IWSG - To Writing Highs

It's the first Wednesday of May, and I nearly forgot to post today! (~whispers: I also almost forgot to edit this week's podcast episode~) In other words, I forgot it was Tuesday. BUT it was Tuesday, which means today is Wednesday, and that means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group!

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the IWSG exists to create a community for writers in which we can share our insecurities and offer support to our fellow writers. Anyone can join. Simply click on Alex's name and sign up on the IWSG tab. Then post the first Wednesday of each month and hop around to visit your fellow insecure writers.

The co-hosts this week are Kim Elliott, Melissa Maygrove, Chemist Ken, Lee Lowery, and Nancy Gideon! Be sure to stop by their blogs and thank them for helping out today.

The optional question this month is: It's the best of times; it's the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the bad times)?

I had some of the writer highs this past weekend at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference. I presented five hour-long workshops and hosted a table at each meal except breakfast. That's a lot of "on" time for me, an intense introvert. However, it was incredibly rewarding. I'm not sure I've ever had so many people find me after workshops to let me know how impactful they were. And people were finding me in the halls to have me sign my books! It was an amazing experience, and I left exhausted, yet on such a high. I even had several peers find me after the workshops to let me know they were good workshops. (When I saw one of them sitting in the room upon walking in, I asked if he wanted to teach the class with me, lol).

It turns out that the more successful workshops you teach, the more books you sell. I sold more books this year at conference than I ever have before. I'm certain my numbers would pale in comparison to many others, but it was a new high for me and made all the time I spent preparing five workshops worth it.

And of course there's every acceptance and every book release. Those are my favorite highs.

The lows? All the rejections. Or when a book doesn't sell as well as I hope. Or when a local writing community leaves me out. There are plenty of lows, but the highs tend to buffer them. The highs are much higher than the lows are low, if that makes any sense. It's a roller coaster I thrive on, though the lows do get me down sometimes.

Speaking of highs (okay, it's a delayed transition), I've got a new release! My story "The Killing Tree" about a single woman setting off across the continent to find a new life in the west, only to find that there are much scarier things on the plains than she'd previously thought is in Particular Passages 2: East Wing, available wide.

15 Stories 15 Authors

Down another forgotten hallway lie more unexplored rooms.

Each room contains another world waiting to be discovered.

Some are wonderful and beautiful, others are dark and terrible.

You won't know which until you step inside.

So take a deep breath, and open the door...

Particular Passages 2: East Wing

Featuring stories by:

Edward Ahern - John T. Biggs - Dave D'Alessio - CJ Erick - J.T. Evans - Eric Fritz - Katie Kent - Shannon Lawrence - Matt J. McGee - Peter E. Sartucci - Martin L. Shoemaker - Emily Martha Sorensen - Andrea L. Staum - Mike Wyant, Jr. - Jason A. Wyckoff

Here are universal book links to help you find the ebook:

https://books2read.com/u/m2exO1

Here is a link to one of our favorite booksellers:

https://www.author-author.net/.../Particular-Passages-2...

and, if you want, here is one of our affiliate links:

https://amzn.to/3vB8Z0E

Now for my monthly submission check-in. My April numbers:

1 acceptance (there will eventually be news of a Kickstarter)

3 rejections

2 withdrawn stories due to long response times

2 submissions

I currently have 16 submissions out and am gearing up to turn around rejections I haven't done in the past month or so.

What are your insecurities? What about your highs and lows? Have you been submitting? Any good news to share? Are you familiar with any of the authors in Particular Passages 2?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG - Writing Affirmations

It's time for the April Insecure Writer's Support Group, a meeting of creatives supporting each other through our insecurities. 

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, we meet the first Wednesday of each month and post about whatever might be bothering us or inspiration for other folks. Anyone can join. Simply click on Alex's name and sign up on the IWSG tab.

Our co-hosts this month are: Joylene Nowell Butler, Jemima Pett, Patricia Josephine, Louise - Fundy Blue, and Kim Lajevardi!

The optional question is: Have any of your books been made into audiobooks? If so, what is the main challenge in producing an audiobook?

