I sent out my manuscripts - woohoo!

[Writer]

:woohoo:

I sent out two short stories to literary journals.


Now all I need to do is wait for the rejection letters. ;)


Sincerely,

The yet unpublished ~Writer~

[Inchworm]

1. I measured marigolds!

omg I don't believe I typed that! :hide:

I really meant.. Congrats and I hope they go into a book!

:yourock:

[Writer]

2. Well... were the marigolds in bloom?

;)

Thanks!

[Der Blaue Engel]

24. Seems as if you'd stop and see how beautiful they are

;)

[wildhorses]

3. good on you!!!

:applause:

hey, rejection letters have to come from somewhere, ya know:P

[Writer]

4. Oh, I can't wait!

I get this tingly feeling just thinking about them.

Where's my rum? :beer:

[Writer]

5. Kick.

Hooray?





Oh well.

[Redbear]

6. Thats very exciting!

Even if they are rejected, it's a good thing that you sent them. Most writers have to be rejected before they succeed. You are now one step closer.

[Writer]

7. I do have a lot of faith in both of these shorts, but that is absolutely right.

Rejection is the sign of a writer.

Thanks for celebrating with me. It has taken 26 years for me to get to this point.

[Orrex]

8. Can you give us a teaser? Perhaps I should rephrase that...

Not the kind of teaser that got your posts deleted the other day, of course!

And not the kind of teaser that would compromise your prospective publishers' "right of first publication," either.

What genre? Which journals? Have we seen any exerpts here or on the Writing forum?


Best of luck to you in any case!

[Writer]

10. I won't post anything here... but I will say...

that one takes place in a distant land. The other is about a man who dies.

Both modern fiction, the latter is more surreal than that first. I haven't posted any portions of them in the writing forum, but I'd be happy to PM you teasers if you'd like.

[Orrex]

12. Please do!

Heck, PM me anything else you'd care to, while you're at it.

[Orrex]

15. By which I mean...

Any other writings you'd care to pm, of course...

[Writer]

20. Oh!

((Cancels dirty pic PM.))

[Orrex]

21. Doh!

:mad:

[Writer]

22. ,,,

:P

[Starbucks Anarchist]

9. Cool!

Good luck!

[Writer]

11. Thanks, m'dear.

We shall see what happens.

In the meantime: :beer:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. My dear Writer...

Good luck, sweetie!

I hope your stories will bowl over the editors who read them!

And I hope you won't get any rejection letters, either!

:yourock:

[Writer]

14. Two stories and thirteen different publications...

I'm sure I'll get a few rejections. ;)

Thanks, CalPeg. I have overcome many emotional barriers to arrive here. I am very grateful.

[Orrex]

17. Two and thirteen?!?

Uh-oh! What are their policies regarding simultaneous submission?

[Writer]

18. Oh... I should explain...

all accept sim subs...

one is going to six, the other to seven.

[ThomCat]

16. Collect some acceptance letters and checks while you're at it.

:)

:hug:

[Writer]

19. Yeah... wouldn't mind that at all.

:hug:

[Der Blaue Engel]

23. Isn't that fun?

I have a big, fat pile of them. (Rejection letters.) x(

[Writer]

25. I wanted to get one of those invoice spikes...

you know, those pokey things diner waitresses use after they've collected your money. Letterman used to have one on his old NBC program. He'd punch his viewer mail cards onto while a scream blared though the studio.

I thought that might be fun. :P

[Der Blaue Engel]

26. I crumpled and tore up the first one like a big baby

But the rest are all lovingly preserved in a big folder. Someday I will frame them. :D

[Writer]

31. Hehe.

Have you been successful yet?

[Der Blaue Engel]

53. With my novels, no

But I've had a number of short fiction (erotica) pieces published. If only one could live on $100 a year. :D

[Deja Q]

27. Best of luck!

[Writer]

29. Muchas gracias.

:)

[YankeyMCC]

28. You mean "Soon to be published" letters

best wishes! And of course let us know when and where they will be published!

[Writer]

30. I hope that's the case.

And I'll certainly let everyone know. Thank you.

[reyd reid reed]

32. I thought about sending out some stuff...

haven't actually done it yet, though. Last time I subbed anything was towards the end of January and I got stupid and got my hopes up. Last time I got published was probably about a year ago and my feet have gotten a little cold in the meantime.

That's the plan for tonight, though...get some stuff out there (I've prolly got 200+ pieces of short fiction sitting on my hard drive, waiting for me to find them homes).

