Tag: short stories
Three Things I Learned from 100 Story Sales
Since I started submitting work seriously in 2013, I’ve sold* 120 short stories. Like the piles of rejections I’ve racked up in that same time, my much smaller heap of acceptances has taught me some valuable lessons about writing and the often arcane process… Continue Reading “Three Things I Learned from 100 Story Sales”
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: 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”
The Daily NO – Halloween Special
Today on The Daily NO, we’re celebrating Halloween by looking at all the rejections I’ve received on the spookiest day of the year. However, to my shock and surprise, in over 12 years and nearly 1,000 submissions, I have received exactly ONE rejection on… Continue Reading “The Daily NO – Halloween Special”
Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Eight – Solid and Serviceable
Although 2021 wasn’t a terrible year for submissions, I definitely went into 2022 hoping to improve, and in some ways I did. Mostly, though, I kind of held course with a solid but not exceptional year. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it was… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Eight – Solid and Serviceable”
Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Seven – The Whiplash Effect
There’s a phenomena in baseball and other professional sports where a player, usually a rookie, has a fantastic inaugural season, goes into the next season with massive expectations, and then, well, puts up mediocre numbers to huge surprise and disappointment. This is often called… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Seven – The Whiplash Effect”
Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Six – Best Year EVAR!
When I set out to write this series, I knew I’d be writing openly and honestly about the ups and downs of the publishing business as well as the grueling grind of submitting short stories. As such, I’ve detailed decent years, disappointing years, and,… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Six – Best Year EVAR!”
Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Five – Consistency is Key
I set a lot of personal submission records in 2018 (year four), and though year five wasn’t nearly as good, I maintained both a solid number of submissions and a respectable number of acceptances. In other words, I was consistent, and that’s not a… Continue Reading “Ten Years of Rejectomancy: Year Five – Consistency is Key”
The Daily NO – Rejection #478
Today on The Daily NO, we’re going to look at the first rejection I received for a story that would go on to collect a record-setting (for me) 25 rejections before I sold it. This is definitely a case of sticking with a story… Continue Reading “The Daily NO – Rejection #478”
Effectively Wild – A Baseball Horror Story
Night Walk & Other Dark Paths
Acts of War: Flashpoint
Acts of War: Aftershock
Acts of War: Stormbreak
Aeryn Rudel's Rejectomancy 