Two of the books I've been in have been made into audiobooks, but none of my personal ones have. I'll be reading the answers to this question with quite a bit of interest since that's possibly an upcoming project for me!

Since I'm gearing up for the five workshops I'm teaching at Pikes Peak Writers Conference at the end of this month, here's some inspiration to my fellow writers, positive affirmations, if you will:

1. You're never too old or too young to be a writer.

2. There is no wrong way to do this writing thing. Or this publishing thing.

3. There's nothing wrong with the genre or genres you enjoy writing.

4. Write what you love.

5. Never stop learning, growing or exploring.

6. Learn the rules so you can break them.

7. A story rejection is not a rejection of YOU.

8. Bleed on the page.

9. All writing is writing.

10. Dream.

11. There is an audience for every story.

12. Somebody appreciates something you've written.

13. Keep going. Persevere. You can do this.

Now it's time for my monthly check-in on my submission stats. I do this to keep myself accountable. It's been a slow month. In March:

1 submission

2 rejections 

1 acceptance

1 story came out in a publication

20 stories currently out on submission

3 stories in limbo until I turn them back around and submit them

I also got a rejection from an agent on my novel, BUT she liked my writing and asked me to submit my next project to her. I'd call that a positive rejection!

What are your insecurities? What's your favorite writing quote? Do you have an encouragement you find valuable? Have you been submitting? What has your month looked like in terms of submissions, rejections, and acceptances?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG - School, Marketing, & Getting Pumped

 It's July! Time for the next Insecure Writer's Support Group.

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the IWSG exists to give writers a forum to air their insecurities in order to seek and provide support. All are welcome to join. Simply click on Alex's name and sign up, then be sure to post the first Wednesday of each month.

This month's co-hosts are:

 Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, and Louise – Fundy Blue!

This month's optional question is: What would make you quit writing?

I'd say school, but I've slipped a few new stories in here and there, so that wouldn't be true. It has made me set it aside temporarily, for the most part, though.

The "political" climate in speculative fiction is off-putting in many ways right now, with people who don't share certain ideas being ganged up on by other writers, and some even being pushed out entirely. That won't stop me from writing, but it's certainly making me narrow my circles and be cautious.

If family needed me and I had to give it up, I'd do it then. Until I could return to it.

As far as insecurities this month, I'm actually feeling pretty hyped up. I'm just about finished with a digital marketing class, and my brain is burgeoning with ways to incorporate what I've learned. I also intend to share a lot of it once I've worked out how to apply it all to the business of writing. I've started jotting down ideas to update my various platforms, including my website, and I've planted some ideas in my husband's head so he can start thinking about how to make the technical parts happen so he can help me rebrand. That will be the first thing I do when I finish my degree, and I'm absolutely pumped to get started. Not only that, but I feel like once I have a firmer grasp on how to make it all work for writers, I can help other people, too.

Onto submission stats. In June, my stats were:

2 submissions

7 rejections

0 acceptances

12 stories currently on submission

I need to turn around those 7 that are just sitting there and get them submitted

One of the stories on submission has been out to that market since August. It's at 308 days out. The longest I've ever had a story out before this was 324 days before receiving a rejection. It's looking like this one will set a new record. 

What would make you stop writing? What are your insecurities? What's making you excited right now? Are you submitting?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG: Rejections - The Bark is Worse Than The Bite

It's the first Wednesday of January and 2016, so it's time for the first Insecure Writer's Support Group of 2016. Woo-hoo! Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the IWSG is open to anyone who wants to participate. Simply add your blog to the linky list and post the first Wednesday of the month. Share your insecurities and/or your reassurances. Be sure to visit our wonderful January co-hosts: L.G. Keltner, Denise Covey, Sheri Larsen, J.Q. Rose, Chemist Ken, and Michelle Wallace!

My insecurities were really bad in November and December. It was hard to get to a positive place. I figure this is more a reflection of how I was feeling about myself over all, but a lot of it got directed toward my writing.