Are you subbing one market at a time or are you sim-subbing? Sim-subbing increases your chances of getting accepted within your lifetime but it can be confusing, trying to keep track of who's already read what and when. And there's that pesky little thing about some journals asking that you not do it, so you've got to read guidelines VERY carefully. But if you sub to one journal at a time, you could spend YEARS trying to place those two stories.

Here's hoping they find a home on their first trip.

Good luck!!

[Writer]

33. Want to see my little secret?

Which isn't such a little secret anymore, now that I'm posting this...

Try http://www.duotrope.com It's a brilliant search tool where you can choose only periodicals that accept sim subs.

I'm subbing several markets at a time for my two shorts. I also am maintaining an xcel spreadsheet with publication names and send dates so I can keep track of them.

If you have as much material as you say you have, I'd certainly give this a try.

Good luck!

[reyd reid reed]

34. Ooooh...

I like that. And it has a feature to hide markets that are closed for one reason or another. I've been doing it the hard way. I do have a TON of stuff, all lengths too, so the 'word count' option is helpful, too.

Thanks.

[Writer]

35. No problem.

Let me know if you find much luck with it. :)

What type of material do you have? Modern? Genre fiction?

[reyd reid reed]

43. Mostly lit fic

I've got a few genre pieces, but not many. One of my novels is genre -- but it's crap and needs a major rewrite before it's saleable. One that I'm working on is also genre, but it's kinda stalled at the moment. Most of the short fiction is literary.

I'm anxious to start playing with that site. I'm actually starting to get excited. The last thing I had published was in Hiss Quarterly and that's been a while. Last fall, I think. I came close a few times earlier this year -- gotten some lovely rejection letters -- but in the end, nada. It's time to get back on the horse and get my confidence back.

[Writer]

46. I'd like to read your published piece.

Is there a link to it?

[reyd reid reed]

47. Here are some of them:

http://thehissquarterly.net/words/dyer.html

http://www.edificewrecked.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87&Itemid=52

http://www.stwa.net/tsg/issue6/fiction/preparation.php

http://www.stwa.net/tsg4/nonfiction.htm (scroll down to 'Midnight Meetings')

http://web.archive.org/web/20030514045154/www.insolentrudder.org/story49.html

[Writer]

49. Oh cool. Flash fiction.

Very strong, emotive. Good work all around.

[reyd reid reed]

51. I love flash.

It's addictive, though. x(

[kay1864]

36. Can one of you lovely ladies explain sim-subbing?

I could look it up, but I'd much rather hear it from one of you... :loveya:

[Writer]

37. It's simultaneous submission.

It's when you submit the same piece to multiple publications at once. The protocol is that you first let the publications know that you're sending the same piece to multiple publications, and if one happens to accept the piece, you immediately contact the editors of the other magazines and let them know that you are removing your work from consideration. Only some magazines permit this.

[kay1864]

38. Thanks!

:hi:

[reyd reid reed]

44. What she said.

[Parche]

39. Congratulations

Hope they publish, you are awesome in MY book!!!! :hi:

[Writer]

41. Hey, thanks.

:)

[BarenakedLady]

40. Good luck

How exciting!

I've only ever sent in stuff for writing contests (none of which made it :P )

:bounce: :bounce:

[Writer]

42. Yeah... I sent out pieces to a particular magazine a year ago...

unfortunately it was a magazine with some rather high druthers.

If you write you should try duotrope.com

[BarenakedLady]

45. I haven't written in a long time

Got blocked and never got it back.

:shrug:

No great loss. I wasn't really good to begin with. LoL.

[Orrex]

52. Yowza!

That's an awesome recommendation!

[billyskank]

48. Good luck!

:hi:

[Writer]

50. Thanks, man.

:)

[Bjornsdotter]

54. Good Luck

....keep us posted.

I'd like to add that the last person I said that to received a 7 book contract with a publisher...so here's hoping....

Cheers

[Writer]

55. Well these are just shorts - I'd be shocked if I get anything like a seven book contract...

but we shall see!

Thanks, anyway. :)

[gmoney]

58. Hope you included a photo...

Sexay lady writers are always easier to market. :)

Break a pencil!

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

56. Real soon you'll be changing your nym to FamousNovelist

:yourock:

[Writer]

57. Oooh...

that makes me cringe a bit. Not that it would be a good thing, but it just sounds like tempting fate.

Thank you, though. :)

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

59. Should I instead say "Break a pencil"?

:evilgrin: