December Scorecard

Pathetic, I know. This is what happens when I allow finals, work, and holidays to interfere.

Rejections:
Submissions:
Acceptances:
Publications:
Circulating:

1
0
0
0
2

I've got a list of markets that have opened up and some "You Gonna Publish My Story, Or What?" emails to send. This'll actually be a good week to get cracking on those.

November Scorecard

The subs period for a few of the mags I like to try closed last month. Now, I need to figure out a whole new set of shells to play the submission shell-game for the stories I'm (not) writing. Luckily, I got a couple of rejections in time to sneak them in on the last day of the month.

Rejections:
Submissions:
Acceptances:
Publications:
Circulating:

3
1
0
0
3

I gotta get these numbers up.

October Scorecard

This past October will be the month I'll always remember as having my first bonafide "I'm no good at this writing shit, so why the fuck do I even bother?" meltdown. Of course, when you send out a bunch of stories at the same time, the rejections tend to come back at the same time. I'd learned to handle the rejection that comes in once a month. But 4 in as many days?

Still, I've learned to keep a Nietschian attitude toward it.

Rejections:
Submissions:
Acceptances:
Publications:
Circulating:

8
6
0
0
4

Now, on to write some more...

September Scorecard

Bet you thought you'd never see these again, huh? Neither did I, for awhile. But last month, I started a slow turnaround. Hopefully these numbers--well, the acceptance and publication numbers--go up.

Rejections:
Submissions:
Acceptances:
Publications:
Circulating:

1
2
0
0
2*

*I reset the count on these, because a couple of the markets I submitted stories to ages ago either never responded or have apparently folded.

"Feels like the first time"

Despite the Tweet, I made the Sign of the Cross and sent out my first story in months. The summer was just so crazy, what with cramming for the GRE and having to quickly formulate and reformulate my grad school aspirations about twelve or so times. I had to cram in the editing time I could. I think I've lost count of just how many stories I have in the trunk to revise--three or four. Well, at least I got one down.

I seriously forgot how hard it is to just let a piece go. I had to make myself do it! Just like that first swim in the summertime when you're a kid, and you're dreading how cold that water is, no matter how many times you've already jumped into the damn pool. Finally, your only options are to walk away or just say "Fuck it..."

July Scorecard

...is more or less the same as the June scorecard for different, but related reasons. That changes this month. You'll see.

June Scorecard

Um, there is no June Scorecard. I'd spent the month studying for the GRE and finally underwent the ordeal yesterday.

I guess I need to update the Trading Card in the menu bar--I know what program I want to go for next.

Anyway, the program I want to apply for** at the local Big Red school on the Hill doesn't state their minimum GRE requirements. My scores can only be described in one word: Meh. But I know from my Intarweb research of other programs that my scores are more than good enough.

On the other hand, I'm still waiting to see my latest story go live. Why don't you keep an eye out and read what's already there while you're waiting. You won't regret it!

**There's a story here, but I'm not gonna tell it until certain things become definite.

Chapter XXXV

The best birthday presents a writer can get, and I got them both today: a new 600-page leather journal from the wife and a contract for the story I mentioned a little while back.

And it's not even 9:00 AM yet.

I'm waiting on some non-writerly news as well, though it could impact my writing. You'll know when I (and my wife, and several of my friends) know.

###

Edited to add: Sent the contract back and I gots the money!

May Scorecard

Perhaps there was a deeper, more subconscious reason I haven't blogged in weeks...

Rejections:
Submissions:
Acceptances:
Publications:
Circulating:

1
0
0
0
3

"Thank you very--NEXT"

I thought the unusually lengthy response time from a particular flash market might've been due to a piece being shortlisted. But when I queried last week, I got...

Thanks for following up. We've been having some problems with a few email providers marking our emails as spam. We're trying to fix that, but in the meantime, some responses are getting lost. Unfortunately, we decided to pass on "Civic Responsibility."

