I dunno if anyone wants to share stats from the past year of if those I'm about to share will be welcome, or of interest.
I decided in late 2021 that, as long as I'm going to have many more rejections than acceptances, I might as well try to earn as many of them as possible!
Also, early in 2022 the Science Fiction Writers of America -which it's my wish to join- radically changed its criteria, eliminating the need for "professional rates" publications, which allowed me to submit to many more venues.
Anyway, these considerations lead to a year-long experiment- one I won't try to repeat. Here are my stats from 2022 and a little of what I've learned: I'd love to see your numbers!
Submissions (almost entirely short fiction, a couple poems): 400. It's true that I gamed the "simultaneous submissions" policies of many publications. But let me assure you that, in FOUR HUNDRED instances, that never came back to bite me in the ass...
Responses: 366 (for those counting, that's a rate a little over ONE RESPONSE PER DAY! I spent most of the year well ahead of the calendar count, but things slowed down around the holidaze...)
Acceptances: 6, not many more than I had the previous year (2021) in which I still submitted more than 300 times! But that year, just starting out, I did submit a few times to (very good, very choosy) non paying venues and got a few publications that way, just to get some under my belt. It was a pleasure to see my work in good company and the editors were universally a pleasure to work with. Don't regret it, but, this year, none at all.
Pay: this one I'm just gonna leave blank; there is a certain complexity to payments I hadn't anticipated. For example, my first "pro" rates sale, one of two from 2021, has STILL NOT PAID OFF- tho I have no doubt it will, by this year's end.
It's a pretty good lesson in the difference between Pays on Acceptance and Pays on Publication! Suffice it to say that I'm something like one check away from SFWA...
Lessons Learned:
My experimental year taught me that counting rejections can be satisfying, not discouraging, by the simple act of reframing.
It shows me that, with the proper motivation, I can demonstrate a hellofa lot of hustle! If anything, this year I showed TOO MUCH HUSTLE!
It also demonstrated that the market can't be brute-forced. I write an idiosyncratic sci-fi and have to find the right editor for the right story. I do believe (now that the various flaming hoops have been removed) that in the coming year I will venture a bit into self-publication. I say this ONLY IF I can be satisfied that I'm not experimenting with self-deception! My work there has to be held to my highest standards or I'll abandon the experiment.
I know these may seem like daunting numbers but believe me, they look laughable from here.
Wanna share your stats for last and/or your goals for next year?
@DonMarkmaker
My target was to beat last year's submission count of 20 short stories and 7 poems = 27.
I just about managed it in the final week and reached 22 short stories and 6 poems = 28.
They were mostly to pro-paying markets, with a couple slightly under at 7c/word for short stories.
17 rejections with 11 still out for submission.
I did make my first ever non-fiction pitch, and I have a 100% success rate there! My article was the 5th most viewed out of over 150 published on the website last year, which blew my mind a little.
My goal this year is to beat the fiction and poetry submission totals of 2022 and to finish at least one new short story. I'll aim for a first short story sale (WotF is the ultimate aim) and another non-fiction publication (I'd love to be published in a music magazine and have a couple of ideas).
I'd like to critique some more, now I can manage to read again.
Submission and new writing-wise, they seem like modest goals, but for periods of time I struggled to even read a paragraph of text and only started reading fiction again in the past couple of months.
Another target was to get involved in writing groups again. I haven't been to my local writing group for well over a year but did restart at the local Poetry Stanza group a couple of months ago. Thanks to Dustin's prompting, I'm back here again sooner than planned.
Lessons learned: sometimes health is more important than trying to reach targets. But it felt good to beat that target by the end of the year.
35: - R R R | 36: R HM R R | 37: HM HM HM SHM | 38: HM HM HM HM | 39: HM HM HM SHM | 40: HM R SHM SHM |
4 SHM / 12 HM / 7 R
I did make my first ever non-fiction pitch, and I have a 100% success rate there! My article was the 5th most viewed out of over 150 published on the website last year, which blew my mind a little.
Impressive! That's gotta be gratifying. What, if I may ask, kept you from being able to read?
@DonMarkmaker
@angelslayah those are some impressive stats! An interesting experiment too, and certainly one way to develop a thick skin as an aspiring writer (as a former journalist I know you said you had a thick skin anyway!). Reframing rejection is a positive way to look at the process of submitting stories. More rejections also means, in theory, more chances of editorial feedback, and more chances of success. Also, I hope your goal of SFFWA membership is achieved soon! It sounds like you are knocking on the door to be let in, well done.
I didn't set myself a formal target this year, mainly because for half the year I was in a job where I could not write owing to the demands of the job (long hours). However, I managed to submit 9 short stories (x2 to WotF) with 8 responses (my Q1 Vol 40 submission outstanding) with 1 acceptance (and published).
