I put a short story, “A Quiet Man,” in the mail this morning. I actually sent it to two places at once, which is normally a no-no.
One of the places was the Utah Original Writing Competition. Since the UOWC does not publish the winning stories, that means I am still free to sell the first publishing rights elsewhere. And, since a story is still eligible for the UOWC unless it has been published in book form, that means I can send it to a magazine without any conflict.
The story is neither science fiction nor fantasy; it’s more of a literary/mainstream story. So I sent it to The Atlantic Monthly. Might as well aim high, right?