The optional question is: Besides writing, what other creative outlets do you have?
I love photography, so that's my other main creative outlet. Unfortunately, I haven't played with it much in the last year or two, but I want to get back to it. My husband gifted me some new lenses to play with for Christmas, and I haven't done so yet. I'm looking forward to it!
I didn't place any short stories in January, so have zero sales for the new year. Boo! However, I have quite a few releases coming out over the next couple months. The publishing world is funny that way. I either have a rash of acceptances coming in or a rash of publications.
Speaking of which, the anthology Twice-Told: A Collection of Doubles came out this past weekend, and includes my Story "Stuck With Me." It's an odd little story about Siamese twins.
Now for a summary of my stats for the month of January. It's pretty dismal.
13 submissions
10 rejections
0 acceptances
10 stories currently on submission
What do your stats for the month look like? What are your insecurities? What other creative outlets do you have?
Hello, and Happy Holidays! Since I figure everyone's busy this week, I'm just going to do a quick post with some links.
One of my short stories came out in The Literary Hatchet this week! It's free to read online, or a paper copy can be purchased via Amazon or CreateSpace.
To read the free e-copy go to the website, click on "Issues" at the top of the page, and scroll down until you see the above cover, which is Issue #16.
Plus, I had a different story come out in Cheapjack Pulp two weeks ago, which I already posted about. But it doesn't hurt to post again, right?
The paper copy does not come out for three months, but you can read it free online. If that link doesn't work for you, go to the website, scroll down to "detective/horror" under the cover above, and click on For Love of the Hunt, which is my story.
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I fiddled around with my blog a bit this past week so I could get the covers of my various publications up on the front page. Plus, I added a "Contact Me" page and a "Search This Blog," which is really mostly for me. Sometimes I want to find a specific post, but I have to search through everything to do so, because I don't remember when I posted it. So now I can search for it.
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Now for links. Please bear in mind that these are just links I have come across. I'm not endorsing them. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.
Accepting Submissions:
Splickety Magazine is open for submissions with the theme Literary Time Warp. Take a well known story and switch up the time period. 300 to 1000 words. Pays $.02/word, plus a complimentary copy. Deadline January 13.
Outlook Springs is open for submissions of literary work with a tinge of the strange. Fiction, poetry, nonfiction. Up to 7500 words. Pays $25. Deadline January 15.
Helios Quarterly Magazine is open for submissions fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art with the theme Commercial Cosmonauts & Hired Guns. Short stories up to 1500 words. Other word limits apply for other types. Pays $.03/word for shorts and some others. Other pay varies. Deadline January 15.
Tribute is open for submissions for the summer issue with the theme Poets With Mental Illness. Poetry. Pays $100 per poem. Deadline January 15.
Great Weather for Media is open for submissions for their 2017 anthology. Poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction. No set theme. Up to 2500 words. Pays $10, plus contributor copy. Deadline January 15.
Tanstaafl Press is open for submissions with the theme Enter the Rebirth. Up to 8000 words. Pays between $.01 to $.08/word, but likely about $.03/word if you are only in this anthology (there are two preceding it). Deadline January 15. Blog Hops:
Chrys Fey is holding the I Survived Blog Fest. This is a blog hop to spread the word about her new book Tsunami Crimes. You'll be posting a story of tsunami survival, realistic or otherwise. This will take place January 20.
Any of these of interest? Anything to share? Have you been submitting? How do you like the new layout?
It's the first Wednesday in August, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh.
By the time the September IWSG post comes along, the kids will be back in school, I will have been to World Con, and I will have officially been married 20 years! And so much more. August is a busy, busy month.
This month's question is: What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring
writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published?
The first thing I wrote upon deciding I wanted to actually write a novel was a paranormal horror story. I only got a few chapters in. I then wrote a few short stories that I submitted and got rejected, then got so busy with school, work, and health issues that I gave up for awhile. None of those things have been published, but I might revisit the short stories. The novel is a lost cause, and that's okay.
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This month's insecurity is really frustration with myself. I love the writing part, but not so much the editing part. I've got two novels needing to be edited. Instead, I write. It's time I buckle down and finish those edits. Both should be on the final round. I need to finish them and start querying! But I'm plagued with insecurities once I get through that fun part, and they hold me back, because this is the analysis portion of writing, and the more I think about it, the more doubts I have. I may love my stories, but will anyone else? The technicalities start to hang me up. Is this a sufficient story arc? Do my characters arc? Is the good guy good enough? Is the villain legitimately the hero of his or her own story? Are there too many cliches? So on and so forth. What I need to do is move past those and get the stories out there. I suppose I'll get my answer if they never sell.
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As part of a larger interview, which will be posted next week, AmyBeth Frederick interviewed me on video. It's less than two minutes, so check it out!
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My stats for July:
12 short story submissions
1 acceptance of an already published story by Audible
8 rejections
1 publication
2 new short stories turned in to critique group
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My short story Shifting Sands came out in Dark Moon Digest, #24!
It's currently for sale on Amazon in paperback. It will be available in e-book soon.
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Links! I took an unintentional break for a few weeks (somehow I screwed up and posted two posts the same day that were meant to be a week apart, and then I was out of town), so now I'm way behind on links!
Bear in mind that I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.
Accepting Submissions:
Turn to Ash is seeking short fiction for a themed anthology. The story must be in the form of a phone call to a late night paranormal talk radio show. Up to 3000 words. Pays $.01/word. Deadline August 8.
The Lorelei Signal is accepting short fantasy stories. Must involve strong/complex female characters, though they do not have to be the main character. Up to 10,000 words. Pays flat fees between $2.00 and $7.50, depending upon submission type. Current deadline August 15.
World Weaver Press wants your Krampus stories for Krampusnacht Two, an anthology. 1000-10,000 words. Pays $10, plus contributor copy. Deadline August 15.
Revolving Door Press is seeking new fairy tales or retellings for the anthology "Turn Left at Grandmother's House." 500-7000 words. Also takes poetry and artwork. Pay for short fiction is $.06/word. Deadline August 15. Splickety Publishing Group is taking submissions for Splickety Love with the theme "All's Fair in Love and Uniforms." Needs to be romance and have something to do with uniforms. 300-1000 words. Pays $.02/word. Deadline August 26.
Wicked Tales is open for submissions to their themed anthology "A Scratch at the Door." 3000-15,000 words. Paying publication. Deadline August 26.
Farenheit Books is seeking submissions for their Spekulative Stories Anthology Series. The current theme is Automobilia. Up to 7500 words. Pays $.05/word. Deadline August 31.
Owl Hollow Press is accepting short stories for their anthology Dark Magic: Witches, Hackers, and Robots. Up to 8500 words. Pays $50, plus there is a Readers' Choice Award with an additional cash payment. Deadline August 31.
What are your insecurities? How do you feel about editing? What's your favorite part, editing or writing? Have you submitted anything this month? Have you ever read Dark Moon Digest? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share?