It wasn't the rejections, despite the title of this post. Well, no more than usual. It may be trite, but rejections do keep me moving forward, because they mean I'm working.

In November, I had a magazine I was supposed to be in come out without my story in it. I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. Release day is always so exciting. To have it come out, view that cover, and then open it up and get that ugly surprise is unpleasant, to say the least. It was deflating.

It was an honest mistake. I've since spoken with the editor. But I realized this was a secret ugly fear that existed within me. And now that it's happened, I can move past it. It sucked, but the world didn't end. I spent an upset, sleepless night wondering what had happened. How had I been overlooked? Was there something wrong with my story? Did they drop me on purpose? I needed answers, and I'm not a patient person.

None of these concerns proved true. It wasn't about me. And that's what conquers that fear. In the beginning, I feared rejection. Not anymore. I'm still disappointed, of course, but I don't fear it. The rejections don't come with stamps that say "YOU SUCK." No editor has ever ripped my story apart, though I've gotten feedback from several.

It's part of what I do. I've learned some interesting lessons since I began submitting my short stories for publication. I've learned that you can do everything right, and still have things go wrong. You can do everything wrong, and still have things go right. I've had a magazine fold before it could print the story it had accepted. I've had a magazine fail to put my story in the correct issue. I've had a magazine publish my story, but not pay me. Multiple magazines have shut down while I had submissions out to them. There have been other disappointments, but they haven't stopped me. Eventually, they become fodder for stories, or something funny I can talk about, even if they don't seem funny in the beginning.

I still don't handle rejection well in real life, but short story rejections are survivable. Always remember that. Don't fear submitting because you fear the rejection that may come in response to it. That rejection is just a sign you're doing something right.

For those that are new here, I do a monthly roundup of my submission/rejection stats. I figured since it's January, I'll do my monthly roundup, followed by my numbers for the year.

In December, I:

Got 2 acceptances
Got 2 rejections
Withdrew 1 story when it was accepted elsewhere
Submitted 1 story (December was slow, and I already had stories pending)

I currently have 5 stories on submission, which is super low, but I have a couple stories I need to turn back around that were rejected this week, and I need to write some more to make up for the ones being accepted!

In 2015, I:

Got 9 acceptances
Got 60 rejections

Woof. That's a lot of rejections, right? But that means I submitted at least that many times. I guess I have a 15% acceptance rate? I'd love to improve that number this year.

On that note, let's hit the links.

I do not endorse the following, just pass them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

The Forge is a new literary magazine accepting submissions. 3000 words or less. Rotating editors, including our own blogging buddy Damyanti. Pays $.05/word up to 1000 words. No deadline, but editors change monthly.

Comet Press is accepting submissions for The Hardcore Horror Annual 2015, a new anthology. Short stories and novelettes. I'm unsure of pay. Deadline is January 30.

Fey Publishing is accepting submissions for the anthology Damsels in Success. Up to 10,000 words. Pays $5 per story. Deadline January 31.

The Overcast is accepting submissions for podcast. Speculative fiction. 2000-3000 words to make a 20 minute podcast, though they'll consider 1000-5000 words. Pay $.02/word. Deadline January 31.

Wordrunner eChapbooks is accepting submissions of fiction, memoir, and poetry. The theme for this submission period is Devices: Technology's impact on our lives and relationships. 1000-5000 words. Pays $5 to $20. Deadline January 31.

Dark Warrior Publishing is accepting submissions of serious science fiction. 2500-7000 words. Pays 1% royalties for a year, plus a contributor copy. Deadline January 31.

The Liz McMullen Show Publications is accepting submissions of essays and short stories for Laughing Out Loud: A Lizzie's Bedtime Stories Humor Anthology. 2000-4000 word essays or 3000-4000 word short stories. Pays $50, plus contributor copies. Deadline January 31.

Contests:

Elevate Your Pitch challenges you to post a powerful pitch paired with a musical track from Elevation. Four sentences or less. Winning pitch will receive the right to use an Elevation track in a book trailer. Deadline January 28.

