Tag: Writing

The First 500 Submissions

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”

Submission Statement: September 2020

September is in the books, and here’s how I did. September 2020 Report Card Submissions Sent: 8 Rejections: 6 Acceptances: 1 Publications: 0 Further Consideration: 1 A solid month, and almost identical to August’s tally. The 8 submissions in September give me 67 for… Continue Reading “Submission Statement: September 2020”

Form Letters: More Than Just No?

I’ve covered the topic of form letters a fair bit on this blog, generally focusing on form rejections, which are by far the most common. But form letters come in all shapes and sizes and can communicate a lot more than “we’re not publishing… Continue Reading “Form Letters: More Than Just No?”

A Week of Writing: 9/7/20 to 9/13/20

One more week of writerly doings. Words to Write By This week’s quote once again comes from Stephen King. “Writers are often the worst judges of what they have written. —Stephen King I know, I know. I use Stephen King a lot. In my… Continue Reading “A Week of Writing: 9/7/20 to 9/13/20”

Submission Protocol: Mistakes Happen

There may be no worse feeling for an author than realizing you’ve made some boneheaded error in the submission process after you’ve sent the submission. Panic sets in, and you begin to catastrophize about the end of your career and how the editor and… Continue Reading “Submission Protocol: Mistakes Happen”

Novel Work: Round One Revisions

A little over a month ago, I finished the first draft of a new novel tentatively titled Hell to Play. I let it sit for a while to rest, refocus, and work on other projects, but now I’ve started doing the initial read-through and… Continue Reading “Novel Work: Round One Revisions”

Submission Statement: July 2020

Little late with this one, but here’re my July submission endeavors. July 2020 Report Card Submissions Sent: 4 Rejections: 5 Acceptances: 1 Publications: 1 More rejections than submissions is indicative of a not-so-stellar month. The four submission in July puts me behind the eight-ball… Continue Reading “Submission Statement: July 2020”

Rejection Reflection: Is This Market for Me?

One of the toughest questions writers sometimes ask themselves is if a particular publisher is a good market for their work. When the form rejections pile up, you begin to wonder if maybe they just aren’t into your style, voice, tone, etc. That’s entirely… Continue Reading “Rejection Reflection: Is This Market for Me?”

Flash Fiction or Short Stories: Which Is Rejected More?

A little over a month ago, I published a post called How Long Does It Take to Sell a Story? In that post I charted out how long it took me in days to sell some of my published flash fiction and short stories.… Continue Reading “Flash Fiction or Short Stories: Which Is Rejected More?”

Weeks of Writing: 7/6/20 to 7/26/20

Way, way behind on these, but here are my writing endeavors for the past three weeks. Words to Write By This week’s quote is from Stephen King. I’ve used this one before, but it’s one of my favorites, so I’m using it again. 🙂… Continue Reading “Weeks of Writing: 7/6/20 to 7/26/20”