If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know rejections don’t generally bother me. I accept them as just part and parcel with the whole writing gig, a necessary aspect of improving at the craft. One writer friend even described my… Continue Reading “Swings & Misses II: The Rejection Streak”
January has come and gone, and here’s my first submission statement for 2018. A very productive month, and since this level of production will likely be the norm this year (I hope), I’m changing the format of these posts so you don’t have read… Continue Reading “Submission Statement: January 2018”
Another year come and gone, and it’s time to wrap up my writing endeavors for 2017. I set some writing goals at the end of last year, and as these things usually go, I accomplished some and fell short with others. Still, 2017 was… Continue Reading “2017: A Writing Rearview Review”
If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you’ve no doubt heard me go on and on about the process of submitting a story. Well, most of that has to do with one very important factor: following the submission guidelines. I’ve written… Continue Reading “Submission Guidelines: Check ’em Twice”
December was another good month for submissions. I didn’t think I’d match November’s output, but I did, and I had more than just rejections to tally in the final month of the year. December 2017 Report Card Submissions Sent: 13 Rejections: 8 Other: 0… Continue Reading “Submission Statement: December 2017”
Last year, I wrote a blog post inspired by one of my favorite essays by Stephen King, “Great Hookers I Have Known,” from his collection Secret Windows. The title of the essay is, of course, not what it sounds like. It’s about crafting a… Continue Reading “Hook, Line & Sinker: Fine-Tuning the First Sentence”
The first part of this month has been pretty damn decent. I’ve received one acceptance and I’ve published two pieces, both of which you can read for free online. I’m gonna talk about the publications first, and then I’ll give you some information that… Continue Reading “Two New Publications & Two New Markets”
November was my most productive month of the year for short stories, maybe my most productive month ever. The reason? I finished some new stories and started sending them out, which led to a record number of submissions and a fair number of rejections.… Continue Reading “Submission Statement: November 2017”
You may recall a recent post where I listed some of my favorite rejection achievements and records. These dubious accomplishments, however, are subject to change as I trudge ever forward in my quest for rejectomantic greatness. So, without further ado, here are two records… Continue Reading “Rejection Records Update”
One of the first posts on this blog was about the standard form rejection. In the intervening years, my thoughts have changed some, and I find I have more to say about what they mean or might mean. First, as a refresher, what is… Continue Reading “The Standard Form Rejection Revisited”