Other:

Bent On Books posted a holiday wish list from agents. Thanks to Stacy S. Jensen for passing this along to me!

How many rejections did you get this year? Do you track your submissions? Have you looked at your annual numbers? Are you amped for this year? Any links to share? Publishing news?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG - Why We Do It & Links

New month, new insecurities. It's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Anyone is welcome to come along with the IWSG. Go to the link above and sign up! Then either post your insecurities or reassurances (or a little of both.) Be sure to visit some of your fellow insecure writers, too.

I'm riding one of those all too brief highs, courtesy of placing two pieces this month (a short story and a flash fiction piece.) So I'm going to keep on riding, right into a positive post. I think my last couple IWSG posts were down in the dumps.

We all know that, as writers, we must steel ourselves against the negatives that come with our chosen profession. Most people don't take rejection well, yet an integral part of our job is getting rejections, one after the other. So you find ways to cope, to move on, to harden yourself.

So why do we do this? Why do we set ourselves up for pain?

Because each time we get a yes it makes everything worth it. Each yes, each positive review, each affirmation, diminishes the little things.

But most of all, we do it because we love it. Because we feel driven to it. We do it because we have stories to tell, voices in our heads. I'm pretty sure a good number of us would continue writing, even if we had no interest in getting published. It's the only way to expel the voices from our heads. We have vast worlds inside us, and it feels beautiful to share them with others. It feels even better when they enjoy them, too.

So write. Have fun. Create. Exorcise those demons, both enchanting and horrific. And if you like it, put yourself out there. Push away the bad so you can celebrate the good. Take a chance. Then take another. Then keep right on taking them until you've achieved your dreams.

Having said all that, it's time to report my submissions for the month of July, something I do each month during IWSG to keep myself honest.

In July I:

Submitted 6 stories
Got 4 rejections
Made 2 sales
Was short listed for 1 anthology
Currently have 12 stories on submission

Now it's link time.

Bear in mind that I'm just passing these along, and that I'm not endorsing any of them, nor have a I researched these, so always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Autonomous Press is looking for poetry, fiction, and memoir for The Spoon Knife Anthology. They want stories about consent and compliance. They're open to all writers, but are also looking for neuroqueer authors. Up to 10,000 words. Paying market. Deadline September 8.

Cicada is seeking poetry, fiction, essays, and comics. They take work from those 14+ and adults. They're currently looking for work dealing with witches. Paying market. Deadline September 9.

Liminoid Magazine is open for submissions for their fall issue. 500-10,000 words. Pays $20/piece. Current deadline September 8.

AE is accepting fiction, nonfiction, comics, and art. Science fiction only. Fiction is 500-3000 words. They take submissions from anywhere, but give preference to Canadian authors. Pays $.07CDN/word.

The Baffler is seeking "poetry with grace and fiction with personality." You must pitch first. Pays a token amount.

Glittership is looking for LGBTQ+ speculative fiction. There should be some sort of queer content. This is for podcast, not print. 100-6000 words. Pays $.01/word.

The Fiddlehead is seeking fiction and poetry. Fiction up to 6000 words. Pays $40 CAD.

Contests:

The M.O. has announced its new theme: Lesson Learned. Mystery. 1000-1500 words. Pays $.05/word to the winner, plus publication, and all those short listed get published. Submissions open August 14 and close August 28.

Of Interest:

Just a bit of fun. Plug in 300 words of your writing at Hacker Factor to see an analysis of the gender of the author. Yes, you know what you are, but it's interesting to see the analysis.

Buzzfeed posted "30 Copy Editors Tell Us Their Pet Peeves." Interesting to look over.

Any of these of interest? Anything to add or share? Publishing news? What are your insecurities? Why do you write? 

May you find your Muse.

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.

IWSG - Query Letters, Progress & Links

Today is the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. All are welcome to participate in airing their insecurities or supporting those who are feeling insecure. To do so, click on the link above, sign up, and post your insecurities in about 300 words or less. Then hop around and visit some of the others airing their doubts.

