If you have questions about Medusa Tales, you’ve come to the right page. Our FAQ provides simple answers to a range of common questions. If you have a question we haven’t answered here, please let us know so we can add it.
What is Medusa Tales?
Medusa Tales is a bi-monthly digital magazine for speculative stories of transformation and immobilization.
Why is it called Medusa Tales?
The name Medusa Tales is an homage to Medusa, who both transformed and immobilized her victims by turning them to stone. We chose the name back when we planned to publish only stories about statues and mannequins.
So it’s not just statues and mannequins?
Correct. We expanded the scope to encompass any human transformation or immobilization, interpreted quite broadly. That happened before Issue 1, so every issue includes stories within the expanded scope. Having said that, we do have a soft spot for statues and mannequins.
Who’s behind Medusa Tales?
Patrick O’Ryan is our Editor-in-Chief and Publisher. We also have a team of ten slush readers who evaluate all the submissions.
When did Medusa Tales start?
Patrick registered the domain on March 18, 2022, which we consider the beginning of Medusa Tales.
How many submissions do you receive?
We received more than 360 submissions from authors worldwide in our August window.
What’s your acceptance rate for submissions?
It varies for each submission window but is consistently below 10%.
How much do you pay your authors?
We pay $0.01 per word with a $5 minimum.
How long is each issue of Medusa Tales?
The total length of each issue is between 20,000 and 25,000 words, with 12 to 18 stories ranging from 100 to 5,000 words each.
How much does Medusa Tales cost?
Each digital issue is $2.99.
How do I get the magazine?
You have four ways to get the magazine. You can buy it on Payhip, Kindle Store, or Google Play Books.
That’s only three ways. What’s the fourth way?
Ah, you’re paying attention! The fourth way is by supporting Medusa Tales on Patreon. We have five tiers with various perks, all of which include a subscription to the digital magazine.
Is there another way to support Medusa Tales?
Yes, in addition to Patreon, we also have a Ko-fi page. This is geared toward people who prefer to read our stories on the website rather than buying the digital magazine. It’s a way for them to leave a one-time (or regular) tip.
Does Medusa Tales make a lot of money?
No, at least not yet. Each month we receive about $100 from our Patreon supporters and sell about 25 copies of the magazine. After platform and payment processing fees, each sale nets about $2. So our bi-monthly income is around $300. For each bi-monthly issue, we pay our authors about $250. Our other significant expense is the Moksha submission system, which is $65 per month. So we’re close to the breakeven point for each issue we publish.
What would you do if you started making more money?
Our first move would be to commission custom cover art for each issue, which we estimate will cost about $100. After that, we’d increase our pay rate for authors. Our eventual goal is to pay a professional rate of $0.08 per word.
Have you thought about doing a Kickstarter campaign?
Yes, we’ve thought about it and continue to consider it. We watch Kickstarter campaigns by other magazines with great interest. At this point, we want to grow organically for a while. We may do a Kickstarter down the road.