Hey, let’s talk about simultaneous submissions again. Sim-subs are always a hot topic in writerly circles, but let’s start with a quick definition if you’re new to the ol’ submission game. A simultaneous submissions is simply when you send a story to two or… Continue Reading “Sim-Sub Stats: Response Times”
I recently finished a new short story, and what I like to do before a send a shiny new word baby out on its first submission is strategize a bit to make sure I’m maximizing my submission efforts. I do this by looking at… Continue Reading “Submission Protocol: New Story Strategy”
As I’ve stated many, many times on this blog, you should always read submission guidelines carefully and completely. Nine times out of ten, all the information you need to successfully submit a story will be there in black and white. But every once in… Continue Reading “Submission Protocol: Ask the Editor”
How long does a short story market take to respond to a submission? Does the response time differ with rejections and acceptances? These are questions every author, new and old, needs to know in order to strategize where to send a new story. In… Continue Reading “Six Speeds of Submission Response”
There may be no worse feeling for an author than realizing you’ve made some boneheaded error in the submission process after you’ve sent the submission. Panic sets in, and you begin to catastrophize about the end of your career and how the editor and… Continue Reading “Submission Protocol: Mistakes Happen”
I’ve been writing this blog since 2015. In that time I’ve dispensed a lot of advice on how to handle the various aspects of submitting a story, usually in a series called Submission Protocol. In the last five years, however, my understanding of the… Continue Reading “Submission Protocol: Lengthwise”
Submission wait times are an oft-discussed topic among writers and much rejectomancy is applied to how long a story is pending with a publisher. I’ve covered it before, some four years ago in this post: Submission Protocol: The Waiting Game. When a story is… Continue Reading “The Waiting Game Part 2: The Great Theory”
Time for more submission greatest hits and another top ten list. This time we’re looking at the short stories I’ve submitted the most and what has become of them: submissions, rejections, acceptances, etcetera. Yeah, I know there are actually twelve stories on the list… Continue Reading “Submission Top 10: Most Subbed Stories”
Back in 2016 I put together a list of markets I submit to first with new short stories (not flash; that’s a different list), dubbing it my new story gauntlet. I published that list in a post titled 7 Top-Tier Horror Markets: My New… Continue Reading “10 Top-Tier Markets: My New & Improved New Story Gauntlet”
Reprints are a great way to get extra mileage (and maybe a little extra cash) out of your stories, and there are a lot of markets that take them, even some that prefer them. But are they easier or more difficult to sell/place than standard… Continue Reading “Reprints: Easy or Hard Sell?”