800 Submissions: An Analysis
Recently, I sent out my 800th submission since I started tracking them through Duotrope way back in April of 2012. Feels weird to even say that, but, I guess 12 years of steady submissions adds up. As usual, when I hit a major milestone like this, I like to break down the numbers and bombard you poor people with a bunch of stats. So here we go!
First, the basic numbers.
- Rejections: 642
- Acceptances: 104
- Withdrawals: 26
- Lost/Never Responded: 22
- Pending: 6
I won’t lie; I did track some of my last round of novel queries through Duotrope (there’s a novella in there, too), so not all of these are short story subs. That said, queries are basically the same thing as subs, and since all those queries ended up rejections and brought my acceptance percentage way, way down, fuck it, I’m counting them. 🙂
Okay, now lets look at individual pieces.
- Total Unique Stories: 164
- Microfiction: 4
- Flash Fiction: 127
- Short Stories: 29
- Novellas: 1
- Novels: 3
Clearly, flash fiction makes up the bulk of what I write and submit. There’s a few reasons for this. One, I’ve been participating in a bi-weekly flash fiction contest/exercise for the over a decade, so I generally have a couple of new stories to submit every month. Two, as much as I like writing short stories, they just take longer to complete, and they take longer to sell, too. That said, my success rate with short stories is pretty good. I’ve sold 17 of the 29 I’ve submitted.
Though I write microfiction just about every day, I rarely submit it. The four I have submitted were all accepted, though, and I don’t know if I want to mess up my perfect record by submitting more. 🙂
Now, the novels needs a little explanation. I have only technically submitted one complete novel. The other two were first chapter contests, but I’m still gonna count them.
Now let’s talk about publishers.
- Total Unique* Publishers: 228
- Most Subs: 67 (The Molotov Cocktail)
- Most Subs Without An Acceptance: 37 (Flash Fiction Online)
- Most Acceptances: 17 (The Arcanist and The Molotov Cocktail)
The asterisk by the word unique denotes that this number includes some literary agents (39) and some markets that have multiple listings. For example, Flame Tree Press has their individual short story collections and their fiction newsletter as separate listings on Duotrope. In that past I’ve consolidated, but this time, I left them separate.
Yep, I’ve submitted to Flash Fiction Online 37 times without a single yes, but I’ve made it to their final selection round enough that I’ll keep trying. Other markets where I’ve got a big fat o’fer include Apex (24), Daily Science Fiction (24), and The Dark (19). I’ve made it out of the slush pile frequently enough at Apex that I’ll keep trying. Unfortunately, Daily Science Fiction is on indefinite hiatus, so my chances of ever cracking them are pretty remote. As for The Dark, I mean, they reject in under 24 hours, so why not try? 🙂
I think that’s enough stats for now. I’ll have more for you when I hit 900. 🙂
3 Comments on “800 Submissions: An Analysis”
Leave a comment
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 
Those are excellent stats. Especially given the level of the publications you’ve been submitting to. I’ve struck out a few times with both Apex and The Dark, and have been hesitant about trying them again. But I should. it’s all about getting the right story in front of the right editor, at the right time. Or so the rumor goes 🙂
Pingback: Reblog: “800 Submissions: An Analysis” — Aeryn Rudel – Words Deferred
Pingback: Reblog: “800 Submissions: An Analysis” — Aeryn Rudel – Words Deferred