Success!

Anyone else start to twitch when you see, on submission grinder, the editor has rejected most everything older than your submission and has started rejecting ones submitted after yours? I know I shouldn't read anything into that but I imagine they have read my story and it is in the "maybe" pile.

That's a fair assumption, Chuck. The longer they take, the more likely it is that they are considering whether to publish it.

Hoping you get a letter that has good news in it!

All the beast,

Wulf Moon

We always hope with our fingers and toes crossed, but sometimes in the end, after months of waiting, you will get rejected. Had this just happen to one of my submitted stories with an anthology. After about 3 months or so, they finally rejected it and then noticed on Grinder that there was 4 rejections that day...
So my Kraken got rejected. For me, it's another opportunity to move on and find other places to release my kraken out there:)

Anyone else start to twitch when you see, on submission grinder, the editor has rejected most everything older than your submission and has started rejecting ones submitted after yours? I know I shouldn't read anything into that but I imagine they have read my story and it is in the "maybe" pile.

Every. Damn. Time.

I watched the 2012 Awards ceremony and I was awed by the complexity of the stories that won. I write historical fiction with some magical realism via a talking mouse. The story I have submitted has been critically reviewed by my creative writing professor and others in the master level creative writing classes and the were excited about the three short stories that I wrote for the class. I will submit my story after I recieve a last critique from a former classmate, but will my story even be considered?

LoyalRam, best not to post details about your story--judging is anonymous.

That said, I firmly believe it's better to submit than it is to self-reject.

Anyone else start to twitch when you see, on submission grinder, the editor has rejected most everything older than your submission and has started rejecting ones submitted after yours? I know I shouldn't read anything into that but I imagine they have read my story and it is in the "maybe" pile.

Twitching so hard. It's now officially on the editor's desk. It would be my first pro sale. Stays on my mind 24/7 now. Please, please, please, please.

Sci Fi Lampoon dug "My Ten Cents" and will be including it in issue 2. I will provide a link once I have one. I thought it fit their flash story requirements. Now that I know there is a list of Wulf approved publishers, I will submit only to those. But, it still is a good feeling to have my work appreciated.

Sci Fi Lampoon dug "My Ten Cents" and will be including it in issue 2. I will provide a link once I have one. I thought it fit their flash story requirements. Now that I know there is a list of Wulf approved publishers, I will submit only to those. But, it still is a good feeling to have my work appreciated.

Congratulations!

Thank you!

Congrats!

Sci Fi Lampoon dug "My Ten Cents" and will be including it in issue 2. I will provide a link once I have one. I thought it fit their flash story requirements. Now that I know there is a list of Wulf approved publishers, I will submit only to those. But, it still is a good feeling to have my work appreciated.

It's just a sample guideline for members of the Super Secrets Challenge, crlisle. It focuses on markets we are shooting for in that challenge, giving members an idea of what to aim for.

Congratulations on your upcoming publication!

Cheers!

Wulf Moon

Thank you Chuckt and Wulf! "...the code is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules. " - Captain Barbossa

Thank you Chuckt and Wulf! "...the code is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules. " - Captain Barbossa

Exactly.

This isn't quite the standard type of success, but I'm posting it here regardless. I've been running a fund-raising campaign of sorts to fund my trip to SSWS, and I hit my minimum target goal of $1000 this week! I've posted 'Warspawn,' my first WotF finalist, on my website as a combination celebration/thank you to everyone who has donated. If you're interested, you can read it for free here.

(Just for the record, the reason I haven't posted about the donation campaign on this forum up until now is because I didn't want to spam the boards. If you do happen to be interested in helping to fund my trip, feel free to PM me for info on how to do that. I've got enough funds to cover basics for the trip at this point, but my husband is hoping we'll be able to save more in case of emergencies and suchlike. If I manage to hit $1500 before the trip comes around, I plan to post another story on my site.)

Yay! Glad you hit your minimum.

Warspawn was a great story! I love it. It hasn't sold somewhere? I don't get this business sometimes.

Yay! Glad you hit your minimum.

Warspawn was a great story! I love it. It hasn't sold somewhere? I don't get this business sometimes.