Ain't no thing, though. Off to the next one.

Home Alone

I saw The Wife off this morning on her trip to Boston to visit family. So now I'm home alone, looking at all the little things around the apartment crying out to be done: dishes, the cluttered living room, my inbox, my tickler files, the book I'm close to done with. i.e. anything other than finishing the damn story I'm working on right now.

"Take a break," you might say. "Enjoy the sun! Have a cookout!" Already did those things, though, in small bits and pieces. But you're right, let's take a moment on Memorial Day to remember...



All right, I feel motivated now.

April Scorecard

I can't believe I haven't gotten to this. Well, I can really--I've been obsessed finishing up a longer short story at the expense of two stories in the editing phase and a couple of flashes that've been rejected that that need to be sent back out.

Oh well, in any case...

Rejections:
Submissions:
Acceptances:
Publications:
Circulating:

0
0
1
1
3

Sold!

Woke up to some good news this morning. A flash piece of mine called "She Got the Moon in Her Eye" has been accepted by Coyote Wild. Details forthcoming...

March Scorecard

Yes, I'm behind. No excuses. March has a full slate of family holidays and commitments. Still, I've managed to get more done in March of '08 than I've had in any previous March. As measured by numbers, however, well...

Rejections:
Submissions:
Acceptances:
Publications:
Circulating:

1
2 (1 resub/1 new)
0
0
4

Oh, the Pain

Remember when I said...

Now I just have to wait for some of the cooler flash markets to reject the pieces I've already sent them to make room for this one. I probably won't have to wait too long.

Well, I was right. Got the rejection email mere hours after I posted this. Unfortunately, they're not taking stuff for another couple of weeks. No reason to wait, I figured, so the piece I wanted to send out got sent elsewhere.

Tough Love

For the past two sessions of my critique group, I've cheated by bringing non-genre stuff. I've gotten no complaints so far, but I'm starting to feel like I'm violating the group's social contract. I'm probably commiting a more grievous offense by bringing in a piece I've workshopped elsewhere. Still, it paid off today.

<rationalization>
I edited a 155-word flash piece that got very favorable reviews in one workshop and one near-unanimous criticism that I tried to correct. I did, and then I brought it to today's group. Judging from the reactions, I think I fixed it!
</rationalization>

Now I just have to wait for some of the cooler flash markets to reject the pieces I've already sent them to make room for this one. I probably won't have to wait too long.

February Scorecard

I make no excuses, except to say that I did have the Andromeda Strain in my lungs for the better part of two weeks during the shortest month of the year.

Rejections:
Submissions:
Acceptances:
Publications:
Circulating:

1
1 (resub)
0
0
3

Insult to Injury

Being sick for a week wasn't enough? I have to get a rejection first thing on a Saturday morning, too?

*Sigh* okay, next market...

Tough Love

I haven't posted one of these in awhile, mainly because the last session was the only one in the past three or four where I brought anything. December and January were editing months. I've been focusing on getting stories polished and off my plate before allowing myself to get too far on new ones.

While I didn't bring anything this time around, I think that I did some of my best critiquing of other folks' work this session (and last time, too) if I do say so myself. At least I didn't hear too many dissenting voices. But that's not even the important thing--I say this because there's also a correlating increase in my ability to spot mistakes in my own stories.

The (temporary) downside is that it's slowed my yet-to-be-cemented rewriting process down.
#
I've got two stories slated to go out this week. A couple of flash things. Fingers crossed.

January Scorecard

Last year I tried to keep a running tab of submissions, rejections, and pubs. It got to be a pain to update "whenever," so I'm gonna do it monthly for awhile and see how that works out.

Rejections:
Submissions:
Acceptances:
Publications:
Circulating:

0
0
2
1
3

What can I say, it's been an editing month. Not happy about the submission rate, but I've got time to bring that up.

EDIT: Sorry I've edited this 100 times, but I've been trying to get the fucking CSS straight.