Tag: Rejectomancy

Rules for Good Writing? How I Relate – Part One

One of my literary influences is Elmore Leonard. If you’re unfamiliar, Leonard is the author of some of the greatest crime fiction novels (among other things) that you have almost certainly heard of because a lot of them have been made into movies. A… Continue Reading “Rules for Good Writing? How I Relate – Part One”

Talkin’ Tags II: How THEY Write Dialogue

Last week, I posted an article about how I write dialogue, which dialogue tags I use, and why and when I use them. To be clear, I don’t think there is a right and wrong way to do this, just a way that works… Continue Reading “Talkin’ Tags II: How THEY Write Dialogue”

Vampires and Demons and Hitmen, Oh My!

If you’re even passingly familiar with my work, then you’ll have noticed I tend to gravitate to certain tropes. Like, a lot. The top three are: vampires, demons, and hitmen/organized crime. There are definitely others (and I’ll likely do a part two for this… Continue Reading “Vampires and Demons and Hitmen, Oh My!”

Swings & Misses V: The Rejection Streak Returns

Anecdotally, a good acceptance rate for short fiction tends to be around ten percent. With regards to rejections, that percentage generally works out to a statistically consistent ten to fifteen noes in a row . . . except when it doesn’t, and you go… Continue Reading “Swings & Misses V: The Rejection Streak Returns”

800 Rejections or That Which Does Not Accept You Makes You Stronger

On April 4th of this year, I hit another big submission milestone. I received my 800th rejections since I started recording them on Duotrope back in 2012. As usual, I have some dirty details on my nice round number of noes and not for… Continue Reading “800 Rejections or That Which Does Not Accept You Makes You Stronger”

What Happens to Rejected Stories?

Recently, it came to my attention that when I say “I have almost 800 rejections”, some folks think YOU’VE HAD 800 STORIES REJECTED?! That’s understandable without context, especially if you’re not in the biz. It did get me thinking, though. Just how many distinct… Continue Reading “What Happens to Rejected Stories?”

2025: A Short Fiction Rearview Review

Welp, 2025 is over, and it’s time to tally up my submissions, rejections, and acceptances and see how I did. I set some lofty goals for the year, and though I fell short of more than one of them, it wasn’t a terrible year,… Continue Reading “2025: A Short Fiction Rearview Review”

Ten Years of Rejectomancy – ALL the Numbers

So, this is truly the final post in my Ten Years of Rejectomancy series. As promised, I’m gonna give you ALL the numbers for each year and then a total of subs, rejections, and acceptances for the entire decade (plus the years before and… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy – ALL the Numbers”

Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Ten – A Decade of Denial

Welp, here we are. Ten years of Rejectomancy. It’s been a long and bumpy road, and year ten certainly had its ups and downs, but it feels good to say I’ve been doing this for a decade, and I have no plans to stop.… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Ten – A Decade of Denial”

Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Nine – A Question of Querying

Peaks and valleys. That’s the best way to describe the submission experience and my own meandering path as a writer. I’ve had some exceptional years where it felt like every story I submitted had a legit shot at publication, and then I’ve had years… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Nine – A Question of Querying”