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October is now over. We are ten months through 2020 and I have:
-12 acceptances
-48 rejections
-1 pending solicitation
-3 hold notices
-1 market closed after acceptance
My friends, please keep writing, editing, submitting, and taking care of yourselves.
-12 acceptances
-48 rejections
-1 pending solicitation
-3 hold notices
-1 market closed after acceptance
My friends, please keep writing, editing, submitting, and taking care of yourselves.
The market closure was the most dramatic. It's the first time in my career I'll have gotten a kill fee. The editors were professional about having to go on hiatus. You never want to see it happen, but I would work with them again.
I had some discussions after that market closed. They accepted my story this year. Should I subtract one acceptance from the monthly tally?
People universally said not to. It was an acceptance.
People universally said not to. It was an acceptance.
Really the shame is that newly-freed story is previous to me and is mostly out of pro markets. It's rooted in my own experiences with chronic pain and medical frustration. It's something I want to see at a good venue.
Otherwise September was terribly slow. I only got three new rejections. One was a very close miss - the closest I've ever come to getting into a certain dream market. That one gutted me for a couple days.
...Then I went back to working on a novel.
...Then I went back to working on a novel.
On the same day as that rejection, however, a beloved old story sold to a great pro market! It's very "on brand," something you'll love if you enjoyed "Tank!" and "Gender and Other Faulty Software" and "Open House on Haunted Hill."
I'll make an announcement about it later this week! I'm so excited about it.
It also brought me up to the magic number of twelve acceptances in one year. One for every month, and one for every time I do this round-up thread. It's oddly satisfying.
It also brought me up to the magic number of twelve acceptances in one year. One for every month, and one for every time I do this round-up thread. It's oddly satisfying.
But your takeaway has to be that to get here it took me years, and also to get to those 12 acceptances I ate 48 rejections in one year. More will come. It's part of the business.
