Wednesday, April 1, 2015

IWSG, Submission Updates & Links

Here we are at the beginning of a new month yet again! Before I jump into my IWSG post and links, a quick good luck to those of you out there embarking on the A-to-Z journey today.


And now it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. 

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG


Alex's awesome co-hosts for today's IWSG are Suzanne Furness,Tonja Drecker, Toi Thomas, Rachna Chhabria, Fundy Blue, and Donna Hole! Show them a little love!

I like to keep myself accountable by posting submission information for my short stories on IWSG day. I hope that it encourages other folks to get out there and start submitting, and that it shows that rejections aren't the end of the road. Keep submitting and you'll start seeing acceptances. 

In March, I:

Submitted 6 pieces
Got 9 rejections (1 of those was after being short listed, 1 came with great feedback)
Received 1 acceptance (to be published this Saturday--news here on Monday!)
Currently have 4 pieces on submission (soon to be more when I turn around the ones rejected)
Got a new piece edited by hand, but need to transfer those edits to the computer and submit
Sent off a query to follow up on a piece I submitted over 130 days ago

Oh yes, and I wrote The End on WIP #2, something I took a long step away from for awhile because I wanted to explore short stories for a little while. I'm currently outlining it for the plot points and important information so I can fiddle with the outline before heading into full edits. I want a general idea of where some plot and character information needs to be submitted before I start.

After a year of submitting with nothing to show for it, I've started getting scattered acceptances. I figure it only goes up from here. So if you've been waffling, I recommend you get out there and submit, submit, submit!

To help you get started with that, here are some links:

Accepting Submissions:

Weirdbook Magazine is accepting submissions for Issue 31. They want weird speculative fiction stories. Preferably less than 6000 words. Pays $5 per thousand words and a contributor's copy. Deadline for this issue is April 30.

AGNI is in their open submission period. They take poetry, short fiction, and essays. No specific word limits. Pays $20/page for prose and $40/page for poetry. Deadline May 31.

The First Line runs a quarterly contest (though there are no specific winners or ranks, just pieces chosen for publication and pay) where they give you the first line and you run with it. The summer first line is "Laura liked to think she was honest with herself; it was everyone else she lied to." 300 to 5000 words. Pays $25-50 for fiction. Also accepts poetry and non-fiction. Deadline May 1.

Knightwatch Press has several horror anthologies open for submissions. Three have May deadlines. All are royalty based and, for the most part, are expected to be around 5000 words (word requirements vary minutely, so check the website). Deadline for Playroom (horror in childhood settings) is May 1. Deadline for Madame Morte (horror in burlesque) and Wild Things (shape shifters) is May 15. 

Ghostwoods Books has a couple calls out for anthologies. They pay a small advance, plus royalties, and both have a word count of 3000-8000 words. The first one is in the genre of cosmic horror entitled Cthulhu Lies Dreaming--deadline May 1. The other, Haunted Futures, is looking for romance and has a deadline of early summer 2015. They have said they'll post a strict deadline closer to the date.

Myth Ink Books has a call out for stories with the theme Legends of Sleepy Hollow. 2000-8000 words. It will pay $5 and a contributor copy. Deadline May 1. 

Manchester Speculative Fiction Group is putting together an anthology entitled Revolutions, where the stories are set in Manchester, England. 1500-6000 words. Will pay 10 pounds. Deadline May 1.

Flash Fiction Online is looking for flash fiction up to 1000 words. Open to all genres. Pays $60 per story. No deadlines.

Cracked Eye is accepting submissions in multiple genres. 3000-6000 words. Pay is not specified, other than that a fee is paid to authors. No deadlines. 

Perihelion is looking for science fiction. Short stories, articles, reviews, etc. 2500-7000 words. $.01/word up to $75. No deadlines.

Any of these of interest to you? Anything to add or share? What are your insecurities? What's holding you back from submitting? 

May you find your Muse.



17 comments:

Suzanne Furness said...

It seems like a good idea to account for submissions in this way. When you look back on the previous month you can see how much progress you made. Congrats on the acceptances and adding the words The End to WIP#2. Thanks for sharing those links too.

Best wishes
Suzanne (IWSG Co-host)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations on the acceptance! Can't wait to hear about it on Monday.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the acceptance and for reaching "The End!" Both must be hugely satisfying.

shelly said...

Will definitely have to check these out. They have doable dead-lines.

Sher A. Hart said...

Well, I'm recovering from surgery, but I'm a month late replying. For once it paid me to be late! I love this info for my critique group. Thank you! And congrats on the acceptance!

Diane Burton said...

WTG, Shannon! Positive feedback is always helpful. An acceptance is even better. Congrats!

Carrie-Anne said...

Congratulations on your acceptance! And good luck with your submissions.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you! I'm nervous waiting for tomorrow.

Shannon Lawrence said...

They definitely feel good!

Shannon Lawrence said...

I try and stay about a month ahead, but might need to start stretching that out a bit more.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I hope your recovery is going well!

Shannon Lawrence said...

You bet! I like it even better when both come together.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you! Good luck with your ongoing projects.

Pat Hatt said...

Congrats on the acceptance. Submit, submit, submit is sure a good notion to live by haha

Christine Rains said...

Congratulations! I've been having a lot of rejections lately myself, but you're right. We've just got to keep submitting. :) Have a great weekend.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Congratulations! And, Way to go with those submissions! I am inspired by how much work you do on your writing every month, and I'm thankful for the links. Even if I can't get to them right away, I earmark them for later and sometimes add them to my calendar. :)
And, I agree - submit, submit, submit that writing - acceptance happens eventually. :)

cleemckenzie said...

An acceptance is always something to celebrate. Great news!