# Yet another "Identify that SF Short Story" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589 "2015-10-14T00:01:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/1 "2015-10-14T00:01:13Z")
The story must have been from the late 60s, early 70s. Too fluffy for Analog, so maybe Galaxy or S&SF. I can recall all the elements of the story except the title and the author. Real short piece in the form of rejection letters. The editor keeps rejecting stories by the author because they all involve a “pact with the Devil.” The author tries all sorts of stratagems to get the story published, going so far as to write one about the squid packing industry called, IIRC, “Packed Full of the Devilfish.” The editor rejects them all, until he gets a letter from the author telling him it’s too late, and that he won’t be sending in any more stories. His time limit was up. A little help? (If the title turns out to be “Pact With the Devil” I’m going to be pissed!) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/2 "2015-10-14T00:13:38Z")
GAWD! I remember that story! “So rich, so round, so fully packed…WITH THE DEVIL!” Damn. No idea on title or author. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/3 "2015-10-14T00:14:45Z")
I seem to recall this story but a quick look thru my old magazines yields nothing. This might be one for our indomitable **AndyL**. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/4 "2015-10-14T00:27:21Z")
Could it be _Absolutely the Last, This is It, No More, the Final Pact with the Devil Story_? In looking for this I ran across this interesting quote: > [@](#): > > The idea of making a deal with the devil has appeared many times in works of popular culture. > > The theme enjoyed a large run of popularity in the twentieth century. At one point Anthony Boucher, editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, "reported that fully 50 percent of his unsolicited submissions consisted of deal-with-the-Devil stories or “formalities of the hereafter”, which as often as not involved the Devil ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/5 "2015-10-14T00:39:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Could it be _Absolutely the Last, This is It, No More, the Final Pact with the Devil Story_? > > In looking for this I ran across this interesting quote: Based on [this 10-year-old post from **RealityChuck**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6296341&postcount=27), I think you’ve got it, **TriPolar**! > [@Why is the devil so fucking incompetent?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-devil-so-fucking-incompetent/309589/27): > > This is a very common trope, so much so much so that Michael Armstrong wrote “Absolutely the Last – This is It, No More – the Final Pact with the Devil Story.” That may have been the one where an author was required to get a particular story published or lose his soul. No editor wanted it, until, just in the nick of time, an editor bought it. For _The Last Dangerous Visions_ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/6 "2015-10-14T01:05:56Z")
The story you’re looking for is “If At First You Don’t Succeed, The Hell With It” by Charles E. Fritch. The story was first published in 1972 in _The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction._ ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/7 "2015-10-14T01:10:11Z")
> [@Guy\_Incognito](#): > > The story you’re looking for is “If At First You Don’t Succeed, The Hell With It” by Charles E. Fritch. The story was first published in 1972 in _The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction._ Small typo. The title is actually “If At First You Don’t Succeed, To Hell With It” I found it reprinted in a paperback titled “100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories”, edited by Isaac Asimov. (ISBN 0380507730) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/8 "2015-10-14T01:26:57Z")
I actually have that book and have read it several times, if not in its entirety. I would have had no idea that that’s where that story resided, however. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/9 "2015-10-14T01:30:19Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I actually have that book and have read it several times, if not in its entirety. I would have had no idea that that’s where that story resided, however. It’s one of my favorite Sci Fi short story compilations and I usually pick through it every few years. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/10 "2015-10-14T03:35:40Z")
I also have a copy of that book, but I haven’t located the box it’s in yet (I still don’t have enough bookshelves in my “new” house). ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/11 "2015-10-14T03:52:09Z")
> [@Guy\_Incognito](#): > > It’s one of my favorite Sci Fi short story compilations and I usually pick through it every few years. I can vouch for this as well. It’s where I read the story. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/12 "2015-10-14T05:02:28Z")
Note that there are two different stories that fit the description in the OP very closely, one from 1972 and one from 1981: [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?51372](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?51372) [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?49563](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?49563) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/13 "2015-10-14T14:48:51Z")
Bingo! I read it first in F&SF, then again in that paperback years ago. A quick peek at Amazon shows I can get a used copy for $.01, so that’s a go. Thanks, guys! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/14 "2015-10-14T14:55:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Bingo! I read it first in F&SF, then again in that paperback years ago. A quick peek at Amazon shows I can get a used copy for $.01, so that’s a go. > > Thanks, guys! Um… which one? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-that-sf-short-story/734589/15 "2015-10-14T15:38:30Z")
“If At First You Don’t Succeed…” Your suggestion sounds like it, but was published much too late to be the story I’m thinking of. Plus the fact that I used to own that paperback, which would have reinforced my memory of the story. But now I have to track down the story you mentioned!