Your advice to go with the bigger publisher for the bigger money reminds me of how Robert A. Heinlein wrote "Lifeline" (which would be his first published story) for a writing contest, but he wound up submitting it to Astounding first and they paid him more than the contest prize money. 1/2

Years later, Heinlein was telling this to an interviewer, Alfred Bester, who replied laughingly, "You son of a bitch - I WON that contest!" I can't help but think this reflects something about the contrast between Heinlein's unstoppability and Bester's more checkered career. 2/end