Submit, submit, submit

[Ishmael]

I'm recording a new milestone. According to The Grinder I have 50 submissions out at once for the first time ever.

Not quite fifty stories, alas. I have one story out on simsub to two publishers and one set of poems. The latter is my first attempt to secure commercial publication of my poetry.

My wife thinks I'm attempting to overwhelm the markets with quantity not quality. I respond that an awful lot of markets take an awful long time to respond. My top wait is now well over two years.

But before I joined The Grinder I could never have found so many markets or turned around rejections so fast. So many thanks to David S.

Still teetering on the brink with three pro sales. I have two outstanding WotF submissions and I'll slide another under the wire in July maybe.

[Rebecca Birch]

I'm recording a new milestone. According to The Grinder I have 50 submissions out at once for the first time ever.

Not quite fifty stories, alas. I have one story out on simsub to two publishers and one set of poems. The latter is my first attempt to secure commercial publication of my poetry.

My wife thinks I'm attempting to overwhelm the markets with quantity not quality. I respond that an awful lot of markets take an awful long time to respond. My top wait is now well over two years.

But before I joined The Grinder I could never have found so many markets or turned around rejections so fast. So many thanks to David S.

Still teetering on the brink with three pro sales. I have two outstanding WotF submissions and I'll slide another under the wire in July maybe.

Holy smokes, *50* at once? I thought I was doing well hovering around 20.

Way to go, and good luck with all of those!

[amoskalik]

Wow, I haven't been able to get over 15. Congrats! And best of luck on those pro markets.

[george nik.]

These days I'm at around 30-35. I don't think I've ever made 50. Yet.

[disgruntledpeony]

God, I feel like such a newb. I've only got one story making the rounds right now--two once I manage to get in my Q3 submission at the next-to-last minute.

[Dustin Adams]

I'm currently at 2.

[Athena]

Good lord! I've only got 3!

[ThomasKCarpenter]

Nice!

My best is 30 subs out at the same time and lately I've been hovering around 15-20. Never surrender!

[LDWriter2]

I'm recording a new milestone. According to The Grinder I have 50 submissions out at once for the first time ever.

Not quite fifty stories, alas. I have one story out on simsub to two publishers and one set of poems. The latter is my first attempt to secure commercial publication of my poetry.

My wife thinks I'm attempting to overwhelm the markets with quantity not quality. I respond that an awful lot of markets take an awful long time to respond. My top wait is now well over two years.

But before I joined The Grinder I could never have found so many markets or turned around rejections so fast. So many thanks to David S.

Still teetering on the brink with three pro sales. I have two outstanding WotF submissions and I'll slide another under the wire in July maybe.

Very good.

At my best I think I had between 22 and 25 out. Now it's like one. Once I sent in Q3 I may send out a few stories. It's hard for me to get back into the habit though. I tried to do one per day but that lasted for three stories.

Your record might be almost top one here so again I say Very good.

[preston]

I'm recording a new milestone. According to The Grinder I have 50 submissions out at once for the first time ever.

Not quite fifty stories, alas. I have one story out on simsub to two publishers and one set of poems. The latter is my first attempt to secure commercial publication of my poetry.

My wife thinks I'm attempting to overwhelm the markets with quantity not quality. I respond that an awful lot of markets take an awful long time to respond. My top wait is now well over two years.

But before I joined The Grinder I could never have found so many markets or turned around rejections so fast. So many thanks to David S.

Still teetering on the brink with three pro sales. I have two outstanding WotF submissions and I'll slide another under the wire in July maybe.

That's impressive, Ishmael. I predict more sales in your near future! My record is about 40, but this has steadily fallen down to about 20, due to a rash of acceptances, he-he! Time to start writing more!

[Muri McCage]

50 at once? I think my head just exploded a little! That's awesome. I think 18 is my all time high.

[Ishmael]

That's impressive, Ishmael. I predict more sales in your near future! My record is about 40, but this has steadily fallen down to about 20, due to a rash of acceptances, he-he! Time to start writing more!

