"Don't let statistics do a number on you." Interested in finding out how much of writing involves waiting? Look no further. I've been trying to shop around a 2100-word short story for a while. No bites so far. Here's my record of numbers: First date submitted: October 2016 Number of submissions: 5 Number of responses: 4 Quickest response time: 7 days Longest response time: 8 months Extra notes: Two personalized rejections, one form rejection. One of the customized rejections went … [Read more...]
Tracking Rejection
April 18, 2016 12 Comments
"Failure is not defeat until you stop trying." As any working writer knows, pushing your stories out involves rejection. Even J.K. Rowling displayed a rejection letter on Twitter to encourage other artists to persevere. I've been in submission mode recently. For short stories, I used to plug information into a spreadsheet, but now I send stuff out into the ether and wait for a reply. Often, magazines have their own submission system, but some also use Submittable. If you set up an account … [Read more...]
It’s My Party, and I’ll Cry if I Want To
October 13, 2014 11 Comments
"Seek out the significance of your problem at this time. Try to understand." Let me preface this by saying: It's my birthday month. Growing up, my doting parents made sure I felt special on my birthday. Even if it was just a card, cake, and candles. To this day, I still have fond memories of pink champagne cake (do they still sell that anymore?). So it was with great excitement and hope that I entered this month. Alas, I've already been slammed with three rejections. One of which was the … [Read more...]