Today is a little different, because it's also the day we're to turn in our submissions for The Insecure Writer's Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond. You can post it as part of your IWSG post or email it in, which I'm choosing to do. It can be on writing, publishing, or marketing. Click the link for more information. I submitted a piece on query letters since there were a lot of submissions flowing in for the writing aspects.

I've been using IWSG day as a reminder to check in with my publishing progress each month, while airing the insecurities innate in the submission process. My update this month is not up to par with past months. I hit a slump this month, got too many rejections at once, and thought maybe I needed to pull everything as it was rejected and edit it through before submitting again.

But then I didn't do that.

I kept jotting down where I could submit, but didn't do it. I was too caught up in punishing myself for not editing, writing, and submitting, and too depressed about the influx of rejections.

Of course, I was beating myself up for nothing, and what I should have been doing was what I'd been doing before: turning those pieces right back around and re-submitting them elsewhere. I know that now, and will be jumping back in. I was also busy this month putting together and coordinating a bunch of extra programming for the organization I volunteer for in the next two months, which distracted me from my own writing. I should have been putting my writing first, but I allowed my stress to put on events without major flaws to overrule that and push my writing into the background. I have to stop that.

Well, I've warned you that the numbers this month are pitiful, but I want to stick with my monthly updates, so here we go:

2 rejections since last month's post
20 rejections for the year
2 stories out on sub
10 stories to re-sub
4 stories from critique group needing editing before sub

Believe it or not, I'd like to see that rejection number higher, because it means I've submitted more, but I also want to see a lovely number on there for acceptances.

Now for some links.

Accepting Submissions:

Walrus Publishing is looking for short stories for Building Red: The Colonization of Mars. Respond to the prompt. 1000-6000 words. Deadline November 1. Science fiction. Payment is $25, five free copies of the anthology, and 50% discount on more copies.

Literary Hatchet is taking submissions through November 1. Dark fiction. Essays, short stories, poetry, photography, and art. Pays between $5 and $15, depending upon type of submission.

Liz McMullen Show Publications is looking for a Valentine's Day Anthology. Deadline November 1. Genre is open, but it must follow the theme of "appetite." 3000-4000 words. Pays $30 and 2 copies of the anthology.

Ellipsis is seeking poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Deadline November 1. Paying market, though exact pay is not listed.

Contests:

Apex Magazine is holding the Steal the Spotlight Micro Fiction Contest. Five categories. 250 words or less. Deadline October 15. Five winners will be in the November issue, get paid $.06/word, get a free 12 month subscription to Apex, and get a short story critique from an Apex editor.

The Center for Fiction is accepting submissions for the 2014 Christopher Doheny Award. Book length manuscript by an author dealing with a life-threatening illness (their own or a friend/family member's). $10,000 prize and publication. Deadline October 30.

Zimbell House Publishing is holding a contest for placement in The Fairy Tale Whisperer, an anthology. Must be on one of the 7 topics they've put up. Deadline October 31. 20,000 words or less. First prize is $250, 2nd is $100, 3rd is $50.

Blog Stuff:

Susanne Drazic and Sherry Ellis are hosting the Bucket List Blog Hop on October 20. Simply post your bucket list to take part.

The theme for the WEP (Write Edit Publish) October Challenge is Ghost Story. All genres. Up to 1000 words. Flash fiction, poetry, nonfiction, artwork, or photos.

The Armchair Squid hosts a monthly gathering called The Cephalopod Coffeehouse. You're asked to post about the best book you've read this month on the last Friday of the month, which will be October 31 this time around.

What are your insecurities? Are you submitting a piece for the IWSG anthology? Any of these links of interest to you? Participating in any of the blog hops?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG - Oh, the Rejections & Links

It's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group, created by the Ninja Captain, himself, of which I missed two months, but I'm back in the game now. 

What am I feeling insecure about right now? Let's see, I got three rejections for short stories just this week. In fact, I got two in the same day and one the next day. So, yeah, I'm feeling a lot like it's all a big mistake. It would be mighty nice if I got just ONE acceptance in there to maybe get those coals stoked back up. But I resubmit and resubmit and resubmit. I'm playing the game, or is the game playing me? And what happens when I've run through all the magazines that accept horror short stories?? What then? They seem kind of limited. 

