The Door Opens Wider

As I said earlier, I had a patient at around 03:00. When I got back to my room around 03:20, 2 emails came my way. One will potentially change my life forever:

I'm relieved to report that your story (now retitled "Act of Faith") has been accepted by editor Wilson da Silva for the December 2010 issue of COSMOS. The fee offered is $AU 300.00. I hope this is acceptable. Sorry again for the delay. Damien Broderick

This will me my first professional market sale. I'm getting around RM750, and that's a HUGE amount for a short story, but most important is that it will open doors. Most professional markets will only look at writers seriously if they have another professional market credit. COSMOS has over 100,000 readership, and stories there get reviewed by people that carry weight in the Science Fiction market. I'm not sure if people will take it well, as the story is about a robot embracing Islam, but still. Once this story is published, I can no longer be considered a 'new writer'. Some markets will be closed for me, but a bigger pool has just opened up. Exciting times.