Path to Publication: Hell to Pay – Installment Plans Available!

Time for another installment of Paths to Publication, wherein I recount a story’s arduous submission journey, complete with all the gory details and eventual publication triumph. This time, the story is “Hell to Pay – Installment Plans Available!”, which was recently published by Tales to Terrify. 

First, let me tell you a little about the story. Years ago, I took a temp job as a collection agent. It was, hands down, the worst job I’ve ever had. I lasted two weeks before turning in my notice. The experience of that awful job has stuck with me, and a few years ago I started wondering what a job in actual hell might look like, and, well, here we are. The concept here is pretty simple. Certain folks consigned to the bad place are chosen for a special assignment, to work forever in an endless call center, collecting on those who have made Faustian deals. The story centers on one brave soul who attempts to subvert the system and offer debt relief to the damned.  (I just realized that “Debt Relief for the Damned” might be a better title.)

Okay, now let’s look at the submission data for the story. Below is a table featuring the date, market tier, time on submission, and result for each submission of “Hell to Pay – Installment Plans Available!”

Submission	Sub Tier	Date Sent	Days Out	Result
1	Pro	3/19/2021	69	Form Rejection
2	Pro	5/27/2021	4	Form Rejection
3	Pro	5/31/2021	15	Form Rejection
4	Semi Pro	6/15/2021	43	Form Rejection
5	Semi Pro	6/21/2021	358	Final Round Personal Rejection
6	Pro	9/1/2021	2	Form Rejection
7	Semi Pro	1/23/2022	62	Final Round Personal Rejection
8	Semi Pro	6/15/2022	65	Short List Personal Rejection
9	Pro	8/19/2022	0	Form Rejection
10	Semi Pro	8/27/2022	9	Form Rejection
11	Semi Pro	9/17/2022	3	Form Rejection
12	Semi Pro	9/23/2022	0	Form Rejection
13	Semi Pro	9/26/2022	62	Acceptance
14	Semi Pro	11/1/2022	27	Withdrawn

The submission journey for “Hell to Pay – Installment Plans Available!” was a long one, with a lot of ups and downs. I started by sending the story to pro markets that accept horror and, well, I got four form rejections in a row. Then I sent the story to a good semi-pro zine, and after waiting almost a year, got a close-but-no-cigar rejection. That one stung a bit. After that, I fired the story off to mostly semi-pro markets, landed more almost rejections, and then, finally, sold the story to Tales to Terrify in November of last year. The story was sim-subbed at the time, so the withdrawal is simply me informing the other publisher that the story had sold elsewhere.

This story, like a lot of my short fiction, racked up a fair number of close-but-no-cigar rejections. Those rejections are disappointing, but they do let you know that the story is very likely publishable, and that’s why I pushed on. Here’s one of those rejections.

Hello, Aeryn;

We thank you for very much for your submission. This piece did make it through to our final round of reviews, however, competition is especially tight for the larger word count spots. After the final review & rating by our full panel of six readers, it has been decided to pass on this story.

We wish you all the best in finding a suitable home for this piece, and look forward to reading further submissions from you in the future.

This is pretty typical of the close-but-no-cigar rejections I receive. Essentially, there’s no real issue with the story, there were just other stories they liked better. That’s how it goes with these rejections. Many times there’s little feedback, and what feedback there is often praises the story. You have to look at these rejections as a net positive, though. They are generally proof positive that the story is sellable, and only once have I failed to sell a story that received one of these. One thing you should always, always, always do is continue to submit to a market that comes this close to accepting you. Kind of a no-brainer, right? 🙂

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So, what can we learn from the submission journey of “Hell to Pay – Installment Plans Available!” Well, it’s my usual advice. One, it’s all about timing and fit. Two, good stories get rejected, too. Three, keep going, keep submitting, especially if you’re getting those close-but-no-cigar rejections. It might take you thirteen submissions, but you’ll get there in the end.

If you’d like to listen to “Hell to Pay – Installment Plans Available!” out at Tales to Terrify, just click the image below.