In short, I'm feeling a little bit abused and quite a bit bruised. And I'm questioning if I'm really ready to be submitting, but my critique group is supportive. Then again, I got a little ripped apart the other night, but maybe I didn't and I was just feeling...insecure. Seeing as how I had three fresh rejections under my belt from that day and the day before and all. Hey, look, she has feelings! And major insecurities that she buries under a hard candy shell. My writing was the only thing I felt okay about for awhile. Haha, where's that now?

BUT, guys, I'm submitting. I'm getting it out there. I only feel this depressed because they're fresh. I know how many rejections people have reported getting. I know I'm short on that list, so far. But I also worry that I'll run out of horror magazines to submit to and I'm not sure what to do then. I don't really have much control over that one. Yes, there are more if I consider non-paying markets, but that's not what my goal is, so I'd rather not go there.

Still, as we all tell each other when a rejection comes in, you're writing. You're actively submitting. And that's exactly what those rejections tell you. They say you're getting yourself out there, that you're taking it seriously. I'm not just claiming to be a writer. I'm writing and I'm submitting. And that's going to have to be good enough for now.

Now for some links. Please bear in mind that I am not personally vetting these publications/contests, merely passing along information I've happened across. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

AGNI Magazine is looking for your poetry, fiction, non-fiction, essays, reviews, and interviews. They pay per printed page. Current deadline is May 31. Note: This is a mail-in publication.

Chuffed Buff Books is putting together an anthology of short stories: Tales of Mystery, Suspense & Terror. Deadline May 31. Pay is £5. Victorian era ghost stories. 2000-3000 words.

Blood Bound Books is doing something a little different. They are introducing four themes for novel submissions. The first submission period will be for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Dark Fantasy. Deadline May 31. They will choose one author during each period to receive a publishing contract and more.

Sirens Call Publishing has an open call for Out of Phase: Tales of Sci-Fi Horror. Deadline May 31. Pays in royalties. 

Crossed Genres Magazine is accepting submissions for their current theme: Typical. They pay $.06/word. Deadline May 31. 1000-6000 words. 

Commonweal Magazine accepts articles on pubic affairs, religion, literature, and the arts. They also print poetry. Pay not mentioned. Lengths vary by type of feature. 

That's Life wants fast fiction in the form of humorous, positive contemporary stories. 700-2800 words. Pays per page. 

Contests:

Quantum Fairy Tales is holding a contest this month. They're looking for sci-fi haikus. Post in the comments on their blog by May 30. The winner gets a gift certificate from Think Geek.

Unicorn Press is holding their Annual First Book Contest. Seeking full-length poetry manuscripts. Deadline May 31. Winner gets $250 and publication.

Xchyler Publishing is holding a short story contest, with winners going into their anthology. Their fall paranormal anthology will be Mr. & Mrs. Myth. Deadline May 31. Pays royalties. 

Any of these interest you? News to share? Anything else to share? What are your insecurities? How many rejections have you received recently? What's the highest number of rejections you've received in one week?

May you find your Muse.

5 Fun Things to do With Rejection Letters

Rejection letters. If you get them, you're doing something right.

Wait, what?

No, really. Getting rejection letters means you're working, that you're writing, editing, and submitting. At least in terms of those seeking traditional publication.

But what are you supposed to do with those rejection letters that swarm in via email and snail mail? That is, after you set it aside and send your piece to a different entity RIGHT AWAY...

Courtesy of OCAL, clker.com

Here are five ideas:

1. Wallpaper a room. Your office would be best, but you can paper any room, even the bathroom. Oo, or maybe a closet. One with an old light bulb that flickers, and a chain to turn it on. Yes, do that!

2. Send them back...rejected. Write your own rejection letter about their rejection letter*. Example:

Dear Agent/Editor, <---Write exactly that if they didn't know your name, but feel free to fill in their names if they were polite enough to check your query for your name

In reference to your rejection letter, submitted January 9, we are currently not taking rejections in this genre. Please check your rejection letter over again and re-submit somewhere that is a better fit. If you'd like to review our rejection guidelines, please see www.rejectthis.com and click on the Rejections tab.

