Here’s my past week of writerly endeavors. Normally, I’d try and play catch-up and cover multiple weeks since I haven’t posted one of these in a while, but the last month and change have been pretty hectic, so I’m just gonna start over. 🙂… Continue Reading “A Week of Writing: 11/30/20 to 12/6/20”
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”
One of my absolute favorite blog topics is analyzing the first lines of my short stories and trying to divine whether a good one helps you get published. This all stems from a fantastic essay written by Stephen King called “Great Hookers I Have… Continue Reading “Hook Shot: Still More Fun With First Lines”
I covered this topic back in 2016, and I think it’s due for an update. In the last four years, I’ve seen a lot of genre markets come and go (one that showed up and disappeared almost overnight), and there are some things I… Continue Reading “Good as New: Evaluating Fledgling Publishers”
Yesterday, I received my 15th story acceptance for 2020, which is one more than I received in 2019. That’s pretty cool, and I thought it might be fun (and even informative) to take a look at this year’s acceptances, compare them to last year’s,… Continue Reading “Story Acceptances: 2020 vs 2019”
Another week of writerly doings. Here’s how I did. Words to Write By This week’s quote comes, once more, from Elmore Leonard. “My characters have to talk, or they’re out. They audition in early scenes. If they can’t talk, they’re given less to do,… Continue Reading “A Week of Writing: 10/12/20 to 10/18/20”
Recently, I sent my 500th submission since I’ve been tracking them through Duotrope. It took me roughly eight years to amass this many, though the bulk of them have come in the last four years or so. Anyway, it’s a big milestone, so I… Continue Reading “The First 500 Submissions”