The year before, I submitted 10 short stories and had 2 acceptances/publications (although one of those publications was submitted end of 2020 so may not count?). So, I was down only 1 submission last year, which is a surprise. I thought I had submitted more in 2021 than I had.
Conclusion/take away/ potential new year's resolution - submit more stories!
Where do you find all the markets to submit?
R: 2 / HM: 6 / SHM: 2
Published stories:
"Drunk Scentless" - Daily Science Fiction (June 2021)
"Interview with the Vampire Hunter" - Every Day Fiction (October 2021)
"Dutch Courage" - 365tomorrows (August 2022)
I did make my first ever non-fiction pitch, and I have a 100% success rate there! My article was the 5th most viewed out of over 150 published on the website last year, which blew my mind a little.
That's cool, congratulations
R: 2 / HM: 6 / SHM: 2
Published stories:
"Drunk Scentless" - Daily Science Fiction (June 2021)
"Interview with the Vampire Hunter" - Every Day Fiction (October 2021)
"Dutch Courage" - 365tomorrows (August 2022)
@angelslayah, inspired by your post, I just submitted my first story of 2023!
R: 2 / HM: 6 / SHM: 2
Published stories:
"Drunk Scentless" - Daily Science Fiction (June 2021)
"Interview with the Vampire Hunter" - Every Day Fiction (October 2021)
"Dutch Courage" - 365tomorrows (August 2022)
Where do you find all the markets to submit?
The incredibly embarrassingly named "submission grinder"
https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/
Its features really "gamified" the process for me — couldna done it without!
@DonMarkmaker
I would like to give a shout out to david@davidhankins.com; .
I signed up for his monthly newsletter and it was a good move.
One of his emails had links to blogs by,
R.J.K. Lee's Figments Die Hard Blog
and,
angeliqueauthor@fawns.ca
I recommend visiting these sites for places to sub.
Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships
I would like to give a shout out to david@davidhankins.com; .
I signed up for his monthly newsletter and it was a good move.
One of his emails had links to blogs by,
R.J.K. Lee's Figments Die Hard Blog
and,
angeliqueauthor@fawns.ca
I recommend visiting these sites for places to sub.
Thanks for the shout out @storysinger!
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"The Devil's Foot Locker" in Amazing Stories
21 submissions for me in 2022, with a single acceptance that I hope will be published this year. That's up from 0-13 in 2021.
V38: HM, R, R, HM
V39: RWC, HM, RWC, HM
V40: RWC, HM, SHM, R
V41: R, P, WIP
21 submissions for me in 2022, with a single acceptance that I hope will be published this year. That's up from 0-13 in 2021.
Any goals for '23?
@DonMarkmaker
- Win WotF
- finally publish a story
- finally write something that would put someone in catharsis not just tears
- finish my blog
Last year was my first full year of writing and submitting short stories and I ended the year off with 22 submissions. Sadly, no acceptances, but I'm sure this year I'll finally crack the code to writing a sellable story. My goals for the coming year:
- Win WotF
- Write one new story every quarter
- If life doesn't get in the way, plot an additional story and write a flash each quarter
- Get published by multiple markets (hopefully one of which is my dream market)
V39: -- / SHM / SHM / RWC
V40: HM / SHM / SHM / SHM
V41: P / WIP / -- / --
Submissions: 100
Acceptances: none, but I got 3 HMs and an SHM, and one very encouraging personal rejection. Oh, and a Finalist/Disqualification in IOTF
Pay: $0.00 😆
Goals:
- I want to win WOTF but it's not a goal because it's out of my control. Instead, I'm going to submit four times and each story will require mindful attention to writing lessons learned
- Submit 100 times, again
- Enter the Mike Resnik Award
- Do a KYD exercise a month
- Get faster with WOTF entries, so that Q4 can be submitted on the first day, thus enabling:
- Plotting my next novel
VOL 40 2nd Quarter: Third Place ("Ashes to Ashes, Blood to Carbonfiber")
Past submissions: R - HM - HM - HM - HM - HM - SHM - SHM
www.jd-writes.com
- Get feedback on my novel and write a third draft
- Enter WOTF every quarter
- SHM, somewhere, somehow
- See my first acceptance through to publication
- Earn another acceptance
The first is proving harder than I thought. I crowdsourced FB friends and found four who wanted to read it back in November when I finished the second draft. I've only heard back from one, who gave me nothing useful. So those of you out there who have reliable beta readers, you have my envy.
V38: HM, R, R, HM
V39: RWC, HM, RWC, HM
V40: RWC, HM, SHM, R
V41: R, P, WIP