Sincerely,
Author X 

3. Make a flip-book. Draw a new image on the bottom of each sheet and glue them together on the top to create a flip-book. Come on, you know you secretly love those things!

4. Make them a different kind of art. Carefully connect the periods to create pictures, then color them in. Submit them to art magazines or have your own juried art show! You could become famous.

5. Put them where you really want to. Use them for kitty litter or to line the bottom of a bird/hamster/guinea pig/you name it cage.

Or you can do what I do and put them in a plastic sleeve in a binder with the acceptance letters. It's a story in itself to flip through there and see my history, and I hope to fill that binder one day (with far more acceptance letters than rejections, of course.)

Share your ideas in the comments!

What's your favorite above? What do you actually do with your rejection letters?

May you find your Muse.

*A moment of seriousness in a post of levity...don't really do number 2, mkay? I will not be responsible for you getting blackballed!

To Reply or Not to Reply - That is the Question...

When you're trying to break into writing, you hear "submit, submit, submit" and "query, query, query," but what you don't hear is what to do when you receive rejections in response to submitting or querying.

The first couple rejections I got, all form rejections, I wrote back a quick "Thank you for your consideration," or something along those lines.  Then I read a blog post by someone stating that it's a bad idea to respond to a rejection, because you're just wasting the time of the editor or agent who wrote you.  If every rejection gets a response, that's almost twice as many emails for them to wade through, right?

So I stopped, worried about being that irritating person who jumbles up their email.  I imagined that person on the other end of the email getting the email and groaning.  "Don't they know how full my inbox is?" they'd ask themselves.  "How annoying!  Adding that name to my list of people never to publish..."

But the person inside me who is accustomed to writing thank you notes and being polite and acknowledging contact in some way, shape or form, winces every time I get a rejection and don't respond.

CC by Sean MacEntee

I received a very nice personal rejection on September 30.  I actually closed that emailed rejection feeling more confident than when I submitted in the first place.  You see, it was a big magazine, one that has published many huge names, and I submitted because I was afraid to.  Doesn't make sense?  I wanted to challenge myself, and because my first reaction was "No way will I make it into this magazine," I decided to submit anyway.  If you don't do what you fear, how can you get where you want to be?

It may seem like my fears were justified by this rejection, but no.  Specific things were complimented, but I was told the storyline wasn't different enough from others they had published.  It closed with an invitation to submit a different piece, along with the date they'd be reopening for submissions.  I think that's a positive thing.  And if it isn't...don't tell me.  How often does one get to feel good about a rejection?

Back to the topic, though, I didn't send back a response.  It ate at me, though.  I felt like he had taken the time to send a personal response, along with feedback, and I owed a thank you.  But I flashed back to that blog discussion and was afraid to hurt my chances.

Finally, I went online and started looking around.  I only had a few minutes, but I found a few interesting tidbits.  One thing that I found quite valuable was an editor talking about why he stopped doing personal rejections.  He said it took time, but he was glad to do it.  That is, until it became an invitation for people to argue with him.  Somewhere in there he mentioned that it was always nice to get back the note saying "Thank you for your consideration" or thereabouts.  He didn't say it helped in the future, but that's not why I wanted to send them.

The conclusion I came to, after my little bout of research, was to respond with a polite, but sincere, email in response to personal rejections only.  There's no need to respond to a form letter.  I intend to continue researching this, though, because who knows...perhaps some day I'll get a personal letter from someone who previously sent a form letter, all because I didn't try to fight the rejection and sent a quick thank you.

My current stats:
4 pieces submitted
1 piece accepted
3 pieces rejected

I'd love to hear your feedback on how you feel about thank you notes in response to rejections.  Do you send a thank you?  Do you skip it?  Or does it depend on the rejection?  Ever had an actual editor or agent tell you whether it was a good idea or not?

May you find your Muse.