IWSG - Conquering Insecurity & Links

It's the first Wednesday of July (July?? Summer's half over!), which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Anyone can participate in the IWSG by posting their insecurities or reassurances (or a combination of both). Simply sign up at Alex's blog and put your post up! Then visit fellow IWSGers.

Also, be sure to visit the co-hosts for this month's IWSG: Yolanda Renee, Tyrean Martinson, Madeline Mora-Summonte , LK Hill, Rachna Chhabria, and JA Scott!

There's now a monthly question you can answer. This month's question is "What's the best thing someone has ever said about your writing?"

I've got a short answer for this, and it's a double: 1. Your story scared me so much, I can't do x,y,z anymore, and 2. You made me cry.

Today I wanted to say, in brief, that to conquer your insecurities, you have to meet them head on. If you're afraid of putting your work in front of other people, go to a private critique session or find a critique group. If you're afraid of public speaking, try to get involved with some form of public speaking. If you're afraid to write sex scenes, slap one of those puppies out.

When you do the things you're afraid of, you take away their power. The writing world is full of fears, full of doing things that force us to put ourselves out there and make ourselves uncomfortable. But each thing we conquer takes us one step further.

STATS

Each month I do a recap of my submission stats and notes for the previous month. 

In June, I had 1 story accepted, submitted 0 stories, and got 4 rejections. It was a slow month. 

One of those rejections was one I'd already written off and resubmitted, as I didn't think I' be hearing from them (they had announced they'd made it through all submissions), so that one went down easy. In fact, it made me laugh.

I am, quite happily, down to 91 days as the maximum amount of time one of my pieces has been out awaiting a response.

LINKS 

Since it was IWSG week, I skipped my Monday post, so will include links here. This coming Monday, I'll be back on my summer posting schedule, which is Mondays only, with links on those days, and a horror list book review every other Friday.

Accepting Submissions:

Splickety Publishing Group is taking submissions for their October edition of Havok, theme HalloWhimsy. They're looking for humorous Halloween stories. 300-1000 words. Pays $.02/word. Deadline July 22. 

Dirge Magazine is looking for someone to do a monthly serial. They are currently taking 100-200 word pitches, plus a 1-2 sentence outline for each entry over the next 12 months. There will be a $200 advance, plus $50/month. Deadline for pitches July 31. 

Enchanted Conversation is open for fairy tale inspired stories and poems. 700 to 3000 words. Stories pay $30, poems $10. July submission theme is fairy godmothers. Deadline July 30.

Otter Libris is taking submissions for The Solstice Lady, a Christmas theme. 3000-10,000 words. Pays $25. Deadline July 31. 

Room is looking for food-related stories, poems, creative nonfiction, and art. Pays $50+ CAD, depending upon published page count. Up to 3500 words. Deadline July 31.

Digital Fiction Publishing Corp is open for reprint submissions in fantasy, science fiction, and horror. In addition, they have two special reprint anthologies open right now: Killing It Softly (stories by women) and Memento Mori (dealing with death). 3500-7500 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline for all July 31. 

Body Parts Magazine is seeking horror and erotica with the theme Fairy Tales, Mythology, and Gods & Monsters. Flash fiction up to 1000 words or short fiction up to 8000 words. They also take art, photography, essays, and interviews. Pays between $5 and $20, depending upon submission type. Deadline August 1.

The First Line is taking submissions for their third quarter first line prompt: "Mrs. Morrison was too busy to die." Must begin with their first line. 300-5000 words. They also take poetry and nonfiction. Pays between $5 and $50, depending upon submission type. Deadline for this line is August 1.

The Shell Game is looking for submissions that combine creative nonfiction with ordinary sources (police reports, obituaries, recipes, etc.). 750 to 8000 words. Pays $100. Deadline August 1.

Of Interest:

Kim Liao wrote a piece entitled Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections a Year. It was posted on Literary Hub, and I agree with the sentiment.

How have you conquered fears in the past? Are you working on conquering any right now? What is the best thing someone's said about your writing? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share? Did you submit anything in June?

May you find your Muse.