It was a WOMAN. [with a man’s name/misleading] And she was under fifty...umm...Twitter...probably knows nothing about kamikaze dragons...that’s why...thankfully never sent the response.
I know I'm going to regret asking but kamikaze dragons? Please tell me it's a short you're working on.
Sometimes when you wait for great things they just don't seem to come... Feeling pretty down today. I thought I would have sold a short story from all the fall submitting I did. There's still a few stragglers, but practically everything is rejected. I keep sending things out. I keep trying. It's just harder some days than others.
I thought you had one ‘hit’? Your time is now, stay strong. :/ keep on keeping on...hero.. ... Worse still when they are published / broadcast and the world keeps spinning like it was the day before...
You could say that. I did have one really big "hit." Am I a one hit wonder? I sure as hell don't seem to be able to do it again, not on that level.
I do have something coming out, but that was accepted a long time ago. I just can't seem to sell my new fiction. I thought this batch of stories was really good. I'm not giving up, but... Who doesn't want to say fuck it now and then?
Isn't that always the case, no matter what we are or do. Doesn't mean, though, that we are not just as important, and unique, as everyone else. I would hardly call you that, on no account. As Mat said, keep on keeping on, keep going no matter what happens. One foot in front of the other, you never know where you might be swept off to.
Anyone know how long A Public Space takes to get back to someone? A piece of mine has been in-progress on their Submittable for a while now, but I don't want to get my hopes up. I can't wait until I've finished these bar exams on Friday, then I can finally get back to writing. It doesn't really matter if you feel like giving up in the face of adversity, deadrats. A true writer, which I believe you are, suffers from a compulsion to write and tell stories regardless of being published. I don't think you could ever give up, your subconscious volition wouldn't allow it. Perseverance is key, although with your track record and history of publications in decent literary journals, I really don't understand why you won't submit to a few literary agents. With their solicitation you could get in anywhere. Edit: @Krispee, I know I never responded to your PM. I'll get back to you at the weekend, I've had literally not a spare second in the last two weeks preparing for these exams. I massively appreciate your time to go over that piece for me.
Bar exam eh? Well, wish you good luck with that, hope you do well. I have to confess that I've forgotten you sent me a message, or was it me who sent you one, I'll have to check. Please don't worry about it until you have the time, your exams are of far more importance.
Thanks, my friend. It can be frustrating. I was hopeful about a few that were taking super long and/or I was told I was out of the slush. Just didn't make it all the way with those ones this time around. A Public Space can take a really long time. I've got a submission with them at 140 days. But last week the were rejecting in the three and four hundreds. When I tried them before the submission I have pending it was 230 days. They did once reject me in 48 days. A Public Space is a publication I try regularly. I had a subscription a few years ago. I think they're a good place to get into. Let me know how long your submission has been with them either here or PM and I'll track any movement on this one for both of us. Good luck with the bar! I think everyone on this thread who has shared their work with me is a great writer. It's just that you have to lose a bit of your sanity to submit as much and as often and as long as it takes. @Krispee -- I'm calling you out for not trying enough places. I know you've got one super polished and great story that you've tried before, but I know that one could and should be published as could your others. Submit more places!
@Funerary -- As far as agents go I'm not quite sure I'm there yet. I've got a very rough draft of a novel. I probably do have enough stories for a collection, but I would like to sell some more first. I know this might sound crazy, but I think I'm kind of waiting for an agent to take interest in me. This has happened to two of my real life friends after getting a story published in a place agents read. So, this does happen. I'm not sure it will happen to me. It would make things easier.
You're right, I should be doing more, especially on the writing side of things. At the moment, though, things are super busy on a number of fronts, and I don't have as much time to write, and all the other things that go along with it. I wanted to start writing again in the new year, and I even have another good writing idea and did start it, just can't quite find the time to settle to it. Things will change on this front just not at the moment.
I had 1 story rejected 4 times in a row (the fourth rejection was last night). I haven't looked at the story since I submitted it..... now I'm afraid to....
It's always a good idea to read your work again, especially if you haven't it in a while. You never know, you might find something you missed and they have seen.
I find.. that the opening paragraph you/I spent an evening in the reconfiguration has the appearance of the google translator paragraph/ elbow slip upon keyboard - prompting clutch of forehead, and the contrary ‘oh no wonder, obvs I am still brilliant me ‘ etc..fffff...
New piece just about ready to send out. This one was solicited, but there's no guarantee even when that's the case which I do have first hand knowledge with. I've really pushed the deadline on this. It has to go out today. No time for beta readers, feedback and big changes prior to submitting it. But I have worked with this editor before and he is amazing. Hopefully, what I have is close enough for him to work with me. Wish me luck, friends. I'm really nervous about this one.
An idea for a story came into my head while I was working on something incredibly boring for one of the children. It isn’t in my genre. I can write it but then have to figure out places to send it none of my usual markets will work. Extremely late to this but . . . @deadrats honestly no, there is nothing wrong at all with following up on a personal connection with a particular market especially if they have already indicated they would be interested. So much of what is published is written by people who have already published - they are known to them already. I really don’t see an ethical problem at all. Sorry - I spend very little time online. I will be late to every single party we have on here.
I know the feeling. At the same time, the short stories sales I've made came after several rejections and then rereading my work, making changes and edits as needed. My first big sale had only been rejected a handful of times before I did this. It was harder than I wanted it to be. I realized the first third to half of that story was all wrong. My once-loved opening was not a very good start for a story. I rambled on about nothing really before the story actually began. It was not easy to scrap all that, but it was necessary. Kill your darlings, as they say. It probably took a good month or so for me to rewrite and revise. And nothing about doing that was easy because I thought it had been a good story. The thing is it was a good story. However, it never would have sold if I had just kept sending it out everywhere as it was. After fixing it up, it sold the very next place I sent it. And to date that is still my biggest sale. There are other times when I keep a story out for much longer. Four rejections is nothing. Really, I think you can keep it on the market longer unless you feel like something might be wrong. In my case that I was just talking about. I was second guessing myself when it came to the beginning. When I read through it I realized that the beginning meant like five or six pages. With one exception, the stories I have out now I haven't reread since the summer/fall. Fall is the big submission season for the literary journal world. I have not sold any of the stories I started sending out this fall, but I'm not all that worried yet. And each one of those has gotten way more than four rejections. I've gotten some editor feedback on most of them if not all of them, though, form rejections are way more common. Of course, feedback on a rejection never really says much, but it can be encouraging. One editor did suggest a change that I thought about, but I decided to leave it. It was a small enough change that they could have still bought the story and asked for that change. So, I have a hard time believing that's why it was rejected. Editors don't know everything. Sure, we are trying to please them and win them over with our stories, but there are a lot of editors and a lot of publications. If you're already thinking of things that would improve your story, go back to it. If in your mind nothing seems all that wrong, keep it out there. That being said, distance from our writing can sometimes be the best thing for it. If you feel like enough time has passed or even that you're a better writer now, it can't hurt to give it another read.
