Today we’re talking once again about potentially unexpected elements of submission guidelines. As always, you should read the guidelines completely and carefully every time you submit a story. These articles simply highlight the many reasons why. This Submission Spotlight focuses on regional preferences and… Continue Reading “Submission Spotlight: Regional Preferences”
Finally getting one of these out in a timely manner. Here are my submission endeavors (and results) from October. October 2019 Report Card Submissions Sent: 6 Rejections: 8 Acceptances: 1 Publications: 1 I’m still behind on my goal to reach 100 subs for the… Continue Reading “Submission Statement: October 2019”
With 2019 three quarters of the way through, let’s see how I’m doing with regards to submissions and rate of acceptance. In this post I’m gonna run the numbers for the year to date and compare it with the numbers for all the years… Continue Reading “2019 Acceptance Rate Check-In”
For a while now I’ve been revisiting my published stories specifically to look at the first line and determine if it’s the kind of line that immediately hooks the reader. Once again, this is because of an essay by Stephen King called “Great Hookers… Continue Reading “Get Your Hooks In: Even More Fun With First Lines”
With over four hundred submissions you might think I’ve seen just about everything when it comes to editorial responses. I’ve certainly seen a lot, but there are a couple of anomalies in my submission record that stick out. Let’s talk about them. 1) Never… Continue Reading “Submissions: A Pair of Never Have I Evers”
In late February I started writing daily Twitter microfiction under the #vss365 hashtag (that’s very short stories). I’ve had a real blast writing these things, and the prompts have been fun and challenging. I’ve been a flash fiction writer for a long time, but… Continue Reading “A Month of Microfiction: March 2019”
Fell of the weekly writing update wagon there for a bit, but I’m back at it. Happy Monday. Words to Write By This week it’s another one of my favorite quotes from Stephen King. “The scariest moment is always just before you start.” —Stephen… Continue Reading “A Week of Writing: 10/8/18 to 10/14/18”
I’ve blogged about the chances of getting published by specific markets, but what about a more personal view of the subject? If you’re regularly submitting work to semi-pro and pro markets (with a token/free market here and there), how many acceptances should you expect?… Continue Reading “My Acceptance Rates by the Numbers”