Deleting since this rejection is no longer a rejection and I don't want to intrude on this thread any longer. I will be sure to post updates both bad and good to my Progress Journal exclusively going forward.
Of course, anyone can post here, but I'm a little confused why the sudden interest in this thread from some of you. There are more than one of you here now who pretty much told me you don't like me and don't respect me. You don't even know me, and have never wanted to which is fine. But because of how mean you can be, I wonder your intentions of coming here when I have gone out of my way to ignore you or not bother commenting on things that would involve you to avoid drama. You both know who you are. You really hurt my feelings and made me feel unwelcome. I can't help but wonder why you're here and if it's not to start a fight. This is the one place on the forum where I have made true friends and found support. Your comments have stayed with me. I'm not used to being treated the way I was and don't think I deserved it. And the community on this thread doesn't deserve it. Basically, I would like this to be an asshole-free zone. If you can keep from being an asshole, great. If you need to be an asshole, please go post somewhere else. This is a bit preemptive, but I don't think there needs to be meanness in this world and I would like to keep it out of the mini community that has formed on this thread. Thank you.
I used to subscribe to WD, but I stopped a few years ago. It's very very commercially-oriented. And by 'commercial,' I mean they focus on writing to sell, rather than on how to sell what you write. There are some good articles in it. They also publish quite a few really helpful writing books—I have seven of these books on my current writing bookshelf. But as a magazine, I don't find WD very inspiring, to tell the truth. In fact, the opposite. Most of what they promote doesn't interest me as a reader, never mind inspiring me to write it myself.
Are there any sources out there? I feel like I submitted to everything out there already. This year has made me realized how much I need to work on my writing. Even my brother (who just started writing a few years ago) has gotten better luck with litmags than me. I am unsure if it's my work that is shit or if it's something else. Let me hear your thoughts on this dilemma!
I think of it like a romance. Sometimes, people meet and they’re great together, but sometimes, too, one of those people already has someone else, and that one part of the pair isn’t ready to let go of what’s comfortable to try something new. These two people who are perfect for each other have been unfortunate enough to meet at the wrong time, and life has thrown obstacles between them. Sometimes they work out together in the end; sometimes they don’t, and when this happens, the pair eventually find other people who make them equally happy, but in a much different way, later, when another, entirely different, set of circumstances allow the union. Edit: Does this make sense? I don’t know.
What I mean is maybe the problem isn’t the work or how they feel about it. I think, largely, rejections are a result of a litany of other circumstances, sometimes unrelated, that interfere with the union.
Do you have duotrope? It's $5 a month and totally worth it in my opinion. There are some free options, but I don't think they are as accurate or as good. If you want to pm me and give me some more details about your stuff, I can do a search on duotrope for you and give you the results. You can check out the results, maybe see if it's worth it. I get rejected a hell of a lot, as you all know, but I think I even get rejected way more than you @Alex R. Encomienda. My acceptance rate is less than 2 percent. Most of the time we are always going to need to work on our writing more. That's always gaining to be the case. I work on my writing almost daily. And I really try to get better. I'm working on editing more. I'm letting stories sit and then going back and realizing they weren't very good at all. So, I rewrite them and they're better for it. Every now and then I think we as writers get lucky and a first draft comes out pretty good, almost ready. But those occasions are rare and we get there from making a ton of other mistakes in other stories because we know better. Sometimes things just work. They really do. But we also need to recognize when they don't. And this is something that's been hard for me personally. I want everything I write to be good. And when I try so hard and give it everything I have and it's no good, it sucks. But I'm working on it, and always working on my writing. Are you and your brother submitting to the same magazines? Are they at the same level? There are a ton of publications out there. And anyone who really wants to publish something most definitely can. There's a big difference from that to someone paying you a few hundred dollars to publish your work. I don't have a lot of credits, but I really like the places that have published my work. It felt like a dream come true with my last one. It sort of was. And it was really cool. And I had a few years of rejection leading up to it. Totally worth it. Worth all that time spent working on my writing so that I could get there. You can get there wherever that is to you. Yes, work on your writing. And read a ton more. Reading is like jumpstarting our writing fuel. Read as many of these publications as you can. You might already be doing all this, but writing has always pushed me to do more. There is always more that we can do and our competition is doing it. The short story market is so fierce. I've been published in places now that qualify me to apply for certain grants and win prizes. I don't know if any of that will happen, but I sure like the company I'm in. And now I have to really keep working on my writing. It's still hard, really hard. And I'm worried no one is ever going to publish me again. And they probably won't if I don't keep working on writing. I do have close friends far more successful than I am. But you've had some success, and I see no reason why you wouldn't have more. If you think you've run out of markets, more likely you've just run out of stories to submit to those markets. That's a whole different problem and the solution is to write more stories.
This is so true. This is what it really all comes down to. Is are timing right? I totally agree. I'm just trying really hard so when the timing is right my stuff is too.
I totally get that. And so little is in our hands. What if the reader read five bank robbing stories that all sucked before they got to mine? I wouldn't stand a very good chance of making it past that reader even if my story might have been along the lines of what the editor is looking for. Or maybe the editor's dog just died and that's how my story opens and he just can't read on. I think most stories get rejected because they're not as good as they could be. I'm totally guilty of submitting bad work, stuff that wasn't ready. But since timing is such a big part of this I want to have many stories on submission at many places. That's sort of why I make myself submit something every week. Keeping that up I'm bound to catch someone at the right time.
I must add, @Alex R. Encomienda, that it being summer many places are closed to submissions. It is a harder time to find markets. I have about 30 things out. I can't afford to pay submission fees this month so that limits the possibilities. I'm saying I feel it too. Are you talking genre or literary markets? Maybe both? It seems like everything slows down this time of year.
Dear Mat, Many thanks for sending "D******* D*gs", but I'm sorry to say that it isn't quite right for I***z*ne. I hope you'll send me something new soon. Best wishes, A*dy In**r**ne ... So what's that - is that the all purpose red slip, or a yellow? Regards M*t
@deadrats Yes, me and my brother are both writing machines. We submit to many of the same places too. I've read his work and it's not much different than mine but he has been on a roll. Me... One publication all year.
@Alex R. Encomienda -- Are you genre or literary? I keep pretty good track of who is open when since my duotrope obsession. But summer is much slower than the rest of the year. And one publication can still be awesome. I only have two that have come out this year. And, though I would like more, I'm pretty happy that I got in with these two.