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. I got a lot of personals on it, but no acceptances. (It's also the story where one market said I hadn't put in enough internal thought and another said I'd spent too much time in the protagonist's head--and I hadn't edited it between submissions.)

Have you tried Escape Artists? It seems like something that might work in a podcast. And they say (paraphrasing) they want more women authors to submit.

Yay! Glad you hit your minimum.

Warspawn was a great story! I love it. It hasn't sold somewhere? I don't get this business sometimes.

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. I got a lot of personals on it, but no acceptances. (It's also the story where one market said I hadn't put in enough internal thought and another said I'd spent too much time in the protagonist's head--and I hadn't edited it between submissions.)

That's one of the reasons I don't know whether to change stories after market feedback. Sometimes it's more obvious. I had a rejection from Podcastle who said they enjoyed the story but it read slightly too young for their audience and suggested Cast of Wonders instead. Cast of Wonders gave positive comments but felt the end lost its focus and was possibly too sentimental. They suggested I consider the feedback before submitting to other markets they suggested.

I LOVE getting feedback from markets, but sometimes it makes things harder! If I haven't decided by the time the next market I want to submit to closes, I'll go with my gut and protect that voice. Cast of Wonders did say "a few thought this," "one reader thought..." So as a number of people have the same opinion, I'm more likely to act on the feedback. There hasn't been a time I've acted on rejection feedback and thought I've made my story worse.

Have you tried Escape Artists? It seems like something that might work in a podcast. And they say (paraphrasing) they want more women authors to submit.

It's been to Podcastle and Cast of Wonders, both. Honestly, I've sent it to every pro-paying magazine I could find that it qualified for over the course of the last two years. It's all good. It's a story I'm particularly proud of, and this way people can read it!

I LOVE getting feedback from markets, but sometimes it makes things harder! If I haven't decided by the time the next market I want to submit to closes, I'll go with my gut and protect that voice. Cast of Wonders did say "a few thought this," "one reader thought..." So as a number of people have the same opinion, I'm more likely to act on the feedback. There hasn't been a time I've acted on rejection feedback and thought I've made my story worse.

Amen to that.

It's a story I'm particularly proud of, and this way people can read it!

It is really good. The worldbuilding details are just awesome. I'd like to see a book about this place.

I'm happy you hit your minimum target goal, Liz (disgruntledpeony). That's a nice accomplishment--it means you can pay for hotel and eat while there. Congrats! I am a ways behind you, but I will make it. I'm just happy so many of you here took the advice to attend. And applied for scholarships! Congratulations again! Superstars is the best! See you there!

I've posted 'Warspawn,' my first WotF finalist, on my website as a combination celebration/thank you to everyone who has donated. If you're interested, you can read it for free here.

Wonderful story! Thank you for sharing! Your voice really comes through in this story.

Update on my success story!

The Colored Lens, Winter 2020 is out now and features my multiple-HM WoTF story, Project Lifeline. For some reason, I have top billing as well, which is fun.

You can get it here: The Colored Lens, Winter 2020

Well, it's not alphabetical, so it must be based on story awesomeness! (Sorry, KG Anderson)

I'll happily take that justification. 😉

Update on my success story!

The Colored Lens, Winter 2020 is out now and features my multiple-HM WoTF story, Project Lifeline. For some reason, I have top billing as well, which is fun.

You can get it here: The Colored Lens, Winter 2020

Really good story. Thanks for sharing!

Really good story. Thanks for sharing!

I’m thrilled you liked it!

I submitted two stories to WotF last year. Both were Rejected. I knew based on those results that this contest wasn't appropriate for my material and moved on. One was just accepted for paid publication in a fantastic print market. I thank this community for being a meaningful part of my journey to publication, and wish everyone success!

Rejections don't always mean it's not your market, but I am glad they found success elsewhere! What is the market so we can check it out when it hits?

Rejections don't always mean it's not your market, but I am glad they found success elsewhere! What is the market so we can check it out when it hits?

I agree with you generally, but I think my stories checked a few "not gonna be well-considered here" boxes upon reconsideration. Hehe.

In any case, I'm eager to share the market, but I'm so nervous that it is "too good to be true," and don't want pie in my face. So I will wait for more than just the acceptance email from the editor to share the Issue # & Market! I'm still nervous post-acceptance!!