I sympathise with your predicament, Preston. If I remember rightly the apposite quotation is from What's New Pussycat? and goes something like:

This man has troubles - All your life you should have troubles like this man!

[reigheena]

So those of you with 20+ submissions at a time, how long did it take to create that many stories, and how long does it take to create a new story?

I've been submitting each quarter for 3 quarters now, and just hope to keep up that pace, so I don't anticipate getting up to that many any time soon.

[ThomasKCarpenter]

So those of you with 20+ submissions at a time, how long did it take to create that many stories, and how long does it take to create a new story?

I've been submitting each quarter for 3 quarters now, and just hope to keep up that pace, so I don't anticipate getting up to that many any time soon.

I write about 12 stories a year. I've been doing that for six years now. I've sold some, trunked some, and the rest are still on the submission carousel.

The actual time for each story depends. I've written stories in 24 hours, or over the course of a year, or even one paragraph at a time before bed (using a little yellow notepad). I've written them based on a title, or as a part of a contest, sometimes I've tried to imitate a writer I admire's style, or other times I've gotten inspiration from strange sources. There is no one true way, not even for one person. Don't be afraid to experiment.

[Ishmael]

It depends when you consider a story finished. Some of the stories I wrote when I started (maybe five or six years ago?) were good ideas but badly written because I had little idea of structure and used to digress all over the place. I can go back to these stories now and give them the sort of treatment that will lead to a sale. On the other hand I find it next to impossible to force inspiration (unless it's a story in a day challenge, and that's not guaranteed to work.)

Heinlein's Rules say you keep a story on the market until it sells. I do that with most of my stories, though I break another rule that says you shouldn't re-write.

[Jason Parker]

Nice strategies, fellas. Are you all primarily short story writers or do you also have novels circulating?

[Ishmael]

I got into short story writing because my novel had been rejected unseen about forty times and when I self-published I discovered, as most anonymous people do, that it was invisible in the market.

Foolishly I assumed short story writing was similar to novel writing as an art and I reckoned I would get my name known that way. I then spent a lot of time discovering it wasn't similar.

Now I consider myself a short story writer. Whether anyone else does still remains to be seen. I've made three pro sales but that has not yet made me much more visible or my name much better known except in a few editorial rooms (and of course on this forum!)

[Jason Parker]

I got into short story writing because my novel had been rejected unseen about forty times and when I self-published I discovered, as most anonymous people do, that it was invisible in the market.

Foolishly I assumed short story writing was similar to novel writing as an art and I reckoned I would get my name known that way. I then spent a lot of time discovering it wasn't similar.

Now I consider myself a short story writer. Whether anyone else does still remains to be seen. I've made three pro sales but that has not yet made me much more visible or my name much better known except in a few editorial rooms (and of course on this forum!)

I've never gone the self publishing route because I don't think I could make it work. I'm a marketer by trade and can't see that working.

I too have had piles of rejections from both short stories and long fiction. Had a few short stories accepted. The plan is to win wotf so agents will actually look at my manuscripts.

[amoskalik]

I think my technical abilities favor short stories, while my creative impulses lean more toward novel writing. A frustrating situation. Ultimately I believe I will end up writing novels, I do have a second draft of a novel written that has been sitting on ice for two years, but first I wanted to experiment and perhaps find a voice. This is easier to do with short stories (or at least less time consuming).

[Jason Parker]

I think my technical abilities favor short stories, while my creative impulses lean more toward novel writing. A frustrating situation. Ultimately I believe I will end up writing novels, I do have a second draft of a novel written that has been sitting on ice for two years, but first I wanted to experiment and perhaps find a voice. This is easier to do with short stories (or at least less time consuming).

