In Case You Were Going to Ask

Since we started Pod of Horror and the barely-entertaining feature Will Mark Justice Ever Get Paid By Gothic.Net?, I get a couple of emails a month asking me about it. So I thought I’d do some ‘splainin’ here for the record.

Back in July 2003 I wrote a post-911 story called “Hole in the Sky” about a New York cabby and the thing only he could see above ground zero. At the time, I thought it was the best thing I had ever written, so I was blown away when it was accepted by Gothic.Net.

I received an acceptance letter detailing the payment I would receive (the most I would have been paid for a story, at the time) and the date the story would go up on the site.

Sure enough, on December 29, 2003, my little story appeared on Gothic.Net. It was a big thrill for me. It was also the first time I had received much positive feedback on a piece of fiction.

So I sat back and waited on the paycheck.

And waited. Then I waited some more.

After a few months I wrote the editor. She said she had nothing to do with payments and she would have to check with someone else.

A few more weeks of silence.

I emailed her again. This time she indicated she was still working on it.

And that was the last I ever heard from her. Subsequent emails went unanswered.

Not being very experienced in the genre or in publishing, I wasn’t sure where to turn. Eventually I posted my situation on the Shocklines message board. Immediately, several writers jumped on to sing the praises of Gothic.Net and how quickly they received their payment. A couple of other writers had, like me, been overlooked when the checks were cut. The thread died after a day and I moved on.

Sort of.

It still rankled me. I just wasn’t sure there was anything I could do about it.

I still sent the occasional email to the editor. Like the others, these never received a reply.

Then back in late spring or early summer, a notice appeared in some of the market reports that Gothic.Net was open to fiction again.

While I had no hope of getting paid, I thought I should share my story to prevent somebody else from getting a screwing.

Again, my posts received a number of responses defending Gothic.Net and its owner. A couple of posters mentioned that the guy had been going through a rough economic period.

Tough times? I get that. Been there myself.

Eighteen months of silence? That’s a little harder to understand.

Finally, the owner himself appeared on the thread and reiterated his financial woes. But he also invited any writer who had not been paid to invoice him so he (the owner) could get caught up.

So I invoiced him. Three times.

A few months later I followed up with a couple of inquiries.

This is going to come as a shock, so I hope you’re sitting down.

I didn’t get a reply. To any of my messages.

So along comes Pod of Horror and Will Mark Justice Ever Get Paid By Gothic.Net?

Since POH began, I’ve received a couple of semi-polite notes from other writers suggesting that, um, maybe I shouldn’t, uh, bad mouth a publisher, you know? They might blacklist me or something.

My response is simple. Why in the name of the sweet baby Jesus do you think I would EVER want to submit to a publication that boned me?

For the pleasure of getting shit on again? Yeah, that’s appealing.

And just in case you’re thinking of dropping me a line to tell me how well you were treated by these guys, please don’t bother. I’m happy for you, but it doesn’t mean dick to me.

I hope Gothic.Net gets their problems cleared up. I hope everyone who sells a story to them gets paid.

Until then, my message is this: proceed with caution.

And if you’re a publisher with a cash flow problem, let your writers in on it. I bet most would be understanding, to a point.

Silence, on the other hand, is just insulting.