Checking my email last night before bed, I see:
We’re excited to inform you that your flash fiction story "Invocation" has been accepted for publication with MetaStellar! Your story was one of the successful entries that passed through multiple rounds of judging amongst hundreds of other submissions.
As a reminder, the payment for this story is 8 cents a word.
Wait... Can this be real? Eight cents is the magic number that qualifies me for membership in the Science Fiction Writers of America, which means...
I've arrived! I feel like... like... like what Pinoccio said: "I'm a real boy!"