stories in each issue and since our tastes vary, we hope we are succeeding. The process ends about fifteen days after our submission window closes.

I hope that this process continues to work and that explaining it helps writers understand what happens to their story once they hit the send button. While we don't call it a contest, submitting always is a contest. You are competing against not just 400 other writers for 21 slots, but a smaller sub set for less slots, because we take only some many of each length.

Rejection sucks. The Staph and NT understand this because we are continually getting them ourselves. We hope that we make the process as painless as possible while providing a small nugget of feedback as to why. With 380 rejections in a month to write, there is only some much time, but we try to articulate at least one reason why. Sometimes there are several reasons and we pick just one and sometimes there is only one. We think it helps to know that while we think the story is well written, we may get a lot of stories with a similar premise and the reason for rejection isn't the writing, but the subject. Whatever the reason, take the feedback with a big grain of NaCl, because it is only one persons opinion. Since you only had to wait between five and forty five days to get the rejection, you can submit the story somewhere else, and that is our goal, because rejections happen. They happen to everybody, even writers who have "made it". The worst rejection in my opinion as a writer is one that comes longer than 120 days. Longer than a year really sucks, especially if it's a form rejection. Since rejections happen a lot more than acceptances, we strive to make them less painful and fast.

I hope this glimpse behind the curtain was helpful. I will also give one small piece of advice to all the writers out there. If you ever get a chance to take part in a submission process, take it. I know that seeing the same common mistakes writers make hundreds of time has helped my own writing. Until next time, keep writing and submitting.

Scott...

What the heck is Stygian Publications??

2009-10-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

Back in 2007, when I decided to create a publishing company, I had already decided on the name of my first magazine. Necrotic Tissue, like many things in my life, happened. It was the right time and the right name and the magazine is dedicated to my late father, Richard Henry McCoy.

The idea at the time was to create a publishing company that would eventually put out more than one type of genre magazine and other products like novels, novellas and even possibly comics and graphic novels. That's still the goal, though there hasn't been much time to put out more than Necrotic Tissue up to this point.

Stygian is an adjective derived from the mythical river Styx. The first time I read it in a novel, it was used to describe the dark. I can't recall which book it was, but "Stygian darkness" stuck with me. It brings up images of death, but also passage. A transition from one state to another, and not necessarily for the best. It hints at there being something more and perhaps sinister. So in the fall of 2007, Stygian Publications, LLC was created.

Necrotic Tissue started out as a token pay ezine. I did this because I had no idea whether we could put out even one issue, let alone 8. As a writer, I had seen many magazine disappear even before the first issue was out, and I was not arrogant enough to think we could do better. I knew I wanted to try and I hoped we could and that it would grow over time. The ultimate goal was to be a pro pay market, though I wasn't convinced at the time that we would ever be print.

In July, 2007, after we had three issues under our belt, a man named Nathaniel Lambert wore me down with his relentless insistence that I put out a call for our first print endeavor. He had an idea for an anthology called Malpractice. He had the concept and even the cover art and volunteered to do the heavy lifting by doing the initial screening on the submissions. After a few months, I finally broke down and I'm glad I did. Nate did a fantastic job with Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror.

Months would go by and three other issues before I decided we were ready to go print with NT. Issue #7, July 2008 was our first. I think it turned out very well and I think we improved slightly with #8, which just came out. I hope we continue to improve and grow over time. Our rates increased from token to semi pro, at 1 cent per word. The story I think is the best for each issue receives pro pay. Eventually, we will raise our rates to pro pay for all stories, but for now we simply can't afford it.

Speaking of not being able to afford it, I have to announce (though many already have heard), that we are discontinuing the T-Shirts. The NT T's were a very cool idea back when we were token pay. It was a gimmick, designed to make us stand out from the other magazines. We couldn't pay pro rates, but many horror fans loves T-Shirts and ours had the word "Published" on the sleeve. Since our goal was to help new writers get published for the first time as well as offer a market for more experienced writers, it seemed appropriate to give them something they could be proud of. Most of the writers we get are not Active members of the HWA, and have had none or very few pro pay sales. This makes sense because we aren't pro pay yet. We knew that there was a large pool of talent that may be writing at a pro pay level, but the fact is there is a distinct lack of pro level markets, and those that exist don't give many slots to people that aren't already at that level.

Part of our goal then is to fill that void between writers that have already "made it", and those that are still working to become known. The T-Shirts were part of that and I'm sad to see them go. Perhaps at some time in the future, if the economy improves and NT get's enough subscribers, we can start them again.

Well that's it for the back history of Stygian Publications and Necrotic Tissue. I hope you swing by from time to time and check out our latest publishing news.

R. Scott McCoy

Publisher/Editor

Necrotic Tissue

CEO

Stygian Publications