Night Walk Wednesday: The Big Picture
Hey, folks, this will be the first post in a series where I discuss the stories in my upcoming flash fiction anthology Night Walk & Other Dark Paths, which will be published by The Molotov Cocktail on 4/22/21. What I aim to do with these posts is tell you about a story in the collection–why I wrote it, how I wrote, and so on–then, because this blog is called Rejectomancy, I’ll give you all the submission stats on the piece. How many times I submitted it, how many times it was rejected, and my rejectomantic opinions on those details. Yeah, these posts will promote the anthology, and I’ll humbly ask you to preorder or purchase a copy if you’re so inclined, but I promise this will primarily be good ol’ Rejectomancy content. 🙂
To kick things off, let’s look at the submission stats for the collection as a whole. All the submissions, all the rejections, and a few other details.
| Stories | 40 |
| Previously Published | 34 |
| Total Submissions | 158 |
| Total Rejections | 111 |
| Total Acceptances | 40 |
| Avg. Subs Per Story | 4 |
| Avg. Reject Per Story | 3 |
| Most Rejected Story | 11 |
Of the 40 stories in Night Walk, 34 of them are previously published. You might ask how I can have 34 published pieces and 40 acceptances. Easy, some of those stories were sold twice as reprints, so, you know, they’re extra good. 🙂
The total number of submissions seems like a lot, but it averages out to about 4 per story. That number is skewed by a handful of stories that proved difficult to place. It evens out some in that there are a fair number of pieces that sold on their first try.
Rejections too are about what I expect from flash, and 3 per story isn’t too bad (especially if you were to look at my submissions to rejections rate for short stories). Again, the numbers are somewhat skewed by a few pieces that struggled to find a home.
There are three stories in this collection with double-digit submissions and 9-plus rejections. The weird thing is I consider two of those pieces to be among the best in the collection and among the best pieces of flash fiction I’ve written. They were each shortlisted at well known pro markets and received a lot of good feedback. I eventually sold both at pro rates. I’ll discuss these stories in more detail in future installments of Night Walk Wednesday.
So there you have it, the overall stats for the entire collection. If these numbers haven’t scared you off, consider clicking the link below and preordering your print or digital copy of Night Walk & Other Dark Places today.
Effectively Wild – A Baseball Horror Story
Night Walk & Other Dark Paths
Acts of War: Flashpoint
Acts of War: Aftershock
Acts of War: Stormbreak
Aeryn Rudel's Rejectomancy 