I'm kind of losing my ability to write short stories. They keep getting longer and longer, novel-like. Which is not good for wotf. I find it hard to focus on both forms at once. The only reason I write short stories is to build up enough cred so that agents will actually look at my stuff. My biggest problem before was getting agents to read my stuff. I don't like short stories all that much because once I get into a character, the story is over. I think that's why I gravitate toward novels, long ones like Dune.

[storysinger]

My HM was the first chapter of my first novel. I wrote the story in 2013 and decided to rewrite the ending so the chapter ended as it began. If I never do anything else, just knowing Dave read my story gives me confidence I've never had before.
After Penumbra closed I've only been subbing to WotF. I'm not in it for the money, I just want to leave something behind when I leave this plane of existence. So I submit, and wait, twitch, and wait, and twitch, especially on Thursdays.
Happy Thursday my friends.

[Jason Parker]

My HM was the first chapter of my first novel. I wrote the story in 2013 and decided to rewrite the ending so the chapter ended as it began. If I never do anything else, just knowing Dave read my story gives me confidence I've never had before.
After Penumbra closed I've only been subbing to WotF. I'm not in it for the money, I just want to leave something behind when I leave this plane of existence. So I submit, and wait, twitch, and wait, and twitch, especially on Thursdays.
Happy Thursday my friends.

Nice!

My last wotf entry reads just like a first chapter too. I'm about to read some past wotf volumes to sharpen up my short story chops before the new quarter. Everything I'm writing right now reads like a novel. My last story was my favorite I've ever written, but it was only written for me. I'm going to try to study past wotf winners and write one with common winning elements, just to, you know, be a total sellout.

[LDWriter2]

Now that I on vacation. I should be sending in one story per week-not to WotF of course-and if I did I could get in 14 stories. 15 counting Q3, 16 if I don't hear back from Q2 by then.



On the other hand a couple of stories need to be revised and see if I can find 2 SF for Asimov's and Analog

[Dr.Bob]

I greatly admire everyone's energy and productivity!

In contrast to my profligacy. ;)

I feel that I am such a wastrel of my free time, with energy reserves sufficient for reading (including stories by many of you) more than writing.

Generally speaking (with the exception of the story I wrote with Kary that appeared in Galaxy Edge #19 last March), at my most attentiveness, I am still an "ant" (or "slug") in regard to my writing:

Slow. And more obsessive than methodical -- deciding exactly which word to chose that is best in keeping with the character and theme and tone; sounding out the flow of each sentence; constantly smoothing and questioning.

I had 7 stories in circulation earlier this year, now down to 4 (at least until I reread the 3 returned tales, attempt to polish them even further, and send them out again). Still, I'm happy with the 3 (possibly 4) stories of mine published or to be published in 2016. A modest achievement compared to many of you, I admit (you are such fine writers!), but a great one for me. And one for which I am very content. But...

...the challenge for me with selling stories is that I then have less to submit. ;)

Good writing, all.

Respectfully,
Dr. Bob

[Jason Parker]

I greatly admire everyone's energy and productivity!

In contrast to my profligacy. ;)

I feel that I am such a wastrel of my free time, with energy reserves sufficient for reading (including stories by many of you) more than writing.

Generally speaking (with the exception of the story I wrote with Kary that appeared in Galaxy Edge #19 last March), at my most attentiveness, I am still an "ant" (or "slug") in regard to my writing:

Slow. And more obsessive than methodical -- deciding exactly which word to chose that is best in keeping with the character and theme and tone; sounding out the flow of each sentence; constantly smoothing and questioning.

I had 7 stories in circulation earlier this year, now down to 4 (at least until I reread the 3 returned tales, attempt to polish them even further, and send them out again). Still, I'm happy with the 3 (possibly 4) stories of mine published or to be published in 2016. A modest achievement compared to many of you, I admit (you are such fine writers!), but a great one for me. And one for which I am very content. But...

...the challenge for me with selling stories is that I then have less to submit. ;)

Good writing, all.

Respectfully,
Dr. Bob

Thanks for sharing some of your process. I always pick up a few useful strategies from you guys.